Seri lead Neven back down the narrow steps on the eastern wall down to street level and headed due west. She insisted on jogging there instead of walking, "Race ya!" She took off running with the thief in tow as she passed the Neverending Story Tavern and the barracks. She was very adept at avoiding obstacles and people. She had to be especially when dodging the militia. "Hurry up, slow poke!"

Neven initially took off at a trot before she egged him on and then the Thief was a full sprint. As Neven ran, he came up with a dastardly idea. Slipping his cloak over his head, The Thief disappeared into the Shadow Realm and ran ahead of Seri expecting her to stop once she noticed that he was nowhere behind him.

Seri looked back occasionally to see if Neven was keeping pace with her. He was but then she noticed he vanished. "Drat!" She muttered out loud and continued onward to the lighthouse. One way or another she planned on meeting him at the docks at least.

Moving through the Spirit Realm, Neven was able to not only quickly gain ground but also pass Seri until he came to the docks, emerged from the shadow of a warehouse and waited until Seri showed up.

And when she did appear, Neven asked nonchalantly, "What took you so long, slow poke? I was starting to think you had lost your way."

"Ha ha ha! Very funny, Neven," She said out of breath. Seri sighed, "I ran the whole way here without using magic. Try it sometime, you may find the results are far better than relying on your cloak. Anyway," she pointed out into the bay, "That's our destination, the lighthouse, the home of the Bronze Man. Let's go before the tide comes back in."

"The results may be far better for me than relying on my cloak, but I doubt they would be nearly as much fun," Neven gave Seri a friendly wink of the eye, "But if that is our destination, then I agree with you. We should hurry before the tide comes in. Let's go!"

The distance from the docks to the lighthouse was the equivalent of a football field and the tide was starting to come back in as Seri and Neven raced across the sandy path that temporarily bridged the gap. The two made it as the tide hit the shore line that bordered the lighthouse itself. They were greeted by one of the two knights patrolling the island, "Hail and well met. Have you come as guests of the Bronze Man?"

Neven looked at Seri to provide an answer since he hoped that they indeed had been invited as opposed to crashing the party.

*********

Madeous looked up from his table and chuckled, "You look much better after a good rest. Both of you considering where I heard you escaped from on your way here. Especially you, Irzen. Off to the lighthouse for breakfast then, or have you decided to get your meal here?"

"I say let's build up an appetite, Willow," The Swordsman announced, "Let's head back to the lighthouse and have our meal there."

"I have no objections," The Ranger added, "We can wait until you are finished with your drink, Madeous."

"Drink? No, I don't drink in the morning only after too much stress or a battle." Madeous got up from seat and saw the blur of Seri and Neven racing past the entrance of the tavern. "Looks like the thief and his new friend are gonna beat us there."

Irzen laughed, "That's okay! Let them! We can talk while we walk. Besides, I expect The Bronze Man is going to probably have quite a feast laid out for us so I doubt anyone is going to eat us out of our rightful portions."

"Ha ha ha! Fair enough," Madeous said as he head out of the tavern back down the street to the lighthouse, "You will be surprised by the seemingly infinite selection of food that the Bronze Man hosts for guests, Irzen. Rather it is his head cook, Chef Hallas, the man knows how to cook anything."

"I'll take your word for it," Irzen replied, "Is this Chef Hallas from here or Earth? His name sounds familiar to me.

As they walked westward, Madeous told both of them that Chef Hallas was originally a traveling minstrel who in his travels like to taste different cuisines in the various cities he visited on his tours. "I'd say he retired about fifty years back. He was here long before I met the Bronze Man, and he would beat any chef back on Earth easily with his talents."

"Oh, I don't know about that," Irzen grinned, "Have you ever been to a little town called New Orleans when you've been back on Earth, Madeous. I know more than a few cooks there that could give Chef Hallas a run for his money."

