by Sophia Sharp
“Uh…”
“Advice for the future,” the woman explained, “seeing as how you’ve already made the promise to me. But if I gave you a chance to take it back, would you?”
“No,” Nora answered determinedly.
“Good,” the woman said. “That means your will is strong. As is your concern for your friend.” She nodded, seemingly satisfied with their arrangement. “I will do what I can.”
“Will you come now?” Nora asked. “I can show you where he is, I can lead you there—”
To her surprise, the woman barked another laugh. “My dear girl, as I told you before, I have lived in this town longer than you’ve been alive. I know every nook and cranny of it. I know the barn you speak of – there is only one that fits the description – and I will see myself there.”
“Not now?” Nora asked, disappointment blossoming inside her.
The woman smiled and reached up to pat Nora’s cheek. “I cannot leave my shop open for thieves to have their way with while I’m gone, now can I?”
“I guess not,” Nora admitted.
“So, I will close down shop and then come. You can do me the favor of going there now and staying out of my way.”
“But…”
“Your friend will need you. See that he is…presentable, for my arrival. As best you can.”
“Alright,” Nora nodded. “I can do that.” She turned away and started walking down the street.
“Gi-irl,” the woman called, after Nora had taken half a dozen steps.
Nora turned back. “Yes?” she asked.
“It is considered proper etiquette to exchange names at some point, you know.”
“Oh!” Nora blushed in spite of herself. She had forgotten all about it – or rather, hadn’t considered the need for it, really. “I’m Nora.”
“A pretty name.” The woman smiled.
“And you?” Nora asked.
“You can call me Selaine.”
As soon as Nora was sure she was out of Selaine’s line of sight, she started to run. There were still people on the streets, and some cars whizzed by, so Nora did not go nearly full speed, but she still ran hard enough for people to take notice. She didn’t care. She had found the healing woman!
Nora ran back to the barn, but before entering, went to the edge of the woods to check on Gray. She found him in exactly the same spot she had left him last night, keeping watch on the barn. On seeing her, he jumped up happily and ran to her arms. She petted his neck and back, without forming the connection.
“Everything’s going to be alright,” she told him. “I’ve found the woman I was looking for.” Suddenly, she wondered whether Gray had gotten himself any food, or had kept watch the entire time. She suspected the latter. “You can go eat, now,” she told him, “there’s no need to keep watch anymore.” Briefly, she formed the connection, and sent him an image of food. Understanding came back to her, with only the barest hint of relief. Nora smiled as she watched him go.
She turned and went back to the barn. She ran inside, and looked to the spot where Alexander lay. To her surprise, he was awake. Leaning back against the barn wall, he looked at her with dark eyes.
“Who are you?” he demanded harshly. “What is this place? What have you done with me?”
“Alexander, it’s me…” Nora started, but he lunged at her. Rather, he tried to. As soon as he pushed himself up, he lost his footing and stumbled forward, landing heavily on his stomach.
Nora ran to him. The poison must have gotten even worse for him not to recognize her, much less try to attack her. She reached down to help him up, but he rolled away with a scowl. His face was drenched with sweat.
“What have you done to my body?” he demanded again. Nora thought it a wonder his speech wasn’t slurred. “It is weakened!”
“I have done nothing,” she told him soothingly. “I’m here to help you. Don’t you recognize me? I’m Nora, we journeyed together. You fought for me?”
“Journeyed? I do not believe your lies. Why would I have fought for you?”
“There was a pack of Vassiz who came after us. They tried to take me from you, and you fought against them.”
Alexander gasped. “I am a loyal member of the Vassiz. Others would not attack me! I can see through your lies, witch!” He tried to get up, but stumbled and fell back. “You do not frighten me!” he said defiantly, but his voice shook.
“I do not mean to frighten you,” Nora said gently. “Please, try to remember. You met me in the woods, together with a…friend…of mine. Hunter. And you came with another woman. Madison.”
“Madison?” Alexander’s eyes lit up with recognition. “I…I know that name.”
