The street was nearly empty. In these final hours of sunlight, the remaining merchants had finished closing up their shops for the night. And so, as the trio walked down the main road, they heard only the sound of their own boots against the cobbled stone.

“Telhari?” Mary asked, “Where are we going?”

When he did not answer her, she pressed him further.

“Is something the matter?”

Telhari stopped so suddenly that Marybeth almost crashed into him. Ellis came up behind her and they both followed Telhari’s gaze toward an adjacent store front.

“Doctor Egurd’s Apothecary and Triage?” Mary read out loud. “Who is that?”

The door to the apothecary was closed and the windows were shut. Telhari listened, but he heard no sounds from inside. He approached the door and pulled on the handle, but it was locked. Reaching in his back pocket, he pulled out a leather bundle and unraveled it in his hands. He then carefully withdrew two fine metal tools and stooped low until he was level with the lock.

“Keep guard,” he told them.

Ellis and Mary looked concernedly at each other, but ultimately they did as they were told. While the two kept watch, Telhari fiddled with the lock for a few moments until there was a click. By the time Ellis and Marybeth had turned around, the door was slightly ajar and Telhari was standing in front of the doorway with his sword drawn.

“Stay outside.”

“No way,” Mary insisted, “Whatever you’re doing, we want in!”

“There is nothing good that awaits you inside. You should listen and stay put.”

“Whatever is inside,” Ellis said, “We can handle it.”

His eyes burned with determination.

Telhari sighed.

“Fine. But you will stay behind me at all times and do as I say.”

Telhari slowly pushed the door open and stepped inside the house. It was dark, nearly pitch black. Ellis and Marybeth would no doubt have trouble seeing, but Telhari’s sight was still keen, even in such conditions. Telhari moved silently around the shop’s counter and looked down. There was a rug on the floor, between the shelves of herbs and the counter. Evidently, someone had been in a rush because the rug was placed askew; and shining up from the slim space between floorboards was a faint ray of light. Telhari bent down and slowly removed the rug the rest of the way. As he did so, Marybeth and Ellis came up behind him.

“What is it?” Ellis whispered.

Telhari held up his hand, signaling him to be quiet. Moving his hands slowly across the floor, Telhari felt his fingers trace the edge of a metal ring. He closed his grip and pulled slowly so as not to make any fast movements. As he lifted the hatch, a dim orange glow drifted out from beneath, revealing a wooden staircase. It was a tight fit for Telhari, and the cellar below was just barely tall enough for him to stand; but there was another problem.

Someone is down there…

Telhari could hear the rifling of papers and small trinkets below. He then lowered his head towards the opening and peered into the cellar. From this vantage, he could see two shadows, both of them unmoving. Someone down there was keeping busy at the far end of the room, while two others stood guard near the staircase. He could tell from his position that the staircase descended into the middle of an open room—once he went down, he would have no place to hide. If he jumped down, he could gain the element of surprise; but he could not bring the other two along. Telhari looked over his shoulder at the two of them and shook his head. Their eyes pleaded to him, but he shook his head firmly once more. 

Telhari then stood up abruptly and drew a seven-inch knife from a sheath on his right thigh. He made a mental note of the positions of the individuals: based on sound and the position of their shadows. Then, he stepped off the edge and dropped into the cellar below.

Telhari landed without a sound. Unfortunately, one of the men happened to be facing his direction when he did. Even though he was caught, judging by the wide-eyed expression on the man’s face, Telhari still had the element of surprise.

“What the—!”

The man fumbled over his words before quickly recovering himself. He drew his own sword and came at Telhari.

Sellswords, then.

The man swung his blade at Telhari from the left. Instead of blocking or parrying, Telhari sidestepped and brought his knife to the man’s throat. It slipped in as if through butter and, with a quick turn of his wrist, Telhari twisted and pulled the knife out. The man dropped his sword and made a horrible retching sound before falling forward onto the ground as blood pooled beneath him. Safe for the moment, Telhari turned around to survey the room.

The other man was coming at him— two hands placed on his longsword, charging a direct path forward. Behind the man, Telhari caught a glimpse of Egurd’s face as he slipped behind a shelf overflowing with haphazardly strewn parchment and thin metal containers decorated with foreign symbols. Telhari sank low and readied his blade. The man’s strike came from the center—an easy parry. Telhari brought his blade up at an angle and infused it with a contained burst of magic. On impact, there was a small spark of lightning that danced down the blade and into the man’s arm. He cried out in pain and dropped the sword as his arm spasmed. Wasting no time, Telhari dashed between the tables and fallen benches toward the far corner of the room where he had seen Egurd.

