Despite having seen quite a few places that held a beauty of their own, Broken Tooth Passage was not one of them. The settlement was chaotic, overcrowded, and overbuilt; structures were built haphazardly on top of one another and the streets, more like rickety catwalks, were crowded with beings from numerous races. Many Vect recognized, but several he had never heard of. The only places that were somewhat clear of the cramped conditions was the uppermost area where skyships could dock and the main road that ran through the center of the settlement, but even the road was not completely clear of crowds. Wagons loaded with goods varying from food, to clothes, to weapons, and everything in between.
"Quite the place isn't it," Duinir smiled, as he led them through the cramped pathways, "I used to frequent places like this before I joined your father's court."
"Why would you ever want to come to a... charming place like this," Edran glanced around warily, his hand resting on his sword hilt, ready to draw it if necessary.
"A place like this is perfect for hearing rumors about possible jobs. Plenty of travels coming from either direction."
"Understandable, but why are we here? We should be on our way as swiftly as possible."
"Once you see why, you may change your tone," Duinir smiled.
Behind them followed Vect and Faral, who was trying to strike up a conversation with the younger elf.
"So what's it like to share a mind with a dragon? Vect? Vect!"
Vect jumped slightly at her raised voice. "Oh, my apologies. I was preoccupied with something else."
"What has your attention so focused."
"Just waiting for something I'm hoping won't happen."
"Awfully cryptic," Faral huffed.
"Just something from my three year tenure at the Shadow School."
"You mean that overinflated den of thugs?"
Vect felt his anger flare slightly, but let the insult pass and continued his explanation. "When a large amount of people are forced into a small space, it offers certain opportunities. Anonymity can inspire people to take greater risks, and this includes-." He stopped suddenly and his face darkened. In a flash of movement, Vect whirled around and grabbed the person behind him. One hand wrenched his hand away while the other lifted the, now terrified, human by his tunic. In the human's trembling hand was Vect's coin purse. "-pathetic little pickpockets," he growled.
"P-please let me go," the would-be thief whimpered.
Vect eyed the short human up and down, his anger rising at this trembling being before him. 'The gall of this wretch! How dare he try to steal from me,' Vect's eyes shifted to their menacing gold-yellow color as his anger grew, their gaze paralyzing the pickpocket with fear. By this point several onlookers were forming a circle around the them, waiting for the confrontation to escalate.
"Vect," a voice called to him from behind, but he paid it no mind.
"Maybe I should make this one an example," Vect's voice started to sound like several people were talking at once. His grip tightened further and the thief let go of the coin purse, letting it dangle by Vect's hip from the near invisible strand of thread that wrapped around Vect's waist. Ideas of how best to punish the one cowering before him flashed through his mind until it was interrupted by a resounding voice.
"VECTIVUS IRALLIAN!"
Vect blinked his eyes several times and seemed to notice the cowering human for the first time. He released his grip on the man and dropped him to the floor. After a moment of terrified silence, he frantically scrambled away and disappeared into the crowd. Vect turned around and faced his traveling companions, Faral and Edran gripping their sword hilts, and Duinir slowly approaching.
"What's wrong? What happened," Vect asked, his eyes returning to their original color.
"We should proceed to our destination for both our sakes," Duinir said urgently.
-----
They soon arrived at their destination, a shop called 'Helpful Hearbs'.
"This is the place?"
"Yes," Duinir said proudly.
"We're going shopping at a place where they couldn't even spell 'herbs' correctly," Edran asked with very obvious concern.
"The shop owner is aware of the misspelling, she just sees it as a way of distinguishing her shop from others. Come on."
A bell on the door announced their entry as they filed into the shop. The walls were lined with shelves filled with jars of plant and animal ingredients. Along the back wall and hanging above them were numerous cages and glass containers occupied by a wide variety of animals; their calls mixing together into a disjointed orchestra of sounds. A collection of mixing tools lay on a table with a few bottles and jars filled with different colored liquids. A figure stood over the table mixing ingredients and didn't bother to turn towards them when she spoke with a croaking voice.
"It has been awhile since you've come to my doorstep, my friend."
"Unfortunately, duties keep me occupied most of the time."
"Well, you're here I suppose. So that begs the question, what brought you here," the figure turned around and Vect saw possibly the oldest looking elf he had ever seen. In her younger days, she was possibly a good looking woman, but her face was very heavily lined with wrinkles that reminded Vect of a dried out fruit.
"Edran, Faral, Vect. This is Izorna, a woman that makes some of the best potions in all the realms."
Izorna bowed slightly to each of them in turn as they were introduced, with her gaze lingering on Vect for a moment longer than the others, before she smiled. "You are too kind."
"Did you get my letter?"
Izorna's smile disappeared as she turned to Duinir. "Yes I did, and it was not easy to fulfill such a request."
"Implying that you were able to have some success."
"Was there ever a doubt? However heartstrings of a phoenix are not easy to acquire, nor cheap."
"I wasn't expecting such a rare ingredient for my request," Duinir cringed.
"Lucky for you I had a ready source on hand," she indicated one cage. Inside was a small baby bird surrounded by ashes.
"What did you promise her this life cycle?"
"A new roost for starters."
"Her sacrifice is appreciated. Now on the matter of payment."
"As far as payment is concerned, consider this my way of repaying my debt to you. I would hate to have you die before I can return the favor I owe you for that incident with the demons," with that said, Izorna produced from her robes a small vial filled with a swirling silvery liquid. She handed it off tenderly to Duinir before continuing. "Now I want you to understand that this is not a cure for your curse, there is no known cure for the death curse of a lindworm," she explained sadly. "How old are you, or were at the time of the monster's death?"
"116.”
Izorna closed her eyes and mumbled several words as she calculated. "And 20 days have passed since, so this should give you 3, maybe, with clean living, 4 years. I am truly sorry I can't do more for you my friend."
"Ahh, do not worry. This will give me plenty of time to get my affairs in order and still be able to enjoy some retirement," Duinir laughed.
"You just had to be the one to kill it didn't you? Just had to get the upper hand on Gorg's bragging."
"I really don't think I could top impregnating an entire love goddess temple singlehandedly."
"Well that's what happens when you drink Essence of Gerlistna."
Duinir's smile shifted to one of revelation and annoyance. "That lying bastard said it was all him."
Izorna waved him off, and then focused on Vect with a penetrating stare. "Now there is your issue. I heard about your show in the street." Vect looked down dejectedly. "Let us see what can be done to aid you." Izorna departed through a doorway and, after hearing the clattering and crashing of objects as she searched, returned carrying a basket with several items.
"We need extra space," she waved her hand and the table, and all it's contents, shrunk suddenly and flew into a cabinet. Next the room seemed to expand wider than the structure itself. Incense and candles flew from the basket and arranged themselves around the center of the room followed by chalk drawing out a circle ringed with spell runes like a summoning circle. Once finished drawing, the candles lit themselves.
"Step inside the circle and we can begin."