Amaranth: A Maerith Kingdom Novel - Chapter 7

Amaranth stood in the entry to Crystal Crypt. She looked out at the Calegan Forest. There was no movement. There was no noise. It was eerily quiet. She thought to herself, What is happening? This is too quiet. I wonder what Odulore is up to. Does he know what’s happening over here? How would he? I miss Narella, but I have Valora. I miss the Pegasuses and taking them for a flight around the kingdom. Although, I can get it all back if I help Crumazz take over the kingdom. Do I want that? Do I want to deal with Crumazz?

Valora came up and rubbed up against her leg. “What do you want?” She asked.

The cat sat down and looked up at her, “We need to get back to work. Have you figured out which way you are going to go?”

Crumazz appeared behind her, she spun around and glared at him, “What do you want?”

“Have you figured out what’s next? What do we do? Come on, what’s the plan?”

“How do I know I can trust you?” She asked him.

“You don’t. Does it matter?”

“Yes. Yes, it does matter. How can I work with you if I don’t know if I can trust you?”

He rolled his eyes, turned around and stomped off. Crumazz almost stepped on Puggaald. He looked down and huffed off.

“What’s his problem?” Puggaald asked.

“I didn’t give him the answer he wanted.”

“Ah, well, he’ll get over it.”

They stood looking out into the forest. “Why is it so silent today?” He asked her.

“Wait, what? You speak? You didn’t speak just a few days ago.”

“Yes, I speak, but only once I determine if you are trustworthy.”

The skies started growing dark over the forest. A dark cloud filled the upper branches. It grew more and more ominous. The forest was still silent. Amaranth thought to herself,

What is going on? This is strange. I will have to see what mother’s journal has to say.

She turned and walked to her mother’s room. Puggaald followed her. When she sat down at the desk Valora jumped on the desk and laid down in the corner.

Amaranth opened her mother’s journal to where she had left off.

Now go get Puggaald and have him help you. Come back to read more once you have this taken care of.

Oh yeah, that’s where I was at, Amaranth thought to herself. She looked at Puggaald and said, “Now you need to squeeze the sour basil. Then once we get this made, you need to get into his meal and only him. This is very important. He also cannot know that you have it. If he knows, then it could be used against us.”

Puggaald nodded and proceeded to squeeze the sour basil. Amaranth added some ice, let it melt to turn it into a smooth emulsion, then added the Mountain Garlic, a quarter first, then a half and then a third of it.

She filled a pan with unsalted seawater, added the mixture and let it steep. Amaranth did just as her mother wrote and made friends with the dragons, then came back and brought it to a boil. She then let it simmer and steep While she took a power nap before adding the Fire Quassia and Water Petal, a half at a time, alternating between the two.

Everything came back to a boil, turned off the heat, mixed in the Dream Parsley and let everything rest over night.

Puggaald wandered back into the room, “Is it ready?”

“Yes. So, you need to take it and make sure it gets put into the correct meal. Don’t screw this up!”

He took the potion in a container, put it in his pocket, and walked out of the room.

Amaranth cleaned everything up and got it all put away quickly. She did not want Crumazz to come in and find out what she had done.

Once everything was put away she sat back down to the table and began to read more of the journal.

I hope that you got the potion done correctly and that Puggaald does not screw it up. You want to be rid of him. You do not need him to rule the kingdom.

The next thing you will have to worry about is what to do with Odulore. I know that you and him were raised together as siblings, but I have a feeling that the two of you don’t think of each other as siblings. I think that there’s more there. Now, do you want to have him at your side or do you want to go it without him? The only one that figure that one out is you.

Is Trodus still alive? If so, then you will have another one that will back you. Is Qrizor still alive? Then he will also help you. However, you cannot have them all. It will either be Trodus and Odulore or it will be Qrizor.

One thing to consider is that Trodus and Odulore do have the rest of the kingdom with them. If you go with Qrizor, then you will have to take over all the castles that are not for you. The only castle that Qrizor has is Miserth Castle. It’s a nice castle, much better than this crypt, but it’s not as nice as the other castles. They also have animal back-up. So, you will be pretty much on your own and will only have potions to help you.

