The Day I Got Kicked Out of Alchemy School
short story fantasy
My day was going pretty well. I managed to get my toast just right this morning and made it to the Alchemist Academy early. I decided to check the scroll room for an interesting experiment to occupy myself during the day while no one was looking, what’s the harm in a little fun experimenting my teachers always said, so examining the scrolls I found a winner about turning lead into gold, a classic. Walking out of the scroll room I bumped into someone I didn’t recognize in my haste. I must have grabbed the wrong scroll. It was two periods of lecture before I found time to sneak off to a vacant laboratory room with a large balcony window that would be perfect for my experiment. I worked for a while on the formula, and I found, to my great relief, all the ingredients within the lab. Some of the gases were so foul that I needed to open the balcony to let some fresh air in. It was then that I realized that I was not doing my nice and classic experiment of lead into gold but something far more complex. I focused on my work more diligently. I must have lost track of the time because it was almost midday when I was finished, and the formula created something truly unique. I created a shining purple Julian diamond. The formula was lost for centuries. How did I come across it running into someone this was amazing? But just as I was about to shout in my monument of triumph that’s when my doom arrived.
I cannot forget him, a golden creature swooped in right into the window. It took me a minute to recognize him, I think it was him anyway. All he did was stare at me with those piercing eyes then he proceeds to ransack the lab knocking over everything and causing a few small fires. Just as I go to put them out and call for help, the creature swallows the Julian diamond. One thing they don't tell you about Julian diamonds is although renowned for their beauty, one thing that was rarely written about Julian diamonds was their unique magical ability to enlarge something when swallowed. The effect would eventually diminish but the effects would be determined by the size of the creature and the size of the diamond. Now on initial inspection, the creature was a little shorter, about 3.5 cubits big, but it started to grow larger as it left the Alchemist Academy with a huge hole in the balcony about the size of a medium dragon. I was too busy with the fire to notice that it began to attack the people and horses of the city.
* * *
Sir Malcolm, a Knight of the Realm and Commander of the city guard, was training with the city guard in full armor at the time, he heard the screams of the people and would not stand for such a terrible event in his city. He ordered a scout to investigate the screams, then he mounts his horse telling his knights to do the same. He orders a large contingent to the walls to prepare the city ballista (large crossbows the size of men mounted on walls for defense) for battle, from the commotion it is either a large flying creature or a riot he knows so he prepares accordingly. He then splits the rest of the city guard into crossbowmen, longbowmen and the rest he orders maces and pikes to be distributed, with heavy armor. The armory is bustling with activity as the scout returns, reporting a large Gryphon the size of a dragon is attacking the city. When he knows what he’s dealing with it is easier for the knight. He orders the guards to focus on heavy crossbows only for the bowmen and tells his knights and the Master at Arms (the medieval equivalent to a Sergeant) “Our job is to lure this Gryphon out into the open fields outside the city walls where the infantry is effective, and the ballistae are sighted. Master at arms see to it, that the infantry needs are meet. Then meet us at the north field for deployment where the bulk of the ballistae are. Knights your job is to get the Gryphon to the north field where we can kill it. Let us do this.”
The knights ride off to the city, the infantry moves at a hurried pace with their gear within no time they are ready to go. The knights play a game through the city of hide and go seek with a little monster thrown in for fun, slowly luring the monster to the north fields while giving the town guard all the time it needs. The knights keep the monster occupied, and it ignores the townspeople. Then a red flame arrow shoots across the sky the city signifying that all is prepared and like clockwork, the knights like men who have done this thousands of times bring the beast to the north field.
In the vanguard of the knights, Sir Malcolm is ready to deal with the beast. When the beast finally lands two hundred cubits from the wall and as the monster and knight glare the monster about to flap its wings and spring in for an attack a ballista bolt connects through the joint crippling the monster’s ability to fly. Sir Malcolm yells out “Good shot dead-eye dick, pike-men advance!”
With that, the pike-men surround the creature, and they begin probing for weaknesses. The knights begin throwing their javelins and the archers fire their crossbow bolts, opening weaknesses for the pike-men to follow up and eventually they take down the beast.
* * *
"So yes, basically that is how I got kicked out of alchemy school and am working on the docks." Said the scrawny kid to three workers next to him.
One of the larger workers replies, “So wait you're the one responsible for the giant Gryphon and Sir Malcolm's greatest victory".
“Yes basically”
“You’re lucky you weren’t hung.”
"I did spend a week in the stocks, and I had to clean the stables and privies for a year.”
“You got off easy.”
“Tell me about it” the kid exclaimed.
“Whatever happened to the formula?”
“I have no idea I figured it burned up in the fire. No trace of it was ever found in the wreckage of the laboratory collapse and no on found anything after the fire.”
One of the other workers chimes in “You are making this up!”
“No, I’m not” as they begin to shove each other.
“All right guys break it up get back to work” A large man yells as everyone begrudgingly goes back to work. Only the kid and an older man remain.
The kid says you want proof here and pulls out a paper “This recreates the base form of the diamond without color or magical ability. I reconstructed it from memory after the fire.”
The guy says “That’s nice kid but that doesn’t prove your story. I say use your formula sell your diamonds to some jeweler and get off the docks and live a happy life.”
“Maybe I’ll do that thank you.”
“Don’t mention it. Now let’s get back to work!”