“Yes.” Nora edged herself closer to him. “I met you when you were with her.”
“Where is she now?” Alexander demanded.
“She is coming,” Nora said. “She is on her way. She…told me so.”
“You…will bring her?” he asked uncertainly. “…here?”
“Yes,” Nora nodded. “She’s coming. She will be here soon.” Nora moved closer to Alexander and reached out tentatively. “I mean you no harm, truly.” Her hand reached his shoulder – his good shoulder – and she rested it there reassuringly. “You see? I have been taking care of you.”
“Taking care of me?” Alexander asked. “Why?”
“You’ve fallen ill,” Nora explained. “In the fight, you took an arrow to your shoulder. It was poisoned.”
“Poisoned…?” Alexander looked to his shoulder, and suddenly recognition dawned on his face. “Oh! No, no…” he backed away from Nora again, staring at his shoulder with dread. “It cannot be…no, no…” His scrambling became frantic, and he moved farther and farther away until his back hit the far wall. “No, no, no…” He stared at his shoulder with downright fear, now. “Who did this?” he demanded loudly. “WHO DID THIS?!” He was breathing hard, now.
Nora got up and stepped toward Alexander. He shied away from her so much that she decided not to move any closer. “A woman with a bow,” Nora said, as gently as she could. “It was meant for me, but she missed. You leapt in the way.”
“I took this arrow for you?” His breaths became harder, more ragged. “Why…?” Quickly, those breaths turned to gasps, and he scanned the entire space in front of him with great apprehension, as if he were expecting an attacker to jump out at him at any moment. With one hand, he reached up to touch his shoulder, and on contact, let out a single low, pained howl.
His eyes rolled up, and he fell back.
Nora was beside him in an instant and caught him before he fell. With great relief, she saw that he was still breathing. But the breaths were still short, still ragged. Again, she noticed how much heat his body was radiating. She lay him down gently and reached out to put a hand on his forehead. She winced and pulled away immediately. It was hotter than she could have imagined – hot like a cooking element turned up to full blast. She was amazed he had gotten up, much less spoken coherently.
But it looked like his memories of the last few days had disappeared. She wondered how far back he remembered. He seemed to even question who he was, but at least he recognized Madison…
Nora blinked and was surprised to feel her eyes moisten. Suddenly, she realized she was on the edge of tears. Madison had caused all this, had caused everything, and it all started with her inexplicable attitude. From ditching Alexander to taking Hunter away, Madison was at fault for all of this. If she hadn’t acted like such a…a…a bitch! …maybe all this could have been avoided. Hunter would still be here, and he would know what to do.
At that thought, all the penned up emotions Nora had been keeping down crashed through her. She wished desperately she was back home, with the safety of her friends and family. She wished none of this had ever happened, wished she wasn’t being chased by hundreds, if not thousands, of the most powerful beings to walk the earth. A new sense of hopelessness spread over her, and it had nothing to do with Alexander’s condition. E
ven if he did recover, what would they do? All her options pointed only to more running. Would she never be able to live a normal life? She felt like she was sinking deeper and deeper into a thick pit of tar, with no hope of ever getting out. All her options felt hopeless, and she felt powerless – completely weak and vulnerable. She bit her bottom lip to stop it from trembling.
Something nudged at her hip, and she looked back. Gray was there, looking at her with concern. She picked him up and hugged him close. The tears never came. She had him, she realized, and she would never let go. He licked her face gently. She smiled and scrubbed his head. And inadvertently, she realized she made the connection.
Stranger!
An image of an old woman flashed in Nora’s mind. Selaine! She was here!
“Thank you,” she whispered to Gray, putting him down. She ran to the door.
Sure enough, in the distance, Nora saw Selaine. She was making her way over, walking with surprising haste for somebody Nora had last seen using a cane.
“In here!” Nora called, once Selaine was close enough to hear. “He’s in here!”
“I see you, girl,” Selaine grumbled. But despite that, she did appear to start walking faster.
