The street was nearly empty. In these final hours of sunlight, the remaining merchants had finished closing up their shops for the night. And so, as the trio walked down the main road, they heard only the sound of their own boots against the cobbled stone.

“Telhari?” Mary asked, “Where are we going?”

When he did not answer her, she pressed him further.

“Is something the matter?”

Telhari stopped so suddenly that Marybeth almost crashed into him. Ellis came up behind her and they both followed Telhari’s gaze toward an adjacent store front.

“Doctor Egurd’s Apothecary and Triage?” Mary read out loud. “Who is that?”

The door to the apothecary was closed and the windows were shut. Telhari listened, but he heard no sounds from inside. He approached the door and pulled on the handle, but it was locked. Reaching in his back pocket, he pulled out a leather bundle and unraveled it in his hands. He then carefully withdrew two fine metal tools and stooped low until he was level with the lock.

“Keep guard,” he told them.

Ellis and Mary looked concernedly at each other, but ultimately they did as they were told. While the two kept watch, Telhari fiddled with the lock for a few moments until there was a click. By the time Ellis and Marybeth had turned around, the door was slightly ajar and Telhari was standing in front of the doorway with his sword drawn.

“Stay outside.”

“No way,” Mary insisted, “Whatever you’re doing, we want in!”

“There is nothing good that awaits you inside. You should listen and stay put.”

“Whatever is inside,” Ellis said, “We can handle it.”

His eyes burned with determination.

Telhari sighed.

“Fine. But you will stay behind me at all times and do as I say.”

Telhari slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside the house. It was dark, nearly pitch black. Ellis and Marybeth would no doubt have trouble seeing, but Telhari’s sight was still keen, even in such conditions. Telhari moved silently around the shop’s counter and looked down. There was a rug on the floor, between the shelves of herbs and the counter. Evidently, someone had been in a rush because the rug was placed askew; and shining up from the slim space between floorboards was a faint ray of light. Telhari bent down and slowly removed the rug the rest of the way. As he did so, Marybeth and Ellis came up behind him.

“What is it?” Ellis whispered.

Telhari held up his hand, signaling him to be quiet. Moving his hands slowly across the floor, Telhari felt his fingers trace the edge of a metal ring. He closed his grip and pulled slowly so as not to make any fast movements. As he lifted the hatch, a dim orange glow drifted out from beneath, revealing a wooden staircase. It was a tight fit for Telhari, and the cellar below was just barely tall enough for him to stand; but there was another problem.

Someone is down there…

Telhari could hear the rifling of papers and small trinkets below. He then lowered his head towards the opening and peered into the cellar. From this vantage, he could see two shadows, both of them unmoving. Someone down there was keeping busy at the far end of the room, while two others stood guard near the staircase. He could tell from his position that the staircase descended into the middle of an open room—once he went down, he would have no place to hide. If he jumped down, he could gain the element of surprise; but he could not bring the other two along. Telhari looked over his shoulder at the two of them and shook his head. Their eyes pleaded to him, but he shook his head firmly once more.

Telhari then stood up abruptly and drew a seven-inch knife from a sheath on his right thigh. He made a mental note of the positions of the individuals: based on sound and the position of their shadows. Then, he stepped off the edge and dropped into the cellar below.

Telhari landed without a sound. Unfortunately, one of the men happened to be facing his direction when he did. Even though he was caught, judging by the wide-eyed expression on the man’s face, Telhari still had the element of surprise.

“What the—!”

The man fumbled over his words before quickly recovering himself. He drew his own sword and came at Telhari.

Sellswords, then.

The man swung his blade at Telhari from the left. Instead of blocking or parrying, Telhari sidestepped and brought his knife to the man’s throat. It slipped in as if through butter and, with a quick turn of his wrist, Telhari twisted and pulled the knife out. The man dropped his sword and made a horrible retching sound before falling forward onto the ground as blood pooled beneath him. Safe for the moment, Telhari turned around to survey the room.

