The Merchant of Nevra Coil (Legends of Windemere Book 8)

by Charles E Yallowitz

  “I was hoping you would start our session for once,” the elf says in a soft voice. She breathes on her hands, the action releasing the hint of tension in her muscles. “You know I don’t want to upset you, but we need to talk. It’s the only way to uncover the source of your delusions. Don’t you want to leave Zelacryd and live a normal life?”

  “What’s a normal life?” Nyx innocently counters.

  The doctor shifts uncomfortably in her chair, surprised by the question. “It’s whatever you want it to be. The important part is that you’re happy and able to live within society. Your belief that gods have chosen you to battle an ancient darkness is dangerous. If it progresses then you could hurt an innocent person that you mistake for a threat.”

  “I’d never hurt anybody,” the young woman argues, pulling her legs closer to her chest. A shudder runs through her body and her voice chokes up as she speaks. “I . . . I think I’ve already hurt people. You say they’re delusions, but I can remember the deaths. The screams and the bodies haunt my dreams. So many have died by my hand that I can’t believe they’re anything other than reality.”

  “We’re back to Hero’s Gate. Let me show you this again.”

  Doctor Eltzer goes to the small library that she keeps in her office, every book having been memorized over the years. Tying her blonde hair back, she pulls a wheeled ladder to the corner of the towering bookcases that cover the door-side wall. The deep shelf above the entrance is filled with old scrolls that have been collected from around Windemere. Each one is about a major event that birthed a flood of patients for Zelacryd, which is information that Doctor Eltzer keeps on hand to help people face their fears. She pulls a small scroll out from the bottom of the tightly packed collection and unrolls it to make sure it is the right one.

  “I believe many of your delusions are caused by post-traumatic stress,” the calm elf explains as she climbs down the ladder. She opens the scroll on the table and leaves it there with the hope that it will coax Nyx out of her chair. “We do know you’ve been trained as a caster since childhood and you witnessed several spells gone wrong. You lost many friends to these accidents and you began to believe that the reason it never happened to you was due to this destined hero concept. Your sister has the same thought, but she is driven more by ego than feeling like she is cursed. Then again, you could have turned out like her if it wasn’t for Hero’s Gate. Look at the scroll and tell me your thoughts.”

  “No,” Nyx states, flicking her hand to blow the parchment off the table. “I don’t want to remember that. It made the Krypters and they’re still out there.”

  “Yes, but they are not your problem,” the doctor says as she retrieves the scroll. She holds it out for Nyx to see, but the half-elf clenches her eyes closed. “You were in Hero’s Gate when a goblin swarm attacked and you were nearly killed. That much is true, but you didn’t kill them with this supposed Genocide spell. Such a thing doesn’t exist and even if it did, you wouldn’t have the power to cast it. Instead, you were rescued by Mayor Highrider and his guards. As for these Krypters, they were created from the dead goblins by a Lich in order to destroy Tzefira the Mercenary Queen and Luke Callindor. None of that has anything to do with you and it’s on a much smaller scale than an ancient darkness threatening to consume us all.”

  “Tzefira is my mother and Luke is my best friend!” Nyx argues in a surge of anger. Fire bursts from her hands and she falls back into her chair, the cushions igniting and turning to ash within seconds. The young woman leaps to her feet and backs against the glass wall, shaking her arms and crying steaming tears. “Put it out! Get the fire away from me! I don’t want it on me! It hurts!”

  “Calm down and will it away,” the doctor says as she inches closer with a bucket of magic-cancelling foam. When the flames run up the half-elf’s arm, the doctor dumps the goo on her and the spell puffs out. “Don’t worry about the outburst because, as usual, we are always prepared for such an event. I hope you see that your pyrophobia is proof that many of your champion-based memories are false. In our talks, you have said that you wield fire, but you are still incapable of going within five feet of a lit candle. Come back over here and I’ll get you some ice water.”

  Her heart beating harder than ever, Nyx lets the doctor lead her to a wooden chair and patiently waits for her drink. The clink of ice against the glass makes her pause with the rim touching her dry lips. Fresh tears form in her violet eyes and she runs her fingers through her short, unkempt hair. She drops the cup on the floor, the glass shattering on the wood and the ice skittering in every direction.

