Disclaimer: I don't own Neopets the Darkest Faerie.
Chapter 9:
"Tor, I heard that Angus was asking for you," Ebard interrupted Tor's tense and slightly awkward conversation with Lady Anabel. Roberta was out with Shanra again, getting in some time with their friend before it was time to depart, leaving him alone in the castle. Lady Anabel had approached him in the courtyard to talk. Tor was thankful for the interruption. "He needs to see you before you leave he said. It sounds important to me."
"Yeah, I'll get over there," Tor said, smirking at jealous look his fellow knight was sending him. Little did he know that Tor and Anabel were really discussing that it would never work between them as Anabel had always hoped. Tor. He turned to the green aisha and set his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry again, Lady Anabel. I'll see you around." He leaned forward and whispered so that Ebard couldn't hear, "I'm not the right guy out there for you, but I know so many others who would love for you to come and tell them what you did me."
With that said, Tor left the courtyard, finding the nearest door into the castle. Soon he would be leaving this behind again, traveling under the sky and sleeping in a tent. He didn't know how long the journey would take this time; no one had ever found the caves and the Shadow Raider's treasure. Tor figured that the clues given would be enough, in some caves on the coast east of the two kingdoms. What he didn't get was how some flowers were going to show him the way. They could figure that out once they got there though.
"Hey Tor!" someone called. He turned around and saw two young kids running toward him, Kendel and Gram. It had been Kendel who galled his name, the gelert waving his arms over his head. Gram ran beside his friend, with an excited grin. "Tor, we're playing hide and seek with Ella and Paunch, but we can't find them. Wanna play?"
Tor smiled at the two. "Sorry kids, I head Angus needs me at the shop. I'll see you guys soon."
Gram's ears drooped. "But mom said that you're leaving again soon. She said that you'll be gone a long time."
"Hopefully it won't be for that long. And by the way," Tor sniffed the air and grinned when he caught what he was looking for. He kneeled down and whispered, "Ella and Paunch are hiding over there in those barrels outside the food shop. You'd better find them before Sowter figures out. He'll be a bit sour about it. Use your noses."
Their eyes brightened immediately. "Thanks Tor!" they chorused before running off. Tor stood straight again with a chuckled and carried on to the Apothecary down the road. Behind him he could hear the complaints from the two hiding neopets that it wasn't fair that Gram and Kendel had gotten his help. He grinned and shook his head, remembering when he was a kid on the farm. There'd been very few neopets around his age, only two among the farming families and they'd been Tor's closest friends growing up. Now those days were gone. Turk and Aryanna were starting to control their farms in their parents' places as they got older and Tor lived here.
"Good morning, Angus," Tor greeted the aged grarrl as he walked into the shop. Angus was hovering near his smoking cauldron which was emitting purple smoke. The acrid scent of the potion filled the air and Tor wrinkled his nose. "I heard that you wanted to see me."
"Yes, I was hoping to catch you before you left," Angus said, his voice unusually serious. Tor leaned against the counter and waited, picking up a strengthening potion and holding it o the light. Perfectly clear liquid filled the bottle as expected from the potion master. "I have something for you that, might prove useful."
"Oh? What is it?"
Angus reached under the counter and pulled out a vial filled with a minty green liquid. He handed it to Tor who inspected it carefully. "You remember that flower I sent you to find I presume."
Tor glanced up at Angus. "Yes, of course I do. The harpflower."
"Exactly. This is the potion I needed it for, a creation of my own that I have been working on for years. If it works as expected, and you could get the victim to drink it, then it can cure a werelupe bite."
Tor looked at Angus in shock. Werelupe bites were potentially fatal to any neopet who wasn't a lupe unless they were seen too quickly. If you were a lupe then as long as the wounds were not to severe, you would be turned into a werelupe. There wasn't much more information than that as most of those who had tried to research the subject were killed in the end before much information could be found. "You're kidding."
"I'm not. I've been working for fifteen years on this potion, studying every piece of information I could get my claws on," Angus murmured solemnly. He took the vial and tied a piece of string around the lip of the glass near where the cork was so that it could be worn like a necklace. He handed it back to Tor who put it around his neck and tucked it under his shirt so that it rested against his chest near his amulet. "Don't get your hopes up Tor. If your sister has been bitten then there is a chance that this might not work. This territory in potion making has not yet been explored."
Tor nodded and reached out to shake Angus' hand. "I understand. And thank you."
….
The lupe knight walked into the pub, his talk with Angus leaving him with a lot more to think about. He immediately saw Roberta and Shanra sitting in the corner as far away from Dumpus as they could get. The drunkard was slumped over the table with Tina the waitress poking at him with frustration written clear on her face. Tor made his way over to the two acaras, slamming his fist down on the table Dumpus was sitting at. Dumpus jumped up in his seat, staring around in confusion as Tor slid into an empty seat next to Shanra.
"You seem a little uptight," Roberta commented.
"Just saw Angus." Tor pulled the vial out of his shirt and held it up for them to see. "He gave me this."
"And that is…" Shanra questioned.
"A potential cure for the werelupe bite," Tor answered. "If Lucy has been bitten then this might return her to normal. But he told me not to get my hopes up."
