The Alchemist's Lair: Part 6

Balthazar made good on his word. He translated his notes with record speed.

“Basically, it is one half of a dialogue. Unfortunately, there is no apparition of his conversation partner – that we know of – but I believe what we have is more than enough to triangulate the laboratory’s approximate location”.

The translated text we were looking at went as follows:

The surveillance spotted them in the pass yesterday! I’m telling you, we have a rat. K’rnyatcha knows where I am! I need –

Listen, I’m this close to finishing the vaccine! I’ll have it within the week, and without it, you’re doomed anyway!

Yes, I know the defenses are state-of-the-art! But if they know where I am, they may know how to circumvent them. And who can guarantee the comms will still be up by the time I’m finished? Send reinforcements, if nothing else, to pick up the-

“At his point the apparition ‘died’”, helpfully added Balthazar when we finished reading.

“So, what practical information can we glean from this?” asked Nixon.

“Quite a lot, actually”, responded Civet. “This segment of dialogue fits quite nicely in the actual history. Borchia fell after it was invaded by K’rnyatcha, who unleashed a plague to weaken their enemies. Nestor the alchemist secluded himself in his laboratory trying to find a cure, and was never heard of again. Eventually, the plague backfired on K’rnyatcha, and both empires fell, pretty much resetting civilization in this part of the world. Anyway, the pass Nestor mentions is likely the Skellah pass northwest of here. Since K’rnyatcha was to the east, roughly in the same area as the Sorcerous League of today, it is likely the laboratory is further west from the pass, close enough for enemy agents to reach it within a day”.

“We’ll need to look out for bandits while we’re there”, chimed in Iocasta. “There’s a major trade route through the pass, leading to the western kingdoms”.

“We’re well-armed enough they’ll think twice about attacking us”, said Nixon, “but we’ll be careful nonetheless”.

We left Kotezh the next morning, heading north, then joined a trade road and continued towards the pass. A camp was made in one of the few locations where the surrounding terrain was flat enough for our carts to leave the road. That place seemed to be often used by merchants, as we found traces of multiple fires.

The next day, the surrounding hills slowly began morphing into sheer cliffs, and we entered a gorge. In the afternoon, Civet took an interest in a particular rock formation. “I’ll stay with him until he’s done”, said Iocasta exasperatedly. “There’s a small valley soon enough, you can’t miss it. Set up camp, and we’ll catch up with you there, if not before”.

Sergeant Nixon didn’t seem to like the idea very much. “It’s your call, but didn’t you say we had to be wary of bandits?”

Iocasta sighed with resignation. “If we all wait, night will catch us on the road, and if I drag him away now, he’ll sneak out at night and die. I think this is the least terrible solution”.

“You could always tie him up”, suggested Nixon half-jokingly, “Wish I did so last time. Would’ve saved us some trouble”.

“I don’t think the situation is that dire”, laughed Iocasta.

“Well, if that’s what you decided, so be it. Julia, Andre, you’re on Civet duty again! Everyone else, move out! As soon as we reach that valley, we’re making camp!”

As it would soon turn out, making that camp wasn’t in the cards. We moved slowly through the gorge, its sheer cliffs unclimbable without special equipment. Suddenly, one of the soldiers in front of our group shouted “Movement!” and raised his rifle towards the top of the cliffs. At that very instant, multiple gunshots echoed through the canyon, hitting the unfortunate soldier in the chest and neck. He fell from his hadrosaur, which, itself injured, started panicking and ran off deeper into the gorge. Immediately afterwards, I could hear a rumbling noise from behind. Turning around, I saw a large pile of rocks falling directly at our back ranks. Most were able to get away, except for one unfortunate trooper who got crushed by the rubble. And just like that, our retreat was cut off.

Meanwhile, the walls of the canyon were getting lined with around a dozen bandits, all pointing their guns at us. “Drop your weapons! And put your hands in the air!” shouted one of them. Nixon briefly assessed the situation, then motioned us to comply. It was likely the right call – we had no cover, and half of us would be dead before we took one shot. “I’m afraid you won’t get a good haul from us”, he said. “We are no merchants”.

A mocking laughter could be heard from the cliffs. “We know that”, said the bandits’ spokesman. “You’re some royal organization or another. And you have a noble whelp with you. We’re well informed, you see. Boss says you will fetch a good ransom”.

The situation was not good, but at least we weren’t likely to get killed. We were marched to the clearing we were headed for initially, where another group of bandits was waiting. They ordered us to dismount and tied our hands.

“If I hear you got less than 2,000 ducats for my ransom”, said Rhombus to his captor, “I will consider it a personal offense and make sure you all face the gallows”.

“And if you don’t learn to hold your tongue, some parts of you may be shipped home in a separate package”, responded the bandit.

By the time we were all tied up, night had already fallen. We were led through the darkness. The bandits seemed to know the route well, as only a few were carrying lanterns. None of us, on the other hand, had a chance to remember the path we were taking for future reference.

Eventually, we reached their hideout. The entrance was a huge metallic frame, with a horizontal sliding door that was open just enough for a single person to walk in. The walls inside were covered in pipes and wiring, strange devices covered in knobs and buttons strewn around.

“So many dead machines”, I remarked.

“I’m surprised you recognize them as machines”, noticed Annabel. “Impressive for someone who has just arrived in this world. This is typical High Borchian stuff. I’m sure Civet could tell you more about it – but alas, I mostly remember the pictures from some tome or another”.

“High Borchian? So this might be the place we were looking for!”

“Might be. Maybe the king will buy the exploration rights for the place along with our lives”, Annabel laughed nervously.

We reached a large room, where we were greeted by a tall, muscular, eyepatch-wearing, blonde, bearded man. “Welcome to my humble abode. My name is Goyko, and I run this operation. I trust you will find the accommodation more than adequate. You need not fret about the payment – I will have your employers deal with that!”