(Ellin)

“The decoction is ready,” I said presenting the steaming cup to Allen.

“Thanks,” He said, accepting the medication. “I’ll have you know, I can form full sentences now.” He sat down at the table, holding the cup to warm his hands.

“Yes, congratulations,” I said wryly, taking a seat next to him. “You’re almost back to being a normal person.”

He shot me a quick glance. “Is that sarcasm? Perhaps I should remind you that I’m twice your age and I’ve been successfully surviving on my own for a decade.”

“That was back in your world. In our world you need to be more careful,” I said. “We’ve seen how well you’ve been doing on your own,” I added, rolling my eyes.

He shot me a gaze. “I take measured risks.” He said, his voice a little annoyed. “I think I can brew the medication on my own from here on.”

That seemed like a bad idea.

“No,” I said, shooting down his proposal. “I am the healer here. Besides, I’m certain you’d get creative with the dosages in an attempt to find a shortcut.” He definitely would. One hundred percent. “Until you become a certified healer, please, leave the healing to me.”

Allen took an exaggeratedly deep sigh. “I’m glad to see how much faith my friends put in me…” He said, making a show of shaking his head dramatically. I grinned.

If he was in the mood for jokes he was in the path to recovery.

I noticed he was still wearing the iron ring.

“You shouldn’t need that anymore,” I pointed at the pain ring.

Allen stared at his finger and shrugged. “I decided to practice my pain resistance every now and then.”

I lifted my brows.

“It makes you cranky,” I said, crossing my arms. “We’ve all grown tired of cranky Allen. People are starting to think you’re an annoyingly rude person.”

He rolled his eyes.

“You make it sound like it’s a bad thing.” He said, clearly amused. “Anyway, I was thinking… What if someone powerful casts a Pain Wave at me?” He scowled at the air, probably remembering the ordeal. “I don’t want to lie down like a helpless infant ready to be slaughtered. I want to shrug it off and punch him in the face.” He took a jab against the air.

Getting used to pain…

“I see your point,” I admitted.

Allen had the rare trait of channeling his pain into focused anger, a battle rager. No one was sure how it worked, sometimes people were born like that, sometimes they’d become one growing up. The scholars thought it was a just trick of the mind. What was sure is that they were rare, one in a hundred thousands.

I was a normal person. When I get hurt the pain breaks my concentration, making me lose control of mana. Maybe I should ask Allen if I can borrow the ring? I thought, remembering the times I could have done better.

“You see. There’s a reason for everything I do.” Allen lied. “Even in the resulting crippling apathy, I found a way to make great progress in controlling my aura.” He raised his chin as if that was a reason to feel proud.

That delusional attitude was kinda irritating.

“Really? It seems to me you have a knack for digging ditches and jumping into them.” I said unfazed. “Remember that time you tried to buy honey?”

Allen frowned.

“Errr… How could I know that your bees produced poisonous honey?! I didn’t even know the word for ‘poison’ yet!”

“We had to convince the guards you weren’t trying to kill anyone. We spent a whole evening to straighten things out and get you out.” I sighed.

“I’m sure the merchants tried explaining to you that there was also purified honey…”

He dismissed my words with a wave of the hand. “I thought they were trying to scam me with useless premium products. I know all about those marketing tricks. I said I wanted ‘just honey’.” He scratched his chin. “An honest mistake.”

He continued. “No wonder everyone blanched when I was asking where I could buy some. Someone had even pointed me to a shady alleyway.” He smiled. “Of course, I knew better than to walk there.”

“And that time you told that soldier to copulate with a chicken?” I asked, watching Allen wince. “And that other time you got lost because asking for directions was beneath you?” Someone had to remind him he was fallible.

“Asking for directions is for the weak.” He muttered, crossing his arms.

“And t–” I began again. The list of Allen’s shenanigans was quite long, despite his claims that they never happened.

“Fine!” He threw his arms up. “Maybe, sometimes I make less than optimal decisions.” He admitted.

“You know, you could avoid a lot of trouble if you just listened,” I said.

“Whatever, in any case, I’m sure Violet or someone else would come to get me out of trouble. I am a valuable asset after all.” He said, looking smug.

I pressed my lips. He was being stubborn. “What if I tell her what you do with your illusions?”

Allen looked at me sharply. “You wouldn’t dare…” He said, narrowing his eyes and pointing an accusing finger at me. “You wouldn’t.”

I grinned mischievously.

“Learn to knock before you enter! You’re noble-born, you were supposed to know these things!” He complained, looking away while scowling with all his might. “I was just trying to improve my illusions. I can only give shape to memorable things and I really don’t want to materialize a Vallachio in my room… He laughs too damn loudly.”

