Galen stood in the doorway of his shop in awe of the scenery around him. He had lived in Sunmesto for months, but the beauty of the town had not lost its sheen. Erasima used to be a collection of independent, warring islands before Queen Malika and her family unified them. Under her rule, the nation prospered. People from around the world came to see the new country and returned with tales that spoke of gorgeous landscapes. After hearing the stories, he knew this would be his next home.

Most foreigners who moved to Erasima lived in the port cities, but he went further inland. Sunmesto was a medium-sized town that was surrounded by a lush forest. He could see the center square from his shop, where a giant statue of the twin goddesses stood as the centerpiece. He wasn’t surprised to see them. Queen Malika’s family had been blessed by the goddesses, turning them into the country's patron god. One of Queen Malika’s first initiatives was to build statues all over the country. Townsfolk could be seen praying before them at any point in the day. Severin was no exception. Galen was waiting for him to finish before they could go on their routine run for supplies.

He saw Severin come from around the corner, "Are you ready?"

"Yep!"

He grabbed his basket and headed to the entrance of the town. Severin fell in step behind him. Their walk to their usual gathering place was held in comfortable silence. When they arrived, he said, "Today, our goal is to stock up on turmeric. Remember what that looks like?"

"Turmeric has green, glossy leaves that are low to the ground. Its roots are orange."

"Good. What’s it used for?"

"It’s an anti-inflammatory. Mostly used for joint pain."

"Correct again. How is it prepared?"

"We put it into tisanes."

He smiled proudly, "You've certainly kept up with your studies."

Severin flushed and looked away shyly, "I've had a good teacher."

He opened his mouth to respond when he heard a low growling noise. He shoved Severin behind him and searched the area, holding a protective arm in front of the man. Severin batted the arm away, moving to stand next to him, searching the area as well.

"What did you hear?"

"Growling. Like a bear or large cat."

"We don’t get large cats here. We do get bears, but they don’t come this far south.”

"I swear that what I heard was a low growl. I don't—" Galen was cut off by another growl. This one was louder than the last.

Severin paled. He clutched Galen's shoulder tightly, turning him. He whispered, "What would sound like a bear but not act like one?"

He cursed under his breath. Another scan of the area revealed nothing, "We have to leave. Now."

"You don't have to tell me twice."

He and Severin backed up slowly, keeping their eyes peeled for any movement. They were barely breathing. Then, a roar echoed around them. A large figure crashed through the trees, skidding to a stop in the clearing. He and Severin glanced at each other before running away as fast as they could. The bear-like creature didn’t hesitate to give chase.

"We'll never outrun it!" Severin shouted.

"Any ideas?"

"We could try scaring it, but I don't know what scares an astera!"

"What scares a bear?"

"It's an astera, not a bear!"

"I don’t have time to educate you on asteran transformation, so answer my question! What scares a bear?"

"Loud noises!"

He frantically searched his pockets for anything that would be loud enough to scare away the creature. The astera crashed through the trees behind them. It was gaining on them and fast. "I don't have anything on me! Do you?"

"No!"

"Fuck!" His desperation mounted, and he closed his eyes. There was only one option. If he had the breath, he would have sighed. It seemed his and Severin’s friendship would end here. He stopped running.

Severin slid to a stop as well, "What are you doing? You don’t have any weapons; never mind how little effect they would have if you did."

Both men were heaving, the sprint taking out most of their energy. The astera burst into the clearing. Drool dripped from its mouth, and it bared its fangs. Malevolent eyes were trained on the two. Galen looked resolutely into them.

"Cover your ears."

"What?" Severin asked.

"Cover your ears. I won't tell you again."

Severin was confused but complied. He sucked in a deep breath, gathering his concentration. Magic began to consolidate in his hands. Severin stared wide-eyed at the purple wisps that formed. The creature readied itself, tensing and crouching. He released his magic just as the creature pounced. Cacophony filled the air. The astera stopped in the middle of its attack. It brought its paws to its ears to stop the noise. However, he held strong. The astera backed away, eventually turning tail and running. Once he was sure the astera was gone for good, he stopped the illusion. He glanced over his shoulder at Severin and found him with his arms limp at his sides and his mouth slack.

"Just say it." He wanted to get the confrontation over with.

"You're an asteris!" Severin exclaimed, "You're one of the soulless!"

A sad smile spread over his face, "Yes, I am."

He had to give Severin credit. While the young man backed away from him, he didn’t run away as soon as he knew Galen wasn’t human. “Why are you here? What is your goal, creature?”

"It’s simple. I want to make a human friend.”

