Immortal Jeopardy - working title
an excerpt

Gopher Storm arrived at the marble and stone tower. The massive girth of the tower did not awe him as he had made many visits to the tower in the past. With only a missive from Graensdottir in his large bulky sack, there was only one thing that did have to be done. Visit, for the gods, especially Graensdottir wait for no one. Having her wait was not a good thing at all.
As for the missive itself. There was nothing outstanding save for the ink itself in Graensdottir's hand. He looked at the letter one more time to make absolutely sure that he was looking at the note correctly.
The massively built Gopher entered the tower as there was no sign of a motte or bailey or fierce gate preventing access to the tower.
Inside was a large spiral stairway that went well down and well up as well. Up or down Gopher thought. Up more likely at this time of day. Graensdottir was not known as a creature of night. Yet she would do very sneaky type things that Gopher's pets would appreciate greatly.
Climbing up the stairs, he did see some sign of something going on upstairs. A queue had started to form and a couple of people that he did recognize were in the queue.
A brown haired, skinny man in a leather doublet was the person that was latest on the line.
"Well met," said Jan Ryder looking at the girth, and muscles of Gopher Storm with a little bit of dread, "something else going on this time?"
Gopher looked at Jan's face, pale and moonlike in the half-light that the sconces provided.
"No. I don't have any orders to take care of you this time."
"What brings you here this time?"
"Nothing about you. Something about the one who lives here actually."
"Actually ah -" both heard the door slam and an even paler figure dressed in flowing, dark garb went quickly down the stairs howling curses.
"Gregor?" said Jan
"Don't talk to me. I have things to do."
"What do -"
"Later. We will talk later."
"Jan, come inside." said a female voice.
"Talk to you later, Gopher."
"Good luck."

Several minutes later, Jan ran out of the room cut into the interior side of the spiral staircase with a distinct sound of a pale ceramic mug crashing against the far wall, littering the stairwell with broken clay.
"What is she mad at?" offered Gopher.
"I have things to do, see you later."

Entering a room with a table at one end, a fireplace in another corner taking up the middle of the wall, and a window to the left upper corner of the room. Graensdottit stood at her armoire looking for something.
"Gopher Storm, I am glad you are here."
"Graensdottir. You called for me. I come. What is thy concern?"
"Grovel before the Lady!"
Gopher took the missive out of his sack that he was carrying around his neck and gave it to the lady in a green low cut gown girdled in a silver belt that went floor length.
"Ah,," said Graensdottir, "you do well to obey the Lady."
"There is more to what you say. What are you really asking for?"
"A job."
"A job?"
"Yes there is something that must happen. Remember when Lilith came to this place?"
"Who doesn't?"
"Well something happened that shouldn't have happened."
"What do you mean?"
"They are not of this place. There are others that came from that place as well. There is one who must be eliminated. I trust you to do that job."
"Eliminated? I don't question lightly, but how am I do that if it is that hard to eliminate someone in this place?"
"I do have a present to give you. Use it wisely. They are very hard to come by."
Looking into her armoire, she looked into a quarrel and presented four crossbow bolts with a vial of something jade green colored in it.
"The bolts and the vial are yours." Graensdottir said sashaying her bosoms and hips in unison with each other.
"What am I doing with them, and how am I going where I need to go?"
"Something else that I need to tell you as well. You are going alone. I don't do these things lightly but you are the best at what you do, so you are the logical choice to go do this better alone."
"Alone? I have my standards."
"I know, this time there is more at stake. The Realm might fall if this is not done."
"That is trouble indeed. Now take the crossbow bolts and the vial. You know what to do with both of them?"
"Pour the contents of the vial on the bolts and shoot to kill?"
"Exactly, now grovel before your God!"
Gopher, his large bulk and all, lay prostrate on the floor. Gopher's heavy beard swept some of Graensdottir's floor.
"Now we have work to do."
Graensdottir gesticulated to Gopher. He came without question.
"Watch my eyes." said Graensdottir.
"You move fast,' said Gopher as Graensdottir made her away around the floor of her room whisking around a font and a dark green cloth embroidered in arcane symbols.
For the better part of twenty minutes, Graensdottir made her way around the room finishing her rites and making her way to Gopher's eyes again. Without a bat of an eye Gopher saw her again.
"Now the time comes. There is a time and a place that will get you back to where you need to be in an amount of time necessary to retrieve you from someplace far and strange and difficult to get to from here. Go through the pool, and you will come up and out on the other side in someplace that you have never seen. Worry not about this. You seek Gabriel, the one who must be eliminated. I know not his face, I do know that it may look something like this."
With that Graensdottir showed a mask of what had looked simliar to what Lilith had been before her discomfiture.
Gopher knew this was a deep project now, he was in, and there was nothing that had to be done save find Gabriel and bring back some portion of it to the Graensdottir for satisfaction, a grand reward and a long answer.
The pool now enveloped a good size of the room and the green cloth looked more like grass than anything else as Gopher made his way towards it with all of his possessions, the vial sacked along with the bolts. Going into the pool with almost no splash, Graensdottir bade him good luck as he disappeared from view.