  “I had another sister,” Nyx cries, curling up in the chair. Rolling onto her side, she reaches out to attract an ice cube to her hand and hugs it to her chest. “She wasn’t a blood relation, yet I loved her like family. She could control water and ice. I can see her in my mind, but I don’t remember her name. Maybe she was another champion. Why is she blocked and the others aren’t?”

  “You speak of Sari who was very real to you when you first arrived here,” Doctor Eltzer explains as she gets a broom to clean up the glass. Worried about the safety of her patients, she is very careful and crouches to examine the floor for even the smallest shard. “Sari Kayn was another patient in Zelacryd. She suffered from kleptomania and vivid nightmares. A sweet child that took pity on you and was your friend until she was rehabilitated. She left to go back to her family and you added her to your delusions. It’s similar to Tzefira and Luke Callindor. You heard of the Mercenary Queen and imagined her as your birth mother. I would not be surprised if her burn scars factor into the reason you’re terrified of fire. This relates to the delusion that you and Tzefira were separated in an attack on your village. Again, we have no real proof for any of this. Luke is an odd one though. Much like this Timoran Wrath that you mention, there’s never been any connection to you. They’re famous names, so you might have absorbed them early on in your delusions. Possibly before we found you.”

  “So Sari is out there somewhere. All of them are, but only Sari knows me. Fizzle and Delvin could be out there too.”

  The elf holds back a tired sigh while dumping the glass shards into a sheep-shaped trashcan. “Drites don’t interact with people and Delvin . . . you know he was a fellow apprentice who died during your training. We’ve been over that event many times and you keep putting him back into your delusions. I know we made progress with the death of your teacher, Fritz Warrenberg, who was killed during a mugging. You’ve accepted that. Please try to hold onto the truth of Delvin because it is an important step toward your recovery. If it helps, imagine reuniting with Sari once you and your sister are able to leave Zelacryd. That should give you strength.”

  “I’d like that, so I’ll do my best,” Nyx agrees, her hand searching the middle of her chest for something. For a brief moment, the channeler thinks she feels the smooth surface of a triangular gem, but the sensation vanishes when a sharp pain erupts behind her eyes. “I’m having another headache. I think I should go back to my room and rest.”

  “Very well,” Doctor Eltzer says, hitting a white button on her silver bracelet to call Nurse Bola. Instead, a curly-haired halfling walks in, his green eyes filled with apprehension. “This is unexpected. Is there a situation? Nyx needs to be escorted back to her room. She’s feeling ill again.”

  “There’s an incident in the top floor lounge,” the sweating nurse reports, his eyes flitting between the doctor and her patient. “Trinity is on the verge of having an episode. Nurse Bola went to handle it.”

  “Take Nyx to her room and let her pick a dessert from the cafeteria along the way. One for her sister too,” the elf hurriedly says while grabbing her white coat off a wall hook. She clips a black and red badge onto her belt, the polished glass sparking when attached. “Stay at their room and have three of the other nurses wait with you. Try to get one of the doppelgangers in case Trinity needs to be calmed.”

  “Please don’t hurt her,” Nyx begs from her chair. “She doesn’t mean to
cause trouble. She’s just scared and overprotective.”

  Doctor Eltzer smiles warmly at the worried half-elf. “I promise she won’t be hurt. After all, we’re only here to help you.”

  *****

  Nurse Bola bangs on the doors to the top floor lounge, which have been locked by a powerful barrier. The other nurses rush to find another way into the room while the furious dwarf glares through the circular windows. All he can do is watch as a group of patients surround Trinity who is standing on a metal table. The cornered channeler’s hands have fire dripping from their fingers and she slowly turns to keep an eye on all of her attackers. A tall elf is already holding his broken nose while a woman, who keeps reaching for Trinity’s ankles, struggles to see out of a swollen eye. Prowling around the circle of patients is a short man with a shock of orange hair and arcane symbols etched into his chest, the carvings having healed into scars years ago. Three nurses have been trapped behind a black leather couch that has been merged with the walls. Whenever they push against the piece of furniture, the orange-haired man points at them and his hostages are pressed even tighter into the corner.

