Elena

 

The next few days were unreal to Wynn and me. I’d grown so used to living on the streets that I was almost tempted to refuse when Evelyn offered us a room above the apothecary. Wynn had given me a glare when I’d hesitated, though, so I caved-in and accepted the offer.

It was weird to have my own bed again, even if it was just a pile of blankets at first. A couple of days later the blankets were placed with a feather mattress and I struggled to get out of bed in the morning. Not having to keep an ear out for other people in the middle of the night would take some getting used to.

Next, Evelyn had insisted on making us look more respectable. That meant exchanging our clothes with replacements that weren’t quite so worn and in dire need of repair. It also meant us having to take regular baths and get our hair cut. 

Evelyn was friends with a hairdresser that worked nearby and was able to have her visit us. She was a short, happy woman that seemed to enjoy gossiping about what was happening to some family or other, and how Lord Greyden’s daughter had come to visit some other lady and had asked for her specifically.

Her skills with the scissors and comb were at least equal to her ability to talk, and she wasted little time in washing and cutting Wynn’s long, scraggly blonde hair into something much shorter. As she worked, she clicked her tongue and told us off for not looking after it. She took her time to show us how to better look after it and what we should do to make sure it didn’t get matted or dull.

Wynn complained the entire time, but as soon as Evelyn had let her see her reflection in a mirror, she quietened. I personally thought that it made her look a little more mature and prettier. My own hair wasn’t in quite as bad a state, but it still received similar treatment. My rust-coloured locks were efficiently arranged into a bob with a small fringe to keep the hair out of my eyes.

I barely recognised myself in the mirror – when I’d been a prisoner to the crimelord I’d always had to look after my hair myself. I had to say that Evelyn’s hairdresser friend seemed to know what she was doing. Once we were deemed respectable enough, both my lessons in medicine and Wynn’s shifts as a shop assistant began.

The idea of learning the art of healing had been exciting at first, but over the last week and a half, my enthusiasm had dulled like an overused and unsharpened blade. If I had been able to read then I could have studied while not learning, but instead, I went into every lesson trying to remember what we’d covered in the last.

That’s not to say that Evelyn was a terrible teacher, I think it was more because I was used to learning things in my own special way.

Lessons included memorising the various bones, ligaments and tendons that existed in the body, plus where they were located. The shop had shelves and shelves of books related to anatomy, with pictures that showed complicated hand-drawn cutaways of arms, legs, hands and feet. The main bones weren’t too hard to remember, but there were just so many smaller ones.

Today, though, we were brewing fresh healing potions. I could barely remember what each of the ingredients was called – I was feeling too distracted. The bright-green, leafy vine was called Eclisia’s Respite and helped the body to heal more quickly while the star-shaped yellow flowers were used to stop a cut from becoming infected. I forgot the name of that one.

“Once you have finely chopped the stalks of the vine, and then turned the piece of Facetstone into a fine powder, you must add them both into the pot at the same time,” Evelyn instructed and I nodded absently. I’d already given my fingertips a few nicks with the knife I was using, but thankfully that wasn’t a big deal to me.

As Evelyn turned away, satisfied that I wasn’t going to make some terrible mistake that killed us all, I felt another wave of unease wash over me. It was the reason for my lack of focus today – I just knew something bad was going to happen.

I heard the door of the shop open through the closed door and paused to listen. The tone of Wynn’s welcoming voice sounded in reply to the much richer, deeper baritone of a nobleman and I couldn’t help but smile. We’d managed to find somewhere to belong and maybe even get out of Lowtown forever.

Even though I hadn’t been living on the streets all that long, it still felt like I was beginning to lose hope of finding anything better. For Wynn, it must have been even worse. She’d been born there and had never dreamed of anything more than a life of stealing and running from the city guards – now she was the shop assistant in a well-respected apothecary in one of the wealthier districts.

