Elise sat patiently on Mary’s bed, waiting for her friend to finally reveal the projects she’d been working on for quite a while. Mary’s room was cluttered with art supplies and dozens of abandoned projects. Honestly it made Elise’s bedroom look like the pinnacle of cleanliness by comparison. Biscuit sat on Elise’s lap, playfully nibbling on her fingers. Despite spending so much time with Mary, Biscuit still seemed to like Elise the most and he was very excited to see her again.
“Ok!” Mary walked into the room holding her hands behind her back. “Surprise number one that's not actually a surprise!”
Mary held up a necklace with a teardrop shaped ruby dangling from it. The ruby was roughly the size of Elise’s thumb and was embedded in a silver pendant. Elise could feel that the ruby had an impressive amount of fire Ichor stored in it.
“That's beautiful, Mary,” said Elise in shock as she gently took the necklace. “You made this?”
“Yeah!” Mary beamed. “The book calls it an amulet of fire. Remember when I got really into jewelry making last year?”
Elise smirked. “I remember when you bought tools for jewelry making and then never touched them after a week.”
“Well I bet you’re glad I kept them, huh,” Mary stuck her tongue out and scrunched up her face.
“This is really incredible, all jokes aside.” Elise carefully put the amulet on and could immediately feel the fire core inside. She pulled the fire that was stored there into her core and pushed it back in. The Ichor moved easily as if the new core was an extension of her own. When she tried to make more fire Ichor to store in it, the transformation from air into fire came easily as if she was using the Master Tome.
“I dunno, it could be better, but this was my first time making one and I’m just working with the basic materials I can get my hands on.”
“Mary, you are literally the first person to make one of these in recorded history. This is the best by default.”
“Ah, yes, winning by default. My favorite way to win,” she shook her head and smiled, rolling her eyes.
“Anyway, now for the actual surprise!” Mary pulled her other hand out from behind her back and revealed a stone statue of a hedgehog with a black gem on its forehead. Elise had to admit it was a very skillful carving.
Wait…
The stone hedgehog moved. It turned its head and sniffed the air with stone that comprised its body bending unnaturally rather than breaking.
“It's… moving…” said Elise incredulously. “Did you…”
Mary’s smile grew even brighter. “Well I figured if Biscuit came to life because he has a lot of Ichor in his core, why can’t I make something else come to life?”
Elise nervously looked down at the ruby amulet she was wearing as if it would bite her.
“Don’t worry, it took a lot of Ichor to get this little guy moving. Like several full days of pumping him full of earth Ichor. I don’t think you could make one of these by accident.”
Elise looked back at the hedgehog. “Oh, that’s what you needed the hematite for. Can you use it for Ichor like other cores?”
“Nah. He’s using all he has just to keep moving. He’s just like a normal hedgehog, just a bit stone-ier.”
“That’s really impressive Mary.” Elise patted the hedgehog gently on its head. “What’re you going to name him?”
“I’m thinking: George,” Mary said matter-of-factly.
Elise nodded and put on her most authoritative face. “He does look like a George. Greetings, good sir George, it’s very nice to meet you.”
Mary shook her head and giggled. “You’re very strange.”
Elise chuckled and turned back to Mary. “So what’s next?”
“Well, I saw a few more things in the book that I’d like to play with,” said Mary, “but I’ve been hogging Biscuit too long. You can have him back now.”
Elise picked up Biscuit and nuzzled his cheek. “Good, I’ve missed this little baby.”
Biscuit looked resigned to his fate, but still happy to be back with Elise.
“What’s your plan for the rest of today,” Mary asked.
“I need to go to Roland’s to pick up Dad’s medicine.” Elise’s eyes turned predatory. “You wanna come with me?”
Mary’s cheeks turned red and she bit her lip. “I umm…I can’t, I think I have…errands, yes! I have errands to run, important ones!”
Elise laughed and hooked her arm through Mary’s. “Nope, you’re coming with me!”
Mary’s blush deepened as she looked down at herself. “I need to get ready, go wait outside.”
“Okay, but you’re not sneaking out the window again, I know that trick now.”
Mary sighed and pushed Elise out of the room. “I'll be out in a minute.”
Elise stepped out onto the cobbled streets of the outer city to wait for her friend. Mary had, likely accidentally, forgotten to let Biscuit out before locking her door, leaving Elise alone to enjoy the afternoon spring air.
That girl really is helpless. Honestly, I wouldn’t be surprised if Roland liked her back but she’ll never find out if they never talk… wow that’s a lot of people.
Elise could see through a nearby alleyway that dozens upon dozens of people were lining the main road through the city. Curious what the commotion was and not having anything better to do, she inserted herself into the crowd. Traveling down the road was a horse-pulled covered wagon surrounded by several guards. Sitting at the front of the wagon was Prince Edward and… the red-haired Arcanist.