The other man was coming at him— two hands placed on his longsword, charging a direct path forward. Behind the man, Telhari caught a glimpse of Egurd’s face as he slipped behind a shelf overflowing with haphazardly strewn parchment and thin metal containers decorated with foreign symbols. Telhari sank low and readied his blade. The man’s strike came from the center—an easy parry. Telhari brought his blade up at an angle and infused it with a contained burst of magic. On impact, there was a small spark of lightning that danced down the blade and into the man’s arm. He cried out in pain and dropped the sword as his arm spasmed. Wasting no time, Telhari dashed between the tables and fallen benches toward the far corner of the room where he had seen Egurd.

As he came upon the other side of a large wooden worktable he saw Egurd fumbling with a set of keys, trying desperately to unlock a large wooden door. Egurd had only one free hand with which to maneuver the keys because the other was wrapped around a large leather briefcase.

Not a chance.

Telhari took aim, and within a second he loosed the knife from his right hand. It cut through the air, catching the ring of keys, and sank into the wooden door. Egurd stared at his empty hands in a moment of shock. He then looked up at Telhari; but his line of sight soon drifted to just beyond Telhari’s left shoulder.

Telhari spun around and caught the man’s arm as he brought his blade down in a surprise attack. The man tried to overpower him, but it was no use. Instead, using his free hand, the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a crossbow bolt, stabbing at Telhari’s chest. Before he could impact, Telhari brought his knee up and knocked the air out of his lungs. The man gagged and doubled over. Then, out of the corner of his eyes Telhari saw movement. He turned to catch sight of Egurd fleeing back towards the staircase, still clutching his leather briefcase. He made it to the platform and wrapped his hand around the banister of the staircase.

“No, you don’t!”

In a flash, Ellis jumped down and crashed into Egurd. Egurd, who was larger than Ellis, managed to avoid being taken to the ground, and instead caught himself on a wooden beam that supported the ceiling. Ellis, having clumsily charged into the fray, lost his footing and tripped over a fallen stool.

“Ellis!” Marybeth cried out as she rushed down after him.

Egurd looked frantically at his hired sword.

“GET THEM!”

The man tried, with one last effort to make a grab at the two kids; but he made it only one step forward before Telhari’s blade stuck him from behind. He gasped and fell to the ground. In seconds, he had bled out enough to lose consciousness and become still. Telhari slowly stepped around the man’s body, positioning himself directly in front of Egurd who held tightly to his briefcase.

Ellis and Marybeth stared at the two bodies on the ground, then at Telhari and Egurd.

Egurd adjusted himself against the large wooden table, standing as tall as he could.

“Well…I suppose I should thank you. For eliminating the creature, that is.”

“Basilisk,” Telhari corrected, “Or were you unaware?”

“I must confess,” Egurd answered with a snide tone, “I didn’t really care what it was.”

“Just as long as you were able to continue your experimentation?”

Egurd laughed to himself.

Telhari glared at him.

“I will give you one chance to surrender, Egurd. After that, there will be no other.”

“Telhari…” Ellis was standing now, his hand gripped tightly around the hilt of his sword. “What is he on about?”

“You know?” Egurd quipped, “I heard a rather funny story in the market earlier today. There was talk that a pointy-eared man had killed a monster with his niece and nephew.” He raised his eyebrows at Telhari. “I never took you for the sentimental type.”

Telhari did not take the bait.

“Once the old man told you I had killed the creature, you knew I would come for you next?”

“Do not flatter yourself!” Egurd spat. “I was prepared to leave regardless. Whether you felled the creature or not.”

“Surrender,” Telhari said once again, “And we will take you to the jailer.”

“And for what crime are you suggesting I have committed?”

Telhari did not answer him.

Egurd studied him for a few moments, then smiled to himself.

This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.

