Chapter 3.

Lady Grey was displeased witht he way Talus presented himself, but what's done is done. Flick, everfaithful to Lady Grey, was grinning inanely towards Talus in amusement.
''May a Balverine feast on your raw flesh.'' Thought Talus.
Interestingly enough, he mastered the art of hating people yet acting nice towards them, a skill many people in Albion never master. He could still hear Flick's chuckling and behind Talus' chestnut brown eyes evil thoughts were brewing.
''Well, we might as well get down to business'', said Lady Grey with an eypresionless face, ''I need you two to track somebody down and steal a certain parchment from them.''
Duros stood silent as did Talus, but Duros was calm, Talus was furious at Flick and could barely contain his rage.
''Who is the target?'' Asked Duros without so much as an ounce of formality.
-''Well, you never seem to heard of manners! Still, you are a simple minded warrior, so I shouldn't expect much.''
This did not affect Duros at all, he was used to insults, the life of a Hero with tattoos dedicated to Skorm isn't an easy one.
Lady Grey brushed a lock of hair from her face and started:
''Your target is a famous person, a Hero actually. You might have heard of his great feats.'' She walked down the garden and sat on one of the floral patterned benches. ''He and I used to be married, sadly-''
-''By chance, wouldn't this be Reaper, the one who defeated Jack? Twice?'' Talus said that fast without taking a small brake between sentences.
Flick pushed Talus roughly to inform him that Lady grey deserves respect and partly out of spite. Talus' gloved hand clentched into a fist, but soon relaxed. If he made a scene in front of Lady Grey, with her bodyguard, no less, he would surely get a bad reputation. Assassins weren't very formal, but they did have their own code of behaviour and moral.
''Correct. I do not know his exact location,-''
-''Of course.'' The Spell-Warrior rolled his eyes.
''but I did hear he is camping out somewhere in the Norhtern Wastes.''
As if the task wasn't hard enough, stealing from the greatest Hero in history, now Duros and Talus had to do it in the blood freezing cold. Lady Grey was known for being a cunt, but this was too much. Go to the Northern Wastes, freeze your arses off, most likely get killed by the much more powerful Reaper and for what? A parchment?
''And what is the pay for this arogoes quest?''
-''It better be bloody worth it or else I'm flipping it.'' Talus' mind started creating a whole screenplay in his mind if the pay wouldn't be worth the danger.         
''Five hundred thousand gold. Each.''
Both Heroes stood in awe, with Duros' eyes wide open while Talus' mouth was doing the same thing. Even if they took the most dangerous quests in the Guild it would take them a year and a half to get that much gold. Not to mention how many prostitutes that would get them. And if Skorm is merciful, he'll make Duros' and Talus' quest succsfull.

''Goodbye.''Lady Grey walked through the manor doors and left an unusuall smell all the way. Flick wasn't allowed into the manor without being ordered to, so he stayed in the courtyard with Duros and Talus. The two Heroes stared at Flick and vice versa. This was common among Heroes and Bandits, they judged each other strength of mind, also body, with this contest. Only the weak would stare away. Minutes passed and a winner has yet to emerge.
''Flick!'' Lady Grey's voice echoed throuh the courtyard. Flick turned around and saw his misstress standing on the stone steps.
''You loose, Hobbe turd.'' Duros laughed as he and Talus went off to Bowerstone South.
''You know, Duros, it might not have been wise to insult Flick like that.''
-''Why? What could that ape do to me?''
-''He is a Bandit and let's not forget the bodyguard of Lady Grey. He can make your life difficult if he wants, you know?''
The two Heroes entered the inn and Duros took out his coin bag.
-''Diffcult? Look at me, I'm a bleeding Hero who can get a job only from a cunt like Lady Grey. How can my life get any worse?''
Talus rolled his eyes whilst Duros was buying potions for the oncoming trip. A few people turned around after Duros insulted Lady Grey, to do so meant he was either brave or a complete idiot. In his case, both. Being a powerful warrior boosted anyones ego to the point of complete douchebagary. After Duros completed his shopping Talus and him teleported over to Snowspire. It was snowing heavily and it was hard to see ahead as the snowflakes clowded everything. To escape the danger of freezing to death they visited the local tavern and asked around for Reaper, unfortunately the customers had no helpful information. For the first few hours Duros and Talus did what they normally do in taverns and inns: get hammered, smashed, wasted and shitfaced. Duros and Talus assumed their normal roles, Duros-asshole and Talus-funny guy. The villagers didn't take kindly to drunks like Duros, but seeing that he was a Spell-Warrior, they kept their mouths shut. Even if Duros had most of his body tattooed with pictures of Skorm he wasn't evil, just an egotistical jerk. Some women were disgusted by Duros, while others where amused by Talus and his antics. Trying to dance while drunk isn't the manliest thing a guy can do, but it certainly is the most funny. His dance usually involved the Chicken Hat, a Dark Lower Dress and an enormus amount of beer. The laughter and discust abruptly stopped when a new customer entered the inn.
Shoulder length hair, red and black garments and circular glasses with black, tribal-like tattooes on each shoulder. It could only be Briar Rose the Heroine who helped Reaper in riding the universe of Jack of Blades. Respected less than the Reaper, but non the less revered for her power and intellect. Duros wasn't known for respecting anyone other than himself and his friends, Talus also didn't respect anyone other than the named groups, but he learned to keep his mouth shut in certain situations. This wasn't one of them.
''Oooooh! A nice tavern wench, isn't this my lucky day?''Shouted Duros in an annoying fashion.
-''A' who says she's yours for the picken', ah?''Talus barely walked in a straight line due to his drunken state and the chicken hat.''I'm that civilized gah, here!''
Briar Rose spectated the two Heroes argue for a short time, but eventually intervened.
''So this is how the last remaining Heroes spend their days? Screwing around in taverns, completely drunk? Boy, let me tell you, before you even could swing a sword we Heroes had some morals.'' Her taunting voice was enough to make you want to burry your head in snow just to loose the feeling of her presence.
-''Wew… What… About Twiblade, uh? He wasn't a good guy.''Duros smiled stupidly as if he just became emperor of Albion.
-''There are always a few exceptions. Like your friend here: he's drunk as a skunk, but not a complete arse.'' Briar Rose smiled defiantly and watched Duros straining his mind to think of a rebuttle. Nothing.
Everybody laughed and pointed at Duros while he was still trying to think of something to say back to Briar.
''Aww, don't worry your ugly little head with comebacks. Just go and smash something.''
Duros sat down at his table and drank another mug of beer. The best thing about upcoming hangovers is that you're able to forget any bad events that happened before it.

