AfterDuo: Children's tale

Chapter 4: Now Where Is Folgomo?

"Leave him be for a second, he's still recovering." Alaric said, and gestured for Togaru to pick up Ryu and follow him. The demigod did so, and the greatest godslayer led the two to a bedroom, with the rest of the party following quickly behind. Togaru placed Ryu on the bed, while the latter lad kept mumbling 'No' under his breath, almost like a sleep talker. Alaric looked over at his son, and said, "Go get the healing materials." Retla nodded, grabbing Arachne and Mia's elbows on the way out.

"Come, I will need thine help." he said, and the three hurried from the room.

Togaru Looked concerned and softly brushed his hand across Ryu's forehead with the look of a concerned older brother, so much had he changed in the few seconds that Ryu started to act that way. Amelia and Mogasi blinked in surprise when they came in and saw the look on the demigod's face.

Retla, stronger than he looked, led the pair of girls to a sort of old pantry, full of drying herbs, pickled things floating in jars, and bubbling mixtures in vials. The place was huge, easily the size of a large library, with shelves arranged in aisles. Retla released the two and said what he needed done,

"We need Aconitum, Nirnroot, Hagraven feathers, Flame Salts, and Dragon's Tongue." He said, and motioned towards the shelves. "They are alphabetically arranged. Meet here and we leave." And he was gone, dashing through the shelves at a disproportional speed to his short stature, Arachne doing the same and leaving Mia lost and confused.

"Why are we getting these things?" Mia asked as she darted at a faster speed than the other two and looked through the place she was dragged to. She didn't get a response and she noticed something and paused. "I can't understand what these say..." She said as she flushed in embarrassment, and Retla paused.

"What can you read?" He asked in the calm tone he seems to always have.

"Not much... mostly ancient druid spell books and that..." Mia admitted.

Retla smiled, happy that this would be so easy.

"Then you should be able to find these things, these were all used in Druid rituals. Although, you likely know them by other names." He thought for a second, "Ok, fetch me Wolfsbane, Mandrake, Hag's Crown, Fire Sand, and Honey-sting." Mia's eyes lit up, as she remembered the ingredients' names. "You know what they look like, yes?" Retla asked,

"Yes!" Mia said in a cheery voice and now you only saw a blur of white and red. When you could see the girl again she had all the ingredients in her arms.

"What now?" The little girl asked as she smiled cutely.
Retla hurried over to a table, with a mortar and pestle. He asked for Wolfsbane, Honey-sting, and Mandrake to be placed inside and ground into a fine powder. Arachne, as the strongest there, was given that task. Retla took a small black cauldron and asked for Mia to run and fill it halfway with water from the kitchens. She was gone in an instant, and Retla set about to start a fire in the fireplace. By the time Mia returned, the powder was nearly fine enough, and the fire was roaring.

"Put it on the flame, and stand back, Mia." Retla ordered calmly, and Mia did so. Retla poured the small bowl of Fire Sand into the water, and leapt back. The liquid exploded, with hot water going everywhere. "Arachne, are you nearly finished?" She nodded, and a few moments later the dried flowers had all been crushed to powder fine as satin. She handed it to Retla, who poured it in. He grabbed a steel spoon and began stirring the mixture, which now glowed a deep forest green. He took the Hagraven feathers and cut them longwise down the spine, muttering to himself, "Mother's personal trick," and threw half in, then stirred as he waited. After a few minutes, the mix was a lighter, almost yellow green. He threw in the other half of the feather, and the mixture shone a brilliant pale gold color. He stirred a moment later, then took the cauldron off the flame.