The Arcanist looked out at the mass of people waving and cheering at the procession until her eyes landed on Elise. They locked eyes, and the Arcanist frowned. She was quite pretty, Elise thought, with her crimson red hair and slightly freckled cheeks. She was wearing an extravagant purple outfit and had her Ichor-filled staff mounted to her back.
The Arcanist said something to Edward that Elise couldn’t hear. Edward looked out at the crowd and, too, met eyes with Elise. Edward smiled, said something back to the Archanist, and waved at Elise. The arcanist leaned in and whispered something to Edward that caused him to freeze mid-wave. His smile fell and he looked between her and Elise. They exchanged a few more words, occasionally looking back at Elise, before the procession moved far enough that Elise couldn’t see them anymore.
Oh no.
Elise felt her stomach rise into her throat as she whipped around and sprinted back to Mary’s house. Mary was standing outside her front door wearing a nice blue dress and holding Biscuit and George.
“Hey,” she called when she saw Elise, “where’d you go?”
“I messed up, I messed up, I messed up—“
“Woah, slow down, what happened?”
Elise felt her mind racing and yet she could barely form a coherent thought. She pointed through the alley at the now dispersing crowd lining the main road while she desperately tried to catch her breath. “Arcanist… Staff lady… Saw me… I think she knows!”
Biscuit wriggled out of Mary’s arm and jumped gently onto Elise’s shoulder. He pressed his head into her cheek and began rubbing against it.
“Ok… that’s bad,” said Mary, rubbing her temple. “Do you know for sure?”
Elise shook her head and tried to collect herself. “No, but I think so. She said something to Edward about me that really shocked him.”
“So it could be nothing, we don’t know.” Mary squeezed Elise’s shoulder affectionately. “Do you want to go home? I can get your dad’s medicine for you.”
Elise shook her head, this time much more sure of herself. “If they do know, we don’t want to lead them home. That’s where all the scrolls and our notes are.”
“My house has some incriminating things, too. Let’s get out of here, we should go to Roland’s and carry on with our day and things will be fine.”
Elise tugged on the skirt of her dress nervously. She felt as if the world itself was falling apart.
What can I do…
Her breaths became quick and short and she felt a burning in her chest. Her brain was foggy and she became lightheaded.
This is bad… I messed up…
Mary grabbed Elise’s hand and squeezed it. “It’ll be ok, Ellie. I promise. We’ll be safe at Roland’s, let’s go.”
They walked slowly across town towards Roland’s apothecary, taking great care to avoid the main road. Once they were nearly there, their progress was interrupted by a voice coming from behind them.
“Excuse me, are you Elise Godwin?”
Elise and Mary whipped around to see the red haired Arcanist accompanied by two guards. Elise’s heart nearly beat out of her chest as panic consumed her. She could not form any words but nodded slowly. She stood with her arms crossed and her weapon stored on her back. The guards each had a hand resting on the pommel of their sheathed swords.
“Nice to meet you, I’m Rosalie Hawthorne, the Royal Arcanist. Would you please come with me? His Majesty King Alban would like to speak with you.”
The Arcanist’s words, authoritative as they were, had an awkward uncomfortability to them that, even in her panicked state, gave Elise the impression that they were rehearsed. The crimson haired girl studied Elise consideringly. Her expression was soft though her brow was slightly furrowed, as if she was confused about Elise more than anything.
What do I do? What do I say? I need to say something, I probably look incredibly guilty… Just speak, dammit!
“That cat…” Rosalie’s voice cut through Elise’s frantic thoughts. Rosalie was frowning inquisitively at the cat on Elise’s shoulder who had his back arched and his fangs bared.
Of course, if she noticed me she’s bound to notice Biscuit. I’ve never seen him this riled up before, this is bad. If she sees his Ichor she might try to take him
I need to keep her attention away from him.
What can I do? I can’t just take the cat and run, I need to make her leave somehow…
“I’ll go with you,” Elise blurted out, and the Arcanist’s eyes snapped back to her as she smiled.
Mary grabbed Elise’s am. “What are you doing,” she whispered loudly.
Elise took the angry cat from her shoulder and stuffed him into Mary’s arms. “Take him home, please. I’ll be back soon.”
Elise put on a smile of fake confidence for her friend’s sake, but at the same time she used her eyes to desperately plead her to take Biscuit and warn Tobias. Mary nodded, but Elise could only pray that she understood the message. She turned to Rosalie and her guards, took a deep, calming breath, and nodded.
