Mutante: Chapter 26
Copyright 2023 Elizabeth Frerichs
The path was small enough that it forced them to swim single file. Despite her exhaustion, Rosie kept a close eye out for that telltale sickly green color. Looking at the various magics around them, Rosie noted their clear, clean colors. Had Rina’s magic always been that color, or had the curse twisted her magic as well as her character?
After about ten minutes, they reached the black sand. Though it radiated magic, as did the plants her grandmother had grown there, she didn’t notice any taint of foreign magic.
She pulled out two vials and began moving towards the sand.
“Whoa, wait a second,” Robert said, pulling her back towards him. “How about I do that? Not only are you still exhausted, but you need to save your strength for the potion.”
Rosie hesitated. He probably could safely collect this ingredient despite not having magic. It was sand—not poison. “Okay.” She handed the vials over to him. It was strange how much she trusted him. She hadn’t even thought about leaving him outside the illusion, and now she had no compunctions in trusting him to gather the sand and not try to do anything crazy.
Though she watched him like a rock eel, waiting for another flare of Rina’s magic, nothing untoward happened. He carefully scooped sand into the vials and then swam back up to her.
“Might be the easiest one yet,” he said with a grin.
“Speak for yourself,” she retorted tiredly. Getting this ingredient had been the most draining for her by far.
He grimaced. “Right. Other than the whole getting stuck in Rina’s maze bit.” He stowed the vials and then asked Thomas where the shed was.
“Last I knew, it was in the southeast corner of the gardens,” he said. “However, Madam Essie may have moved it,” he said ruefully.
Rosie took a deep breath. “We’d better just move the path in case it’s not where you expect it to be. Plus, I’d rather not have to fight another of Rina’s spells—the path should take us around the spell, right?”
Thomas studied her for several moments. “I do not like this plan, but I do not see any other way.”
“Neither do I, so—” Robert took her hand. “I’m right here. I may not be able to do the spell for you, but I’m still here.”
She smiled at him. “I know. Thank you.” Steeling herself to add to the weight of exhaustion she now carried, she said the spell.
At least she didn’t have to fight through Rina’s spell this time. The path spread outward without difficulty. Rosie kept it small, just in case.
Fifteen minutes later, they reached the shed without incident.
Thomas studied it. “Do you see any magic on it?”
Rosie nodded. “But it’s not Rina’s magic.”
“That’s probably just the locking spell then,” Thomas said.
“How hard is it to break?” Robert said, swimming towards the shed. “I bet I could just use my sword and then—”
“Stop!” Thomas commanded.
Robert froze.
“Come back here,” Thomas said sternly.
Robert obeyed. “What?”
“That spell maims anyone who tries to open the door without the proper password,” he said. “You would not succeed in breaking the lock or opening the door; you would only injure yourself beyond any ability to assist Miss Rose. Now—” He turned his attention to Rosie. “Miss Rose, if you will simply repeat after me.”
She nodded.
“Loathsome lionfish.”
Robert began to laugh. “That’s the password?”
“Pass-spell, but yes,” Thomas said.
Rosie obediently repeated the pass-spell, and the shed door glowed for a second and then swung open.
“Wow,” Robert said as they walked inside.
The shed was more than twice as large on the inside as it looked on the outside. A counter ran the length of one wall.
Rosie glanced at her timekeeper. They had two hours left, but the way her bones felt . . . even another day of rest might not have been enough to fully restore her energy. But she still had to try. Fighting Rina’s spell had only strengthened her resolve, not dimmed it. They could not leave Aquaria at Rina’s non-existent mercies. What if she placed a maze spell on anyone trying to enter or exit the palace? What if she made it impossible to get anywhere, ever? Or worse, what if she just set a horde of sea monsters loose in the capital and they digested people left and right?
Rosie clenched her hands into fists. No, she would have to do whatever was necessary, even if it was dangerous. There was no one else around to do it.
But maybe she could lie down for a bit first. “How long do you think it will take to make the potion, Thomas?”
“I do not know, Miss Rose. However, I believe it to be imperative that you rest first. This shed should be safe enough—it’s spelled against disruptions. In addition, Madam Essie dug a tunnel between the house and the shed, intending to use the shed as a last resort safe house if necessary.”
Rosie gave a small smile. “Grandma always did like her back-up plans. It’s what made her such a good Witches’ Council member.”
“And if we use the tunnel to get into the house, we shouldn’t have to deal with as many monsters and such,” Robert pointed out.
“Huh. Yeah, that would work,” Rosie agreed, stifling a yawn.