Nora ushered her in and pointed to Alexander lying against the wall. “He’s gotten worse.” Panic threatened to choke her.
“Worse?” Selaine replied. “Worse, how?”
“When I came here, he was delusional. He was up, but he didn’t recognize me. He questioned who I was, where he was, what happened to him…and he claimed not to have remembered anything that happened over the last few weeks.”
“Hmm,” Selaine said. “Well, no use in me looking at him from afar. He won’t get spooked if he wakes and sees me, will he?”
“He might,” Nora admitted.
“Then you come with me. Usually, I like to do things by myself, in private, but in this case…well, we’ll see.”
Selaine walked over to Alexander and dropped to her knees beside him. His face looked gaunt, and Nora realized for the first time that his jaw was clenched. Sweat stained the new shirt Nora had gotten him that morning.
“You take poor care of him,” Selaine said derisively. “His fever is bad, but even so, he needs to be kept warm. Blankets, layers, that sort of thing.” She took a white cloth from her pocket and used it to wipe the sweat away from his face. Then she put the back of her hand up to his forehead. After a long second, she sighed and turned to Nora. “His fever if worse than I feared. Tell me, when did this – all of this – happen?”
“Yesterday morning,” Nora said. “He took the wound then, but was able to walk most of the day. Until we got here. That was when the fever got worse.”
“The wound?” Selaine asked suspiciously. “You told me about no wound. You said he was cut. I thought a gash on the leg, or perhaps…well, never mind. Tell me, where is this wound?”
“His shoulder,” Nora said quickly. “His left shoulder.”
Selaine grunted and started to pull Alexander’s shirt up from the waist. Then, thinking better of it, she reached into her pocket and pulled out a small carving knife. Nora gasped in surprise as she used it to cut a line directly down Alexander’s shirt, from the neck to the navel. Putting the knife away, she pulled one now-torn side of the shirt aside – the one that exposed his right shoulder – and then, taking more care, started to pull aside the other side. On seeing the wound, she hissed back.
“What is this?” she exclaimed, with clear anger. “This is no ordinary wound! You have misled me!”
“He took an arrow,” Nora said quickly. “Please, don’t be angry.”
“No arrow could do this, girl,” Selaine said. “This is the work of the devil.” The wound had opened up, again, and was moist and very dark. The skin around it was now a ghastly black. “Poison, extracted from the rarest of plants this world has ever known. A plant long extinct. But who would waste it on him, and why, I wonder?” Selaine looked at Nora questioningly for a moment. Then she shook her head. “I will not do you the disservice of asking. You have secrets, I understand, but more than I initially believed. If you were smart, you might tell me, but I will leave that to you.”
Despite herself, Nora sighed. She had no intention of telling Selaine, or anybody else, how that tainted arrow had pierced Alexander’s shoulder.
“Can you fix it?” Nora asked with concern. “You said you would try!”
“Aye,” the woman answered, “I will do my best. But I did not think I would ever see this poison again.”
“Again?” Nora asked. That meant… “You have dealt with it before?”
Absently, Selaine rolled up her right sleeve. Nora gasped as she saw the upper part of Selaine’s arm. The skin was stained a deep black, marred with unhealthy yellow areas. It looked like the smoker’s lungs in those commercials advertising the dangers of tobacco.
“It happened to me,” Selaine said simply.
Instantly, a seed of hope blossomed within Nora. Hope that she’d been desperately missing before. “That means you survived it,” she exclaimed. “It means you know how to save him!”
“Survived…yes. Save him – maybe.” Selaine stood up to eye Nora intently. “Time is short, and he is burning up. His body is strong, but I’m afraid he has already exhausted his last reserve of strength in fighting the poison’s taint. It is probably too much, even for him. I might be able to help, but we can only pray I have come soon enough.”
“You have,” Nora said determinedly. “I know it!”
Selaine looked Nora up and down while pulling her sleeve back into place. “You show much concern for his life. He is…a lover?” She shook her head. “No. You do not have the look of a mourning partner. But you did not lie to me either. He is a friend as you said. And you do care for him.”
