"There. All done with the metal items I had to fix." I said, wiping the sweat off my brow. At that time the five men got back.
"We have the herbs you asked for." the first man said, handing me a basket.
"Thanks." I said, grabbing the basket. I brought it to the far table in the makeshift hut. I have a mortar and pestle set up on the table. I drop a pinch of all of the herbs but one into it. Beginning to grind it together till it was at a consistency that resembled a green/brown paste. Adding the last herb it turns to a purple liquid. Beginning to unstring the bows I set them on the back half of the table. I put the strings in a big bowl of hot water.
"Viper. What is his name?" I asked, pointing at one of the five men that got me the herbs.
"Hue." Viper said.
"Hue, come over here." I said.
"Yes." Hue said, as he walked over to me.
"Can I get your shirt?" I asked.
"No," he said.
"Give him your god damn shirt!" Viper said, in a stern voice, with fury in his eyes.
"Here." Hue said, with anger in his voice.
"Thank you." I said, with a smile. I tore the shirt into little square rags. Dipping the rags into the purple liquid completely covering them. I grabbed one out and rubbed the bow with it till the rag was dry. Repeating the process with all of the bows. With the remaining mixture I soaked the bow strings in it. Looking closely at the arrows. I note that the arrowhead is made from silver with a wolfsbane shaft, eagle feather fletching.
"Where did you get these at?" I said, looking at Viper.
"There was an old man in the town you two picked me up in. He just gave them to us after hearing me talk about the mission." Viper said. How strange I thought to myself.
I take the strings out of the liquid and string the bows with them. I set them aside to finish drying. At this time it is after dark and the rest of the troops and Merlin are sitting around the bonfire. Walking quietly I sneak up behind Merlin.
"Is there any food left?" I said, crouching behind him.
"Yes. Here." He said, handing me a plate.
"Thanks." I said, looking at it. It did not look too appetizing to me.
"leon!" Viper yelled.
"Yes,'' I replied. Looking at him.
"This is your tent tonight." He said.
"Thanks," I said, getting up and walking over to it. Lifting the flap of the tent and stepping in. I sat on the cot to eat my food. As I finished my food, I looked around. It is a basic setup. There is a table with a handful of bottles on it and the cot I am on. I set my plate on the table and lay down and passed out.
The next morning I woke up with Merlin standing right inside of the flap of the tent.
"How long have you been here?" I asked, a little worried.
"Honestly I just walked in," He said, with his hands up.
"Is there an issue?" I asked.
"Not really, I was just wondering what all you did to the weapons?" He said.
"O, I didn't really do anything to the swords or axes, but the bows. I made them more flexible but yet stronger than any bow maker can make." I said, shrugging off the question. Getting off the cot. I walked up to Merlin.
"May I show you?" I asked. Stepping out of the tent.
"By all means." He said, holding the flap open for me.
Walking to the forge to show Merlin the bows. Viper ran up to us.
"Good morning, Are the weap–." He said, as I cut him off.
"Good morning, follow us. I would like to show you this too." I said still walking.
I grab a bow and one arrow. Walking back out of the forge to the edge of the camp. I rest the arrow on the bow, hooking it to the string.
"Are you guys ready?" I asked, pulling it back. I aim at the biggest tree and let go. With a hiss it took flight with a speed unfathomable to us. It went straight through the first tree and cut down five more that were in its path.
"How did you do that?" Merlin asked, betting Viper to the punch.
"It was the potion I made. It restructured the wood and string. Under high tension the string turns into steel wire, the wood was restructured to a fiber mesh. It is stronger than steel." I said, handing it the Merlin.
"What an explanation." Viper says, confused.
"How heavy was the original?" Merlin asked, as he grabbed the bow. Snapping his fingers an arrow appeared in his hand. He took aim at a bird that just leapt from a branch. Releasing, the bird disappears, along with the arrow.
"Bye bye birdie." Viper said.
