Plop.
The stone hit the water, skipped four times, and sank.
"Four."
Sylphiette crouched, picked a bigger stone, and closed her hand around it. Tension flickered through her shoulders, muscles drawn tight like a bowstring. Her gaze sharpened.
A throw.
Slap. Slap. Slap.
The stone skidded across the surface, and I knew right away — this one was going long.
Sixth. Tenth. Fifteenth.
At the twentieth, Sylphiette yawned, stood up, and brushed the dirt from her hands.
"That's it. I'm done."
We were sitting by the lake, far from the village. The breeze chased small waves across the surface, the water glittered in the sunlight.
Next to me was Sylphiette — the elf girl I'd defended from those boys. Since that day, we spent time together now and then, but not often. She was the same age as this new body of mine, but didn't act like the other kids. Quieter. Calmer.
At least I could hold a normal conversation with her.
"You know, if you lick a toad, you can see the future."
Well... maybe not talk at all. Sometimes I had no idea what she was talking about — or how her mind worked.
"If that's true, then I guess all the great minds live exclusively off toads."
"Really? I never thought about that..."
She walked along the shore, squinting as she searched the reeds for something.
And I just trailed behind.
Earlier that morning I'd been wandering around the village, listening to the tavern guys tell their stories, and then — boom, she grabs me and drags me to the river for some very important mission...
"Catching frogs?" I looked at her, trying to figure out if she was joking.
"Frogs." Sylphy nodded like that was the most natural answer in the world.
My shoes had been soaked for ages, every step gave a wet squelch. And we were still crawling along the shoreline.
"Can we go back now?" I sighed, already edging away from the water.
"No way! We're close — just a little longer!"
"What is this even for?"
I felt like a player who'd accidentally accepted a side quest while on the way to fight the final boss.
"To make an amulet."
She didn't even glance at me — fully focused on her search.
I sighed heavily.
"Of course, an amulet... And here I thought it might be something important."
"It is important."
And from her tone, it really was.
"Is it some kind of magic amulet?"
"It is exactly that! It'll protect from misfortune."
She nodded with absolute seriousness.
"Right. And I guess if you wear it, you can see a future without frogs?"
She snorted.
"Frogs are the most important part. Without them, it won't work at all."
I already regretted asking.
"Okay, fine. But what does a toad's back have to do with anything?"
"Red frogs have a special toxin. If you treat it right, it changes how you see colors."
"You're going to blind enemies with the amulet?"
"No," she said calmly, not even glancing up. "It's tradition. I want to give it to someone..."
She went quiet.
"...is it for me?"
"Why would I give you an amulet?"
"Fine, then don't."
The wind ruffled her hair. Waves lapped lazily at the shore.
Somewhere in the distance, a frog croaked.
"There!"
Sylphiette whipped a stone into the reeds with lightning speed.
Plap!
Something rustled — an annoyed croak followed.
She dashed forward without hesitation, jumped into the water up to her knees, and clapped her hands down over the reeds.
"Got it!"
I came closer.
"You didn't kill it with the rock?"
"No!" she snapped, clearly offended. "I calculated the force exactly."
Sylphiette carefully pulled the frog from the grass. Bright red, smooth, with tiny black eyes.
I grimaced.
"And this is supposed to protect from misfortune?"
She nodded proudly.
"Now we can gut it."
"What?!" I instinctively took a step back. "Why?!"
Sylphiette gave me a puzzled look.
"Well… how else did you think this worked?"
"I didn't think! I didn't know you were gonna kill it!"
"What did you think we were going to do?"
I glanced down at the frog. It sat calmly in her hands, not even blinking.
"Well… maybe just take some of the poison off its back? You said that's what the amulet needed."
"That's not how it works," Sylphiette shook her head. "For a real amulet, you need more than just the toxin. You need the frog's heart. That's the key. Without it, it doesn't work."
She looked at me like she genuinely couldn't understand what the problem was.
"Why even make that kind of amulet?"
"They're elven clan amulets. My father used to be in one."
Elven clan.
Lilia had told me about them once.
Nothing good in what she said.
Crazy fanatics who kill anyone who steps onto their land. Closed off, violent, hated outsiders. She'd even pointed out a few spots on the map where they were rumored to live.
Thick forests. Deep wilderness. Wild territory where no sane person would go. The only people who entered were those who had a death wish — or way too much time and not enough sense.
Suddenly I felt awkward.
I didn't know Rowls had once been one of them...
