Master Mandrag never understood what it was that drove Elodin to him on some nights.

It was definitely not the Homebrew. His little project with Arwyl, a nice, thick beer with the taste of harvest and a lightness of heart. It took them fifteen years to perfect the recipe. The right amount of herbs with beneficial qualities and the optimum brewing process. It was heady enough to make bad thoughts go away, but invited no hangover the next day. Elodin was the only one who knew. Mandrag had no idea how he had found out, but there was no keeping secrets from him. Elodin was worse than a bloodhound even as a boy. He smelled secrets from miles away and didn't rest until he unearthed them. To add insult to injury, he just casually dropped them in conversation, a half sentence indicating he knew, and grinned that mischievous grin of his. Never enough information to lead others to the secret, but a clear marker of that it was no secret for him anymore. He irritated Mandrag to no ends. He was glad to have Elodin out of his classes when he finally taught him everything there was to teach. He considered himself a fair teacher, he tried to never let the boy feel his dislike. And God's bones, he was really just a boy. A head shorter than all his classmates, but so brilliant and so arrogant that it ruffled Mandrag's feathers. Later, when Elodin made chancellor, he was glad he managed to hide his dislike. Until one offhand comment let him know that it was never a secret.

For many, alchemy was magic. For Mandrag, it was a puzzle or a maze. There was always a way, a solution, it just had to be found. Alchemy was logical, something that could be explained, even if the explanation went above the head of many people. There were natural alchemists, who had a knack, who could go by feel only. Still, alchemy was never more than a precise calculation combined with careful handling, leading to a desired outcome. Sympathy and artificing were a tad more mysterious, but still could be explained. Naming was magic. It was wild, unpredictable, unexplainable and unsettling. Just like Elodin himself.

Mandrag got out of bed when he heard the familiar raps on the door. Just loud enough to wake him, a little drag of the fingernails to make him grit his teeth and force him awake even from the deepest sleep. He didn't bother draping anything about himself. His nightshirt would do just fine. There was nothing proper about the situation anyways.
He turned on his sympathy lamp and went to open the door. He stepped aside to let his visitor in.

"Master Elodin."

"Master Mandrag."

They both nodded a greeting. Elodin was not naked, which was a pleasant change from the usual. Judging by the length of it, the nightshirt he was wearing belonged to Lorren. Mandrag didn't want to know how he came by it. Tho knowing Lorren, it must have been an honest and completely innocent acquisition.

Mandrag closed the door behind them. He gestured towards a small table with two chairs. Elodin sat, one leg pulled up under him, the other hanging to the floor. He was barefoot.

"I'm afraid I don't have any Homebrew for you tonight. The next batch will only be ready at sixth bell next Cendling" Mandrag said.

"It's nothing to be afraid of" Elodin replied. He ran a hand through his tousled hair.

"May I offer you some metheglin instead?" Mandrag asked. Elodin shook his head.

That was when Mandrag noticed his necklace. It was made of silver, fine and delicate, a rather feminine design, with green stones at every connecting link. Elodin wore it when he was a boy. When he got his guilder, he replaced the necklace with that. The last time Mandrag had seen it was when Elodin ended up in Haven. He could still recall every detail. Kilvin bursting through the door, Elodin lying on the floor, catatonic and covered in sweat, his left hand clutching his necklace. When Arwyl tried to pry it from him, he broke a finger. The sickening sound it made still haunted Mandrag. Arwyl looked a little sick himself afterwards. There was no helping it, they couldn't let him keep any metal on himself. Lorren agreed to take care of it until Elodin recovered. Mandrag only saw it from up close that one time, but he could have sworn the stones were hollow inside.

He remembered the first time he noticed it as well. Elodin usually kept it hidden, probably to avoid comments from the others. The masters knew that he was bullied. They couldn't interfere, they were not allowed to seem partial to students. But they knew, and tried to do everything they could to prevent it from happening. Mandrag understood why the other students did it. He didn't approve, of course. But who could really blame them? Elodin was too young, too clever and he made them uneasy.
They expected that sooner or later it would escalate. They feared for what would happen.

