AELLARIA, SATURDAY, FATHERUS 28TH

The weeks carried on. During this time, Aellaria would walk to Mistfall for alchemy supplies every Saturday before sunrise. She would discreetly climb to the shallow cave behind the falls on the return trip. This week was particularly tough, as immediately after pulling herself back up the cliffside, a Death Mongrel confronted her.

Death Mongrels were monstrous dogs that died with feelings of unfinished business. They were uncommon since, in life, dogs are extraordinarily trusting creatures. In death, the Death Mongrel holds onto a grudge imprinted on its soul, typically due to a betrayal from a previous master. It takes a particularly evil action to cause a dog to demand retribution within its soul, not just for a single human but all of humankind. As with every monster in Element, the Death Mongrel doesn’t exactly have the body of the retributive dead dog. The unrestful spirit of the dog manifests a new twisted body to express its anger and fear.

This Mongrel had long grey fur that looked painfully matted. The creature didn’t look emaciated; on the contrary, it looked bloated and smelled of rot and dead leaves. The most striking feature of the monster were its blood-red eyes, which were slit like a cat’s.

Aellaria looked at the Mongrel with pity. She wondered if the little monster had actually managed to enact its vengeance on anyone else. Aellaria said, “You don’t belong here, pup. Let’s go home.”

The dog’s origins didn’t matter so much to Aellaria. This creature wanted her dead, and it was an abomination anyway. She used Geomancy to pull a stone hook out of the ground, caught the beast with the hook, and pinned it to the ground. Aellaria finished the writhing creature off with a stick, harvested its bones for bonemeal, and opened the earth up to swallow what remained.

***

The crisp winds of autumn came early for Spire this year, and below the windows of the common room of their dorm, Aellaria and Marin could see the forest changing color. Time trickled by slowly for the friends, and every day required every ounce of energy they had—physically for Niall and Tilly’s classes and emotionally for the constant stress put upon them by other students.

Flair and Bren were tough to exist alongside. It became clear that Flair and Bren blamed Syn, Aellaria, and Marin for Callo's death. Their loud and public outbursts caused a further chilling effect, making it difficult for the three girls to make new friends.

Aellaria remembered the anguish on Flair’s face when Niall announced Callo’s death. A part of her reveled in Flair’s pain. It served her right for whatever she did to Lilium. However, as the weeks went on, Flair became unbearable. Any remaining part of Aellaria that sympathized with Flair’s pain died, as she took every moment to be a colossal bitch.

Bren wasn’t much better. To Aellaria’s annoyance, the woman used higher-level casting to listen to her conversations. For the deceitful Aellaria, this meant that she would have to be even more careful with how she spoke because Bren could be listening in and would use these conversations for barbs down the line. Aellaria knew she wasn’t perfect, and under constant scrutiny, she could let information slip that would make Bren curious about who she truly was.

Aellaria and Marin practiced their casting in the common area while they waited for Syn and Behngi.

Marin perked up slightly, ”Aellaria, have you gone on your walk this week?”

“Yes, I went this morning,” Aellaria responded as she casually swirled the stone around her.

“Aro’s bust!” Marin cursed. She invoked the human goddess of love. Marin opened up as she became more comfortable with Aellaria’s presence and the oddities in Aellaria’s behavior. She had an inappropriate streak, especially when it came to cursing.

Aellaria raised an eyebrow and looked at Marin, “What do you need?”

“I wanted to know how much it would cost to get some small gemstones for my arcane focus. We are running out of time to have our arcane focuses ready. I didn't want to end up with a gnarled old staff like Alyviah.” Marin whispered Alyviah’s name to avoid invoking the wrath of the three girls.

“Doesn’t Syn want to buy you gemstones?” Aellaria asked. Syn was somewhat wealthy, and Aellaria could tell that impressing the lottery apprentice was one of Syn’s favorite activities.

“Of course she does, but I don’t want anyone to give me things like that. Experiences are fine, but I would feel like I owe her if she gave me jewels or jewelry. I was going to try to get a loan from the market,” Marin said.

