A Scent of Chaos | ONC 2024

Chapter Five

Never in my career had I made an insect appear from a perfume before. Of course, it wouldn't be a real firefly — only an illusion to whoever could smell it — but it would still be a difficult hurdle to leap over. The first small obstacle while the others I would face over the next few days towered behind it.

Corvin returned to the workshop with the bottles partially filled with water, a simple base perfect for magic testing.

"That determination could set the room alight with fire," he chuckled as he placed them down. "I think I'll let you go first just in case. Then I'll stand to the side with some water." The Head Perfumer sketched a bow, offering the ingredients to me.

I ignored the flustered warmth that crept along my skin. Of course he would make me go first. Corvin had been attempting to make this perfume for so long that he had likely tried this part already.

"You might want to stand a little further back," I retorted with a roll of my eyes. "We don't want these embers to catch you too."

Honing my focus on the poor carcass of a firefly resting inside the glass box, I studied the shape of its body. I committed every detail that I could to memory — the soft shell of its body, the six legs bent at awkward angles, the two pairs of wings tucked against it.

After placing the same jewel, beetle shell and seawater for the colour I had perfected that morning into the bottle, I closed my eyes and steadied my breathing. Corvin's stare pierced my concentration, his watchful and curious gaze eager for the results, but I drowned out his presence.

Heat flooded my fingertips as I pushed magic into the perfume. The liquid inside bubbled fiercely, threatening to spill over the top. I pulled back my hand and opened my eyes when a burning smell appeared. Smoke rose from the tube neck of the bottle and the room spun for a moment around me, both of which were never a good sign.

"I was joking about the fire, you know." Corvin looked around the room with a grimace, settling back down on the box. "Perhaps we should test it outside. Neither of us would want the workshop if it's nothing but ashes."

I kicked his leg as he sat down, a playful gesture. "It will be fine! I'm not going to burn anything down." Inserting an atomiser into the bottle, I sprayed it beside us, close enough so we could both get the effects of my newest creation.

At first, nothing happened. The unbridled scent of ocean salt and forgotten dreams wrapped around us. Then, a dead firefly fell from the ceiling and landed on the desk, causing us both to jump. It was an exact replica of the one in the display case, every detail was matched.

I followed the reference a little too well. My practice of carefully moulding features for my clients wasn't too helpful in this situation.

"Well," Corvin began. "It's definitely a firefly." He stifled his laughter by pressing his lips together. The skin of them looked soft to the touch — a feature that others would envy. Before I could imagine what it would be like to run my thumb across them, I pulled my thoughts from the darkness of the spiral staircase they were heading down.

Why was I thinking about this thief's lips?

"It's a start." I crossed my arms. "Your turn then. I'd like to see what you can do." If all he had managed so far was the colour, his own fireflies couldn't be too impressive.

"Alright." The Head Perfumer selected a bottle and a chunk of lapis lazuli, securing the ore in his hand. "Watch and learn."

After a moment that stretched for a concerning amount of time, Corvin's line of concentration never wavering, he finally finished his attempt. He sprayed the perfume above us so the vapour fell onto us, transforming the workshop. Blue, glowing orbs faded into existence, floating in the air as if there was a phantom breeze coaxing them along. They didn't take the form of fireflies like my failure had, but they still achieved their purpose.