Prologue: Testing the Potion (Eva)
The potion looked disgusting.
It was practically camo, with deep green and brown refusing to fully mix and become … browner, I supposed. The gritty sludge would have belonged in a swamp more than a potion. I hadn’t even tasted it yet and I knew it was gritty. I could see the grit. I thought I could even see a fully intact moth wing floating around in the thick liquid too.
And I had to drink that …
Well, I didn’t have to. But I’d spent the last month figuring out all the ingredients to brew it, and no one else was going to test it for me. I knew it would work. It might have been the first potion I’d invented, but the potions I brewed always worked.
I only had a short while before Theo caught up and started preaching to me about not drinking unregistered potions. I could hear his voice even now: ‘Eva, you know what’ll happen if school finds out. And what if you grow tentacles for arms or something?’ He meant well, but his ‘safety first’ obsession only hindered my inventiveness. Sure, I could have told a mage and had them supervise my brewing, but I didn’t need their help. Or even Theo’s. I could do this all on my own.
It was possible there could be side-effects, like a blue tongue or mage-pattern baldness, but nothing I wouldn’t be able to fix with another potion.
I let my shoulder-bag slide off my arm and onto the grass, then pulled the stopper from the vial. I wouldn’t try to travel far this first time – only to the forest on the far side of the clearing. It was somewhere I could see, which made it easier to visualise: eucalyptus trees, colourful wildflowers, long grass, sunshine.
A stick snapped and I dropped the stopper.
Was Theo that close? I couldn’t risk him interrupting me; I needed to focus, and I couldn’t handle another lecture right now.
I lifted the vial to my lips and scrunched my nose. Potions rarely tasted good, especially if they looked like this one did. No matter how much honey I’d added, it wasn’t going to be sweet.
I steeled myself, then tipped the vial upside down and took one giant, sickening gulp.