He drank another sip from the cup and continued. “Violet… she just stares at me like she wants to kill me. And then turns into a non-euclidean nightmare. Much more comfortable.”

What does ‘non-euclidean’ mean? Probably something scary.

“Have you made any progress with lucid dreaming?” He asked, changing topic.

I crossed my arms on the table and rested my chin on them.

“I had another two conscious dreams, but one time I woke up too early and the other time I didn’t remember what I wanted to do. Why is it so hard?”

Allen shrugged his shoulders.

“Well, you have it easy. You have no idea how much effort I had to spend to get good the first time around.” He said, hammering his fingers on the table. “Instead you’ve just begun and are already getting so many lucids! I’m kinda envious.”

“My teachers always told me I learn fast,” I said proudly.

Allen looked outside through the window and sighed.

“I should get going. One of my coworkers is an insufferable jerk and will ostracize me for coming late.” Allen said, standing up. “If you heard him talk you’d think he’s the center of the universe.”

“Working on anything cool at your new job?” I inquired, a little curious. I wondered what kind of secret tools they were developing.

“We’re starting to…” He began, but his voice stopped mid-sentence. He frowned for a moment. “… Sorry, the Oath is preventing me from speaking of it.” He said in apology.

“It’s fine, I know you’re doing your best,” I said, standing up as well. I smoothed down my clothes.

“I see you’re wearing elegant clothes today. Is there an event?” He said.

“I’ll be staying at my father’s mansion for a couple of days. My uncle is visiting us today and has requested me to be there for an important matter.”

I wondered what it was about, the letter didn’t hold any clue.

“Your uncle?” Allen asked.

“The magic inspector, don’t you remember? I told you about him.” I must have mentioned him at least twice or thrice.

“Hmmm… Yeah.” He said, but he was making the face he does when he doesn’t remember at all. He’s forgotten about it!

“Don’t expect me for lunch and dinner, but I’ll pay a visit in the morning so I can administer you the Viridian decoction. Bye!”

“See you!” He answered and turned to pick up his dust-brown coat.

I walked downstairs to give a quick goodbye to the guys before setting off toward the noble district.

Namrick insisted in accompanying me, so I told him about my uncle’s adventures along the way.

I was at the stairs near the main entrance when a voice exploded ahead of me. “Oh my, if it isn’t my favorite little chick!”

Uncle Kiras stood before me, his blond hair gleaming under the sunlight, framing his chiseled face. He hugged me and kissed my cheeks. His long stubble felt itchy.

“Uncle! You let your beard grow.” I noted.

“Haha, yes. I haven’t had the time to shave.” He said, ruffling my hair.

“Stop it!” I exclaimed defending my hair. He was ruining all my brushing efforts!

“How long has it been?” He said. “It seems yesterday when you were just this tall, a lively child with a bright shock of blond hair…” He looked dreamily at the horizon.

“Well, I’m not that little anymore, uncle.” I reminded him. “And yes, it has been six months. Where have you been all this time?” I asked, eager to hear all about his latest missions.

His smile faded, leaving behind a worried expression.

“I’m afraid we’ll have to postpone recounting my adventures for a better time.” He turned his head toward the hallway. “Come, I was waiting for everyone to be present. There’s something very important I need to tell you.” He gestured at me to follow him.

What was this all about? I didn’t like the sound of it. The sudden grave tone made me feel a weight on my chest.

I followed his blue and gold clad frame until we reached my father’s office. The smell of finishing oil filled my nostrils, the room was the usual harmony of dark wood and bright colors from tapestries, books covers and various trinkets collected during the years. Father was waiting inside, along with my mother.

“Ellinoria.” Father greeted me. Mom smiled and hugged me.

“I hope you’re not doing any adventuring under this dreadful climate.” She said, a small wrinkle creasing between her eyebrows.

“No, Mom. We mostly do training and small quests inside the city.” I assured her.

“I still don’t like you risking your life out there,” Father spoke up, piercing me with his stern gaze. “But I see how much you’re growing thanks to these experiences.” He paused, caressing his beard. “Still, I hope you’re not taking unnecessary risks.” He took a seat on a chair before the small table in the middle of the room.

“Be careful dear, I don’t want to lose another daughter.” Mom said, still looking worried. I squeezed her hands for reassurance.

I never told them about the troll incident and the demon encounter. I didn’t want to worry them. Also… I still felt shame for having been useless.

“Is it done?” Asked Kiras, closing the door behind him.

“Yes,” Father nodded. “No sound or spirit will be able to cross this threshold.” He said.

“Please, sit down everybody…” Uncle said, sitting down himself. I and Mom sat down next to Father.

“So, Kiras. Why did you call up this meeting?” Father asked, staring at him with intensity.

