Re: The Nightmare's Beginning (T-A-B)
Triacca nods to the lieutenant as she takes the pouch and parchment from her. Glancing around and seeing only the bustle of administrators, she gives a final salute and steps out of the command tent.
After taking a few steps into the cold air she then opens the jingling pouch, ensures that the initial payment is all there, and dumps the contents into her primary belt pouch. Redeeming those coupons could wait for now. She had a more pressing issue... her medicine called to her.
Triacca stepped briskly towards where she had left her supply wagon. She spotted her two mercenaries before the wagon itself: Azun, stern-faced and motionless as always, and Trevan aimlessly pacing around. They greeted her but she paid them little heed as she reached into the wagon and seized a small green box, pulling the lid off and hastily reaching in. She produced a small object, no bigger than her thumb − Heartsfire.
It was a single berry wrapped in two multicolored herb leaves. She tossed it into her mouth and punctured the berry with her sharp tooth, savoring the sweet burning sensation as the juice was slowly freed into her mouth. A few moments later she chewed and finally swallowed the concoction, eyes fluttering as she did so.
She glanced to her side and noticed that Trevan had been watching her with rapt attention. "You seem to enjoy that more every time Miss Triacca Ma'am," he blurted out. She furrowed her brow and turned away.
Trevan was almost a foot shorter than Triacca, a few years younger and with boyish features. He fancied himself a ladies' man but rarely had any success in the taverns the Crimson Bulwark had come across. He was however one of the best bowmen Triacca had ever seen, and so she kept him around despite his sometimes irritating behavior.
Azun was tall, dark-skinned and in his late thirties. He seldom spoke and smiled even less frequently. He could usually be found leaning on his pike, scanning the horizon during the day or staring at the stars at night. He had traveled with Triacca longer than any other single merc, and she knew she could trust him both in and outside a battle.
"Good news, boys," Triacca spoke. "We've gotten ourselves a contract from the General himself. The pay's mediocre, we'll be creeping face-first into a nest full of monsters, and we'll have to protect some helpless scout the entire time. A real vacation." The other two mercenaries looked at each other incredulously. "However, it gets us into the city, and gods only know what sort of goodies lie within. So hopefully we'll end up doing some salvaging on the side."
Triacca decided to look through the supply cart, taking note of their current supplies. And there was also the scroll of parchment she was to take to Captain Orly. If there was no seal, she could easily take a peek and ensure there weren't any "surprise" objectives of this mission.