My thoughts turned to Maya and I felt a pang of guilt. She’d started to rely on the food that Wynn and I had stolen to feed the others that came in for meals. I was also beginning to miss her shy smiles when I handed her something for her personally.

I sighed and shook my head, turning my attention back to the present. Once I’d finished up finely slicing the vine stalk and scooped all the little bits into a glass beaker, then set my attention on the small, crumbling rock with the consistency of chalk. Evelyn was watching me closely once more as I dropped the Facetstone into a granite bowl, picked up the pestle and gingerly ground away.

She’d mentioned off-handedly that this was the ingredient that allowed for a mage to activate ‘alchemical solutions’. That made it quite expensive, so I did my best not to waste any of it.

My teacher nodded in satisfaction, then turned to pick a long, fur-lined cloak from a peg on the wall.

“I have something I must attend to presently. I trust you both to look after the shop while I’m away. I shan't be long,” she said, swirling the cloak over her shoulders and adjusting the lapel of her blouse. She’d chosen a more upmarket style of outfit today, with her close-fit blouse and a long, dark-grey pleated skirt. It was a far cry from the rumpled robes she’d been wearing when we’d first met her.

Now it was my turn to wear the darned old things. It did make sense not to wear your best clothes when working with alchemy, though – splashes and spills were common occurrences.

“We’ll do our best!” I replied, hoping that it was true. My unease wouldn’t allow me to relax for one second and it was tiring.

She gave me an amused laugh and reached out to muss my hair endearingly, “That’s why I trust you, young lady.”

I blew a stray lock of hair out of my eyes and grinned at her from beneath my new fringe, “Thank you, ma’am.”

“Please, just call me Eve,” she replied with a fond smile, opening up the wooden door and stepping through into the front of the store. She’d given us so much and I wanted to make sure that her trust wasn’t misplaced.

 

~*~*~

 

Once Evelyn had left, I focussed on trying to remember all the little details that she’d given me on how I should brew this health potion. I still had some more of the Facetstone to pulverise into a powder and the effort was making me break out into a sweat – I needed a break.

In these situations, I would go out to the storefront and chat with Wynn, but I had to be careful. Even if I hadn’t been discovered by The Razor yet, I still needed to be cautious of who saw me. I settled my things down on the table and brushed my dusty hands against my robes – my clothes were already dirty, what harm would a little more do?

Turning towards the door, I quieted my footsteps to listen for any customers in the shop. All I could hear was Wynn humming tunelessly to herself as she went about her work and I broke into a grin. I was just reaching out to pull on the handle when I heard the creak of the front door opening.

I froze in place, my fingertips lightly resting on the brass of the doorknob. The new arrival spoke in a voice that was a little muffled but unmistakably male. Wynn answered back in her sing-song way, and then the man replied back.

When I heard him say my name, my chest tightened until it felt as if it had been squeezed into a ball.

The unease I’d been feeling all day slowly hardened into dread, the blood in my veins turning to ice as I found myself unable to move. Who was this person that knew my name? Wynn was taken aback, too, and I heard her hesitate as she demanded to know who they were.

My thoughts were a jumble. I didn’t know what to do. I was torn between dashing outside to see who it was and running away to hide.

I had to place a hand over my mouth to keep from screaming as smashing glass was swiftly followed by a stifled squeal. There was the briefest sound of a struggle and then silence.

Seconds passed and all I could hear was my heart thumping in my ears. My mind struggled to break free of the icy grip that held me captive, unable to move. At the edge of my perception, I saw the shadows of the room dancing and writhing – swirling about as they stretched. It took the light tap and scrape of approaching footsteps, accompanied by the same mysterious voice calling my name, to pull me back into the moment.

“Oh, Elena!” came the man’s accented voice, but it was far too playful for it to sound anything but sinister.

I felt able to move again at last and I spun on my heel, searching for anything that I might be able to use to defend myself. My eyes settled on the knife I’d been holding but I knew that the edge was too dull to be helpful Instead, I sought out one of the sharper ones resting by the stove and snatched it up.