"The Big Easy, they call it, correct?" Madeous replied to the swordsman, "I myself have not had the luxury of visiting New Orleans. Wanted to many times. Perhaps I will put it on my 'Bucket List.'"

"You should, it's a hell of a town," The Drow declared proudly, "So have you given any thought to my suggestion last night on finding Celestra?"

********


Madame Mabel sat down next to Quake across from Alyson and Caliaphy with her own plate of bread, cheese, and ham and eggs as well as her cup of Irish coffee. "So, you all would like to 'ear the tale of how Alyson got 'er gift eh?"

"Well," Alyson started to tell her side of the story. "It was the following year I returned to Asylum. I couldn't wait for school to get out and come back for the summer again. Mind you, I was a bit feistier than the previous year, and two, I knew what to expect when I did come back."

"Feisty," The Bronze Man had come in quietly listening to them talk to each other. He sat down with a small plate of fish and cup of tea at the head of the table, "is an understatement."

She turned to him smiling, "All I wanted to do was play that summer but apparently you had other ideas."

Madame Mabel took her que from the silence of the Bronze Man staring at Alyson, "Ideas of wanting her to sit still for a fitting that she wanted no part of."

"Think of it as having to sit while someone wants to paint a portrait of you. That's all fine and dandy if you're an adult because you have the patience and sit there." Alyson took a sip of her citrus drink and sat back in the chair.

"All you had to do was cooperate for a hour," Lazheros said quietly stirring his tea, "But you did not one bit."

The Irish woman chuckled, "I believe that's when you sent word for my assistance in the matter due to, and I quote: 'One very unruly, wild cat of a child!"

Both Quake and Caliaphy burst out laughing. They thought is was outright hysterical that Alyson was a little hellion back then. "AHAHAHAHA!"

Serna joined in the laughter before she egged Alyson on, "Please tell us more! What happened next?"

Alyson watched him quietly before continuing. ~ Feeling outnumbered by all this feminine company? ~

Lazheros reached for his tea and sipped it, ~ You jest, Alysiane. I am in my element in the company of you and your friends. ~

Quake had fallen out of her chair laughing so hard still, while Caliaphy managed to calm down enough to listen to the rest of the story.

Madame Mabel continued again, "When I arrived to assist the Bronze Man with Alyson's unruly behavior, I clearly saw the situation, 'She's a child, don' expect them to obey all the time. Let 'er be, don' be pushing 'er to sit there as a doll.'"

The Bronze Man set his tea down on the table and gave the old courtesan a wiry look, "You were supposed to be helping me, not encouraging her to be a wild cat."

"At that point when they were arguing on what he wanted from me and her defending me, I saw an opportunity to bolt with this robe on. It was way too big, so I found a belt and made it into a make shift skirt, so I could hide." Alyson plucked a handful of grapes up and popped them one at a time into her mouth. "It's amazing where a child can hide in the lighthouse. I almost got out a couple of times but was either blocked by a servant, or magic."

"Almost but fortunately, Armendes barrier spell kept you confined to the lighthouse." Lazheros smirked.

Alyson stuck her tongue out at him, "Aren't you just special? It's extra special when your oldest friend is a disembodied silver dragonborn inhabiting a golem's body. Who is a master of Enchantment and Transmutation. Who has no problem assisting without assisting."

Madame Mabel crossed her arms, "That bloody barrier spell kept me in 'ere as well. Oy! Sometimes magic is necessary and sometimes not, I say!"

"What would of taken an hour to do, took about four hours of me evading and hiding where ever I could and then I got caught." The elementalist looked up at the ceiling waiting for the bronze man to finish the story.

Lazheros sat back in his chair with his hands resting on his lap. "I nearly gave up looking for you but remembered something your uncle told me. You like chocolate. Naturally I asked him what it was and he said it was a dark sugary candy which I had no idea what it looked like. Chef Hallas did and gave me some to lure you out and it worked."

