Unspeakable Secrets The Alchemist Series (A Dark Medieval Progression Fantasy)

Chapter 27 The Shadowcloaks

After successfully making the potions, he went upstairs for a bath while the others slept. He took care to be quiet, so he didn't wake them.

He sat in the warm water and his thoughts drifted. How conscious was his codex? What other secrets did it contain? What were the different lights in his magic?

He lay back in the tub and sighed. Puzzles for another day.

What he couldn't put out of his mind was Victor. It nagged at him during every waking minute. The last of his family gone... the man who'd taken him in and raised him all these years.

Every time he closed his eyes, his mind conjured images of the worst things he could imagine.

He rubbed his tired eyes. He'd gone without sleep before, but alchemy drained him in an entirely different way.

His bones ached, but it was easier to deal with what could be happening to his uncle when he was working on finding and saving him.

He rubbed the bridge of his nose and turned his racing mind onto what needed to be done. He went through plans, possibilities, and contingencies in his mind as he lay in the bathtub for hours.

It was as close to sleep as he could manage.

He left feeling refreshed, even if only temporarily. He donned his armor and buckled his rapier in place once again.

He went downstairs and pulled out his codex.

His magic sight had faded, and he could read it without the brilliant light of the magic it contained getting in the way.

He flipped through the pages looking for anything that might aid him in his search. Anything that could make him stronger, deadlier, or more capable.

Should he ask the codex for help again? Would it listen? It felt insane to talk to a book, but maybe it could help a second time?

Adelia came down the stairs, snapping him out of his reverie.

"Didn't sleep again?" she asked.

"No," Connor said, "don't worry so much, you'll get wrinkles. I'm fine."

"You should at least eat something," she said.

"Yes, mom," he said.

She opened a cupboard, then another... and another. She stomped her foot and huffed. "Do you have any food in this place?" she asked

"I keep it all in the pantry with preservation crystals to keep it from spoiling," he said, "I came back to rotten food once... never again."

She rummaged around in the pantry. "Your supplies are running low. It won't last the three of us long," she said.

"I never thought I'd be using this place like I am now. We can make a supply run at some point. I'll see what I can do after Vadik and I get back from The Shadowcloaks," he said.

Adelia made bacon and eggs with toast in large helpings.

Unfortunately, she burned everything.

It was only now as he wolfed down her atrocious food that he realized just how hungry he really was.

The fact she was a terrible cook actually made him feel rather smug. Finally, he was better than her at something.

The two of them chatted a bit and snacked on some sandwiches that Connor made.

He didn't want to risk her somehow setting the cold meats on fire.

He felt like he had the world on his shoulders and that he would be crushed beneath it at any moment. But, having his friends with him somehow made it bearable.