After finishing the breakfast prepared to them by the General's cooks, the group stood up and walked over to the door; The Client waited for them on the other side.
Daemon was adjusting some straps on his gauntlets as Lydia looked at him, "You alright?" the young fighter asked him
He nodded, "I'm good."
Lady Jade then walked up to them, "Are you all ready?" She asked, "Was the food to your liking?"
Azael nodded, "Yes, ma'am." He said, "It was delicious."
"It was good." Zaphira said
"Adequate." Invidia said as she crossed her arms
Lady Jade smiled, "Very well." She said as she opened the doors, "Good luck."
Daemon raised an eyebrow, "Good luck?"
As she opened the doors, the group saw a massive room filled with fancy decorations and antiques. There was a massive head of a stag that was over a fire-place, in front of that fire-place, they were able to see a tall Elf, with his back to them.
They walked inside the room, being hit with the scent of incense.
Invidia nudged Lydia's elbow, "T-That's him..." She whispered, "A member of House Thoron."
Before anyone could say anything else, the Elf spoke up.
"You're late." He said with a firm yet annoyed tone
Daemon stopped and tilted his head, "Huh?"
The Elf turned around, he was tall, as tall as Azael was. He had slick-back blonde hair with silver eyes. He was beautiful, as beautiful as Elvers could even be. His slender body complimented his tall figure, but it was his oversized fur outfit that made him look a bit.....goofy.
Something that Daemon noticed right away and was finding it hard not to laugh about.
"For months." The Elf said, "For months I have stayed in this wretched place, waiting for an Adventuring Party that would take this job. I always thought the Dragon's Fate was meant to be the best of the best when it came to that."
Daemon nodded, "It is." He said, "What's your deal?"
The Elf walked over to him, "You." He said with a scowl, "Daemon, The Black Dragon. I have heard about you. Tales of your exploits have reached Teo'varna, even Lady Lywinn is a fan."
Invidia let out a slight gasp, "The Lady Lywinn is a fan???? The White Princess? Lady of Divine Glory???" She whispered in a shocked tone
"Is that so?" Daemon asked
"Killing the Pirate King while destroying his fleet and scattering the remnants of his crew." The Elf began, "Crushing the Reawakened Draugr Death Overlord's Army while pushing it back into its tomb. Saving Stillvein by the group of Storm Wyverns that were calling for the Sky King. Releasing Oldtown from the Cultist's control and killing the Necromancer. All those exploits are heard far and wide throughout Otia. All while doing it alone."
"Didn't know I was that famous." Daemon said before glancing at the group, "Even the Lady of House Thoron has heard of me."
"Hmph, even our God-King, Lord Daermathor himself has mentioned your name." The Elf continued
Invidia let out another gasp, "I-Impossible..." She whispered to Lydia, "Even our God-King has mentioned Daemon's name?!?!"
"Is that such a big deal?" Lydia whispered back
"It is!!" The Noble said, "Do you have any idea how old, how powerful, how divine Lord Daermathor is?! Every Elf in Teo'varna wishes to even be glanced at by His Holiness, and if they do...their life is complete, they would die with nothing but Joy!!!"
"Kinda.....weird." Daemon said, "Daermathor, huh? Yea, Grandfather has spoken about him."
"Your Grandfather....." The Elf said, "Him, huh?"
"Anyways, what's your name, buddy?" Daemon asked him
The Elf turned around, "An adventurer so famous, so Legendary here in Drahan, even the Lord of this wretched place has voiced his envy of you....." He said, "And yet you couldn't come and do this job yourself?!"
"I tried!" Daemon said, "I tried for so long but noooo, the King said a full party, or the Master was like 'don't let that Daemon go by himself!', trust me, man, I tried! Anyways, your name...."
The rest of the group was kind of appalled by this. They never expected the client to have this conversation with Daemon like this.
The Elf said, "The name is Ilrond!" He said, "I am here on a direct request from Lady Lywinn!"
Invidia stepped up and knelt down, "Lord Ilrond from House Thoron." She said, "My name is Invidia from House Greythorn. You may not have heard of it since we're lowly Hunters from the border region of Teo'varna...."
Ilrond looked at her, "Huh, an Elf out here in Drahan?" He said, "Quite surprising....then again, many Elves and Drow migrated here centuries ago. I figured you were one of them."
"No, milord." She said with her eyes closed, "I am here....well, it's a long story."
"It matters not to me." Ilrond said, "What matters is that you are aware how important this job is to me? To House Thoron?"
"If Lady Lywinn herself requested it, I know that nothing else matters." Invidia said
"That is correct." Ilrond said seriously
As he said this, the doors they entered closed, they looked back to see Lady Jade and General Rickard standing in front of them.
The General walked over to where Ilrond stood, "Now that introductions are over." The General said, "Ilrond Thoron here has been sent by Lady Thoron, the daughter of Daermathor, the God-King."
"Yes, they know that." Ilrond said, "I just told them that."