“How desperate, indeed. You have no proof I’ve done anything, do you? Only a hunch. While I, on the other hand, have witnessed you dispatch two men right in front of my eyes. How abhorrent of you.” Egurd rested his hand on his hip and looked at Telhari.

In return, Telhari pointed the tip of his blade at the briefcase.

“I wonder…What exactly we might find inside there?”

Egurd frowned in response.

“As I said,” Telhari continued, “Turn yourself in and face the court’s justice. Or are you afraid you may not be so fortunate? That you will be found guilty?” Telhari let his words sink in. He could see the weight of every syllable on Egurd’s face, like a vicious wave pulling him down into the dark waters below. “Afraid that they will sentence you to death?”

“What would you know if it!?” Egurd’s eyes became wild. “You have no right to speak to me about death. Your kind have no fear of old age or illness, do you!?” He stuck up his nose. “How old are you, then? How many centuries have you lived? How many kingdoms have been raised and fell to ruin while you’ve idled the time away!?”

Telhari looked over Egurd with a complicated mix of pity and disgust.

“What did you do to those children?” he asked.

Egurd drew himself up to full height but said nothing.

“What did you do to them!” Marybeth shouted from behind Telhari.

Egurd shot her a venomous stare.

“They will live on in me,” he declared. “And through me, they will help humanity take its first glorious steps on the path toward our enlightenment. No longer will we live in fear of death…” he added as he shot a look at Telhari. “We will thrive as we were always meant to! With all the time we could ever need…”

Telhari tightened his jaw and narrowed his eyes at Egurd.

“Immortality?”

Egurd nodded his head.

“Immortality… Is impossible.”

“You would say such a thing!” Egurd hissed. “Better to keep the secrets for yourself, hm?”

“You must believe me when I say that such ambitions will always lead to ruin.”

Egurd waved his hand in the air dismissively.

“Yes, yes I have read the stories…Studied the alchemical texts….” He then glanced up at Telhari with a crooked smile. “But have you heard, elfkin, of the Caducean Papyri?”

Telhari narrowed his eyes at Egurd. He knew the legend of Caduceus, the father of arcane philosophy in both the East and the West. All human magic could be derived from Caduceus’ teachings, including Aurellian Alchemy.

“The Caducean Papyri were lost centuries ago,” Telhari answered flatly.

Egurd wagged his finger in the air.

“Wrong again. You see, the Caducean Papyri were in fact taken by Caduceas’ most trusted disciple before his death. Knowing that he would be hunted for it, the disciple fled far into the East. Changing his name, and finally settling in a foreign land.”

“You believe the papyri came to Omnirius?”

“Precisely.” Egurd then continued, as a wild look came over him. “Over a hundred years ago, when the House of Rhoden seized power over Holun Caras, and the last blood of Omnir was exiled, the Rhoden’s burned countless texts compiled by centuries of Aurellian alchemists and magicians. The alchemists were blamed for corrupting the royal family, but they were men of science first. Destroying their life’s work was a crime of the highest order! Yet even still. Though thousands of pages burned, the Caducean Papyri survived.” Egurd began flipping through the pages scattered across the counter as he spoke. “Caduceus was a master of many things, and so naturally he came to the question of ‘Immortality.’ And in his wisdom, he devised a recipe for an elixir that was thought to grant eternal life.” Egurd shrugged his shoulders. “Evidently, he failed… but he was quite close. His recipe was nearly perfect.” He turned to face Telhari—a smile split his lips. “In fact, he was missing only one ingredient.”

Marybeth’s voice shook as she spoke. “…The children!?”

Egurd nodded.

“Surely you must be aware…that children have an extraordinary ability to heal.” Egurd then picked up a scalpel from the table and held it curiously in his hand.

Telhari tensed his body in response.

Egurd noticed this and smiled. He then put the pulp of his finger to the tip of the scalpel and pressed lightly, until a single drop of blood appeared.