As she was led through the city towards the castle. Elise tried her best to exude confidence and innocence, but on the inside she could barely breathe, let alone think properly. If there weren’t guards on either side of her she would consider bolting, but sprinting had never been one of her strong points.
They’re going to take Biscuit away, or conscript us into the military, or just execute us, or…
Calm down. You didn’t do anything wrong. There’s nothing illegal about finding a magic book and learning unprecedentedly powerful spells in secret. I just have to keep them away from the book, the scrolls, and our notes. All they have against me is the word of that Arcanist, and without the book there’s no way she could know half of what we do.
Elise rubbed at her chest to soothe the burning that was growing in her chest. She had assumed it was a symptom of her anxiety, but she’s never felt a burning like this. Then again, she’d never been taken to see the king by a hot, powerful magic lady before either. Something about the burning felt off, however, and she soon realized why. In her panic she had failed to notice that Ichor was being siphoned from the air into her fire amulet and being converted into fire Ichor.
Am I doing that? Or is it doing it automatically? Sure wish I knew it could do that before having to hide magic from the king while wearing it.
She briefly considered taking the amulet off just in case Rosalie could sense the Ichor moving inside, but there’s no way she could without being noticed and questioned. Instead, she tried releasing the Ichor back out slowly, which turned out to be a mistake. Rosalie stopped walking and turned to look at her, confused and concerned. Elise did her best to look like she didn’t know why they had stopped, after a moment Rosalie frowned and kept walking.
They passed through the gates into the inner city, and to Elise’s horror the large metal portcullis lowered to the ground behind them. Mary was now likely stuck with Biscuit in the outer city and she had no way of warning her father of the potential danger. She felt her chest begin to burn again from the amulet making fire Ichor. It seemed to respond to her anxiety, or maybe adrenaline, but Elise didn’t dare release the Ichor again. All she could do was hope her father happened to be outside to see her with her captors.
She had no such luck, however, and she was brought into the palace without any issues or witnesses. They progressed directly into the throne room without delay, which only made Elise’s anxieties worse. King Alban was known for purposefully making people wait a long time to see him, and this hasty entry was more than a little troubling.
The throne room was large, extravagant, and mostly empty. Elise had only been in it a few times during large gatherings which had the room packed wall to wall with people. Now, it was just her, Rosalie, a dozen guards, Prince Edward, and King Alban himself. The bare room was foreboding and made Elise feel small and helpless.
“Your highness,” Rosalie said once they reached the center of the room, “I have brought Elise Godwin, as requested.”
The king didn’t respond. He didn’t react or move in any way, instead he just stared from his seat on the throne. His eyes pierced Elise’s soul, making her feel as if all was already lost. He was leaning forward in his seat resting his chin on his hands, blocking his mouth from view.
Instead, it was Prince Edward who replied. “Miss Godwin, not long ago your father stood in this room and spoke to us about an ancient people referred to as Arcanists. Do you know of these people?”
“I don’t… He didn’t tell… I haven’t…” Elise cleared her throat. “I haven’t heard of them.”
Edward looked at her in pity, clearly not buying her terrible lie, but continued regardless. “He said they were people who used magic staffs to perform superhuman feats. We have a reason to believe that you are one of these people, or are in possession of one of these staffs.”
“I don’t… I don’t know what you’re talking about.” Elise swallowed dryly as fire burned in her chest.
“Miss Godwin,” said Edward with a hint of sadness, “We have guards who saw you get directly struck by lightning and walked off fine. We have reports that you single-handedly put out a house fire by picking up a desk that was actively on fire and throwing it out a window. These aren’t things people just do.”
Elise opened her mouth to protest but closed it when no words came to her.
“You know,” said the king, speaking from behind his hands for the first time since her arrival, “if you and your father discovered something as ancient and important as an Arcanist staff and didn’t report it to your king…” He leaned back in his throne, revealing his entire face. “Well, it would be detrimental to his career as the Royal Historian, now, wouldn't it?”
“No,” blurted Elise without thinking, “he doesn’t know anything!”
The king said nothing and simply leaned back on his throne. He dropped his arms to his side and allowed the corners of his mouth to turn upwards into a sly smile that didn’t reach his penetrating eyes. The smile elevated his presence from simply imposing to something more… predatory. Elise realized too late that she had fallen into his trap. She couldn’t breathe under the crushing weight of his malicious gaze.
“Miss Godwin,” Edward said softly, “did you find a staff? Why didn’t you report it?”
“No! I didn’t… I don’t… I…”
King Alban slammed his fist down onto his armrest. “Enough of your blathering! You will tell us what you know and you will tell us now!”
Elise felt tears roll down her cheeks. She tried to speak but couldn’t catch her breath. She looked around and saw that Edward and Rosalie were looking at her sympathetically. She clutched at her chest, the burning sensation becoming unbearable.
