

# The Alchemist's Apprentice

And The Ogre's Curse

## BY SIMON CRAVEN

## Copyright 2015 by Simon Craven

Smashwords edition

Smashwords Edition, License Notes

This eBook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This eBook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each recipient. If you're reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com or your favorite retailer and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Publisher's notes: This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents are a product of the author's imagination. Locales and public names are sometimes used for atmospheric purposes. Any resemblance to actual people, living or dead, or to businesses, companies, events, institutions or locales is completely coincidental.

# Table of contents

Title

Copyright

Chapter 1: A New Beginning

Chapter2: Meeting the Grimly

Chapter 3: Trip to Bleakwood

Chapter 4: Encounter in the Ruins

Chapter 5: The Serpent Tunnels

Chapter 6: The Warlords Castle

Chapter 7: Into the Barrels

Chapter 8: The Dark Damp Dungeon

Chapter 9: Battle on the Platform

Chapter 10: Creating the Cure

Chapter 11: Beyond the Locked Door

Chapter 12: The Alchemist's Return

Chapter 13: Unwelcome Guest

Chapter 14: A visit to my Mothers

A special note to readers

## Chapter 1

## A New Beginning

Ogres are very much misunderstood creatures, I found that out on my sixteenth birthday when I finally met one by the river near my village trying to catch a fish using a stick with a piece of string tied to the end. Now, according to the stories I had been told when I was a bit younger, I should have ran back to my village screaming and get the elders to send out a hunting party to kill it before it wiped out the whole community. But I didn't, what followed on from that day ended up changing my life and the lives of everyone around me.

The sun shone through my window and onto my face with its warm rays as the combination of that and the smell of freshly baked bread stirred me from my sleep; I groggily sat up and rubbed the sleep out of my eyes. Today was my birthday! I had finally hit sixteen, it seemed like it had taken forever to finally be classed as an adult in my village, that was a good thing but it also came with its bad points. You see, your sixteenth birthday is a big milestone where I live, when a boy hits that age everything changes, the simple pleasures of messing around outside and having no worries at all vanish and responsibility replaces them.

I headed to the bathroom and stared into the mirror at my reflection staring back at me. My brown straggly hair was a mess and my eyes were all puffy so I splashed some cold water on my face to try to wake myself up.

"Are you awake yet Lem?" My mother called up from down stairs in the kitchen. Well if I wasn't I would be now I thought. I got dressed and went down to see what delights she had for me. On the breakfast table sat a freshly baked loaf, slices of meat and an array of fruit, she always made sure I ate well. My mother turned around from the stove as I entered. "Happy birthday Lem," she said with a big smile on her face. "I hope you're looking forward to starting your first job."

That was one of the bad points of turning sixteen and I wasn't looking forward to it at all. When you turned sixteen you went out to work, you didn't have a choice in the matter. You also didn't have a choice of where you worked either, that was arranged by your parents. If you were rich and your parents had good contacts you got a decent job, unfortunately my mother wasn't rich and she didn't know a lot of people. You see, after my father died of a sickness disease when I was five, me and my mother struggled along on what we had, it was hard but we were happy. I always thought I would end up working in the wood mills in the city of Woodridge or down in Getty working with the horses. That is what our people do. We are Wood Riders, a race of folk that live in the forests supplying timber all over the world, our people were the best at what they did and there was always a demand for our wood. The reason we are known as Wood Riders is because the only form of transport we use other than our own two legs were the horses we breed. We never use any other form of vehicle. When you are living and working in the forests it made sense, the noisy pollutant transports other races used would be no good here, roads would have had to be made by destroying our precious trees and that would never do.

My mother couldn't get me a job working with the wood or the horses, the only work she could get me was with the village alchemist, joy oh joy, and from what I heard he didn't really want an apprentice anyway but my mother could be pretty persuasive when she needed to be.

"You are going to have to eat up quickly if you're going to get to Godwin's house on time," she said as she saw the disappointment on my face. Godwin was the alchemist. "Lem, it will be alright there, you will be the alchemist's apprentice making medicines for the villages, it's a good and respectable job to have and you can't go wrong helping people."

"I know mother, it's just not the sort of thing I thought I would be doing, that's all." She slid a plate along the table towards me heaped with food.

"It's a job Lem and we need the money."

"I understand that and I will work my hardest, believe me. I suppose I will get used to it eventually."

The smile appeared back on her face as she reached into her apron pocket and pulled out a small pen knife. "This used to be your fathers; he would have wanted you to have it when you came of age." She said passing it over to me. I turned the knife over in my hands, it had been well used, the metal handle had lost its shine and the inscription on it could hardly be read anymore. I pulled the blade out and was surprised at how shiny it was considering the wear and tear on the outside.

"That pen knife has been handed down from generation to generation and has been well looked after and it is still incredibly sharp so be careful with it. I don't know if it will be useful in your job at all, maybe you could use it for cutting plants and herbs, anyway it's yours now."

I placed it in my pocket. "Thanks mother, I will treasure it."

She beamed another smile at me. "Hurry up now, you need to go and be careful, there have been more Ogre raids recently in the surrounding villages so make sure you keep to the paths." The Wood Rider territories bordered the Kalth Mountains to the east which is where the Ogres lived, our people didn't have any problems with the Ogres in recent times and they mostly kept themselves to themselves, but now the Ogres were crossing the border and raiding villages for reasons unexplained.

"I will be careful mother, don't worry about me, I'm sixteen now you know?" I said and she laughed. I finished up my breakfast and waved my mother goodbye then made my way through the village.

The alchemist's house was on the outskirts and a bit isolated situated on the other side of the river that flowed around the village to the north. The sun was out and the temperature was quite pleasant. There wasn't many people about at this time of the morning as I headed down the main street in the village, the people I did see said hello and wished me a good birthday but I could see in their eyes they felt sorry for me having to become the alchemist's apprentice, everyone seemed to know everyone else's business here I thought.

The alchemist's name was Godwin and he had a reputation of being a bit of a loner, when he was made to come into the village to administer an ointment or medicine he was always grumpy and rude, not many people had any time for him and only called him out as a last resort. I have never had any reason to need his skills, though my mother had a while ago before I was born. She fell over while carrying a knife and it sliced her arm quite badly; my father had to go fetch him. Apparently from what my mother said the alchemist saved her life; if it hadn't been for him I wouldn't have been born. She told me he was an interesting man but I wasn't sure if she was being polite or not.

I crossed the river by the rickety old bridge that spanned its width and walked for a good twenty minutes before I finally reached the alchemist's home deep in the forest. This was the last chance I had to turn around and head back to my house and tell my mother I couldn't do it, but I imagined the disappointment on her face and that's what made me pluck up the courage and knock on the door.

"What is it?" I heard a shout in reply.

"Err; it's Lem your new apprentice." I called back.

"Who did you say?"

"Lem, I'm your new apprentice." I repeated.

"I know nothing about an apprentice, so go away I'm busy."

I didn't know what to say so I turned to leave then paused. My mother wouldn't have got it wrong I thought, so I knocked on the door again but this time harder.

"What is it you want? If you are ill or sick slide a note under the door and I will eventually get round to it!" He sounded very grumpy indeed, I had never met the man but with everything I have heard about him I had formed a picture of what he looked like in my mind. He was small and hunched over with a long grey beard reaching down to his waist, he also had unruly eyebrows that covered his eyes and he wore a shabby brown robe. I shook the image out of my head.

"I have been told to come here today, on my birthday, to become your apprentice, so if you would be so kind and let me in!" I was starting to get a bit annoyed now. There was no reply from the old man. I was just about to bang on the door again when I heard the clicking of locks undoing and catches sliding, the door finally swung open and standing in the doorway was a short graying man, well, he was short for a Wood Rider, he stood about five and a half feet tall, that is classed as small amongst our people, I wasn't that much bigger at six feet but I was still growing. He was smartly dressed with a black tunic that seemed to have too many pockets; he was nothing like the picture I had imagined.

"Apprentice you say?" The alchemist asked.

"Yes, my mother had spoken to you a while ago and you agreed to take me on."

Godwin scratched his short beard in thought. "I don't remember asking for an apprentice, why would I want an apprentice? What does your mother look like?" He asked and seemed to want to get back in to what he was doing.

"Well, she is about my height, slim and always wearing an apron." I said.

The alchemist pondered on this for a moment then a realization appeared on his face. "Oh yes, now I remember, she came to see me about a month ago, I told her I only worked alone and didn't need an apprentice but she just wouldn't leave, very forceful is your mother I must say. In the end I agreed just so she would go away," he was looking me up and down. "I didn't think anything would come of it to tell the truth. Do you know anything about this art? I don't turn metals into gold you know? If that's what you think I do." He said.

I shook my head. "No sir, I don't, and no sir I didn't." I replied.

Godwin let out a sigh. "Well, if I have agreed to an apprentice then I can't go back on my word. Wait here a moment." He said before slamming the door and disappearing back into his house. I must have waited on his doorstep for at least ten minutes before he finally returned. When he did he was carrying a rolled up piece of parchment under his arm and what looked like an oversized pen in his hand. "Right, give me your hand boy." He ordered.

Slightly confused I stuck out my arm. The alchemist grabbed it tightly around my wrist and turned my hand palm up and then he stabbed down with his pen like device.

I screamed out loud yanking my hand back. "What are you doing? That really hurt!" Blood was welling up in the palm of my hand.

"I don't believe in all the fancy technology these days, I prefer the old fashioned ways. Now stick your hand on here." He unrolled the parchment and indicated the bottom of it.

"What does it all say?" I asked feeling my hand start to throb.

"Oh just minor details, now come on and put your mark on it if you wish to be my apprentice."

I was slightly weary of doing it after what he did and also without knowing exactly what was written on the parchment but I planted my bloody hand at the bottom anyway.

"There we go!" Godwin said cheerily, "you are now officially an alchemist's apprentice. Be back here tomorrow morning bright and early and we shall begin your training." Before I could reply he had slammed the door again and headed back in to continue his work.

I stood there staring at the bright green front door slightly stunned at the strange introduction to my new employer. It took me a moment before I started to head back home to tell my mother.

When I reached the river bank near the bridge I sat on a large rock and soaked up the peace and quiet for a few minutes, I didn't feel as down as I did going to the alchemist's house, it might not be as boring as I first thought it might, Godwin might have a bad reputation but I thought he might be just a bit on the eccentric side. As I laid back and closed my eyes I heard a quiet splashing noise further up the bank and then I heard it again. They say this river has all manner of strange and wonderful fish living in it, I would have a look at what was splashing about and come back later to see if I could catch me and my mother some dinner. I slowly moved closer to the sound using the trees as cover so as not to disturb it. I stopped dead and my blood went cold at what I saw. On the other side of the river to my surprise stood an Ogre holding a stick with a piece of string dangling from its end. This was not what I expected to see. I had never seen an Ogre in the flesh before, I have only heard stories. He was a massive looking brute standing at seven feet tall with huge muscles bulging out of a ragged tunic, he cast the makeshift rod out to plop down in the water and he didn't look happy, his gnarly creased face had a miserable look to it, but that could be his happy face for all I knew. I thought I better get back to the village and let them know, as my mother had said to me there had been a few raids in other villages by the Ogres recently, this one might be scouting out our village to attack it later. I slowly moved backwards making sure the Ogre didn't see me. Then out of the trees on my right a lance of energy burst through the foliage to strike the ground next to the Ogre's feet frightening the life out of me. The Ogre recoiled from the blast, turned and roared in the direction of its attacker before running off into the trees. I was frozen to the spot, what just happened? Then to my right I saw movement out of the corner of my eye, the bushes were rustling and a hooded man dressed in dark green appeared out of them, he slowly walked over to where the Ogre was fishing and crouched down to touch the ground. I was a bit exposed where I was but didn't want to move in case it caught his attention. The cloaked man's head came up and looked around, his gaze passed right by me then back to where the Ogre disappeared. He seemed to sniff the air as he straightened up, then within a blink of an eye he was gone. I only just realized I was holding my breath, then I tried to force my limbs to move but they seemed to be rooted to the spot with fear. My mind was racing, that man wasn't from our village but he did look like a Wood Rider. I racked my brain, the man's outfit was familiar to me I had seen it before but I couldn't recall where I had seen it. Was the man hunting Ogres? Well, that could only be a good thing surly, but then why did I feel more afraid of him than the monstrous Ogre? Finally my legs started to work again, I ran home as fast as I could without stopping and only slowed as I reached my home, I didn't want to worry my mother so I took a few breaths outside to slow my heart rate and calm myself down before going in.

"That was quick," my mother said as I shut the door behind me. "He didn't turn you away did he?" Her face looked sad and then she saw blood on my hand. "What happened to you?" She said coming over and looking at the stab wound on my palm.

"I'm fine mother, that's just where I had to mark a parchment for the alchemist."

"Why couldn't he get you to sign a data slate like normal people?" She paused. "Does that mean he has taken you on?" She looked at me excitedly.

I nodded. "Yes he has." My mother clapped her hands together and disappeared into the kitchen.

"I have made you something," she said as she returned holding a plate with a large round cake sitting on it. Written in icing on top were the words - Happy Birthday to my lovely Lem, congratulations on your new job - her face was beaming.

"Thanks mother." I said taking it off of her and placing it on the table; I turned back to her and gave her a big hug. She whispered in my ear. "You're now starting out in the world now. Please be careful and look after yourself." She released herself from our hug and I could see tears running down her face.

"I will only be on the other side of the village and will be returning home every night. Why are you crying?" I asked.

"I'm just a bit emotional," she said wiping the tears away with her sleeve. "Working with the alchemist will take you away from the village most of the time and I will miss you."

"I won't be gone that much will I?" I asked a bit aghast by this news.

"You will be surprised Lem," she took in a deep breath. "That is why I am going to stay with your auntie in Renworth; it's only a short distance from here. I can't stay here on my own and she is by herself also, we can keep each other company." This news shocked me; I couldn't believe she would not be here.

"But...how will I see you there? Where will I live?" I was getting upset now.

"You get days off, come and see me then, we are struggling here Lem, you know that. If I can sell this house the money would help set us up for the future, this will be best for both of us. It is only until you have finished your apprenticeship then we can start again. As for where you will be staying, that would be with the alchemist, he will look after you and I know he can seem a bit strange but he is a good man. Didn't you read the parchment you marked?"

"I didn't get a chance he was busy, how long is my apprenticeship?"

"It's five years." She said.

I sat down at the table before I fell over. "It's five years? I didn't think it would be that long."

"It's the start of something good, with that job things can only get better. Now eat some cake and cheer up." She said.

I hadn't much of an appetite after hearing that news and also seeing the Ogre by the river but I still got through two large pieces of cake.

The rest of the day we spent together, we went into the village to get new clothes for me so I could start my job dressed smartly, although I didn't think the alchemist cared what I looked like. My mother got some things for herself and sorted out her traveling arrangements to go to her sisters, she would leave in two days.

The evening we both spent quietly in our own thoughts, it was quite scary to think about all the changes that were about to happen. I was worrying about the Ogre and the strange man; maybe I will mention it to the alchemist tomorrow. That night neither of us slept very well.

## Chapter 2

## Meeting the Grimly

I left early in the morning just like the alchemist said, bright and early, my pack was stuffed full of my worldly possessions. It was hard saying goodbye to my mother; I told her that the first time I get time off I would come and visit her in Renworth. We stood on the door step in a clinch neither of us wanted to let go of. "I need you to be happy Lem, the apprenticeship was the best I could find, and I do hope I have done the right thing for you." She released me to look in my eyes. "If I have done wrong please tell me."

More tears were welling up inside me. "You have brought me up well mother, I will be happy in my apprenticeship trust me. I may have not been to keen to start with but that was before I met him, he seems nice." I lied not wanting to hurt her feelings.

She stood at the door waving as I went, tears were still running down her cheeks, I didn't look back anymore or I probably wouldn't have left at all.

I was now reaching the spot where I saw the Ogre fishing, it was still peaceful down by the river just a bit cooler than yesterday. I could see the makeshift rod the Ogre was using to catch fish lying on the grassy bank, why was the Ogre here? If it was looking to attack the village I would not have thought it would stop here to do a bit of fishing. Then I saw the scorched earth beside it and a shiver ran down my spine. I looked about nervously at the surrounding trees, was the man still there? I doubted that, but the thought was freaking me out so I thought it was time I moved on.

