Duron was heavily in his dream, snoring rather heavily in his oversized bed, the curtains on his windows heavily draped and therefore offering little in the way of light or circulation of fresh air. The room itself was a mess and smelled of aged cheese, with dirty clothing and sheets of paper that literally covered almost all available space on the floor. What furniture that was present in this dreary little room was a small desk, once again full of papers and scrolls, as well as a rickety wooden chair that was propped near the entrance of the room itself. The carpet was heavily stained and discolored, and was bare in places. Over near one of the walls was a small mirror, with a stool and a small curio over it. Make up and powders as well as wigs were haphazardly stewn there as if someone had just merely thrown them there, hoping that they would remain in place.
And in this smallish room was a man, clad in black pantaloons and shirt, with his face covered with a heavy black cloth, looking over the dwarf with his arms across his chest.
It was then that Duron kicked out suddenly, catching the black clad man right in the groin and sending him flying backwards from him. The dwarf's hand flew right over to his bedpost as he rolled out, whipping out the rapier that had hung there in its sheath, while the man rolled to his feet, barely missing a chair that had been in the way behind him. "Not very sporting of you, is it chap, to accost a man while he sleeps defenseless." Duron began, his lips forming a smile as he leveled the blade at the man, covering his movement. "I, however, have no such compunctions, defenseless or no!" the dwarf called out as he jabbed at the man's chest, and offered a smirk as the man quickly moved out of the way. Duron merely adjusted, for the attack was a feint, and readjusted his attack in the blink of an eye, pushing the tip of the blade into the man's chest, smiling once again as he felt the flesh give way underneath the tip of his blade, but not deeply enough to kill. "Methinks, dear lad, that your answers on why you are disturbing my rest depends on whether you walk out of here alive, or flat on your back." Duron said casually and then added, "or worse"
The man replied in a nondescript voice that did not betray his emotion, as if he was merely taking about the weather. "I see that you have fared slightly better than your elf friend." He began and then did not react when Duron moved his hand forward slightly to increase the pressure on the blade. "Years have not dulled your senses, nor your madness." The man continued and then twanged the rapier that was stuck to his chest, ringing out a metallic twang. "Let us talk, you and I. I have not come to fight." The man said.
Duron chuckled low and replied, "What makes you think, my little black clad pretender, that I would not just kill you to ease my boredom? Why should I listen to anything you have to say, hmm? No...I would rather see you squeal like a little pig as I rip your heart out of your chest. It would be most sporting"
"You do, and I will kill Eleneth"
Duron's eyes narrowed as his left cheek twitched. "I have her. In my grasp." The man said. "You kill me, dear demented dwarf, then she dies. Simple as that. I am no fool to have walked in here to face you without a hidden hand to carry this out." Duron pulled the rapier away, holding it about him and at the ready as his dark eyes, as hard as glittering stones, fixed on the man. "Ah...seems I have hit a sore spot with you, haven't I. But I knew this too, when I came here." The black clad man said breezily, touching his chest and the hole that remained there. "Your first blow, dear dwarf, is a killing one." The man continued, reaching into his torn shirt and pulling out a bundled up cloth that had a hole punctured in it, tossing it to the ground.
"Who are you..." Duron asked, his eyes unwavering.
It was the man's turn to laugh, a low, rich laugh that made Duron's eyes glitter with anger. "Someone who knows who you are about, Duronar Anvilhand, once lord and master of Unther Hall"
Duron's eyes betrayed no other emotions than cold hatred as he spoke in whispers and replied, "You have now sealed your doom, fool. You know I will have to kill you"
The man's eyes narrowed at the dwarf's words and he replied, "I think not. Unless you wish to lose Eleneth. One way or the other"
"What do ye mean..."