Thomas fixed her with a beady glare. “Miss Rose, please rest. Your grandmother has a serviceable hammock on the shelves in the back to your left—or at least she used to.”
Robert slid away from Waterdancer and over to the shelves. After some digging, he held up a hammock and snugly attached it to the shed roof. “Here, Rosie. Just take a little break.”
“We don’t have long,” she reminded him.
He placed a hand across his chest and bowed solemnly. “I vow to awaken you in an hour, princess.”
Rosie merely held his gaze for a moment. “You’d better. We still don’t know what else we might have to face, and we can’t afford to be too late.”
“Of course, my liege,” he said with a smirk.
She shook her head and curled up in the hammock.
“Now, Thomas, how can I start on ingredient preparation so Rosie just has to do the spell?” Robert murmured.
Rosie bit her lip. Hopefully, they wouldn’t muck up any of the ingredients. Then again, it wasn’t like she knew any better. Thomas was the expert here. She stared up at the ceiling, allowing the hammock to swing slightly. If she failed, either in the spell or in administering the potion, Rina’s traps might prevent them from ever getting home. For the briefest moment, she considered the likelihood of them surviving the day. No. Thinking about it wouldn’t change anything and she didn’t need doubts stealing her energy today. She didn’t have the energy to spare.
Rosie yawned again. Maybe she could sleep. The aching exhaustion might have lessened by the time she awoke. At least she could float here and try not to think.
Robert’s hand on hers brought her back to consciousness. Clearly, she had slept. Not well—her dreams had been full of visions of peril—but any sleep was better than none.
“It’s been an hour,” he murmured, rubbing his thumb against the back of her hand.
She blinked, trying to convince her body that an hour was sufficient rest, despite the fact that her bones still felt made of lead. “Ok, so what now?” she asked, sliding out of the hammock.
“Thomas says the ingredients can’t be combined without a spell, but we at least chopped up the magenta and cerulean kelp and removed the siren-plant seed from its pod.”
“Ok.” She swam over to where Thomas was propped on the counter, surveying the vials and boxes of ingredients. A cauldron sat over a cold burner—something she hadn’t seen since before the curse. Only a witch could turn it on. Sea-flames were one of the first spells that witches mastered, according to her grandmother.
She took a deep breath, willing herself to sound awake. If Thomas or Robert had any suspicion of how very exhausted she still was, they wouldn’t let her near the potion.
“How are you feeling, Miss Rose?” Thomas asked.
Rosie pasted on a bright smile. “Much better. So what do we do now? I suppose you’ll tell me I ought to eat first, right?” she teased.
Thomas inclined his head with a slight smile, although the worried look didn’t leave his eyes. “Food first and then I will provide the potion recipe.”
Rosie nodded amicably. Before she could even think about getting into her bag, Robert was already there, fixing her something.
“You don’t have to do that, you know?” Rosie pointed out.
Robert huffed. “Of course I know I don’t have to. But I want to. I can’t help you with the spell, but I can help with this.”
She smiled. “Thanks.”
He bowed floridly and then handed her a seaweed wrap.
After finishing her wrap, Rosie actually did feel slightly more energetic. The tired still gnawed at her bones, but the weight on her chest had lessened and breathing didn’t feel like quite such a chore.
“Right, shall we begin with the recipe, Thomas?” she asked.
Thomas sighed and then the recipe flickered onto the mirror’s surface again.
Rosie read through the instructions. On the one hand, it seemed fairly straightforward—just combine everything into an enchanted cauldron in a specific order, heat it for twenty minutes, and then speak the spell over it. Not hard at all, but . . . it was magic; simple didn’t mean easy.
“All right, how about you hand me ingredients and I’ll put them in the cauldron?” she suggested to Robert, since he was hovering by her elbow.
“I would be honored to assist you in your potion-making, princess.”
It was odd—or perhaps not all that odd given how much time they had spent together the past few days—but they moved together easily, going from one step to the next without interruption. It definitely helped that the ingredients were already prepared. And the enchantment on the cauldron kept ingredients from floating out of it.
To begin the potion, she first had to cleanse the cauldron. Fortunately, as the cauldron was self-cleaning, the magic for that came from the cauldron and not from her. But once everything but her blood was added in, starting the fire was—even with that small spell, she was nearly as tired as she’d been before her nap.
Thomas agreed to keep track of the 20 minutes and now they just had to wait.
A/N: I hate that I’m just leaving you guys with so many cliffhanger-ish chapters, but the end is kind of all one piece. Anyway! Thanks for reading 🙂 Let me know what you think!
See you on Saturday!
