The Alchemist's Practice Chapter 9

Edric emptied the pack that he had carried his few supplies in and cleaned it as best he could. After it was ready, he went down to the inn's great room and looked for Wynn.

After Wynn was done serving someone, Edric waved to her, and she walked over to him. "Good morning, Edric," she said, and then she noticed his pack slung over his shoulder, and her eyes went wide. "You're leaving?!" she nearly shouted.

She startled him, and he said, "No, no!" immediately. "Someone just wanted a small remedy, and I'm going to see if I can gather ingredients."

Wynn's relief was visible on her face, but then it changed to a slight frown. "You might not have much luck with the townsfolk, and the merchants from yesterday didn't stay the night. They left after eating a meal."

"I thought as much," he said while shrugging his shoulders. "I planned to have a look and then head to the forest to see if I could find anything."

"Do you have any food in there," she asked, pointing at his pack. The look on her face made Edric think she already knew what the answer was.

Edric sheepishly scratched his face, skipped answering, and went straight for an excuse. "I didn't think I would be out for that long."

Wynn shook her head. "I'll not having you coming back here dead on your feet asking for a meal," she said. "Wait here."

Wynn went out to the back kitchen, and Edric sat down at a nearby table. After a brief moment, Wynn returned with a small cloth bundle and a waterskin and handed them to him.

"There's some dried meat, cheese, and a couple boiled eggs."

"Thanks, Wynn," he said, and she smiled back at him. "Is there anything you might want in the forest? Mushrooms, plants? I know which are edible and which aren't."

"Hmm," she leaned back and pondered the question briefly. "Bring back anything you can find, and I'm sure I can make use of it."

Edric turned to leave, then he remembered something he wanted to ask Wynn for that could help Garrick's treatment. Before he could ask, Wynn stopped him.

"Edric, before you leave, I've been meaning to ask, have…" she hesitated a moment, then looked up at him with worry in her eyes. "Have you been to see the farm?" she asked. "Your parent's farm? Your farm?" she amended.

"Umm, no, I haven't." He was suddenly anxious and wanted to get to work at making the remedy for Garrick. "I meant to ask you if you had any grain alcohol, or maybe potatoe alcohol. It could help with the remedy I'm making."

Wynn frowned for a moment but didn't press her previous question. "No, I don't have a distillery," she said, then with a smile, she added, "yet."

Edric grinned along with his friend. After lamenting over Wynn not having a distillery, they said their goodbyes, and he began to leave. When he approached the exit, one of the patrons, a villager he couldn't recognize, stopped him.

"Oy, Foster boy," he said to call him over.

The man's foul-smelling breath wafted over towards Edric, and he had to suppress a reaction. Ale, and possibly some ailment of the teeth, met Edric's nose, but it wasn't anything he couldn't handle given his past work in Sybold. Aside from the foul breath, he looked of an average sort: farmer tan, long, messy beard, and short brown hair. There was another man with him, the two breaking their fast together.

"Yes?" Edric said after the waft of air passed, and he took a small step out of its path.

"Word is you're a healer. Can ye heal my crops? Blight's taking some, and I'd rather keep them than burn them."

Edric shook his head. "Sorry, that's not something I was trained in."

"What about animals then?" he asked. "My sow's not been producing no matter how many times I let the stags have at her," he said with the last bit devolving into a crude laugh that his friend joined in.

"I've only been trained to treat humans," Edric replied flatly.

The man lost his good humour in an instant, spat on the floor and as he turned back around, and said, "What good are ye then?" with a dismissing wave.

Edric's face felt hot with anger, but he let it go and walked away. He needed to keep good relations with the farmers if he were to lease his land. Though he had his family name, he had none of the histories that came with it. He could rely a bit on the borrowed goodwill of his parents, but if he made enemies, it wouldn't last very long.

He left Nuumad's Blessing in a huff but was able to quickly walk the anger off. He headed to the various small merchants, villagers selling odds and ends, scattered around Mayel's square.

The locals had a few stalls, certainly not as many as there had been years ago, but enough that Edric felt he should look through them. Two were from a couple of the local farms selling produce, freshly churned butter, and homespun linins. The crops were a bit sparse, but there was plenty of butter, and the linins were well made.

The farmer's teenage daughters were running the stalls, and they talked amongst themselves until he approached. "Hello ladies," he said, and they both blushed and giggled.

"Hello Edric," the older one said after a moment.

He looked over the stall already and didn't see anything that could help make his remedy, but he did have a question. "I haven't been back long, so I haven't heard why it's slowed down so much here. When I was your age, this square used to be filled with stalls and children playing."

"None play anymore cause their mommas fear bandits," the younger spurted out.

"If it weren't for the guards," the older one continued with a look over her shoulder towards one of the posts, "Da' wouldn't let me sell anything."

"It's gotten that bad here?" Edric said in mostly a mumble to himself.

"It's whats they're sayin' happened to your farm. Bandits came and burned it," the younger said before the older could grab her arm and whispered something harsh under her breath. The younger's eyes widened, then she added, "Or it coulda been the fae."

The older girl reprimanded the younger one again before looking at Edric. "Umm, that's just what some are saying. No one really knows what happened."