"So why do you need a clan amulet?" I looked back at Sylphiette.
"A gift."
"For who?"
"My mother."
She said it plainly, like there was nothing unusual about it.
With a smooth motion, she pulled a small knife from inside her clothes.
A chill ran down my spine.
Some alarm deep in my brain flicked on.
Her gaze shifted again — sharp, focused, almost predatory.
She'd been carrying that this whole time?
"One. Two."
Her hand moved with alarming speed, slicing precise, surgical cuts.
One second, two — and the frog was opened up.
She looked up at me.
"Why are you just standing there?"
"...what do you want me to do?" I glanced at the dissected frog. "Clap?"
"Help me. Take its heart."
"What the hell?" I'd completely lost the thread of what was happening. "I'm not doing that."
Sylphy frowned.
"Why not?"
I looked at her hands, slick with slime, at the neatly split frog belly, at the tiny, still-pulsing heart.
"Because it's disgusting..."
She shrugged like I'd just declared that water was wet.
"So? You eat meat."
"That doesn't mean I... Ah! Fine."
Arguing with her was useless.
Carefully, with two fingers, I picked up the frog's heart. It was small, slick, and deeply unpleasant to touch.
"What the hell am I doing..."
Disgusting.
Sylphy nodded with satisfaction. She pulled out a small wooden bowl. Then wiped her knife on the grass and began mixing ingredients.
"Done," she murmured, peering into the bowl.
I watched her making this so-called amulet, and couldn't shake the feeling that the whole thing was nonsense.
And then something clicked.
Somewhere deep in my consciousness, a strange, subtle wave rose. My eyes grew heavy, and when I blinked, the world rippled — like water after a stone hits it.
At first I thought it was just exhaustion. But then...
"Sylph... what's with your hair?"
I froze.
Red. Bright red. Like someone had smeared it in blood.
She touched a strand, blinked, and something in her eyes lit up with understanding.
"Oh. The toxin's kicking in."
Flat, casual tone.
"W-what? How?!"
My heart sped up. My head swam. I looked down at my hands — and realized the skin wasn't right. Pale, then bluish, like a corpse.
"You trying to poison me?!"
"No," she answered calmly. "It's not dangerous to humans. It just alters perception."
I blinked rapidly, but the colors didn't return. Everything stayed... wrong.
The grass shimmered deep blue. The river was dull gold, like someone had melted metal into it. Sylphy stood across from me, but her skin had turned dark green, her eyes glowing like tiny fires in the night.
I swallowed hard.
"What the hell..."
"Standard reaction." She tilted her head slightly, studying me. "Everyone's different. Some people lose vision entirely."
"Ah—of course. Wonderful." I rubbed my temples. My head rang like it'd been hit.
Sylphy just shrugged and kept working on her amulet like nothing had happened.
"How long does this last?"
"A couple hours. Maybe less."
A couple hours?!
I looked at my hands — and instantly regretted it. It felt like the bones were pushing through my skin.
"Shit... Hey, were you even going to warn me?"
"I thought you'd figure it out." She dipped her finger into the crushed-herb mixture, completely calm.
"Why would I figure it out?!"
"You're the one who said great minds live on toads."
I opened my mouth.
Found nothing to say.
Was she serious right now?
"Sit down. I'll be a while. It'll pass eventually," Sylphy said, just as evenly as ever.
I sat down in the grass, trying not to look at the amulet, at the red paste she was carefully spreading across the carved patterns.
My head was still spinning, but things were starting to settle.
The world slowly stopped shimmering like a heat haze, shapes returned, my heartbeat evened out.
I don't know how long we sat like that. Ten minutes? An hour?
Sylphy worked in silence, completely absorbed in what she was doing. She painted along the engraved lines with care, her brush steady, like she'd done it a hundred times.
"How long've you been doing this?" I muttered, flexing my fingers. They were still trembling a little.
"Not long," she said without looking up.
I glanced over at her.
"I thought you didn't grow up in a clan."
"I didn't."
"Then how do you know how to make one?"
Sylphy paused for a moment.
"My father taught me. He remembered."
My eyes started to close.
Sleepiness hit like a heavy blanket. My head went light, thoughts blurred.
I tried to blink, shake the fog loose, but my eyelids felt like lead. Everything blurred. Sounds muffled. My body sank into soft emptiness.
The last thing I saw before everything slipped away was Sylphy, bent over the amulet, staring thoughtfully at the patterns traced in deep, blood-red pigment.