"Good evening sir…." Cordura had been sitting at the bar waiting to be served by the bar keep for over an hour. The tavern was busy this time of night and it was crowded. People hand to leave for more men to come in and get a drink. He was a patient man but his patient was running thin. 

"BAR KEEP!" Cordura let out a little louder hoping he could be heard but nothing. The bar keep kept running to the back to bring out new barrels of ale. "How many barrels does he have? There must be a pretty penny in this place."

"What?" The bar keep, a skinny man who was balding, was short with him but it was understandable. He had not had a break in the crowd for more than an hour. 

"Ale." Cordura let out and the bar keep disappeared. 

Moments later a woman came back with a pint of ale for him left it and scurried away. The woman was beautiful to look upon. She had a blue silk dress that was cut low. Her bosoms were trying to escape the dress and many men watched as she passed by.

"Thanks." Cordura let out as she curried away. He grabbed his drink and moved away and his spot was filled instantly. "Its way to crowded in here. This place is nice but not that nice." He walked out the door and into the ally. It was much quieter out here and he could here himself talk now. 

In front of him on the side of a red brick building was a paper. It was plain but it still caught his attention. 

The paper had beautiful writing. The paper was plain white but the letters were pressed in with gold

Looking for an able man to help with problem! Inquire in the tavern! Silver! Board! Food! 

"It must of cost a fortune for this to be printed." He turned around and looked back at the tavern. "Ugh, really?" He looked frustrated. "I need some food and a place to sleep. And that silver." He tilted his head up and thought happily to himself but spoke out. "I could get me some new equipment for my travels. A new tent. Oh ya that would be nice. Or maybe a new sleeping bag. So warm." For his travels he had been using equipment from his father. It was old and tattered but still usable. 

"I'm going to regret going back in there but I need the silver." He headed into the tavern. He pushed open the door and looked around for an open spot by the bar. He saw none sadly. But there was a corner that was open. "Story time." He said as he headed to the corner that was open and sat down. There was an old man to his right. He had a long white beard and some silk robes. To the left was a young man no older than 16 having his first ale. His clothes were new and clean. He had peach fuz on his chin and his hair was combed neatly to the side. 

"Gather round everyone." Cordura let out with a small roar so everyone could hear him. He could see he startled some people round him. He stood up, "Come gather round everyone. I have a story to tell." He sat back down and men had started to come gather round him. 

"I have a tale of love and betrayal to tell." The tavern became quite for his story. "The story begins 15 years ago in the hill country of my ancestors. There were three men from the land of Ugg traveling to the mighty capital of Garn." His tale was long but kept the men all enthralled with his words. "The men were given places at the kings side." The story was over and it was getting late. Few of the men who had come up to him and had given him about 10 silver. "Thank you. Thank you."

Men were beginning to leave and the tavern was emptying out. "Finally I can talk to the bar keep." He got up and walked to the bar and the woman he had seen earlier came up to him. 

"Not many men are as nice as you." She said as you. She had heard him say thank you. "And your story was beautiful." She leaned up to the counter and pushed her bosoms up a little more. Her dress had to fight hard to keep them in. 

"Thank you sweet maiden. You're much to beautiful for words." He said with a grin upon his face. "I must inquire about a post I saw outside. Can you give me some information about what you need help with?"

"You're to kind." She said blushing. But then it left her face and it looked like horror had replaced it. "It is nothing you need concern your self with. You are much to needed here by my side for the night." Then a faint smile returned. 

"Maybe later tonight but I think I could help you with your problem. Just let me know and it will be done and I will be back." He said hoping he could get something from her.

"WOMAN!" He heard a voice from the back yell out to her. It must of been the bar keep. "GET OVER HERE NOW."

Her face became sad. "Sorry I must go." She let out one last smile to him. "COMING." She let out in a forced to be happy voice.

A second after she was gone he heard a smack and out came the bar keep. "Welcome to my tavern, and thank you for your wonderful story. It gave me a needed break." He looked up at Cordura and smiled. 

"It is my pleasure. I must ask about a post I saw out side though." Cordura pointed out the door. "What can I help you with?"

"Ah that. It is dangerous but you look like an able body." He leaned closer to Cordura. "There is a house that was owned by my father but it has been long abandoned. It is haunted by an evil. Last time I was in there I saw a demon who was summoning all manners of evil out of the basement."

"Evil demon you say? What did it look like?" Cordura was interested but wanted to gather more information before going up against an unknown. 

The bar keep stood up tall and measured up into the air with his hand. "Must of been this tall. Horns coming out of his head and a long tail. Spikes off its shoulders. He was pure evil." The barkeep came close again.

"Have you sent any others down to that basement? How many before me?" Cordura wanted to know his chances.

"None, you are the first to hear about the beast. Most others leave before I tell them about the beast." He was worried that it was another dead end or maybe a trap. 

"Where is the house. I will fight this evil. But first how much silver do I get?" Cordura was already ready to go but wanted to know if he was getting paid.

"Here is a map. It will get you there the fastest way. There is 100 silver in it." The barkeep held up a purse and put it back down. He let out his hand shakily.

"Only 100 silver? There must be way more in ale in here, and how much did that post cost to print? Its printed in gold." Cordura knew the bar keep was trying swindle him. 

"Fine, 150 silver." the bar keep was scared to lose out on an adventure. He put his hand back out

Cordura massive hand grabbed it. "Deal." He turned towards the door and head out towards the house.

