Chapter 4: Journey's Start

-11 MONTHS REMAIN-

“Huh?” Aurora stared at Ulric. She shifted her gaze back and forth, darting between his hand and his dumb smile. Her expression never changed, perplexed with an eyebrow raised. She didn't believe she heard him correctly. She couldn't have heard him correctly.

"Let's go on an adventure!" Ulric repeated, hand still outstretched. So she did hear him correctly. Aurora slowly stood up, never breaking eye contact with Ulric and never accepting his hand. 

"Why?" She questioned. "I don't have any of the experience or-"

"Why not?" Ulric interrupted again. "We've got a quest lying right in front of us and it's not like we have any reason to wait. I can teach you along the way too. Sure, it'd be a little informal and won't be as thorough as the training from an academy or something but it's still something." 

"But I-"

"You can follow your dreams, feel fulfilled! All the while we're saving the world! That's sure to get you a story or two." Aurora still looked unsure. She rubbed her arm. 

"I don't know..." Her voice grew a little quiet. "Just feels a sort of irresponsible, selfish, to leave the fate of the world in the hands of someone so inexperienced." 

"There's nothing wrong with trying, especially when no one else will." Ulric reasoned. Aurora's demeanor didn't change. "I know it's a lot; it's a life changing decision. I'll walk you home, give you time to think about it. We'll talk again in the morning." Aurora nodded and finally took Ulric's hand. From their first step Aurora's mind was already racing. Questions, worries, and doubts filled her head. Why is he doing this? Am I strong enough? What will happen if we fail? What will happen if we succeed? Every step created a new ripple in her mind. Waves of thoughts crashing into each other. The who's, what's, when's, why's, where's, and how's all tangled and fed into each other, like balls of yarn spun into a great tapestry of insecurity. That tapestry blanketed Aurora the whole walk home. Even when they reached her door, and Ulric wished her a goodnight, her mind didn't let up. It persisted. Through the shop, up the stairs, and in her bed. Aurora didn't get much sleep that night. She spent hours staring up at her ceiling, trying to answer questions with no solutions. None that she could find in that moment. And that bothered her. Aurora found herself tossing in turning all night long inside the prison that was her mind. She only stopped when she had exhausted herself from all her worrying. 

The next morning, Ulric approached the Alchemist's Heart. He raised his hand to knock on the door but paused. The sunlight bounced off his armor and into his eye. He stood there for a moment, contemplating. Hair that shined like the sun. He thought to himself. Ulric shook his head and brought himself back down to reality, grounded and alone. The songs of morning birds gained the unwelcomed duet of Ulric's knocking. And just as Ulric finished his third knock, before he could pull his hand away, the door swung open. 

"Take me with you." Aurora demanded. Her face was stern. Bags underneath her eyes complimented a serious scowl. 

"Good morning..." Ulric hesitantly greeted. "You look... eager. You sleep okay?" 

"I closed my eyes for about an hour or two and then I spent the rest of my time packing." Ulric glanced back behind Aurora, spotting a large pack resting on the counter in her shop. 

"Packing what?" 

"The essentials really. Clothes, food, brewing supplies, potions, crossbow."

"Crossbow?"

"Oh yeah. When I still planned on being an adventurer my dad gifted me a light crossbow. Something to mess around with and practice with." As she spoke, Ulric noticed Aurora's speech quicken. She started to ramble and stumble on her own words. She began to tap her foot impatiently. Ulric once more glanced back, now noting an empty bottle next to her pack. 

"What was in that potion?" He questioned like a disappointed parent.

"Potion? What potion? I don't know what you're referring to?" Aurora tried to deflect, but Ulric could effortlessly see through her. Wordlessly, he crossed his arms and raised an eyebrow. Aurora sighed and hung her head in shame. "Haste." 

"Nervous last night?" His tone softened. Aurora nodded and Ulric took out a small waterskin. He uncorked it and offered it to Aurora. 

"I may not know a lot when it comes to your profession, but I unfortunately know what elixir abuse looks like." He explained as Aurora rehydrated herself. "Commanders told us to take whatever was offered to us. We didn't know what we were drinking half the time. It made us better soldiers, but not better people. That's why I shied away from the stuff when I could, poured it off into the soil, so I could help those that didn't." Ulric took his now empty waterskin back. "Feel better?" 

"Yeah, sorry, I just... why are you doing this again?"

"Saving the world?"

"Taking me."

"Because it would help you."

"I refuse to believe anyone is that charitable. Taking some nobody on a grand quest just because they had a sob story? What could you possibly gain from that?"

"More than you know." Ulric sighed. Before Aurora could continue to question him, he switched topics. "Now, every successful quest requires careful planning. So, let's compile what we know." 

"Not much. I caught only a portion of that lich's speech. He's angry at something and he's going to block out the sun to, what, prove a point?" Aurora went along with Ulric, but she made sure to make a mental note of his words. 

"I managed to be in the right place at the right time. When he appeared, he introduced himself as Hawthorn the Raven. After we parted ways last night I tried to do some digging, but I couldn't find any information on him. You gave me the idea to look through some folktales too, but the only liches I could find mentions of were ones like Strigoi and Kerghoul. No Hawthorn." 

"Wait, so you'll get on my case for getting no sleep, but you didn't either!"

"I didn't use drugs to do so." Aurora immediately turned to avoid Ulric's judging gaze. "He must have some deep connection with Solstya, he seemed really caught up with it." Ulric continued back on track. 

"Yeah he really did. Maybe he feels wronged by the king?" 

"Maybe. But that doesn't really narrow anything down."

"There was also that corpse that attacked me. Seems too unlikely for it to be a coincidence that he showed up right after Hawthorn's speech. They could be connected too." 

"He did mention having associates."

"If that rat guy was one, then there should be others out there already on the move." The two of them continued to brainstorm, but no other big pieces of information came to mind. 

"Well, if that's all we have to go on, then there's no point in standing around. Grab your stuff and let's get going." Aurora turned around and started to make her way back towards her pack. Once she got halfway through the room, she keeled over and vomited on the floor. Ulric gasped and winced. Without missing a beat, Aurora caught her breath, took out and opened a bottle, and downed another health potion, shuttering with delight as she did so. "Alright first things first, if potions won't cure you, then we need to find you a cleric."