Chapter Three #2
Its crystalline head was surprisingly warm, as if there were some sort of energy deep inside the little elemental that gave it life. I wondered if they truly were physical manifestations of nature, or the result of some magical experiment from long ago.
A tiny ray of sunlight poked through the fog, illuminating one of the diamond-like facets of its icy head.
The ice elemental sparkled in a rainbow of colors, and I let out a laugh.
Despite standing on a frigid, icy mountain, with shaking extremities and chattering teeth, it was one of the most beautiful things I’d ever seen.
I waved goodbye, and the elemental leaped up and down, barking and chittering as I walked through the heavy portal door.
I practically melted into the wood once I closed the door, relieved to be back in the cozy warmth of the kitchen. I peered down at the stick of butter in my hands. It was as cold as the mountain had been, but that only excited me more. Ice-cold butter was the secret to rich, fluffy scones.
I had done it. And the best part was, my ears and tail were gone. I’d been so distracted by the little ice elemental I hadn’t noticed them disappear.
But as I looked up from the ingredients in my hands, I realized I had a new problem.
Rowena was standing in front of me.
My throat immediately went dry. Not only was I unsure if I was allowed to go into the ice elemental’s domain, there was still rapidly melting snow sprayed all over the floor from the earlier storm.
“I see you found my portal,” Rowena commented. Her tone was so flat and her face so neutral I couldn’t tell if she was upset.
“I… uh… yes, I did.” I held up the stick of butter in my freezing hands. “I needed butter for the scones.”
Rowena nodded, though her face was still hard as stone. There wasn’t the slightest hint of a smile or acknowledgment that what I did was okay.
“The uh… ice elemental was nice,” I continued, scrambling to break the tension. “He was very helpful with finding the ingre–”
“ She .”
I froze, my train of thought derailed by the interruption. “Sorry, what was that?”
“The ice elemental is female. Her name is Fritzi. Did you give her a treat after she led you to the ingredients?”
A… treat?
“I’m sorry, I don’t know what you mean. Were there—?”
My voice trailed off as Rowena briskly walked past me and tossed open the portal door. Fritzi was still waiting on the other side, wagging her tail like an eager puppy.
“Mount Katahdin has been unusually snowy for October,” Rowena remarked, peering out at the freezing white landscape as if it were an enchanted forest.
Mount Katahdin? I didn’t know much about the mainland, but I did know Katahdin was the tallest mountain in Maine. No wonder it’s so freaking cold.
Rowena turned around, and I noticed there was a shelf on the interior part of the door. I watched as Rowena grabbed a dog-bone-shaped piece of ice from a box and tossed it to the little elemental, who happily devoured it in a few crunching bites.
I felt like crap. Fritzi had been waiting, expecting a reward for her hard work, and I’d shut the door in her face.
“It’s fine,” Rowena said nonchalantly as she closed the door. I noticed she’d hardly flinched at the cold, despite wearing less clothing than me. “Just remember next time. Anyway, I came in here because I forgot to give you this.”
Rowena walked over to me, stopping so close I could smell the lavender perfume radiating off her. It was intoxicating, and I leaned in closer as she opened her closed fist and a bright burst of light shot out.
Her hand… it’s on fire.
I gasped, and Rowena chuckled faintly at my reaction.
“Relax.” She curled her fingers inward, and the flame that danced in her palm began to take shape. It twisted and turned, molding itself like clay, until the formless flames became a vibrant, curious little weasel.
A fire elemental.
It let out a low, guttural squeak, sniffing the air with its little glowing nose. Like Fritzi, this elemental had no eyes, yet I could practically feel it peering into my soul.
“His name is Mavro. You’ll need him to help you bake.” Rowena gestured toward the wood-burning stove. “There’s charcoal in the bin under the counter. Make sure you keep him fed.”
He eats charcoal? Between the portal and the elementals, I was learning so many new things it made my head spin.
Rowena extended her arm, gesturing for me to do the same, and Mavro leapt from her palm to mine.
I flinched at first, expecting him to be scalding hot.
Instead, his flames were a pleasant, soothing temperature, like a warm blanket on a cold autumn night.
Even as he sat still, curled up in my palm, his flames were ever-moving – glowing and dancing and flickering around his weasel form.
Like Fritzi, he was enchanting to watch.
“He’s beautiful,” I remarked. I offered Mavro a finger, and he nuzzled his tiny mouse-like head against it. “But what do I do with hi–”
I heard the faint swish of a door closing. I looked up from the little fire elemental and realized Rowena was gone. She’d walked back to the front of the café without so much as a goodbye.
Weird. It seemed Rowena wasn’t one for social niceties.
I shrugged and turned around to face the woodstove. Mavro’s flames immediately burned brighter, and I could tell he was excited.
“Well, I assume you know what to do,” I chuckled.
Mavro peered up at me with his eyeless little face and let out a reassuring squeak.
I walked to the stove and knelt to inspect the firebox.
From my experience back home, one of the trickiest parts of baking in a wood-burning stove was keeping the temperature consistent.
I’d learned over the years to choose longer, slower-burning pieces of wood, and sometimes I’d open the oven door to let off some heat.
There were stories from the mainland about the humans, how they had ovens that operated with just the push of a button. Humans had their own kind of magic, called technology – from what I’d heard, it made everything in their lives quick and convenient.
As curious as I was about the human world, I still loved magical beings and their slower-paced life.
Even if our wood-burning oven back home was finicky and had to be monitored, I had fond memories of chilly nights huddled around its soothing warmth.
The kitchen was the best place to be in the winter, and I was proud of how far my baking skills had come without the use of human gadgets.
The firebox was already stocked with wood, although I noticed there was less of it and was arranged in an odd pattern, almost like a nest. Within a few seconds, Mavro skittered up my arm and leaped into the pile of wood, snuggling into the firebox like it was a cozy bed.
What’s next…? Oh. I walked to the counter. Charcoal.
I dug through the lower cabinets until I came across the box Rowena had mentioned. I smiled as I retrieved an unusually large piece of charcoal and passed it through the firebox into Mavro’s tiny paws.
“Okay, little buddy.” I smiled. I found it amusing that elementals needed to be given treats to perform their tasks. “Now, what’s next?”
Mavro wasted no time answering that question. He took a large bite of the charcoal, made a few gravelly chewing noises, and burst into an ordinary blaze of flames.
I was startled at first, since the creature literally exploded in front of me. But the tiny squeak emitted from the now-shapeless flames reassured me this was part of the process.
I sighed as I closed the firebox and walked to the counter where my ingredients were still waiting for me. It could take up to an hour for a wood oven to reach the desired temperature. Even with the help of a fire elemental, I assumed it would still be a while.
At least long enough for me to get these prepped. I placed all my necessary bowls, measuring cups, and other tools in front of me, taking inventory of what I had. I concluded there were enough ingredients to make at least a dozen scones, maybe more.
I just hope Rowena likes them. I sighed. My ability to get a job, make money, and survive in this world depended on it.