The anxious feeling returned. Edric didn't have time to be talking about bandits or the fae with the young ladies. He smiled and bid the two good day as he headed off outside of the village.

Edric went to the road that he had come in on, the one leading to Sybold, and, though he didn't consciously think of it, the road away from his family farm. Allard was standing there, near his post, leaning on his spear. When he heard Edric's footsteps approaching, he turned around and stood straighter.

This time, Edric nodded his head to the man rather than waving, and Allard returned the gesture. "Heading outside the village, Master Foster?"

"Yes, into the forest to look for herbs and flowers, and perhaps some mushrooms," Edric said with a smile.

Allard stepped aside, but as he did so, he said, "I wouldn't presume to keep you off your own land, young master, but take heed not to go too far from the village or too deep into the forest."

"Don't tell me you believe in the fae, Allard? You don't seem the type," he said with a chuckle.

Allard didn't laugh with him and simply said, "Bandits."

Edric felt his face redden as his laughter died. "Ah, yes," was all he could reply with as he began walking again.

"Do you have protection with you?" Allard asked as he eyed Edric up and down. The inspection seemed to answer his own question, so Allard unbuckled one of the two swords from his waist, the shorter one, and handed it to Edric. "It's dangerous to go alone," he said. "Take this."

Edric accepted the short sword and fastened it around his waist. He didn't bother trying to decline or give the excuse that he couldn't use it, as he knew based on his limited interactions with Allard he wouldn't take no for an answer.

Allard nodded, a nod of approval this time, and Edric went on his way. After leaving Mayel proper, he followed the road until he could more easily leave the path and make his way to the forest. Before long, Edric was covered by a thick canopy of swaying leaves.

Even just outside of Mayel, there was a stark contrast between the sounds of the villagers talking, doors opening and closing, and heavy boots, and the slight, delicate noise of the forest.

The gentle crumple of leaves from his step, twigs giving way with a sharp crack, trees whispering to one another as the wind gave voice to them through the leaves and branches. The scampering of woodland creatures running from his approach. Each sound soft and purposeful, and harmonious.

Maple, beech, spruce and pine were scattered throughout his vision, some in clusters and some mixed, with maple and pine being the most plentiful. As far as he could see, trees, leaves, moss, and fallen branches all around him.

Ever the Alchemist, thanks to his training in Sybold, Edric's mind went to work on how he could use the gifts from his friend. If Edric wanted, he could collect maple sap, turn that into maple syrup, and then make a maple candy that could incorporate medicine which goes down easier. The pine trees would provide many benefits, with the buds helping most for the cold season, though it was too late to collect them.

'I wouldn't presume to keep you off your own land,' Allard had said.

It was daunting to think about. This was his land now. He could do with it what he wanted. The thought itself was too large, and he couldn't comprehend even the full scope of how much he owned, nor what he could do with it all.

Edric tore off a small branch of the nearest pine for the needles. Garrick could take the needles, make a concentrated tea from them, and take a bath with it. Provided he kept very dry afterwards, it could help his rash.

Edric took in the pleasing, woody scent of the pine, and it brought him back to the simpler times. In that forest, the forest with no name, he could let go of the anger he had felt earlier. Let go of the anxiousness. Let go of all thought other than his surroundings.

He wandered about the forest, gathering strawshrooms and wild onions to bring back for Wynn, collecting flowers for Garrick, and taking in his surroundings. The same surroundings from his childhood remained nearly unchanged in his ten-year absence. The trees, so long-lived as they were, looked no different ten years ago as they had twenty years ago. He was once again connected to nature as he had been ten years ago, and it was like another friend he was reuniting with.

The forest and its family of trees were as old as the oldest man recorded on the Julaein continent. The continent here being the first that Yynndal planted and let bloom, as the stories go.

Perhaps this was why his family became the Guardians of the Forest and why they were to protect it any way they could. To protect the forest is to protect that heritage and the remarkable calm that he felt here that he was sure others felt.

Weak legs, and shortness of breath, told Edric that he had been too absorbed in his gathering. His hands and legs were shaking, and when he thought on it, his stomach was as well, being so empty. Looking up, through the multitude of leaves and needles, he could see the sun was now high, and he'd been at it for hours.

Edric set his full pack down, rummaged through his treasures to find the lunch and water Wynn had given him, silently thanked her for her forethought, and sat down to eat. He ate the simple yet wonderful meal as he sat under the shade of a maple tree and gazed at the slow turnings of the world in that unchanging forest of his.

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I hope you enjoyed this chapter of The Alchemist's Practice. If you did, please give it a heart below, and share it with our friends and family. If you want to see more of my writing, visit www.mcleansnovels.com.

This one ended up being a bit longer again. The shorter chapters were meant to help keep it so I could do one a week, and edit it, without issues, but I'm finding that I need more room to tell the story I want to tell for that chapter. Hopefully I can keep with this pace.

In other news, I may have a name for this series, but it's by no means final and could change. "The Withering World" I don't know if that'll work, because if I take the story in the direction I would need to to make the title meaningful, then I could lose focus of that small town healer vibe that I wanted to capture with these books. We'll see what happens.