“A simple wound may take weeks to close for an adult, and even then, may leave a scar for life. Yet children heal in half the time. They are resilient and can recover from seemingly impossible odds.” Egurd put down the scalpel and slowly walked around the counter. “I am not the only one to notice this. Even in old records there is mention of it. But I noticed something that others did not…”

Telhari followed him as he walked between the tables, matching him pace for pace.

Egurd held his hand up to his chest.

“There is an organ, behind the sternum, that is present in children yet absent in adults.” Egurd held both his hands out in front of him, then raised his left hand with the palm up, as if holding a precious object. “At first, I wanted only to study the organ. But healthy children do not die young. They live and become adults. Adults die and can be autopsied, but do not have the organ. Unhealthy children die and can be autopsied, but they lack this organ. And so, you can see, there is no way to study or collect it…unless I resorted to other means.”

“By taking those kids and leading them to that monster!?” Mary cried.

Egurd threw his head back in frustration.

“I had no knowledge of the basilisk at first. I planned to lead them out to the forest where no one would hear them…where we wouldn’t be disturbed.” He looked at Marybeth as he spoke his next words. “Initially, I was just going to tie them down and gag them so they wouldn’t make a fuss. But we had traveled too deep into the forest. The child was taken by the creature’s miasma within minutes. Then, the beast came to feed. It must have smelled the blood from my work.” Egurd then shuddered. “When I saw it, I ran as fast as I could! But it did not chase me. I came back and saw that it had instead taken the boy’s body.” Egurd tapped his chin with his index finger. “It was tricky at first, I’ll admit. I was fearful of succumbing to the same affliction as the boy. At the time, I assumed the poison simply killed. But there were some animals that were fine, scampering about unperturbed.” Egurd made his way over to a shelf lined with empty vials. “I followed those animals and observed them. Those that seemed to be immune had in fact been feeding on the yellow flowered plants. So, I used those flowers to make a remedy for myself. To protect me from the creature’s poison. Then I returned again, with a new child. And, just as I had predicted, the medicine protected me…While the child was taken by the poison. Assuming they were dead, I began to cut…” Egurd paused, his eye’s glimmering with intrigue. “But as I continued, I realized that they were alive! Perfectly still— as if made of stone—”

“How could you do it!” Ellis stomped the ground and gritted his teeth. “They were awake! They could feel everything! Everything you did to them!”

“THEY WERE NOTHING! Do you understand!?” Egurd screamed. “Common filth! They would have spent their entire lives toiling away in some shit covered field, barely making enough for a piece of bread!”

Ellis stared back at Egurd but couldn’t bring himself to say anything. His fist was clenched around the handle of his sword and his arms shook violently with rage. Egurd looked at him and smiled, satisfied.

“So why contact Palonius?” Telhari said as he moved from behind Ellis.

In response, Egurd turned to face Telhari.

“Precaution. I was worried that someone might notice something was amiss.” He held up his pointer finger. “The best lies are often as close to the truth as possible. Imagine my surprise when no one even noticed the children had gone missing!” Egurd shook his head. “A steady stream of gullible huntsman would keep the beast fed so that wouldn’t bother me, thus allowing me to continue my work in peace. And when I was done? I would simply dispose of the bodies.”

He took a booklet of papers from off his desk and held them in the air. “Thanks to the creature’s poison, I could study the organ— everything about it! I could learn its secrets…harvest it.” Egurd then tossed the papers back onto the desk. “Thanks to my research, those children were saved from living a wasted life. They can become something more.” Egurd lowered his gaze onto a glass vial that lay open on the counter. He picked it up and turned it over in his hand; there was a light brown residue on the inside.

“And you think all of that…killing all those innocent kids was worth some stupid papers?” Mary asked him as the tears ran down her face.

He looked up at her with a profound curiosity.

“Of course.”

Telhari stepped forward and raised his blade to Egurd, pointing it at the center of his chest.

