Chapter Five
Gra-Tuke stood outside of the lean-to that housed the Rogue's blacksmith. Her name was Charsi and ever since Elisha had introduced them, he had been fascinated with the woman's capabilities. Her strong hands seemed to work magic with steel, wood, and hide. She seemed much more amiable than the rest of her sisters and had even offered him a sash to tie around his waist, albeit for a small fee.
Currently, she was fitting a new shaft for the head of his axe. She measured the opening with little more than her fingers, caressing the inside to find every nook, cranny, and imperfection in the opening. She immediately went to work on shaping a shaft to fit properly and in moments, she was done. Smiling, she handed the repaired axe back to an eager Gra-Tuke.
"That is a remarkable axe you have there, barbarian. Truly fine workmanship and a strong enchantment as well." Her voice was soft and cheerful, yet full of strength as if the conditions she was working under were no different than she was used to.
"My father gave it to me. It…" Gra-Tuke trailed off, remembering what brought him to this camp in the first place. The thought of his tribesmen suffering from the plague swept the weariness from his bones and drove him to action. He thanked Charsi with a passing wave and nearly sprinted to Akara's tent.
Elisha was sitting on the floor of the tent, pouring over the two tomes she had negotiated trades for with Arkara. One contained the arcane magics that she had read of in the great library. The magics themselves were too far outside her specialized forms of elemental magic for her to master, but she could utilize the contents of the tome. It would allow her to establish an anchor point here in the Rogue's Camp and almost instantaneously return to the anchor point. The only drawback was that it consumed pat of the tome for each transport. Akara had assured her that she would be willing to sell replacement pages at a reasonable price.
"So how does this work again?" Elisha stared at the book, brow furrowed.
"It is rather simple. I'm surprised your instructors did not teach this to you before they sent you out into the world. I know that I never would have set a student free without teaching them the very least of the basics of transportation." Akara shook her head slowly side to side as she spoke. "Who was you instructor, anyway? And how long have you been released from service?"
"I…" Elisha turned away from Akara, hiding the shame in her eyes. "I wasn't released." She turned back around, her eyes just barely holding back the tears of shame.
"If you weren't released…did you run away? Are they out looking for you?" Akara suddenly became much more agitated. "If you bring down a horde of mage-hunters into our midst on top of all of this, not even the traditions of hospitality will protect you from my wrath! I'll let Kashya use you for target practice!"
From deep inside, in the smallest of voices, Elisha responded. "I didn't run away. They…" She began sobbing, her shoulders hunched forward and face buried in her hands. "They sent me away." She ran out of Akara's tent choking back all but the worst of her sobs. She left with her head down, running nearly blindly. She ran into a wall of flesh, falling to the muddy earth with a dull thud.
Gra-Tuke quickly stepped back from the entrance to Akara's tent, but not fast enough. Someone barreled into him with their head down and at a full run. His training taking over, he planted his rear foot solidly and braced himself for the impact at the final moment, sending his assailant flying back down to the ground to land in the puddle of mud outside the tent. As he drew his axe and readied himself for the next assault, he realized that he was not truly under attack and that perhaps this was an accident.
He wondered if maybe he should help out the unfortunate soul who ran into him and in an instant thought had become action. He reached his hand down to help, but paused halfway when he saw the look on the poor soul's face. The face belonged to the young sorceress he had come to know as Elisha, but the burning eyes and frightening grimace could only have come from the depths of hell itself.
"They kicked me out! OK? You want to hear it too? There! Now everyone knows. Now leave me alone!" Elisha lashed out, her words striking a remarkably strong and harsh tone. Gra-Tuke merely stood still, unsure of how to respond to her angry declaration. He replied to her retreating form, "Who kicked you out?" There was no response.
Shaking his head at the odd behavior, he continued into Akara's tent his haste somewhat slowed, but not forgotten.
"Akara, I have dealt with the creatures that were massing in the cave. They will threaten you no more. Now I ask you, will you come to the aid of my tribe?"
Akara, eternally calm and serene, even in these terrible circumstances, paused to adjust the drip of a leaning decanter so that it's contents fell into the vial at the perfect pace. She held up a single hand, barely waving to the barbarian above her turned back. As she continued her alchemy, Gra-Tuke became more and more impatient.
"Answer me, woman! Will you come to the aid of my tribe or not?" Gra-Tuke did not like such delays. Every moment that passed, another brother or sister may have fallen ill to the sickness.
Akara continued to adjust the decanter, changing it's drip ever so slightly. Gra-Tuke gripped his axe tightly in anger and frustration. "By the gods, woman, answer me! I will not stand here waiting while you play with your wine!"
Akara calmly reached for the decanter and slowly stood it back upon its platter, making sure that no drop was wasted. She firmly placed a chunk of wax into the top of the vial and shook it violently, ignoring Gra-Tuke's growl.
With a look of deadly seriousness, she turned around at last to face Gra-Tuke. "You have no patience, and you are in my home. I suggest you learn some manners." She held up a hand to forestall what she was sure to be a violent outburst from the overgrown whelp. "Fret not. This vial contains an ointment that should prove to be some aid to your people. I tell you this now…the ointment will likely not cure any of them, but it will help them survive until I can get back into my library and research the cause and cure. You must hurry, for time is limited."
She gently placed the vial in the oversized hands of the barbarian and went back to her shelves. She returned with yet another gift. "Take this as well, warrior."
Gra-Tuke accepted the scroll she had handed him. It was rolled up and bound at the ends with two thin blue ribbons. He started to break the blue seals, but was interrupted by Akara.
"No, don't open the scroll now. Open it once you have tended to your people. It will open a gateway back to this encampment. Regrettably, I have not been able to activate the Horadric Waypoints, so the scrolls will only allow passage back and forth from the camp to a single point."
All of this talk of magic was beyond Gra-Tuke's understanding. He stared at Akara as she rambled on and on about Horadric this and waypoint that. Eventually, mercifully, she stopped. Ignoring nearly everything she had said to that point, Gra-Tuke asked a simple question. "So, when I want to come back here, I open the scroll?"
Exhausted from trying to explain the principles of magical transportation to the unresponsive warrior, Akara responded, "Yes, just break the seals and step through the portal."
Gra-Tuke nodded at Akara. "My thanks." He then turned and nearly sprinted out of the tent. What stopped him from doing so was a short, blonde-haired woman with sparkling eyes, namely Elisha.
"Just where do you think you are going in such a hurry? You think you can run me over again without so much as an 'excuse me?' I don't think so. If you are going somewhere, then you are taking me with you. I really need to fry something, and you just seem to be a magnet for demons and the undead. So, I'm coming. Got it big guy?"
"Um, OK. I guess you—"
"You guess? No. I'm coming with you. That's that."
"OK, then come along. We leave now."
Elisha brightened up at the prospect of action alongside her musclebound friend. "So, where are we going?" Her smile lit up with anticipation.
"Home."
"What?" Elisha suddenly became frantic. "What do you mean were going home? If you think for a even a minute that I'm just going to—"
"I'm going home. You can come, or you can stay here and wait for me to come back. You're choice."
Elisha turned to Akara as if to ask for her great wisdom, but turned back quickly as she saw the healer's mischievous grin. "Well, OK, I guess. But don't try anything funny."
Gra-Tuke shook his head and strode out of the tent. He quickly broke into a trot and was nearly at a run when he hit the gate.
Elisha struggled to keep up with him, begging him to slow down as she struggled.
Gra-Tuke ignored her pleadings and continued, knowing from their run back from the cave that she could keep up with him.
