Chapter 11: Deja Vu All Over Again
                      ----------------------------------

  By the time they reached Thamasa, it was almost noon. Sascha was exhausted,
new pwers or no. She could barely keep her eyes open, and nearly walked into a
tree on the way to the inn. Akfek decided it would probably be best if she
were to stay there while he bought the supplies. She was asleep before he left.
  'She trusts me so easily...' he thought bemusedly. As he stepped through the
door, he noticed a man leaning up against the wall outside. He was tall and
unshaven, with short dark hair and brown eyes. He didn't seem to notice him.
Akfek could swear he had seen him before, but couldn't remember where... Ah,
well, it didn't matter. He cast one more glance at the man by the door, then
shook his head, and headed for the store.
  He quickly discovered that the merchants of Thamasa were not particularly
eager to sell to strangers. He had to haggle extensively to get anything at a
reasonable price. 'Damn peasants...' he thought, as an item salesman tried to
convince him with an impressive oration thatone could always use another
Tonic, and for the low, low price of just 200 GP! What a deal...
  Much later, Akfek left the store, with his pack full of items, and his mind
filled with nasty ways to kill the troublesome merchant.
  Walking back towards the inn, he saw that the man was still standing by the
entrance. This time, he looked straight at Akfek, and he could see a look of
recognition flash across the unkempt man's face, which was sprouting a devious
smile. Akfek still had no idea who this man was.
  "Akfek!" the man called out, walking towards him, "my old friend!" As the
man approached, Akfek could smell a great deal of liquor on his breath. Then,
it hit him.
  "Connor," he said aloud, trying to sound enthused. Connor had been a fellow
soldier in Geshtal's army. He was also a drunk, and possibly the biggest fool
Akfek had ever met. 'But nevertheless,' thought Akfek, 'he might have some
useful information. You never know...' "So, what brings you to this den of
spent magic?"
  "Oh, the usual," replied Connor in an offhand manner. "Looking for
excitement, and of course, taverns! But, this place is dead. I'll probably be
leaving today..." Akfek was disgusted. What a useless piece of...
  "Well, I guess I'll see you around then," he said aloud, starting away, but
Connor spun around and grabbed at his arm.
  "Oh, before I forget! A bunch of us from the old army are gonna get together
in a week or so." Akfek stopped, and shook the man's hand away.
  "What?"
  "Yeah. Some of us have been thinking about some stuff..." he looked around,
and adopted an air of great secrecy. "But I can't say just now. Top secret,
you know!" Akfek nodded knowingly.
  "Where will it be?" This was getting interesting...
  "There's some nut lives up north of the Veldt. We're gonna use his
house... whether he likes it or not!" Connor seemed to find this very funny,
and doubled over laughing. When he got over his fit, he asked, "See you
there?"
  "Yes.." he answered. Connor wandered off, and he watched him go. This was
working out better than he had planned. So many things were falling into
place... 'But,' he thought, 'if this is going to work, Sascha will have to
know  what's going on...' He would have to tell her his plans. And if she
tried to  back out, he would have to kill her. It was not a prospect he
favored, though; he'd gotten used to having her around.
  Sascha was siiting on the bed when he walked in, stretching out her arms.
She looked like a cat after a particularly good nap. When she saw him come in,
she sprung to her feet.
  "Did you get everything?" she asked eagerly.
  "Yes. But that is not important right now. Come with me to the back room.
There are some things I need to tell you..."