It was a relief that Elodin called the wind on Elxa Dal and not one of his fellow students. There was no real harm done either. The braziers exploded and the workroom was a mess afterwards, but even in his anger, Elodin was not out to hurt someone. Once Elxa Dal recovered from the shock, he found his laugh and talked about the incident as a funny story. He was so young himself, a new master, not even in his thirties yet. He tried to prevent Elodin going on the horns for it, but rules were broken and it couldn't be avoided. Still, when they voted on the expulsion, he kept his hand down in protest. Kilvin did the same.
It was cruel, scaring the boy like that. He was so small as he stood before them, still one growth spurt short of looking adult. He was pale and shook visibly, tho he tried to put on a brave face. They had recently played the same trick on Kvothe with a similar effect. But even tho he was young, he at least looked grown up. He took it well enough as well.

Not Elodin. Elodin crumbled in front of them. Tehlu only knows why he chose Lorren, stone-faced and unreadable as ever. But Elodin stumbled forward to him, silent tears streaming down his face. He grabbed for Lorren's hand across the table, and as he leaned forward, the necklace slipped from his shirt. The clink of it on the table was the only sound in the room. Then Elodin let out a wretched sob.

"Uncle Lore" he pleaded. If he wanted to say more, it was choked out by his crying.

The masters exchanged confused glances. Lorren did sponsor Elodin to El'ir, but they were not aware of them having a more intimate relationship. In hindsight, it was not strange that a lonely boy would look for a father figure in the master he worked for the most.

Lorren kept his face unreadable, but he must have been fazed, if nothing else by the sudden burst of emotions from Elodin, as it took him a few seconds to collect himself.

"That's quite enough" he said, stern but emotionless. He waited for Elodin to calm down a bit. "We are not going to expel you" he added then.

Elodin was still grinning when he got whipped the day after. Whether he should be whipped or not was the hardest decision. Elxa Dal, Kilvin and Arwyl argued for just fining him, as they did with girls. Lorren argued that it would insult him in his manhood if they treated him like a woman. In the end, they agreed on two lashes, which was the minimum. Elodin was so small that at the first lash the whip reached over his shoulder, bloodying his chest as well. Arwyl grumbled for days afterwards. The white welt of it was still visible. It was Elodin's first whipping, and the most memorable one for all spectators.

Mandrag realized his mind had been wandering. Being rude to a guest was not his nature, even if it was an uninvited night visitor. He quickly moved to the corner where he kept his small iceless and a choice selection of his favourite drinks and snacks.

"Would you care for some drinking chocolate then?" he asked. He had no idea where it came from, maybe the necklace triggered his memories. But Elodin's face lit up at the mention of chocolate.

Mandrag went about preparing the drink with an alchemists' precision. An exact measure of chocolate, the perfect temperature of water, the precise amount of fat cream to make it smooth, thick but still drinkable. He served it in a glass jar, and Elodin wrapped his fingers around it with childish glee.

Mandrag couldn't help wondering if some part of his mind wished him back to his lost childhood when he cracked. There was a reason the University didn't usually accept students under a certain age. If the masters hadn't had agreed on that sending Elodin away would have been dangerous, they wouldn't have taken him in at all. But risking that he would satisfy his thirst for knowledge without proper supervision and stumble upon things he shouldn't dabble with was out of question. It took him two weeks to make El'ir, Elxa Dal and Lorren practically fighting for which of them would sponsor him. It was more of a staring competition, but not even the willpower of a seasoned symphatist could outmatch the Master Archivist when his mind was set on something.

