Doric was starting to see why Eiker was not a fan of her. She seemed like all she cared about was money and getting what she wanted. He looked at her and nodded. "What do you need?"
"You guys are supposed to clear out the infestation right, there is a rare plant in the garden I need. If you get it for me I will be in your debt. That is something that does not happen often." She responded with a stern voice.
"What does the plant look like?" He was not so sure if this was a good idea but he did know that the garden was on their list of places to investigate so if it was not out of the way he considered grabbing it.
"It's a purple plant with red veins it's pretty easy to spot. If it's not completely rotten from the spores I could use that plant. Been tending to it for years and the fact that I can't right now really upsets me." She seemed genuinely invested in this plant.
Doric noticed her change in attitude when addressing the herb. It was as if she cared more for the plants and herbs in this cave than the people who use it.
"My group was actually going to be heading to the garden after we made a stop at the storage unit so it should not be too hard." Doric tried to sound casual about it and he thought for a moment he saw a smile of relief on the old dwarf's face.
She closed the door and Doric headed back to his current dwellings. On his way there he saw another flash of light and a few giggles this time as a few kids ran off again. He chased after them this time as he readjusted his vision and found their little base of operations. A small abandoned house.
"Oh no, he found us!" One girl screamed with excitement as if playing a game.
Two older kids came forward with what looked like makeshift swords and shields and guarded the girl. "Stay back wisp, we know what you are!"
Doric was very confused. One was excited and the other two were cautious. He noticed a fourth kid. This one seemed smaller than the two would-be guards but more mature. He watched Doric with what looked to be an old-fashioned camera hung around his neck.
He did not move except to expose a picture in the air. He waited for it to develop and then looked at it. "So you're the wisp that everyone's been talking about huh." The leader said as he looked at the picture.
"I don't see what's so special about your group…" He continued as he looked back up at the wisp. The two guards did not lower their swords but the shorter one looked back at their leader.
"What do you want us to do Rio?"
"Put your swords down, Fletch, Kiln, he is not going to attack us. Are you wisp?" Rio stated with confidence and a little goating. The young excitable girl jumped up from her seat and looked over to Rio. "I wanna touch the skull!"
"I don't know if that's a good idea. The fire might curse you. Sera." Rio half-joked to her.
Doric watched the kids all interact with each other and sighed. He really did not have time for a group of kids who all seemed to just be pretending to be something more than they were.
"I think I will be leaving then." Doric began to turn around but as he did Sera cried out.
"Wait Mr. Wisp. We need your help!"
He stopped for a moment and turned back to see Rio smack his head with his hand. "You can't just ask a monster for help like that. You know Dark elves trade in favors."
"Yeah but…he's still missing." Sera began to tear up. "I don't know where Sven is and they are the only ones who could help us!"
Kiln the younger of the two wannabe guards yelled at Sera. "Quit crying, Sven is just fine, he probably got lost or something."
Fletch the oldest looking one there chimed in. "Lost, as if, you dared him to go to Cordo Creek, and now he's missing."
"It was his stupid fault for actually doing it!" Kiln shot back.
"Quit it you two!" Rio barked at them and looked back to Doric. "There you have it. One of my guys went to Cordo Creek and hasn't been seen all day. What do you say? Go retrieve him and we will owe you a favor. That's what you dark elves love isn't it?"
Doric looked at the group of kids and noticed they were all wearing ragged clothing and were thinner than your average dwarf. He assumed they were orphans or homeless at the very least.
"I'll see what I can do. But don't mistake my friend for something she isn't." Doric warned the kids. He was not sure if he could help them but he figured he could at least check out this creek and see if it could use some clearing.
He decided to not take any more detours and instead made his way back to his lodging. When he arrived he saw Nyssa and Skia braiding each other's hair and giggling about something. They saw Doric enter and grinned at him.
"You were gone a while, learn anything about this place?" Nyssa inquired as she finished a braid on Skia. Her hair was smoky in nature but also very silky. It was perfect and it somewhat made Nyssa jealous.
"A lot of people need help and a lot of people want to help. Seems like this spread is pretty massive. We have a lot of work ahead of us. Nyssa, how are you doing?"
She stood up and stretched her leg a little trying to look better than she was. "Oh it's nothing a little rest can't fix. I think it's more blood loss and soreness than anything at this point."
He nodded and clicked his teeth. "Tomorrow we head out of the city to procure the spray we need if we have time or are doing well we can hit the garden too but for now we need to take this slow and get a feel for the area. I also don't want to push Nyssa too much while she recovers."
They both smiled and Skia stretched. "I think I will head to bed then. Thanks, Nyssa, I love the new style." they both giggled once more and began heading to bed.
Tomorrow promised trouble and hardships.