The voice was closer to the door the next time I heard it.

“Now, now, Elena. Do not force me to hurt your friend. Be a good little healer girl and come out,” they called again, their tone a taunting sweetness edged with danger. It wasn’t a voice I recognised – how did they know my name?

A cold breeze wafted through the room, blowing out all of the rushlights as the doorknob began to twist. The whole room descended into drab shades of black and white. Without thinking, I dove behind the table, hoping that it would hide me from whoever it was that had intruded into our peaceful little store.

It felt like an eternity as I waited for the door to open and the first thing to come into view was Wynn’s foot, closely followed by the silhouette of a much larger figure. It was almost certainly a man, dressed in a jacket and trousers and wearing some kind of hat atop his head. He didn’t look familiar in the slightest.

He paused as he peered into the room, confused by what he was seeing, but my eyes were drawn to the blade held to Wynn’s neck and I drew in a quiet breath. He muttered something in a language that I didn’t know and shifted so that he could quickly glance behind him. The faint breeze from before was pushing outwards, towards the storefront, shadowy darkness wafting with it through the open doorway.

“Elena? Now, now, let’s not play games…” I heard him call out, but I could hear the courage fleeing from him. His voice wavered and cracked and he began to check behind him as much as in front.

The shadows were something new to me. I’d never seen them behave that way before in my life. Where all the smoke had come from was a mystery, but he looked terrified and on the verge of panic. Wynn wasn’t doing much better – she was taking quick, shallow breaths and would surely pass out at any moment.

“Ellie… Help me...” I heard her whine.

The knife felt reassuring in my palm as I gripped it tighter and set my jaw. Rising to my full height, I waited for him to see me yet, even fully exposed as I was, neither of them looked in my direction. I could make them both out as if I were out for a stroll on a moonlit night, but they were behaving as if the room was filled with the darkest, thickest blackness.

The question of whether he might be a friend entered my mind, but no friend would be holding a little girl hostage and demanding for me to show myself. He also knew my name, which meant that he was a huge danger to us both if I allowed him to escape.

The thought that I might have to kill him made my stomach churn and I shuddered, my mind refusing to even give it a second thought.

He readjusted the blade that he held against Wynn’s neck, lightly nicking the skin and leaving a dark smear behind. Fury began to boil up inside me, drawing me out from behind the table.

It took all of my restrained not to just lunge at him, but I knew that I had to be cautious not to hurt my friend in the process. I paced towards him, each footfall carefully placed to make as little sound as possible.

Still, it seemed as if they were both staring into the distance. Even once I was within a foot or two they appeared unaware that I was standing right in front of them. I reached out with the blade, using my limited knowledge of anatomy to do the only thing I could think of: I severed the tendon in his wrist. I forced myself to keep my eyes open as I made the quick, smooth motion.

The surprise that lit up his face was equal parts shock, pain and terror. His wrist immediately fell limp and the sharp knife he’d been holding dropped to the floor with a clang. Dark liquid poured from the cut and began to pool on the stone tiles.

My friend let out a shriek as she found the arm around her loosen and she dropped forwards onto her knees. She wasn’t the only one screaming – the man backed away, babbling insults and obscenities.

He stumbled into the doorframe and bounced off, his limp hand held in the other as he tried to staunch the flow of blood.

“You… bitch!” the wounded man shouted, still backing away. “You will get what’s coming to you!”

I kept pace with him as he retreated, my knife held down by my side. The drips of blood that followed him were making the floor a little slippery so I had to be careful with my footing, but I wanted to make sure that he wasn’t a healer as I was.

“Who are you?” I asked instead, my voice deceptively calm.

His head snapped up in my direction, but his eyes still didn’t focus on me. The rest of his face was just a mask of pain and fear. His grimace morphed into a maniacal grin and he began to laugh. 

“You are so very lucky, little girl,” he began, causing me to squint in concern. 