“That’s enough!” King Alban rose to his feet and pointed at Elise. “Lock this girl and her worthless father up and search their house. Find the staff at all costs!”
“Father wait—“ Edward tried to protest.
“Something’s happening,” Rosalie interjected, pulling out her staff and stepping in front of the king.
Elise desperately held her head as the room began to spin. She couldn’t breathe and the fire in her chest began to bubble. Tears clouded her eyes and a horrible ringing blocked out all sound. Guards began to close in and surround her, their swords drawn.
The amulet around her neck seared her skin and she screamed out in pain. A moment later the room was engulfed in a blazing inferno that seemed to orbit her. She could feel the scorching heat of the fire dancing uncomfortably close to her face, but she was not directly burned. She was the eye of the storm that was the swirling vortex of fire.
The vortex petered and died, revealing the now destroyed and burning room. The carpet, the wall banners, and all furniture was alight with flame. Rosalie was the only other person still standing, as she had managed to protect all of the other occupants behind a glowing red shield. The Arcanist stared at Elise gasping for breath, her eyes wide in shock and horror. She seemed completely frozen, unable to move from her protective stance.
“I'm sorry!” was all Elise was able to say.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
Rosalie glanced around at the fires dancing around the room and back up at Elise, seemingly unable to speak.
“I’m sorry,” Elise said again, tears once again forming in her eyes.
The king, who was hunched over on the ground, trembled and began to move. Elise, not even able to imagine the scope of the trouble she was in, turned and fled to the only place she could think to go.
----------------------------------------
Tobias sat at the dining room table repeatedly filling a cup with a water spell and drinking it. The water tasted stale, but he put up with it to soothe his aching throat. He had done his best to hide it, but his cough had gotten much worse since the fire in his study. Elise was supposed to be back with his medicine by now, but for whatever reason they had closed the inner city gate and she was likely trapped on the other side. He wasn’t worried, however. She had both Mary and Roland to turn to in the outer city, and they likely wouldn’t let her get into any trouble.
It is concerning, though, that they closed the gate to the inner city. There was no scheduled audience with the king’s court… at least I hope not, or I would be very late by now.
Tobias’s curiosity was interrupted by the front door bursting open and immediately slamming back shut. He stood up in alarm, but the sudden intruder found him instead. Elise was covered head to toe in soot and ash, and her hair had been burned to almost half of its previous length. Her cheeks were red and puffy, and there was a painful looking scar on her chest below her neck partially covered by a red jeweled necklace. Elise took one look at him and slammed into him at top speed, wrapping him in a hug.
“Good heavens, what happened,” he asked, pulling her in tightly.
“I’msorryImessedupImessedupIexplodedthekingI’msosorry–”
“Hold on, love, slow down.” He pulled away from the hug and bent to look her in the eyes. “Whatever it is, it’s ok. Just breathe and tell me what happened.”
“I… The Arcanist Rosalie, she saw me and I got arrested and taken to the king and–” she took a gasping breath –”the king found out about the magic and he wanted to lock us up and…” She broke into tears and collapsed back into Tobias’s arms.
“It was an accident…” she sniffed. “I’m so sorry, I messed up.” She squeezed her eyes shut and spat out her next words. “I exploded and the throne room is on fire and there’s guards chasing me and I’m so sorry.”
Unera, give me strength, what has she gotten herself into.
“Hang on, what do you mean you exploded?”
Elise grabbed the necklace that was hanging around her neck and wincing at the pain of accidentally touching the scar beneath it. “Mary made this, it’s a fire core. I think it reacted to me being upset, or maybe I filled it subconsciously, I don’t know… but the guards went to grab me and it started filling with fire Ichor and then it sort of… exploded.”
Please say my daughter didn’t just kill both the king and the prince by accident.
“Is everyone ok?”
“I think so. The Rosalie girl protected everyone, and I saw the king move.”
“We can thank the gods for one thing, then.” He thought for a while, his mind racing with possibilities and various outcomes. “But still, I don’t think this is something the king can forgive. Plus, he now definitely knows about the magic now...”
I don’t think there’s any way I can smooth this over. Do we have to leave? Can we go to Elordia? No, if she ends up wanted, there’s no way we could cross the border. Maybe we could–
A knock came at the door, and Elise bolted to hide behind her father.
“Listen, Elise. Take the back door, go get Roland and Mary. Make sure they’re safe and try to bring them here. I’ll deal with whoever’s at the door. We’ll think of something, I promise.”
Elise looked up at him and nodded, though clearly worried. “I love you, Dad.”
A second knock rang through the house, this time much harder.
