The Chronicles of a Scalebound Sage

[24] Why?

Joha quickly ran to Freja who just stared at him wide eyed. He had killed the druid elemental mage so easily using his abilities and martial prowess. It looked so effortless that he might as well have been playing with the guy. She remembered what Caleb told her about how he thought Joha might have hunted monsters in the past. Well shit, he was definitely right.

The demon tiger knelt down beside Freja. “Sif, are you alright? I got here as soon as I could.”

She turned away from him as soon as the shock wore off. She reached for the familiar bond with her magic and locked on to Bjorn on the other side of the river. She stood up, seeing the unmoving familiar more clearly.

“Bjorn.” She screamed as she ran to the riverside. 

She jumped in the water without hesitation and swam as best she could to the other side. Joha jumped nearly thirty feet in a single bound and joined her on the other side. They found Bjorn injured but awake and unable to move. Freja felt relief flow through the delta bond as soon as the familiar saw her unharmed. His cuts were already healing but much slower than when he killed the wolves.

“Bjorn, baby, it will be okay.” Freja said as she fell to her knees next to him. “I am fine, you will be fine, okay baby?” 

“He will make it. We can take him back to the village.” Joha stated as he placed a hand on Freja’s shoulder. “We already dealt with the other attackers. But Sif, can you make more health potions? A lot of people were injured, and the village healer was targeted first.” 

“W-what? Why were druids here? I thought that the one I killed…” She closed her mouth and clinched her jaw.

“One you killed?” Joha questioned but continued anyway. “I don’t know why they are here, but we captured one of them and the rest are dead. We will figure all of that out later. What do you need to make lesser health potions?”

Freja pet Bjorn gently as she forced herself to focus. They would find out why this happened later, for now she had an injured familiar and an unknown number of wounded people that needed help. She took a deep breath and held it for a moment then exhaled out the last of her nerves. She had the resolve to face that druid even if she would have died, so she will have the resolve to save lives now.

“I will need mainly fleron root. I have everything else.” Freja said as she closed her eyes and nodded. “It will take a few hours to make a single dose though so if you can find me pots and pans or if they have an alchemy set up, I can make it much quicker.” She opened her eyes and looked at Joha. “Take him back to the village. I will find the last ingredient.”

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“I will take him and come right back.” Joha said in response. “I will have Owen and Helina see what we can do about your setup.”

Joha slowly and carefully picked up Bjorn who chirped in pain but didn’t resist. In moments the tiger demon was off, jumped the river and ran towards the village. Freja didn’t have the time to think, she needed to act and focus on what she could do in the moment. She swam back across the river and began her search. A few minutes later Joha rejoined her with three of the villagers two about her age and one older woman to aid in finding the plants. 

The villagers’ eyes were wet with tears and looked like they were in shock. However, they had determination and they knew their actions could save lives. It took only a few minutes before they found the first cluster. Freja showed them what to look for and how to dig them up. After that she needed to get started making the potions. She left Joha with her book and showed him the three plants she needed for the potions, telling him more about each, where they typically grow, and how to harvest them. He agreed to find more and she left for the village.

Up until a few days ago Freja had only ever seen a dead body at her grandfather's funeral when she was a child. Her sister’s body was never recovered. Now not only had she seen bodies, but she killed someone with her own hands. However, what she saw in the remains of the village sickened her. Villagers slaughtered with needlessly brutal magic. Some were covered with sheets reddened with blood. Others had yet to be veiled for some dignity in death. Most of the bodies were not whole, torn apart by summoned roots that slowly withered now without the magic that made them or speared with ice magic that still hummed with cursed druidic magic. Craters littered the village from explosive magics that were used to deadly effect.

“Why would they do this?” Freja said to herself.  

“Sif, over here.” Owen yelled out for her as she approached the village square. 

The wagons all looked to be intact but two of the horses had run off. Sabec was talking to one of the few men in the village. The gnoll man had a large bardiche with runes that ran up and down both the shaft and orichalcum blade while the man had a sword at his hip. Both of them were injured but looked to have minor cuts here and there. At their feet was the captured druid Joha mentioned earlier. He was tied up and Sabec rested his weapon on the man's shoulder with the blade inches from his neck.

Freja turned her attention back to Owen who was beckoning to her. She ran over to him, and he led her into one of the few intact buildings which appeared to be someone's home. Helina ran up and hugged her then led her further inside. She spoke some words of power and Freja’s soaking wet clothing dried.

“I am glad you are alright, dear.” Helina said. “Bjorn is here, he is sleeping upstairs.”

The house was a common wendigo design with practicality over form. Everything was natural colors from the brick walls to the hardwood floor. The living room was the most opulent with glowstone lights along the walls and imported comfortable looking furniture. The house was not free of damage; one of the walls had a large hole that looked like it had been ripped out by magic. The contents of the room were thrown outside in a broken heap. Freja saw blood in that debris and turned away. The owner of the house was probably dead.

“What about you, where is Wyatt and Caleb?” Freja asked.

“Everyone is fine, I got a few scrapes but nothing to worry about.” Helina said.

“We’re tougher than we look.” Owen added.

Freja noticed that both goblins had a machete at their side and there was a pair of spears in the corner of the room. Goblins were elves after all and were just as magically and combatively capable as their taller brethren. Even if the two groups did not consider themselves as related to the other. She followed the familiar bond and felt Bjorn upstairs. She didn’t have time to check on him, but his emotions were calm meaning he was probably asleep.

“I am glad to hear, I need to get started right away.” Freja said. “Did you get my alchemy case from Sabec’s wagon?”

“He brought it over, but we did you one better.” Owen said as he waved her into the kitchen. “Luckily we hadn’t sold all of this yet, so we still have it.”

The kitchen was fully converted into an alchemy lab that put her supplies to shame. More importantly it meant she could produce more of the potions at once. To her surprise the same woman who said she had a son at the academy was standing in the kitchen boiling water over the stove. Her eyes were hollow as well and she looked like she wanted to cry but she held strong. 

“I am glad you are alright dear. How long will it take?” The snowfallen woman asked, her voice soft. “To make the potions I mean.”

“Probably three hours per batch.” Freja said. “How many do we need?”

“As many as possible. T-they killed… they killed Brynhild. She was our only healer.” She took a long breath. “We have thirteen injured and a few of them will need more than one potion.”

“Okay, okay. We will get started right away.” Freja said.

Helina and the woman whose name turned out to be Unn were immediately recruited into helping crush up the material now that they had multiple mortars and pestles. Owen was on guard duty and stood outside with his spear. Freja had to take a look at her new equipment which was sizable. 

While the ingredients were being prepared, she rearranged what the goblins had set up to make it more efficient. It was clear that they had no idea how to set up an alchemy lab and just brought everything they had. She ran through a couple of calculations then double, triple, quadruple and even quintuple checked her work. This would be the largest supply of potions she ever produced at once. She only hoped her skills were up to the task.