When I finally reached Godwin's house I stopped outside and took it all in, after all, this was going to be my new home for the next five years. It looked fairly pleasant to me, it was quite large with maybe having four or five bedrooms and it looked like it had been freshly painted in a creamy colour accented in bright green. It was remote here though tucked away in the forest; the nearest house was about half an hour's walk on the other side of the river.

I knocked on the door and waited for the gruff reply that I got on my last visit. I heard a lot of shuffling inside but Godwin didn't answer the door, I waited a few more minutes before banging louder, this time the door opened and the old alchemist stared at me with a look of puzzlement on his face, his cheeks were rosy red like he had just been for a run. "Can I help you?" He asked almost like he was out of breath.

"Aren't you going to let me in?" I asked back.

"And why would I do that?" He gave me a dirty look.

"Well maybe because I'm your new apprentice and I am now living here." He couldn't have forgotten me already; it had only been a day since I last saw him.

The alchemist seemed to be thinking. "Lemon is your name!" He said pointing at me.

"It's Lem." I replied.

"Yes Lem, that's right, well done come in, come in."

Inside didn't look how I pictured it would look. I imagined rooms full of herbs and plants, bubbling pots with glass tubes leading to vials full of multi coloured liquids and total disarray. I was wrong, the room was clean and tidy with a comfortable looking chair sitting in the corner and neatly stacked books on the bookshelf that took up a whole back wall and there was a desk pushed up underneath a window. I think Godwin realized what I was thinking by the look on my face.

"Not what you expected ehh," he said smiling. "Most people think I live in a world of clutter, just goes to show, you shouldn't judge a book by its cover."

"Oh, no I didn't..."

"Never mind, come with me, I will show you to your room, then we shall begin your training." He went out of a door on the other side of the room and I followed him through, we went up a short flight of stairs and then to a room at the end of a long corridor.

"This is where you will stay, it's not much but it will do for you, I will give you a few minutes to unpack then you must come down. Oh, and go through the door on your left. Do not go through the one straight ahead. Do you understand?"

"Yes." I said and then he left shutting the door behind him.

My room was very sparse; all that it contained was a bed and a desk. I dropped my pack on the bed and looked what was on the desk. A light globe was attached to the side and a pad and pencil sat neatly in the middle. On the pad was a note that read - This will be your most important possession, learn everything that is written inside and never lose it. - That got my attention; I opened it up to see what was inside. It was blank, I flicked through it and all the pages were blank.

"You should be done by now!" Godwin called up. He must have only just got to the bottom of the stairs. I placed the pad in my pocket and went back down the stairs. At the bottom were three doors, the one on the right was the one I came in by, the door directly in front was the door I mustn't go through, I wondered how long I could resist before I did.

"Lemon, where are you!" Godwin called.

I sighed. "It's Lem." I grumbled before going through the door on my left.

I smiled at the room I was now standing in. It was exactly as I thought the front room would be with all the plants and herbs, glass tubes and bubbling liquids. Godwin saw my smile. "Yes, yes I know," he said as he turned the heat up underneath a large black pan containing yellowish water with various leaves swimming in it. "How is your room?"

Its fine thanks, but this pad you left me is empty." I said showing it to him.

"It's empty for now, but soon you will fill it up with what you will learn. The most important things in the world of plant alchemy," he continued stirring his concoction. "I mainly concentrate on medicine but now and then I am asked to make other things including poisons."

I was surprised at that. "Who would want poison from you?"

"There are some people who request it; I don't ask why if they can pay."

I didn't really like the idea of that, I believed he was just a medicine man that helped sick people, I guess there was more to it than that, and he gave me a funny look.

"To become a great alchemist you need to know everything about your trade, the good and the bad," he said. "I will not bore you at the moment with the instructions of how to separate oil from a herb, how to cause the herb's fermentation and rectify the resultant alcohol, or how to go about incinerating, collecting, and purifying the water-soluble salts of the plant. These procedures will become second nature to you in time." What he was saying was going in my head but I still didn't understand a word of it. The alchemist continued. "In fact after awhile you will be developing some tricks of your own and preferences for modes of operation."

This seemed very complicated stuff, I wasn't sure my mind could cope with all the information required to be a plant alchemist. "What would you like me to do?" I asked.

"First things first," he said indicating a chair for me to sit on. "You need to know the rules of the house."

"Oh, don't worry about me, I'm clean and tidy and I will be sure not to get in your way." I said.

"I'm not fussed about all that; they are trivial matters I need to tell you about the important rules of the house." His face went incredibly serious. I don't think I was going to like what he was going to say.

"The first and most important rule is do not open the door at the bottom of the stairs."

"Why is that?" I asked.

"I have told you not to, that's why!"

He shocked me with the force of his voice.

"The second rule is do not upset the Grimly, you wouldn't like to see him upset."

I didn't realize someone else lived here too. "Who is this Grimly?"

"The Grimly isn't a who, he's a what. He lives in the greenhouse and tends to my plants; he is very good at what he does as long as you don't upset him."

This was all very strange; Godwin must have seen my confusion.

"Let me explain. A long time ago I helped some people with a problem they had, to cut a long story short, the problem came with me and set up home in my greenhouse, I had plenty of trouble with it for quite a while but eventually our differences were sorted out and now the Grimly and I have an amicable relationship, I let him stay here and he looks after my plants."

This was a bit worrying, I had never heard of a Grimly before and it sounded a bit frightening.

"Rule three. Drink plenty of tea."

That rule sounded good to me, I did like a good cup. I nodded.

"Right, now that's done let us go and meet the Grimly. Move slowly and don't act nervous, it can tell when you're nervous and may play up a bit. Remember, you're a stranger to him and it may take some time before he trusts you." Godwin walked over to a door in the back wall, leaning up next to it was a long staff that Godwin took hold of. That didn't bode well for me. He saw me looking at it. "It's just a precaution if he gets too frisky, now come on let's go." He opened the door and I could instantly feel the heat enter the room. I gulped and tried to settle the butterflies in my stomach.

The greenhouse was astounding; it spanned the length of the whole house and must have been forty feet long. Every colour of the rainbow and every smell of the plant kingdom assailed my senses. It was a beautiful sight, like walking into a paradise. "This place is amazing; I've never seen anything like it before!" I said shocked.

"And you will never see anything like it anywhere else, this is my life, this is a plant alchemist's life," Godwin said smiling. "Ok, let us see if the Grimly is up to visitors today." He raised the staff up in front of him. "He's fine with me but I have never had visitors in here before and I don't know how he is going to react. Just keep your wits about you."

Slowly we moved deeper in between the plants, I stayed close to Godwin's back. Leaves rustled ahead of us and Godwin froze. "It's only me!" He called out. "We have a new guest that will be staying with us for a while!"

The leaves fifty feet in front rustled again but this time it was accompanied by a deep low growl.

Godwin turned to me. "Be alert boy, and don't be scared." He said.

How could I not be scared with what he has told me? The growl got louder.

"He is a friend! He is going to help me like you do!" Godwin gripped the staff tighter.

Then it happened.

The plants and bushes started to move. The Grimly was coming towards us, slowly at first but then sped up to an astonishing speed, I couldn't see it, just the movement of the plants as it sped though them, the growl was getting louder also. I grabbed hold of Godwin's tunic and tried to hide behind him. "Be prepared boy!" Godwin shouted. I looked around him as the rushing Grimly reached us.

A black cloud loomed up in front of us ten feet tall; it seemed to make the form of a giant beast with a gaping mouth that roared at us. I have never heard a noise so frightening in my life, my very soul quivered at the sound. A misty claw reached down and picked up Godwin by his collar and moved him to one side.

"Now don't be silly!" Godwin shouted. "Behave! He is a friend!"

The Grimly ignored him and bent over to look at my crouched shaking form.

""Stand tall boy! Show no fear!" Godwin called watching.

"I was scared stiff of this giant black cloudy beast looming over me.

"Do it now!" Godwin sounded angry.

I closed my eyes and summoned up the courage, on wobbly legs I stood up tall and faced the Grimly. I could feel it's breath on my face as it sniffed at me, I opened my eyes slowly and I could see two red orbs checking me out. "My name is Lem, and that is very rude!" I said to him.

The Grimly seemed to tilt its smoky head to one side then look towards Godwin.

"Do you really think that is the way to introduce yourself to someone?" I was getting a bit of force to my voice. The Grimly took a pace backwards and seemed to shrink slightly. Godwin stood with his mouth agape astounded at what he saw.

I moved closer to the Grimly. "Shall we start again? I am Lem; it's nice to meet you." My fear had gone and my confidence had grown.

The Grimly was now my size and I got a better look at him. I wasn't sure if it was shrouded in the black cloud or it was made of the cloud, its form was bulky with a large wide head with two small red eyes sitting above a wide mouth. "Grimly." He said in a deep wispy voice.

""Hello Grimly, I'm sure we will become friends while I am here." I said.

The Grimly shrunk some more and bowed it's head before breaking up into a mist and disappearing back into the plants.

Not a sound was heard for a few seconds before Godwin spoke. ".that was amazing!" He came over to me and patted me on the back. "That's bloody amazing." He turned and made his way back inside.

"I don't know why you brought that staff in. It wouldn't have done a thing against the Grimly." I called after him.

"It makes me feel better carrying it." He replied.

Back inside his work room he said. "Right now that the excitement is over, let's get to work." He pointed to a pile of plant pots that had been thrown into a corner. "You can start by sorting them out, fill them with soil and place them in the greenhouse."

"There must be a hundred of them!" I grumbled.

Godwin glanced over at them. "Yes there must be, there is a spade in the garden, go dig a hole, it must be at least two feet deep, that is where you will find the best soil."

I looked at him blanked faced.

"Today would be good. I will make some tea; you must drink my tea while you're in my home." He said strolling off towards the kitchen.

My back ached after all the digging I did, I must have been at it for hours while Godwin pottered in the lab drinking tea. I never got any; he always forgot to make me one even though he always said I had to drink it in his home.

"Come on Lemon, we have an appointment to keep in the village! And bring my bag, it's by the Bergamot!" He called out to me. I had just finished filling my last pot, hooray I thought; maybe this would be a bit more interesting. Then I had to work out which plant was a Bergamot amongst the thousands of plants in the greenhouse, I didn't have to look that hard as the plants leaves started to rustle as the Grimly rushed low through them, all I could see of it was a slight wisp of black cloud it left in its trail floating above the plant tops. The Grimly sped passed me and off back into the greenery. By my feet now sat Godwin's bag, I think he likes me I thought.

It took us forty minutes to walk to his appointment; it was at Grover's house, the village baker. "Ahh...Godwin," he said when he opened the door. "You got my note. Rose tripped over a rock cake yesterday," Godwin stood there stony faced. "I know, I know don't ask." Grover continued.

"Yes, yes, now let me in I have plenty of my own work to do." Then he pushed passed him into the house. I was quite surprised at how grumpy he was; he seemed to change character when he was out working.

"And young Lem is here too," Grover said, he then lent in close to me and whispered in my ear. "Commiserations to you," I looked puzzled. "On your new job." He continued then tilted his head towards Godwin who was marching down the corridor.

"Yeah, thanks." I replied.

"I give you a week before you murder him." He laughed.

I knew Grover well; my mum and I were regular customers of his. He baked the best cherry cakes this side of Getty, and he always slipped in an extra one for me.

We went into the room at the back of the house, it was nice and cool in here, there was a large fan in the corner blowing its refreshing air around the room. Sitting in a comfy chair with her leg propped up on a stool was Grover's wife rose.

"Oh about time," she moaned. "The pain is excruciating, my poor foot is throbbing like never before."

Godwin sat down next to her then clicked his fingers at me. I guessed he wanted his bag.

"Hello Lem, commiserations." She said smiling. I poked my tongue at her which made her laugh. Godwin gave her a dirty look and she immediately looked away.

The alchemist pulled out a tube of brown coloured ointment that looked like mud; he squeezed some into the palm of his hand and then rubbed them vigorously together.

"How goes the work?" Grover asked.

"Meh." Godwin replied slapping his greasy muddy hands on Rose's foot, she tensed as the cold ointment was slathered from her toes to her calf. Grover looked at me and I just shrugged back.

He tried to make conversation again. "Have you had a visit from the green riders recently? They have been in the area knocking on doors, something about Ogres I think, they have been seen nearby in the other villages too. It's all a bit strange really; they don't usually come out this way."

At hearing this Godwin stopped what he was doing suddenly. "Right Lemon, we are done here." He stood up all agitated and quickly packed his bag up.

"Is that it?" Rose asked a bit perplexed.

Godwin dropped the tube on her lap. "Apply this twice a day; the swelling should go in a day or two. Now we must go. Come on Lemon hurry up!" He was already moving to the door.

"Sorry," I said to a confused Grover. "I better go."

Grover stopped me. "Hold on lad, take this with you." He shoved a bag in my hand, I knew what it was by the smell and it was a cherry cake like I thought

"That's very kind of..." I started.

"Lemon!" Godwin shouted as he left the house. I had to run to catch up, he was going at a fair old pace down the street.

"What was all that about?" I asked him when I finally caught up to him.

"Never you mind apprentice, we just need to get back." He was looking around very suspiciously as if he thought we were being followed. It was obviously something to do with the green riders being in the village, I did hope it wasn't, because if they are looking for you there was trouble ahead.

## Chapter 3

## Trip to Bleakwood

The next day I awoke early, I didn't get much sleep, I didn't know if it was the strange surroundings that I wasn't used to or the strange dreams I had been having, dreams of being watched and followed. It was odd not waking up to the smells of freshly baked bread or food cooking on the hob, this is the time when I would miss my mother the most I thought, at breakfast time.

When I ventured downstairs I paused at the door in front of me, the door I must not enter, I probably wouldn't even have given it a second thought but when Godwin told me never to open it the temptation to do so was overwhelming, what he kept in there was a mystery and it made me very curious. I now felt it was drawing me to it, for no apparent reason every now and then I would get the urge to open it, but I never did.

Godwin was standing at the front window looking out drinking a cup of his special tea. "There is food in the cupboards, help yourself." He said cheerfully.

That's what made me ask him a question. "Why do you seem to have two different personalities? When we are here you are quite pleasant but when outside you have a reputation of being grumpy. I have now seen that for myself at Grover's house."

He looked at me smiling. "I have my moods like anyone else, but when I am out working in the village I put on the grumpy one," he slurped his tea again. "I need to be left alone with my work and I have had plenty to do lately, if the villagers find me grumpy and unapproachable they will leave me be. That's why I seem to be grumpy. It gets me what I want."

Well he had me fooled and the whole village from what I had heard.

"I think it is time for me to go on a little trip." He said sipping his hot beverage.

"Is it to do with the green riders seen in the village?" I asked him.

He didn't respond and continued just looked outside.

"What do you expect me to do here while you're gone?" I asked.

"You will be coming with me of course; you don't expect an old man to lug his own bags about do you?" He giggled to himself. "I am departing for Bleakwood shortly."

"So soon? I haven't even settled in yet." It was my second day on the job and I didn't think I would have to go anywhere yet.

"We leave in one hour, get ready. Oh and by the way, do you possess any weapons?"

What a strange thing to ask, I thought of my father's pen knife then decided not to mention it. "No, why? I wouldn't have thought alchemists would need such things."

"You will soon learn that this can be a dangerous trade to be in. Now go to the drawer under the auricula, you will find some there." He left the room and I could hear him climbing the stairs.

This job was turning out to be a bit more mysterious than I believed it would be. I hadn't a clue what the plant was that he referred to but there was only one chest of drawers in the room, when I pulled the top drawer open I was shocked at what was inside. There was a pistol and a vibo blade sitting amongst a pile of paperwork, the blade I recognized as my mother had one that was similar tucked away in a box under her bed, she didn't know that I knew about it, but I had never seen a pistol before. Why Godwin would need these items I didn't know, I guess I would find out eventually.

We both left on the hour, I had to go to the stable at the end of his garden and prepare Godwin's horse for the journey. His horse reminded me of the man himself, it was old, grey and seemed to be a bit grumpy, it didn't like me strapping it up ready to pull the small wagon behind it, the horse would try to nip me if I was near his head or try to kick me if I got too close to its rear. Eventually I got the job done and drove the horse and wagon out to the front of the house where Godwin was waiting impatiently.

"Time is of the essence young apprentice, you will need to improve." He said as he clambered up and into the seat next to me.

"Shall we go?" I asked. He just shook his head and pointed down to the two large bags sitting on the doorstep. I huffed as I got down and slung them in the back. Once back aboard he smiled at me.