  “I told you I’d get my hands on you, princess,” the scarred caster claims while climbing onto another table. He flings a chair at Trinity, but the flexible chaos elf ducks and lets it strike a salivating orc in the face. The grunting brute shakes off the pain and gingerly touches the bleeding gash between his eyes. “I only had to bide my time and behave myself. The nurses were bound to put us together again. Too bad I wasn’t left with your sister first. I could have used her to control you.”

  “That just means you’re lucky. I would have killed you if you did anything to Nyx,” Trinity snarls, lifting her foot away from the flailing woman. She drives her heel into her attacker’s face, the sound of crunching bone making her shiver. “Leave me alone because I don’t want to kill any of you. Let the nurses go too, Steven.”

  “Do it yourself,” he replies, gesturing toward the couch to set it on fire.

  Trinity stares at the burning object and tries to counter his spell, but the flames only rise higher. Unable to use her magic, she leaps over the crowd and sprints toward the defenseless nurses. They scream in fear even when she is throwing the burning pillows off and tearing at the upholstery. Her bare hands are in agony by the time she puts the fire out and she is too injured to remove the rest of the couch. The only thing she can do is clear the smoke with a small breeze, allowing the nurses to breathe. As the three women point behind their rescuer, rough hands grab Trinity from behind and hurl her to the floor so Steven can stand over her.

  “Maybe we should call someone to help you,” the grinning man suggests with a frightening cackle. He licks his lips at the thought of making the chaos elf suffer. “Not so mighty, are you, princess?”

  “That’s Queen Trinity, you worm,” the channeler snaps. She spits up Steven’s nose and grunts when he stomps on her stomach. “I never did anything to you, so leave me alone. All I want is to be free and protect my family.”

  “Such pitiful dreams from a woman who claims to have great power,” he says, sneering as he lifts her by the neck. He pushes her into the arms of a female dwarf, but the stocky woman immediately tosses the slender chaos elf aside. “Don’t you want to get your mind back together and fix your sister? Then the two of you can conquer whatever land you want. Very few creatures can stop you. If you remain benevolent rulers and don’t reach for Ambervale then those rumored gods won’t bother creating champions.”

  “I don’t care about the power,” Trinity states, crawling to the wall and dragging herself to her feet. A wave of dizziness strikes, forcing her to hold onto a chair with enough strength to make her blistered palms bleed. “All I want to do is protect my sister and my people. They need me, especially Nyx who is so fragile and timid.”

  “Your sister might need you, but it’s probably too late for the chaos elves.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “Everyone knows those creatures have been extinct since the Great Cataclysm.”

  “Such a pathetic lie.”

  “An ancient being emerged from the Chaos Void and wiped them out.”

  “Then how do you explain me?”

  Steven snaps his fingers and the couch falls to the ground, freeing the nurses who rush for the sealed door. “We’ve all seen you slip from time to time. The hair and eyes stay the same, but the skin goes tan for a second when you’re stressed. Those marks on your body aren’t from enhancer gems like the chaos elves once used. You etched them into your flesh like I did with my protection symbols. Did you ever wonder why your little sister is a half-elf and you’re a chaos elf? You never questioned how that’s possible? The answer is because you altered yourself with illusions to become something that no longer exists. All you want is to be special and unique, so a chaos elf is the perfect choice.”

  Trinity is about to argue when her stomach lurches and she falls to her knees. Pain pulses through her eyes, causing electrified tears to fall down her cheeks. The tiny drops of lightning gouge paths of sun-licked skin through her cobalt hue, but she does not realize the transformation until the streaks reach her bare arms. Panicking and holding her aching gut, Trinity tries to stop her skin from losing its beautiful color. Within minutes, she looks like a regular half-elf and the only remnant of her previous form is a pool of blue magic evaporating at her feet.

