Beleriand

Eryaron threw his boots up onto the desk before him, his red eyes glaring up at the man before him; by the looks of him, a wealthy noble. Eryaron could tell by the pompous look and luxurious attire. Well, if he hoped for any better treatment or respect out of Eryaron, he was dead wrong. Eryaron treated all his clients the same; like rocks on the side of the road. He figured even if they were paying him, he was doing them a good favour by not simply cutting them down and taking the money himself.

"So allow me to clarify," Eryaron said in a mockingly polite tone. "You want us to go to some ruin and get you a book? Are you mad or something? Why should we play fetch with you and your precious book when we can do a better job for better pay?'

"Because you won't get much better pay than this for a cake job like this," the noble, undaunted, took the contract before him, and, dipping the pen before him in the inkstone, scribbled down a number, and then passed the paper to Eryaron. Eryaron's eyes swept over the paper, and then returned to glare at the man.

"You really are mad, paying this much for a book..." Eryaron hissed softly. "But I'm for it. I'm sure Durzo will agree, if he ever gets back."

"What do you mean? I've been here the whole time." Durzo said stoically as he stepped out from the shadows in the corner of the room, fluidly closing the distance between Eryaron and himself. The noble gave a light squeak and flinched back as Duzo slipped by, followed by a bit of a frightened glare. Durzo stood beside Eryaron and glanced down at the number. Not letting the surprise register in his eyes, he simply looked back up at the noble, regarding him.

"Well it's our policy not to ask what the book is about or who for. Just tell us what we're to expect while in pursuit of this book and where we are to deliver it to when we're done, so that we may collect half of our fee and be on our way." Cynoc's voice betrayed no emotion, and his blank stare at the noble only further pushed home the fact that Durzo was nothing but a shadow, a shroud, a ghost.

"You should really try to seem like a living person and not some kind of phantom, my good Durzo," Eryaron's face betrayed no surprise of any kind at his partner's sudden appearance. "Does wonders for your health." Eryaron gave a small, sarcastic chuckle before turning away from Durzo to glare back at their employer. "Well?" he demanded, suddenly sounding irritable. "What are we to expect, and where will we deliver the book?"

"Well, as far as I know, there's no real threat--it's just at bit far off and I can't spare time to try to pursue it myself. As for delivering the book, just meet me at the Imperial Gardens entrance at....er....when will you have the book?"

"I'm estimating we can reach the place and get back in a week and a half or so," Eryaron muttered, taking another look at the small map spread across the desk. "So we will meet you then with the book."

Durzo watched the retreating back of their client until the door shut behind him, and the decreasing sound of his footsteps announced that he was gone. Durzo checked the map in front of Eryaron, combing it over twice to memorize it's content, then walked around to stand across from Eryaron.

"I've already got some supplies packed and ready to go, and all my stuff is in order and ready to go. When you're set and ready, we can leave at any time." He said stoically to Eryaron. This sounded like an easy enough mission, but the easy sounding ones didn't always turn out so easy. Especially since they would be traveling so far and it would take so long, that just meant that much more time for things to happen or go wrong.

"My dear Durzo, have you ever known me to be unprepared?" Eryaron smirked mockingly. "And anyway there is little to prepare: two horses and supplies for the journey. I do think our wealthy employer knows more than he lets on, or at least suspects more than he has told. But then I suppose we will learn that soon enough. I took the liberty of acquiring two horses; they're stabled at the town gates." He said nothing more about exactly how he had acquired the horses.

He stood up, and walked to the door. His greatsword was already strapped to his back, and a dark longsword hung at his belt. He turned back to Durzo. "This journey won't be easy. The ruins are far off the road. I was being very generous when I estimated a week and a half. Allow me to point out what is undeniably our quickest route, by my calculation."

He spread a map before Durzo and traced a path with his finger. "As soon as we leave the town, we can follow the road maybe six or so leagues, but the road ends there for us. We will from there have to cut through the Valenst Forest, and from there the snow-peaked Mountains of the Karadh. There are old tunnels in the mountains, tunnels that will lead to the other side--and from there it is a straight ride across the plains to the ruins, and then back."

Durzo gave the map and the trail a twice over, then nodded to Eryaron.

"Alright, well if you've got everything prepared and our route planned out, then indeed we've no reason to waste time here anymore. Let us be on our way," Durzo said, silently gliding across the room and out the door.

His special katana, Retribution, swung slightly in it's sheathe at his waist. He had a few other items hidden about his body, but the main set of things was tucked away hidden in his supplies. He liked to travel as light and quietly as possible, so while in town he only went with a basic equipment set, though he had extra weapons and things hidden all over his house and Eryaron's and his building of business. Always being prepared was what had earned him a living and kept him alive since he was a young child.