The wait for my forcefully summoned guide didn't pass without incident. Chief culprit and incorrigible bundle of all that was messy was the youth.
"No, the elven bastards aren't puppets to clothe, besmear or otherwise mess with." My words trailed off at the end, changing entirely as my feet were hurling me through the wet vegetation.
"Stop! That's Buckthorn Poisondick! Lethal, I tell you. Lethal!!" She wasn't perturbed at all, sniffing on the exposed thorn while making a face as if she'd bite into it the next moment.
I literally yanked her away from there last chance I got. Instead of the protruding thorn, her soft tiny tongue ran all over my scales, drooling and grousing at the same time.
"Mwhaaa... uwayyyeeee!!" "Taste like Bitterroot? Well, my scales aren't made for consumption, much less to cope with excessive amounts of drool!"
As of late, everything that leaned even slightly towards perversion was met with abhorence. A certain fire fairy had done an absolutely mystifying job in making such come true...
"Wuuaaaa—uh! Chew! Chew!" "And if you simply heed my warnings, you wouldn't have to suffer so much. Mate, you obviously understand spee—stop that!"
Ducking down, I thwarted her plans of poking straight into a Wormpoison Wasp nest. The critter might be scared silly of me, but unwise provocation would see that changed in a flash.
"Why don't you keep calm for a minute, eat your fill—" "Waaahh!!!" "Sigh. I cannot just feed you natural resources.
Overconsumption makes every treasure under heaven lose efficiency." Of course, she wasn't inclined to take my words at face value, continuing to shriek for a long while.
There we stood, surrounded by vegetation on all sides and high elves bent into grotesque poses. Just like they had fallen down the branches, unconscious, they lay there.
I admired the view, truth be told. It had some whiff of what I might consider contemporary art. Or was mine already worth to consider ancient hogwash fallen from grace with the passage of time?
I sure had no answer at the ready. Eventually, the youth stopped. That was my cue in picking her from the spot on my shoulder she glued herself on and... sigh into that marvellous pouting face.
"You're effervescent if not so say hyperactive. But you're quite the little beauty too." In such close proximity, her one golden and one purple pupils seemed even more mysterious.
Add to that flat, fuzzy ears, a pointy nose twitching about and a comparatively speaking long tail oscillating frantically... I couldn't hold her antics against her.
"Fine... I'll give you what you want." There was just one product calming her down for a long period I had found.
Letting myself fall back onto the wet grass, I went for my inventory, grabbing a certain container from the realms in between.
It was a bottle, fully decked out in powerful seals and kept under a tight lock. With heartache was it that I unplugged the item, savouring the mellow smell of nostalgia.
I wasn't given much time for my reminiscence since the youth waddled over, soon to hang from my raised arm as I held the bottle out of her reach.
The pout this earned me was epic. "Here you go," I eventually gave in to her desire, no longer fooling around with her.
Suddenly, the space to my left fluctuated wildly and a sulphurous breath leaked through. The crack that had appeared was narrow and smaller than my arm.
Soon, a twisted creature squeezed through, one so skinny and boney I'd believe it starved for ages were it not of a certain race.
Struggling to keep its altitude constant, it groaned and wheezed as it brought the oversized bottle grasped in its tiny hands ever closer to me.
"Leave it there, imp. You aren't welcome here." Having experienced many disasters orchestrated by seemingly clueless devils with no apparent power, caution heavily tainted my voice.
As if in a fit of protest, the imp let go of the bottle while spewing all kinds of insults in languages I was damn sure weren't spoken any longer.
Seeing that this didn't impress me either, nor did the pitiful amount of hellish corruption seeping out of each of its pores, the imp eventually showed its true face.
"No love for the haulier. No care, no respect, no future..." The ancient devil tongue it spoke in also passed past me without triggering any reaction.
I even went as far as to keep the youth's ears covered, an action she wasn't happy with. At. All. But it prevented her from getting influenced, so there was no compromise to be reached.
In the end, the imp could but turn back to the crack now about to close for good, back bent and wings flapping feebly.
Having just secured the rations, I had nothing against the greedy youth sucking one bottle empty and clamouring for the other.
"Sovereign Gardener," I asked while she was occupied otherwise, my hand resting on the little booklet affixed to my waistbelt that shone in a pale light, "you there?"
"Reply: How can I help you, Master?" The answer was immediate. "Access to the study as far as I can remember includes the communication module, right?"
"Reply: Correct. Query: Should I unlock the module? Master's biometric data is required." So communication was pretty low on security risk.
Couldn't quite hold it against my creations given nobody had the capability to mess with it who wasn't called Thoth... "Do that."
Some low whirring noises got through the connection. Once they finally came to a stop, I demanded: "Sovereign Gardener. This is your task.
Utilise the communication modules as you see fit, I want Cow God's Milk. And I want it yesterday." Devizon no longer had any in stock. Yet the youth was no fan of patience.
The sole thought of running out of tranquiliser put me under pressure, now that I knew the stuff existed.
Fire fairies and their legendary feasts be praised!! "I don't care how you do it. Know that I expect some results soon." "...order ...received."
The connection was cut at that moment, leaving me to wonder just why Sovereign Gardener had sounded so strange towards the very end. Then I noticed the youth.
She had dozed off, the half-empty bottle held in a tight grip. I finally saw it right to use that beggar's medal Spice had gifted me with. If not now, the right time might never come!