The Demon Lord and his Hero

The next morning, Salem showed Syryn around the alchemy workroom. The half-elf pointed out Syryn's side of the room where his alchemy base was kept clean and dust-free, waiting for Syryn's return. It was too bad that he couldn't remember anything about alchemy or medicine. 

"Syryn, why don't you assist me today? It might help jog your memory a little. And if it doesn't, at least you'll have learnt something." 

"I probably won't remember anything but I'll be happy to assist," the mage replied. 

A heavy-duty cauldron was already on the stove. Long slender fingers turned on the fire and closed the lid of the cauldron. 

"Today, we'll brew a very special potion so pay close attention to my instructions," Salem said to Syryn as he began to set ingredients on the work table. 

"Do you see the weighing scale there?" 

"Mmm." 

"Balance out for five grams of ginger root powder which I've kept on that shelf. It's inside the second last jar with a black lid." Saying so, Salem indicated with his chin towards the shelf where many jars were lined up and colour-coordinated. 

"What's the potion for?" Syryn asked as he removed the appropriate jar and began to unscrew the lid. 

"A medicine that suppresses the uncontrolled effects of lycanthropy. Some shapeshifters lose control of their beasts during the full moon so they take the potion to remain human on such nights." 

Syryn poured out a brown coloured powder on the scale and balanced it with an equivalent weight of stone. 

"Do they attack people when the beast forcefully takes over?" He asked Salem who was picking out fresh wolf's-bane from a bag. The flower was deep purple and shaped like a helmet. 

"It has happened," Salem replied. He held up the flower to Syryn, "wolf's-bane, a beautiful plant that kills indiscriminately. All you have to do is add about five to ten milligrams of the plant to your intended victim's tea or wine. You'll find that the turnip shaped root is where the poison is most concentrated." 

Standing next to Salem, Syryn looked at the flower and found it familiar to him. "What are the symptoms of poisoning?" 

The blond alchemist placed the flower inside a pan of water. He began taking out more wolfsbane, all the while handling them with gloved hands. 

"Nausea, vomiting, tingling and numbness in the face and extremities are all common early signs of poisoning by wolfsbane. You knew more about it than I ever will, Syryn. I hope you do get your memories back because it would be such a pity to have all that knowledge and expertise lost." 

"Was I really so good at alchemy and medicine?" Syryn asked. 

"Of course, you were invited by Altaire to study under his tutelage. He's the best alchemist ever to be born, and you were good enough to impress even him." Salem smiled like he was proud of Syryn. There wasn't any jealousy in his eyes.

"Ahem," someone cleared their throat from the door. "Can I borrow Syryn for a while?" 

"Why? He's assisting me right now," Salem told the redhead. 

"My work is more important. Come with me, brother. We're going back to the forest." 

It was about the corpse again. Syryn wondered what Red was up to now. 

"Fine, but don't get into any trouble. It's daylight and there might be unexpected visitors or people just walking around the area." 

"Yeah, yeah," Red said in a hurry. "Come on, Syryn! We can only do this when Rowan isn't around." 

The anti mage had left for the Sanguine HQ. He has been absent from work for a very long time and was expected at the office by Artemus. They both had responsibilities that were waiting their attentions. 

As they walked towards the forest, Syryn looked at where Red had his hand clamped around the older's wrist. 

"What's the hurry?" He asked the redhead. 

"What's the hurry? The corpse is buried too close to the house!" 

Syryn didn't see why that was a problem. 

"Is this a necromancy thing?" He asked. 

"What? No. It's that boyfriend of yours. Rowan is a damn bloodhound who'll sniff the body out before the week is done. Mark my words, if we don't change locations, he'll bust my operation and I'll be hauled off to the mage hunter's headquarters for an interrogation." 

"I see," Syryn replied. They had reached the mound. 

"Dig fast," Red said as he threw the shovel at Syryn. Deftly catching it, the duo made short work of the mound. The rotting body was soon revealed again but now in daylight, it looked more hideous than it had in the dark. The stench of it seeped into Syryn's skin and had him feeling like he smelled of the corpse. 

"Here," Red threw a pair of thick gloves at Syryn. "You take the feet, and I'll haul him by the arms." 

Syryn wanted to refuse. He stared at the bloated stomach that he hadn't noticed in the night. 

"Syryn, stop daydreaming. Rowan might arrive home anytime!" 

Red then sat on his haunches and reached out towards the hole to grab an arm. Syryn followed suit with the right foot. As soon as he lifted the leg, he regretted the action immediately. 

"Oh fu-!!" Syryn screamed like a little girl when an entire community of soft fat maggots covered in corpse juice came tumbling out of the man's shoes. A few of them fell over his own shoe which he proceeded to shake desperately. 

"Really, Syryn. You act like you haven't dealt with dead bodies before," Red chided the older demon. 

(Why are you so mean to Syryn? He can't remember anything so be nice.)

[I'm not gonna treat him like an invalid who needs to be dealt with sensitively. Syryn will have to get used to the weird things that happen in this house.]

"I didn't sign up to have dirty maggots fall all over me, Red." 

"Fine, you take the arms then." The redhead dropped the corpse's arm and walked over to Syryn. 

Footsteps sounded behind them. Turning around, Syryn saw that it was Alka. The plant mage looked tense. 

"Don't tell me Rowan is back," Red said with fear written on his face. 

Alka shook his head. "Worse. Lillith came to visit. She's asking for Syryn."