Mandrag smiled at that particular memory. Elodin returned it, flashing a toothy grin. Sometimes he really looked like a little boy. Mandrag was no idiot, unlike Hemme, he knew that behind all the eccentric nonsense and childishness, Elodin was an arcanist without compare. It was easy to get fooled by his behavior and he wore them out with his oddities. He could be Master Alchemist if he wanted to. Luckily for Mandrag, Elodin was the only one who could become Master Namer. There was another one, a bright and promising student, who could have contested them both. Mandrag couldn't remember her name tho. It had curiously slipped from his mind. He could still remember what she looked like.

He was no longer tired. Elodin drank his chocolate in silence, staring into the fire. Maybe he was listening for its name. Mandrag's mind wandered, tugging on the memories of the girl. It tore open wounds he long thought healed. He needed distraction.

"Would you like to play a game of tak?" he asked. Elodin nodded eagerly.

Mandrag pulled out his board and set up the game. It was a fine carved wood set, a present from his family when he made master. He usually played with Brandeur, they met twice a span for a few games and a few cups.

He had no idea how playing with Elodin would be. His mind was erratic at best and unpredictable for the most. Mandrag was old enough to like his routines. Still, maybe he would pick up a new move and surprise Brandeur next time with it.

He let Elodin chose his color, and when he picked white, he let him start the game as well. The first few moves were quick. Elodin seemed to be placing his stones by random, but after a while Mandrag could see a strategy behind it. It was a chaotic mess at first glance, but Elodin's crazy worked that way - when giving it a second thought, he made sense most of the time.
Mandrag finally found the logic in it and the game slowed down significantly. Elodin was now forced to think about his moves as he worked his strategy against him. Mandrag was quite proud that he proved to be a difficult opponent.

The change in pace gave him time to think through his own moves as well. However, he found it hard to concentrate on the game. The name of the girl escaping him bothered him way too much. He was not old enough to go forgetting important details. He tried to ignore it and for four more moves, he was watching Elodin intently, trying to read from his face what he was planning. At the fifth turn, he gave up. Elodin was nodding his head from left to right, like a bored child, but his eyes were fixed on the board all the time, betraing his concentration.

"Master Elodin, do you remember a yellow haired girl? Thin, always smiling, had a knack with alchemy?" Mandrag asked.

"It is statistically very likely, considering a the number of girls attending the university and how few of them actually focuses on alchemy" Elodin answered, without looking up. "What is her name?"

"I don't remember" Mandrag admitted. "I was hoping you could help me out."

Elodin finally moved a stone. His eyes met Mandrag's and searched him for a few seconds. He looked like a little boy confronted with a mischief he was afraid to admit to, fearing the consequences.

"She was my El'ir at the time you were a Giller. I don't think to taught her, I believe it was when you were working under Elxa Dal. You were there when she spoke her first name."

Elodin's expression went from abashed to frightening in an instant. For a long moment, he stared intently at Mandrag, his eyes boring into him. Even the light seemed to dim a bit. Mandrag felt goosebumps rise on his arms and cold sweat running down his spine. He swallowed hard, trying to keep up a cool appearance. Then the moment passed and Elodin looked like a naughty child again.

"She goes by Auri these days" he answered matter of factly.

"Have you met her recently?"

"We shared dinner a few spans ago" Elodin's tone suggested that further questions were not welcome.

Mandrag didn't ask more. The name fit the picture of the girl inside his head, tho there was something alien about it, as if he actually heard it for the first time. He shook his head and moved a stone on the table.

Elodin drank up the last of his chocolate, and concentrated on the game again. Mandrag watched him. Whatever happened to Elodin, it made him dangerous. It unleashed something in him, something powerful and unstoppable. Mandrag thanked Thelu that Elodin was able to check his anger. Even if he let it rise and made them feel its potential, he had so far never used his powers on them. He executed childish revenges instead, to the endless amusement of Elxa Dal, who was himself rarely the victim of them. Mandrag had the suspicion that Elodin let his inner child out to protect the world from the more sinister part of him.

