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The Alchemist's Practice Chapter 10

Extracting a Remedy

By Jeremy McLeanPublished 3 years ago 8 min read
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Edric returned to Nuumad's Blessing with a pack filled to the brim with the forest's bounty. It was well past noon when he arrived, and so it was empty of villagers. He noticed Wynn with a cup of tea in front of her and a book in her hands.

Wynn looked up from her book when he entered and smiled. "Welcome back, Alchemist," she said, grinning like it was fifteen years ago.

"Glad to be back, Innkeep."

She shook her head in mock anger, but her grin never faded. "So, what did you find?"

Edric set his pack down on top of the table Wynn was sitting at and sat down. He was still a bit out of breath from the trek through the forest, enough so that, along with his scrapes and scratches, Allard asked him what had happened when Edric returned his sword.

He opened the pack and began unveiling his treasures. He handed Wynn her bundle and waterskin back. The waterskin was empty, but the bundle was near to bursting open, which caused Wynn's eyes to widen in surprise.

She undid the tie and revealed strawshrooms, wild onions, asparagus, and fiddleheads. When Wynn saw the fiddleheads, she nearly gasped. "How did you find these?" she said as she picked one up to marvel at it.

Edric grinned. "I was surprised too," he said. "It's almost out of season, so they're probably the last anyone will find."

Wynn couldn't seem to keep her eyes off the fiddleheads. Edric knew she would like them. Along with strawshrooms, fiddleheads were a favourite treat from their days of playing in the forest, Wynn's favourite most of all.

"Thank you, Edric." Wynn's voice was soft and warm and punctuated with a brief pause to let the words settle and hold significance. "I'll make us a wonderful meal tonight with all this."

"I can't wait," Edric replied. "I'm going to make the remedy I was mentioning in the meantime. Do you have a mortar and pestle and some oil or fat I could use? Oh, and a glass bottle?"

"I do have some you can use, but you'll have to clean the mortar and pestle first," she said, then after a second to think about it, added, "and after." She pointed at him as she said the last part, giving him a stern look at the same time.

"I promise to return your mortar and pestle in pristine condition," Edric said solemnly.

Wynn nodded, looking satisfied with Edric's promise, and took the bundle out to the inn's kitchen. After a moment, she returned with a large stone mortar and pestle, an empty glass bottle, and a bottle of liquid oil which Edric could tell was hard to come by. He would have objected, but he only planned on using a few drops and knew arguing wouldn't do much good.

The mortar and pestle were made of solid granite chiselled and polished smooth on all sides, save for a large crack running down on one end. The damage didn't go all the way through, and the inside was still unblemished aside from normal wear and tear over the years. It wasn't as dirty as he thought it would be, but he could see bits of green and white and a sheen of oil in the bowl.

Edric thanked Wynn, then went outside to one of the nearby wells to wash the mortar and pestle clean. It was easy work given how well used the tools were and how smooth the granite had stayed.

Once clean, he took the tools and his pack of forage up to his room on the inn's second floor. After cleaning them of all dirt, he placed chamomile, a bit of dandelion, and a small splash of the oil into the mortar. Then, he crushed everything together with the pestle, making sure to get all the large parts to break down and blend together into a paste.

Once Edric was sure the paste was thoroughly mixed, he scooped it out and placed it into a cloth, and then wrung out some of the juice and oil back into the mortar. He took the oil and juice and drained as much as he could into the glass bottle, then watered it down before shaking it all together.

He took the mortar and pestle outside to clean it again, returned it to Wynn, and took his remedy to Garrick's family home.

The day was waning now, with the sun halfway from its peak to the horizon, but it was no less intense. It was still considered spring, being early in the month of Sivan, but it was a warm spring, and no doubt summer would continue that trend.

His walk was slow, as he was still worn from his trek through the forest, and he began to sweat as soon as he passed by Allard for the third time that day. He declined Allard's sword this time and explained he was only heading to the Bachmeier farm and back.

On the way, Edric passed by a few farms just outside of the village and saw many young boys and men working the fields. They took out weeds and tending to bugs that were already having a meal of the budding crops.

All those who took notice of Edric waved and shouted a greeting his way. All but one. The farm opposite the Bachmeier's was owned by the Hensch family, and theirs was the last farm of Mayel before it all went back to forest land.

Whoever was feeding the pigs noticed Edric but didn't wave or greet him. When he looked at the man tending them, he saw it was the same man from the morning, the one who called him useless and a good-for-nothing, albeit in not so many words.

And then Edric remembered this was where the Hensch family lived. The Hensch family owned the second-biggest farm next to his family, the Fosters. The Hensch always had it out for his parents and carried a sour disposition towards them for as long as he could remember.

The young man who angered him earlier was none other than Maxwell Hensch, the eldest son of the Hensch family and a bully from Edric's youth. He seemed to take their family feud to heart and would lash out against Edric and his friends, but mainly Edric, any chance he could. And it seems the years didn't change his disposition. It only tempered it.

So, what if I had been able to heal his sow or the blight on his crops? Was it just a ploy to use me for his own gain? The thought angered Edric once again, but before he let the anger settle, he shook it off. He would just avoid the man when he could. There was no use letting Maxwell affect how Edric felt.

Edric noticed Garrick tending the farm and waved to him on the walk up to his home. Garrick waved back and stopped what he was doing to greet his friend.

"A fine afternoon, Edric!" Garrick said between laboured breaths. "What brings you here?"

Edric smiled. "I have your remedy," he said as he pat the pack he was carrying. "Do you want to head inside so I can tell you what to do with it?"

Garrick glanced towards his home and shook his head quickly. "No, no, I'll take it here."

Edric followed Garrick's gaze and saw the Bachmeiers looking at them through the window. Garrick's mother, Cerelia, waved to Edric, and so he waved back. That was why Garrick didn't want to talk about it inside.

Edric opened his pack and unfolded the paste of chamomile and dandelion and showed it to Garrick. "You can rub a little of this on the area and leave it for a half-hour before washing it away," he began, then handed the bundle to Garrick. Then he took out the mixture of oil, juice, and water. "This here won't be as potent, but you can drink it, and it may help." Garrick nodded with each instruction and took the bottle in hand. Then Edric took out a bundle of pine needles. "You can also make a tea out of the pine needles and add it to a bath."

Garrick glanced at the remedies one after the other as though he was memorizing the instructions over again. "So, this will cure it?"

"It should help, but I would try just to bathe and change your clothes more regularly and keep the area as dry as you can. If it is what I think it is, it's caused by sweat. If the area is dry, then it will stay away."

Garrick stepped forward and gave Edric a great big hug, and thanked him. After telling Garrick to let him know if it worked, the two parted ways, and Edric headed back to Nuumad's Blessing feeling proud that he could help his friend.

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If you enjoyed this chapter of The Alchemist's Practice, be sure to give it a heart below, and share it with your friends. If you want to read more of my writing, go to www.mcleansnovels.com to see more of my novels.

Finally made it to 10 chapters. I hope I can keep this weekly chapter things going. I think it's helping me a lot in terms of motivation for writing as well.

fantasy
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About the Creator

Jeremy McLean

Jeremy is currently living in New Brunswick, Canada, with his wife Heather and their two cats Navi and Thor.

Check out his novels at www.mcleansnovels.com

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