“I love you too, Ellie. Now go, please be safe.”
Once the back door was closed, Tobias slipped on his coat and moved to open the door. He was too panicked to feign ignorance on the situation, so he would just have to play this to his favor. He tried his hardest to expel all of the Ichor from inside his core, trying to make it as small as possible to avoid possible detection. He opened the door to find the Arcanist, Rosalie Hawthorne looking panicked and slightly singed.
“Oh! Arcanist Hawthorne,” said Tobias, eager to get the first word in. “I’m so glad you’re here, have you seen my daughter Elise?”
Rosalie paused, clearly thrown off and exactly where Tobias wants her to be.
“You see,” he continued, trying to keep the conversation going his way, “she left this morning to run an errand in the outer city and she should be back by now. She’s never been out this late and, well, a father worries.” Tobias tried to sound as elderly and generally unhelpful as he could without being called out on it.
“Well, we’re looking for her as well, actually–”
“Oh? Is she in any trouble?”
“Maybe,” responded Rosalie, trying to sugarcoat the bad news. “We just want to find her quickly. Do you know of anywhere she might go? Friends in the city, specific hangout spots, and whatnot?”
“No, no, she usually stays in here reading all day. She doesn’t go out much at all and doesn’t really have any friends, that’s why I’m so worried, you see,” he lied, trying to keep her attention away from the outer city. He suddenly let out a large cough and Rosalie held out a hand to offer support.
Goodness, I can’t keep hiding my Ichor like this forever, it’s really not helping my breathing.
“Are you alright, sir?” Rosalie asked with genuine concern. “Could I get you some water?”
“Oh pardon me, no thank you dear.”
“Why don’t you just stay here and rest, we’ll find your daughter,” Rosalie said surprisingly sweetly.
Tobias wished he could find an excuse to keep her busy just a little longer, but keeping his Ichor suppressed for so long was making it hard to breathe.
“Thank you, dear. Do let me know when you find her, I’m quite worried,” Tobias replied as he shut the door behind her.
I just hope that was enough to give Elise a head start. That girl, Rosalie, seemed kind. In other circumstances I think the two of them would get along nicely.
Tobias sighed and let the Ichor flow freely through his core once again, resulting in a long and slightly painful coughing fit. He filled and drank another glass of water, but it didn’t help his aching throat.
They’ll probably come back to search the house once this whole thing dies down… Can we keep hiding magic forever? They saw a spell in action, and one that harmed the king, no less. I don’t think we can keep living peacefully here after this.
----------------------------------------
Elise ducked through the streets of the inner city, careful to stay in the shadows cast by the setting sun. Her joints ached and her head throbbed, and she figured it was purely terror and adrenaline keeping her upright.
I lit the throne room on fire…
That Rosalie girl was… afraid of me.
She wiped a tear from her eye. The last thing she could ever want would be to hurt someone, and yet she exploded the king. Rosalie looked terrified of her. The thought made Elise sick to her stomach.
The fresh burn on her chest stung against the chilly dusk air as she quickly made her way towards the gate to the outer city. The streets were crawling with guards, all looking for her, yet she was able to barely avoid detection as she reached the gate; the gate that was closed and surrounded by guards.
Oh hell, I forgot they closed it.
Elise tucked herself out of sight between two buildings so she could come up with a plan. She admittedly knew very little about the mechanism behind portcullises, but she had a plan. She closed her eyes and began to visualize the Ichor around her. Once she was focused enough, she could very roughly see the Ichor inside of the gatehouse. While she searched for some trick to open the gate, she noticed something strange: she couldn’t see the Ichor of the nearby guards. She could see the Ichor of everyone else nearby, but the guards were muted and almost invisible to her. She was perplexed for a moment until she noticed a guard briefly remove his helmet, and his Ichor was suddenly visible.
Is it their armor? Maybe Ichor doesn’t pass through metal. But we’ve levitated metal before.
A mystery for another time, she decided. She tried to simply levitate the portcullis by manipulating the Ichor around it. She was a good distance away, however, and the portcullis was far heavier than anything she’d tried to levitate before. Still, she used all of her dwindling willpower in hopes to get the gate to rise. Slowly and shakily, it began moving upwards, instantly alerting the guards.
A few of them ran into the gatehouse to see who could be raising the portcullis, and a couple tried to hold on to the bottom of it to force it back down while yelling about their orders to keep it closed. With the added resistance, Elise couldn’t keep it rising without fear of hurting herself from the strain, so she allowed it to fall closed. Now that the guards were on alert, she would have to also find a way to get through the gate undetected should she find a way to get it open.