What was he going to try now? I shifted the knife across to my other hand and searched the nearest shelf for something big and heavy.

“Oh?” I asked, groping for a vase of flowers in the darkness.

He lifted his still working hand up in front of him, a spark of colour flashing to life within. A small flame of yellow-red grew steadily and I was forced to look away at the sudden appearance of a source of light.

“You are lucky that they forbade me to kill you,” he continued on.

The vase was heavier than I’d anticipated and it scraped along the shelf as I pulled it free. He wasted no time, whirling in my direction, his flaming hand flinging out towards me. The small ball of furious heat flew at me, but my instincts were my saving grace. I lifted a hand as if to fend off the fireball with that alone, but a barrier of force fell into between us.

The room exploded into brilliant light as fire met force, giving us both a single moment where could pierce the shadows before they collapsed in again. We were surrounded in inky blackness once more – blinding for everyone except me, it seemed.

I’d never seen this happen before but now was not the time for that!

My attacker’s eyes were unfocussed again, unseeing, so I shifted to the side. As he began to gather fire in his palm for another attempt I sprang forwards and yelled as loud as I could. It was the sound of a wild animal – a mixture of all the emotions I had running through me: fear, anger and frustration. He didn’t see the vase as it crashed into his temple, sending his head careening to the side and shattering into pieces in the process.

He swayed for the briefest of moments before collapsing, the fire he had been gathering dispersing with a whumph into a cloud of heat and smoke.

Then everything was silent – until Wynn shrieked my name.

“Ellie?!”

 

~*~*~

 

Wynn was shaking when I darted back to see if she was okay, losing my footing briefly as I tried to move through the shadow-filled room. She was crouching on the floor, her hands to her mouth with tears running down her cheeks. I pulled her into a hug and rocked her back and forth until she calmed.

“Shhh. It’s all going to be alright,” I whispered to her, giving quick glances towards the prone man to make sure he hadn’t stirred.

The darkness that had crept to encompass the entire shop evaporated not long after. As it slowly dispersed, the mess that had been left behind came into view. There were pieces of smashed vase littering the floor, sharp fragments of varying sizes reaching as far as the front door. Red smears of blood had pooled into streaks, leaving it slippery and wet.

I was thankful that nothing had been set ablaze by the reckless mage. We’d tied him up using some thin cord we’d found lying around, although it was only later that we discovered that this would have done nothing to stop his Facet abilities. Thankfully, he still hadn’t awoken by the time that Evelyn returned.

I’d started to clean up the pieces of pottery as Wynn set the kettle to boiling on the oven. We both needed something warm to calm us down and mint tea was my newfound absolute favourite.

The only warning we’d had of her imminent return was when the door to the street creaked open, revealing her cloaked outline in the doorway. She gasped as she stepped into the shop, her serene expression quickly falling into shock. There was concern in her eyes as she sought me out with her gaze. 

“Are you both well? T-tell me what happened,” she managed to say as she looked out over the chaos in the store. She hadn’t shouted at us just yet, which was a good sign.

I stammered as I tried to recall the series of events leading up to now. As I did, her lips were pressed tightly together and there were moments when I was worried that she’d throw us both out onto the streets again.

Instead, she sighed, placing arched fingertips to her forehead and gestured towards my robes with the other hand, “Please ensure that Wynn is safe, then get yourselves cleaned up. I will handle this... mess.”

I looked down at my blood-spattered clothing and winced. It was only now, in the aftermath of everything that had happened and once my heart had stopped pounding, that I noticed it all. Without another word, I showed her where we’d left him tied in the corner.

The sound of guards arriving downstairs reached me up in our room as I changed into some fresh clothing. I wasn’t sure what they would do with him, but hopefully, he wouldn’t be able to attack us again.

As I sat on the edge of my bed, I began to wonder who he was. Had The Razor sent him? It didn’t seem like the crimelord’s usual colleagues so I had to wonder.