"Onwards Lemon." He said. I had given up correcting him. Then we set off heading towards Bleakwood, I have never been there before, it was close to the Kalth Mountains and me and my mother wouldn't go that way for fear of the Ogres.

"You haven't told me the reason for this trip." I said to him.

"No I haven't." He replied.

I waited for more. "And?" I said getting frustrated.

"Oh, the reason for our trip is because Ogres have been seen there."

"Ogres? What has that got to do with you? Was anyone hurt?"

"No, nobody was hurt, we're going to meet someone there who can help me with a certain problem I have." He pulled out a large juicy fruit and started to munch on it.

"Why can't you just tell me it straight without beating around the bushes?"

Godwin stopped chomping on his fruit and looked like he was thinking of what to say to me. "Ok Lemon. Me and you are going to stop the Ogre raids."

I couldn't believe what I just heard. "We are going to deal with the Ogres? How can an old man and a sixteen year old boy do that?"

"You will see, you will see." He replied.

We traveled for a day having food breaks either by the side of the path or in disused barns, the alchemist didn't seem to want to be seen heading this way. I asked him what was expected of me being his apprentice as we sat on the grass by the wagon just out of sight of the path. We had a few pieces of fruit to keep us going.

"To do as I tell you." He said sternly. "It's as simple as that. You watch, learn and take notes. The trade you are entering is a complicated art, but if you're diligent you can become as good as me." You could tell he really liked his occupation. "Alchemy is the art of principles." He said. "The separation, circulation, and recombination of elements and qualities. Once you get your head around that it becomes easy." He said.

I doubted that!

"The things we can do Lemon, the satisfaction when an experiment goes exactly the way you wanted it to go. It's when a potion that took you months to complete serves its purpose with astounding results. The struggle to get to that point is well worth the trip even if you don't think so at the time."

He was quite convincing, if he wasn't an alchemist he would make a good salesman.

Eventually we reached the outskirts of Bleakwood, it lived up to its name, I noticed as we drew nearer to the town that the trees were thinning out and the foliage on the bushes lacked the density further back in the forest, we were on a hill looking down at Bleakwood that sat at the bottom, the Kalth mountain range creating a formidable backdrop.

Godwin made me pull up just before we passed the border sign welcoming us to the town. "Come with me!" He said excitedly jumping down from the wagon rather spritely for an old man. I got down and followed him in to the rough beside the path.

"Where are we going?" I asked.

Godwin had stopped about thirty metres from the horse and wagon and was scrabbling around on the ground. "Help me look." He asked.

"Look for what?"

"Cimicfuga." He replied.

"If you have forgotten I only started my apprenticeship yesterday, you sound like you're talking gibberish to me."

"Look for small seedlings in the soil, it's a plant also known as Bugbane. This is the only place it grows."

"It's getting dark now how can I see them in the gloom?" I dropped to my knees and started to shift the loose soil around.

"You will know when you see them, they glow yellow," he looked over to me with a frown.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"You should be writing this down, you're meant to be learning on the job."

"But you said..."

"No buts, always keep records first, everything else comes second." He sounded quite annoyed. I pulled out my pad and started to write when Godwin leapt up with a cheer. "Look here," he said thrusting out his hand; on it sat a small seedling sprouting two glowing yellow leaves. "See, they are here, we will probably use these on our trip." He cradled it in his hands. "I need at least fifty of these, you find them and I will get the container." He went back to the wagon to open up one of his large cases.

"Fifty!" I quietly said to myself. "I am going to be looking all night."

It took about three hours to get the amount he wanted and carefully planted in the container, I seemed to be doing all the work while he made cups of tea for himself. "What will you use these for?" I asked as I shut the case, it was really dark now and I was finishing up under the brightness of the light globes we brought with us.

"In time you will see, when we have a quiet moment I will brew them up, you will probably be surprised at what they can do when put them with the correct ingredients." I did notice that the alchemist never really gave me the answer I was after. "Chop chop, I don't fancy staying out here at night if there are Ogres lurking about, we need to find an inn to stay in."

I was tired and needed some sleep as I didn't get much last night. I hopped back into the wagon's seat and whipped the reigns. "Off we go Blaze," Godwin gave me a funny look as I spoke. "Well you didn't name him so I thought I would, do you like it?"

Godwin chuckled. "Let's get going, we will need our rest for the coming day."

## Chapter 4

## Encounter at the Ruins

We stayed in an inn called The Pigs Belly, the room was basic but the bed was comfortable and I slept like a log that night, better than I did at Godwin's. The sound of bubbling woke me from my sleep, I looked over to Godwin's bed and he was gone. His cases were still here and one was open with its contents taken out, glass tubes and vials were set up and a small portable heater was sitting under a pan with bubbling liquid in it, the steam traveled up a tube and into a vial of blue water, this in turn slowly dripped into another vial of aluminous yellow goo. The smell in the air was of rotting eggs. I quickly got dressed and left the room as fast as I could before I threw up everywhere; I headed down the stairs into the main bar. There were a few people sitting around scattered tables eating food that smelled a hundred times better then the room we stayed in. In the corner sitting on his own was Godwin reading a data slate, I ventured over to him and sat down opposite. I saw the empty plate by him then heard my belly grumble.

"Good morning Lemon," He said. "Are you hungry?" He looked up to the bar man. "One of your finest loaves please." He called out; the man nodded and disappeared into a back room.

I looked back at his plate and saw remains of meat and juice on it. He obviously didn't have just a loaf himself.

"How's the cooking going in the room?" He asked.

"How am I meant to know? There is bright yellow goo in one of the vials and the room smells awful."

"That's good, that means it's done, now I need to head out for a bit, there is someone I need to see to find out where we have to meet our guide. When you have had your breakfast, pack up the room and meet me outside in an hour. And be careful with the yellow goo, you wouldn't want to drop it, it would make a complete mess of the inn." He got up and made to leave.

"Hold on! where are we going?"

Godwin leaned in close to my ear. "We are off to the mountains of Kalth." He whispered then left placing the slate on the bar as he went.

It didn't take me long to pack away everything in the room, I surprised myself by not spilling or dropping anything. I was now waiting with Blaze and the wagon out the front of The Pig's Belly, an hour had passed and there was still no sign of the alchemist. I was starting to worry; Godwin seemed like a very punctual person. I was just about to go back in The Pig's Belly and find out if the man at the bar knew where Godwin had gone, when I saw the man himself, he was running down the road towards me.

"It's time to go, time to go!" He said in a hurry as he climbed onto the wagon.

"Where were you? I was getting concerned." I joined him on the wagon and got Blaze moving.

"I have spoken to a friend here in Bleakwood, and we need to leave now, we have been here too long." He seems to be a bit panicked.

"We have only stayed a night, how can that be too long?" I was a little confused.

Godwin was watching the people we passed as we made our way through the centre of the village.

He leaned towards me. "We are being followed." He whispered.

"Followed? Who would want to follow us?"

"Shh, keep it down." He looked about nervously. "Follow this road until you get to the ruins on the outskirts. And act normal."

I thought I was, he was the one looking strange and nervous, watching everyone we passed with suspicion.

We traveled in silence for over an hour; Godwin was constantly looking over his shoulder the whole time. "Who is following us?" I asked him.

"Never you mind, concentrate on not crashing the wagon." He replied, I had never seen him so jittery before.

The ruins appeared as we made our way in to a clearing; they looked like they were once part of a magnificent castle sitting on a small hill, but war and time had destroyed it into rubble of broken battlements and spires. What surprised me was that it was built of stone and not wood, just about everything in the Wood Rider's realm was built using the trees. Maybe it was because we were so close to the mountains of Kalth which loomed up ominously on the horizon. "Why are we here?" I asked Godwin.

"I need to meet someone who will be our guide over the mountains, I am told they will be here," he replied climbing down from the wagon. "Bring the brown case, we shall need that one and unhitch Blaze, he will wait for us here."

I did as he said; I gave Blaze a pat on the neck when I released him from the wagon, he just snorted at me and plodded off to nibble the grass. The brown case was the heavy one; it contained all of Godwin's alchemy equipment.

"Come on! He's probably already here waiting." Godwin said urgently as he headed off towards the ruins. I followed behind dragging the heavy case.

We entered though an archway that was still intact into an open grassy space, nature was claiming the area back; ivy climbed up the broken stones and smothered the sides of the crumbling walls.

"Put the case on that stone." Godwin told me pointing to a large flat stone that looked like it had once been a table. I heaved it on and opened it up, Godwin was straight in it dividing up some green powder and wrapping them in individual pieces of grey parchment then sticking them in a small bag. All the while his eyes were darting here and there watching the surroundings. "Are you taking notes Lemon?" He said without looking at me.

I was more fascinated with what he was doing and forgot. I pulled out my pad and started scribbling down what the alchemist was doing.

I heard a twig snap behind us, Godwin heard it too and he froze. "Get behind this stone and don't move." He whispered to me then slowly drew out the pistol I gave him out from the back of his waist belt. I was starting to get scared now as I crouched behind the stone; I reached inside my tunic and pulled out the vibo blade, slid it out of its sheath and looked at it. The blade was seven inches long with a black leather handle, my hand was shaking as a hit the switch at its base and the blade glowed a subtle blue. I listened to what the alchemist was doing, not daring to look over the stone, I could hear him shuffling and then the quiet hum as he powered up his weapon.

"I said you should come alone." I heard him say quite loudly. I couldn't make out what the reply was, it was mumbled in a deep voice and was too far away. "If this is going to happen I need what I say to be followed correctly. Is that understood?" He sounded angry, I was tempted to peer around the stone table but I was too frightened.

Godwin's head suddenly appeared above me looking over the table. "You can come out now." He said making me jump out of my skin. I slowly raised myself up and looked towards the people Godwin was talking to. To my horror three massive Ogres stood in front of me, two were carrying giant guns and the one in the middle held a large hammer. I stood there with my mouth open.

"You can put that away now." Godwin said pointing to the blade in my hand. I didn't really want to with these beasts in front of us. Godwin saw my hesitation. "They are friends Lemon." He said.

"My name is Lem, not Lemon." I replied not taking my eyes off of the Ogres.

"You tell me come alone. You didn't." The Middle Ogre said waving his hammer in my direction.

"Well we are both as bad as each other." Godwin said rummaging in his case again and lifting out three small packets of the green powder. He threw the packets at the Ogre. "There you are, they should help."

The Ogre caught them and passed two to his companions, they tipped the powder into their mouths.

"How is it in Kalth?" Godwin asked.

"Not good," the rumbling voice of the Ogre replied. "The king has been taken; the sickness is bad amongst our people. We will fall soon."

The alchemist leaned back against the stone. "The king has been taken? Then we must hurry."

I grabbed Godwin's arm. "Can you please explain why we are talking to Ogres? They are raiding our villages," I paused then said. "Are you helping them?"

Godwin shook out of my grip angrily. "Know your place apprentice!" He shouted at me and then realized he was being too harsh as I took a step backwards nervously.

"Lem, we are going to be entering a dangerous time, you must trust me and my actions."

I was more shocked that he actually got my name right. "If you are taking me into danger don't you think I have the right to know why?"

Godwin's head sagged. "I will do my best to explain," he indicated to the Ogres to give them a moment. The three Ogres shrugged and moved away. "Yes, I have been helping the Ogres." He said it like it wasn't a big thing.

"Why would you help them? They have been ransacking our villages!"

"Now listen to me apprentice, let me finish. There is a war going on in the Kalth kingdom, an Ogre warlord is trying to overthrow the king to rule the kingdom himself. If he succeeds it will have major repercussions for the Wood Rider's realm and beyond," he started to put little packages of goo into his pockets from the case. "The raids are by his Ogres not the Kings."

"How does this need an alchemist's involvement?" I couldn't see the reasoning behind it. "Don't they need warriors and fighters?"

"The kings Ogres have been cursed by a sorcerer, they are sick and can't fight allowing the warlord to take over, I have created a potion that can temporarily make them feel better, but it doesn't last long. I need to get one very important ingredient and I could possibly cure the entire curse."

The Ogres were watching us talk and looked visibly nervous being so exposed. "Where do we find this ingredient?" I asked.

"That is the problem we have, it is a moss that only grows on the eastern side of the Kalth Mountains and that is in the warlord's territories. The Ogre Brock is going to be our guide." He packed up the rest of his case and called the Ogres over. "I have been doing my best providing the Ogres with my potion but they now fear crossing the border in case they are attacked. With the warlords raids they could be targeted by mistake."

"We must go now." Brock said acting all fidgety.

"Carry my case and we shall..." Godwin stopped mid sentence, we all heard the stampeding hooves of the horses galloping up the hill. "Green riders!" Godwin shouted. "Go now!"

I didn't know what to do; I was in a state of panic. The other two Ogres ran passed us with their weapons up, they sheltered by the arch and began firing down at the oncoming green riders. Godwin grabbed my arm and dragged me in the other direction; Brock was behind us with the case on his shoulder. "You were followed?" He yelled.

"Apparently so, just get us out of here!" Godwin shouted back at him.

"Get to the outcrop ahead, behind is my transport." Brock said as his feet pounded the ground. We were now out of the ruins and descending down the other side of the hill. Godwin suddenly stopped just beyond the castle, so I stopped with him. "What are you doing?" I screamed.

"Get your vehicle started, we will slow them down." He called to Brock. The big Ogre nodded and ran on.

Godwin rummaged in his pockets and brought out a black pouch, he then proceeded to scatter a fine powder in a large circle on the floor.

The other two Ogres were now running towards us, they shot straight by totally ignoring Godwin and myself heading to the outcrop. The alchemist pulled me back out of the circle and we stood there waiting for the green riders to appear. Why are we not running? I thought. This is ridiculous standing here with armed men coming for us.

I heard them before I saw them, the horses hooves running towards us, then they appeared, there were four of them all dressed in hooded dark green cloaks riding big powerful black horses. They slowed when they saw us standing there. Godwin had his arms folded definitely and I was shaking with fear.

The lead rider raised his hand and they all came to stop just in front of us inside the powdered circle. One of the riders removed his hood and stared over our heads at the Ogres disappearing behind the rocky outcrop. He then looked down meaningfully at me. "Do you plan to use that?" He asked. I was in shock and wondered what he was talking about. Then I realized that I was still holding the glowing vibo blade, I quickly switched it off and tucked it back in my tunic. The man looked at me through narrow eyes. I knew of these men, they are the green riders that protect the realm of the Wood Riders and from what I had been told they were not to be trifled with. "We have met before." He said. I thought he was talking to Godwin but he directed it at me.

"Err, have we?" I asked confused. Godwin gave me a funny look.

""Yes, in the forest by the river." He stated.

I remembered, I wouldn't have thought he would have recognized me. "You tried to shoot that Ogre." I said.

The man nodded. "I could tell that was you there, you wasn't very well hidden." He then sniffed the air. "You smell the same." He turned to face Godwin. "You will be coming with us old man." He said.

Godwin looked the green rider in the eye. "Why would that be?" He asked him.

"We have been tracking your movement's alchemist, we know you have been dealing with the Ogres, and that cannot be allowed." The other riders pulled their pistols out and pointed them at us.

Godwin stood there unfazed. "There are things happening here that you are oblivious to, what we do is of great importance to the realm."

The green rider laughed. "An old man and a boy are the realms saviors!" Suddenly he was very serious. "You two are in cohorts with the Ogres and that is a threat to the realm." The green rider didn't sound convinced of this himself.

"Do you know of my work?" Godwin asked.

"I have been following your movements for a while alchemist. I know of your dealings."

"Then you must know I am not a threat to the realm, I am the only one who can save it!" Godwin was very forceful.

The lead green rider signaled to his men to lower their weapons. "I understand what you do but with the Ogres raids I cannot take any chances," he looked a little disappointed. "I have no choice; I have to take you in."

"So be it." Godwin said raising his arms in the air. "But I will not be held responsible for what will happen." As he spoke he also dropped a small glowing ball that hit the ground and rolled onto the circle of powder. The green rider watched it roll, before he saw the danger the circle erupted in green flames five feet high encircling the green riders inside. I fell backwards on to my rump in shock.

"What the..." I began to say.

"Get up and run!" shouted Godwin, he didn't have to tell me twice, I was already up and running towards the outcrop. Just before reaching it a bulky black vehicle pulled out from behind, it slew to a stop in front of us, a door in the side swung open and Brock reached out and dragged us both in just as we saw the green riders leap through the flames. The tracked vehicle turned and roared off in the direction of the mountains.

