108. Exsanguinated

It was Monday and I was back in my workshop again, the twins were both at university. It was the middle of May and I only had about six weeks left to finish the brooches if I wanted to have them ready for Kelly and Keira's graduation.

I'd been working the past two weeks on sculpting the bases in wax. They were oval, about an inch and a half across and one inch high, and shaped like stylized violets. I went with violets because I'd read somewhere that the violet was a symbol of sapphic love. I figured that was more unique and more interesting than roses.

They were nearly identical, though I couldn't get them to match one hundred percent perfectly. That was the thing about hand-made, it was always going to be unique now matter how hard you tried.

I was planning on casting them both in gold today, and I was just verifying that the wax models were perfect. Once they were cast it would be a lot harder to make changes or correct any mistakes. At times it was a bit tedious but I enjoyed the work.

It was early afternoon when I was finally satisfied, and started encasing them both in fine casting sand while my electric crucible was getting up to temperature.

The bases were to be in white gold, so I was mixing a few of my fae coins with some platinum. I had the ratios figured out, I knew how many coins to blend with how many grams of platinum to get the gold as pale as I wanted.

I had to admit it felt kind of wrong to be melting down fae coins to make jewelry, but I couldn't think of any good reason not to do it. It was certainly a lot more cost-effective than converting fae gold to human currency and paying the shadow-economy bankers' exorbitant exchange rates, just to turn around and use that money to buy local gold.

So I dropped a couple of my fae coins into the little crucible, along with a measured amount of platinum wire.

I was pretty happy with the overall design I'd come up with. After the bases were cast I'd probably need two weeks to clean and polish and perfect them. Then the next step would be done in rose gold. I was planning on using wire and just free-hand sculpting it into shape. I was going to craft the initials K-V-B in fae runes, and that would be mounted overtop of the flower pattern base.

Then I'd add a couple red and purple crystals to finish them off, along with mounting the clasp hardware on the back.

And somewhere along the way I'd figure out what enchantments I wanted to put in them, and those would be incorporated into the build at the same time that I mounted the runic initials on the front.

As the gold and platinum was melting together I moved on with the next step.

I got the two wax bases firmly encased in casting medium, then the two little blocks went into a small kiln for a few minutes. That would set the medium and melt the wax. The wax would drain out and leave a perfect space in the sand for the gold alloy.

I always found this part of the process the most nerve-wracking. Setting the casting medium destroyed the wax, that's why it was called lost-wax casting. So after weeks of carefully sculpting the two little identical wax pieces, they were both destroyed in the kiln. And until the pieces were actually cast in gold, all those weeks of work only existed as a small complex empty space inside a block of fine sand.

I tried to time everything just right, so the crucible would have the gold at the right temperature exactly when I had everything else ready.

The molds were set, they were warm, the gold was ready, I had my safety gear on, and was just getting ready to cast the first one, when I sensed two people driving onto the property. It was the worst possible time for visitors.

I decided whoever it was could wait, this was more important. My attention returned to the task at hand, and I went ahead and did the first casting.

That was always exciting too, pouring the molten metal into the little hollow at the top of the block of sand. It only took two or three seconds and it was done. Then I set it aside and picked up the second one, and repeated the process.

At last I could breath a sigh of relief.

They'd cool, and within a few seconds both would solidify. I couldn't entirely relax till I'd extracted them from the molds and verified the casting went correctly, but at this point it was out of my hands. They were either good, or they weren't, and I'd deal with that later.

I dumped the leftover gold alloy out of the crucible to let it cool, I'd find some other uses for it later. And finally I shut everything off and started taking off all my safety gear.

A knock at my workshop door reminded me there were people outside. With a sigh I went to the door and opened it up.

Waiting there for me was a young guy in a courier uniform. He had a large cardboard envelope in one hand and his electronic tracking thing in the other. His van was parked about ten meters behind him.

He greeted me, "Hello. I have a delivery here for a Tegan Vale?"

"That's me," I replied.

He held up the electronic pad thing and said, "Sign here please."

After I signed it I took the envelope from him, then asked "How did you know to find me here? The only address we have listed is our house next door. This building doesn't even have a street number or anything."

