Heir of Dust and Wind

Chapter 3 - Anderson's Bookshop

Ava surged awake. 

Her heart was in her throat and her breath came out raggedly and too rapidly. Her tank top clung to her sweat-damp skin. She could feel it running down her chest and back. The sheets were a wet mess around her.

She had dreamed of it again. Alistair. The accident. The blinding white heat in her hands. His wild-eyed rejection.

At least this time she didn't have to throw up. Progress, she told herself but failed to sound convincing even in her own head.

Ever since that night to weeks ago, she had woken each night from the same nightmare which had caused violent nausea in most cases. 

Mercifully, the bathroom was right next to her room and Tina slept like a log. Maybe she should check one of the books on overcoming traumatic experiences that Mr Anderson kept in the store.

She jumped when the alarm clock on her bedside table went off.

Turning off the alarm, she untangled herself from the sheets and got out of bed to get a shower before Tina got into the bathroom to start one of her lengthy esoteric cleansing rituals. She really needed to wash off last night's nightmare.

Slipping into the bathroom, she made the mistake to look at herself in the mirror. 

Her hair, that couldn't quite decide if it was blonde or brown, was a bird's nest on top of her head. Her skin gleamed with sweat and her eyes looked dull and bleary, her irises sluggish neither brown nor green - just as undecided as her hair. The dark circles below them seemed to get more prominent each time she relived this horrible night in her sleep.

Outside, she could hear Tina's door opening, so she got into the shower quickly, letting the hot water revive her as much as possible. 

At least today was Thursday. It was her task to lock up the shop tonight with Mr Anderson and Mrs Kosnetsky having their free afternoon.

As much as she liked their company, she also enjoyed the quiet of the store for herself, which usually wasn't that busy in the afternoon. She used the time to organise and restock the shelves. Inhaling the smell of new arrivals and enjoying the texture of the volumes in the second-hand section beneath her fingertips. 

Furthermore, Ava still felt uncomfortable being around Mrs Kotsnetsky after what had happened to her nephew. Even though Alistair had not suffered any kind of injury - a fact that neither of the witnesses nor the paramedics had been able to explain - neither of them seemed comfortable addressing the topic. Not that Ava minded the silence, no, she actually preferred that to be forced to do Smalltalk, but somehow it seemed less companionable these days. She could only hope the whole disaster would blow over soon. Then everything would be back to normal.

*****

Trygve stood in one of the small alleys that wound their way from the main streets of the city centre. Vines climbing old buildings and small storefronts drowned out the bustle of vehicles and pedestrians. Anderson's Bookstore was right across the street, the signature's pungent smell strong and clear.

It had been quite a hunt to finally find this one. The old woman - despite her frail appearance - had quite animatedly and rather extensively reported that there had been an accident the night before. A young man had been hit by some vehicle.

Despite the lengthy account, Trygve had been delighted to hear that he had been taken to a hospital. As there were only three in this city, it had been easy to find the novice, Alistair, and who had picked him up after he had been declared uninjured despite the accident. Yet another hopeful sign that he might succeed at completing two trials.

Trygve now stood in front of the store whose owner had picked up the young man from the clinic. Given the strength of the signature, this had to be Alistair's workplace. Upon finding that it was a bookstore, his slight optimism had somewhat dimmed. In his experience scholars did not have a lot of the physical and mental skills that made them fit to survive the challenges of a sorcerer to be.

Pushing away from the wall he had leaned on, he started walking towards the store. He was filled with the mix of dread and hope that was common for the conclusion of his assignments. While each presented another opportunity to be finally free of Frode and the Council, so far, every one of them had resulted in miserable failure. He could only hope that the promise of Alistair's signature wasn't kindling false hopes for his salvation.

*****

Ava looked up from one of the latest novels that had come in, being abruptly taken from the lavender fields of southern France by the jingle of the shop door opening.

As there had been no customers this afternoon and she had completed all her tasks, she'd let herself take a look, carefully opening the book to not break its spine.

She had already opened her mouth to welcome the customer when she paused open-mouthed. The man who had just entered was so tall he had to duck to not hit his head on the low door frame of the old building. He was not only tall but also broad. He wore a dark grey suit that fit his frame marvellously and yet it did not quite suit him. Ava couldn't put her finger on it, but it was as if his body resented the fine and well-tailored fabric.

His hair was dark and short, utilitarian rather than stylish. His strong jaw, high cheekbones, and elegant, slender nose which would have made him look noble if it wasn't for the grimness of his mouth. He had his lips pursed in apparent displeasure. In fact, his whole posture conveyed some sort of underlying resentment. While all of this hit her as strange but was explainable in one way or the other, his eyes were clearly beyond that. 

Ava always had considered her own eyes somewhat peculiar, but his certainly were extraordinary. They were a yellowish, radiant green. And if that wasn't odd enough, his pupils were even odder. They were oval, not round. 

The eyes of a reptile, not of a human being, she thought.

The stranger had paused, the handle of the shop door still in hand, and was staring at her just as she was staring at him. Neither of them moved or said a word.

***

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