Oni waited nervously in the temple entrance. The rusty iron walls seemed to loom over her as she looked back out the doorway from left to right. Eonwind had send a note to ask her to meet him there. He had evidently fashioned a potion for her to send through to her parents.
She opened her bag and pulled out the neatly folded parchment that she had received from her father. She touched his signature and smelled the paper. Her gills flexed open and then closed. It didn't smell like him but why would it? It actually reeked like rotten beer a little...like that dirty rogue. She sighed. She wondered why her dad would have written this time when her mother wrote every time before. She hoped that her mom was alright and the illness hadn't become so debilitating that it had prevented her from putting pen to paper. She folded it back up and put it away again.
Suddenly Eonwind was before her with the potions. He instructed her to tell them to take one full spoon once per day. He was gone before she could wrap her head around the fact that she had to find a way to get them into Ojaveda like the others. She held the bottles in her hands and her eyes began to glow an azure blue. Suddenly, in a vision, she saw Eonwind working with fire and... and a yulber. In another location she saw Evirea carefully measuring and pouring ingredients and Oni began to cry. She pushed the bottles far down into the hides in her bag and ran to the pterosaur. She wondered as she made her way to Ojaveda how she could ever thank them for thier efforts. For thier spouses and families and friends who sat around without them while they worked. They scarcely knew her and had never met her parents at all! She closed her eyes and drifted to sleep.
The rough landing of the pterosaur in Ojaveda shook her awake and Oni quickly dismounted then checked her bag again to make sure everything was intact. She swiftly made her way to the proper area and made sure that certain shadows witnessed her entrance into the dark tent. She sat down inside on the dusty floor and pulled out her tria pouch. Setting it down between her outstretched legs, she began to separate and count the coins.
"You shouldn't count your tria in public" he jested as he entered.
She jumped a little but then relaxed as she recognized his voice and demeanor. He knelt down beside her and then He layed his hand on hers and pushed it down over the circles to stop her counting. She looked up at him quizically and with some irritation.
"What do you need this time my little?" his size was intimidating as he leaned forward on one knee. She pushed him back and hissed. He laughed and pulled his hand away to place it on his heart "Oh please don't hurt me" he laughed again "unless... he growled and then just as quickly lowered his head and smiled with feigned patience. "Listen. I apologize." He stared at the floor, "I tell you what" he looked up back up into her eyes "no charge this time Oni. He tilted his head and his pupils grew larger. She noticed that he looked as if he had actually bathed and his teeth were whiter and he smelled sort of... clean... "what is he up to?" she wondered to herself if he was planning some sort of trick.
"What do you mean no charge this time? What makes you think there will be a next time?"
"Well I..." he stuttered a little and then looked away. He was betraying himself already. Quick witted, he turned back toward her sheepishly "I couldn't help but read the note you got back last time. I saw that your father asked for lots more potions. In fact," he looked toward the door as if he were about to reveal a secret "in fact he asked me to be sure you sent as much potion back as possible. You know some of my men are fearing this plague now that it spread to your family I mean... anyone could be next. You ARE going to send more potions in as soon as you can right?" he looked at her so sincerely with one eye wider than the other, the brow lifted curiously.
"Those notes aren't for your entertainment rogue." she glared at him, infuriated.
"Tirakk."
"What?" her brow furrowed in frustration and confusion.
"Tirakk." he paused for effect "My name is Tirakk." He offered her a slightly submissive grin in an effort to disguise the rage inside of him. Didn't she realize he could snap her neck with one hand? His eyes narrowed as she continued.
"Tirakk then. There's no reason for you to-"
He waved his hand in front of her, gesturing for her to stop there "Listen carp brain! I'm risking my life and the lives of my men to help you for your scanty pittance" he points at the tria on the floor. "I don't deliver mysteries. I won't risk lives on someone elses word. I'll read what I want and I'll take what I want." he reaches out and pushes the tria closer to her "and I don't want your circles this time."
"Th- thanks." Oni dropped the circles back into the pouch and pushed them back into her bag without looking up at him. She pulled out the two bottles and the instructions and held them for a moment before pushing them into his hands "these are all I could get so far."
He looked down at the two small bottles "That's it??" She looked at him curiously and he quickly added something to hide his interest "I mean it must be really strong I imagined you'd have to bring much more." He picked them up carefully and held one up to the light then placed them into his own bag.
"The instructions" she pointed at the parchment that he left lying on the floor. "Of course" he snapped it up and jammed it into the bag kind of carelessly.
She shook her head and folded the top of her bag closed. Placing her hands on her knees, she pushed herself up and stood. He reached up and held her arm with his hand while he rose from the floor, careful not to pull on her with his actual weight. He towered over her when he stood "I'll be in touch."
She looked up into his eyes to see if they would give her some sort of clue about his intentions but all she saw was empty blackness. He turned and was gone again without a sound.
Tirakk didn't take the potions to Sarrahn in the sick room. Instead, he rounded the familiar turn and headed back down into his lair. Immediately after entering, he whistled a low and then a high tone in succession. The two smaller rogues hurriedly approached. "Take these down to the well and water them down. I want at least ten bottles out of these two." he handed them the potions "NOW!" they jumped at his command and ran back the way they had come. Tirakk rubbed his hands together and snickered, obviously pleased with himself. He sat down at the dirty table and began to plan his next move.