  “Doesn’t it feel better to stay true to yourself?” Steven asks as he signals for the others to close in on their victim. “Let’s remind her that it isn’t nice to lie. Work quickly because the spell on the door won’t last much longer.”

  Her hand transforming into a hammer of bone, Trinity charges through the other patients and leaps at Steven. The man catches her by the wrists and bends her backwards, exposing her face to a punch from one of his friends. Reverting her hand to its normal form, she slaps the floor and flip kicks Steven in the jaw, the blow sending him crashing into a table. Trinity coils her ankle-length ebony hair into a hardened braid and whips it around to batter the other patients. All of them back away with cuts and blossoming bruises on their faces. The patients let their fear take over as they stampede for the doors and try to help the nurses open them.

  “Maybe you took the form of a chaos elf because people call them monsters,” Steven laughs while getting to his feet. He wiggles his broken jaw, which does nothing to prevent him from talking clearly. “After all, we speak of them in nightmares because of the evil that lurks within their veins. When alive, nobody trusted them and always feared the day they would leave their continent and attack. It was probably a good thing they were eradicated before they ever got the chance. Do you wish to rule and conquer the world through fear like they planned?”

  “Shut up!” Trinity screams as she vaults over the table. Her fist strikes Steven’s chest and he shatters into thousands of shards, the pieces falling into a pile at her feet. “What did I do? By the gods, I think I killed him. I’m really sorry, but he pushed me too far. You all saw what he was doing to me. I didn’t even cast a spell. I just hit him with my fist and . . . does anybody believe me?”

  The doors burst open and Nurse Bola shoulders his way in with the foam hose. Everyone gets out of his way before he drenches Trinity, the force of the blast pushing her against the far wall. The dwarf advances on the stunned channeler and keeps the deluge going as the other patients and nurses escape into the hallway. He finally stops when the screaming woman transforms back into a chaos elf and goes limp.

  “It looks like you had another episode,” Nurse Bola states, dropping the hose to the ground and taking a seat. He looks over his shoulder when the doors creak open and Doctor Eltzer walks in, the elf rushing to her trusted assistant. “Things just got settled down, but it was a weird one, Roda. I was told that Trinity enchanted the other patients to attack her and trapped the nurses against the wall. By the time I arrived, she was cornered on the table by her victims. Then she set the couch on fire and tried to save the nurses
from her own spell. I have no idea what she was doing after that. It looked like she was arguing with someone and she did a strange backflip that tells me she was fighting.”

  “Was it Steven again?” the doctor asks as she moves a fallen chair away from the whimpering chaos elf. Kneeling over Trinity, she tenderly moves the woman’s hair out of her eyes. “That is a powerful voice in your head and I believe it stems from the man who abused you during your training. He makes you wish you never existed, but angers you enough that you want to live. Such confliction in your mind, so it isn’t any wonder you fall into these fits. At least nobody was killed or severely hurt this time. Not like when you melted Tyler or threw Vile out the window and to his death.”

  “I never did those things,” Trinity mutters, the empty void created by the foam making her feel like she is about to die. “Tyler was killed by Luke Callindor and Vile . . . he disappeared while on a mission.”

  “Interesting how her allies are the enemies of her sister’s supposed friends,” Nurse Bola points out while he watches the hose retract into the hallway. “Do you think there’s some jealousy or hate on Trinity’s part? I’ve never seen anything more than overprotectiveness when it comes to Nyx, but it’s a big difference between their similar delusions.”

  “It is strange that this only comes up when Trinity is alone,” the doctor replies as she helps the chaos elf stand. Noticing a trickle of blood on her patient’s forehead, she examines the dazed woman’s eyes. “She appears to have taken a blow to the head, which may have started this episode. Check her for a concussion then bring her to her room. Nyx is waiting there with some food.”

  Trinity grabs the doctor by the arm, the force of her grip making the surprised woman yelp in pain. “Please tell me what’s going on. This isn’t right. I know this isn’t how it’s supposed to be. None of you feel right to me. Tell me who put us in here and what they want. There has to be a reason why things are so wrong and make no sense.”