Telhari tightened his jaw and narrowed his eyes at Egurd.

“Immortality… Is impossible.”

“You would say such a thing!” Egurd hissed. “Better to keep the secrets for yourself, hm?”

“You must believe me when I say that such ambitions will always lead to ruin.”

Egurd waved his hand in the air dismissively.

“Yes, yes I have read the stories…Studied the alchemical texts….” He then glanced up at Telhari with a crooked smile. “But have you heard, elfkin, of the Caducean Papyri?”

Telhari narrowed his eyes at Egurd. He knew the legend of Caduceus, the father of arcane philosophy in both the East and the West. All human magic could be derived from Caduceus’ teachings, including Aurellian Alchemy.

“The Caducean Papyri were lost centuries ago,” Telhari answered flatly.

Egurd wagged his finger in the air.

“Wrong again. You see, the Caducean Papyri were in fact taken by Caduceas’ most trusted disciple before his death. Knowing that he would be hunted for it, the disciple fled far into the East. Changing his name, and finally settling in a foreign land.”

“You believe the papyri came to Omnirius?”

“Precisely.” Egurd then continued, as a wild look came over him. “Over a hundred years ago, when the House of Rhoden seized power over Holun Caras, and the last blood of Omnir was exiled, the Rhoden’s burned countless texts compiled by centuries of Aurellian alchemists and magicians. The alchemists were blamed for corrupting the royal family, but they were men of science first. Destroying their life’s work was a crime of the highest order! Yet even still. Though thousands of pages burned, the Caducean Papyri survived.” Egurd began flipping through the pages scattered across the counter as he spoke. “Caduceus was a master of many things, and so naturally he came to the question of ‘Immortality.’ And in his wisdom, he devised a recipe for an elixir that was thought to grant eternal life.” Egurd shrugged his shoulders. “Evidently, he failed… but he was quite close. His recipe was nearly perfect.” He turned to face Telhari—a smile split his lips. “In fact, he was missing only one ingredient.”

Marybeth’s voice shook as she spoke. “…The children!?”

Egurd nodded.

“Surely you must be aware…that children have an extraordinary ability to heal.” Egurd then picked up a scalpel from the table and held it curiously in his hand.

Telhari tensed his body in response.

Egurd noticed this and smiled. He then put the pulp of his finger to the tip of the scalpel and pressed lightly, until a single drop of blood appeared.

“A simple wound may take weeks to close for an adult, and even then, may leave a scar for life. Yet children heal in half the time. They are resilient and can recover from seemingly impossible odds.” Egurd put down the scalpel and slowly walked around the counter. “I am not the only one to notice this. Even in old records there is mention of it. But I noticed something that others did not…”

Telhari followed him as he walked between the tables, matching him pace for pace. 

Egurd held his hand up to his chest.

“There is an organ, behind the sternum, that is present in children yet absent in adults.” Egurd held both his hands out in front of him, then raised his left hand with the palm up, as if holding a precious object. “At first, I wanted only to study the organ. But healthy children do not die young. They live and become adults. Adults die and can be autopsied, but do not have the organ. Unhealthy children die and can be autopsied, but they lack this organ. And so, you can see, there is no way to study or collect it…unless I resorted to other means.”

“By taking those kids and leading them to that monster!?” Mary cried.

Egurd threw his head back in frustration.

“I had no knowledge of the basilisk at first. I planned to lead them out to the forest where no one would hear them…where we wouldn’t be disturbed.” He looked at Marybeth as he spoke his next words. “Initially, I was just going to tie them down and gag them so they wouldn’t make a fuss. But we had traveled too deep into the forest. The child was taken by the creature’s miasma within minutes. Then, the beast came to feed. It must have smelled the blood from my work.” Egurd then shuddered. “When I saw it, I ran as fast as I could! But it did not chase me. I came back and saw that it had instead taken the boy’s body.” Egurd tapped his chin with his index finger. “It was tricky at first, I’ll admit. I was fearful of succumbing to the same affliction as the boy. At the time, I assumed the poison simply killed. But there were some animals that were fine, scampering about unperturbed.”  Egurd made his way over to a shelf lined with empty vials.  “I followed those animals and observed them. Those that seemed to be immune had in fact been feeding on the yellow flowered plants. So, I used those flowers to make a remedy for myself. To protect me from the creature’s poison. Then I returned again, with a new child. And, just as I had predicted, the medicine protected me…While the child was taken by the poison. Assuming they were dead, I began to cut…” Egurd paused, his eye’s glimmering with intrigue. “But as I continued, I realized that they were alive! Perfectly still— as if made of stone—”

“How could you do it!” Ellis stomped the ground and gritted his teeth. “They were awake! They could feel everything! Everything you did to them!”

“THEY WERE NOTHING! Do you understand!?” Egurd screamed. “Common filth! They would have spent their entire lives toiling away in some shit covered field, barely making enough for a piece of bread!”

Ellis stared back at Egurd but couldn’t bring himself to say anything. His fist was clenched around the handle of his sword and his arms shook violently with rage. Egurd looked at him and smiled, satisfied. 

