8. Eldertide Apothecary
8
ELDERTIDE APOTHECARY
DOM
T he entrance to the Neverdusk Dominion can usually be found by some sort of running water—fountains, lakes, oceans, rivers; but one has to know where to look to find it, and it’s different for every city. The barriers stop anything that’s not supernatural or magickal from crossing.
I’ve been to the Neverdusk Dominion a few times in my two centuries on Earth, and it’s usually to get blood and other things. Their collection of exotic drugs is to die for. In my earlier years, I dabbled with Eldertide Moss, similar to potent marijuana, and Feyfire Crystals, which are reminiscent of cocaine.
I also dated a few fae ladies before, a couple from Neverdusk and a few from Luminara Domain. The Neverdusk fairies are darker, and the beings that live there are generally dark creatures. Luminara fae are more on the lighter side, but still, never trust the fae.
I made it out each time with my blood and sanity intact, but Ollie had not been so lucky.
He’s hesitant to return.
I feel bad to drag him back here, but he can control all the elements, and that is something we need to get past the barriers.
“They’re all just going to say the same thing,” Ollie says as we near the fountain we have to enter.
“We have to try. Mom is tracking down the older vampires, and we can do our part.”
Ollie makes a noncommittal noise as we approach the entrance.
He puts his hands up and the vibration that emits looks like a glass of water sitting on a guitar as the strings are strummed. The water vibrates and connects with Ollie, then listens to his silent command and parts like curtains opening to a new day. As the water divides, a staircase is revealed inside.
As we pass through the barrier, it feels solid and liquid simultaneously, yet it isn’t wet.
The mortals stand no chance of finding it. Fae magick means they see nothing out of the ordinary even while the passage is being used. When we pass through, we simply disappear once all eyes are off us.
The tunnel leading down to the fae realm is hewn from dirt and rough stone for stairs. The corridor is wide enough for two people to walk side by side, and tall enough that someone with mine and Ollie’s height still has ease of passage. It is eerily quiet, the kind of quiet to drown in as the darkness unspools. The crooked shadows feel more sinister as we descend. A portion of the stairs swirl around, so it seems we’re walking on the ceiling, but that is also part of the magick—the Neverdusk Dominion is below the Earth like upside-down cities underneath every major city in the world. Even though it’s hard to tell when we make the switch, the incline of the tunnel is felt, even if ever so slightly.
The narrow corridor is lit by torches, and everything is so silent, nothing but the clip of our boots echoes on the dirt floors. The end comes without any warning; we exit out of the same fountain, ushering us into a whole new world.
The sky here is a velvety blue, and two moons are swollen with silver light. The clouds are bruised with purple ink, and stars and planets seem bigger.
I’ve always liked it here, but that also comes with a dislike.
It’s terminally night here, which works for those who can’t venture into the sunshine, butit’s forever night here. People never sleep, the city never rests, and that means those dark and unruly creatures of the night are at home here.
Ollie and I make our way through the city; there are no cars, only cobblestone streets filled with different variations of hooved beings—centaurs and horses with twisted horns, bulls with five eyes, and eagles with horses’ bodies and eagle talons.
Vampires are also abounding down here; there is a wicked blood market at shops similar to head shops where the other drugs are sold.
That’s where we’re heading.
Passing by fae of every color imaginable, we find the Eldertide Apothecary.
Slipping in through the glass doors, a sexy fairy with long dark hair, pointy ears, and amber eyes greets us. She’s wearing thorns that hold up leaves that barely cover her nipples, her soft purple skin shining in the false light.
“You again?” she states flippantly.
Ollie approaches, “Yes, well, I just wanted to see your beautiful face.”
A sigh escapes her lips, and I can’t tell if it’s spun from annoyance or longing.
“We have got to figure out where all these grimspawn are coming from,” Ollie pleas with her, “and we know the fae king and queen are the ones who make the warlocks. We would be most grateful if you have any information to help us.”
She opens her mouth like she’s about to say something and then closes it again.
“Please,” Ollie says, reaching for her hand, which she retracts. “What is your name?”
“Nyxaria.”
“Please, Nyxaria. The situation is getting dire. They are taking over New York, and if we don’t get a handle on them, they will spread their illness like a pandemic. And not one that has a cure.”
Her amber eyes have golden rings, almost as if the sun itself lives inside them. “I can’t… ”
“Nyxaria, please,” I plead. “We’re running out of options, and it’s getting so bad that we’ll have to relocate.”
Her eyes pointedly flick to the camera on the ceiling then back to us. “All I can say is seek out the witches. They help the fae with warlocks. I don’t know how else to help you. King Trystan hasn’t been to this part of the realm in months, and Queen Tallyn is in Feylight. They’ve had a falling out again, and I don’t know what’s going on.”
“All right. Thank you,” I say, grabbing Ollie by the arm. She’s being watched; we aren’t getting anything else from her.
His rigid posture and the tension in his arm tell me he doesn’t want to go yet, but I insist, pulling him harder. I’m older and stronger than he is and he knows it, so he doesn’t resist.
Once outside, he glares at me, the tick in his jaw clenched tight. “What was that?” he snipes, throwing his arm up.
“Someone is watching her on that camera in there. Whomever it is doesn’t want her to disclose any information about this which means she most definitely knows something about it.”
“So what do we do?” he asks as we meander further down the line of shops.
“We find someone who isn’t being watched.”