Pyzis leaned against the cold wood outside of the bar, she didn't usually frequent places such as this and were indoor still made her uneasy. Cordura was inside weaving a tale that enthralled all those within listening range. The sky above had grown dark while she waited, the stars above winking at her from their lofty home. She took a bite of plain rice from a wooden bowl she had purchased from a street vendor. The place was teeming with the food though it wasn't something she would have chosen if there had been more choices. The bland grain stuck to the roof of her mouth, and she wondered how these people could live off of it. 

There was silence within the bar, and Pyzis knew Cordura was nearing the end of his tale, dramatic pauses being his specialty. He emerged from the dirty place and passed Pyzis, assuming she would just follow him without a word. Then he stopped at a poster that was over her shoulder. They both were in a foreign city and needed food and board. Hopefully, the request would feed them something other than the bland rice. Pyzis had traveled with Cordura since they had defeated the Banshees in the cursed forest. He was a thoughtful man and intimidating enough that she felt safe in his presence. She had once watched him rip a Banshees heart right out of her chest.

"Let's do it! I need something in my belly besides this white stuff," she declared. Pyzis watched as he strode back in and asked about the poster. It hadn't been very informing; she had read it before she had made her resting place the wall where it hung. When he emerged, she stood before him arms crossed over her breasts.

"Cordura, before we run off, where are we going? What is it the man wants us to do and will it pay for the both of us?" she chided. Cordura liked to talk when he was telling his stories but tended to forget to tell her the little things like where they headed. Pyzis hadn't known what she was doing when she left the Kochi forest. In fact, she had no idea what she was doing now, only that she needed to find rare herbs around the world. If she had a traveling companion that was as burly as Cordura at least there weren't many fights she would have to encounter. That was why she had accompanied the man despite not knowing much about him other than the tales he told which she wasn't sure were real or myth.  

Pyzis took her chocolate colored hair and pulled it over her shoulder and played with it as she looked up the large man. He was stout and over a foot taller than she, his blonde hair brushed his shoulders. He had an impressive beard he combed into two forks. Surprisingly, he was gentle when he wanted to be despite his fierce appearance. She knew he came from harsh climate in the plains where many tribes were nomadic and fought by sending out their strongest warriors to kill each other. At least he was handy in a fight.

"Well its going going to be a fun fight Pyzis. There is a devil letting in evil spirits into this world and we must stop them." Cordura looked down at her. "Sounds like this could be fun, what do you think?"

Cordura started to walk away with his huge stride, Pyzis took two steps for every one of his, toward the home he knew was entangled by the evil.

He turned a corner and there it was. It was massive. There was a brick wall around the estate. The grounds had huge hedge animals but they looked sickly for there were no grounds keeps to keep the hedges from overgrowing. The building was two stories made of brick and wood painted white but in the gloom looked evil. There were shapes creeping into the windows and the front down was open just slightly.  The building wasn't a small home like he had thought, it was a mansion. "Good thing I asked for more Pyzis, he was trying to swindle us payment." Cordura let out a hearty  laugh. 

Pyzis looked nervous when they had gotten to the home. "Don't worry no evil thing shall get you. I'm here." Cordura said with a smile to make her feel better.

Cordura opened the gate and it made the most eerie sound that sent shivers down his back. He could feel a cold touch reach all over his body.

Pyzis tried to keep pace with the large man, but was having a hard time since he as so much taller than she. Good thing she liked practically jogging. With a smile she listened to Cordura and his confidence, she knew that he was excited for something to do. As the walked through the streets at night many onlookers subconciously shied away from their gorup. The barbarian was an impressive sight with his large hunting horn strapped to his back along with an array of weaponry that would impress the Captain of the City Guard. As they made their way the the house Pyzis noticed that the streets were oddly quiet, the most noise she heard was the thump of Corduras boots. When they rounded the last corner a mansion rose before them. There was a large iron wrote fence that wrapped its way around the entire grounds. Within were large topiaries taller than Cordura that seemed twisted and abandoned. The grass itself was overgrown and now she realized why they wanted help so badly. Who would take pleasure in needing to abandon estates like this? The home itself was a beautiful monstrosity of red brick and wood painted a pristine white. In the moonlight, shadows of the topiaries krept along the grounds and seemed to move despite the lack of wind. 

Cordura reassured her as they approached the gates, claiming to keep any of the evil away from her. Though the place sent shivvers up her spine Pyzis wasn't afraid. She held out her right hand and summoned a small flame to the palm of her had for light and for confidence. It would only take a breath for her to release a fireball and having it at the ready soothed some of her nerves.

"Did the man tell you what kind of evil was here? I hope it's not more banshees." she said as she rolled her eyes at Cordura. "At least this time you wont get stuck in the mud." she giggled. Even with the darkness and the forboding atmosphere Pyzis couldn't help but chuckle at the memory. The huge man had stepped into the deep mud and sunk up to his chest before Pyzis had figured out a way to keep him from being consumed. Looking back it was amusing, but at the time it had been life threatening. She was glad to have a friend to share memories with, as she hadn't had one since her first life. Most of those though were old a gray now and Pyzis couldn't bring herself to seeing them again as they didn't know she was a Phoenix. 

She watched as Cordura opened the ominous wrote iron gate and followed behind him as he lumbered up the gravel pathway to the doors. Silence fell upon them as they passed by the nightmarish hedge animals, it was hard not to jump every time she saw one out of the ocrner of her eyes. A few even looked ghastly in their over grown state. With a deep breath she steeled herself as they climbed up the porch steps and approached the double doors out front.