He nodded curtly and pressed on. With his chest puffed up like a rooster ready to initiate his mating dance, Dr. Marris sauntered through the crowd. This was his moment to shine, and it looked like he was fully prepared to make the most of it. Bending down to pick up the shards of glass from my bottle, I momentarily lost track of the doctor in the mob.
Disposing of the glass shards in my hand in a nearby waste bucket, I tried to spot the source of the commotion. I made sure to keep my breathing under control as I made my way in the direction Dr. Marris had disappeared. Crowds didn’t scare me, but I knew I had to be vigilant, pickpockets were everywhere and I was carrying valuable tinctures and medicine.
I spotted Dr. Marris entering a pub and called out to him, but the cacophony of shouts and murmurs of the crowd drowned out my voice. Not much happened in Rivermond these days, so any kind of distraction was welcome. Thescene in front of us promised to be a great bit of gossip for the tittle-tattles and pub crawlers. I pushed forward at a brisker pace, not wanting to further upset Dr. Marris, when a strong hand gripped my upper arm and pulled me back violently. I nearly lost my balance and only managed to stay upright because the person I had stumbled into shoved me away with an angry look on their face.
Before I could apologize, they had already turned their backs on me and were once again focused on the pub. For a second, I had forgotten the reason for my near collision, but it came rushing back when someone yanked on my arm yet again. My eyes shot up, I was expecting to see some thug trying to rip my leather bag from my shoulder. But instead, a cleanly shaven young man with reddish hair and eerily light green eyes stared back at me. His features were sharp, almost too symmetrical, but lacked any signs of emotion. As if someone had brought a beautiful painting to life.
We stared at each other for a few heartbeats, his fingertips painfully digging into my arm. My initial surprise vanished and was quickly replaced by unease.
“Please, sir, let go of me,” I said calmly and tried to wiggle free from his firm grip. But the man did not budge, he was simply staring at me, as if he wasn’t even aware he was doing it.
Dr. Marris called my name and I turned slightly to look over to where I had last seen him. The man’s grip on me tightened and when I turned back toward him, his face was only inches away from mine.
“The God of Wisdom has called for you. He’s called your name across the veil. The prophecy stirs and so must you. Come with me. There’s no more time to pretend you’reordinary,” the man whispered.
I shuddered. His words had been barely audible, but they pulsed through me insistently. I didn’t understand them, not entirely, but they wrapped around something old and familiar inside me. For all the fear curling in my stomach, a strange certainty flickered beneath it. A quiet knowing that, somehow, he meant me no harm.
Before I could form a single word, Dr. Marris appeared at my side, snatching the medical bag from my shoulder with a sharp tug.
“What is going on here, Maelis? We have several victims to tend to, and you stand around chatting!” His eyes slid down to where the strange man was holding me and his features hardened. “Good man, please unhand my nurse. If you are in need of medical assistance, come by my surgery tomorrow.”
To my surprise, the man let go of my arm and retreated into the crowd, never taking his eyes off me.
* * *
The Moiraiwas a rather large pub with a more than questionable reputation. As I entered, it took a few seconds for my eyes to adjust to the dim light inside the tavern. My eyes quickly scanned the room for possible threats and exits, a habit I had honed over the years. For nearly a decade, pubs like these had been my home, if you could call it that. And although I had never stepped foot inside this particular establishment before, a sense of familiarity and longing overcame me.
This was not the time for a trip down memory lane, though. Dr. Marris hurried through the room into the back andgestured for me to follow him. As I entered the back room, the smell of blood and old cigarette smoke overwhelmed me. Several men sat hunched over on chairs or lay on the ground, some unconscious, some groaning in pain.
Dr. Marris took charge of the situation.
“While you were outside, taking your time getting here, I already triaged these men. The ones to the left are the ones who need immediate attention, I already placed two tourniquets, but I need you to check the wounds for me. Use the pond flower powder if needed.”
There was no pond flower powder, this was simply his way of telling me to use my heka. It was a risky thing to do in a room full of people, but I had no choice but to comply.
“Of course. Whatever you think is best,” I responded.
I’d grown used to moments like this: him barking orders, me obeying, the unspoken understanding that the miracles would be credited to his skill alone. Still, the unfairness of it gnawed at me every time. I was the one carrying the danger, the one who risked exposure with every breath of magic, yet it was his name that earned the praise and gratitude. Part of me wanted to scream, to make them all see the truth of what I was doing, but another part knew that recognition would only bring ruin. So I swallowed the bitterness and let the lie stand, as I always did.
The two men with stab wounds to their thigh and underarm were already unconscious due to the loss of blood, which made it easier for me to weave a spell.
I handed the medical bag to Dr. Marris and grabbed pen and paper from my pocket.
One breath. One act. One choice.
Do good. Stay clean. Hold steady.
Taking a deep breath, I focused on my heka and steeled myself for the inevitable rush of magic. Healing two wounds like this would take a lot from me, and I’d need to try and stay calm when the high of using my heka would hit me.
“Fates, I call upon your age-old wisdom.
Stop the bleeding in this man’s thigh
and leave no infection.
As I command, so it goes.”
I repeated the same charm for the second victim and stashed the parchments with the spells in my pocket, mentally setting a reminder to burn them as soon as I got back to the surgery. The high of my healing hit me straight away. My body tingled from head to toe, I tried to calm the excitement bubbling in my stomach. A manic laugh threatened to escape me, but I quickly covered it by coughing loudly, drawing Dr. Marris’ attention to me.