“I can’t believe that. Asteris, they would never. They hate humans.” Severin trailed off, his eyes averted. As much as he hated humans assuming how asteris felt about them, now was not the time to lecture the young man. The human looked thousands of miles away from where they were standing, and Galen wished he could peer inside the man’s mind. Especially when Severin’s expression switched from hesitant to devastated. Severin backed even further away from him, body trembling and eyes watering. “You used me! You saw that no one would care what happened to me. You knew that you could do anything you wanted.”

Severin’s words hurt. Not because the man was accusing him of manipulation—that had happened one too many times for him to be upset about it—but because Severin thought that no one cared about him. And there was an overwhelming amount of evidence to prove him right. Galen replied, “I don’t hate humans, Severin. At least, not as much as they hate asteris. Please believe me when I say that all I was looking for was friendship. You’re my friend, not my mark.”

Severin stared hard at the ground. “Why should I believe you?”

“After all I’ve done, did that feel make-believe? I promise that I care about you and that I’m not using you. The only proof I can give you is my word.”

“What if that’s not enough?”

“Then, it’s not enough, and we part ways. All I would ask of you is to not tell anybody that I’m an asteris.”

“And if I did?”

He knew that Severin was baiting him, waiting for the moment he showed his true colors. Severin had been taught that asteris were ruthless, merciless killers. Severin wanted him to say that he would silence him if he revealed his secret because it was easier to believe. Except that’s not what asteris did, and he would not let the man think he would hurt him. “I would leave, and you would never see me again.”

“You wouldn’t.”

Galen saw dismay cross Severin’s face before he could hide it. It was awful of him to be glad that Severin feared his disappearance, but he didn’t want to lose his friend. If keeping him meant preying on his fear of abandonment, so be it. “I would.”

Severin was silent. He knew the man must feel conflicted. The lies told about asteris weren’t pretty. That would defeat the purpose of fear-mongering. He didn’t want to push the man into a conclusion he wasn’t ready for, so he said, “I'm going back to the shop. Follow me if you want.”

He wasn’t expecting Severin to follow him if truth be told, but he could hear the human’s hesitant footsteps behind him. It was a good thing his back was to Severin because he didn’t think the smile on his face would have argued against his case of being a manipulator. He was too happy to hide it. It seemed that Severin wasn’t going anywhere anytime soon.

Severin followed him all the way to his shop, even sitting down in front of him when he went behind the counter. Watching Severin fiddle his fingers and glance all around the shop, he saw that the man was itching to say something. His mannerisms made him look younger than he was, and Galen fought to keep his smile from growing any larger.

Severin eventually said, "Galen, I'm sorry."

He wasn’t expecting that, but Severin looked honestly contrite. "It's fine. No harm done. I’ve had worse said about me."

“Aren’t you the one who told me that I shouldn’t have to tolerate horrible behavior?”

He chuckled, “Our situations are a little different.”

"But I was your friend. I am your friend. I should've known better."

"How could you have known better? I should’ve corrected you, but I guess it never came up."

Severin walked up to the counter and leaned against it next to Galen. He took a deep breath, "I won't tell anyone. I promise."

"Thank you."

"It's the least I can do."

***

While his talk with Severin had gone well, the doubts that had been nipping at the back of his mind reared their ugly heads when he went home. Now that Severin knew he was an asteris, he was going to treat him differently. Not on purpose, but that didn’t make it feel less alienating. He wasn’t even sure Severin would show up today despite what the young man had said. He sighed and laid his forehead on the register.

He looked up at the familiar sound of a chiming bell and smiled when he saw it was Severin. The young looked decidedly awkward, yet it warmed his heart nonetheless. Severin was here, and that was what mattered.

Severin said, "Good morning.”

"Good morning," he offered back.

It appeared that Severin wanted him to say more, but he didn’t know what to say. He was as out of his depth as Severin was. Severin wasn’t the first person to discover that he was an asteris, and the man wouldn’t be the last to leave because of the discovery. Even the humans who were initially fine with him left once they realized how different they were. Asteris stopped aging once they hit their thirties, and many who had followed him for long had to face their own mortality. Spending his lifetime surrounded by those who grew old and died left him to reflect on his own almost immortality as much as they reflected on their ageing bodies. Would he mentally die before his body had the chance to decay? The older he got the more likely that possibility become.

"You're not going to say anything else?" Severin asked.

"I don't have anything to say."

Severin rolled his eyes, "You're being difficult."

"I’m not being difficult. I don’t know what you want me to say.”

