"I shall not tell you the name of this demon," William Blake said firmly. "He is an honorable warrior. Specifically, much more honorable than I at first thought. I will not tell you who he is or where to find him."

They were outside the guard barracks, standing in a pool of light cast by the building's front lantern.

"Look," Jake said, "I've already given you some gold. If this demon is as honorable as you say, there's almost no way he's the one I'm looking for. My target is a skunk, a real no-good type of Haidian. You wouldn't want him around. You certainly wouldn't be paying him to help fight off goblins. He'd probably be helping the goblins! So just tell me his name, and I'll cross Stonevale off my list, and go on my merry way."

"No," Blake replied with a nasty grin. "No information for you. Thanks for the gold." He moved toward the door.

Jake's foot whipped out like a sprung trap, snaring the guard's ankle and sending him tumbling to ground. In the same instant Jake leaped upon him, clapping a palm around his mouth to stop him from shouting and twisting his head back at an uncomfortable angle. He pinned the guardsman with his hips and added incremental pressure to the spine lock, threatening to break Blake's neck.

"I'm going to allow you to speak in a moment," Jake whispered fiercely, his lone eye searching for movement. He saw none. "If you say anything other than that demon's name, I'll break your fucking neck, you hear me?" He gave that a moment to sink in and then released the man's jaw.

"Nosdyn," Blake growled angrily, his eyes showing fear. "His name is Nosdyn."

"Good," Jake said, and doubled the pressure on his spine. "Now tell me where he is."

***

It had taken a lot of work to track Nosdyn to Stonevale. A lot of gold, spread around to greedy hands, and a lot of legwork. Fortunately Jake was a skilled portaler, so most of his legwork just involved walking the short distances between his portals and his sources of information. He didn't need a portal that night, though. Blake had given him an easy to follow set of directions. The half elf strode out of the town, down the road, and off into the forest. Before long he spotted the outline of a small camp by the moonlight. There was little more than a fireplace and a small tent. Jake approached carefully, on silent feet, using all of his considerable experience as a tracker and hunter to make no noise.

Nothing moved. Either the demon was in his tent, or else he was staked out somewhere nearby. Or perhaps he had already fled, like the coward he was. Perhaps him and Blake were in cahoots, and he was expecting Jake. The half elf would not be tricked, fooled, hoodwinked or bamboozled. He was prepared.

"Nosdyn," he called out, spitting the hated name. "I know you are here, demon. Come out of your hiding place and fight me. To the death, this time."