"Oh," he shrugged, "My supervisor said to come here?"

I'd forgotten there was a second person around. I glanced at the delivery van expecting to see the supervisor sitting inside, but I couldn't see anyone in there.

"Have a nice day," the young guy said as he turned to leave.

That's when I saw the second man.

He must have been out of sight behind the vehicle. When the courier stepped away from me the other one moved out into view. I had a split second where I was looking at a man some fifteen meters away. He held a longbow, with an arrow drawn and aimed at me. I thought to raise a shield spell but I was too late.

I didn't even hear the slap of the string, when suddenly it felt like I'd been hit in the chest with a baseball bat. The air was knocked from my lungs and I fell backwards through the doorway into my workshop.

As I hit the floor I was nearly overcome with pain. It was intense, and it was constant, but I couldn't even cry out. I was struggling to breath, and I knew I was going into shock.

My eyes were fixed on the back of arrow, which was protruding from my chest. The shaft was wood, and it was noticeably thicker than the carbon fibre arrows I was used to shooting. The fletching was made from real feathers, and was attached to the shaft with thread as well as glue. The arrow actually looked hand made, and I had no idea why I was fixating on that other than perhaps to stave off the panic and shock.

I finally forgot about the arrow as I realized I still couldn't breath. I was gasping, and tried to cough. I noticed a metallic taste in my mouth, and I knew it was blood. My vision was already dark around the edges, and in a strangely detached way I knew that I was dying.

I had no idea if the arrow hit my heart but it was on the left side of my chest. Whether it hit the heart or not, I knew my left lung was pierced, and was filling up with blood. That was why I couldn't breath, and why I was coughing it up.

My left hand clenched into a tight fist and I felt the edges of my ring bite into my fingers as I squeezed it. I concentrated on the ring, and on my two girlfriends as I sent them a desperate message.

"Help. Danger. Shot. Dying."

The twins were both at university today, the campus was right downtown in the heart of the city. It was an hour by car to get there and another hour to get home most days. When traffic was bad though it could take as much as ninety minutes. In a straight line, the campus was about nine leagues from our home. That was right on the edge of what the teleport spell could safely cover.

Thanks to one of the enchantments I'd put on our rings, nine leagues was within reach by teleport. I just hoped they'd be able to get out of whatever they were doing so they could get here before it was too late.

My vision continued to grow darker, especially around the edges. I vaguely recalled that was called tunnel vision, and that it was a thing that happened as you lost consciousness. I still couldn't breath right, the best I could manage were short shallow gasps. And with each breath I felt the pain grow worse. It felt as if my attempts to breath were twisting the arrow shaft further or deeper into my being.

I hadn't even really registered anything else around me yet. I had no idea whether the young courier was in on the assassination or if he was another victim. I didn't even know if he was alive or dead. I knew the assassin would be approaching to make sure the job was finished, but I also knew he'd be in for a surprise.

My workshop was as heavily-warded as our home. Nobody could cross the threshold without first being invited in, and I'd fallen in through the door.

I didn't bother trying to look. I was laying on my left side, looking towards my worktable. I imagined the assassin was standing a meter away, stuck outside and unable to do anything but watch.

Except all he had to do was watch. In maybe another thirty seconds, or a minute at most, the job would be complete.

As I lay there staring at my worktable, I realized all my drawings and sketches of the twins' brooches were visible. When Kelly and Keira got here they'd see the designs and the surprise would be ruined.

For some reason that's what I worried about as my vision continued to grow darker. That my girlfriends would see my drawings of the brooches I would probably never get a chance to finish making.

My mind started to wander. I wondered if I remembered to turn off the electric crucible, and if I'd see Taralynn and Aisling even though I died on Earth.

In some small mercy the pain started to fade. My vision was almost completely dark, and I felt oddly relaxed. I was ready to let myself drift to sleep when I became aware of frantic voices in the distance. Then I realized I could feel hands on my body.

The pain suddenly returned with a vengeance, but only for a split second. Then everything went dark and silent and still.

PurpleCatGirl