Severin took a chair from the other side of the room and pulled it next to him. He sat down and said, "Things are going to change." Galen opened his mouth to reply, but Severin held up a finger. "Things are going to change, but not for the worse. You're my friend, and I'm not going to let myself ruin that. I don't care that you're an asteris."

"You seemed to care when you implied that I tricked you."

Severin rubbed a hand down his face. “I’m sorry. I’m not proud to say that was my knee jerk reaction. You were right. We haven’t been taught that asteris are the kindest people in the world.”

“It’s not easy to shift perspectives. How can you say you don’t care when I know you do?”

"I promise that I don’t think you’re a horrible person. My reaction was uncalled for, and I immediately regretted it. I say I don’t care because I mean it," Severin angled his chair toward Galen, "Why are you trying to push me away?"

He wasn’t trying to. However, those little fears had a way of slipping into his words. "I don't want you to treat me any differently.”

"You certainly aren't allowing me to treat you the same."

He paused at that. He guessed he hadn’t been giving Severin the benefit of the doubt. He had been too focused on comparing every one of Severin’s reactions to the reactions of those in the past. He gave a short laugh, "I'm not, am I?"

"Nope."

"Well, I suppose I shouldn't catastrophize before you've given me a reason to."

"Nope," Severin grinned.

He laughed again, "I guess today is your turn to be the mature one."

"For once in my life."

Severin leaned back in his chair, surveying Galen from head to toe. His stare was oddly intense, so he asked, "What?"

"So," Severin wiggled his fingers as though he was casting magic, "What did you do to that astera?"

"I cast an illusion." He mimicked Severin's finger movement.

"You were still casting the illusion when I uncovered my ears, but I didn't hear anything. It must have been loud if it scared away the astera."

“That's not too unexpected. To be honest, I didn't think you would, but I thought you should cover your ears just in case.”

"Does the illusion not work on humans?"

"Illusions work on all living things, but they only work if the victim doesn't know they are in an illusion. When you saw me casting, it broke the illusion."

"But I didn't know it was an illusion."

"You knew I was an asteris as soon as you saw my magic. This means you knew that the noise was a spell and not a real sound. Ergo, you knew you were in an illusion."

"Wow, even something as simple as that breaks the spell."

"Yes, that's why asteris tend to stick to simpler illusions."

"The astera saw you cast it as well, but that didn't break the illusion."

"You're giving the astera's intelligence too much credit. The creature couldn't tell there was a correlation between me and the noise. It's easy to cast spells on animals because most can't tell the difference. Humans are another matter entirely."

"Are illusions the only spells you can do?"

"No."

"Care to elaborate?"

"Nope!"

Severin frowned at Galen. "You won't tell me?"

"I don't make a habit of telling humans everything about asteris."

"You don't trust me," Severin accused.

He could see his reluctance to give away information was making Severin upset. He tried to smooth it over, "I'm just not comfortable telling you all there is to know about asteris right now."

A frown still marred Severin's countenance, "Okay."

"Severin."

"I said okay. Why don't you use spells more often?"

"I'm not good at them."

A wry grin replaced Severin's frown. "You? I can't believe Mr. Perfectionist isn't good at something."

It was his turn to frown. He wasn’t a perfectionist. He just liked to put effort and quality into everything he did. Whether that be putting away his shoes or learning a new language. He tried to manage his expectations for everyone else. He said, "I am not a perfectionist, and that isn't how spellcasting works."

"Well, how does it work?"

"Asteris are gifted in one craft. Kind of like how some humans have aptitudes in certain talents, but not others. I’m not gifted in spellcasting, so it's hard for me to improve."

"What are you gifted in? If you can tell me."

Galen gave Severin a side-eye, "My gift is in potions."

"That must be useful for medicine-making."

"It is." The conversation trailed off, but a comfortable silence ensued instead of the awkward atmosphere of earlier.

Suddenly, Severin brightened, "Could you teach me magic? Like one of those magicians."

"No!" he shouted.

Severin startled and almost fell out of his chair. He looked at Galen in shock. "Okay! No magic."

"I will never teach you to be like a magician," he snarled the word.

Magicians and asteris had a bloody history. Asteris' skill with magic allowed them to do various tasks much easier than their human counterparts. When asteris first interacted with humans, they had been happy to teach them all they knew about magic. However, humans couldn’t use magic like asteris could. Bitterness festered among the humans, but they relied on the asteris' magic to help them. This established an uneasy partnership that was tested when humans discovered they could, in fact, use magic. Asteran parts enabled humans to do all the magic they wanted, birthing magicians. Asteris had outlived their usefulness.