The green riders gave chase and they soon gained on us, there were no windows in the vehicle but I could hear the pulse shots hitting its armoured exterior, they didn't seem to be doing any damage though. It wasn't long before the shots stopped, the green riders and their large steeds couldn't keep up with the pace of the noisy transport and soon they gave up the chase and watched us disappear into the distance.

## Chapter 5

## The serpent Tunnel

I found the journey in the transport more terrifying than anything else I had ever experienced. Being a Wood Rider I have never been in any sort of vehicle before, very few of us ever had and by the look of Godwin he hadn't either. I was being thrown from side to side without being able to see outside and I was beginning to feel sick, Godwin looked a bit green around the gills too. Brock sat next to the alchemist staring at me constantly, making me also feel nervous. I felt awkward and insignificant sitting opposite this massive creature, he was all muscle and looked like he could crush me with just his finger and thumb. When I thought back to what I was told about Ogres, they were nothing like what was sitting in front of me. I was told they all dressed in rags, lived in caves, carried clubs and were incredibly stupid. Well this Ogre was well dressed in combat fatigues with plenty of weapons holstered about his person, there was even a chain around his neck with what looked like a picture of him and another Ogre dangling at the end, I didn't think they were stupid either considering they were driving this vehicle; I wouldn't even know where to begin.

"You no like Ogres?" Brock finally asked.

I didn't know what to say, he had put me on the spot and that giant hammer he was fiddling with worried me, what if I gave him the wrong answer? "It's not that I don't like Ogres," I said hesitantly. "It's more that I don't know that much about Ogres other than what I have been told." I hope I said the right thing and he wouldn't squash me with his huge weapon.

"You have been told bad things about us." He said looking to the floor of the transport, he looked a bit hurt.

"Yes," I replied somberly. "I have."

"We are not all bad. Some earn money in other realms because we strong can do things others can't. Sometimes that gets bad reputation."

I was surprised to see him look sad. "That is the same as all races; we all have our bad eggs."

Brock looked confused. "Me no like eggs." He said.

The journey came to an abrupt halt sending me flying forwards and crashing into the front of the vehicle. Brock opened the side door and the wonderful sun beamed in, Godwin was first out and throwing up his last meal besides the transport's tracks. I clambered out last rubbing my sore shoulder. We were at the base of the mountains on a dirt track that continued on into the distance.

"We must be careful from here; the warlord controls most entrances to Kalth." Brock said. He pointed further up where there was a break in the mountain creating a valley through. "That is way we come. Can't go back that way now, warlord Ogres now there."

"How do we get through?" Godwin asked wiping his mouth.

"There is path that leads through, warlord not know it. We go that way." He got the other Ogres to get the case and move on ahead on foot.

"What are we getting into here?" I asked Godwin.

"A whole heap of trouble, that's what." He replied brushing partly digested food from his tunic. That will teach you not to eat so much for breakfast I thought.

We didn't have to walk very far before we came to a pathway that lead up the mountain side, if the Ogres didn't point it out we wouldn't of seen it at all, it blended well in to the rocks. We followed the path up for about twenty minutes, it was hard going as the path thinned in places so we had to proceed with our backs to the wall and carefully shuffle along, there were also places where the path had crumbled away a long time ago, here we had to leap gaps to get to the other side. The large frames of the Ogres didn't hinder them at all; it was like a gentle stroll for them. We soon reached a cave entrance set in the rock a few feet up. "We go in there." Brock said watching the other two Ogres climbing up and disappearing in. "We use it before. We call it serpent tunnel." He then started to climb up.

"Err, serpent tunnel? That doesn't sound good." I said a bit alarmed.

Brock looked back down, "lots of snakes live here. Watch where feet are put."

"I don't believe this. It's my second day on the job and now I have to deal with snakes!" I said worrying.

"Alchemist's work isn't all boring. Just don't forget to take notes." Godwin said then scrambled up the side. That reminded me to ask him how he was so fit for an old man, I was more shattered then he was. I followed them up.

The cave was dark and lead to a tunnel, the lack of light was not a problem for the Ogres they have very good night vision, but for us it was pitch black. Godwin once again went to his many pocketed tunic and pulled out thin glass tubes filled with a white liquid. "Datura, musa, heiracium auranticum and crocosima." He said as he shook the tubes, they started to glow bright white lighting up the tunnel a few metres around us. He passed one to me and set off after the Ogres. "Don't forget to jot it down." He said over his shoulder. I sighed.

The Ogres set a fast pace, me and Godwin couldn't keep up with them, we were being cautious watching out for the snakes we were told lived in here, we had been going for half an hour and still no sign of the serpents, as the tunnel descended I was starting to think there wasn't any of the creatures in here after all. "I haven't seen a snake yet. Have you? I think they are mistaken." I said to Godwin.

He turned around and shone his light on me. "Yes I have, just the one." He said.

"I must have missed that one was it big?" I was shining the light around the walls.

"No not too big, you will see it soon, it's making its way up your back and peeking over your shoulder."

I stopped dead and slowly turned my head to the side and came face to face with a snake's head that was flicking out its tongue tasting the air. "Get it off me!" I said through gritted teeth trying not to startle the serpent.

Godwin had no time, as he was about to come to my aid a large snake burst out of the ground in front of him and struck at his thigh only just missing biting him on the leg by an inch, he couldn't keep his balance as he tried to avoid the attack and fell backwards on to his rear, as he landed another of the creatures burst out of the ground and bit him on the arm, it's large fangs digging into his soft flesh. He screamed in pain as he grabbed the snake's head and threw it away from him. I slowly reached up to the snake on my shoulder and with a shaky hand grabbed it behind the head, it immediately bared its fangs and tried to strike, I managed to throw it to the ground and stamp on it hard, Godwin was trying to get up, I rushed to his side and helped him to his feet. We ran as quickly as we could, with every other footfall a snake would appear from out of the ground and strike at us, it was terrifying. I called out Brock's name for help as we pounded along the tunnel. I heard him call back.

"I'm here! What's wrong?" Brock shouted. We now hit a junction in the tunnel, Godwin was leaning against me the pain showing on his face.

"Which way do we go?" I shouted out.

"This way!" Brock shouted back. Well that didn't help; the sound echoed around the tunnel, it could have come from either tunnel. There were snakes now gathering behind us, there were lots of them all slithering over each other getting closer.

"My pocket," Said Godwin through pained lips. "Take the yellow ones!"

A snake struck at me and I kicked it away as I rummaged in Godwin's pocket and found a packet of the yellow goo he made back in The Pig's Belly.

"Throw it hard." He said.

I did just that into the mass of writhing serpents, the effect was instant, there was an explosion that nearly deafened me and we were both covered in snake remains. What was left wasn't recognizable; there was just a pile of slush, but still I could hear the snakes coming for us.

I took a gamble and headed down the left tunnel, we carried on for five minutes before I thought we had gone the wrong way, Godwin was starting to get heavy and I wasn't sure I could carry on much further without a rest. I heard a loud hiss coming from the dark in front of us, this hiss sounded different from the other snakes, it sounded a lot bigger.

"Turn back Lemon." Godwin rasped on hearing the sound.

I was getting into a panic now! I didn't think I could venture back into the mass of writhing snakes behind us. "No, we carry on. I would rather deal with one big snake than hundreds of small ones." I said defiantly.

We carried on into the darkness ahead, the hissing sound still echoed out in the tunnel but there was no sign of any giant snake, I felt a slight bit of relief at that. There were still plenty of the smaller ones snapping at us as we passed by them hidden in the ground. Eventually a glow of daylight appeared in front of us as we rounded a bend, we were nearly out. The snakes hadn't relented on trying to bite us though; if we slowed we would get struck again. Brock and the other two Ogres were waiting for us as we ran out into the sunshine. Thank the lord I thought.

"He's been bit!" I shouted helping Godwin to lay down on the grass, he was groaning with agony clutching his arm. Brock just looked down at him.

"Do something!" I screamed at him. The Ogre just looked at me blankly.

"Should I suck out the poison? Or what?" I was panicking now; I didn't want to be left alone in the Ogre Kingdom.

"He will be good, serpents not poisonous." Brock said as he pointed down at his bare ankles, they were covered in bite marks. I looked at Godwin; he had stopped rolling around and was listening.

"Well it was very painful, like two daggers penetrating my soul." He said as I helped him back to his feet.

"You're being a bit dramatic." I said.

"When you get bit apprentice, we will see how you react," he was back to the grumpy alchemist again. "We need to get to somewhere safe so I can make some more potions for you." He said to Brock.

"Yes, it is wearing off, Brock feels sleepy. We have safe place for you, then we plan to get ingredient for cure." Brock said.

"Yes, yes no time to waste, let's go." Godwin replied still rubbing his arm and removing bits of snake flesh from his clothes.

Then all hell broke loose!

A massive snake burst out of the tunnel and collided with one of the Ogres knocking him to the ground. The snake was huge; its girth was that of a fully grown elm tree. The sudden appearance of the snake shocked us all; Godwin dropped to the floor like a sack of potatoes and covered his head with his hands. Brock and the other Ogre turned and began firing at the beast, That was enough of a distraction to stop it eating the Ogre on the ground whole. It reared up hissing loudly with its fangs bared ready to strike out at the nearest thing to it. To my surprise I didn't run away, instead I ran towards it with my blade in my hand. Brock was keeping its attention letting off shots aimed at the snakes head, most were just bouncing off its scales doing no damage, but it was distracted enough not to notice me running for its tail that was now only just coming out of the tunnel entrance. The beast must have been thirty foot long! As I reached the tail I brought my glowing blade down in an arcing motion slicing through the tough scales, I hacked and hacked while screaming, I could feel the adrenaline pumping through me. The snake writhed in agony catching me with its flailing body sending me flying backwards to collide with Godwin. Brock finally made the shot he was after, he composed himself while the other Ogre continued to fire wildly at the beast, then he calmly brought his weapon up and fired one shot directly into the snake's bright red eye. With its last death throws the serpent collapsed into a coiled pile on the floor.

Godwin helped me to my feet with a grin on his face. "I never knew you had it in you boy!" He said surprised.

Brock came over to us. "Very brave or very stupid. I havn't decided yet." He said.

This was all getting too much for me, I know I never wanted to be an alchemist's apprentice, it sounded so boring going round sick people's homes and rubbing ointments on their persons, but this was at the other end of the scale, the boring part sounded good to me right now.

"Come on Lemon! Stop straggling." Godwin called already marching off, I sighed then followed on behind the Ogre carrying the case.

We were taken to a small building on the outskirts of the warlord's territory, it was stone built like all the buildings in Kalth, this was still strange to me why others would use such a heavy and awkward material when the properties of wood were so much better, maybe that's just the wood rider in me talking.

It was getting chilly as the night drew closer; I wished we didn't leave the other case back with Blaze as it had some warmer clothes inside it. Brock took us into the back room where a table and heating equipment were set up. "We got you what you asked for." Brock said.

"Excellent, I will get to work making some potion to help with the curse and then we must deduce a way of getting the moss." Godwin waved at the ogre carrying the case to set it down on the table. "If you could start setting the equipment up Lemon, I shall make the tea." I wouldn't have minded much if I got some of the tea, he only ever made it for himself.

We went through most of the night making up the potions for the Ogres, I actually got quite good at it with the alchemist's supervision and eventually we took it in turns so we both got a little rest. By morning we had made one hundred and twenty packets, we had to stop because we were running out of the ingredients.

"We need to save some for the cure," Godwin said. "A lot of the ingredients you cannot find in these parts."

Brock had sent the other Ogres off to distribute the packets of powder while he stayed to help formulate a plan to get the moss for the cure. He placed a data slate on the table and started tapping it with his over sized fingers. I found this quite amusing as I didn't associate Ogres with technology; to me I only knew them as cumbersome, strong and a slightly dumb race. I was learning something new every day, it was like the alchemist said back in his home - don't judge a book by its cover.

The data slate showed a map of the warlord's castle and the surrounding area. The castle was situated on Eastern side of the mountains and sat atop of a massive cliff. Brock tapped some more and a holographic image of the castle appeared above the table. The Ogre turned the image around to show the cliff face where the moss they needed grew. "Above the cliff is a fighting platform." He zoomed the image in to show the platform that overhung the cliff. "Ogres like fighting." Brock said.

"That we know," Godwin replied. "The rock face is too sheer to climb; the only way to get to the moss would be from that platform."

I was a bit skeptical about the plan forming in the alchemist's head. "So, we have to get into a well guarded castle, make our way to the entertainment area, and climb down over an abyss collect some moss and get out alive! Is that what you're saying?"

Godwin looked at me. "Yes, that's exactly what I am saying and also without being seen."

## Chapter 6

## The warlord's castle

We were now on the move again, Godwin had made some more potions and gave me some to keep in my pockets, he explained what they did and how to use them but to tell the truth I wasn't really listening, I knew that they were colour coded, the yellow ones were explosives, the black ones were sticky like glue and the others, I couldn't remember what they did. I was more concerned about not getting squashed by an angry Ogre.

As we walked down a path that skirted a quiet village Godwin walked ahead as I talked to Brock about his life here. He told me that he was a blacksmith that lived in the northern part of Kalth, he had a wife and was happy here, that is until the warlord had found a way to curse all that opposed him. The rumors say he paid a handsome amount to a sorcerer to inflict the curse on the warlord's enemies. He went on to say how the curse made everybody feel sick and constantly drained, the worse was the pounding in their heads. The king did his best to put an end to the warlord but due to the weakening actions of the curse his army was struggling to hold him back. Brock himself had joined the Kings army a few months ago, he couldn't sit back and watch his community be destroyed, the warlords plans were to take Kalth for himself then expand out into the Wood Riders realm and then beyond. That was the reasoning for the raids on my villages, to test the reaction of the Wood Riders. When the warlord's army was strong enough he would attack with a large force.

To me they seemed to have the same lives and problems as any other race. The stories I was told when I was younger were just that, stories.

The warlord's castle came into view as we rounded a large rock face, the grassy plains and wooded areas we left behind an hour ago; from then on the scenery was just bleak grey rock. The castle was a giant structure that sat precariously on the top of a cliff; we could see the main pathway leading up to a massive wooden drawbridge spanning a great chasm.

"You didn't mention we had to cross that to get in!" I said to Brock. He just shrugged.

"When is the bridge raised?" Godwin asked the Ogre.

"It goes up midday when Ogres are resting; it goes back down before dark when Ogres work." Brock answered.

Godwin stared at the bridge intently. "Do you know?" He said rubbing his chin. "That is the first wooden structure I have seen in Kalth since we have been here."

He was right thinking about it, everything we had seen was made of stone or metal.

"Yes, we Ogres not good with trees, we good with rock and metal." He smiled when he said metal.

If I am correct, that bridge looks like Wood Rider workmanship from a bygone era." Godwin said.

I was slightly puzzled. "What does that matter?" I asked.

"Well, all the ancient workings were made from a different type of tree back then to what we use now. Think of the temples in Woodridge, the timber used to build it was a very heavy and thick wood and unlike today it was pretty much fire proof. The trees that were used have all died out now; it is very rare to see anything made from it nowadays."

I had to stop him before we ended up having a history lesson. "Why do we need to know what it's made of?"

Godwin turned to Brock. "Are you a good shot with that?" He pointed to the pulse rifle slung over his shoulder.

"I am very good." He replied. I had to agree after the shot that killed the snake.

Godwin told him what he wanted him to do; I didn't hear exactly what he said to him before the alchemist dragged me away heading for the drawbridge.

We crouched low behind a large rock that was twenty metres from the bridge, it was nearly midday and we watched the last few Ogres cross over the chasm.

"Let's go Lemon, we have to be quick!" He ran out from the rock over to the edge of the bridge I quickly followed making sure I wasn't seen.

"We will never make it across without being spotted!" I didn't know his plan for getting across, but I couldn't see any way it was possible. There were Ogres watching from the castle.

"Come this way!" Godwin whispered. We slowly moved on to a thin ledge that went underneath the drawbridge. Godwin pulled out a small black bag from his pocket, it looked like tar. "Put a very tiny amount on your hands." He said before passing it to me. "Not too much." He whispered.

It was incredibly sticky stuff; I had trouble trying to hand the bag back as it kept sticking to me. Then we heard a loud clunk. "Here we go, grab the bar above us." Godwin said to me.

I looked up and saw the metal strut he was talking about, I reached up and grabbed it, my hands instantly stuck to it. There were more loud clunks and the drawbridge started to rise with us dangling beneath it.

