Fever Blood

Chapter 24: Iron Scars

She must have looked odd, a strangely tall woman wearing a simple tunic and a very expensive weapon, striding down the street. Her brown hair was pulled back into the three braids,that, even wrapped up as they were in the loose knot, still reached just above the middle of her back. It wasn't a normal style for Alberion or Caeldar. But Skaria really didn't care. It looked nice, and it kept her hair out of her face while she was fighting.

She traveled down the street, earning a few odd glances here or there, but Skaria didn't care. Her indifference was like an armor. Honestly, she didn't get why other people would care. These thoughts, and other, more trivial thoughts, buzzed around her head as she approached the dark, squatting, stone alchemy building. Three chimneys emitted a pale blue smoke. Skaria paused in front of the door, before knocking politely. She waited. And waited. And waited. Finally, she began to pound on the door.

A small peephole opened, and a crystal lens stared back. "What do you want?" Indra asked. She must have been wearing those giant goggles again.

"Karik'ar wants you." Skaria sniffed. "And why does it smell like there's a rotting body in there?"

Indra frowned. "I'm making something for Laidu. And it has to putrefy a bit." Indra opened the door. She was wearing her headscarf, and had wrapped it around her face, the silvery material leaving no skin bare."Be careful, and don't touch anything. It might eat off your fingers."Her voice was understandable, even if it was muffled

The smell of rotting flesh hit Skaria like a blow to the face. "That's disgusting!" she said, pinching her nose. Indra walked over to a small hatch on the floor. "It literally smells like someone left some rotting pigs in here!"

With a yank, the hatch opened as Indra heaved against it. "Look for yourself." skaria peered down at the bruised and ...ripening flesh of the pigs inside the small pit. They were decomposing underneath a grate of steel, and a few small bowls, each one a loop over the top, rested right above the rancid swine. "This is a putrefactory. Swineflesh is one of the best types of flesh to use to putrefy alchemical compounds." She handed Skaria a long stick with a hook on the end of it. "They look congealed enough. Get them out."

Skaria held her breath, and slowly hooked the first of the three bowls up. She set it on the side, grabbed the second one, and then the third. All three iron bowls, each one stinking with the fetid stench of decay, sat on the table. Indra slammed the hatch down and sealed it up. "Sorry about that. But these might prove useful."

"What are they?" Skaria asked, eyeing the bowls with suspicion.

"A drug that causes the body to produce more blood at an accelerated level." Indra moved over to the forge of the lab. "Stand back, this is dangerous." Skaria knew better than to argue.

Indra grabbed a long-handled pair of blacksmith's tongs and grabbed a small crucible of molten metal. "What is that?" Skaria asked.

"An alchemical blend of quicksilver and copper. Quickcopper." Indra slowly began to walk the red-hot cup of liquid over to the bowls. "Stand back." And with that warning in place, she poured a little bit of the molten metal into the first bowl.

There was a crackling hiss and a blast of foul-smelling steam erupted from the bowl. Indra ignored it and began to pour the molten metal into the other two bowls. "Don't breathe that in. It's full of excess hydrangics and sulfurics. Not good stuff to inhale."

Skaria backed away slightly. "Alright then," she said.

"And as for Karik'ar,"Indra said, her voice still muffled through the cloth, "I have no clue why he wants one, but tell him I did amplify the lodestone."