It was a quiet evening by Elyon's standards. No barfights – so far, at least – and no damsels in distress in need of saving either, he mused to himself, his lips stretching into an uncomfortable grimace as he recalled the maiden who had all but ran into the arms of the town drunkard the previous evening, and had then put up quite a show when the bloke did what nature intended him to do, or well, tried to... nearly had... if the damned bird that had made it his personal mission to act as Elyon's conscience had not intervened.
Oh, it wasn't as if Erebos himself had deigned to stop the fool from getting handsy with the girl. No no, that would be far too beneath his station, and would not have nearly the entertainment value of forcing his best friend to do so for him. And what did he have to show for this reluctant act of heroism? A nice big, smarting bruise right on his cheek where the girl, the maiden he had painstakingly extracted from the drunkard's viselike grip on the behest off his feathered companion, that girl had gifted him with.
That would teach him that being a hero did not suit him...at all. And that Gryphon's made for the absolute worst of travelling companions.
Running a hand wearily over his face, he nearly groaned when he felt the almost full beard that he was sporting nowadays, a fashion statement he had always associated with older men, never himself, and definitely not at his current age. But that was the price he had to pay for anonymity, he supposed, toying listlessly with the ends of the hard bristles before dropping his tanned hand back into his lap. Swinging his legs lazily over the edge of the roof of an old apothecary, he turned away from his musings and trained his gaze back on the road leading to-and-from The Crimson Serpent across the street from him, scanning each patron closely as they entered and exited the building, hoping to find, and corner, the Rat before he died of sobriety. He had been playing the part of sentry for the better part of six hours now, and by dragon's breath, his arse was hurting, the uncomfortable thatched roof forcing him to shift every few minutes – leading to some very close calls with him almost toppling face-first onto the beam below him. This would be somewhat inopportune, seeing as he did not want the humiliation of having Erebos stage a coup to break him out of the cells for trespassing, something the damned bird would lord over him until death do them part.
'Elyon seems especially out of sorts this evening, this one sees. Was his bed not sufficiently warmed last eve by the feisty mortal woman? Erebos's voice, deep and melodious, rang out clear as a bell in Eli's mind, the amusement slathered on as thick as butter on bread, and it immediately had Eli scowling.
Think of the devil and he shall invade your thoughts, Eli grumbled to himself sourly, his legs swinging faster in agitation at his gryphon's intrusion. Tossing his gaze to the starry heaven, he tried to focus on seeing the tawny feathered wings of his companion winging through the night sky, but he had either hidden himself very well from Elyon's view, or he had snuck into their link's vicinity in some other manner.
'Of course I am out of sorts, you overgrown songbird. Would you not be as well after being decked by a slip of a girl whilst trying to save the damned thing? And need I remind you that the bright spark that was her rescue was entirely your hair-brained concoction?', he punched the thought angrily through their mindlink, and could almost feel Erebos flinching from the sudden force. The gryphon drew away from the link at that, his thoughts reproachful and disapproving. Eli could almost imagine that if he could, Erebos would be sniffing in indignation right now, insulted as he most probably felt.
He allowed himself a small, self-satisfied smirk at the victory, and was firmly patting himself on the back when he saw the rat exiting the tavern. Instantly all mirth and jest was forgotten as his mind became coldly professional, all attention now on the job at hand. A quick glance at the moon's position told him that it could not be later than 2 bells before midnight. He frowned at that, his fingers shifting to the handle of his broadsword laid beside him on the roof, his wary gaze scanning the area around the cloaked man, looking for anything out of place.
'The little rat is scurrying back to its nest too early, Min'rah.' Erebos sounded concerned, and through their link Eli felt the first tendrils of suspicion taking root in his gryphon's mind.
Nodding wordlessly to himself, he stayed poised on the rooftop a minute longer, trying to figure out why his informant was acting so out of character tonight.
There was something the rat was trying to hide, it would seem. Or it was trying to hide itself, which, considering the coward that it was, seemed the likeliest of answers. Which begged the question of what had led to his careful rat getting spooked?
It seemed that trouble was the only flavour Adela offered, and Elyon was already sick of it.
