Stemless Atractylis

"Adam's Apothecary. Hopefully, they have what I need." I said as I walked in, my cloak hiding my face. It may have made me look suspicious, but with my portrait plastered all over the kingdom, walking around without my cloak would've been more dangerous.

"Good evening, sir, how may I help?" Asked the man standing behind a counter, that separated the front part of the room from the back wall filled with glasses and dried herbs and a small door in the corner. He was middle-aged, although these humans age differently, not quick enough for my taste.

"I need some Stemless Atractylis, do you have it?"

"Of course, it's quite common in these lands."

"I'd like 2 golds worth."

"Mhm... I need to know your intentions."

"What? Why?"

"Every apothecary knows how dangerous this plant can be, and you seem... Like someone with ill-intentions."

"I see.-"

"And don't try to lie, I have truth charms all over the territory." Typical human. Doesn't even trust its own kind. True I'm not one of them, but I sure look like them.

"I need it for my brother."

"This is no herb, it's poison, young man. I do not think you're brother would benefit from it."

"I don't want to feed it to him. I need to get money, so we can leave."

"So you plan on selling it? That is illegal. I should call the city guards just at the mention of your plans."

"But you won't, because you'd be a hypocrite if you did so. I know all about your travels Trader of the North." We were facing each other, him looking down on me, now however he staggered back. Like most of these monsters, he thought bribing enough people would eliminate his past. The arrogance of these creatures never ceases to amaze me.

"How... how do you know?"

"That does not matter, now give me what I need." I guess I spent too much time with these morons, cause his next steps should've been obvious to me. He cast a spell, no other than a teleportation spell. I only managed to swear at him before I disappeared.

I opened my eyes to see the sun rising. I stood up, checking out my surroundings. I was in a field, at the far end I saw a house. It seemed like a painting, a giant estate with woods surrounding it, in the background the sun is rising from behind the hills.

"Well, let's see who you sent me to." I sigh, as I start walking.

The house was a mess as if it has been abandoned a long time ago, which I suspected from the minute I was close enough to see that some of the windows were broken. As I creaked the door open I saw paintings on the floor, some packaged up, others still on the wall. There were books as well, stacks as tall as eyes could see. Rugs, curtains, textiles, clothes, eaten away by time and faded from being exposed to the sun for years.

"Hello?" I asked, knowing very well, that the chance of finding someone is slim. For some reason, maybe gut instinct, I knew there some kind of magic was still present in this house.

"So what do you think? Upstairs?"

"Shit." I said, not even bothering to find the mirror my reflection spoke from. "Just shut up, please."

"Oh, come on, Delano, don't be so rude." He chastised me. "I can help, want me to look around?"

"Yes." If I would've suggested he never would've done it.

"Magic word?"

"I'm not a wizard."

"Funny. I won't help if you don't say it."

"Please." With a wink, he disappeared. It took me some time to get used to seeing my own face do expressions, I never ever did. As my reflection searched the upper part, I started carefully going around the ground floor. I analyzed the paintings, knowing how many ways wizards can disguise themselves or hide away.

"Hey! That one, I think someone might be in there, but there aren'T any mirrors, so, if you could..." I took the small oval mirror off the wall, carrying it with me as I slowly opened the door. As I expected I saw no one. Obviously, that meant nothing, I wished Anan were here, he could see through most magic, I could use his talent.

"See anything sus?" I whispered as I myself tried seeing through any type of shielding. I noticed it, a small change by the thick yellow curtains. It was barely a movement, you could've mistaken it for the wind if it weren't for the closed windows. I put the mirror down in one of the armchairs, as I moved closer to the curtain. I unsheathed my sword, ready to slice.

"Wow, wow, man, don't kill me!" The curtain transfigured into a young Asian girl. She seemed to come from a wealthy background, based on her clothes and overall appearance. She did not belong to this dusty old relic of a home. She probably hasn't been here for long, since she had clean clothes and smooth, washed hands.

"What are you doing here?"

"I could ask you the same thing!"

"Yeah, you could just kill her."

"What?! Don't be an idiot" I yelled at the mirror, the girl gave me a strange glance.

"I asked first."

"I was sent to take care of the house."

"Well she does a horrible job at it, you should've seen what kind of chaos is living upstairs. Even the rats died it's so uninhabitable. man, you'd think a lady of such standing would care more about her living conditions!"

"By who?"

"My family."

"Yeah right. Her families dead. I've visited the mansion after seeing a painting of her in one of the rooms, no one's home. Or at least no one related to her. She must've sold the house or something. Why throw away that luxury for this? I can't even try to understand."

"You" I pointed at the mirror. "Shut up. You" I turned towards the girl. "Stop lying."

"I was just trying to help." My reflection started complaining, but with a stern look, it stayed quiet.

"Fine. Adam asked me to guard this place, said someone might be visiting. You're the first!"

"Are you here to kill me?"

"Me? You're the one with the sword nature spirit!"

"Sorry, I didn't mean to be aggressive." I put away my sword, lifting my hands.

"I'm here to help you get what you need. Adam sends the people with special requests here. The guardian of the house is carefully chosen, it took me many tests to get the job. Not many come, though, as I said you're my first. So what do you need?"

"Stemless Atractylis."

"Mmmm, Atractylis gummifera, that is special. Who do you wanna poison?"

"None of anyone's business."

"But defensive, aren't we?" She commented but started walking. I followed, as we walked out the back door, she dispersed the shield off a beautiful garden, full of colour and life. I couldn't step in, she wouldn't allow it. My reflection (I was stupid enough to bring the mirror with me) started complaining again. I just shut its words out, as I watched her look around.

"Here. Just... don't get caught, you seem like a good guy." I don't what gave her that idea: me attacking her or the interrogating. I guess she saw my puzzlement, as she tried to clarify. "I have magic." That's it, that's supposed to explain everything. I know I'm just a nature spirit, all we can do is brew potions, some of us get awesome talents like Anan, or annoying ones, like me, but we can't cast spells, transform, shield ourselves or stuff like that. However, I didn't have a chance to ask, since she flicked her hands causing me to teleport again. Great. Where to now?