MARIN, SATURDAY, MERCHANTUS 21ST

That Saturday, Marin woke up at the same time as Aellaria. She continued the routine of organizing Aellaria’s various brews from the week so that she could take them to Mistfall to sell.

Aellaria exited the shower wearing her blue robes and cloak, “Your debt is paid, Marin. I will sell those.” Her voice was matter-of-fact.

Marin finished packing the numerous vials into the custom-made alchemist pack. The countless little pouches and containers made organizing and carrying the dozens of vials easy. She looked at Aellaria, annoyed, “My debt is far from paid. I still owe you like four more weeks’ worth.”

Aellaria sat down next to Marin at the desk. “I shouldn’t have kicked you either time. I’m sorry. I want to keep my distance from you, and this is part of that.”

“I know, but I’ve enjoyed doing this. I think I like trading. If you want to forgive my debt because you made a mistake, you can. Don’t fire me, though. It would change my family's life if I sent even half of this money back home.” Marin pleaded.

“I understand. Next time, I will label them by their quality, value, and effect.” Aellaria then left for her own trip to Mistfall.

AELLARIA

Aellaria just wanted to leave. The money meant nothing to her; she just didn’t want someone as weak as Marin so close. There were tightly coiled springs in her mind, heart, and hands, and Aellaria felt she could explode at any moment.

This far into the first semester, the Mistfall herbalists at Tillia Remedies, a kind older couple named Jacks and Melindra, had become comfortable with Aellaria. At first, the herbalists didn’t know what to think of the young student purchasing many hazardous alchemical ingredients. As the weeks went on, however, Aellaria kept coming back alive.

Melindra excitedly waddled up to Aellaria with her arms out. “Oh, dear! You made it! I was beginning to think you weren’t going to show!”

Aellaria gave the stout woman a half-hearted hug. “I’m earlier than usual. Your compassion means a lot, though, Melindra.” Aellaria said. In truth, she didn’t care much for Melindra’s compassion and wished this was more of a transaction than a relationship.

The man behind the counter, Jacks, had already prepared her ingredients in a leather herbalist’s. Each of the raw ingredients were properly tucked away and ready for pickup. Aellaria awkwardly shuffled around the white-haired woman and unpacked an identical bag she brought of its completed potions. Finally, Aellaria cautiously added these potions to the new pack and left the old empty bag for the couple to fill up for her pickup next week.

Jacks whispered to Aellaria as Melindra started to continue her work. “By the way, we have an order of red dragon’s tongue coming in. It might be a little above you and dangerous, but so is everything else you do. Just don’t tell–”

“Don’t tell me what? Oh, you! You can be a real weed in Tillia’s garden! You’re trying to offload dragon’s tongue on an apprentice!” Melindra slapped Jacks’ arm with her leather apron.

The red dragon’s tongue wasn’t actually a dragon's tongue. It was more of a pine cone. A rare seed that could be used to make a dragon’s tongue potion. This potion was used to help a body prepare itself for elemental infusion. It also had the interesting side effect of letting the drinker exhale fire for a few minutes.

Aellaria nodded. “I would like two, then… do you sell incubators?”

“Yes!” “No!” Jacks and Melindra said simultaneously.

“No, Aellaria. We don’t sell incubators, and we don’t sell expert ingredients to novices.” Melindra said.

Jacks responded to his partner, “You have wanted to upgrade your incubators for years. Don’t you think Aellaria and her master are responsible enough to decide what they need?”

Aellaria hadn’t directly said she had a master, but she had implied it so the older couple would let their guard down around her. “We have enough gold for the incubators, dragon’s tongue, and… I will also need a bundle of Ptene leaves, too.”

Jacks smiled at Melindra smugly, the way only a loving spouse that has had countless conflicts over dozens of years could.” See? She already knows what she needs. Granite Guardian must be training her himself.”

“Please send me an invoice for the two incubators and next week's ingredients, and I will courier you the gold,” Aellaria said. She knew that her dimensional pouch had enough gold for the transaction now, but showing off the dimensional pouch would have been an extravagance that would make Aellaria stand out further than she was comfortable.

Melindra waved her husband off and approached Aellaria, “Be careful, darling. They put you all under so much pressure at that school, and then they just hope you don’t explode. We have had students like you, bright and wonderful, get worn out before. It only takes a single mistake with a potion like dragon’s tongue to end your life, okay?”

“I understand, Melindra,” Aellaria said. She didn’t want to betray just how much pressure her mind was under.

***

Aellaria continued her routine. The next stop was the Falls for the Mist Primrose. Over the weeks, she ventured through the caves behind the waterfall and found enclaves of primrose, allowing her to gather even more of the precious flower.