Amaranth thought to herself, Gee, what a choice. I have to go it myself or go with Odulore. The thing is, if I go that route I have to get word to him that I am with him before he uses Trodus’ Book of Spells against me. I don’t believe Qrizor is still alive. He hasn’t been around in forever. Plus, he just has one castle and no backup. If he is alive, it’s just him.

“Puggaald!” She yelled, in hopes that he could hear her.

He came running in, “Yes, I was on my way back. What do you want?”

“How can I get word to Odulore what my plans are without letting Crumazz know?”

“You wait patiently and you won’t have to worry about it.”

“I don’t want to be too late though. There is a dark cloud coming and I have no idea what it is. Mother hasn’t said in her journal.”

“Well, get reading. I will have dinner ready in a couple of hours.”

Crumazz walked in, “Still a couple of hours until dinner?”

“Yes, I can fix you something earlier if you like.”

“I would like that. I am starving and don’t want to wait a couple of more hours.”

Puggaald walked out of the room and headed to the kitchen. Crumazz stayed behind. “So, are you any further along? You certainly do read slowly.”

“Well, I do read, which is more than I can say for you. Don’t make fun of how slow I read when you don’t read at all.”

“Good point. I am going to go see what Puggaald has come up with for an early dinner for me.” He turned and exited.

Oh, thank God that he finally left. I hope this takes place quickly. I need to get word to Odulore. She contemplated. I should get reading some more. Even though I am doing this for myself, not for Crumazz.

Down the tunnel to the dining room Crumazz quickly walked. Once there he yelled out, “Puggaald, do you have my dinner ready?”

Puggaald appeared from the kitchen with a pot of stew. “Yes, yes, Crumazz, I have your dinner ready. I made this pot of stew just for you.”

He sat down at the table and waited for his meal. The moment Puggaald sat it down in front of him. He picked it up and drank down half the broth. Then he started picking out the large pieces of meat. With his hand up to his mouth Crumazz suddenly could not move any further. He was frozen in place. He was immobile. His body became very stiff within moments. He could make no noise either.

Puggaald ran out of the room and went to Amaranth. “It worked! He is frozen. What do you want to do next?”

“Let me scan this journal to the next potion.” She scanned down multiple pages and came to the next potion. “Yes, here it is. It’s a death potion! Get mer the following ingredients:

- 1 teaspoon of Angel Galangal

- 4 tablespoons of Dream Blossom

- 2 heaps of Autumn Leaves

- 1 dash of Cave Oregano

- 6 bits of Devil Curry Leaf

Crunch the Angel Galangal and put the result in a container. Add some ice, let it melt to turn it into a lumpy cream, then add the Dream Blossom, first one tiny amount, then everything else.

Fill a pan with water and kill it, add the mixture and turn up the heat, then turn on the stove and bring the mixture to a boil. Let it steam for a short while before adding the Autumn Leaves and Cave Oregano, a quarter at a time of a mixture of both.

Gently warm the currently disgusting mixture, mix in the Devil Curry Leaf and let everything rest for a few minutes.

Whisk the mixture gently to break up any potential clumps. Your potion is ready to be used.”

“All right, everything is ready for you to use. He is immobile at the moment. Thankfully he was in the middle of eating the meat, so his mouth is open.”

They take the potion and quickly go to the dining room. Crumazz is still seated right where Puggaald left him and in the same position. The previous potion is still working. Amaranth took the potion bottle, placing it at his lips, she tilted it up and poured the potion into his mouth. She stood watching him. Crumazz’s eyes went blank and a black smokey spirit came out of his mouth and evaporated right in front of him.

“Yes!!” Amaranth exclaimed. “We are now rid of Crumazz. You’ll need to get him out of the dining room though. I need to go get Oizu. He will fly back to Rissingshire Castle. Odulore must know that I am not against him.”

Puggaald snapped his fingers and a few minutes later Oizu was there at the entry to the dining room. “You called.”

“Yes, you need to take Amaranth to Rissingshire Castle and make it quick. Time is of the essence.”

“Get on my back and we’ll be off.” She climbed on his back and off the went to Rissingshire Castle.

Continue Reading - Chapter 8