“You’ll have to provide them with something of value. The bankers will see right through a little town lottery apprentice like you.” Aellaria warned.

Marin slapped at the armrests of her chair in frustration. “What has value? I don’t even know what I can do for money. I mean, did you hear Kyrine is escorting for money? Maybe I could do that…” Marin said. Kyrine was an Aquamancer in Professor Aeren’s class. Kyrine was also one of the four names on Aellaria’s list.

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“Did you want my opinion?”

“Desperately,” Marin admitted.

“I think you should avoid selling yourself for money,” Aellaria said. “I think that sounds like a bad time for everyone but the client.”

Marin stared at Aellaria, pleading for more options. As an afterthought, she meekly added, “Thank you?”

“Fine, I have a baggy full of precious gems. You’ll need four, one for each of your efficiencies. You’ll also need a jeweler to cut the jewels and fit them into your bread,” Aellaria said, pointing to the twine around Marin’s neck.

Marin gave a pained grin and responded, “I just said I didn’t want a gift. I don’t want this weird power imbalance thing getting between me and my friends.”

“Then it will be a loan. I need someone to sell my excess potions, poisons, and concoctions. I have been meaning to sell them. We can split profits, and you can pay me back whatever the jeweler says the gems are worth. Tell me what you want, and you can have it.” Aellaria said, knowing that any four gemstones from the collection living within her dimensional pouch were just a drop in the bucket of her wealth.

“Really? You would give me a job? “Marin asked hopefully, but then his expression changed to stern. ”But that's a power imbalance.”

“Walking to Mistfall and bulk selling to an apothecary isn’t much of a job, and you know I won’t hold it over your head if you don’t do it. It just doesn’t matter that much to me.” Aellaria responded.

Marin thought for a second. “Fine… I’ll do it. But only because the lines I draw for you are different from those I draw for Syn.”

“What does that mean?” Aellaria asked.

“You have this whole detached thing going on, and I trust you when you say it doesn’t matter to you.”

“What gems do you want?” Aellaria asked before simply reaching into her dimensional pouch.

“Emerald for Aeromancy, Sapphire for Aquamancy, Ruby for Pyromancy, and Amethyst for Cryomancy,” Marin said.

Aellaria raised an eyebrow and looked up at Marin from under her wide-brimmed hat. “Amethyst is purple. Wouldn’t you rather have a diamond? It’s harder and a better conduit.” Aellaria explained.

“It’s a sentimental thing. Callo said purple was his favorite color,” Marin said heavily.

Aellaria reached over to Marin and handed her the four gems Marin wanted.

These four large gemstones were more than big enough for Marin’s needs. The Purple, Blue, Green, and Red stones shimmer beautifully from the light streaming in from the window they sat beside. “You just had these on your person? Wait, is that a dimensional pouch?”

Aellaria didn’t say anything. However, there was no other explanation for Aellaria nonchalantly handing over exactly what Marin needed. It would also explain why Aellaria was so lightly packed on the road to Spire that first day.

Aellaria saw a realization light up Marin’s face, and Aellaria knew she made a mistake. She had casually revealed that she was the wealthiest person Marin had ever seen in real life. If she could afford a dimensional pouch, maybe she was even more wealthy than any of the teachers, including the dean.

Aellaria gave Marin a look that said, ‘This is one of those advantages that you are allowed to know but not speak of, or I will hit you.’

“Yeah, yeah. You don’t have to worry about me. You hold more secrets than Jest’s robes.” Marin said, invoking the god of trickery, mimicry, and joy.

“I know you’re a virgin, but a dick isn’t exactly incomprehensible,” Aellaria said. She felt satisfaction whenever she had these little moments to tease Marin for her faith.

Marin almost immediately became flustered. “That's not what that means!” she shouted, whispering. “And I’m not even a virgin, so stop saying that!” Then, it was a sudden revelation that embarrassed Marin. “You’re teasing and tricking me again. You really do belong in Jest’s temple.”