“Yes!” Nora exclaimed. “Of course, I do.”
“Good.” Selaine smiled. “Where you’ll be going, you’ll need to have strength.”
“Where I’m going?” Nora asked. “What do you mean?”
“There is but a single remedy that can cure him of the poison. And it includes a vital ingredient which, unfortunately, I do not have.”
“You don’t?” Nora asked. “Why?”
“It is a fungus – a sort of mushroom – that grows deep underground. Not many know of it. I do. There is a mine here, on the outskirts of town. It was closed down many years ago, but you will need to go there to find the mushroom for me. Only with it does your friend have a chance to survive.”
Nora gulped and shivered involuntarily. She remembered her last expedition underground and was not eager to repeat the experience.
Finally, she nodded. “I can do it, if I must.” I hope.
“If you value your friend’s life, you will,” Selaine said. “Now. It might take you a number of days of travel before you can find the ingredient.”
“Days?” Nora asked, aghast. “You said he doesn’t have any time! How will he survive if it’ll take days to get the remedy?”
“You are right, of course,” Selaine said, with only the slightest hint of sarcasm. “How smart of you to point that out.” She coughed once, then continued. “I can make him something that will relieve the symptoms. But if the poison remains in his system unabated, those symptoms will return within the week, and he will be beyond my powers to heal. You will have your days, girl, once I have my herbs prepared.”
“How long will that take?” Nora asked. “You can do it now, right?”
Selaine shook her head. “No, his symptoms will take more than what I’ve brought with me.” She tapped a pouch tied to her belt. “I will need some hours to prepare the remedy.”
“Hours?” Nora asked. “Do we have that long?”
Selaine’s tone turned harsh. “Do not question me, Nora! You think I do not realize the severity of your friend’s condition? It will take me hours to prepare, and that is if I move my fastest. The only thing you can do is pray he lasts that long.”
“He will,” Nora sa
id to herself through gritted teeth. “I know he will.”
Chapter Eighteen
~Into the Mines~
Nora followed Selaine back to her shop. They walked briskly, and there wasn’t much conversation between the two. Instead, a steely determination gripped both woman and girl.
Selaine took Nora through a side door that led into her shop. The inside was dark, and there wasn’t a single light on. Nora could see just fine, though, and Selaine moved with the surefootedness of somebody who’s walked the steps a thousand times before.
Inside, a set of dusty stairs led to a small second story. Selaine gripped the handrail tightly as she pulled herself up, and Nora followed silently behind.
When they reached the second floor, Selaine flicked a switch on, which powered a single low-hanging light bulb in the middle of the ceiling. If it was possible, Nora thought the upstairs level was even more crowded than the one downstairs. Tables and shelves covered nearly every centimeter of the floor. On the shelves, old worn books and dark metals twisted into odd shapes stood beside strange flasks and empty glass bottles. On one table, Nora noticed a collection of impressive-sized gems which lay in a neat pile atop a collection of scripts and papers and parchments. On all the other tables, parchments and open books and documents lay sprawled open. Everything was dusty, though, as if it hadn’t been moved for a very long time.
“Here, girl.” Selaine sat down on a wobbly stool behind a large table. “You’ll need to know where to go.”
Nora leaned on the edge of the table. Selaine tsked loudly, but didn’t comment otherwise. She pulled out a yellowing parchment and produced a quill pen in her hand.
“This is where we are right now.” Selaine drew a small circle in the middle of the parchment. “And this is the general area of our town.” She traced a much larger, uneven circle around the first. “The river is on the west side, here.” With a few quick strokes, she drew a few wavy lines that bordered one side of the bigger circle, on the left. “One road goes into town and another one out of it, and there’s forest all around.” She drew another set of lines, these lines straight, going south and north. “If you follow the road north, you’ll walk until you find a set of browning cliffs.” She designated them with a few triangles. “When you see the cliffs, you’ll find an old wooden sign. The lettering has long since worn off with age, but the base is there.”