I closed my eyes not daring to look down at the depths below. We were really doing it! We were breaking in to an Ogre warlord's stronghold. "Take deep breaths my apprentice." He must have seen the fear on my face.

The bridge seemed to take an age to fully close, when it finally did with a loud bang it threatened to shake us off. Godwin and I were hanging hundreds of metres above ragged rocks far below. "What now?" I shouted at Godwin, I had to shout as the wind up here was blowing hard. We couldn't go upwards as there was a large lip above that would be impossible to traverse; we couldn't go down because the underside of the drawbridge was smooth wood with nothing to get a grip on.

"Just wait." Godwin said.

So I waited and I felt my hands starting to slip, the gluey substance must be losing its stickiness. "Whatever we are waiting for it had better hurry up, I'm starting to slip!"

"Hold on lad, any second now." Any second now I would drop I thought. Then I heard a muffled thump below me, then another.

"What is that?" I cried. Godwin smiled at me as a flash of bright light came between us, when it dissipated there was a deep indent in the underside of the drawbridge next to my head.

Godwin laughed. "To tell you the truth I was starting to think my idea wouldn't work!" He pulled one of his hands of the bar and grabbed the edge of the indent. There were more flashes all around us and more indents appeared. "I hope you're a good climber? Because we have a way to go before we reach the bottom." Godwin said using more of the indents as hand and footholds.

I felt like crying as I followed him down, the glue on my hands was still tacky enough to help me grip the edge of the holes. It took us twenty minutes to make it to a ledge near the bottom of the bridge. I collapsed onto it next to Godwin. He patted me on the shoulder. "Well done Lemon, we might just make an alchemist out of you yet."

I laughed; I think it was because of the relief that I was still alive and a way of losing the tension.

"Learn your history boy; this just goes to prove it could save your life." Godwin said to me.

"Are you talking about the wood?" I asked sitting up.

"Yes I am," he said grinning. "I knew the ancient wood used in the bridge construction wouldn't splinter when shot, it's a heavy soft wood and I hoped more than knew that shooting it might make enough of a dent for us to use to climb down. I'm just glad that Brock is as good a shot as he said he was."

"Well, we are across, what now?"

"I haven't a clue young apprentice, I hadn't thought we would make it this far." He laughed out loud. "Come on; let's see if we can find a way into the castle."

We made our way along the ledge thirty metres before we found a suitable part of the wall to climb, this was easier climbing then when we were on the drawbridge, there were plenty of jutting rocks and footholds, we climbed for ten minutes before we reached the top and peered over. We could see an open empty courtyard, the closed drawbridge on our left and the entrance to the castle on the right. I looked at Godwin, he wasn't even out of breath, and I was panting and sweating. "How do you do it?" I asked him.

"It's all in the tea my boy; it's all in the tea." The main entrance doors were open with no one standing guard. "There's our way in, right through the front door." Godwin said.

"You have got to be kidding me!" I replied.

"Why not? If what Brock said is correct the Ogres should be resting until sundown."

"We can't just..." Before I finished what I was saying he was already over the wall. I had no choice but to follow.

We dropped down the other side on to what looked like a battlement, we ran along the length of it crouching and watching for movement but the place seemed to be deserted, at the end of the battlement there was a set of stone steps that curved down to the courtyard below, the entrance was twenty feet away from the base of the stairs, as we descended two burly Ogres came out of the castle door carrying pulse rifles slung over their shoulders. Godwin and I froze, there was nowhere to hide we were totally exposed standing on the steps. The Ogres were talking in their own guttural language, I believe they were laughing too but I couldn't tell, surely they would see us standing in the open, they moved to the centre of the courtyard and stopped. I slowly tapped Godwin on the shoulder hoping he would know what to do. He whispered back. "Stay perfectly still and do not move."

I was silently praying for the Ogres to leave, they didn't, instead they did exactly what I didn't want them to do and they turned and headed in our direction. I was ready to run but where would I run to? I was trapped in the warlord's castle and couldn't get out until the drawbridge lowered at sundown. The Ogres were still coming; I was guessing they were making their way up onto the battlements. What was Godwin thinking?

Bong! Bong! Bong!

The two Ogres turned at the sounds, one patted the other on the back and made that laughing sound again, they changed direction and headed back inside shutting the doors behind them. My heart was nearly jumping out of my chest as my legs gave way and I sunk to the step.

"I think one of them said food." Godwin said, looking very pale.

"How did you know the bell would ring?" I asked finally managing to slow my heart rate down.

"I didn't." He replied.

"Then why were we standing here in the open with two Ogres walking towards us?"

"The answer is simple my apprentice, I was scared stiff and my legs would not work."

"You mean you didn't have a plan?" I was shocked and slightly annoyed.

"Nope, I didn't. Luck seems to be on our side Lemon. Now how are we going to reach that platform?"

Luck can also run out when you need it the most I thought. "Well can we move to somewhere not so open to work that one out?"

"What a good idea! I knew I brought you along for a reason." To one side of the courtyard sat six large metal barrels, we quickly ran over to them and ducked behind.

"I can't see any way in other than the door." Godwin said looking at the entrance and starting to worry.

I looked up at the expanse of a castle, the walls were made of large irregular stone and about thirty foot up there was what looked like an open window with its metal shutters blowing in the wind.

Godwin must have realized what I was thinking. "No. I can't keep this up much longer without my tea; I am eighty two you know!"

I didn't know, he did look old but not that old, and this tea must be amazing, I must get the recipe off him I thought. "One more climb!" I said. "We can't stay here that's for sure. I have some of that black stuff you gave me."

He thought about it for a few seconds. "Well then I must do it, but then I shall make some tea." He said sharply.

I didn't know how he was going to do that but he had surprised me plenty of times so far. I pulled the black bag he gave me out of my pocket and we applied some to our boots and fingers careful not to put too much on. Making sure the way was clear we ran up to the door and started to climb above it. It was tough going, my arms and legs were aching from all the climbing I had done already and my body wasn't used to all this sort of strenuous exercise, if it wasn't for the glue I would have fallen. The alchemist was above me and nearly there. I must get this damn tea!

The door below opened again, this time a large group of Ogres came out. This isn't good I thought, there were more chances of being spotted. Godwin was just pulling himself inside so I put on a spurt fearful of being seen.

Godwin stuck his head out of the window. "Less haste and more speed!" He said urgently. Just at that moment the glue let me down, my foot slipped off a stone and I lost my grip. I fell five foot before grabbing the edge of a stone jutting out, it cut into my hand and I had to muffle a scream. The pain started to shoot up my arm. Godwin was waving at me frantically.

Will this ever end! I began to climb again pushing the pain to the back of my mind not daring to look down. I made it to the window ledge where Godwin dragged me in and I slumped to the floor exhausted. Godwin looked at my wound. "That wasn't too bad was it?" He said pulling out a green tube from an inside pocket, he squeezed a dark green cream on to the gash on my palm, it stung quite badly. "That will see you alright," he pulled me to my feet. "Where do we go from here?" He asked me looking about the room.

"How would I know? This whole thing is your ridiculous idea. You keep telling me I'm just the apprentice!" I was getting angry now, to me it seemed Godwin had no plan at all, he was just crazy.

He turned to me and looked me hard in the eyes. "Yes. You are right, this is my idea and you are just an apprentice and you will stay an apprentice with that kind of attitude! I have been helping people since long before you were born and will continue to do so," he put the ointment back in his pocket. "I have been in worse situations then this before and survived, I believe in my art and my principal beliefs are to put others first even if it puts my life in danger. If you do not then you are of no use to me."

I was surprised by the passion in his voice. "I'm sorry, it's just a few days ago I was at home helping my mother cook and now I'm here standing in an Ogres castle. It's all getting to me."

"We'll help me with this and I will let you have some tea, how does that sound?" He said. I just nodded.

"Now let's find that platform." He said grinning.

## Chapter 7

## Into the barrels

The room we were standing in is was sparsely decorated, there was a chest pushed up against one of the plain stone walls and on the opposite side was a large stone bed with a pile of animal skins thrown on to it.

"As I see it, the platform is on the eastern side of the castle, so if we keep heading east we should eventually find it." I said walking to the door.

"That makes sense, but can I suggest..." Godwin started to say.

A loud snorting noise coming from the animal skins interrupted his sentence. Why can't anything be simple I thought. "Come on." I whispered even though we hadn't been quiet so far.

Godwin pulled some little bags out of his pocket and was going through them deciding which one to choose. "This is no time for that!" I said looking at the bed; I looked closer at the skins, amongst the furs there were two wide eyes staring right at me. My blood froze. Godwin was tip toeing over to me and the door still trying to pick a bag.

The eyes held me in their gaze. Then there was an almighty scream and an Ogre in the bed sat up, pointed at me and screamed some more.

Godwin nearly fell over in shock and screamed back, I stuck out my hands saying shh to the Ogre as if it would help, the Ogre continued to scream and point. Godwin had regained control of himself and finally found the bag he was looking for, he opened it up and tipped half the powdery contents in his hand and then blew the power at the screaming Ogre sitting in the bed. Blue dust sprinkled all around the Ogre's head. "Hold your breath boy!" Godwin shouted at me. "You won't want to be breathing that powder in."

I did as I was told. The Ogre stopped its horrendous noise and started to cough and splutter, Godwin blew the rest of the bags contents into the air until the Ogre finally fell silent falling back in the bed. Godwin was covering his mouth and indicated to me to get out of here; we exited the room into a spacious corridor. "That should keep her quiet for a while," Godwin said to me. "I can't believe I had to use a whole bag! That sleeping dust takes three months to make."

"You said her. It didn't look female to me." I said.

"Have you ever seen a female Ogre before? No I don't expect you have. They look the same as the males, just slight differences. That was a child so we had better move now before the parents turn up to see what all the noise was about."

We headed east down the corridor as far as it would go, we could hear footsteps behind us, maybe the child's mother checking on her daughter, hopefully she would think it was having a bad dream and we wouldn't be discovered. At the end of the corridor were some large stone steps leading down.

"Well it looks like we are heading in the right direction." I said.

"Take the lead Lemon, I will watch our backs."

Typical I thought as I slowly descended the spiraling stairs. I could hear gruff voices at the bottom; they weren't coming up were they? If they were we would be trapped between them and the Ogres up the stairs in the corridor, I turned to go back up but Godwin put his hand on my shoulder and shook his head. I started to panic and then the voices faded away.

"Be strong boy, keep going." Godwin told me. I took a big breath and carried on down and around the bend at the bottom. I stuck my head around a large stone statue and saw we were at an entrance to an expansive kitchen. Over the other side was an Ogre preparing a feast, the amount of food on show made me think some celebration was happening today. Godwin pushed me in and we both crouched behind a work surface.

"Which way do we go now?" I whispered. Godwin just shrugged. I peeked over the top of the counter and saw that the Ogre was moving around the worktop to where we were hiding, I ducked back down and pushed Godwin to move around the work tops side, crouching we moved quickly just as the Ogre rounded the other side. Ahead of us were large metal barrels pushed up against a wall and another staircase leading down. Godwin nudged me and pointed to the stairs, I checked the Ogre wasn't looking this way; it was busy chopping up some sort of fruit with its back to us humming some sort of tune. I signalled the all clear to Godwin and we both made for the stairs. As we reached them we heard voices coming up, Godwin quickly turned nearly knocking me over. I looked back at the cook; he had nearly finished his preparation. Where to go?

The barrels I thought. I peered into the closest one, it was half full with a brown liquid so I checked the next and it was empty. I grabbed Godwin's arm and pulled him over to me, then while keeping an eye on the cook I quietly climbed in. The voices were getting louder from the stairway as Godwin flopped down on top of me; I had to muffle a cry as his weight crushed my body in the tight confines of the barrel. The chopping suddenly stopped and we held our breath as we heard the cook's footsteps coming towards us. The sounds of the Ogres ascending from the stairs were now in the kitchen, we could hear them talking to the cook although I couldn't understand what they were saying. We both kept as quiet as we possibly could, not daring to move in case we were heard. The Ogres were laughing and now standing directly next to us, we heard some bashing and I guessed they were putting a lid on the barrel beside us. They are going to see us! I felt a panic attack welling up inside me. One Ogre was standing above our barrel still taking to the others; I could see his shadow looming above. Then the world went dark and the lid was put on our barrel.

We waited for the noises outside to die down before we shifted about to get more comfortable, Godwin managed to slide down next to me. "What a lovely mess you've got us into." He said, the alchemist was not very happy.

We were so close to each other I could smell his breath; it was sweet like his tea. "It was either this or we get caught." I whispered angrily.

Godwin put both hands on the lid above and twisted it, the lid moved. "Well at least it isn't secured down," he said. "We will have to stay in here until it's totally quiet outside." I nodded even though it was completely dark and he wouldn't be able to see me.

We were still in the barrel and I guessed an hour had already gone by; I wouldn't last much longer in here I thought. Twice we tried to get out but each time we heard someone come into the kitchen, there were still Ogres moving about but we had enough of being stuck in here, we were going to take a chance. Just as Godwin was about to unscrew the lid we started to move. The barrel rocked back and forth, so I pressed my hands against the sides to steady myself, then we crashed down on our side and I was now laying on top of Godwin, the worst feeling I ever felt came next even worse than traveling in the transport. We started rolling, Godwin and myself were bashing against each other as we spun round and round, I was on top then he was on top, I was starting to feel sick and I knew Godwin was as I heard him gagging. Please don't throw up I prayed as we rolled and bashed about for at least ten minutes before we finally stopped and was stood back up. "Are you alright?" I whispered.

"Can't...talk..." Godwin said gagging in between words.

The noise outside was now very loud, there were a lot of Ogres out there. "I've got to get out!" I moaned.

"Me too." He replied.

Just as we were going to take a chance and undo the lid again someone started hitting the barrel, the sound was horrendous hurting both of our ears.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

On the third bang a small round tube of metal entered the barrel at the bottom. We heard angry grumbling and then the barrel shook vigorously. There was silence and the lid began to twist off and bright light shone in hurting our eyes. An ugly wrinkled face peered in over the top and stared in surprise at us. The game is up I thought.

Massive hands the size of plates reached in grabbed us both by the collars and lifted us out.

Dangling a foot off the ground I could see we were in a banquet hall, there must have been seventy or eighty of the massive Ogres staring at us. "Surprise!" Godwin shouted throwing his arms apart. He got no reaction. We were taken towards the end of the hall to be unceremoniously dumped in front of an ornate throne with the largest Ogre you have ever seen sitting on it. He shouted something at us in its own language and he sounded very angry. We were forced to kneel on the floor facing the angry Ogre, neither of us wanted to look at him, fear was now running through both our veins. This had to be the dreaded warlord.

"Why are you here? Are you spies?" The Ogre warlord asked in the common language.

"No, no! We are not here to spy, we are here to pledge our allegiance to you." Godwin said in a shaky voice attempting a bow.

Somehow I didn't think the warlord would buy that.

The warlord looked us up and down. "You Wood Riders!" he spat. "Vermin!"

Godwin went to protest, I was too scared to look up from the floor.

"Throw them below!" The Ogre shouted. "I shall kill you after I feast. You will be our entertainment." The Ogres erupted in cheers as their master stood up and pointed to a window, I glanced up to see what was out there. It was the fighting platform. This was bad, very bad indeed.

## Chapter 8

## The dark damp dungeon

It was damp and gloomy in the cells deep inside the warlord's castle; I sat on a stone bed pushed up against a wall below a high barred window that let in very little light. Godwin was standing at the thick bars of the door looking out to the aisle between the rows of cells and at the prisoners who were residing down here. There seemed to be three of the eight cells occupied in this dungeon, I say seemed to be because in the furthest cell away from us tucked into the corner a shadowy figure was curled up on the bed, or it could have been a pile of rags, I couldn't tell. The two other cells had Ogres in them staring back at us the newcomers.

"Are you going to produce some potion or powder to get us out of here?" I asked as I stood up and joined him at the door. I knew he had something in one of those many pockets that could get us out.

"Nope." Was his short answer.

"Well I will then!" I said angrily. "We can't wait down here until they come and kill us." I rummaged in my pockets for the packets and bags that Godwin had given me earlier.

He put his hand on my arm. "What would you do once you get out?" he asked me. "Seriously, what could you do? They know we are here now so when they find us gone they will have no trouble getting us back, there is nowhere to go to, we are trapped in the castle and they will track you down."

"Then what do you suggest! Wait here until they come and get us!"

Godwin bowed his head. "Yes. That is exactly what I suggest." He said.

