Not Gonna Die (A Skybrine Fanfic)

|Chapter 5| When Adam helps

            The inside was well lit, with tables - some full with open books and pens and paper and others bare - going down the centre of the square room, chairs tucked neatly underneath them. Almost every inch of the walls were covered from floor to ceiling with shelves full of books, sealed jars containing various brewery items and glass bottles, some empty, some full of coloured liquid. What wall space wasn't covered in shelves had posters of star constellations or detailed notes on roots and plants, most of which Adam had never seen before. At the back of the room, round-bellied metal cauldrons hung over cold fire pits lining the back wall and a pump built into the wall drew water from a well outside. Three people were inside; one older man with black hair turning pepper-grey at the roots and two younger men, one with blond hair and the other with messy brown. The blond and the aging man sat at a table with a thick book spread between them, talking quietly. The other had a stack of books in his arms and was putting them back on the shelves when he heard Adam open the door and he glanced over his shoulder.

            "Hey Adam," he said with a grin as the man came inside. "How was the trip?"

            "Cold," Adam replied. "How have things been here?"

            "Much of the same," the young man said, placing another book on the shelf before moving to another one. He was only two months Adam's senior but sometimes he seemed much older. His long purple cloak flicked about his legs as he walked, sometimes flapping back, exposing the long black pants he wore. "We saw a few of Lord Vikk's scouts again, so he's probably getting ready to make another one of his attacks, and Jason's been in communication with the Snow Striker kingdom, trying to secure a meeting for a treaty." He made a sound of annoyance as some of the books slipped out of his arms and clattered to the floor.

           "Here, let me help," Adam said, moving forward and picking up the books.

           "Thanks," the man said, shifting his load to his right arm.

           "It's alright." Adam stood up, holding the books in his arms, and accidentally smashed the back of his head on the shelf. The shelf groaned and Adam's eyes widened as a glass bottle perched at the far end of the shelf full of deep green liquid wobbled and toppled off, too far away for either of them to catch it. The man made a sound of warning and his free hand flashed out towards the bottle. Something purple flashed out of his hand and wrapped around the glass, freezing it in its fall, centimetres from the floorboards. With a flick of his hand, the bottle flew back up to the shelf and settled on it, further away from the edge this time.

            "Sorry Seto," Adam apologised. The other two in the room who had stopped their conversation when the bottle had fallen turned back and continued their note-taking.

            "It's not your fault," Seto said with a shrug. "I've been meaning to get a more secure place for those potions anyway, it's bad practice to have them out everywhere like this."

             After spending a few more minutes chatting with Seto, Adam left the alchemy building and went to the training grounds. Normally, he would be scheduled to help train divisions and squads in either archery or sword work but because of the trip to Lord Robert's territory, he had the day off. Mitch was in the middle of drilling a division so Adam went to the weapons shed, wondering if he could pass the time until dinner peppering some targets with arrows. The weapon sheds were separated into train weapons and actual weapons, the more dangerous option being kept closer to the centre of the base so that it was accessible to everyone.

             Adam was running his hand over the bows when a squad fresh out of training came in, talking amongst themselves and putting away their weapons, some axes, some swords. The man who came in after them was well-built and slightly taller than average, his strong arms easily hefting the large axe and putting it away, spotting Adam in the process.

             "Hey!" he greeted, neatening up several of the weapons.

             "Hey Jerome," Adam said, taking down a bow and testing the draw strength. Jerome watched as he put it back and looked for a different bow.

              "Have you ever thought of using a dagger?" he asked. "Like, professionally?"

              Adam frowned. "No, why?"

              "I think you'd be good at it," Jerome said, picking a dagger and spinning it by the handle. Had it been made of steel instead of wood, he would have cut off his fingers when he fumbled with it. "You're not necessarily super strong, but you can beat all of us in a race. I just think you might be more skilled at it."

              "Is that an insult to my sword skills?" Adam asked with a chuckle.

              "No, of course not!" Jerome said instantly. "It's just a thought."

               Any further conversation was cut off by Mitch poking his head into the shed. "Oh, hey. Jason's called for a quick meeting, says he has something to tell us."

               "Did you happen to catch what it was about?" Jerome asked, following Adam and Mitch out of the shed.

               "I'm assuming it's on that treaty thing with the Snow Strikers," Mitch said.

                It turned out that Mitch's guess was correct. The group of friends and Generals, eight in total, gathered in Jason's modest study that had a single desk for him to work at, a large window looking out towards the distant mountains and star charts on the walls.

                "Okay, so I've finally got an agreement with the Snow Strikers," Jason said, leaning on his desk. "They're willing to make a treaty, but we've got to go to them, they can't go to us."

               "Alright, where are they?" Ty asked. He had changed a lot in the six years since Adam had first met him and although he was still suspicious at times, he was a much more agreeable kind of guy overall.

               "Don't know, Queen Anne just said to head into the snow country and they would find us."

               "Queen Anne?" Ian queried.

               "The leader of the Snow Strikers," Jason explained. "She said to bring warm clothing when we come as well, the cold isn't as harsh as it is in winter, but it's still more severe than it is down here."

               "Brilliant, when are we leaving?" Jerome said eagerly, shifting from foot to foot.

               "As soon as we can," Mitch said. "Let's aim for the day after tomorrow, that'll give us enough time to pack and get ready and stuff."

              "Can I stay out of this one?" Seto asked. "I've got some young sorcerers I need to train and I'd rather do that sooner than later."

              "Actually, if this is only to hammer out details of the treaty, we don't all need to go," Ty reasoned. "What if Jason, myself, Mitch and Quentin go, and the rest of us stay here?"

               "Sounds like a plan," Mitch said happily while Jerome quietly sighed in disappointment. Adam mentally shrugged at the prospect of having to stay and look after operations at the base. Although he loved the snow country, he wouldn't mind sitting this initial journey out. After all, they would all have to go eventually to sign the treaty, so what was the harm in waiting?