Ellie honestly couldn’t properly describe the next three days even remotely accurately if she tried. It was mostly just hiking, trudging, treading, and in short, walking. Lots and lots of walking. Of the few distinct things that Ellie remembered from this trip, it was that her ankle had begun to sting terribly during the second day and at lunch had discovered that she had a huge, irate looking blister right on the jutting bone of her right ankle. It seemed that the shoes she had borrowed from the deceased daughter of Marie Barclay were indeed a touch too small and had rubbed that spot on her ankle raw. Chevias had given her some sort of medicine in a little jar to rub on it and a rag to tie over it. To her relief, it wasn’t the same dark red rag he used to wipe blood on.

Although Ellie had tried to engage Afina in more conversation, the elf seemed to not want to talk to her, Instead she chose to stalk behind the other two, arms crossed and a slight frown on her face. Chevias was much easier to talk to, but it seemed that every time he opened his mouth Afina’s mood would drop even further, hanging over Ellie and Chevias’ otherwise pleasant talks.

One day he told her about the time he had scaled a tree from the Deep Forest all the way to the center of the canopy to find some rare fruit and had been attacked by a band or tree bound goblins. “The hardest part was not getting the fruit covered in blood,” he had said with a laugh. Ellie chuckled nervously.

The next day he told her about a fish he’d found called a specter. It was a rare kind of fish that’s skin and scales are so transparent, you could see all of its innards. Bones, organs, even its brain! “It’s got a soft spot right on the back of its skull, like a baby. If you poke it there it spazzes out and you can see all its insides twitching like crazy!”

“That’s so cool!”

Afina scoffed and mumbled, “More like disgusting.”

The next day he recounted the tale of how he had broken into the deepest record halls of the Northwind royal library to record what some musty old book said. It was an exciting story in Ellie’s opinion, but Afina had been outraged. “The royal library is for court members, appointed scholars, and those with special permission only! Breaking into it is a capital offence!”

Chevias waved dismissively, “Look elf, let me give you some sage advice. Sometimes things just need to be done, the law be-” he glanced at Ellie, “danged.”

He looked back at her, “And you’re only in trouble if you get caught.”

There weren’t many more highlights that Ellie could recall about these three days on the road, as they were mostly filled with inane chatter between her and Chevias while they ignored more of Afina’s snide comments. Ellie was a polite girl, so though she would never dare to utter it, she was thinking that Afina was quite the wet blanket. Although she would feel a bit sad saying goodbye to Chevias in a few more days, she would be more than happy to finally part from the rude, sulking elf.

She had expected this fifth day since leaving Tyman to be just as monotonous as the last. But the morning she woke up, she noticed that Chevias was the first one awake again and unusually chipper.

Afina grumbled at him and swiped sleep sand from her eyes, “What are you grinning about? It’s creepy.”

Ignoring her, he turned to Ellie as she twisted to crack her back. It let out a fire of pops and snaps. “I hope you don’t miss sleeping on the ground too much, cause this was the last time.”

“What? But we’re still about two days away from Flatrend.”

“We are, but there’s an inn-let’s call it a witch’s inn-that I can get us into.”

Afina sat up in alarm, “What? What do you mean?”

“I mean that there’s an inn that specially set up for witches like me to rest at. Normally the only humans allowed there are the ones who work there-and elves usually aren’t allowed at all-but I’ve got you covered.”

Afina immediately started shaking her head, “No. No, no, no, NO! There’s no way you’re gonna get me to sleep in a building run by witches!”

Chevias gave her a polite smile, before turning to Ellie, “Do you have a problem with it?”

Ellie shook her head.

He turned back to the glowering elf, “In that case, it’s two against one. If you hate it that much, you can move on without us.”

They held eye contact for a while, Afina glaring like she wanted to wring Chevias’ neck while he smirked smugly.

“…Fine. Whatever.”

Chevias clapped, “Great! Let’s get moving then! We can probably make it there at around seven or so.”

The trip there was a quiet one on account of Afina’s borderline murderous glare at Chevias, but he held true to his word. The sun was just starting to sink below the trees when he led them off the path again. This time a light dirt trail appeared a few feet off of the road, shady and hidden but clearly well kept from the lack of debris. They walked along this dirt road for what Ellie would call an eternity-but was more like eight minutes-before the inn broke through the trees.

It was hardly an inn. It stood looming in the forest, tall trees draped over its steeply pitched roof, obscuring the two chimneys that jutted out of the black slates. It was four stories tall, and shaped like a T, with two wings stretching from the main portion. It had balconies lining walls on every floor and a shady porch that’s door was almost completely hidden in shadow. Aside from the balcony entrances, it had narrow slivers for windows that peered like black eyes from black frames. It had a funny little tower at the top that was open on all sides save waist high posts that reminded Ellie of an odd little structure in Flatrend’s only park. A gazebo, she remembered it was called. The top of the gazebo had an odd design that looked something like a crab and a scorpion combined.

Ellie couldn’t believe that such a place was just about a day’s walk from Flatrend, yet she’d never heard of it.

As they approached, Ellie saw that the inn that was more like a mansion was not, as she first thought, painted black. The slates were a deep, dark crimson that flared brightly as the light of the setting sun set. It reminded her a touch of the dragon scale roof of her home in Flatrend, but those were a much brighter scarlet.

