Bookworld Online: Marsh Man

Now that the pots of number ten potions were done, I extinguished most of the wildwood firewood to let the potions simmer and stay hot, so they wouldn't activate. Now that I had the means, I needed the vessel, and the only way to get one was to make it. I left the kitchen and saw two members of the construction crew were looking at my work room and all of the tools and things I had in there.

“I know you're not going to tell us how you did it.” One of them said as their hand slid over the large piece of solid stone that I had used like an anvil. “How did you do this?”

“The same way I did the walls.” I said and he took in a sharp breath.

“That's why I can't see any tool marks? You made it as one piece?!?”

I didn't respond and walked by them. I saw one of the two weight mages was in my potion ingredients room and one was inside my potion storage room. I wasn't sure what they were doing in there, though. They just stood there and had their eyes closed. Mage Lukas was in the front room and he only had eyes for the now empty room on the left, where I had stored all of those creature pelts, horns, and tails.

“You had a few magical creatures in here.” Mage Lukas said.

“I think it was the marsh panther pelts.” I said and he took in a sharp breath, just like the construction crew member had about the walls.

“Please tell me you have another.” Mage Lukas said with a pleading tone in his voice. “The King would give you a dukedom to have it for the queen.”

“I can't promise it, even if I do find another.” I said. “Diane runs the shop.”

Mage Lukas smiled and nodded understanding. I went by him and outside to gather a bunch of special trees.

“Hey, those are no good for building. Those are springy trees.” One of the two construction guys outside said. “They won't hold their shape and...”

“...that's why I want to use them.” I said and cut a bunch of them down. They weren't very wide, so I needed a lot of them for what I wanted to do. They were plentiful and grew like weeds, so I had my pile fairly quickly. I carried them over to the house and the pile of three foot long and four inch wide trees the construction crew had cut for me. I quickly peeled all of them and set them aside.

I went into the house to get two of my large wooden mold squares that were five feet by five feet. No one asked me what I was doing and just watched me work. I put the two wooden squares down and everyone had left my house to see. I found the biggest around of the logs the construction crew had cut for me and made a small mark on it with my knife.

I made a mark on the ground and lined them up, then rolled the three foot long log until the mark was in the same spot again and marked the ground with my knife. I took one of the foot long sticks I had and saw that it was just a little bit shorter than where the mark was, so I put my finger where the end of the stick was and slid it to touch the mark.

I notched the stick for the extra bit of length, since I didn't want to use my knuckle every time, and had added a bit for space. I didn't want it to be a tight fit, since that would hold it too much.

“I can't believe he just did that.” One of the construction guys whispered. “What a great way to find out the distance around a cylinder.”

I had to sacrifice one of the logs and cut it up into strips that were thick enough for marking the inside of the mold. My glowing knife amazed Mage Henrietta once more and she had to excuse herself and sit down in the boat. I used some number ten potion from a vial to attach the strips in the appropriate spots and could only get four of the right size spots across, because they were 13 inches across.

I left them five feet long, since the extra length was probably going to be needed. I used some fortifying waterproofing potion to make the new spacers be just like the rest of the mold, and now I could do what I wanted. I gathered up a handful of the thin springy trees that were only an inch or so wide, which was perfect, and cut them into five foot lengths. I added them to the mold and filled up all four of the available spaces.

I had to cut some on the edge to fit them in the available space, and that was fine. I picked two of them from the first space and applied some number ten potion on the rounded side to stick two of them together. It attached them together and I kept doing it with each successive piece from the first section. When I had them all together, I put it into the spot. It fit perfectly.

I did this with the other four spots and put them back, and now I had a nice platform for pouring more number ten potion in to make it flat. I went over to the boat and took out one of the hidden wildwood coins I had, scraped off the engraving before anyone could see it, and put it into the center of the second large wooden mold. I went back into the house and grabbed the first pot of potion and went back outside.

“I've stood here and watched you work for quite some time and I've remained silent, since most of what you're doing makes sense.” Mage Lukas said. “It's mold preparation and I assume that's some sort of waterproofing potion. You're also sticking things together with a glue of some kind.” He motioned to the big pot that was full of the stuff I had just used from vials. “I have to ask what you need so much glue for if they are already stuck together?”

“Marsh magic.” I said and used a ladle to dole out the potion onto the four springy tree molds. Once I had enough in it that it wouldn't splash, I poured directly from the pot to fill them up and made them level. When it dried, it would have a completely flat surface, which was exactly what I needed. I poured the rest of the pot into the other wooden square mold and let it set as well. It would make enough wildwood copy to enchant the logs.

“How long now?” Mage Lukas asked.

“It should set in half an hour.”

Mage Lukas sighed. “We're wasting time.”

“Only because the setup takes longer than doing the actual work.” I walked back over to the boat and dug out two more coins and cleaned them off. I went back over to the two weight mages and handed them a pencil and the cleaned coins. “Draw your secret crest on these.”

“WHAT?!?” Both yelled at once.

“You can go inside and do it if you want. I only want to see the differences.” I said.

“But... you...”

“You're going to be carving into the pieces I give you for the logs, so I need to know.” I said. “If it's not like mine, you'll need to know how to carve it properly.”

The two men exchanged glances and took the pencils and the wood coins, then went inside.

“I can't believe they are going to show you.” Mage Lukas said.

“They aren't.” I said and he gave me a surprised look. “I've learned that people never give away anything for free.”

Mage Lukas didn't say anything in response as his eyes went to Mage Henrietta.

“Still not free.” I said and he sighed.

