Alkimiya - A Fantasy Mystery Series

TWENTY~THREE - Island of Salt

Inspector Hatwig did not wake by morning and instead developed a raging fever overnight. Healer Pilluck promised a full recovery, boasting that she had dealt with worse cases than this, but that did not stop an undercurrent of doom from traveling between the less injured of the survivors. They knew that if Inspector Hatwig perished, it would mean the death of them all. The airship was far too damaged to fix without an alchemist and they needed someone to activate the slips of papers if they were to have any chance of fighting off the sea rot.

So it was with ill news that they set off in search of materials. They each packed a bag of supplies that consisted of canned food, water, rope, and in James' case, an ax for cutting trees. In addition to that, Carver made makeshift crampons for each of them out of what little wood they had from Nibbs' vegetable crates by cutting them into planks and hammering nails through them. They were grateful for this because the narrow pathway from the beach to the top of the tor was coated with several feet of compacted salt deposits that were as slippery as ice.

Mimi volunteered to lead the way. Before placing her full weight down, she tested the ground for any instability by tapping the nails of her crampons over the salt. It seemed to do the trick.

Tilde did the same as Mimi by testing the ground before each step, but things had a way of going awry where she was concerned. She slipped several times up the path, once so badly that she nearly slid off the side and only survived because of James. Twice the nails of her crampons wedged into the ground and stuck. James had to free her by chipping away the crust with the tip of his ax blade. When it happened a second time, he threatened to hack off her foot.

Keeping a watchful eye on them both, Zenetra followed close behind. She did not glide as effortlessly as Mimi but nor did she move as badly as Tilde. Behind her, salt crunched beneath Carver's feet. Adamant to go last, he feared that his weight would break the salt and make the way up ever more treacherous. With the way the crust on the beach broke apart underneath him, no one argued. Now and then Zenetra heard him say, "You're doing well, Cadet."

"Almost there!" sang Mimi.

The final stretch of the hike to the top of the tor was a mere skip in normal circumstances, but it ended up being the most arduous part of the pathway. Steep and slick, they had to use extreme caution. Or rather, they should have. Mimi raced ahead, her feet gliding the rest of the way to the top. James took no chances with Tilde. He grabbed the back of her jacket, counted to three, and pushed Tilde forward so forcibly that her crampons barely skimmed the salt. It was likely the only reason they made it up with no further issues.

When Zenetra heard Mimi, Tilde, and James release similar breaths of amazement, she threw her own caution aside and raced up the slope. Once at the top, however, no gasp of incredulity came from her. A heavy stone of dread sank to the pit of her stomach. Her mouth warped into a grimace as Carver joined them.

"This is a problem," said Carver.

Mimi's arms rose high in the air. A smile stretched from ear to ear. "A breathtakingly beautiful problem!"

"I'm not sure you're seeing what I'm seeing. There's nothing beautiful about this."

Arms dropping to her sides, Mimi winked at Carver. "It's just like that trip to Savenya."

"You and I have vastly different memories of that trip."

The environment they found themselves in was as harsh as their journey. The island was caked entirely with hardened salt. White and glistening, a city slowly petrified by time lay below the crust. A long road of densely packed salt led the way to buildings dripping with stalactites. Flat-roofed houses, some single-storied and others up to five levels high, filled what must have once been a bustling epicenter of civilization.