As he came upon the other side of a large wooden worktable he saw Egurd fumbling with a set of keys, trying desperately to unlock a large wooden door. Egurd had only one free hand with which to maneuver the keys because the other was wrapped around a large leather briefcase.

Not a chance.

Telhari took aim, and within a second he loosed the knife from his right hand. It cut through the air, catching the ring of keys, and sank into the wooden door. Egurd stared at his empty hands in a moment of shock. He then looked up at Telhari; but his line of sight soon drifted to just beyond Telhari’s left shoulder.

Telhari spun around and caught the man’s arm as he brought his blade down in a surprise attack. The man tried to overpower him, but it was no use. Instead, using his free hand, the man reached into his pocket and pulled out a crossbow bolt, stabbing at Telhari’s chest. Before he could impact, Telhari brought his knee up and knocked the air out of his lungs. The man gagged and doubled over. Then, out of the corner of his eyes Telhari saw movement. He turned to catch sight of Egurd fleeing back towards the staircase, still clutching his leather briefcase. He made it to the platform and wrapped his hand around the banister of the staircase.

“No, you don’t!”

In a flash, Ellis jumped down and crashed into Egurd. Egurd, who was larger than Ellis, managed to avoid being taken to the ground, and instead caught himself on a wooden beam that supported the ceiling. Ellis, having clumsily charged into the fray, lost his footing and tripped over a fallen stool.

“Ellis!” Marybeth cried out as she rushed down after him.

Egurd looked frantically at his hired sword.

“GET THEM!” 

The man tried, with one last effort to make a grab at the two kids; but he made it only one step forward before Telhari’s blade stuck him from behind. He gasped and fell to the ground. In seconds, he had bled out enough to lose consciousness and become still. Telhari slowly stepped around the man’s body, positioning himself directly in front of Egurd who held tightly to his briefcase.

Ellis and Marybeth stared at the two bodies on the ground, then at Telhari and Egurd.

Egurd adjusted himself against the large wooden table, standing as tall as he could.

“Well…I suppose I should thank you. For eliminating the creature, that is.”

“Basilisk,” Telhari corrected, “Or were you unaware?”

“I must confess,” Egurd answered with a snide tone, “I didn’t really care what it was.”

“Just as long as you were able to continue your experimentation?”

Egurd laughed to himself.

Telhari glared at him.

“I will give you one chance to surrender, Egurd. After that, there will be no other.”

“Telhari…” Ellis was standing now, his hand gripped tightly around the hilt of his sword. “What is he on about?”

“You know?” Egurd quipped, “I heard a rather funny story in the market earlier today. There was talk that a pointy-eared man had killed a monster with his niece and nephew.” He raised his eyebrows at Telhari. “I never took you for the sentimental type.”

Telhari did not take the bait.

“Once the old man told you I had killed the creature, you knew I would come for you next?”

“Do not flatter yourself!” Egurd spat. “I was prepared to leave regardless. Whether you felled the creature or not.”

“Surrender,” Telhari said once again, “And we will take you to the jailer.”

“And for what crime are you suggesting I have committed?”

Telhari did not answer him.

Egurd studied him for a few moments, then smiled to himself.

“How desperate, indeed. You have no proof I’ve done anything, do you? Only a hunch. While I, on the other hand, have witnessed you dispatch two men right in front of my eyes. How abhorrent of you.” Egurd rested his hand on his hip and looked at Telhari.

In return, Telhari pointed the tip of his blade at the briefcase.

“I wonder…What exactly we might find inside there?”

Egurd frowned in response.

“As I said,” Telhari continued, “Turn yourself in and face the court’s justice. Or are you afraid you may not be so fortunate? That you will be found guilty?” Telhari let his words sink in. He could see the weight of every syllable on Egurd’s face, like a vicious wave pulling him down into the dark waters below. “Afraid that they will sentence you to death?”

“What would you know if it!?” Egurd’s eyes became wild. “You have no right to speak to me about death. Your kind have no fear of old age or illness, do you!?” He stuck up his nose. “How old are you, then? How many centuries have you lived? How many kingdoms have been raised and fell to ruin while you’ve idled the time away!?”

Telhari looked over Egurd with a complicated mix of pity and disgust.

“What did you do to those children?” he asked.

Egurd drew himself up to full height but said nothing.

“What did you do to them!” Marybeth shouted from behind Telhari.

Egurd shot her a venomous stare.

“They will live on in me,” he declared. “And through me, they will help humanity take its first glorious steps on the path toward our enlightenment. No longer will we live in fear of death…” he added as he shot a look at Telhari. “We will thrive as we were always meant to! With all the time we could ever need…”

Telhari tightened his jaw and narrowed his eyes at Egurd.

"Immortality..."