Is it though?
Sam cursed and yanked his hand away as shards of the small vial flew in every direction. He doused the flames on the workbench and crossed yet another additive from his list of possible ingredients, while shaking his head. His dissertation, his graduation, and his whole career depended upon getting this right.
He heaved a sigh and began clearing the debris.
"These vials are getting expensive." Professor Mallory Kerrigan, his advisor, strolled into the lab. "And the end of term is approaching."
"I know, Professor."
"Have you considered this just may not be the right experiment?"
"I don't know what else to do, and I've already spent so much time on this one."
His advisor peered at his open notebook, her lips forming a thin line. "You may want to start thinking about going in another direction. As it stands, you still don't have anything to publish."
Sam deflated. Clearly, his advisor believed he was wasting his time. He opened his mouth to respond when the outer doors flung open and two more professors entered, one in his late thirties and the other an older man with white hair.
"We've got it," the younger man said, holding up a bundle of papers.
"Sam, this is Professor Jacob James, head of the language department, and Professor Albert Brunelle, history professor. Jake, Albert, this is Sam Thorne. Sam is my grad student."
"Will you be joining us?" the older gentleman, Professor Brunelle, asked.
"Tell him what you found," Professor Kerrigan directed toward Professor Brunelle
"Well, Albert and his students found the ancient text, and I translated it: Krasfol Eskradi, Exploding Fireball. From the description, it seems rather potent, indeed." Professor James beamed as though deserving of all the credit. "This could be just the thing to win us that military contract." He passed a copy of the translated potion recipe to each person, including Sam.
The historian's face lit up. “We found it in an abandoned temple in the western range.”
The linguist tapped his papers. “There were terms here we had not yet encountered in the ancient language. It took longer to decipher than I’d have liked, but I’m confident this is correct.”
“Is it though?” All eyes snapped towards Sam, and his ears burned under the glare of Professor James. Sam wished he could rewind time and keep his big mouth shut.
“And what, exactly, is wrong with it?” the language professor asked.
"I... I don't know," Sam muttered. He shrank back from the intensity of the man’s stare and looked down at his copy of the translated recipe. The long ingredient list included rare and expensive items, some of which were clearly volatile, but that was to be expected given the nature of the potion they were trying to brew.
Doubt gnawed at him. He could not pinpoint any one thing that seemed wrong. And while he understood some Ancient, having learned it from his grandmother, he did not dare compare his understanding of the ancient language to the professor's. He shook his head, unwilling to meet anyone's eye.
"Well, Sam," Professor Kerrigan's voice cut through the silence, "This is the potion you should be working on. If we can manage this successfully, you'll have one hell of a dissertation, and the interdepartmental collaboration will give you an edge. That military contract would bolster the status of our departments and the entire university, while pumping much-needed funds into the school. And I imagine you'll find job offers much easier to obtain. Imagine being on the team that reproduced a potion of the ancients." Professor Kerrigan stopped and waited for Sam to look up at her. "So what do you say? Are you in?"
Sam looked around at the others. Professor James frowned.
"Necros needs this if we're to protect ourselves while the country rebuilds." Professor Brunelle's quiet voice shook.
Sam looked back down at his papers. This was a chance of a lifetime. He knew it. So why did this decision feel so difficult? He would have to give up his current research. Though truth be told, he wasn't really making progress there, and this was his chance to do something important.
"I'm in."
Sam shifted the bags, careful not to drop them as he fumbled for the handle. Pushing the door open, he could hear the three professors arguing over the potion. Still. Glass bottles and vials tinkled as he placed the supplies atop a workbench, and he flinched at the noise. Luckily, no one seemed to notice him there. He unloaded his gathered supplies as quietly as possible.
"We really should test it on a smaller scale," Professor Brunelle said in a shaky voice.
"No." Professor James shook his head, rereading the original. "You must follow this precisely. Besides, it requires a whole newt, which you can't expect to halve properly."
Professor Kerrigan shrugged. She stood in front of a chalkboard on which were written the rarer ingredients. "What about this?" she asked, pointing to one listed item. "This cannot possibly be correct."
"I am sure of it," Professor James said. "Kadai geremat en nolenkadus is milled tree bark, of the outer bark to be specific."
Professor Kerrigan stared at him until he continued. "Kadai from the root kad meaning scale. Geremat is crushed, so ground scales of nolenkadus. Nol is tree, and kadus is protector: tree bark. So they want you to grind the outer part of the tree bark."
"They would have specified species." She shook her head.
"Albert and I agree it must mean the bark of the fir trees found on the western ridge."
"These other ingredients are extremely volatile. If you're wrong, we could die." She put her hands on her hips.