Although Ellie couldn’t help but shiver as the cold shadow of this massive building fell over her, Chevias wasn’t at all deterred and seemed overjoyed at the sight of the house’s visage. He picked up his pace and climbed up the steps of the porch, nearly vanishing in the heavy shadows. Ellie heard the solid thumping as Chevias knocked.

Feeling a little emboldened by his lack of fear, she cautiously climbed up the steps to stand behind him. The knocker on the ornate and heavy looking door was a highly polished copper and shaped into an intricate eagle’s head. It was holding a wreath of tiny flowers and mice in its sharp and angled beak. Chevias knocked again, harder this time. Ellie was surprised he didn’t dent the door.

There was shuffling and scuffling and murmuring behind the door. Chevias frowned and cupped his hand over his mouth, “Hello? Hey, you’ve got guests!”

The shuffling stopped for a moment before what sounded like scurrying. It was quiet for a moment before the door cracked open. Ellie only saw a hint of fingers behind the door before it was thrown open.

The woman who came to greet them was fairly young, but her face was marred by a large scar that crossed from well above her right temple and to just below her left eye. It seemed that the wound had cleaved right through the bridge of her nose, leaving the impression that it had been haphazardly stitched back onto her face. As a result, she had to breathe out of her mouth and kept her lips parted all the time.

Aside from this, she was utterly normal looking. She had brown hair tied back into a tight bun, brown eyes, and a black dress with a white apron. She was very clearly a human being. She smiled at Chevias, “Master Ias. It’s wonderful to have you here again.” Her voice was slightly nasally and wet.

Chevias smiled, “Nice to see you.”

She guided him into the foyer and he motioned Ellie to follow. Ellie glanced back at Afina, who was still at the foot of the porch steps. “Are you coming?”

Afina stared into the dark exterior, tapping her foot and nibbling her knuckle, “…Yeah.” She hopped lightly up the stairs and followed Ellie inside.

The servant guided them to the center of the foyer and motioned for them to stop, “Please wait here Sir. I’m sure Lady Era would be pleased to greet you personally.” She stepped out of the foyer and disappeared.

It was clear what the theme of this place was; red. Everything in this house was some shade of red. The wood was a deep, red stained chestnut, cushions were bright scarlet, the walls were a pale pink with darker red rose patterns, and the carpet was a rich shade of burgundy. Although everything was very ornate and cushy looking, Ellie’s eyes were getting weary.

‘First those lights in the bunker, now this? Do witches have some kind of affinity for the color red?’ Afina seemed just as uncomfortable as Ellie did.

It wasn’t long before they heard someone thumping down the stairs. The servant rushed in ahead of her mistress.

Lady Era was, it turned out, a very beautiful young lady. She was probably about Chevias’ age-though it occurred to Ellie now that she didn’t actually know how old Chevias was-and had a beaming smile on her face. She was petite and had long, flowing hair like golden threads. What made Ellie take a step back was that her eyes were massive. They were lovely and had long fluttering lashes, but they were unusually large, like a doll. Oh, and the little fact that they were the color of a robin’s feathers.

She held out her arms as she approached Chevias, “Chev! It’s been too long!” She clearly tried to go in for a hug before Chevias smiled politely and clapped her shoulder, “Nice to see you Viscera.”

Her smile faltered a bit but she backed off, “So, what brings you to these parts?”

“I’m on my way to Northwind. Just stopping by for the night. Can you get us some rooms?”

“Us?” She peaked around behind him, only just now noticing his traveling companions. Her face fell into a frightening look of absolute disdain, but was quickly replaced by a mask of indifference. “Ah.”

She paused before taking a deep breath and striding over to Ellie and Afina, “I am Viscera, caretaker of this establishment. Normally your kind aren’t allowed here, but since you’re Chev’s…companions, exceptions will be made.” She held out her hand for Afina to shake. She took it half-mindedly, frowned, then looked down and recoiled in shock. Viscera paid no mind to this, but turned to Ellie to shake her hand. This time Ellie saw what was wrong.

Lady Viscera only had four digits; three fingers and a thumb. And it wasn’t as though she had lost it in an accident. Ellie could plainly see that her left hand was missing one as well, but the oddest part was that it almost seemed like there wasn’t one missing at all. Ellie’s brain scrambled and she tried to make sense of it as she shook Viscera’s deformed hand. Her palms were much narrower than normal, so there was simply no space for a fifth one anyway.

The doll-like lady spun around and snapped her present fingers, “Marie! Please see that dinner is being made properly. I will personally guide our guests to their rooms.” Before Marie could leave for her task, Viscera walked to her and took Marie’s hand in hers. After a stern look, Viscera let go and Marie bowed deeply, then bustled off while Viscera ushered the trio out of the foyer and up the stairs.

Ellie noted that the main room had two grand staircases, the entrances to the left and right wings of the house, and a magnificent chandelier that dangled over the center of the room. It was mostly empty save some small tables and elegant white vases full of red roses and some decorative paintings. The first landing on the staircase had an enormous painting of a young girl in a white dress running through a field of scarlet flowers. Poppies, if Ellie remembered correctly from her time flipping through Nancy the herbalist lady’s collection of herbology books.