Eight Intertwined

57 - Ellen

Once the group had dispersed, Alfyn took a small breath as he looked around the entrance to Goldshore. His gaze eventually found the ocean nearby, and a smile appeared on his face. "Ah... Nothing quite like a town by the sea!" he exclaimed. Alfyn inhaled the scent of the crashing waves, though he was cut off by a series of coughs that showed just how much he disagreed with the smell. "Even if the air is a bit briny for my liking."

He shook it off to the best of his ability, deciding that he wanted to go and dip his toes into the water for a few minutes. It would be a nice way to decompress after all the traveling they had done that day, and given that they had to fight against Bifelgan along the way, the break would certainly be welcome. Given the fact that there were stone steps leading down to the water, Alfyn could only assume that it was a popular spot for locals to relax as well, and he took that as his cue to start walking to the stairs that would take him to his paradise of relaxation.

"Did you hear? Old Zeke's been stricken too. That's ten in just a week!"

The sound of a young man's voice from nearby was enough to make Alfyn stop, and he turned to see that a trio of men were standing together and talking. All three of them wore expressions of concern, and Alfyn could only imagine that whatever they were talking about was solemn as could be. He paused on the spot and did what he could to pick up on the traces of their conversation. After all, it sounded as if they were in need of an apothecary, and who would be a better man for the job than Alfyn himself?

The oldest man of the three shook his head as he looked toward the ground. "The fever's spreading fast. Whatever are we to do?" he murmured. 

The third man, who appeared to be about Cyrus' age, snapped his fingers together in recognition before speaking. "Now that you mention it, I hear there's a traveling apothecary in town," he commented. 

Alfyn's eyes went wide at that, and he wondered how they had known that he was there. After all, he hadn't been given the chance to tell anyone about his occupation since arriving. Perhaps it was his satchel that had given him away. Maybe one of the others had mentioned it to the other occupants of the town and news had spread that way. Who was to say? Either way, it seemed as if word had spread fast, and that only made him want to listen in on the conversation at hand more.

"They say she whipped up a tonic that cured one boy's fever overnight!" the third man continued, still completely unaware as to what Alfyn was trying to do a few yards away.

Alfyn's eyes went wide at his words. "'She'...?" he whispered. A smile spread across his face at the realization that the traveling apothecary in question had to be someone else. Either way, it was fine with him. "So I've got a colleague in town. Wonder if she'd be interested in talkin' shop."

Before Alfyn could hear much else from the conversation taking place nearby, a young girl came dashing up the stairs that Alfyn had set his sights on before he decided to listen in on the chat the three men were having. Her hair was a deep auburn color, shining with tints of red in the midday sun. Her dress was a splendid red color at the back and a delicate cream at the front with a few traces of sand along the edges. In other words, she had been playing at the beach before deciding to head out and see the rest of the town.

Unfortunately for her, she wasn't able to get very far. She only made it a few feet away from the steps before she tripped over a snag in the road and was sent sprawling forward. "Ow!" she cried as she hit the ground, her voice squeaking and cracking on the way down. She pushed herself back so she was sitting slowly and carefully before looking down at her knee which now sported a notable red gash across the surface. "Ow... It hurts..." she murmured, her voice wavering like she was on the verge of tears.