She looked through the Ichor in the gatehouse again and noticed something she’d missed: a large stone block suspended from the ceiling by a rope. She followed the minuscule amount of Ichor inside the rope and traced it back to the main pulley system that operates the gate. From the way the ropes are arranged, Elise intuited that the stone block was a counterweight being used to keep the portcullis open. Should the stone be allowed to fall, the portcullis would break free from its track and fall forward, leaving the gate open. An easy way to let the stone fall would be to burn the rope holding it up.
I really don’t like the sound of setting another building on fire… and can I even get the rope to catch fire from out here?
She tried to gather fire Ichor around the rope, but found she couldn’t get it to penetrate the brick wall separating her from it. As Biscuit was trapped on the other side of the gate, she was very limited in the spells she could cast. However, there was one Ichor affinity she knew very well that might be able to cut the rope.
She knew once the spell was cast the guards would be immediately alerted to her position, so she moved to the entrance to an alley she could quickly dart back through. She gathered lightning Ichor in her hand and on the pointed roof of the gatehouse, praying there was no one inside who could get hurt. Once the two clouds of lightning Ichor were large enough—
Crack!
Lightning shot from her hand and impacted the roof, resulting in a spray of clay shingles peppering the ground around it. With no time to stop and see the outcome of her spell, Elise ran back into the alley and hid behind a house a few blocks away. She could hear guards shouting in alarm and confusion, and soon she heard a large crash that shook the ground beneath her feet. She looped around a few more houses until she could see the gate lying flat on the ground, leading the way to the inner city.
All of the nearby guards were watching the crumbling gatehouse roof in awe, and a few were even on their knees and praying to Elos to preserve them. Spotting her chance, she sprinted silently through the open gate and escaped into the inner city.
What now? Roland is closer, but Mary’s in more danger. But, Mary can defend herself if things get rough, she has Biscuit after all.
Elise ducked off of the main road and ran through back alleys towards Roland’s apothecary. As she approached, she caught a glimpse of guards pouring out through the broken inner city gate, no doubt searching for her. The front counter window on the apothecary was latched closed, but a light was on inside. She looked around to make sure no one was around, and desperately banged on the front door.
Roland opened the door looking concerned, and when he saw the state his sister was in, his concern only grew.
“Elise? What happened to you?”
Elise only pushed him inside and shut the door behind them. She made sure all the curtains were shut and she put out the room’s few candles.
“Elise, what’s going on?”
“We’re in trouble,” She replied quietly. “Big trouble. Dad told me to come get you and Mary, I think we need to leave the city.”
“Leave the city?” Roland clearly didn’t pick up on Elise’s desire to be quiet. “Oh, you’re hurt,” he observed as he grabbed his medical bag. “Let me take a look at that burn.”
Elise shook her head and began grabbing things she thought to be important. “There’s no time. I’m really sorry but we need to back up and go.”
“I don’t understand. Go where? Why do we have to leave?”
“I can explain later, but the short of it is—“
A knock came to the front door and Roland turned to open it. Elise quickly grabbed him and held her hand to his mouth. He looked at her confused, but she looked at him seriously and shook her head. She put her finger to her mouth, and he nodded. Slowly, she removed her hand from his face and crouched down behind a counter, and he hesitantly did the same.
The knock came a second time.
Please think we’re not home… please…
A third knock rang through the room, this time much harder. Elise held her breath.
“By order of the crown, open this door,” an unfamiliar voice called from outside. Roland looked at Elise incredulously.
They knocked a fourth time, and then all was still. A light shone from outside from behind a curtain, but they were hiding out of sight from the window. Soon, the light moved away, and Elise let out her breath. A few uncomfortably silent minutes passed before Elise dared to speak again.
“I messed up. I did something terrible, like ‘life in the dungeons at best’ level terrible. Now you, Dad, and Mary are in danger and I’m so sorry. I can explain everything soon, but right now we need to pack up, get Mary, and get back to Dad.”
Roland frowned and rubbed at his forehead. He looked at Elise, observing the sorry state she was in. He looked at the painful burn that lay underneath her amulet. He pulled her into a gentle yet firm hug, and stood up.
“Okay,” he said, “let’s get packed.”
Elise and Roland began tossing everything that could be deemed important to a bag. Medicines, ingredients, food, and all the money Roland had were packed away. Elise didn't know if or when they’d be back, and there likely wouldn't be any chance to get back something they had forgotten.
“Oh,” Elise said, “how much of Dad’s medicine do you have ready? I was supposed to come get it today.”
“About three week’s worth. Maybe four if we lower his dosage. And I’m all out of ingredients to make more.”
Elise winced. Her father’s condition worsened frighteningly quickly when he didn't have his medicine. There was a section in the book regarding healing spells that she hadn’t yet looked at, so there was still hope for his health.