It was so different before. As Elodin matured, his hot-headed arrogance stilled by a few whippings and the passing of the problematic teenage years. By the time he made El'the, he was a quiet, solid presence. Always there to answer a question, help the others, never drawing attention to himself. The masters were convinced that when they gave him his guilder, he was ready to start teaching. There were rumors of bar brawls over at Imre and it was whispered on the corridors that Elodin was looking for love at all the wrong places, but they were hard to reconcile with the Elodin they knew. If his knuckles were bruised or his lip split up when he came to his classes, noone thought further of it. Naming was not something they were well versed in, they were eager to believe that outdoorsy Elodin hurt himself seeking the edges that according to him were so useful for finding names.

If it were not for Auri, Mandrag would not have given him a second thought. Elodin was an annoyance in his classes, and once he got his guilder, he was glad to be rid of him. Then Auri, bright, talented Auri called the name of the fire.

Mandrag was late to arrive to see it, Elxa Dal had already taken care of it. He was told later how Auri was standing there, with a ring of fire around her, raised as walls of protection. One of the students who saw it happen screamed, and luckily Elxa Dal heard it. He also knew the name of fire and undid quickly what Auri called on. When the fire died away, she was kneeling on the cobblestones of the yard, cradling an unconscious Elodin. She was shaking so violently that Arwyl sent for Mandrag, who was Auri's favorite teacher, hoping he could calm her. He managed to coax her into letting Kilvin take Elodin from her arms and carry him to Medica. Her light blue dress was red with blood. Mandrag was afraid she was hurt. But after Arwyl made her drink a herbal tea that calmed her down a bit, she refused to be examined.

"It's his blood" she whispered, staring at her hands.

"What happened?" Mandrag asked, making sure his voice was soft and quiet.
"They were hurting him. He fell and he was bleeding and they didn't stop. I got scared... and I shouted at them" Auri sniffled and then started cyring. "Poor Elodin."

"He'll be fine. The wound is not deep, one of my Re'lars is stitching him up right now" Arwyl assured her. "Elodin is tough. He'll be back on his feet in no time."

Auri shook her head.

"No, Master Arwyl" she said through her tears. "Elodin is fragile. But he will break before he lets you even see a crack."

Mandrag had no idea then how true Auri's words were. He thought she was in shock.

He sponsored her for Re'lar the next day. Auri continued coming to his classes, still as enthusiastic about alchemy as before. But something in her changed. It was such a slight change that he could have never imagined what it would lead to.

Maybe if Elodin had been around, if he could have taught her naming, it would have happened differently. But Lorren sent him away, under the pretense of acquisition of books he claimed too dangerous to trust on anyone else. And Elodin went, to chase the wind, to live outside his studies, to try to make friends he was denied of earlier. Auri became more and more frightened and withdrawn, and one day she disappeared completely.

Mandrag sighed. It had been such a long time since he thought of her. How could he forget all that happened and her name?

Elodin was patiently waiting for him to make his next move. Mandrag hoped he didn't notice him getting lost in memories. If he did, Elodin made no mention of it. He pretended that Mandrag was considering his next move.

After this, he didn't let his mind wander. He concentrated solely on a game. He didn't notice the hours passing. Finally, there were no more moves to make. The game ended undecided.

"Thank you, Master Mandrag. It was a beautiful game" Elodin said.

"The pleasure was all mine" Mandrag replied.

Elodin stood. From the window, early morning light seeped into the room.

Mandrag put away the board and the stones. When he turned, Elodin was curled up in his bed, hugging his blanket and sound asleep. Of course, unlike Mandrag, he didn't have morning classes. At least he was not naked.

Mandrag shook his head and selected a robe for the day. As he was dressing up, his thoughts wandered to the girl again. Auri, Elodin said. He wondered where she was and what she was doing. If she was safe and happy.

"Tehlu shelter us, fools and children all" he muttered. He cast a last glance at the sleeping Elodin, then quietly slipped out of the room.

The rest of the day, Auri was on his mind.