Sighing resolutely, he heaved himself swiftly to his full height of 6'2 feet, flexing his sore muscles in a quick, languid stretch, before bending down to scoop up Beserker, attaching the scabbard firmly to the leather straps that crossed his back, making sure that the pommel was easily accessible, and would not lop off anything important when he drew the sword, before securing his black, tattered cloak over his broad shoulders, flicking up the hood to cover his face.
'Erebos, I'm going to need you to stay close to me, okay? If things get hairy tonight, I might need you to intervene.'
The answer came swiftly through the link, 'This one hears, Min-rah.' Erebos flew over his head then, the tips of his massive wings only just brushing the roof of the building on which Eli was perched, before he banked swiftly to the right, disappearing once more from view.
Grinning savagely as the thrill of the chase started pumping through his blood, Elyon made quick work of his descent from the building, using the beams as leverage in order to lower himself, almost soundlessly, to the ground. The moment his booted feet touched dirt, he sprang into pursuit of the hooded figure that had disappeared around a corner mere moments ago. His large form was surprisingly fast and light on his feet, and within moments he found himself at the alley mouth that the informant had ducked into.
It was, of course, a dead end, and even he could not see within the dark shadows that cloaked the furthest parts of the alley. So it was entirely within bounds that, when the rat's insidious voice broke the silence right behind him, Elyon jumped like a frightened kitten, much to the amusement of Erebos, who started guffawing through their link.
He whirled around with an almost dizzying speed, fixing his accusatory gaze on the tall, thin man in front of him. He stalked towards him, dueling emotions of embarrassment and anger making eddy's of hot and cold run through his body, only settling down when he felt the reassuring presence of his companion approaching from the sky, although still rankling from being laughed at.
The gryphon was too big to land in the streets of the small village, and his bulk too heavy to be supported by the mostly timber houses that the town consisted of, so he was forced to fly above them, circling their location like a vulture would when it spied carrion.
Eli was pleased to see that the Rat's skin had gone pasty at the gryphon's appearance, and took advantage of this before he could regroup. "You left early tonight, Rat. Early is bad in our line of work, you know that. It usually leads to duplicity or, in your case, lack of information." Elyon leaned forward slightly, fully recovered from his earlier embarrassment, his usual professionalism taking precedence once more. "Tell me," he poked a finger at his informant's chest, taking perverse pleasure in causing him to flinch this time, "tell me that you did not walk out of that tavern empty handed after I already paid you half of your fee." He emphasized this with another firm push of his finger, only stopping when the silent figure stumbled backwards, his head bowed, and arms raised as he tried to supplicate Eli. Jittery brown eyes bounced between Eli's tattered cloak and his piercing gaze, before he answered, his accent so familiarly uncultured that Elyon relaxed a bit at the familiarity. "Tis true, Ser. Tis true tha' I left tha' there tavern before midnigh', but Ser, yer see, I was list'nin to those there Ad'len knights, and I heard meself a right int'restin' tale." He paused, as if to build suspense, but a quick, hard look from Eli soon had him continuing. "A girl, they said. A girl with her very own fire-breather, Ser. Ran right outta their service, yer see, and took that there Fire-breather with her."
His tall frame leaned closer, and Eli had to stop himself from flinching when the man's oily fingers latched on to his cloaked arm, his gaze animated as he relayed the story. "They be offerin' a pretty penny fer her head. Nothin' else attached to it, if yeh ken what I mean, but that there Ad'len's looked like they'd pay even more if the girl was to be brought to them alive. The Fire-breather too, I s'pose," he shrugged dismissively, "she'd not be too far from this here town, they say, Ser."
Eli leaned back from the man, his gaze pensive as he considered the information. A girl and a dragon was a tall order even for seasoned bounty hunters like him and Erebos, but the reward would be astronomical, especially if the Adelan military was involved. Grinning wickedly at the prospect of all the ale he would be able to afford with such a payout, Elyon turned his blue eyes back to the man in front of him, reaching in to his pocket before tossing a small dark pouch at him, who almost fumbled in his haste to catch it. The greed in his gaze as he surveyed the contents inside was normal for his kind, and yet, somewhere deep inside of his mind, Elyon deplored it. Unfortunately, he needed men like the Rat to help him with his bounties, and so he squashed the rebellion inside his soul and grasped the arm of the man tightly, his face grim once more as he addressed him.
"Tell me everything you know about the girl and her dragon."