“That’ll have to do, for now, we’ll figure something out later.”
Roland nodded and packed up the medicine. “Alright, I think that’s everything.”
“Are you sure?” Elise took one last look around. “I don’t know when we’re going to get the chance to come back.”
“Yeah,” he said, tying up his bag and slinging it over his shoulder. “Let’s go.”
Elise peeked through a curtain and waited until there were no guards nearby before leading Roland outside. Roland laid his hand on the door of his apothecary and hung his head. Elise, feeling incredibly guilty, stood guard and allowed him his moment.
“Elise!” a voice hissed.
Elise whipped around to see Mary running towards them. She had Biscuit in one hand, George the hedgehog in the other, and she wore a large backpack.
“Elise, what the hell is going on? First you were taken away and now I’ve got guards searching my house and saying that you lit the throne room on fire and tried to kill the king!”
“You did what?” Roland’s tender moment was interrupted as he stared at Elise in bewilderment.
“No I… I mean I did but…” Elise’s anxieties came rushing back and she struggled to catch her breath. “I didn’t mean to hurt anybody!”
She felt a burning in her chest as her amulet began filling itself with fire Ichor. The burn on her chest flared and seared under the heat of the pendant. She gasped in pain and grasped at the necklace.
“Woah, hey,” Mary said, but she paused when she saw the large burn. “Oh, Ellie… did the amulet… I’m so sorry.”
Elise squeezed her eyes shut and gasped for air. She felt Mary pull her into a hug as Roland placed a supportive hand on her back. Biscuit jumped from Mary’s arm and landed on Elise’s shoulder. He nuzzled happily into her neck.
“We need to get out,” she managed to say. “Dad’s waiting for us at home.”
Mary nodded. “I’m already packed. I got all the evidence out of the house and I’m ready to go.”
“What about your parents,” asked Roland.
“They’ll be fine, they don’t know anything about this. They encouraged me to come, too. When they heard what the guard said happened, they figured you guys would need my help.”
Elise couldn’t find the words to express her gratitude and her shame, so she just squeezed her friend tightly.
“Ellie, what happened to your hair,” Mary asked softly.
“What? What’s wrong with it?”
“It’s about—“ she pointed to the middle of her neck— “this long.”
Elise reached back, hoping it wasn’t true, but groaned when she felt the hair stop before reaching her shoulders.
That would explain the terrible smell of burning hair that’s been following me.
“I’ll cut it cute once this is all over,” Mary said supportively. “For now let’s just get out of here.”
The trio made their way to the gate to the inner city. The portcullis was still collapsed on the ground, but there were many more guards than there were before. Among them stood Rosalie with her staff in hand.
“My goodness,” muttered Roland, “what happened here?”
“That… that was me,” Elise grimaced.
“Hell yeah, girl,” whispered Mary.
Elise slumped. She sincerely hoped that destroying things and causing havoc wouldn't become a habit.
“How’re we going to get through,” Roland asked.
Elise pondered the issue, but came up short. “I don’t know…”
“I've got this,” Mary declared, and she held out her hand dramatically. “Biscuit, if I may?”
Biscuit seemed reluctant to leave Elise’s shoulder having just been reunited, but after Elise nudged him slightly, he obliged. He hopped onto Mary’s outstretched hand and transformed into the Master Tome of the Arcanist.
“What the hell was that,” Roland asked in the loudest whisper he could muster.
Mary smiled and flipped to a specific page in the book as she began to fill her core with what Elise could only vaguely recognize as earth Ichor. She held her hand palm side down and dramatically raised it up in the air. At the same time, a pillar of stone and dirt began to emerge from the ground next to a section of the wall over a block away. The pillar was situated partially under the wall which resulted in large stone bricks crumbling to the ground. The gate’s guards all witnessed the destruction and ran in its direction.
Roland gaped and made a noise that sounded roughly like he was choking, and Mary winked at him.
“Showing off a bit?” Elise muttered quietly in Mary’s ear, causing her to blush.
“Let’s go,” Mary declared, and the group ran with their heads held low through the now unguarded gate. Once they were across, they heard someone shout from behind them.
“Stop! Assassin!”
Elise didn’t dare look back but she recognized the voice as Rosalie’s, and the bolt of glowing red Ichor that hit the ground beside them only confirmed it. The bolt was packed with far more Ichor than any one spell Elise had ever cast. They ran as fast as they could towards her house, weaving in and out of alleys to avoid being in the line of fire. Bolts of Ichor shot out one after another, narrowly missing their marks.
Her house soon came into view, and Tobias was standing out front loading bags into a covered wagon. It was the same wagon and horse that Edward and Rosalie had rode into town on just a few hours ago.