Roberta gaped and gently took the bottle from his hands. He leaned toward her so that she could bring it closer to look at. "If this works, then the werelupe population will seriously decrease."
"Yeah, if you can get them to drink it and if you can get enough of it. One of the primary ingredients is the harpflower. Incredibly rare and expensive."
"Never heard of it," Shanra said.
"I'm not surprised," Roberta said. "Like Tor said, they're very rare, but they have a beautiful voice at night when the moon is shining."
Shanra rubbed her eyes. "Well I'm confused."
Tor exchanged an amused glance with Roberta and said, "It's hard to explain if you've never seen one, but at night the flower… sings in a way. I've only ever heard it once when Angus sent me out to find one a few months ago after I returned from visiting my family." Roberta handed him the vial again and he hid it back under his shirt. "Anyway, without the flower this potion isn't happening. And it might not even work to begin with."
The conversation was interrupted by Tina. "What can I get you Tor?" she asked.
Tor looked up. "You're a little late aren't you? I've been here for a few minutes now you know."
Tina rolled her eyes. "Well I had to deal with Dumpus first. Honestly, he's been here for two hours and drunk already."
"The day he's sober is the day I grow wings and fly to Altador. Anyway, just get me the strongest you've got."
"Ooh, startin' early today!" Shanra grinned at him and Tor chuckled along with Roberta and Tina. The aisha went to get him his drink from Pat the bartender, winking at him as she walked by. To watched her for a moment before he caught Roberta grinning at him. He then leaned back in his seat again. He would miss this place when he was gone.
…..
Tor adjusted his pack on his shoulder, staring out at the stretched of road in front of him. It would take them through the plains in the direction of Brightvale. The plan was to take the road until it branched off to Werelupe woods and head East through the forests, skirting Market Town to get to the coastline. Cutting through the forest would be much faster than taking the road to Market Town and going to the sea from there. There would be less of a chance of running into bandits in the woods too, unless they happened to stumble upon one of their hideouts.
The young knight looked around at the faces of those who came to the gates to see him and Roberta off. All of the Meridell knights were there, including Dawson and the newest squire, Zachariah, the techno from the arena. Lady Anabel and Lady Prunella were there as well and for once the villagers weren't so excited at some higher-up from the castle among them so casually. Farther away in the shadows of a building Tor could see several figures that included Rory, the shady map seller and The Meerca twins of the thieves guild. Tor just nodded to them briefly. They might be rotten thieves, but they'd played a vital role in the destruction of the Darkest Faerie.
"Good luck, Tor," Grayson said, clapping the yellow lupe on his armored shoulder. "I daresay you'll be needing it for this one."
Tor grinned at his friend. "Yeah, I will. You be careful around here too. Though I didn't see the Assassin during the battle at Cogham, they said he was there briefly. We don't know what he's up to at the moment so keep your guard up."
"Of course."
Angus appeared in Grayson's place as the knight stepped back. "Are you sure there are no more potions that you might need? They'll be on me."
"We're fine, Angus." Tor lowered his voice and added, "Don't let Gamon get ahead of you while I'm gone. I'm sure the new squires will be looking for extra neopoints in their spare time."
The goodbyes continued to go on and on until finally Tor and Roberta stood in front of the gates leading out of Meridell, facing the crowd. Guardsmen Henry and Korbin opened the iron gates and bowed to them as they walked through. As the two travelers began their journey, Tor pulled out his amulet, gripping it tightly in his fist. Hopefully it would keep him safe this time around.
…
They made first camp a little off in the woods past Illusen's Glade after stopping in at the glade to gather some neggs. The gladers allowed them to pick freely, for which the travelers were thankful. Neggs were expensive, being great for restoring energy and replenishing magic depending on the type, and though it was hard work to pick them, it was better to save their money for tight spots.
Tor poked the fire with a stick to churn up the embers and keep it going. He was taking the first watch so that Roberta could sleep without the fear of bandits stealing their things or other creatures finding their camp. It reminded Tor of their days journeying together, but this time he felt slightly more relaxed. Now he didn't fear the darkest faerie's minions popping out from their portals and attempting to destroy everything, including Tor and Roberta.
He sat there for a long time, listening to the sounds of the forest and night. The young knight kept his ears open for any unusual sounds and sniffed the air every once in a while to make sure all was still clear. A part of him knew that there really wasn't much to fear, the darkest Faerie wasn't creating chaos anymore, but it felt too much like those days where she was. At some point the first rays of the sun could be seen through the trees and Roberta crawled out of the tent, wearing his Altadorian battle robes.
"You should've woken me up before, Tor," she told him. "You need your sleep too."
"I'm fine. We ought to get moving soon."
Roberta put her hand on his shoulder to stop Tor from standing up. "We have time, Tor. Get some sleep and we'll leave in a few hours. I'll see what I can cook up so that we can eat."
Tor nodded once in assent. "Fine. Wake me up in a bit."
"Sure. Get some sleep."
Tor unbuckled his sword from his belt and set it gently next to his armor which he'd taken off during their first day of journeying. He hadn't realized how tired he was until his head hit the makeshift pillow of a rolled up blanket. He was asleep seconds after his eyes closed.
