Alyson watched as her friends left the Temple of Bahamut go in search of the relic. At least she wouldn't being doing any 'Scooby Doo' sleuthing for awhile. She turned back to her uncle and the cleric but said nothing at first. The two of them were conversing about their days of adventuring and how much things have and have not changed.

Then Madeous turned to his niece, "Something the matter?"

"Lazheros, you said I was made to FORGET, right?"

The cleric nodded, "Yes. Why?"

"Soon after freeing the people of Stormhaven from the tyranny of two powerful demons from the Hells with some help, I had a dream." The Elementalist began slowly telling them of her as a child playing around a beautiful gold dragon, rather the dragon letting slide down her long tail like a slide over and over again.

Both Madeous and Lazheros looked at each other silently. The gold dragon in the dream was, Celestra. The one whom Venger banished to another world. Madeous was at a loss for words and had no response to give.

Lazheros however, leaned forward, "No child. That was a memory. A powerful one. Tell me, are you able to shape shift at all?"

"Yes. In the form of a gold dragon with blue eyes. As well as speaking draconic and high draconic." Alyson shrugged, "I mean the elements are what I really specialize in but yes, I've been able to shape shift into a dragon. Usually, when I Astral Project but actually being able to fly on my own...that was cool."

The cleric was stunned. At first trying to reply he was at a loss of words himself. "Is there anything else, Alyson you would like to share?" Sensing she was capable of much more having mastery of the elements and being able to shape shift.

"Like summoning elementals and allowing a few of them to evolve and have their own personality?" She replied excitedly, "I've created four so far. Three draconic and one golem."

"Four?" Lazheros and Madeous said in unison.

"Mermidon, Dragolem, Quake, and Coppertone the golem." Alyson remained on the stone chair waiting quietly for a reply which did not happen immediately.

"I see," Her uncle remarked, "Quite the artist. So, where are these draconic beings of yours?"

"Let's see," Alyson put a finger to her lips, "Quake was the first born. You know the ceramic clay dragon I made back in college. I brought her with me to the Realm. She's as a big as an African elephant in dragon form. Earth-fire type. Currently nursing off a hang over down at the Neverending Story Tavern. When she attempted her first polymorph spell, one of our other companions still covered wild magic caused her to almost become human-ish. Can't miss Quake, female humanoid with long elf ears and well the tail is as long as she is tall. Mermidon, represents all that is good and just, is usually aiding the good people of Storm Haven, visiting his friend, Trokar Whitebeard, a duergar inside Mount Chasme, or somewhere in the Seven Heavens. Dragolem the Black, goes where ever he likes and does the deeds his twin simply won't do. Yin and Yang. Light and Dark. Last but not least, Coppertone is a golem born from my power in a manner of speaking. There was a terrible force comprised of many villains who sacked Storm Haven, and threatened Deeping Dale, and Storm Haven's ally in Mount Chasme. Needless to say, I literally had an-out-of-body experience where some of my magic rubbed off and gave life to a golem. Who now aids the duergar smiths."

Lazheros asked calmly, "This terrible force, what was it? The true enemy."

"A Chaos Lord," Alyson shook her head, "And no, not 'you-know-who.' Another claiming to be just as powerful but in the end, was felled by a friend of ours who has an odd habit of appearing and disappearing for great lengths of time."

Lazheros closed his eyes for a moment and breathing deeply before opening once more, "I remember hearing about the conflict in that part of the Realm. Word travels far of deeds done in the service for good."

Madeous followed suit by sitting in the stone chair next to Alyson, "I will be returning to the Great Veil soon, will you come with me?"

For once, she felt like her uncle was being truly sincere about his travel plans perhaps the curse that Venger had placed had no affect here in the Realm. "A part of me wants to go with you and see this grand kingdom but I need time to think, uncle. I feel that's there's more to me just being of the Realm entire."

Madeous was a man of strong will and could mask and or hide whatever to anyone else except for Alyson. With a heavy sigh, he told her of origins. "That last battle...knocked us off our feet. In our stubbornness, we believed that Venger could be stopped, or at best be put in his place for a long time. He won with the aid of Dungeon Master in a manner of speaking. There's some connection between those two."

"I heard there was a group of children from Earth, that Dungeon Master had summoned to thwart Venger's plans and something about redemption. I don't know how far they got or if they made it back home." The elementalist told her uncle.

Lazheros walked over to the table nearby refilled the cups with wine for them. They both looked like they needed a drink. As he walked back over, "I disapprove of children being coerced into solving problems caused by adults. Children are children. Let them be and let them enjoy their time of innocence whenever it arises."

***********

The pub had all sorts of shady and not so shady characters for Neven to check out. Some even glanced in his direction watching him as well. To the far right side of the pub sat four to six teenagers ranging from twelve to sixteen. All of them playing a game of dice and chatting among themselves.

"Everyone, wait here," Neven moved towards the group of teenagers. When they caught sight of him, the Thief said not a word as he approached. However, he did begin to use Thieves Cant and motioned with his hands, "Room for one more?"

"You a betting type, are you?" The one in the far corner asked.

"Betting type and the talking type," Neven spoke up with a grin.

The older teen motioned for Neven to sit. He was of slender build in a brown leather tunic and pants. He appeared to the most knowledgeable of the group. His dark skin gave way to some drow lineage. The eyes though were a soft purple. "So, newbie. They your friends over there? We don't want trouble. We don't cause trouble. Trouble gets people either doing time in the mines or dead."

"Yes, they are my friends," Neven took his seat, "And we both have something in common: You don't want trouble and neither do we. What we want is information. My friends and I are new in town and we would like the lay of the land. For example, is there a guild here? If there is, then who is the guildmaster? I don't want to practice my trade here without seeing the guildmaster first."

"The guild is here and everywhere. Here and there." Another of the teens sitting directly across from Neven. A girl with reddish brown hair and green eyes. She leaned forward with a twinkle in her eye, "You looking to join our guild, are you?"

"I'm looking to present myself to the guildmaster," Neven responded evenly, "I never practice my trade in another man's home without the consent of the master of the house. It's poor manners and bad form. I will join your guild only if the master of the house permits it."

The older teen who invited Neven to sit down shuffled the dice in his hand and threw it on the table, "I'm Gabe. I run this lot throughout Asylum. Information is our game. So, you want to see the guildmaster, eh? Where you transferring from? You certainly aren't from around here."

"True enough!" Neven nodded in agreement, "I'm from Deeping Dale! Have you ever heard of it? We lost our guildmaster, three more rose up to take his place and then we had a full fledged thieves war. Nasty business it is. That's why I'm here. To practice my trade in peace."