"Tell them what the job is." Rickard said
"You will head down to the base of the Death's Gullet." Ilrond said, "And retrieve a powerful artifact that was lost to House Thoron for decades."
Zaphira widened her eyes, "W-What?!" She exclaimed, "You're serious?!"
Azael shifted in nervousness, "So that's what this is...."
Lydia stepped back, "T-That sounds dangerous...."
Invidia stood up with a look of surprised, "Lord Ilrond, even us Elves know how dangerous the Death's Gullet is...." She said, "You want us to the base of it?"
Ilrond nodded, "That is the job." He said, "You are to take the lift at the entrance of the Hightowers bridge. The way to it should be in one of the nearby lookout towers, right General?"
"You will not go straight down, that is suicide." The General said, "You will go to the lift that takes you to the nearest tunnel system's entrance. The sides of the valley have hundreds, if not thousands of tunnels and caverns that house many dangers. However, there are markers that point you to the right path towards the bottom."
Daemon smirked, "The Death Gullet's, huh?" He said cracking his knuckles, "I always wanted to go down there."
Ilrond nodded, "I believe you are the only one capable of doing this, Black Dragon." He said, "You and your Grandfather that is."
"Grandfather is busy." Daemon said, "You're right to count on me for this."
Rickard cleared his throat, "I have something to say." He said, "The Death's Gullet is home to many powerful creatures. You may encounter many dangers through the tunnels on the way down, so I implore you to be careful."
Invidia nodded, "Yes." She said, "I have reason to believe that many magic beasts are drawn there by the strange energy at the bottom. Is it the same one that emits the mist?"
Lady Jade spoke up, "Yes." She said, "The mist covers most of the Valley and reaches all the way up here. The thing is, we cannot build a lift to take you straight down due to the fact that the mist attracts Deathcrows and Wyverns."
"Wyverns???" Lydia exclaimed
"I heard Deathcrows get their name due to the Valley, but I never expected Wyverns to be here." Azael said
"They're rare but the possibility is still there." Lady Jade said, "Deathcrows are still enough incentive to never build a lift that goes straight down. Not only that, there is also the mist's effect the deeper you go. It causes intense hallucinations. But worry not, for some reason its the one that is exposed to the air in the middle of the Valley's air, not the base."
"Not just that." General Rickard said, "The reason why I'm here."
Daemon narrowed his eyes, "Hm..."
Daemon was told by Kort, back at Midpoint, that the reason why Rickard was there was because of a rumor that a Demon lurks at the bottom of the Valley. If it were to emerge, the General was meant to crush it.
"I would be the one to fulfill Lady Lywinn of House Thoron's request." General Rickard said, "But alas, the tunnels are too narrow for me to fit my forces. That and His Majesty's orders."
"Makes sense." Daemon said, "You're more than capable of breezing through the tunnels and kill anything in your way."
"My rank keeps me from doing lots of things I want to do." Rickard continued, "But there is one graver danger that I wish to warn you about....The Demon."
Everyone but Daemon gasped in surprise.
"The Rumors are true, then." Zaphira said as she sweated, "There's a Demon in Drahan?"
"Rumors of a Demon lurking in the Valley...." Azael said, "To think it would be true?"
"A Demon?" Lydia said clutching her sword's handle
"Indeed." Ilrond said, "Truth is, that Demon is most likely holding that artifact hostage. If the need arises, you must fight it and slay it."
"The reason why the Demon hasn't emerged from the Valley is more than likely Lord Glavius and General Rickard." Lady Jade spoke up, "But my eyes have confirmed that there is Demonic power at the bottom. It's there and waiting for something. Let us hope that the artifact is alone and you can claim it without fighting it."
Daemon shook his head with a chuckled, "Been a while since I fought a Demon." He said, "This is exciting!"
Everyone looked at him, "What?" Ilrond asked with a baffled expression, "You have fought a Demon?"
Daemon looked at him, "why so surprised?" He said, "I've done a lot of shit. Yea, I fought a Demon once. She was stupid strong, but was on the weak end of the spectrum."
"When was this?" General Rickard asked
"It was during the Pirate King's downfall." Daemon said, "I fought her on the ship."
"There was a Demon there?" Lady Jade asked
"This is insane...." Zaphira said, "Daemon fought a demon?"
"Impossible.... " Azael said
Invidia and Lydia said nothing, they were too shocked to even say anything.
"Hm." General Rickard said, "Your Grandfather was there, four years ago, wasn't he? He aided you with the Demon?"
"Nah, he was busy taking on the rest of the fleet after I killed the Pirate King." Daemon said, "Everyone says that I destroyed all of it, but that's not true, he gets no credit. I was busy with the Demon, she was powerful. I was able to cut her head off, though."
"Is that so?" Ilrond said with a shudder, "This adds more to your prestigious legend...."
"So, what's this artifact?" Daemon asked Ilrond, "What are we looking for?"
"Oh, yes." The Noble said, "What you're looking for is an extremely powerful artifact of great magic...."
"A Darkstone Crown."