Makareth paused outside the edge of town, thinking about maybe getting a new mask while he was there; but he dismissed the thought almost as soon as it arrived. He had worn his dragon skull helm to avoid detection from Ishrae and her men, leaving them in the dark as to where he was. He had traveled and fought behind that mask, successfully slipping under their guard multiple times; but now it was gone, and he had openly defied the priestess in her own house.
A new mask would do him no good.
He shook his head, and placed his focus on getting what he had come here for in the first place: venom antidotes for Liana.
There was a small shop at the edge of the market square whose owner knew Makareth. The rogue had bought his mask there, but ran into some situational complications with the shop-keeper.
They ended up making a deal, that Makareth would get him harder to come by materials for a lower price than other merchants; and in return, the shop-keeper wouldn't call Ishrae's guards on him. It took a lot of haggling, because the common drow of the Underdark feared Lolth's priestesses greatly, but they eventually came up with a deal that satisfied both sides. The shop-keeper made a profit, the smaller drow kept his freedom; and everyone was happy.
Pulling his hood up over his head, Makareth walked into the town, and through the front door of the small shop.
The shop-keeper; a large dark elf, with off-white blond hair pulled back into a ponytail stood behind a counter, repairing a tear in a leather backpack. He looked up as the smaller elf entered, and removed his hood.
"Ah, Makareth!" He exclaimed, putting his work aside, "just the drow I wanted to see!"
Makareth shook his head with a quiet chuckle.
"Let me guess. You ran out of those mushrooms that only grow in crazy derro territory?"
"Nah," the shop-keeper said, pulling out a box of said mushrooms, "I still got plenty of those." He put the box away, "We can talk about that later. What can I get for you?"
Makareth walked further into the room.
"I ran out of spider venom antidotes." He explained, "and I lost my daggers in an encounter with one of the beasts."
"Ah," the shop-keeper grinned, turning around and grabbing a few vials of dark liquid, and a pair of steel blades from the shelves behind him, "three venom antidotes, and two replacement knives." He said, setting them down on the counter, "anything else?"
"No, that's all." Makareth replied, tossing a few gold coins at him.
The shop-keeper caught the money, looking it over.
"Alright then." He said cheerfully, pushing the items across the counter towards the smaller drow, "there you go!"
Makareth reached out to pick up his purchase, but the other dark elf grabbed his wrist, pinning it to the zurhwood surface.
"What are you doing?!" Makareth growled, using his other hand to try and pry his wrist free.
The shop-keeper just caught his free arm as well, pulling him forward so he was half lying on top of the counter.
"The deal is off kiddo." The larger drow whispered, stilling the other's struggling with a firm hand on the back of his neck, "Somehow the priestess' men were able to trace you and your mask back to me. Shortly after your last visit, about two weeks ago: her guards came in here, and told me that she would overlook the fact that I had been keeping you hidden, if the next time you came in, I capture you for her. I might lose out on the gold your services provide, but it's better for me in the long run to just hand you over, don't you think?"
Makareth's eyes went wide as the shop-keeper shifted his grip so he held both of the rogue's wrists securely in one hand, reaching under the counter with the other to pull out a pair of leather cuffs and a length of rope.
The smaller dark elf renewed his struggling, allowing for some desperate measures. Before the shop-keeper could put any of the offending restraints on him, Makareth sank his teeth into the other drow's arm, earning a cry of pain, and a reflexive loosening of his grip.
Jumping free, the rogue snatched the potions and daggers off the counter, bolting out the door with his hood up to hide his face.
Ignoring the shop-keeper's shouting, and avoiding the multiple drow that tried to grab him, Makareth fled out of the town. He continued running, frequently looking over his shoulder to check whether or not he was being pursued, even once he could no longer see the settlement. Once he reached what he judged to be a safe distance, he slowed to a walk to catch his breath, and put the potions in his pack. Then he quickened his stride again, making his way back to the cave.
0*0*0*0*0
The wizard was sitting on the cavern floor beside Liana with a container made of conjured ice next to him. The bucket was filled with water, and he was soaking a scrap of cloth in it, placing the rag on Liana's forehead.