"Well you might have given up, but I haven't."

"Lem, I haven't given up, think about it for a minute. Where are they going to take us?"

"They are taking us to the fighting platform." I replied.

"Exactly, just where we want to be." He said.

"But they are going to kill us!"

"We will deal with that bit when it comes. Please calm down so I can think."

I sat back down on stone bed trying to fathom out how we got here.

"The boy is right," The Ogre in the cell next to us said. "You will die here, mark my words."

Godwin turned to look at him. "You do not even know the reason why we are here, so please don't interrupt my train of thought."

"You are Wood Riders that much is obvious, and it is because you are Wood Riders is how I know you will die." The Ogre continued.

"My apprentice is worried enough, can you stop saying 'die', it is not helping one little bit." Godwin angrily responded.

The Ogre imprisoned opposite us was getting agitated walking back and forth banging its head with its fists. "You will all die, you will all die," he was ranting. "The king is first, the king is first." He had gone mad by the look of him.

Godwin's eyes went wide. "The king?" He turned back to the Ogre in the next cell scrutinizing him. "You're the king?" He asked.

"I was king, but now I'm here." The king moved closer to our cell, he looked dejected and tired, the entire colour gone from his skin.

Rummaging through his pockets Godwin pulled out the potion that eased the Ogres symptoms from the curse. "Take this, it will help, I am Godwin and this is my apprentice Lemon."

"It's Lem not Lemon; it's nice to meet you. It's a shame it isn't in better surroundings" I said.

The Kings eyes lit up as he took the small packet from Godwin. "You are the sorcerer that is helping my people?"

"Well I'm not a sorcerer but yes I am trying to help, we are here to get the final ingredient I need to cure the curse your people are under."

"If you can get me out of this dungeon I will help you get what you need." The king replied.

"Unfortunately I can't do that, even with your help I don't think we could make it to the moss I need without being caught. When they take us to the platform we can get it, and then we will do our upmost to get you out."

The king sighed. "I am due on the platform shortly. I believe I am to be their main event, I may not be alive by then."

Godwin's face dropped. "This is not good news at all." He rubbed his forehead vigorously, I could tell he was trying to rethink the plan that he had already made.

"I could help you." The voice came from the pile of rags from the very last cell. It sounded young, female and definitely not an Ogre.

The Ogre opposite us immediately ceased his ranting and tried to disappear into the dark corner of his cell.

"Do not listen to that!" the king spat, "it is a demon and is not to be trusted."

Godwin's face went white. "They have a demon down here?"

I stood up to look at the pile of rags curled up on the stone bed. "How can you help?" I asked it.

Godwin grabbed my arm. "Do not engage with a demon Lemon!"

I was surprised at his reaction. "We only have his word that it is a demon." As I spoke the rags moved, they shuffled forwards off of the bed and to the front of the cell then they started to fall to the floor. To my surprise there stood a young girl about twelve or thirteen years old dressed in a dirty white dress peeking out of the bars. "I would like to get out of here too," she said in a soft tone. Surely this girl couldn't be a demon. "Help me and I shall repay you by helping you get what you need."

Godwin was looking at her through narrow eyes. "We do not need help from you, thank you for the offer."

"I was not talking to you." The girl replied.

I turned to face Godwin. "How can you refuse to help her? She is in the same situation as us and she is obviously an enemy of the warlord or she wouldn't be in here."

"We don't mess with demons Lem. That isn't what we are here for." He was very serious, he must have been as he got my name right.

"I am not a demon," the girl was starting to weep. "They took me from my home and brought me here. They killed my parents."

"We can't leave her here!" I said worried for the girl.

"Look at the cell, boy." The king said.

I did as he said and noticed the girls cell was slightly different from the rest, it was shinier and seemed to shimmer.

"The cell bars have silver in them to prevent the demon from escaping." The king said.

I have never seen a demon before and this wasn't what I thought one would look like. Just at that moment the main door opened into the dungeon and four huge Ogres walked in armed with pulse rifles and massive axes. They stopped in front of the Kings cell. "Stand back for the door." One of them ordered. The king did as he was told.

"All of you!" The guard shouted at us too. We fell back with the force of the Ogres voice. The other Ogres unlocked both of our cell doors. I looked over to the girl in the corner, her wet eyes were pleading with me.

"Get out!" The Ogre shouted. I placed my hands into pocket and followed Godwin out into the aisle; the Ogre lined the three of us up with me put at the rear.

"Go!" The guard shouted giving the king who was in the front a push. As we started to move I dropped one of the bags Godwin had given me. It was a yellow one. The guard behind me gave me a shove, as I stumbled forward I pretended to fall over, the Ogre grabbed me by the collar and pulled me up with ease, but when I was on the ground I managed to slide the packet to the back wall opposite the girls cell, just as I left I glanced back. The girl was smiling at me.

## Chapter 9

## Battle on the Platform

We were taken through the castle, up many stairs and down many corridors; we didn't see a single Ogre on the way. Godwin was very quiet, marching along sandwiched between me and the giant figure of the fallen Ogre king. On the way I had time to think, should I make a run for it? Why did I go along with this harebrained plan? Why should I care what happens in the Ogre's Kingdom? All these things were running through my mind, but deep down I knew why I was here. I could have turned back at anytime and headed home to my mother but I didn't, the reason why was that I wanted to make my mother proud of me. She worked hard all her life and brought me up well and I wanted to show her all the hard work she put in raising me was worth it. I was trying to do well, I wanted to feel that I was important and this was an opportunity to do just that. The only problem was that I was scared, so incredibly scared. I felt I was walking to my execution, and all I was relying on to prevent my oncoming doom was the strange old man plodding along in front of me.

We went through the large banquet hall that we were discovered in. The place was now empty but the sound of exited Ogres could be heard in here coming from outside, we were nearly at the fighting platform, Godwin's head was down and I could see he was deep in thought.

The double doors opened in front of us to the screaming voices of hundreds of Ogres waiting for their entertainment to begin.

The three of us were paraded across the platform to the far side that overhung the chasm below, the sides of the platform had three tiers of seating and not one seat was empty. Above the entrance where we entered was a large balcony on which the warlord sat. "The former king has arrived!" He shouted out.

The king looked up to him with a sneer on his face. "My demise will not help you! The Ogre Kingdom will not fall to you!" He bellowed back.

"I believe it will. Then the Wood Rider's realm will fall." As he said this the Ogres erupted in cheers.

Godwin was standing next to me looking about as if searching for something. "The moss is on this cliff face, we need to get under the platform to get it." He whispered.

I couldn't see a way, it was impossible to get down the side of the platform because of the stands, the only way under was by the edge we were standing near. The very end of the fighting platform didn't have any sort of barrier; it was just a shear drop off the edge. If we were to go that way we would have to traverse the underside to get to the cliff and then try to get back. I was more concerned about getting out of here alive then trying to get the moss.

A horn sounded and the crowd went silent. The king was pushed into the centre of the platform; he stood there looking daggers at the warlord. Then the double doors opened again and a huge armoured Ogre walked in to cheers from the crowd. When I say he was huge I mean massive, he stood at least two feet taller than the king and was a lot broader across the shoulders. The challenger stopped ten feet away from the king with a grin that split his ugly face.

"Lower the weapons!" The warlord shouted, and a brown sack was lowered down on a long rope attached to pulleys high above between the king and the challenger and then stopped and hovered five feet above their heads.

"This moment will be remembered for eternity," called the warlord. "This is when the king of Kalth fell and I take his crown!" More cheering assaulted my ears.

Godwin was staring at the sack. "Be prepared Lemon, all hell is going to break out."

I didn't know what he meant, but knowing him it would involve me risking my life.

"When the weapons land, only one can live!" The warlord bellowed then sat on his stone throne.

The king was staring at his opponent with muscles tensed ready to spring in to action; he was looking a lot better after taking Godwin's potion. The challenger was looking up at the sack ready for it to release its load. There was an uncomfortable pause and I held my breath waiting for the action to start.

The sack opened at the bottom and all manner of weapons fell to the ground, the Ogre champion was already moving before they landed, the king stood his ground never taking his eyes off of his opponent. Swords, axes, maces and daggers clattered on the floor, the Ogre plucked a sword out of the air as he rushed at the king screaming. With a simple sidestep the king avoided a thrust to his stomach and spun around pushing his opponent to the ground, turning back he headed for the weapons.

"We need that rope." Godwin whispered nodding towards the dangling sack.

The Ogre guarding us gave Godwin a poke. "No noise." He said looking back to the fighting.

"How?" I asked.

"Leave that to me, the grey tubes I gave you, throw them at the side stands on your left then go for the sack. Don't stop boy whatever you do. Give me a five second head start."

I felt a lump in my throat and sickness welling up in my stomach.

"On my mark." Godwin said some grey tubes already in his hands.

I found three in my pocket; my hands were shaking like a leaf.

The battle in the centre was intensifying as the king had picked up two daggers which now glowed blue matching his opponent's sword. They clashed with brutal strokes, the king taking the force of the sword with one blade and stabbing with the other. The giant challenger was very apt at avoiding the Kings attempts at piecing him, the two were equally matched.

Godwin nudged me. "Ready," he said.

I shook my head hoping he would change his mind.

Godwin grinned back at me. "Now!" He shouted then took off running down the right side of the platform screaming as he went and throwing the tubes into the stands. The Ogre behind us grunted and gave chase.

I was shocked but counted to five then ran down the left, I threw the tubes as Godwin told me to, as they hit the side they shattered and sent up a massive cloud of black smoke covering the Ogres watching the fighting. I glanced over to the other side, the entire stand was hidden by the smoke and Godwin was still running, he was heading for the ropes anchor. I threw my last tube then changed direction heading for the centre and the dangling sack. I could see up on the balcony the warlord was on his feet pointing and shouting, I couldn't hear what he said as the noise of the angry crowd drowned it out. The king paused watching me and took a slash on his leg, he roared and stabbed back.

Godwin had reached the anchor and was tipping a white substance onto the rope, I was nearly under the sack when it started to drop, I caught it and continued to run, I turned to head towards Godwin, and he was running away from the guard chasing him heading towards the fighting duo. "Jump Lemon! Jump!" He screamed waving at the edge of the platform.

""Not a chance!" I screamed back. A pulse shot kicked up splinters of stone by my feet. Three Ogres were rushing at me firing as they went. I turned and ran heading for the chasm.

I couldn't believe what I was doing. More shots flew by my head. I am really going to do this, I hope you know what you're doing Godwin I thought gripping tightly to the sack. I was nearly at the edge; I closed my eyes and threw myself off screaming.

The king saw the rope flying by him as he held off the rampaging Ogre. "The rope! The rope!" Godwin was shouting chasing after the end. The king took a blow to the head which sent him falling backwards to the ground, his opponent took advantage of the opportunity to raise his sword and plunge it down. He missed the king by an inch. Seeing the rope rushing by him he reached out and grabbed hold, it dragged him along the ground just out of reach.

I was falling; I could see the pitch black below beaconing me. Then I came to a violent halt and I nearly lost my grip on the sack, I was now swinging underneath the platform with the cliff face rushing towards me, I gripped tighter as I slammed into it and the wind was punched out of my lungs but I still held on as I swung back. I could see the moss we were after clinging to the wall as the momentum was swinging me back towards the cliff, this time I was ready, as I hit again I grabbed hold of the moss and ripped some out, I swung back out underneath the platform with my momentum slowing until I was just dangling on the end of the long rope holding on for dear life.

On the platform the king was holding the other end rope while lying on his belly, an Ogre stood above him with a pulse rifle pointing at his head.

"Leave him! He's mine." The Ogre who was fighting the king walked over. "Now I finish you for warlord." He grinned.

"Excuse me!" A voice came from behind them, the Ogre angrily turned around, his face turned from rage in to fear. Standing not far from them was a little girl in a dirty white dress.

"What you are doing is very unpleasant; I would like you to stop please and..." She paused then screeched. "Go away!"

The Ogre dropped his sword and ran for the smoky stands. Godwin ran to the king - who was still holding on to the rope - keeping a curious eye on the girl as he went. "We have to pull him up quickly." He said to the prone king, blood was pooling around the Ogre's leg.

"I can't, no strength left."

I hung there gently swaying from side to side not daring to look down. It was a long way up to the platform and I wasn't sure if I could manage the climb. The rope jerked slightly then I began to move upwards, someone was pulling me up, I hoped it wasn't the warlord's Ogres.

I reached the lip and stretched up to grab the edge as a hand reached over and grabbed my wrist helping me up. I lay back on the floor breathing heavy staring up at the sky. Something wasn't right. It was all quiet. I looked over at the king on the ground; Godwin was wrapping a torn piece of clothing around his leg. So who pulled me up?

"Hello again," said a familiar voice. Next to my prone body stood the little girl, she was smiling at me. "I said I would help you didn't I? And now I have."

I shifted away from her slightly. "I thank you." I said nervously as I glanced around and saw the platform was nearly empty, the smoke had almost cleared and the last few Ogres were disappearing back into the castle. All except the warlord, he stood on the balcony staring down at us; slowly he walked back out of sight.

Godwin came over to me. "Are you hurt?" He asked.

I was quite surprised at his tone, it actually sounded caring. "You're a crazy old man!" I said angrily.

Godwin nodded. "Yes I am and I hope you will be too." I laughed at his reply then pulled the moss out of my tunic. Godwin's eyes lit up. "You got it!" He shouted then grabbed me in a bear hug. "Well done Lemon, you did well."

The king was now on his feet. "How did that get out?" He pointed at the girl, increasing the distance between them.

The girl looked at him. "Please don't call me that, it is not nice," she turned back to look at me with her piercing green eyes. "I was in there for a long time," she said moving closer to me. "I helped you here and I will once more, as a thank you for releasing me."

Godwin frowned at me. "What have you done Lem?" He used my name, he was serious again.

"How can I help you one more time?" The girl said chirpily.

"Get us out of the castle please." I said.

The girl smiled. "Come on then, follow me." She headed for the double doors we entered by, she was now making me very nervous as she skipped on ahead.

"We are going to have some major words when we get out of here." Godwin said, I had never heard the alchemist so angry, I didn't know why, I helped him get in the castle, get the moss and now I was getting him out. There is no pleasing some people.

As we moved through the castle any Ogre we saw quickly disappeared. Not a single one bothered the four of us. We reached the main drawbridge that had now been lowered and we could see the rocky path that led us to this place. Looking up at the battlements a shiver ran down my spine, lining them were twenty or thirty Ogres pointing their rifles down at us.

The girl stopped just before we walked out. "There you are." She said. "I helped you out of the castle like you asked."

"Yes you have, thank you again. Are you not coming with us?" I replied.

"No, no, I will make my own way. It is time for me to go, my name is Beth by the way, I will be seeing you soon Lem, bye bye." She skipped back off into the castle. What a strange little girl I thought.

The king wasn't happy. "With that creature gone, the warlord will never let us get across the bridge alive. As soon as we step on it the Ogres will cut us down."

There was a bright flash of light and an Ogre fell from the battlements hitting the edge of the drawbridge before spinning down into the unknown. Brock I thought, he must still be hiding in the rocks. Three or four shots fired at the Ogres above us.

"Go!" Shouted Godwin as he slung yellow packets of goo up towards our attackers, they stuck to the wall and exploded sending out small chunks of stone. I threw a tube of the smoke potion onto the bridge and all three of us ran into the fog.

I kept my head down as I ran through the smoke and out the other side, I could see the shots hitting the rocks as the Ogres fought back, the king was by my side limping and Godwin was slightly back throwing another smoke tube behind him.

We finally reached the rocks and ducked down behind them. The king collapsed holding his leg and Godwin was breathing heavily. "I told you we could do it." He smiled, then puzzlement showed on his face as I didn't smile back, I was looking passed him at a green rider pointing a pistol at Godwin's head.

"As I said to you before alchemist. You will be coming with me." The other green riders appeared from behind the rocks, Brock was with them.

The king stood up. "The warlord will be coming; we need to leave this place."

The green rider looked at him through narrow eyes, then to the castle where the Ogres were waiting for the smoke to clear.

"Alright, let's go." He said.

As we made our way out of the rocky terrain and down to the grassy plains Godwin suddenly stopped dead in his tracks. "I cannot leave this Kingdom yet, I haven't finished my work!" He was very annoyed. I did notice the riders weren't training their weapons on us any more, though they did seem wary of the king and Brock. The Ogre had the king's arm over his shoulder and was helping him walk, they were no threat to them.