“Dad!” Elise shouted and waved frantically at her father.
“Kids! Get in the cart!” Tobias ran to place himself between his children and their pursuer. Rosie stopped running a few yards from Tobias and, seemingly reluctantly, pointed her staff at him.
“Arcanist Hawthorne, please, stand down,” Tobias pleaded. “It was an accident, my daughter never wanted to hurt anyone. Please, we can work this out.”
“That girl is dangerous,” shouted Rosalie. “She needs to be locked up where she can’t hurt anybody.”
Tobias planted his feet firmly into the ground and held both his hands out at Rosalie. “Then I will do what I must to protect her.”
A bolt of light blue air Ichor shot from Tobias’s hand and hit the ground in front of Rosalie. It only took her a moment to regain her wits from the unexpected attack, and she launched a flurry of red Ichor back at the old man. Tobias, with more dexterity than Elise knew he had, stepped out of the way of the bolts and fired back two of his own, this time with the intent to hit her. Rosalie jumped out of the way of one but was hit in the shoulder with the other.
“Dad! We’re ready,” Elise shouted from the wagon once she, Mary, and Roland were all situated.
Rosalie slammed the end of her staff into the ground and a blade of pure Ichor emerged from the gem. She dodged a few more bolts of air as she moved to close the distance between them. Tobias allowed her to push him back as he gathered as much lightning Ichor as he could. Rosalie seemed to sense what he was doing, and reactively conjured a glowing red shield in front of her. Lightning shot out from Tobias’s hand and collided with the shield, sending Rosalie flying backwards. Tobias took the opening to run back to the wagon and take the horse’s reins.
“That was awesome,” Mary shouted as the horse began to gallop towards the inner city gate. “How’d you do that?”
“I was a crossbowman in the military before I met Elise’s mother,” he replied, panting and coughing. “The bolts of Ichor aren’t too different.”
“Dad, did you steal this wagon,” Elise asked tentatively.
“Everyone was out looking for you and it was unguarded,” he said defensively. “It’s even still got some food from when the prince had it. They won’t miss it.”
Elise nodded, impressed. She’d never seen this side of her father before, but then again, she’d never been public enemy number one before.
As they approached the inner city gate, Elise briefly worried that either the horse or the wagon would have difficulties getting over the fallen portcullis. While the horse galloped over it with ease, the wagon rocked and bumped so hard that Roland had to hold onto Mary so she wouldn't fall out the back. Now that they were in the outer city it was a straight shot to escape the city walls.
Dozens of guards began to swarm the streets and give them chase. Mary took position at the back of the wagon with an arcane flame scroll, using it to shoot bolts of fire Ichor at their pursuers. Elise sincerely hoped that Mary was aiming to miss, but either way none of her shots seemed to hit anything important.
“Elise,” Tobias shouted to be heard over the rushing air. “We have a problem, the gate is closing.”
Elise looked ahead and, sure enough, the gate separating them from the outside world was slowly lowering to the ground. At this speed and distance, she likely couldn't pull the same trick she did with the other portcullis. She pulled out the Master Tome and started flipping through pages to find something that might help.
“Do you have something? We’re running out of time,” Tobias said, concerned.
Come on… come on…
“Ten,” Tobias shouted.
“Nine.”
Elise landed on a familiar looking page.
Aha, that should work.
“Eight.”
“Mary! Come up here I need your help!”
Mary paused her barrage of fireballs and climbed up to sit by Elise. She saw the page she was on and the closing portcullis, and nodded.
“Seven.”
Mary began drawing earth ichor into her core, and Elise observed her process until she was able to create some herself. Both girls placed their hands on the book and poured as much earth Ichor as they could into the spell’s rune.
“Six, we’re running out of time!”
Elise and Mary both held their arms out towards the gate and kept shaping the Ichor into the rune. The strain of keeping two people’s Ichor in line with each other was difficult, but Elise knew this was faster than doing it alone would be.
“Five.”
“We’re not going to make it,” Roland shouted. “We need to find another way!”
Elise was starting to feel lightheaded and dizzy from using so much Ichor, but she kept pushing.
“Four!”
The rune was completed, and Elise channeled all her will into casting the spell beneath the portcullis.
“Three! Come on, girls!”
Elise’s eyesight started to fade, but she pushed every last drop of Ichor into the spell.
“Two!”
Her hands began to shake and she broke out into a throbbing migraine. She saw a massive stone pillar rise from the ground beneath the portcullis, pushing it upwards and clearing a path for them to ride through.
“You did it girls! That was incredible!”
Her father’s words as well as the sound of a crumbling gatehouse were the last things she heard before slipping into unconsciousness.