I ran in through the back door of the apothecary, panting. The thick white robe and shawl I wore to protect me from the cold now suffocated me as I was met with the warmth from the fireplace. I breathed out a long sigh of relief when I noticed I had been the first to arrive. I was on time. 

“Croia, where are you coming from?” came a raspy voice from the shadowy corner of the room. Out of the darkness peered a pair of emerald green eyes.  The rocking chair creaked and Cailleach Nimh’s pale, wrinkled face emerged from the shadows. 

“An Morrigan!” I exclaimed before attempting to explain myself. “I…I was in the lab,” I stammered.

She scoffed, blowing a stray strand of curly silver hair out of her face. “You were tending to Leanan again, were you not?” 

I bit my lip in shame. 

She shook her head. “There is no use trying to save that thing. An Morrigan chose him on that battlefield.”

“Yes there is!” I retorted. 

Before we could discuss any further, the bell that dangled above the front door rang. We both craned our necks over to see a young man with pale skin and jet black hair limping through the door. 

“Croi?” I greeted my son in surprise. “What happened?”

“Sean cut my leg with his hurl,” Croi grunted. 

I walked out from behind the desk and over to him, I took his arm, leading him over to the wooden bed, which he promptly collapsed onto. 

“Now, let’s see this cut,” Cailleach Nimh said as she gently pushed up the sleeve to reveal a gash that was relatively deep, yet not grave. “This will require bandaging, weeks worth of rest, and the wound cleanser,” she remarked, looking over at me. “I showed you how to apply it last week,” she reminded me. “Would you go fetch it?”

My heart sank upon seeing his injury. I had seen it before, on another body that was now rotted. “Yes Cailleach,” I agreed eagerly, running off to the wooden cabinet. I scanned the aisle of glass bottles for at least a minute before switching to the shelf behind me.

“Could you, make haste, mother? I have to return to the office relatively soon to organize the Samhain festival,” Croi urged me.

As I checked each and every layer, I came to the unfortunate realization that there was none left. “I’m afraid we’re out of the wound cleanser!” 

I could hear Cailleach Nimh sigh in disappointment from across the room. “Let me guess, you used the last of it this morning on that jar?”