The man continued, "They tell of a strange tale in Unther hall, Duron. A tale most foul in deed that this dwarf's name is cursed throughout all the lands of the dwarves. A tale of murder and deeds most foul. It is amazing what people will be willing to tell under a threat of death or a mere sight of few glittering coins. You have but to move me the wrong way with your words or your actions, and I will make sure that Eleneth knows all. That is right, your sweet little elf that in your diseased head replaces your past deeds. What will Eleneth say then, hmm?" When the dwarf remained in silence, the man continued, "You will leave the elf girl to me. You are not to have any contact with her. She is now mine to do with as I please. She does not need your diseased madness watching over her"
Duron remained silent as the man stared at him, and then the dwarf began to laugh, closing his eyes and rearing his head back as his grayish brown hair fell away form his soulders. Duron's great gaffaws of laughter rang out and shook the walls of his room. "Why, my dear, dear man. Why did you not say that you were infatuated with my little sister." Duron began as the man watched on. "So this is what this theatrical charade is all about. You, dear chap, went through all this trouble to ask me for permission to see my sister! I must say though, there was no need to be this melodramatic." Duron lowered his rapier and then continued in a good natured tone, "It seems to me, that my little sister has grown into quite a lovely young lass, of course under my careful and watchful tutelage. I knew that as soon as she reached womanhood, that men would be flocking to her like bees to a beautiful, blooming rose"
As the man started to reply to Duron's speech, he was suddenly attacked by the dwarf, who had silently launched a slashing attack across his chest, succeeding in drawing a thin, bloody line through the fabric of the man's black shirt and into the man's skin. It was the man's quick movements that spared him the certain deeper wound that would have proved fatal. In Duron's eyes were a maniacal gleam as he launched into a series of stabbing, quick jabs that the man quickly rolled away from, coming up with a small, curved dagger of his own to turn away and lock the blow that would have run him through in his eye. He was, however, not quick enough to parry the follow up blow that struck him through the broad part of his shoulder, pegging him to the wall of the room as he staggered back. "What makes you think that my dear little Eleni will believe anything you will have to say, hmm? And it seems to me, my dear lad, you're too taken with her to cause her harm. Now then, my masked fool.." Duron began as he twisted the blade that ran clear through the muscle that ran next to his neck. "You will tell me where you have hidden my little Eleni. That is right. Mine and mine alone." Duron demanded, kicking the man between his legs to cause him to gasp out and drop his dagger, which the dwarf caught in his hand rather deftly. "We shall play a little game, you and me. You tell me what you know as I start carving out parts out of your face. And then, we'll see just what neat new words you can make as we start slicing off parts of your tongue. Wouldn't that be a great spot of fun, hmm?" Duron threatened in calm, collected tones and then stabbed down at the man's raised leg, parrying his sudden kick and making him hiss in pain. Blood started to flow from the man's deep leg wound. Red, hot blood that oozed out of the leg wound and started to stain the faded carpet a dark spreading shade of rust. Duron readjusted the grip on the small, curved knife, and then as the man slumped against the wall in obvious pain, he stabbed at the man's cheek, and growled in surprise as the man suddenly launched himself against the dwarf before the stroke fell, running his shoulder through and up the rapier's blade in the process. Duron hurridly loosened his hand on the rapier as the man continued on past him, hopping over the bed and crashing into the curtained window with a loud shattering of glass and wood frame. The sudden burst of sunlight from the afternoon sun blinded Duron, and he instinctively shielded his eyes and blinked away the brightness that clouded his vision. When the dwarf's eyes adjusted finally to the light that streamed through the smashed window and between the folds of the curtain, he noted that the masked man was no longer seen.
The door to the room suddenly flew open, and a woman with unkempt, gold dyed hair burst in, clutching at an ill fitting and wrinkled blue robe aorund her thin body. "What is going on here?" She demanded and then saw Duron and the blood. She opened her mouth wider to let out a shriek, but the dwarf's glance let it die into a whimper that did not leave her throat. "Master Duron, are you...hurt?" the woman asked instead, as Duron walked over to the shattered window and retrieved his rapier, which was propped next to the smashed window.
The woman hugged herself as if trying to keep warm, even though the air that blew into the room was nice and smelled of autumn with its golden leaves and spiced apples. "It's certainly been a strange day. First that elf girl tried to smash down the door earlier in the morning...and now"
Duron's eyes narrowed as he heard this and then turned his eyes away from the faint drops of blood that was fast smearing into the grooves of the cobbled streets below. "What was that, my dear? An elfmaid you say?" Duron asked, pulling himself away from the window to walk over to the woman.
"Well, there was this elf girl, thin with black hair. Kind of pretty I suppose if you're into that sort of jailbait look. She said that she had to see you immediately." The woman continued as Duron approached closer. Instinctively, the woman took a step back from the dwarf.
"You didn't let her in, or inform...me, the master of this hall?" Duron asked calmly, slowly closing the distance between the two.
The woman shook her head, her hands that clutched at the robes around her chest trembling. "Where did she go? Do you know at least that...please be a dear and tell me. You have nothing to fear, my dear. For as the wise sages sayeth truth shall set you free, hmm?" Duron asked.
"I...I don't know. I chased her away as far as the griffon gates..." The woman began and screamed into Duron's hand as the dwarf suddenly plunged the dagger's point into the woman's throat, covering her screams with his palm. As her blood poured forth from the jagged wound, Duron let the woman's body slump to the ground, still trembling in her death throes, and pulled her into the hallway, closing the room's door.
"You have disappointed me to a great degree, my dear courtesan.." Duron said calmly over the woman, who opened and closed her mouth like a fish gasping for breath. Warm, red blood pulsed out of her throat as Duron watched the woman die. "Let your death wash away your sins, my dear. For you now sing with the angels, flying upon gossamer wings...Let this be your payment for your failure." Duron said as he calmly pulled the woman's body down the hallway by her feet. "Eleni, my dear dear little girl. Duron will watch over you. I will find you and we will leave this den of inequity. We will be together once more." Duron went on, his footsteps ringing out like death knells on the wooden stairs that led to the cellar.