Something Bigger Part 1

Chapter 11

CHAPTER 11

         It took what felt like ages for Aden to comprehend the extent of the materials and preparation he and Eric would have to gather and prepare before they were complete. It took days for him to train himself to recognize those things Eric told him needed to be fresh for the procedure to work, but it took him even longer to actually collect those things. It wasn't as if the ingredients they needed all lay beside a peaceful brook. No, many cling to the rocks at the center of raging rivers. Many times, Aden even had to take care not to touch the plant he collected, lest his skin absorb the toxic plant's secretion known to make limbs swell or the mind play horrifying tricks. If not for the pure determination that coursed through his body, there were many times he'd have given way to failure and incompletion.

         But when he got back to Eric's home to see the man not only also home, but already mixing several of his own ingredients over the fire, Aden found his somewhat bruised motivation renewed. Eric had opened the extensively locked door for Aden to enter, but had immediately gone back to his work, leaving Aden to do whatever he needed on his own. Aden carried his bags, heavy with the many things he'd been sent to collect in their corresponding glass containers, to the table and carefully set them on the floor beside it. It took him a moment to untangle himself from the straps he'd woven onto him before the trek from the town's stable, where he'd boarded Admiral, his horse, to Eric's front door.

         With a relieved grunt, Aden set the last bag on the floor. "And with that, provided you were successful, we've everything we need."

         "At the pace I've been working at, we should be able to conjure the portal come the next full moon." Eric turned his metal tongs in the flames like he'd done with Aden's crystal, but he instead turned a small metal ball Aden could only assume he'd something relevant to their project.

         "What shall I do?" Aden asked after he stood beside the table for several moments.

         "Arrange the vials as they appear on the list on the table.." Eric replied, still carefully cooking the contents of the ball. "On second thoughts, come arrange them along the wall, single file. I'd like to make sure everything is in order."

         Both frustrated and grateful for Eric's check, Aden did as he was told. He unfolded the list he'd stowed in the small satchel. With each name he'd search for the vile containing the that thing and place it tot he side. After he had a few ingredients laid out beside him, Aden would line them along the wall, starting along the furthest wall from the fireplace.

         It took him a while to arrange his finding, but by the time he was done, Eric was carefully removing a palm-sized sphere of while and green granules from his fire-heated iron ball. He wrapped the sphere in a while cloth and stored it, along with his hands, in his jacket pockets.

         But Eric wasn't quick enough to hide the ugly welts covering his palms.

         "Your hands." Aden gasped, expecting to see nothing after the way they'd handled the fire before. "I thought the heat didn't harm you."

         Eric removed his hands and held them out, palms up, to Aden would see the welts more clearly. They weren't splotchy, nor were they in a line like welts from hot rode would be. No, these welts were shaped like the ancient symbols he occasionally saw on the spines of books in Eric's collection.

         "It's part of the process. Don't worry, I'll heal." It wasn't a complete lie. Eric's wounds would eventually heal. His skin would grow smooth and healthy, but even the little work he'd done so far seemed to by taxing him more than he'd planned.