Uncle Kiras put his hands on his knees and leaned forward, his face dead serious. “What I about to say is confidential,” He said. “It must not leave these walls.”

“Of course,” Father said.

“I trust that by now you must have already heard the rumors of how Noirdant fell.”

We nodded.

“Good. I was called back to investigate what happened. As you can imagine, there wasn’t much to go on since we don’t have access to the city itself. But I started by talking to the refugees and the soldiers…” He shifted on his seat. “What I learned is that the city had been suffering from internal problems before the attack came. Random people suddenly going crazy and doing harmful deeds for no reason. The citizen called it the Madness.”

“Yes, we had gathered that much as well,” Father said.

“What you don’t know is that all of the people who suffered this Madness died by burning themselves, laughing like madmen during the act.”

Mother shuddered. “Why would they do such thing…”

“That’s the point. They wouldn’t,” Kiras said. “They were forced to. They did the deed and destroyed the evidence, their own bodies.”

He remained silent for a few breaths.

“Their actions seemed random at first, but the end result was that they had in fact crippled the city defenses, which the culminated in the breach of the eastern wall and the following invasion. It was all orchestrated, either by use of mind control or by forced Oaths…” Uncle let the silence linger for a couple of breaths. “What worries me is that some of the victims were in high positions and well guarded. How did they get to them?” He wondered out loud.

“I see, but I don’t understand why that would concern us,” Father said, crossing his arms.

Kiras looked at him sharply. “Here’s the thing… One of the refugees was found immolated the day he arrived here in Valarest. When I interrogated the witnesses I was told the man was laughing crazily as he burned.” He swept his gaze between the three of us. “Sounds familiar?”

A silence fell. I could hear my heart thumping. We’re… under attack?

“Yes, I believe the saboteur is within the city,” Uncle said with a grave tone.

“AnHelm, guide us.” Father’s scowl deepened at the revelation, his tight fists revealing his anxiety.

“What?!” My mother exclaimed. “How’s that possible? How can it be so hard to find a demon?”

“Trust me, if it were a demon we would have found him. We had anticipated an infiltration attempt. But no, it’s either a man… or something else.”

“Something… else?” I muttered out loud.

Uncle stared at me. “All I have are conjectures, what I’m sure about is that the culprit must have disguised himself, or herself, among the refugees. We don’t know if it’s male or female or how it looks like. Which is why…” He fished something from his pocket. “I had these made for all of you.”

He showed us three rings on the palm of his hand.

“Enchanted rings? What are they for?” Father asked.

“High-grade protection against mind control and other forms of possession,” He said. “Promise me you’ll keep them on you at all times.”

“But… shouldn’t you make this information public?” I asked him. “What about the population? We should warn them!”

“Absolutely not,” He said, shaking his head. “Everyone would start pointing fingers against each other, it would turn into a mess and make our work harder.” He sighed. “If my superiors knew I’m telling this to you they would have my hide. But I was worried, I had to warn you.”

“Thank you, Uncle,” I said picking up one of the enchanted rings.

“Be careful all of you… Noirdant was not short on capable magicians. We’re dealing with an exceedingly clever and slippery foe. If you notice anyone acting out of the ordinary or looking strange… warn me immediately. You can leave a message at the gates to the royal palace.”

“We will.” Father nodded. “Thanks for warning us, Brother.”

My father and Kiras stood up and clasped their forearms together.

“Don’t mention it, we’re family.” He said, his lips curling in a smile.

Uncle turned back to me and mom.

“Sorry ladies, I’ll be a little busy these days but we’ll catch up at lunch and during the evening.” He smiled apologetically, scratching his hair.

Father squeezed his shoulder. “Speaking of which, isn’t it time for you to settle down as well, Brother?”

“Please, stop trying to play matchmaker. You know full well I can’t follow through, as long as I am a magic inspector.” Kiras said with a hint of resignation.

I felt a pang of sadness for him. Magic inspectors were frequently threatened and subject to blackmail attempts. They were the ones who held the Witnesses and uncovered the hidden truths. It wasn’t a job for everyone.

In fact, he only showed his true self when alone with us. One time when I was a kid we had crossed each other in the city streets and I had felt hurt by the coldness he had shown, so much that I ran away crying.

Only later had I realized that he was doing it to protect me.

“Ellin, I’m sure you’ll be the one telling her adventures this time,” Uncle said, winking at me.

I smiled. “Sure!”

Kiras waved goodbye and left the room. The silence claimed the room again.

“So… about these adventures of yours…” Father began.

Oh no! I should have offered Uncle to accompany him outside! I shifted uneasily on my seat as Father and Mother bore a hole in me with the intensity of their gazes.