Shadowfire & The Nymph

Chapter Eighteen

Kali and Sage decided to stay with Madam Jadia for the evening – the thought of climbing that monstrous mountain had them both cringing.

Madam Jadia was more than happy about their stay, since she could ask them to grind herbs, dilute liquid medicines and run between the lab – a small, dark bricked building in the North of Rhydwen that housed one resident medicinal researcher. The dim, cramped space bubbling with a variety of thick, potent smells flashed in Kali's mind. She didn't enjoy visiting the lab.

Kali tied her braids back into one hair tie and savoured the gentle breeze kissing her warm neck. It had been two days since Sage had been attacked, and they hadn't dared gone home. Their grandmother would have locked him inside for all eternity if she caught wind of what happened, and she would have Kali's head on a spike in the front garden for not bringing him home straight away. Sage had agreed in not telling her or Ivy. Guilt ran between them both, but it was necessary for their own sanity.

Sage poured over an old scroll he had "borrowed" from the public library. Well, the basement below the public library, where they kept all the age fragile scrolls and tombs that needed to be protected against the sun's harsh rays.

He had been slipping in and out of there for years, taking what he wanted without anyone realising. Kali thought it might have something to do with the young woman working behind the front desk who fluttered her eyelashes at him every time he sidled past.

Sage had always been a flirt, ever since he sprouted his first beard hair – and that was all that sprouted – he walked around thinking he was desired by every person in Rhydwen. An arrogant ass, Kali had called him. Though it was true, he was handsome, her brother. Their grandmother said he looked as though he could be his father's twin, though she never went into much detail regarding their parents.

The night sky loomed in the near distance; the peach tones transcending into a blistering red before unfurling into a beautiful gradient of sea-foam blue. The stars were out in force this evening, twinkling and glowing in unison. Breathing in the crisp air, Kali looked over her shoulder to the tent flaps blowing in the gentle breeze.

"Find anything interesting?" She asked. He had been obsessing over the Fae and their history since Madam Jadia mentioned it.

Silence.

"Sage?" She craned her neck around the tent flaps to find him furrow-browed and hunching over a dusty black tomb on the small table before him. She would practically see the thread of concentration fraying from his mossy green eyes, spilling onto the sprawled text.

He hummed his response.

"I said, did you find anything interesting?" She crossed the thick, velvety rug and knelt next to her brother, still feeling overwhelmingly thankful he was still breathing. She had stayed up most of last night checking on his breathing and making sure none of his very, very thin scrapes and gashes had become infected and life threatening. Madam Jadia has simply tutted and told her to go to sleep.

"Nothing about the human queen or her son. These books date back centuries before them," he clucked his tongue, disappointment brimming in his tone. He leaned his head against his curled knuckle and sighed deeply as he flicked the page.

"It's nothing I haven't read before, Kal." He shook his head, slamming the book shut and instantly grimacing at the groaning spine. He had always found the written word fascinating – staying up all night reading and writing had been a regular occurrence for him... that was until he began drinking his way through the city and bedding near every young woman in sight.

"Keep looking, I'm sure you'll find something." Kali tapped his shoulder and got to her feet. She still hadn't properly processed the information Madam Jadia had dropped on them, that they were supposedly children of the Seven. It sounded mad. Ivy was on deaths' black, misted doorstep for Gods' sake. Surely she would have inherited their strength and physical wellness? She quirked her mouth to the side.