At first, things remained just about the same, but soon hostilities rose. An invisible struggle between the souled and the soulless began. Magicians had gotten good at using magic and created the Magicians of the High Court, an international organization of the strongest magic users. Asteris magic was more powerful, but their numbers were limited, and they couldn't use magic indefinitely. The human population boomed, while the asteris' remained stagnant. Fearing the turning tides, asteris fled and hid. Magicians saw their weakness and struck. They hunted them down and used the asteris' bodies to fuel their magic. The asteris' already small numbers dwindled further. Eventually, the asteris grew harder and harder to find as they got better at blending in. The evasiveness of the asteris caused magicians to stop their hunt, and they instead focused more on advancing humankind.

The last hunt of asteris was over 500 years ago, and all who were involved were long dead, but he still felt lingering resentment toward the magicians. Enough resentment to not want to train one. He knew he was being unfair to Severin. He knew it was an innocent question. Few humans today were aware of what exactly happened. However, despite how long ago it was, he couldn’t forget the feeling of being hunted. He imagined he never would.

A lump formed in Severin's throat, "I'm sorry I asked."

"Yeah," he huffed. Tension filled the air, leaving Severin frustrated.

The door opened. Severin and Galen twisted their heads to look at who entered. An elderly woman hobbled in. She shuffled to the counter, "Hello, my dear. I’m here for my incense. The orange blossom one."

He plastered a stiff smile onto his face, "Of course, I'm right on it. That will be 10 silver pieces."

Severin made room for the old lady as he collected her wares. The woman looked between the two men, sensing something amiss. Ignoring it, she laid her money on the counter. Galen handed her the incense before depositing the money into the register, "Thank you for your purchase."

"No problem, dear." She hobbled out the shop, taking the forced pleasantness with her.

He and Severin once again stood in silence. He said, "It's fine."

"No, it's not. I keep messing up!"

"You don’t know any better."

"I wouldn't have asked if I knew you would react like that. I'm sorry."

"Severin, I know. Stop apologizing. I told you it's fine. Drop it."

He watched as a multitude of emotions flittered across Severin’s face. The man settled on resolve and said, "I was scared."

"Huh?"

"When my parents got sick, I was scared."

"Severin," he softened, “I knew it was going to be hard to adjust once you knew I was an asteris. You don’t need to bare a piece of yourself. I understand.”

Severin shook his head, “I want to tell you. Please, let me tell you.”

“I’ll always listen.” He knew that whatever words were going to come out of Severin’s mouth would be vulnerable. Severin’s face was pale, and he could hardly look him in the eyes.

“I was scared because I knew no one would help them. My mom got sick first. My dad went into town to get help, but nobody would. The sheriff wouldn't let them."

"Morstat."

"I hate him. I hate him so fucking much. My mom died, and my dad got sick soon after. He died a week later. I prayed to Pravu every day for a month straight after that. I prayed for him to take me too, but I never got sick."

"Thank you for telling me. You didn’t have to."

"I know. I told you this because I wanted you to know that I trust you. I don't know what happened between you and the magicians, and you don't have to tell me. I am here to stay, and I want you to trust me."

He stared at Severin quietly. Severin fidgeted. While he didn’t smile, he was calm. He said, "I want to."

"That's all I need to hear."

Galen and Severin fell back into their easy comradery. Severin stopped asking about asteris, and he made no move to tell him anything. He did, however, start to use his magic more. Severin watched him every time. He could see the fascination in Severin’s eyes, but neither was willing to dive back into conversations about magic.

"Severin, how much chamomile do we have left?" he asked, looking at his orders for the day.

"Uh," Severin walked into the storage room, "Not a lot, and all we have is the dried stuff. We'll have to put that on the to-do list."

"Okay, I'll make sure to do that. Grab what's left."

"On it!" Severin left the storage room clutching a bundle of the white flower. He set it down on the counter and sat on the chair he had pulled up earlier. Severin watched as Galen crushed the flowers and deposited half of the remains into a pretty bag.

"Would you like some? I'm going to put a pot on." He walked up the stairs into his tiny apartment.

"I've never had any," Severin called back. He could hear Galen puttering around in the kitchen.

"What?" he poked his head out from the top of the stairs, "You've never had chamomile tea before?"

"No, I was never really one to drink tea."

"I've got to remedy this immediately!"

Severin chuckled. He played with the ribbon holding the bag of crushed chamomile closed. He took in a deep breath. The smell of the shop was equal parts comforting and overwhelming. The scent of the various medicines, incense, and candles swirled around him, lulling him into absentmindedness. He was so lost in his thoughts that he was startled when Galen set a teacup in front of him. He glanced up and saw Galen holding a teapot.

