Uel and Duros stared up at the bounty board in front of them, Duros having weaved a hood for himself out of his tunic.
Uel pointed at one of the posters. "That one."
Duros nodded. "Sounds like fun. But where do we start? He could be anywhere in Tritanus."
Uel nodded. "This is the not so fun part."
Duros sighed. "How long does this 'not so fun part' normally last?"
Uel shrugged. "Sometimes lasts a while. I normally pick up city bounties, but country ones are plenty more profitable."
Duros nodded. "Makes sense." He picked up Steven and began petting him.
"He likes you." Uel said.
Duros chuckled. "Well, I like him." He snuggled up against Steven. "Earlier you said he wasn't a chicken. What exactly is he then?"
Uel shook his head. "Not a chicken."
Duros groaned. "Is that all you know about him?"
Uel shook his head. "It's all I can tell you about him."
Duros sighed and looked down at Steven. "What are you?" Steven clucked and pecked Duros's nose with a single tap.
"So what's it like to have the power to move the ground whenever you want?" Uel asked as the two began walking down the street.
Duros shrugged. "I don't know. I've never not been able to, so it's just normal for me."
"Yeah, but what's it feel like while you mance? All that power running through you?"
Duros thought for a moment. "It's kind of like lifting something heavy. Sometimes it's tougher than you would expect, depending on the material. Sometimes if you lift too much you'll drop it before you finish with what you need it to do. Hard to explain, really."
Uel nodded. "I think you explained it pretty well."
Duros smiled under his hood. "Thanks." He said. Uel continued to walk and look around. "Why do you wear such a concealing helmet?" Duros asked.
Uel sighed. "It's a long story. One I cannot share, much like Steven's."
Duros lowered his eyebrows. "So you want me to trust you even though I know nothing about you?"
Uel shrugged. "Hey, I could have taken you in. That should be a good enough reason to trust me."
Duros shrugged. "I guess so." Uel summoned his dagger and threw it into the air. "What are you doing?"
"Sometimes the dagger points me toward the bounty's location. That's how I found you." Duros stared up at the spinning dagger above their heads. It stopped and pointed in a random direction. Uel grabbed the dagger and began walking that way, right past town borders.
"Hey, wait. Don't we need transport?"
Uel looked back at him. "You're a fugitive. No way we could get a cart of any sort so easy."
Duros sighed and began walking behind him. "The western part of Tritanus is so hot, though."
Uel chuckled. "Shouldn't be a problem for a man made of stone."
Duros shook his head. "It doesn't work like that."
Uel shrugged. "I guess you'll just have to deal with it, then. Steven can handle it." Duros looked down at Steven, who clucked his approval and sped up to walk beside Uel.
Duros slumped over. "Fantastic." He said.
A mysterious man dropped into a strangely lit cave with lava flowing through the sides, and a stone pathway running through it. At the center of the cave, where the lava was the brightest and hottest, there was some sort of table, a long golden handle sticking out of the top. Several braziers adorned the edges of the small island the table stood on. The man smiled. He clutched the handle and yanked it from the table, a bright red light escaping the newly open portion in the table. The man looked down at the golden bar, a strange red mist escaping the top, yet dissipating soon after it left the bar.
"Ignious." He said softly. A glowing, transparent red blade appeared at the top of the bar. The man chuckled. He swung the blade around before pointing it at one of the braziers. The fire began moving strangely. It stretched up into the air and swirled around. The flames coiled around him and created shapes at the wave of the blade. The man laughed as the flames spread out around him.
Duros looked up at the burning sun as his tunic was slowly soaking in sweat.
"We can stop in this town for rest." Uel said.
Duros sighed. "Can we also get something to eat?"
Uel shrugged. "I'm sure we can find something to eat." Duros looked around the market and grabbed a loaf of bread and a few small pieces of meat. He looked over to Uel and smiled. Uel shrugged and grabbed a small bag of seeds and dropping a bag of gold onto the vender's desk.
Duros used a thread to slice the bread in half and placed the meat inside it, created a sandwich for himself, taking a bite. "Sho, think he'sh here?" He asked with his mouth full.
Uel shrugged. "No way to tell till we find him."
Duros slouched over. "Well how do we do that?"
Uel chuckled. "Like I told you. That's the fun of being a bounty hunter. You look till you find." Duros sighed and took another bite of his sandwich. Steven pecked at the seeds in the bag.
Duros sighed and leaned against a nearby wall. "So why did you decide to take me with you?" Uel perked up and looked at Duros.
He looked down. "I have my reasons. Now come on. I think we're close." He began walking, Steven right behind him. Duros lowered his brow, not quite sure if he trusted Uel or not.