"I know what is happening here Godwin and I know what you and your apprentice are doing here, but I have my orders to bring you in." The green rider said.

"What is your name?" I asked him.

"I am Drayton, commander of the eastern green riders." He replied.

"Well, Godwin is willing to go with you," I said and Godwin gave me a look of death. "But maybe you haven't caught up with him yet." I hoped that Drayton was a good man; I could see that he wanted to help us.

Drayton stood in silence for what seemed an age. "You can have two days, after that I will take you to the council for judgment." He finally said.

"That will be enough time, thank you." Godwin replied.

## Chapter 10

## Creating the cure

Brock lead us back to the small building where Godwin had set up his makeshift laboratory, other Ogres were waiting there and they didn't take kindly to the green riders appearance. There was a slight standoff with weapons aimed at each other but once the king explained the situation things relaxed a bit, but there was still a sharp atmosphere.

Once inside Godwin set to work with my help. "How long do you need?" Drayton asked.

"Who can tell? It could be hours or a day; I haven't made a potion this powerful before, it will be ready when it is ready." He was going through his case pulling out all sorts of plants, potions and vials.

As we worked Godwin mentioned the girl. "How did you do it?" He asked. "How did you help her escape?"

"I gave her the explosive potion," I said. "She must have blown the door off."

"Do you realize what you have done?" He said quite annoyed.

I didn't think it would be a problem when I did it, she was just a little girl locked up in an Ogres cell, but after the events on the platform and how the Ogres seemed to be frightened of her, I started to wonder. "Tell me what I have done that is so wrong." I said.

Godwin stopped what he was doing. "She is a demon and what I have seen she's a powerful one. You have freed her and that is not good."

"She helped us, not just once but twice, surely she can't be all that bad." I replied trying to look on the good side.

"She tricked you Lem, can't you see that?"

I couldn't. "How did she? I wasn't tricked."

"I am afraid you were. When you released her she paid you back by helping on the fighting platform. Then she offered to help get us out of the castle and you agreed, that was your mistake," he continued working with the equipment in front of him. "Now you owe her."

I didn't think I would see her again. "She's gone and we got out alive, that's what matters."

"She will return to collect. You owe a demon Lemon, that is very serious, it could be tomorrow or it could be years from now, but she will return and you will have to pay."

A shiver ran down my spine at the thought. How a simple act of kindness could result in me now fearing for my life.

"Don't ponder on it now, we will deal with it when it happens, this is what's important at the moment." He indicated the equipment covering the table.

We had been working for hours, well Godwin was doing most of the work I was more taking notes in my pad.

Godwin removed the moss from his tunic and gave it to me. "Chop the plant into fine pieces on your cutting board, beginning the mortification stage." He said to me, I wasn't sure what the mortification stage was but I did as he asked.

The Ogres were getting agitated, the sun had gone down and they were nervous about an imminent attack. I heard the king sending out a scouting party to watch the warlord's movements. "He will attack tomorrow. We need that cure or my army will be defeated." He said, his leg was well bandaged and he looked fitter after taking some more of Godwin's potion.

"The more you disturb me, the longer it will take." Godwin replied harshly. "Now Lemon, put the chopped plant matter into the mortar, and grind it down with the pestle-continuing the Mortification of the Plant." He said continuing with what he was doing.

This wasn't easy, my arm was hurting bad. Godwin looked into my mortar. "Excellent, what you have done there has released the salt in the plant," he seemed to be enjoying this. "Place the unrefined Salt into the Mason jar then cover the Salt with an inch of liquid to spare with the pure grain Alcohol. Be sure that at least half of the Mason jar is left empty of all but air. Then seal the jar, so that nothing may enter or exit it. When that's done leave it to rest. The Sublimation phase will occur within the hermetically sealed alchemical vessel at this point." I was glad to, I needed a rest as well.

After a while I was sent out of the room so Godwin could do an important part of the process without distraction. Brock, Drayton and the king were in the other room. "Is it finished?" The king asked.

I shook my head. "Shouldn't you be back at your castle?"

"I will go when I have the curse's remedy, I have sent word back and they will be prepared for war." He stood and walked his massive frame over to me; Drayton moved his hand towards his side arm. Brock saw this and did the same.

The king bent down to my level. "I don't want you Wood Riders here when the battles begin."

We sat there for two hours before I was summoned. "Lemon!" Godwin shouted from the other room. I shakily went to see him.

"It is nearly complete," he said cheerily. "This is the last stage." He passed me the Mason jar. "Remove the covering and open the jar. You will see that the gross mercury has darkened in colour, this is a sign that the Sulfur of the plant has been extracted into the Mercury. Use a funnel and filter then pour the potion into a container leaving the salt behind in the filter. The liquid Mercury remaining is your Tincture."

I did as he said while he brought over a large bottle full of a dark blue liquid. "Tip the Tincture in here." He said excitedly.

Godwin shook the bottle vigorously then placed it on the table and stood back. "There is a thing of wonder," he said. "That is one of my greatest achievements."

"It is wonderful, but how do you know it will work?"

"Let us test it shall we?" He snatched up the bottle and went in the other room.

The Kings eyes widened at the sight of the blue liquid. "You have done it?" He asked.

Godwin nodded with a smile. "One drop should be enough for each Ogre." He handed the bottle over.

The king removed the lid and placed his little finger in then tasted it. The reaction was almost instantaneous, his skin gained its colour, his muscles bulged and he stretched up tall. "I have never felt as strong and powerful as this in a very long time." He laughed and handed the bottle to Brock. "Make sure everyone gets a taste. Now we must leave." He faced Godwin. "You and your apprentice will always be welcome in Kalth. I owe you my life and my peoples." He patted Godwin on the arm which nearly sent him flying across the room. "Drayton, you must see these two back to your realm and make haste, this will not be a pleasant place to be in soon."

We left a short time later with the green riders; we headed back through the serpent tunnel, this time a lot more carefully. When we emerged out the other side the rest of Drayton's green riders were waiting with the horses.

"So, what happens now?" Godwin asked.

"We take you back to Woodridge like I said." Drayton patted his horse on the neck.

"After all we have been through! You know I am no threat to the realm, if all goes well for the Ogre king it would make me the saviour of the realm!" Godwin was not happy at this; it was not what he expected to happen.

Drayton sagged his head. "I know Godwin, but my superiors do not. I can put a case together for you but you must still face the council. You were still dealing with Ogres and that is frowned upon."

"Can't you just let him go?" I was starting to worry for him.

"I'm sorry boy, I am afraid I can't." He signaled for his men to mount their horses.

"You saw that not all Ogres are bad," I said as Godwin was helped up to sit behind a green rider. "This just doesn't seem right at all."

"Right or wrong, they are still Ogres. That is enough for the council. Now climb up, I will drop you off at your home."

We rode back to the ruins of the castle where we first encountered Brock, as we climbed up the hill and went by the circle of scorched earth Drayton looked down at it. "That was very clever of you Godwin." Drayton said as he rode beside the alchemist.

"I have plenty of tricks up my sleeve." Godwin replied. Drayton gave him a weary look.

Down the other side the wagon came into view and wandering not far from it was good old Blaze. "Off you get, go hook up your horse and cart." Drayton told me.

I was surprised when Blaze came up to me and gave me a nudge with his nose. "I missed you too." I said giving him a pat on the neck. I didn't take me long to sort out the wagon and before long we were on our way again. For the rest of the journey no one spoke, not even when we stopped for rest and provisions. We finally reached my village, many of the folk stopped to watch us ride through, their faces showed what they thought of us and it wasn't anything good. We stopped by the rickety old bridge that spanned the river.

"I will make my own way from here." I said dismounting the wagon.

"I'm sorry it has got to be this way." Drayton said sadly.

I walked over to Godwin; he didn't look that bad considering. He looked down at me. "I will return soon Lemon; don't worry about me I will be fine once I sort this mess out." I hadn't known him that long but I felt tears starting to well up. "Study boy, make the most of the time and study, you may get the odd visit from villagers needing help but that shouldn't be hard for you to do if you study hard."

"I will, I will fill my pad before you know it."

Godwin chuckled then was very serious. "If you get a visit from Beth, do not let her in whatever you do!"

At the sound of her name I shivered. "Trust me I won't." I replied.

Drayton was getting them moving again. "Before you go can I ask you something?" I asked him looking up. He nodded. "When I first saw you at this river you shot at the Ogre fishing, you missed it deliberately didn't you? You knew he wasn't bad, just getting medicine from Godwin."

He smiled at me. "This is a dangerous time for Ogres to be in our realm, I was scaring him off for his own safety." Then he tapped his horse and they trotted off down the path.

Godwin was shouting back at me they disappeared behind some trees. "Tea boy, drink plenty of my tea! You must drink tea when in my home!"

Finally, I can try this fabled tea, the only problem was that Godwin has never actually told me the recipe and I knew he didn't keep a supply off it in the house, once again I would have to wait.

I sat on the large rock and looked down at the river watching the fish swimming around for a while before setting off towards the alchemist's house. My home.

## Chapter 11

## Beyond the locked door

I found it very peaceful at Godwin's house, I kept myself busy by reading the books from the shelves and experimenting with the large selection of plants in the greenhouse on the back of the building making various ointments and remedies, some went well others not so good, I managed to cover the floor in the back room with orange foam, it took me hours to clear up the mess. The Grimly was very helpful as well, he collected the plants I needed and placed them by the door. I never actually saw him though, he kept quite hidden amongst the vegetation and I only caught sight of the wispy smoke floating above the plants. Blaze had been good company too; I let him graze in the back garden while I lounged on the grass reading books on the art of plant alchemy. It had been two weeks since Godwin went with the green riders to Woodridge and I still hadn't heard anything from him, I had gone past the worryingly stage, there was no point worrying I thought, it wouldn't help him. The only trouble I had living here was sleeping, knowing I was all alone didn't help and I was having bad dreams that were progressively getting worse, I wouldn't say they were nightmares but they weren't too pleasant, the most recurring dream was about my mother, I was planning to visit her next week and kept dreaming of the moment I saw her but there was always a shadowy figure just out of my line of sight watching me. On some occasions I would go out to the stable and bed down on bales of hay with couple of light globes hung on a post, knowing Blaze was there helped, I think he liked it too. Other then the dreams I was surprised to find I was enjoying my time here; maybe I could make a good alchemist after all. I had been into the village a couple of times to get provisions, Godwin had a little stash of money not so well hidden away in a pot on the mantle in the kitchen. I didn't stay long in the village because the people treated me a bit different to what they used to, they didn't really want to talk it was just a quick hello and goodbye, I wasn't sure if it was because of my association with Godwin or the way I arrived back under guard from the green riders. I gave it no thought; I didn't particularly want to chat either.

One thing I was proud of was not opening the door at the bottom of the stairs, the one that Godwin told me never to open. Well I tell a lie, I did try to open it the second day I was here but it was locked which was a good thing really because there must of been a reason why he didn't want me to go down there, but it was hard to push away my curiosity.

I was now rummaging in Godwin's greenhouse searching for a particular plant to make a night fever ointment, I had checked his stock and that one was getting low and I could use the practice. I tried not to come in here too often because I then felt that I had to try to learn all the plant names and they just baffled me and I didn't want to push my luck with the Grimly messing around in his home.

There was a loud bang on the front door that made me jump and I knocked over a cactus, I cursed. No one had visited me all the time I had been here, this could be my first customer as an alchemist's apprentice; I felt the butterflies in my stomach as went to the door and composed myself before pulling it open. "I'm Lem, at your service." I said.

There was nobody there.

I walked out a few feet and looked around, evening had not set in yet and it was still light but I couldn't see anyone out front. I returned back to the greenhouse, did I imagine the knock? It was possible. The plant I needed was sitting at the entrance. "Thank you Grimly, it's much appreciated." I said. In return I heard a loud purring sound coming from deep in the greenery. The plant was a toadflax and now I had to grind it up, I took it back to the laboratory ready to be processed. The book for the ingredients I left on the table open at the night fever potion page but when I went over to read what I had to do next I discovered it was gone! Did I leave it there? I'm sure I did. Maybe I put it back on the shelf, I wasn't sure now, I felt I was going crazy, this could be why Godwin is like he is, and living alone does strange things to your mind. I went to look on the shelves in the other room, there was a handy ladder attached to the shelves on runners so you could reach the top shelf and pull yourself along, I found it great fun to climb to the top and push myself along as fast as I could go. Well, it was fun until I fell off and bruised my elbow, that's when I found out that Godwin's ointments really do work. It was lucky for me that Godwin liked order so it wasn't hard to find it under the letter N. It was there; I must have replaced it but couldn't remember doing so. As I pulled it out I knocked a couple of other books on the floor. Typical I thought, I climbed down with my book tucked under my arm and went to pick them up when a shiny object caught my eye lying on the floor just underneath one of the bookshelves, it must have fallen out of one of the books I thought. I picked it up and turned it over in my hand; it was highly polished and looked like a door key.

No! It can't be!

I had to try it in the lock of the door at the bottom of the stairs. I stood looking at the door for what seemed an age pondering what to do with a feeling of excitement and dread at the same time, I now had an opportunity to see what Godwin kept in there that was so secret, I couldn't do it, I would be violating his trust I thought. But he wouldn't know would he? The key might not fit anyway, I tried it and it did fit, slowly I turned it and the lock clicked. My heart was pounding in my chest, I don't know why, this was Godwin's house, the grumpy old alchemist, what could he have that was so secret? I would just have a quick peek. I turned the handle and slowly pulled the door open with a loud creak.

Before me was a staircase leading down in to pitch blackness, I was a bit disappointed, I was hoping to be dazzled by a hoard of treasure, there was no way I was going down there, just the thought of the darkness was giving me a fright, maybe in the morning I would take a few light globes and venture down, maybe. Just before I was going to shut the door a rush of air shot up the stairs and knocked me backwards sending me crashing to the ground. "What was that?" I said out loud. Was that trapped air that was escaping? I wasn't sure but it shook me up as I wasn't expecting it. I will listen to the old man next time I thought feeling a bit shaken. I dragged myself up and went to shut the door when I noticed the inside of it was made of metal and was strongly reinforced with metal bars, that was strange, it was very unlike him to have a door like this. I looked closer and the door seemed to shimmer.

"Oh, no!" I said as a panic attack started to build up in my stomach. "It's silver!"

I ran back to the room with the books and scooped up the two that were lying on the floor. One was called Night lights, I threw that away, the other was called Night Terrors and I slumped down to the ground in shock. "What have I done?" I said.

## Chapter 12

## The alchemist's return

It had been four days since I opened the door that I was banned from opening, nothing untoward has happened as yet. Maybe it was nothing, maybe it had been trapped air escaping. Just maybe I was letting my imagination run away with itself, that must be it I thought to myself, I have never been alone before and it was hard to get used to it.

I had decided it was time to visit my mother in Renworth at my aunt's house, I wondered how she was settling in as there was no form of communication in Godwin's home to find out. I would leave soon I thought. I felt really good this morning, it was like there was a big weight lifted off my shoulders, I put it down to the great sleeps I have had for the past few nights, not a single bad dream entered my slumber. A thought struck me then, I had been sleeping well ever since I opened that door, I wondered for a second if the two were related, I shrugged to myself and put it to the back of my mind. I packed up my clothes from my room and headed down stairs to load my pockets up with some of Godwin's potions and powders, you never know when they would come in useful. As I passed the door at the bottom of the steps a shiver ran down my spine, I still had a slightly bad feeling about what Godwin would say.

I was just filling my pockets when a quiet knock at the door got my attention. "What is it now?" I said grumpily. I sounded just like Godwin and I chuckled to myself, then someone knocked again. If I was in the greenhouse I wouldn't have heard it because it was so gentile, I stopped in my tracks. What if it's Beth I thought with a fright? Slowly I went to the window and peeked out. I couldn't quite see, the door was just out of view. They knocked again this time it was hard and loud making me jump.

"Get a grip!" I said to myself and then went to answer the door. I took a breath then swung it open.

"I am Lem, how can..." I began to say before being rudely shoved out of the way.

"Get the pot on Lemon, I need some tea." Godwin was back!

"What... How..." I was a bit speechless.

"Where are my ingredients? Is the water on yet?" He shouted from the kitchen.

I followed him in. "You're back!" I said.

"That's very observant of you." He replied searching through a drawer.

"What happened to you in Woodridge?" I asked.

"Well, it was all a total mess, those people don't know anything," his face went red with annoyance. "If it wasn't for Drayton I would still be there now!" He looked a little puzzled. "Didn't I have some tea in here somewhere?"