Aellaria was looking forward to an incubator to put the beautiful Mist Primrose into. With the proper enchantments, she could produce enough flowers to never have to return to the falls again. However, until that was finished, she would have to keep climbing down under the falls to cut back the plants by hand.

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Once Aellaria had enough Mist Primrose for the week, she left the cavern and started the climb back up. Looking over the cliff's top and back toward the road, she saw something that stopped her heart.

The white-haired Cryomancer Callo was sitting at the campsite, less than 100 feet away. His purple eyes were staring out at the lake below, but when Aellaria’s hat peeked over the cliff's edge, his eyes were drawn to her.

Aellaria watched Callo cautiously as she pulled herself up. This was her private stroll, and the heartless bastard was in her way again. It felt eerily similar to the confrontation with the Death Mongrel. Aellaria’s heart beat heavily in her chest, and she was already steeling herself for the confrontation.

Callo didn’t stand up. He just watched Aellaria lazily, like a well-fed and tired lion. “You hate me.” He announced.

Aellaria almost growled her response, “Why are you here? What do you want?”

“I want to understand you, Aellaria. I was so excited to get to know you better. You didn’t even try to reach out after I came back,” Callo said, sounding hurt.

Aellaria tried to reign in her anger, but it poured out of her eyes as she stared at the man who shattered Lilium’s heart. “I have no use for friends like you. You have the instincts and self-control of a child. You have never struggled in your life. Next year, you will fall behind, and not even your years of training will save you as everyone develops stronger talent than you.”

Callo showed his teeth when he smiled. Aellaria hated how that smile made her feel. Zenithor wanted to kick his teeth in, and Lilium swooned. Callo said, “You don’t seem happy–acting like you are better than everyone else. There is one thing I remember from that week. Do you want to know?”

Aellaria felt trapped. Callo didn’t move a muscle, but he knew how big his presence was here. In his life, Zenithor hated being outmatched more than anything. The old man in her shouted at her to leave, while Lilium just wanted to hear a couple more words. “I don’t care to know. Stay away from me, Callo. If you try to corner me again, you will regret it.”

Callo crossed his legs and sat back. “I remember that week– more than anything, I wanted to know what thoughts you had under your hat. I wanted to be close to you. I wanted to understand you.”

“You can start by not following me out to the woods. Keeping your memories and hands to your fucking self.” Aellaria said, and as she said those words, it felt like the nerves in her mind were being played like a violin string. Aellaria could smell heat and frost. Her vision was going red.

“Ice and water go together super well. We should be friends.” Callo said. His face twisted into a parody of himself as he quoted his words spoken to Lilium long ago. Aellaria realized Callo’s teeth were sharp like a shark's.

Aellaria’s heart beat faster and faster, and she realized she wasn’t breathing. Aellaria felt Lilium start to scream. ‘He’s not real! He’s not real! He’s not real!’ over and over in her head.

Now, Callo was standing, and Aellaria watched in terror, as it wasn’t Callo’s genuine smile. The smile promised the world. It promised love. It promised forever friendship. However, the eyes. Callo’s eyes. They promised destruction. “I need you in my life, Aellaria… I need your magic in my life.” Callo mocked. As Callo advanced, his smile widened. Ear to ear. Rows and rows of sharp teeth ready to rip flesh and muscle from bone.

‘Run, you fucking brat!’ Zenithor screamed at Aellaria from behind her.

‘HE’S NOT REAL!’ Lilium screamed in terror. The scream was so loud in her head that it felt like a chisel hammered against her skull.

Aellaria sprinted toward the trail. Aellaria needed to leave. Run or die. He’s not real. Run or die. He’s not real.

Behind her, Aellaria could hear the Callo thing laughing. Aellaria turned on the road back to Spire and saw a robed figure walking away. Marin.

Aellaria sprinted up to Marin and turned around, expecting to see the thing pretending to be Callo, but there was nothing to see.

“Aellaria, you ok?” Marin asked. She had an empathetic but cautious smile on her face.

‘She’s afraid of you,’ Zenithor chastised.

“I-I know.” Aellaria stammered back at Zenithor, but then Aellaria realized again. He’s not real.

“What?” Marin asked.

Aellaria closed her eyes. None of them were real. They were memories. Zenithor, Lilium, and even Callo were nothing but dreams swimming around in her head. “I meant to say ‘I’m okay’,” Aellaria said. The only thread of reality was Marin, and Aellaria planned on holding onto it before her mind fell apart. “Can I join you on your walk back?”

Marin’s face showed a touch of fear toward Aellaria, but Marin didn’t have the self-preservation necessary to abandon even an ex-friend. The kind and simple mage offered Aellaria a hand, and Aellaria took it.