An Immortal's Favour

Gale- For a Friend

*

Exhausted, I stopped to rest at my hut, a tiny, cosy thing where few people were likely to bother me.

Minutes progressed into hours before I came out once more. It must've been the next day; the sky, now smoky lilac, came to life. A biting chill floated through the air, and I pulled my shawl tighter around me, placing my cloth bag beneath it.

It felt strange, being back. My red tea plants had wilted in my absence, curving towards the ground as if their want of proper care was crippling. I made a note to water them later.

My heart climbed into my throat at the thought of what I planned to do. I clenched and unclenched my fingers in a repeated cycle to distract myself with something, falling into step with two other immortals, who were deep in conversation. I kept my eyes ahead and sped up.

When I finally arrived at Immortal Apparis' mansion, I took in a deep breath. The dwelling, caught between the winding branches of spider trees, was shrouded in the shadow of the leaves that shook over it. The air around it seemed to prickle.

The immortals of Illusion Valley nodded at me as I went by, though confused at what business an elemental had in their locality. I went up to the grand door and rapped my knuckles hard against it. No answer. Taking a step back, I steeled myself before knocking once more.

"Enter," a quiet voice beckoned. I pushed at the door, wiping its dust off of my hands on the skirt of my dress as a helper came forward, bowing to me while I made my way to the ground floor workshop. If I couldn't pull off my trick a second time...

I plunged into darkness. "Ris? I'm back. I have the things you need." I brought out my bag.

A single candle flickered from a lone corner, dispersing the darkness there. Apparis' olive-toned face, gaunt in the candle's watery light, appeared.

"Do want me to open the curtains, or-"

"No. Come over."

I listened, shuffling past furniture and discarded plants to get to her. Apparis laid the candle on a worktable, next to her bag of tools. "I'm about to start brewing."

"I thought you'd used up all the sacred water."

"I have."

"And you just knew I'd be here, right now?"

"Lucky guess." She shrugged, taking the bag out of my hands stiffly. Her lips pursed, and her light eyebrows were furrowed. She took out what she needed: the extra rations of sacred water I'd swiped for her, the binding fluid. Apparis also plucked a few labelled jars from the rack attached to the wall behind her. The blood inside glowed red in the candlelight.

I made myself useful, picking out empty vials from one of her many drawers. Apparis swept her gaze over me, brushing her long, black hair out of her eyes.

"Matching vials again?" she commented, nodding at those that I'd selected.

"Is there anything wrong with that?"

"Not particularly, unless you plan on sneaking out more of my brews from under my nose."

Two of the glass vials I held nearly slipped from my fingers; I only just caught them.