“She wants you to marry her.”

“...and give her children, fame, and notoriety.” I said. “The last two are easy, the first two...” I shrugged. “She doesn't understand what it would mean for her.”

Mage Lukas kept looking at her happy expression. “I'm not sure she really cares, as long as her family benefits.” He paused for several moments. “I am also considering it.”

“She enjoys feeling strong magic.” I said. “She should like you a lot.”

Mage Lukas chuckled. “I meant offering you a position in my family.”

“Oh.”

“Your magic weapon alone is something that only the highest members of the Mages Guild have.” Mage Lukas said. “Do you understand how much magic it takes to use a weapon like that?”

“Not much. It's really efficient.” I said and he chuckled.

“Over a long period of time, it's an unattainable amount of magic to keep a weapon constantly charged.” Mage Lukas said. “I can only keep my sword charged for a few minutes before I need to rest or take a magic potion.”

“General health or healing?” I asked.

“Healing, since the right potion can restore magic to a safe level as well.”

That made me think of the times the Hag had healed me after feeding and I had to agree. I did feel much better after healing and didn't realize that was why.

“I don't suppose you'd share that healing potion recipe of yours?” Mage Lukas asked.

“Would you share yours?” I asked back.

“With all the proper ingredients in it? No.” Mage Lukas said with a smirk. “I won't give anything away for free.”

I had to smile slightly at him for using my own words back at me.

“We're done.” One of the weight mages said as he poked his head out through the doorway.

I went inside and followed him to my work room. On the bench were two identical wooded coins a foot across, each with scribbles and words on it that I couldn't read.

“What's all this?” I asked and pointed to a long scribble.

“That's (unintelligible words and phrases). It describes the magic infusion to change the force down to weaken it.”

“I didn't hear a word you said.” I responded.

“What? You don't understand (unknown word)?” One of them asked.

“I can't even understand what word you just said.”

The two men exchanged looks and then whispered in the same language. Even I knew that was rude to do in front of someone, so I slapped my hand on one of the wood coins to make it bang loudly. They jumped in fright and then stared at me.

“Using my ignorance won't work. I've had that happen before and I won't let it happen again. Just because I don't know the name of something, doesn't mean that I don't recognize it.” I held up the coin and used a piece of cloth to wipe the pencil marks off. “Copy out the real crest of your family.”

“We can't betray our family's code of honor.” One of them said. “We can't give you our most closely held secret.”

“If you don't, you will fail in your mission to learn the modification from me.” I said and both men took in sharp breaths. “You have another ten minutes until the potions are set to make your choice.” I walked out of the room and the house. I went back to the boat and picked up another wooden coin to clean it off.

Mage Henrietta sat there and had watched me each time and smiled at me. “No, I haven't gone through them to look or to steal one.”

I was a little surprised that she didn't even peek.

“I did count them, though.” She said with a smile. “You have two left. Do you really want to leave them here with me?”

“They've been safe near you so far.” I said and reached down and picked up the last two. “Can you memorize one by the time we're done?” I asked, almost teasingly.

“I can definitely try.” Mage Henrietta said. “If anything, I'll remember the shape at least.”

I handed one to her and her eyes widened. “It took me six months to learn it without knowing how to make them.”

“David, you don't have to do this.” Mage Henrietta said and hugged it.

“I'm going to need it later, if my calculations are right.” I said and she looked confused as I cleaned the other one off. “How much do you want to bet that one of the other boats are being examined by the other mages?”

“I'm not that rich.” Mage Henrietta said with a warm smile. “You're also not stupid. You would never leave them to be easily exposed.”

I nodded to her and pat the bench seat she sat on. “As soon as they start cutting it open, all three enchantments will fail.”

Mage Henrietta gasped. “That'll leave part of the strike team exposed!”

“Yes, and won't that be an interesting scene to see when we get back with our new weapons.”

“Our?” Mage Henrietta asked.

“I suspect the other two mages aren't going to want to help enough to be useful, so I want you to concentrate on this...” I pointed to a line. “...this...” I pointed to a half groove with a curve. “...and this.” I ran my finger along a deep double groove along the outer edge. “It's the magic channel.”

“I know.” Mage Henrietta said. “I've never seen it in this configuration before.”

“It's very efficient.” I said. “You have an hour to remember what you can.”

Mage Henrietta nodded and dropped her head to trace the three things I had pointed out.

I left her there and went to the piles of four inch wide logs that were going to be the ammunition. I used the bottom of one to mark out four circles, which was all I could get out of the coin, then cut it into squares. I used a single drop of number ten potion to stick them to the end of the log and then held my charged knife horizontally to the log, then rolled the log.

The construction crew let out startled sounds as I made four perfectly round coins that were four inches across. I sliced them off of the log and put them aside. I did the same with the other two, so now I had twelve coins, which would be enough for both the weight and movement enchantments for six logs. I checked the molds and the ones with the springy trees were done. I picked it up and dumped it out and the four springy tree things popped out.

“What the... I thought you filled the mold. Why are the bottom halves still rounded sticks?” Mage Lukas asked.

“So they would stay springy.” I said and picked one up and a log, then put the flat side next to the log and rolled it up. It left the bumps on the outside and made a perfect five foot long tube that was smooth on the inside.

“By the Son's Light!” One of the construction crew said loudly.

I added some number ten potion to seal the side and now the log could easily slide in and out of it. “Build me four small catapult brackets to mount these on.”

“YES, SIR!” The construction crew members yelled, then the four of them put the temporary bridge back in place and ran to get the wood they would need.