He followed Uel into an alleyway. "So who we looking for anyway?" Duros asked.
"He's a low level thief, shouldn't be too dangerous." Uel said, looking around in the low lit alley. He pulled out the wanted poster and committed the face to his memory, rolling it up and placing it back in the pouch on his belt. His dagger appeared in his hand.
Duros held up his fists and turned them to stone. "How do you know he's here?" Duros whispered. Uel held up his finger. Duros sighed. Uel jumped up and bounced off the walls and landed on the roof top to the left. Duros pushed earth up beneath him and made a platform for him to leap up on to the roof behind Uel. There was a man with a baggy hood standing there, digging through a bag.
"Hey!" Uel shouted. The man jumped up, a few coins flying from his hand as the bag fell to the ground. He turned to look at Duros and Uel. Uel chuckled. "That's him."
Duros dropped his fists. "How did you know?!" Uel dashed forward and threw his dagger at the thief. The thief smiled and disappeared in a puff of smoke. The dagger went through where he was moments prior before returning to Uel's hand. Uel and Duros looked around. "There!" Duros shouted, taking off toward where he had pointed, and where the thief was running away. Uel took off after him. Duros boosted himself over the gap between buildings with the stone the roof was made off, Uel simply jumping across with all his strength. Duros stomped his foot, sending a surge of magic energy into the roof, a wall appearing in front of the running thief. But instead of slowing down, he simply smoke teleported to the other side and kept running. Duros boosted himself and Uel over the wall, both of them rolling the landing in sync. The thief jumped into an alleyway.
When Duros and Uel jumped down after him, he was nowhere to be seen.
"Where'd he go?" Duros asked.
"You two shouldn't have come after me." The two turned to see the thief shrouded in smoke, his eyes glowing red.
Uel stepped back. "He's no ordinary thief." He said.
Duros glanced at him. "Then what kind of thief is he?" The thief laughed and bared his teeth, a pair of fangs on both the top and bottom of his mouth.
"He's a vampire." Uel said, summoning his dagger.
Duros' eyes nearly popped out of his head. "Hold up, a vampire?!" He shouted. "I thought they were just stories!"
Uel shook his head. "They're rare, but they're real." He launched the dagger at the thief, who sent out a wave of smoke to slow it down and alter its course, pushing it past him. Uel moved his hand back toward himself, the dagger zooming back toward him, impaling the thief in the back. The thief snarled and knelt over in pain.
"Wait, aren't vampires immortal?" Duros asked.
"Well, not everything about vampires is true." Uel said, walking forward. He grabbed the thief's throat. "Why does a vampire need money? You don't need to eat but once a month."
The thief sighed. "Well, that would take some explaining." He said, pulling the dagger out of his back.
Uel didn't move. "I've got time." He said. Duros made himself a chair of stone and sat down.
The thief snarled. "Why should I tell you?"
Uel looked into his eyes. "This is the day for wrongful accusations, isn't it?"
The thief's eyebrows rose. "How did you know I was innocent?"
Uel chuckled. "I have my ways. Now spill."
The thief nodded. "Recently, I've become hungry more often than normal, so I've been feeding a little extra on the feeding grounds. But the other vampires got mad at me and kicked me out. And I've never eaten the blood from a human or elf or anything. Only things like cows and such. So I've been buying blood from a butcher."
"So why have you been stealing money?" Uel asked.
"No one will hire me. They all think I'll bite them and steal all their cash, but as long as I have a steady income, I won't need to."
Uel nodded. "I see." Uel said. He looked over at Duros.
"I for one think this vampire is broken. He's too nice."
Uel shrugged. "They are great at deception, but I think he's telling the truth."
Duros sighed. "So we aren't taking him in?"
Uel shook his head. "He can work with us."
Duros perked up. "Us? Like as in I'm working with you?"
Uel nodded. "You helped me catch this guy. I'm sure you could help me catch more criminals, real ones."
Duros smiled and stood up, the chair sinking back into the ground. "Of course I'll help."
The thief stood. "I'm Smoak by the way." He said.
Uel nodded. "Nice to meet you, Smoak."
"That's the shiftiest name I've ever heard." Duros said.
Smoak shrugged. "Well, that's my name."
Duros rolled his eyes and started petting Steven, who had at some point appeared in his arms. "What the? Where did?"
"Nice chicken." Smoak said, patting Steven on the head.
"He isn't a chicken." Uel said, starting to walk away.
"Then what is he?"
Before Uel could answer, Duros did for him. "Not a chicken. We know." Uel chuckled. Smoak and Duros looked at one another and shrugged.
"What an eventful few days." Uel said as the two wanted men followed behind him.