“So why contact Palonius?” Telhari said as he moved from behind Ellis.

In response, Egurd turned to face Telhari.

“Precaution. I was worried that someone might notice something was amiss.” He held up his pointer finger. “The best lies are often as close to the truth as possible. Imagine my surprise when no one even noticed the children had gone missing!” Egurd shook his head. “A steady stream of gullible huntsman would keep the beast fed so that wouldn’t bother me, thus allowing me to continue my work in peace. And when I was done? I would simply dispose of the bodies.”

He took a booklet of papers from off his desk and held them in the air. “Thanks to the creature’s poison, I could study the organ— everything about it! I could learn its secrets…harvest it.” Egurd then tossed the papers back onto the desk. “Thanks to my research, those children were saved from living a wasted life. They can become something more.” Egurd lowered his gaze onto a glass vial that lay open on the counter. He picked it up and turned it over in his hand; there was a light brown residue on the inside.

“And you think all of that…killing all those innocent kids was worth some stupid papers?” Mary asked him as the tears ran down her face.

He looked up at her with a profound curiosity.

“Of course.”

Telhari stepped forward and raised his blade to Egurd, pointing it at the center of his chest.

“Where is the elixir?”

“Where is it!?” Egurd threw his head back and laughed. Then, he pounded his chest. “You are witnessing it! Right in front of your eyes, elfkin!” He threw the empty vial against the cellar wall, shattering it to pieces. Egurd then exhaled deeply. “Immortality.” Egurd now began to walk slowly towards Telhari. “How does it feel, elfkin?” he asked, cocking his head to one side. “To behold that which even your people, with all their magic and self-proclaimed knowledge, have yet been unable to master!?”

Telhari drew back his blade and leveled it at Egurd.

“And what do you hope to do with that!?” Egurd laughed. “I am beyond death!” he declared.

“I am immort—”

“AHHH!”

Ellis screamed as he pushed past Telhari and charged forward, plunging his sword into Egurd’s stomach. The man wore no armor, and so even with minimal skill, Ellis’ sword slipped right through his body. Ellis did not expect such little resistance; and as his blade sliced into Egurd, he was unable to control his momentum. Ellis crashed into Egurd and the two stumbled backwards.

“Elli—!”

Marybeth tried to call out, but her words had left her.

Egurd pushed Ellis off of him and looked down at the blade hilt sticking out of his gut.

“What…what did you do!?”

Ellis stepped backward— he couldn’t look the man in the face.

“I-I’m sorry, I…”

Egurd tried to grip the handle and pull; but as the blade loosened, blood began to pour from his wound. He winced and quickly let go. Gripping the counter’s edge, Egurd started to pull himself along, making his way toward the wooden door. The strength in his legs was leaving him and his knees started to buckle. Trailing blood as he went, Egurd managed only a few paces more. Suddenly, he lost balance and fell forward, having slipped on the blood that was running down his leg. Too weak to protect himself, his head slammed into the side of the counter, and he hit the floor. Egurd groaned and pushed himself onto his back, all the while squirming on the floor in terrible pain. Try as he might, control over his own body was fading— along with his vision and awareness. His legs twitched one at a time, unable to move in any coordinated manner. Egurd’s arms moved desperately, reaching out for everything and nothing. He struggled a few moments more before he finally became still. Egurd’s eyes, only moments ago alive with fury, now faded entirely and remained fixed, as if gazing at some distant wonder. One final gasp of air left his chest; and then he was gone.

Doctor Egurd was dead.

Ellis had killed him.

Telhari waited in silence, but neither of the two children had moved an inch. Marybeth stood still, staring at the wall; though, occasionally her gaze drifted toward her friend. Ellis remained in front of the wooden counter, staring down at the blood stains on the floor. Sighing heavy, Telhari made his way toward Egurd’s body.

“We must alert the militia of the doctor’s actions.” Telhari sidestepped a pool of blood and squatted down next to the body. He placed his hand over the doctor’s eyes and closed them. “Ellis…” Telhari began as he pulled the blade from the doctor’s gut and stood up. “Take your sword.”

He held out the blade to Ellis, but he did not move. Blood ran down to the tip— it was beginning to thicken.

“If we are quick, we may be able to gain another audience with Palonius and explain the situation.”

Telhari walked over to Ellis and brought the sword to his hand, but Ellis wouldn’t take it. He was beyond words. Instead, Ellis looked up at Telhari with tears running down his face— pleading. 

“He…he deserved to die, right?”

Telhari lowered his hand from Ellis’ but couldn’t bring himself to answer.

He had lived for centuries. He had practiced the highest orders of world altering magic and sung with the greatest philosophers of his people. He had spent countless hours studying the deep mysteries of the world and the great works of old. There were a thousand things he could say. But looking down at the face of this young man, he could think of none. What he did next, however, was something Telhari never imagined he would do.

Telhari put one arm around Ellis’ shoulder and pulled him close.

He said no words of wisdom and gave no solemn critique.

He simply held him there and said nothing as Ellis sobbed softly into his vest.