"Do you think your men can do that?" I asked sarcastically.
"I believe they will manage. In the meantime follow me to my tent." Viper said, starting to walk to his tent.
As we got to his tent we immediately stepped inside. There was a table with a map on it. We gathered around it as Viper started to pont at it.
"This is where they were last reported. Here is the spot for the ambush. Three days." He said.
"He's back!" someone yelled from the fire pit.
We headed out of the tent towards the fire.
"Crush and Alpha!" Viper yelled
"Viper!" Crush yelled back.
"This is Leon and Merlin." Viper said, now that we were close enough that we didn't have to yell.
"Hi Leon and Merlin." He said, shaking our hands.
"It is nice to meet you, Crush." I said.
"We need to have a party to celebrate your return." Viper said
"First fill me in with the situation here." Crush said, with a chuckle.
As Viper told him everything that happened here and the plan. I was thanking about the books that Merlin had at his house. And the fact that I had two days to kill before the battle in three days. I tap on Merlin's arm
"May I speak to you in private?" I whispered. as we started to walk away
"Do you mind if I read your books that you have at home?" I asked.
"Not at all, but why the interest?" He replied.
"I don't really know, it is just a feeling to learn more I guess." I said, shrugging.
"Yes," He said laughing as he began to walk back to the group. I kept walking toward my tent. Stepping inside I grabbed my bag off my side and reached in to grab the first book that I had and began to read it. Seven spells in the book, a spell called Liber Perpetuus Its description is any size book with endless pages. 'Wow what a spell' I thought. The next spell was called Exemplar Infinitum; its description is a quill that will copy any text or thought in any text you want as you wish it.
"Hey." I said, as I was digging in my bag for a quill and a blank book. I cast both of the spells on them and began to copy all of the spells into it. Reading and writing book after book for the rest of the day. Casting all the ones that were going to be helpful. The next day followed the same.
A stream flowing down towards the lake, surrounded by papaver rhoeas filled our view. A 17 year old Lily, with her red hair braided over her shoulder with her dull gold eyes locked on me, stood next to me. I led her down to the stream, where a bottle of wine and some food sat waiting. As a gray haze filled my vision.
"get up, it is time!" Viper yelled into my tent. jarring me awake. As I got off the cot I looked at him.
"send Merlin in for me." I said.
"okay." he said as he stepped out of the tent.
"You called for me." Merlin said as he stepped into the tent.
"Yes, I have a question for you." I said standing up.
"O, What is it?" he said.
"How big of a gemstone do you have?" I asked.
"O, About this big." he said, holding his hands together showing the size of a walnut.
"O, here is the biggest one I have seen." I said. handing him a gemstone four times the size he showed me.
"Where did you get this?" he asked. grabbing it from me.
"the ground, the ground beneath us is full of them." I said.
"How did you get it out of the ground?" he said, confused.
"The two days that we had nothing to do, I read all the books that you had and made my own." I said.
"Okay, but that doesn't tell me how you got the gemstone out of the ground," he said.
"I read the five books you had on the elements." I said. shrugging.
"Wait, the five elements. I thought there were only four elements: earth, air, fire , and water." he said.
"Yes, and spirit." i said
"spirit?" he said, confused.
"Yes, spirit it's an unknown element. it can give you the power to see all of the spirits and the ability to control them." I said.
"You learned all this from my books?" he asked in amazement.
"Yes, all but the spirit element that I learned through meditation." I said.
"Okay I will figure this all out, right now we have something to be doing.'' he said. stepping out of the tent. As I headed out of the tent we went to Viper.
"Are you two ready?" Viper asked. as we got behind him.
"Yes, as ever." I said.
"Alright, let's head out." Viper said. as we all started to walk toward the trees. I walk up to Viper and tap him on his left side and walk up to his right side.
"Do you mind if I stay in the back today? i just want to see you gays in work." I said. as he looked left then right.
"by all means. if you help if it gets dicey." he said.