"No you didn't and you haven't told me what the ingredients are so I couldn't make you any for when you got back."

Godwin froze and stared at me with wide eyes. "Are you telling me you haven't had any tea all the while you have been here?"

"I've been alright," I said. "I've managed to survive on water and fruit juice, don't panic I'm not going to drop down dead of dehydration." I laughed.

Godwin charged at me and held me up against the wall. "No tea at all!" He looked angry now and was frightening me.

"No... None." I shakily replied.

He let me go and rushed out of the room. I stood there shocked for a second. "Lem, come here!" He called from the room at the front of the house. I cautiously entered; he was standing at the far wall with his back towards me. "Sit." He said quite calmly.

I lowered myself slowly into the comfortable chair. Godwin turned around rubbing his head with his fore finger and thumb. "I apologize for my reaction in there." He said quietly.

"That's ok." I was worried now.

"I am going to ask you a couple of questions now." He moved to stand in front of me. I nodded.

"Have you been sleeping alright?" He asked.

"Yes I have, especially the last few days."

"And how were you sleeping before that?"

"Well, not great I was having a few bad dreams but nothing major."

Godwin started pacing back and forth. "Anything out of the ordinary happen while I was gone?"

He knew what I had done, I could tell, he knows I opened the door. "Err, I heard a knock on the door but no one was there when I answered it."

"Carry on." He said while still pacing.

I cleared my throat, it was suddenly very dry. "I sort of found a key when I knocked a couple of books off the shelf."

He stopped in front of me; his face looked very serious now. "What book was you looking for? And why were you looking for it?"

"Well, I noticed you were low on night fever ointment so I was going to make some up, then I think I misplaced the book. I must have put it back on the shelf but don't remember doing it."

Godwin's head sagged. "You have been played." He said.

"What do you mean?" I was confused.

Godwin looked me directly in the eyes. "Tell me the truth Lem, did you open the door?"

I sat there quiet for a moment; I couldn't keep eye contact with him. I slowly nodded. "There was nothing there, I just looked in and it was open for less than a minute." I had done something very bad I could feel it.

Godwin stood up straight and moved over to the other chair and slumped down. "You were well and truly played."

"Played by what?"

As he looked over at me the anger had gone and the Godwin I knew was back. "Well what's done is done, we will deal with it. I suppose it's partly my fault, if I told you it might not have happened."

Now I know what I had done was bad. "Told me what?"

"Behind that door you opened was something horrible, something evil."

I wish he would get to the point. "But what was it?"

"It is called a Night Terror, and is a very clever and despicable demon. It took me five years of my life before I finally managed to trap it," he looked forlornly at me. "It's the tea you see, as well as making me feel fifty years younger it also blocks it from getting into my mind. You had no tea, it got in your head, in your dreams and it manipulated you to set it free."

I put my head in my hands. "I am so sorry." I said.

"As I said we will deal with it. For now it will go into hiding for a month or two until it thinks it's forgotten and then it will be very hungry and have to feed. That's when we can find it."

"Can't we go look for it now? While it's weak." I said all upset.

"I am afraid not, it could be anywhere and I guarantee it will be impossible to find, at the moment it will be very weak and it needs to hide for a while before it has regained enough strength to take on a solid form."

He wiped the sweat off his head. "When it feeds we will know about it."

"How will we know?" I said fearing what he was going to say.

"It gets in your head when you sleep and piece by piece it drains your life away. What is left is a hollow carcass that is undoubtedly the remains of his feast."

What he had said was now sinking in; people were going to die due to my curiosity. It was a thought that made me want to weep.

## Chapter 13

## Unwelcome guest

Sleep once again was difficult for me, not because of the dreams this time, the bad dreams stopped the night I opened the door at the bottom of the stairs. I believe it was because of my conscious. The thought that someone has to die before I could try to rectify my error sat uncomfortably inside of me constantly playing on my mind. Godwin had told me to stop thinking about it and get on with my studying. That was easier said than done as I also had Beth on my mind too. Eventually she would want paying so Godwin said and I wasn't looking forward to that time.

On a brighter note, I finally got my hands on some of Godwin's tea; it was well worth the wait. The tea was the most delicious beverage I have ever tasted and it also made me feel that I had so much energy, no wonder Godwin felt years younger.

It was now late afternoon and the temperature was cooling down, we had just got back from another visit to the village to see Grover's wife again and check on how her foot was healing, it turns out the ointment Godwin had left her did the trick, Grover was so happy he gave us a tray full of cakes and pastries, I looked forward to getting home and getting stuck into them.

"I am surprised we haven't had a visit from any Ogres recently." I said as I was unpacking Godwin's bag.

"That can only be a good thing," Godwin replied. "I suspect the cure I made them has worked. I hope we don't have another visit because if I am seen with another Ogre I will be hauled back down to Woodridge and they won't be as lenient on me as they were last time."

"Well it would be nice to go see the king again; he said we would be welcome any time."

"Yes, yes, we will have to wait until we know the outcome of who is sitting on the throne first, I wouldn't want to turn up and find the warlord there." He sat himself down by his desk and started stirring a sickly green mixture.

"Can I ask how you knew what could cure them of the curse?" I asked.

Godwin laughed. "It is because I am the greatest alchemist the world has ever seen!"

"Yeah, but seriously..."

"Ok, well it took me awhile to work out what exactly was wrong with them; Ogres are not the easiest creatures to talk to as you may have found out but eventually I managed to get enough information to make the temporary cure," he stopped stirring and faced me. "Ogre physiology is completely different to our own but the symptoms they were showing were not that dissimilar to what we would call a cold."

I was surprised at this. "So you really gave them a cold remedy?"

"Well not quite, it was a bit more complicated than that. It took a lot of research; I had to travel far and wide searching for some age old records of any similar illness in the past. Let me tell you it wasn't easy, there is not much recorded about them but I did find something that was like what they had a few hundred years ago, that's how I knew about the moss that I needed." He was looking quite smug with himself.

"So you don't actually know if it worked properly and cured the curse." This sounded a bit off to me.

"Nope I don't but I thought it would have an eighty percent chance of working going by how my temporary one went."

"That's unbelievable!" I was a bit angry now. "You made them believe the curse would be destroyed by your magic cure!"

"Listen Lemon, part of the cure is hope. You will be surprised at what you can achieve when you have hope. Besides, while talking to the Ogres that came to me I found out who the sorcerer was that the warlord paid to create the curse in the first place."

"How would that help?" I asked.

"Every piece of information you can gather helps. His name is Dermagor and he is a scryer of the dark arts. I have known of him for some time and know he is not powerful enough to create a proper curse; he just made the Ogres think he could. As I said, I found out some things from the Ogres and one thing I found out was they seemed to start getting ill from drinking from their water supply. What I believe happened was that Dermagor cultivated a flu like virus and managed to get it in their water." He had a big grin on his face.

"So it wasn't a curse after all!"

"No, it wasn't, after a while it would go away by itself but by then the warlord could overthrow the kingdom and we should all worry if that ever happens."

"You are just as bad as that sorcerer! You let them believe you could rid them of a curse!"

""If the opportunity arises to be seen in a greater light Lemon, take it with both hands." He said. There was a knock at the door. "You can get that, I'm a bit busy." He turned back to his mixing.

The alchemist was an incredibly crafty man I thought as I walked to the door, he had convinced the villagers he was a grumpy old man that needed to be avoided and he convinced an Ogre Kingdom that he was a miracle maker. This alchemy business sounds like it could be a very interesting occupation. I opened the door. "Hello, I am Lem, how..." I then went flying backwards with a crushing pain in my chest; I crashed into the bookcase on the back wall which sent books tumbling down almost burying me. The wind was punched out of my lungs as I looked up through blurry eyes to see the figure of the Ogre warlord breathing heavily in the doorway.

The warlord had to crouch down to squeeze himself through the door, his huge body cracking the framework as he entered. He looked down at me with a sneer on his ancient looking face. "Where is he?" The warlord bellowed.

I could hardly breathe let alone talk. The warlord snorted and went into the next room. I tried to get up but the pain in my chest made me collapse back down again. I could hear glass smashing in the lab and the warlord was bellowing again, I hoped Godwin had got out of there. I tried to get up again, this time I managed it and I staggered to the lab door, my head was swimming and I felt dizzy. The floor in the laboratory was covered in broken glass and spilt fluids; the warlord was holding Godwin up against the far wall by his neck with the alchemist dangling three feet off the floor gripping on to the Giants wrist.

"You are to blame!" The Ogre screamed covering Godwin's face with spit. "I would have been triumphant but for your wretched cure!"

I noticed the warlord was not in the best condition, he was bruised, battered and badly cut. Blood was running down his leg and he had obviously been in a very vicious battle.

"I will take my anger out on you wizard!"

Godwin's face was turning blue as the Ogre applied pressure to his throat.

The chest of drawers that Godwin kept his weapons in was face down on the floor and there was no way I could get the pistol from it. I quickly searched my pockets for a potion; my hand fell on my father's old pen knife. That will have to do I thought as I pulled out the blade and charged at the beast screaming at the top of my voice. The Ogre turned and looked at me; I must have been a funny sight to him, a young boy with a tiny blade trying to take on a warlord of Kalth.

As I charged I slipped on the spilt potions on the floor and I fell, but as I did I reached out with the pen knife and plunged the two inch blade into the Ogres leg just below the back of his knee, I pulled down with all my strength to rip open his leg from his calf to his ankle.

The warlord let out a horrendous scream and released Godwin who fell to the floor taking massive gulps of air and holding his damaged throat, the Ogre collapsed like a demolished building crashing down and only just missing landing on me by inches.

I was up instantly and by Godwin's side helping him to his feet. "We have to move!" I cried. Godwin couldn't speak so I dragged him out of the room and began to climb the stairs.

The Ogre was roaring in pain. "You cannot run from me!" He bellowed. I was panicking now, the pain in my chest was still there every time I breathed in and I grimaced as I hauled Godwin up the stairs with me. "Where shall we go?" I said as we reached the top. Godwin pointed to his room to the right, he was holding his throat with his other hand and he didn't look good I hoped the Ogre hadn't done too much damage to him.

I pushed open the door and we both fell in, I could hear the warlord at the bottom of the steps now starting to come up. Godwin's room looked like the lab down stairs, with the addition of a bed pushed up against a wall. Even when he was resting he was still working.

Godwin got up and headed over to a desk with a lot of alchemy equipment sitting on it. The sound of the Ogre climbing the stairs was frightening, he was growling as he came and you could hear the dragging noise of his ruined leg as he pulled it up behind him. I looked for a way out, the large window that looked out on to the garden and the greenhouse roof didn't open. We were trapped.

Godwin was searching for something on his desk; he was pushing things on the floor in frustration.

"What are you looking for?" I said listening for the Ogre, the warlord was now at the top and I could see him staring at me from the top of the stairs through the open door; his stare froze me to the spot. Then he started to come towards me dragging his leg behind still with my pen knife sticking out of his ankle. I rushed to the door and slammed it shut. "Can you hurry up and find what you're looking for!" I screamed at Godwin. He was rummaging through some small packets then plucked one out and held it up with a smile, just as the door was smashed in.

I was thrown across the room and landed by the window; the broken door was ripped from its hinges and slammed into Godwin knocking him down. The Ogre stood there with anger and rage on his face.

We were doomed I thought; the warlord would finally get his revenge. I hauled myself up and looked out the window at the scene outside, this would be my last view I would ever see I thought, and then I saw the greenhouse roof directly below. "The Grimly!" I said and I turned to face the Ogre, it was looking for Godwin but the alchemist was unconscious under the broken door and hidden from his sight.

I stood up straight. "You can't beat us!" I said definitely. "We helped to take down your army, you are weak and pathetic and I will destroy you myself!" I hoped I sounded confident because I didn't feel it. I tensed ready for the Ogre to attack.

The warlord's face went red with anger. "You will be first to die boy!" It shouted as he charged towards me. I was ready, just before he reached me I ducked to one side avoiding his shoulder charge, I spun around him and with all my force pushed the Ogre, this combined with the warlord's momentum helped him go crashing through the window and fall down towards greenhouse. That's when my luck ran out. The warlord managed to twist himself around and grab hold of my tunic pulling me down with him.

We both crashed through the greenhouse roof in a shower of glass and landed heavily on the plants below. I landed on top of the big beast softening the landing slightly, I rolled off breathing hard, I felt like I had broken my ribs. The Ogre was groaning, he was still alive; I managed to get up and head into the greenery to hide out of sight.

I lent up against the trunk of a small Palm, I hurt all over and I didn't think I would be able to move ever again. The Ogre was moving, I could hear it getting to its feet.

"Is that the best you can do?" He called out. I just sat there panting through the pain. The warlord was coming in my direction and there was nothing I could do about it. A giant shadow covered me and I looked up to see the warlord looking down at me.

"When I'm done with you, your master will be next." He said through clenched teeth.

This was it I thought, my time as an alchemist's apprentice was short but entertaining.

Directly behind him a black cloud was billowing up, it reached twice the warlord's height and started to form into the shape of the Grimly. I laughed even though it hurt to do so. The warlord looked at me confused and then he seemed to sense something behind him and turned around slowly.

The Grimly let out an ear piercing roar, then the stunned Ogre was enveloped in the cloud. At that point I passed out to the dreadful screams of the warlord.

When I awoke I was still leaning up against the Palm. I wasn't sure how long I had been here, it could have been a minute or a day, and I had no idea. The pain was still intense and threatened to send me unconscious again. Through blurry eyes I could see something shiny by my feet, I tried to focus and the dark tried to take me again but I managed to see what it was, my pen knife sat there with the blade tucked neatly away. An image of Godwin appeared above me, he was talking but I couldn't understand what he was saying and then I blacked out again.

## Chapter 14

## A visit to my mothers

##

The trip to my aunt's house in Renworth didn't take me long; Godwin had allowed me to take the wagon and blaze, to save my legs and I was very grateful for that.

It had been three weeks after my encounter with the Ogre warlord; it took me that long to heal. I had a cracked rib and bad bruising all over, Godwin was fantastic in helping me recover; he plied me with medicines, potions and ointments to help me regain my strength. And let us not forget the tea; I had so much of it everything I ate or drank tasted of tea.

I had left the alchemist repairing the house and the greenhouse when I left, he was fixing the greenhouse roof to begin with as the Grimly didn't like the gaping hole in its home and he made that clear to Godwin. Of the warlord there was no trace, what the Grimly did to it neither I nor Godwin knew but I would be ever grateful to the creature that lived in the greenhouse. Godwin was happier then I had ever seen him before. As it turned out his cure worked perfectly and the Ogre king managed to defeat the Ogre warlords army.

When I arrived at my auntie's house my mother came running out when she saw me pulling up outside, I hardly had a chance to get down from the wagon before she was giving me hugs and kisses. She looked very well, better than I had ever seen her.

My auntie Trish made us a feast that kept us filled up as we talked until the early hours of the morning. I didn't tell my mother about everything that had happened to me since I started my apprenticeship, she would just worry. I told her I was enjoying what I was doing, learning the trade and helping people with their problems. She was happy for me and told me if I ever get bored to come and see her. I laughed at that, somehow I didn't think I would get bored working with the old alchemist.

I spent three days there constantly chatting before I finally had to leave; I told her I would be back as soon as I possibly could and left her a box of the alchemist's special tea. "Drink plenty," I said to her. "At least two cups a day." The thought of the dreaded Night Terror I released came into my mind and it had seen my mother in my dreams, if she drank the tea it wouldn't be able to get into her head I hoped. Of course I didn't tell her that, I just said it is good for her bones.

My mother and auntie waved me goodbye on the morning of my fourth day there, I felt good about myself as I passed through the forest heading back home. I only made one stop on the trip and that was at the large rock by the river where all this started. I soaked in the sun and peace for a while, until a sudden feeling of being watched came over me, I looked around and saw nothing other than Blaze chomping on the grass. Time to go I thought. The little girl Beth entered my head and I shivered. I don't think being an alchemist's apprentice is going to be the easiest of lives.

## A special note to readers

Dear reader,

Hi there. Thank you for reading The Alchemist's Apprentice: And the Ogre's Curse.

If you would like to be the first to know when I have new books available, find me on Twitter @Dieselpow.

I hope you will also leave a review and/or rating at the retail website where you purchased The Alchemist's Apprentice: And the Ogre's Curse. I appreciate you and your feedback.

Sincerely

Simon Craven