He looked up in surprise as the rogue walked in past the spider webs at the entrance, the suspicion still glowing like sleeping embers behind his eyes lessening a little.
"You came back." He said, his surprise evident in his tone.
Makareth raised an eyebrow with a huff.
"Did you think I wouldn't?" He asked, unslinging his pack from his shoulder.
There was a pause before the high elf answered.
"Yes." He admitted, shaking his head a little, "Despite what you said about wanting to help her," his gaze turned to Liana, "I fully expected you to leave the two of us here to die."
Makareth rolled his eyes with a growl before pulling one of the antidotes out of his pack, and kneeling beside the unconscious ranger.
Liana was still lying on the ground, her body cushioned by the spider silk, looking much more flushed than when the drow had left. Brushing his fingers over her forehead, Makareth hissed at how scorching hot her skin was. He uncorked the potion, pausing as he considered how to get her to drink it.
"Do you not know how to administer liquid medicine to an unconscious patient?" the wizard asked, seeing his hesitation.
Makareth shook his head. He had some medical knowledge, but neither what he'd been taught, nor what he was forced to learn out in the field had covered situations like this. He reached out a hand to shake Liana awake.
"Wait." The high elf said, and Makareth withdrew his hand slightly, "Prop her up in a sitting position." he instructed, taking the antidote from the dark elf, and nudging him forward.
The rogue flinched, eyeing him warily, but did as he was told, lifting Liana off the floor so her head rested against his shoulder.
Nodding in satisfaction, the wizard carefully pressed the vial to Liana's lips while Makareth watched, slowly allowing small sips into her mouth, little by little until the antidote was gone. This took nearly half an hour, and by the time they laid her back down, both elves who were already tired from recent events, were downright exhausted.
Running a hand over his face wearily, the high elf took the rag he had been using to try and ease Liana's fever, and dropped it into the bucket again. Ringing it out, he placed it back on the ranger's forehead, and closed his eyes, leaning against the cavern wall with a sigh. At this point all they could really do was wait for the medicine to do its job.
His eyes flicked open again when he heard the rasping of a whetstone along the edge of a blade. Makareth was inspecting the weapons he had bought, and was apparently unsatisfied with their sharpness.
"Go to sleep." the wizard said, pulling his cloak tighter around himself to ward off the chill.
Makareth looked up at him and shook his head.
"I don't trust you enough." he stated flatly, "Honestly, I'm surprised you would be willing to sleep when I'm in the room."
He went back to sharpening his knives.
The high elf watched him for a while before speaking.
"I cannot say that I trust you either." he said, "But," Makareth's stone paused in its journey across the daggers edge, "Given what I have seen of you, I am willing to give you a chance."
The rasping of stone against metal stopped all together, and he stood, walking up to the young drow, "Let's start over. My name is Kirion Ravenheart." he introduced himself, holding out his hand.
After a few minutes of baffled staring, the rogue slowly accepted it, rising to his feet also.
"Makareth Darkblade." he responded.
0*0*0*0*0
There were many unfortunate creatures whose skeletons and gear littered the ground of the spiders' lair. Scuffed and dirty skulls, femurs, and spine segments of drow, quagoths, and deep gnomes were quite common, and didn't draw too much attention. The shattered pieces of clean ivory bone laying on the cavern floor on the other hand, were something to take note of. Along with the crumpled corpse of the giant spider, and the recently abandoned travelers' packs.
Ishrae knelt, examining a larger piece of the shattered bone. The bigger shards could be put together to make what looked like the front of a miniature dragon skull; but the rest had been broken into too many tiny pieces to form the back.
"He has definitely been here." The priestess mused, absently tapping her finger against the edge of one of the shards, letting her gaze drift around the cavern, whispering to herself as if speaking to her quarry, "But where are you now, Spiderling?"
Author's note: Finally got this one done. Yay! Liana doesn't really show up here, (well, she's there, but she doesn't do anything) but she will be back next chapter. Any thoughts? Like it, hate it, to choppy, total let down? I will probably go back through all of the chapters at some point and add some more descriptors of the characters and environment, because I've noticed that I kind of left a lot of those out. . . .