The stench of a cheap, whorish perfume awoke Duros from his alcohol induced sleep and burned his nostrils so much he had to pull up his collar above half of his face. He was still in Snowsipre, but in a house he'd never visited. He got up, but a piercing headache forced him to sit on a nearby stool. Duros' hair was unfastened and worst of all he couldn't find his sword. An Obsidian Greatsword worth more than a one story house in Knothole Glade gone. It must have been a tavern wench or a thief. Or both. Duros quickly stormed out of the house determined to make the thief pay, be it in money or blood. A strong snow storm was raging outside, covering mostly everything in snow. The wind was so strong it slowed down Duros' progress. The freezing air was like a hungry vulture tearing at a persons skin and no matter how much Duros tried to keep warm it was not enough. Yet, he was glad about the weather since it got rid of his hangover in a hurry. He entered the town tavern and, with his head mostly covered in snow, walked up to the innkeeper.
''Hey there. Have you seen with who I left the tavern yesterday?''Duros brushed off the snow off of his hair right on the floor.
-''No, sir. Sorry.'' The innkeeper walked away.
-''Hey! You don't forget a drunk like myself so easily. So what's your price?''
The innkeep turned around.
-''Thirty gold.''
Duros checked for his coinbag and discovered it was missing.
-''Damn. I hate my life. I don't have it. Could you just be a friend and tell me anyway?''
-''No. However, if you work around here a little I could give you the information then.''
Duros didn't exactly have a choice so he agreed to the deal. For the next half hour he helped the barmaid in servng drinks and washed the floors. Duros could feel everyones gaze on him which made him all the more irritated. The only thing he was missing was an apron. For every smirking customer he fantasized about beating two with a beer mug. Without a band his hair constantly got into his path of vision, sometimes a single strand of hair would prick his eye like a needle. Bit by bit his nerves were being gnawed away by trivial housework which in the end led to an erruption of foul language and low brow rantings. In the end the innkeeper couldn't stand Duros anymore so he told him who he left with.
''You left with Allie, a tavern wench. She's a sly one, always muggs stupid men and then leaves them at her house, but don't expect to find her there anytime soon.''
-''And when will she return?''
-''Who can say? A day, week or maybe even a month.''
Duros was tyed his hair with a piece of string he picked up from the floor and continued: ''Do you know where she goes after she muggs people? Any group affiliation?''
-''Some say they saw her at Darkwood, hiding deep in the forest.''
That was all the information Duros needed. But, one more thing bothered him, he couldn't remember where Talus was. Not wanting to scrub any more floors or clean beer mugs Duros refrained himself from asking around and went on his way. He teleported to Barrow Fields where a few of his fans greeted him, they even gave him a health potion and some red meat. Duros payed them little attention and continued to Darkwood.
The trees were still dead and the sky still dark, but there was no danger, some people have made a picnic area out of a portion of Darkwood for a little rest and relaxation. Next to it was the women sanctuary the Reaper made,  but not before he had a taste of pleasure from the from the bordello it once was. The Chapel of Skorm was still active, but as a tourist attraction. Nobody knows what happened to the followers. Some said they commited suicide to join with Skorm in his inferno, others think they have gone underground and are preparing to sow the seeds of hate and evil once again. Thanks to his many tattoos Duros was invited a few times to join the followers of Skorm, but he, as any good Hero, declined the offer.
Duros passed through a picnic area where the people gave him expected stares. Nothing unusual. Soon Duros came across a path leading deeper into the forest, there was no doubt it would lead him to Allie. Along the way he ran into two Balverines that fled at the sight of him. He missed the old, bloodthirsty beasts that Balverines once were. He followed the path for almost half an hour when Duros finally came to his destination. It was unexpected for him to wind up at the back of the Grey House. Without the undead the estate was still creepy with the dead trees and gloomy skies.
''Isn't this just peachy?'' Duros first checked the house finding only a few books about the Old Kingdom and a teddy bear. The barn and basement had nothing to offer.
Allie was nowhere to be found so Duros decided to wait and in the meantime brush up on his history.