Sequel: Vernacular ›
Lead and Gold
Tinctura
Godricke emerged from the trees with a somber face, each and every villager jumping up at the sight of him.
"Were you successful, Lord Godricke?"
"Did you find the beast, Lord Godricke?"
"Are you hurt?"
"What happened?"
"Tell us!"
Godricke stood quietly, looking at each and every face before him, the faces that he had trusted before he had passed those doors; the faces he had believed showed him the utmost respect. He had a task he still needed to finish.
"I found the monster of which you spoke of, and I let him free."
The expected cry of disagreement did not faze him in the least, and he endured their scorn with quiet patience.
"I let him free because you, fellow people, were not honest with me. You painted false images to lure me into this game that you play, and I refused to play into it."
The cries were cut short as quickly as they had begun.
"You, who told me to hunt down a monster, never revealed to me who that 'monster' really was. Lie no longer—I know that you were aware of the whole story. How could you be ignorant to such a tale? This is a game started by your ancestors, by individuals you could not possibly be aware of, but you were very aware of the story itself. You sought to tell me half-truths to satisfy your own desires: The death of your own fears. Did you ever consider, however, what other fears breathed besides your own?"
Silence
"I have heard both sides of this tale, and, as your appointed Chieftain, I uphold my duties as the final Judge of all decisions. As your Chieftain, I shall not betray your trust."
A murmur of agreement buzzed in the crowd; maybe there was hope, they thought.
"You set me upon this task, to track down the terror of the countryside, and I return successful—I have found the culprit."
His gaze left no doubt in their minds as to who he had accused.
"Were you successful, Lord Godricke?"
"Did you find the beast, Lord Godricke?"
"Are you hurt?"
"What happened?"
"Tell us!"
Godricke stood quietly, looking at each and every face before him, the faces that he had trusted before he had passed those doors; the faces he had believed showed him the utmost respect. He had a task he still needed to finish.
"I found the monster of which you spoke of, and I let him free."
The expected cry of disagreement did not faze him in the least, and he endured their scorn with quiet patience.
"I let him free because you, fellow people, were not honest with me. You painted false images to lure me into this game that you play, and I refused to play into it."
The cries were cut short as quickly as they had begun.
"You, who told me to hunt down a monster, never revealed to me who that 'monster' really was. Lie no longer—I know that you were aware of the whole story. How could you be ignorant to such a tale? This is a game started by your ancestors, by individuals you could not possibly be aware of, but you were very aware of the story itself. You sought to tell me half-truths to satisfy your own desires: The death of your own fears. Did you ever consider, however, what other fears breathed besides your own?"
Silence
"I have heard both sides of this tale, and, as your appointed Chieftain, I uphold my duties as the final Judge of all decisions. As your Chieftain, I shall not betray your trust."
A murmur of agreement buzzed in the crowd; maybe there was hope, they thought.
"You set me upon this task, to track down the terror of the countryside, and I return successful—I have found the culprit."
His gaze left no doubt in their minds as to who he had accused.
♠ ♠ ♠
An Explanation of Chapter Titles:Each Chapter title—or Step—represents a step in one of the oldest Alchemical recipes, which was documented in the Tabula Smaragdina, which is one of the oldest known documents pertaining to Alchemy This recipe dictates the creation of an object called "The Philosopher's Stone", which is supposedly the perfect Alchemical substance. Studies in Alchemical Psychology—an obscure branch of Psychology that believes Alchemy's true intent was not the transformation of Lead into Gold, but a transformation of a human's "shadow" conscience (Lead) into their 'perfect" conscience (Gold)—believes that the true Philosopher's Stone is not a true object, but a human being. A human supposedly begins as lead—ignorant of their true self—and slowly transforms themselves into gold—a state of perfect self-awareness. This ideological framework dictated how the chapters were organized.