A few moments later, the apothecary reappeared, holding a folded brown parchment in her hands. She handed it to Lily with an apologetic smile. ‘I’m afraid this is about as much as I’m able to help you. It’s seen a few decades, and passed through many a hand, but not much changes around these parts. I’m pretty confident it’ll set you on the right course.’

Lily unfolded the parchment to reveal a beautiful, if a little faded, map of the whole of the Shadow Lands; she’d never seen anything quite like it. The edges were worn but beautifully hand-illustrated and she could clearly see the path she needed to take to find her way safely to Kelseth. It far surpassed anything she could have hoped for. But, looking at the distance between Ardnaroch, the coaching inn, and Kelseth, when there was no scale to judge how far it would actually be on foot, Lily felt nauseous. This really could take days. It could even take weeks…

‘Thank you. You’ve been a great help.’ Lily nodded, swallowing a lump of hopelessness that caught in her throat and turned to leave.

‘I’m sorry I couldn’t be of more assistance but … help can be found if you look hard enough for it. When you see a sign’—something about the look in the apothecary’s eyes made Lily feel strange—‘take it.’ There was an intensity in the woman’s face, like she was silently trying to convey some hidden message in her words. A shiver passed down Lily’s spine as the woman disappeared once more into the back of her shop. She didn’t re-emerge.

Just as Lily reached out for the door handle, it swung violently open and a hulking man in long golden robes stood silhouetted in the doorframe. He stomped past Lily, ignoring her, and rapped his fist on the counter. ‘Hello?’ he cried out, and then glanced over his shoulder at Lily. ‘Do you work here?’

‘N-no.’ Lily stuttered, and turned to leave. The man, in his impossibly pristine robes, made her uneasy.

‘Who are you then? I haven’t seen you around here. Where are you going?’

Lily didn’t know what to say. Why was he so interested?

‘I said…’ He took a threatening step towards her. Hanging around his neck, and sitting large and glinting on his chest, was a pendant – a strange symbol that looked like a knotted tree encircled in more shimmering gold. ‘Where are you going?’ His upper lip twitched into a snarl.

‘Brother?’ The apothecary had reappeared and the man whirled around.

Lily took the opportunity of his distraction and bolted out of the door, her forehead dripping with sweat. What was all that about? She didn’t want to hang around to find out.

She shouldered her bag and walked away from the apothecary as quickly as she dared, hoping not to draw any further attention to herself.

Ardnaroch was still eerily quiet. A roll of thunder rattled in the distance and the early morning sun had been shrouded by thick, heavy grey clouds. A storm was brewing. No wonder all the townsfolk were hiding away; the threat of bad weather and the presence of a strange unknown woman wandering about the place were enough to put anyone off the idea of heading out of doors.