Eliona's War 1: Hesitant Healer

Chapter 1

Three minutes to midnight, the knock came on his door. Quiet, insistent raps, one after another. Seth Veregin lifted his head from his knees and blearily looked across the dark living room to the door. The knocking stopped.

It was probably a mistake. Even if the hour hadn't been absurdly late, it wasn't like visitors were lining up to see him. No one knew him here.

He lowered his head back to his arms and closed his eyes. His bed was just down the hall, yet he felt more comfortable where he was—sitting on the soft carpet, his back to the wall, with unpacked cardboard boxes stacked on either side of him like a fortress. It felt safest here.

Someone rapped on his door again. It was louder, more insistent—whoever it was clearly didn't intend to go away.

Seth wondered if the person was drunk, but he got to his feet with a tired sigh. He padded across his living room and paused at the door. He leaned in and peered through the peephole. What he saw made his eyes widen. Immediately, he stepped back and unlocked the door, pulling it wide open.

"Uncle Fenn!"

The man in the hallway paused, hand half-raised to knock. He was tall and thin, and despite only being in his late forties, he stood with a stoop as if carrying a great burden. His chestnut hair, already well on its way to turning gray, looked like it hadn't seen a comb for three days.

When he saw Seth, the man smiled. "Seth, there you are. I'm sorry, I know it's late. Can I come in?"

"Yeah, sure." Seth moved aside. He watched Fenn enter, noticing for the first time that he held a black box under one arm. "What's going on? I thought you weren't going to get any time off until next month."

"I wasn't." Fenn dragged a hand over his face. He looked tired, the bags under his gray eyes more pronounced than usual. "There was a flight leaving at seven, so as soon as I got off work, I-"

"That's a four hour flight!" Seth stared at his uncle in disbelief. "Why would you do that? How are you going to get back?"

Fenn's lips quirked despite his obvious exhaustion. "There's a flight going back in two hours."

"You're crazy!"

"Says the kid who's been moved into his apartment for almost a week and still has to unpack." His uncle took a very deliberate look around, his attention lingering on the boxes stacked up against the far wall. "And you allergic to light, or what? It's dark in here."

Muttering under his breath, Seth reached out and flicked the switch. Light instantly flooded the room, making him squint. "I was getting to it."

"Right," said Fenn in a tone that made it clear he didn't believe it. "I wonder if you'll get to it before I come back next month."

Heat warmed Seth's ears, and he abruptly turned and ventured deeper into the living room, where the light wasn't quite as bright. "Why did you come anyway?"

"To give you this." Shifting the box under his arm to a two-handed hold, Fenn offered it like it was full of priceless treasures. It made Seth both curious and wary.

Fenn pulled an overnight there-and-back trip across the country just to give him this box? Part of him wondered if he'd fallen asleep and was having one of those bizarre dreams.

"What is it?"

"A rare opportunity, my boy." His uncle sounded strangely eager.

Seth eyed the box cautiously. It didn't look like anything special, other than being a dull, matte black in color. There wasn't anything printed on its sides, either. "And this couldn't wait a month?"