“Where is the elixir?”

“Where is it!?” Egurd threw his head back and laughed. Then, he pounded his chest. “You are witnessing it! Right in front of your eyes, elfkin!” He threw the empty vial against the cellar wall, shattering it to pieces. Egurd then exhaled deeply. “Immortality.” Egurd now began to walk slowly towards Telhari. “How does it feel, elfkin?” he asked, cocking his head to one side. “To behold that which even your people, with all their magic and self-proclaimed knowledge, have yet been unable to master!?”

Telhari drew back his blade and leveled it at Egurd.

“And what do you hope to do with that!?” Egurd laughed. “I am beyond death!” he declared.

“I am immort—”

“AHHH!”

Ellis screamed as he pushed past Telhari and charged forward, plunging his sword into Egurd’s stomach. The man wore no armor, and so even with minimal skill, Ellis’ sword slipped right through his body. Ellis did not expect such little resistance; and as his blade sliced into Egurd, he was unable to control his momentum. Ellis crashed into Egurd and the two stumbled backwards.

“Elli—!”

Marybeth tried to call out, but her words had left her.

Egurd pushed Ellis off of him and looked down at the blade hilt sticking out of his gut.

“What…what did you do!?”

Ellis stepped backward— he couldn’t look the man in the face.

“I-I’m sorry, I…”

Egurd tried to grip the handle and pull; but as the blade loosened, blood began to pour from his wound. He winced and quickly let go. Gripping the counter’s edge, Egurd started to pull himself along, making his way toward the wooden door. The strength in his legs was leaving him and his knees started to buckle. Trailing blood as he went, Egurd managed only a few paces more. Suddenly, he lost balance and fell forward, having slipped on the blood that was running down his leg. Too weak to protect himself, his head slammed into the side of the counter, and he hit the floor. Egurd groaned and pushed himself onto his back, all the while squirming on the floor in terrible pain. Try as he might, control over his own body was fading— along with his vision and awareness. His legs twitched one at a time, unable to move in any coordinated manner. Egurd’s arms moved desperately, reaching out for everything and nothing. He struggled a few moments more before he finally became still. Egurd’s eyes, only moments ago alive with fury, now faded entirely and remained fixed, as if gazing at some distant wonder. One final gasp of air left his chest; and then he was gone.

Doctor Egurd was dead.

Ellis had killed him.

Telhari waited in silence, but neither of the two children had moved an inch. Marybeth stood still, staring at the wall; though, occasionally her gaze drifted toward her friend. Ellis remained in front of the wooden counter, staring down at the blood stains on the floor. Sighing heavy, Telhari made his way toward Egurd’s body.

“We must alert the militia of the doctor’s actions.” Telhari sidestepped a pool of blood and squatted down next to the body. He placed his hand over the doctor’s eyes and closed them. “Ellis…” Telhari began as he pulled the blade from the doctor’s gut and stood up. “Take your sword.”

He held out the blade to Ellis, but he did not move. Blood ran down to the tip— it was beginning to thicken.

“If we are quick, we may be able to gain another audience with Palonius and explain the situation.”

Telhari walked over to Ellis and brought the sword to his hand, but Ellis wouldn’t take it. He was beyond words. Instead, Ellis looked up at Telhari with tears running down his face— pleading.

“He…he deserved to die, right?”

Telhari lowered his hand from Ellis’ but couldn’t bring himself to answer.

He had lived for centuries. He had practiced the highest orders of world altering magic and sung with the greatest philosophers of his people. He had spent countless hours studying the deep mysteries of the world and the great works of old. There were a thousand things he could say. But looking down at the face of this young man, he could think of none. What he did next, however, was something Telhari never imagined he would do.

Telhari put one arm around Ellis’ shoulder and pulled him close.

He said no words of wisdom and gave no solemn critique.

He simply held him there and said nothing as Ellis sobbed softly into his vest.