"I'm not wrong. And the rest of the language department agrees with me."
They were probably bullied into agreeing, thought Sam as he prepared the distillation apparatus.
"Sam, did you get everything?" Professor Kerrigan asked without turning from the chalkboard.
"There are still a few more, and one I'm not sure how to get."
She nodded. "Go ahead and start with the extractions. I'll procure the remaining items. Albert, keep lab notes. Record everything. Jacob, triple-check that translation." She took Sam's proffered item list and headed back to her office, leaving Professor James staring after her with his mouth agape.
The language professor then huffed and stormed out of the lab. Sam pulled the necessary solvents from the storage cabinet, and Professor Brunelle followed close on his heels, already scrawling away in his notepad.
Kadai geremat en nolenkadus echoed in Sam's mind. Professor James's explanation seemed reasonable, but Professor Kerrigan's intuition in regards to potions could not be matched. She had been the head of the department for several years now, and her lab produced some of the most potent solutions in modern times. Working with Professor Kerrigan drew Sam to attending Shivano City University. For her to question an ingredient meant they should all be very cautious moving forward.
"What's that you're doing now?" Professor Brunelle asked, startling Sam out of his thoughts.
Sam stifled a groan and explained the extraction procedure while Professor Brunelle took notes. The historian smiled and joked while making his own observations of the process. Soon, Sam found he enjoyed the older man's company.
"Do you think the translation is correct?" Sam finally worked up the courage to ask.
The professor shrugged. "Jacob James is the best linguist in Necros and the preeminent authority on the ancient language."
Sam continued to work through the potion preparations as Professor Brunelle recorded his every action.
"Well, that's all we can do today." Sam yawned.
"We'll start early tomorrow. Mallory is eager to begin mixing ingredients, and I'm sure James is eager to argue with her while she does so." Professor Brunelle smirked.
"Professor James will assist with the potion?" Sam asked.
The older man laughed. "No. He just doesn't want to miss the excitement." He then rolled his eyes. "He also wants to make sure you and Mallory follow the steps as outlined in the ancient text."
"We're perfectly capable--"
"I know," Professor Brunelle interrupted. "But having another witness can only help prove the validity of your work." He took his notepad with him and left Sam to lock up the lab.
After a fitful night with very little sleep, Sam paced his tiny studio apartment, the argument from the previous day running through his mind. Professor Kerrigan, a highly successful alchemist, felt uneasy about one of the ingredients. That very thought made Sam's pulse race. Sam could not help feeling there was something wrong with the translation, but maybe it was fine. Perhaps Professor James had interpreted the ancient words correctly, and there was nothing to worry about.
Then again... he stopped in his tracks as his gaze fell upon the bookcase. A copy of the storybook his grandmother used to read to him as a child peaked from between his school books. She loved to read one particular story and then recite what she could in the ancient language.
Sam's eyes went wide as his grandmother's voice floated through his mind.
Smiled. Nolenkadus smiled!
Sam glanced at the clock, The other professors were likely already at the lab and starting on the potion. He shoved his feet into shoes and raced out of the apartment and toward the lab.
"No! Nolenkadus means magimandus!" Sam screamed as he rounded the corner and the alchemy building came into view. "Kadai en nolenkadus are magimandus scales!" He bounded up the stairs.
Boom! A deafening sound shook the ground, bucking Sam from the steps. Shards of glass and other debris flew through the air as Sam fell back. His head smacked against the ground, and his vision blurred before darkening.
Searing pain speared through Sam's brain, dragging him out of blissful nothingness. He tried to drift back to sleep, but aches throughout his body grew more intense, demanding his attention. He opened his eyes to find himself in a strange room. Groaning, he pushed himself up to find the room contained medical supplies and another hospital bed.
"You're awake." Professor Brunelle's voice rattled from the other bed.
"Where am I? Where are Professors Kerrigan and James"
The older man shook his head and winced. "They didn't make it. The potion exploded."
Sam did not like Professor James, but his death still shocked him. And Professor Mallory Kerrigan... tears filled his eyes, and guilt twisted his gut. "I should have made them listen. I should have figured it out sooner."
"Hush, now." Brunelle took a tired, raspy breath and fell into a fit of wheezing coughs.
"I know how to make the potion," Sam whispered.
"Good." The old historian sank back into his bed, his coughs dying down and a hush fell over the room as the man's eyes closed.
Sam stared at the wizened man as his chest rose and fell with haggard breaths. The historian still seemed to think the potion necessary. Sam knew how to make it. The question was should he.
I really liked this story. It was entertaining to read, and I especially liked the sort of modern college stuff mixed with magic. Good job!
Thank you :)