"Ready for some tea?" Severin nodded. He rounded the counter, setting the teapot down. He opened the lid and placed the flowers into the pot.

"Do we drink the flowers too?"

He laughed, "No, there is a filter in the spout. Have you never seen tea be made either?"

"No, I only ever saw the finished project."

"And have any of the finished projects contained the flowers still?"

"No, but you never know! Maybe chamomile tea did leave the flowers. How am I supposed to know?"

He said nothing in response, but his amusement was palpable. He poured tea into both cups. Severin went to pick up his cup, but he stopped the man. Severin met his eyes curiously. He swirled his hand over Severin's cup, leaving purple wisps in his wake. Severin's eyes widened as he watched the purple magic infuse with his tea. Severin looked between his cup and Galen. He could see that he was dying to ask him what he had just done.

His good mood moved him to say, "I know what you want to ask. Just do it."

"What did you do? Am I drinking a potion?"

"Yes, it is a potion of some sort. Nothing extreme. I only amplified the effects of the tea. Can you tell me what the tea does?"

"It reduces stress and anxiety. It also can help induce sleep."

"Correct. I thought we were due for a little bit of relaxing." Severin didn’t appear to be paying attention, having tuned out as soon as he responded. He was too busy examining his tea. Galen was about to comment when Severin drank the whole cup in one swallow.

"Can you taste the magic?" Severin peered into the empty cup.

"No, you cannot taste the magic."

"What do you think magic would taste like? I guess the only word to describe the taste would be to say it tasted like magic."

He pursed his lips in an attempt not to laugh. "Amazing observation, Severin. It's a wonder you're not a scholar."

"Don't make fun of me," Severin pouted.

"I'm not," Severin gave him a look of disbelief, "Really, I'm not!"

"Do you ever make potions for customers?"

“Sometimes."

“When is sometimes?"

"Most of the time, I amplify the effects like what I did with our tea. I feel the medicine I make is enough for the majority, but I'll give it some extra when it isn't."

"Has anyone ever been able to tell?"

"If I was afraid somebody could tell, I wouldn’t give any potions to humans. My magic doesn't have a taste and only discolors the base medicine a little. A wholly magic potion will have an unnatural sheen, so I don't tend to make them for humans."

"Your magic doesn't have a taste? Is it different across asteris?"

"Asteris magic doesn't have a taste. Magician magic does," Severin tensed at the mention of magicians, "Magicians have to use astera parts, so their potions taste disgusting."

"Hopefully, I will only have to drink one of yours."

"One can hope."

Galen studied Severin. He couldn’t believe Severin was so interested in magic. Although, he had to concede that anyone would be interested in the unknown, especially something as unknown and elusive as magic. He couldn’t help but ask, "You don't know much about magic, do you?"

"I've never had the opportunity to learn. Erasima never had a high concentration of magic, whether that be astera or magicians. That's why a lot of people like to come visit, you know. No threats of the magical variety."

"We must have been unlucky to run into that astera the other day."

"Yeah. It must have been the only one around for miles."

That was just his luck, Of course, one of the only astera on the island had to be in the Sunmesto woods. It was like the world conspired to make his life ten times more difficult than it needed to be. He needed the tea more than he thought.

They sipped at the tea, lounging in the lull of customers. Not that he got an overwhelming amount of them. A town like Sunmesto wasn’t crawling with need for a medicine man, so business was slow but steady. He looked up from his tea when he noticed that the light streaming in from the window had taken on an orange tinge. He said, "You should start heading home. I don't want you walking about in the dark."

Severin stood up from the chair, "You're right. I'll see you tomorrow. I'll be sleeping well tonight. Thanks for the tea."

Severin proceeded to collect his belongings and stuff them into his bag. He slung the bag over his shoulder, making his way to the front door. He waved goodbye, which Galen returned.

Deciding that he ought to close shop, he started to clean the mess generated from the day's work. Once he finished, he poured himself another cup of tea, carrying it with him up to his room. He sat down on his bed, content with the events of the day.

He finished the rest of the tea and laid down, getting ready to sleep. The chamomile already weighed on his eyelids. Before he closed his eyes, he remembered how excited Severin looked about his magic. The genuine astonishment his face showed when he knew he was about to drink a potion. Maybe it wouldn’t be the end of the world if Severin became a magician. Severin would never hunt him down, nor would he betray Galen’s secrets. Severin was his friend. He had asked for Galen’s trust, and Galen had no reason to refuse him. If there was any human he trusted with magic, it was Severin.