"Another!" He exclaimed as he slammed the glass onto the bar after having chugged down the content. The bartender quickly filled his glass with poison yet another time.
Gabriela, sitting on a bar stool next to him, grabbed him by the hand as he reached for the glass.
"Should you really be drinking this much?"
"I didn't ask you to come and tell me what to do! I asked you to come and listen!"
Gabriela let go of his hand and backed away. He was right, in a way. If he wanted to drink himself to death, so be it. She only needed him for the information he promised to provide.
Abrax downed yet another shot and shook his head as the alcohol burn kicked in. He snapped his fingers to catch the bartender's attention and pointed at his glass. The bartender was quick to oblige.
"The deal is still on, right?" He said looking down at the glass and circling around it's rim with his middle finger.
Not saying a word, Gabriela pulled an envelope from inside her cloak just far enough for Abrax to see.
"Follow me then," he said, stumbling to stand up from his chair. He walked slow and wobbly, grabbing onto every object he passed by, but eventually making it to the table in the furthermost corner of the pub. He extended his arm in the direction of the bench to indicate Gabriela to sit. He spilled some of his drink trying to take a sit, but ultimately placed his buttocks onto the soft padding. Gabriela now pulled out the white envelope and slid it to the center of the table.
"Wednesday next week, Lucifer is marching his troops towards Luden's creek. He's looking to camp there for a day before marching on toward Eden's pass. He's expecting to reach Heaven's gate in 13 days from now."
He paused for a moment and reassured they were alone before continuing.
"He's not bringing any resources with him, though, so you might want to take advantage of that. He's relying on robbing the villages in full. Brickmuth, Lochshore, Cliffdale and Merrowfield are all along the way and said to be loaded with supplies. And as for the numbers; half a million infantry, half that riding steeds and a hundred thousand archers as support. The archdemons, you know who they are, and that hideous beast Grönak are also joining in, but there's no knowing whether they will travel separately or not."
Abrax chugged his drink and cleared his throat before continuing.
"The weapons of the infantry are standard battle axes and halberds. The riders, however, are now using morning stars and the amount of oil barrels we filled over the past few days suggests archers will be using flame arrows. The armor is standard obsidian-enforced steel with weak spots at the neck, elbows and lower back. They did manage to equip Grönak with something much harder, but it's made him slow and cumbersome."
He could tell Gabriela is waiting for more intel on the beast.
"The big furball still breathes fire if that's what you wanted to know, there's just no way around that," chuckled Abrax. As ugly as Grönak was, Abrax fancied the creature in a way he couldn't quite describe.
He reached for the envelope and tore it open. Inside was a single document, printed in a font so small one would need a magnifying glass to read. Abrax looked toward Gabriela, she nodded and handed over a pen.
As Abrax was signing the document he muttered to himself: "That's what you get for exploiting and killing my wife, you bastard!"
"What happened?"
"She was working the night shift when Lucifer decided to come and take a look. As fearful as she is, she made a mistake and rendered a war axe useless."
Abrax began to cry.
"To set an example, Lucifer took her head clean off with nothing but a snap of his fingers."
His cheeks were now wet with tears. He help up his right hand and extended his pointing finger towards the ceiling.
"One mistake. Just one."
She reached out for his hand, and the moment she touched him they were both transcended to Heaven with nothing but a flash of light.