She looked back down at her plate of food. Chocolate sounded really good now, she missed having it. "Yeah, you got lucky. Really lucky. You bribed me with it telling me if I stood there while the seamstress took measurements, that I could have the chocolate."

The Bronze Man turned completely in the elementalist's direction, "And I took an educated guess on what you would look like all grown up back then, Alyson, and the robe fits you perfectly."

She tilted her head to one side, "And so ends the tale of this robe and how I have fun making you work for it, Lazheros."

Serna clapped her hands in glee and laughed, "Now THAT is a funny story! I didn't know you used to raise that much heck when you were my age, Lady Alyson, you really had a fire of mischief burning inside of you didn't you?"

"Thanks, Serna." Alyson smiled. ~ An inferno.~

Caliaphy got up out of her chair and asked the elementalist an odd question, "Can I sit on your lap, Alyson?"

The elementalist pushed her chair back and let the kurori on her lap. After all, Caliaphy was short for her kind and kurori in general weighed half of what human children were. "Okay but just for a few minutes, Caliaphy after all, you and Serna are friends. I don't want to make her feel uncomfortable."

"Thank you," the kurori smiled.

"That's not going to make me feel uncomfortable, Lady Alyson," Serna chirped, "Caliaphy is my friend but I see no reason why she can't be your friend as well."

The Bronze Man observed the elementalist with the kurori on her lap and remembered how Alyson liked sitting on his lap when she was little. A precious moment and to him he cherished them all. ~ Feisty is the better word for you, Alysiane.~

Quake finally stopped laughing and climbed back up into her chair wiping away the last of the tears. Grabbing the pitcher of Fire water, she drank about half of it. "Wow, Lady. That story was great."

Alyson nodded to the elemental, "Will you be okay, Quake? You look like you could pass out if you get laughing again?"

"I should be fine," Quake grinned to her and then asked the bronze man, "Sir, could you help me how to polymorph properly?"

The Bronze Man looked over at the elemental, "Of course, Quake. I'd be happy to show you how to change oneself into another form later on, if you like."

"Yes, thank you very much," Quake smiled and went back to eating her food.

Caliaphy decided she wanted to sit in her own chair again and jumped off the elemetalist's lap. "Teeheehee."

"Serna, do you like to swim? There's a really cool place to swim close by and its safe too." The fairy Kurori asked the shield maiden.

"Sure, I love to swim," Serna smiled, "I used to do it all the time early in the morning in Baroness Melaranti's wading pool--before she got up in the morning, of course. I would love to go for a swim with you, Caliaphy."

Caliaphy cocked her head to one side, "Wading pool? The place I'm talking about is the Lagoon. The water is crystal clear, warm year round, and you can see all the sea creatures swimming below you. Don't worry, no monsters there just lots of colorful fish. And maybe the Bronze Man can turn into a dragon so we can have a big water slide to play on."

"That would be NEAT!" Serna's eyes went wide as silver dollars, "Would you really do that? Would you change into a dragon and become a water slide for us?"

Alyson's eye widen in shock at the kurori's bold statement and tried so hard not break out laughing as she turned to look at Lazheros.

The Bronze Man raised an eye brow at the kurori's brazeness, "Ah, I see just because I am dragon that makes it okay for children regardless of what they are, to use me as a playground?"

Caliaphy grinned, "Uh-huh. I remember when you brought Alyson to the Ancient Oak and we swarmed you. Good times!"

His attention briefly shifted to the elementalist ~ I wonder where she got that idea from, hmm? ~ "I make no promises, Caliaphy."

"Aww! Pretty please?!" The kurori pleaded with the bronze man.

Finally the elementalist spoke up, "That's a tall order, Caliaphy, asking him that. The day is still young and I want to see my uncle off when he leaves Asylum at high noon. But first, lets just enjoy each others company for now, okay?"

Lazheros just sighed at Alyson's pun. While Quake and Madame Mabel snickered on their side of the table.

"Okay," the kurori pouted.

Alyson reached down and started tickling her to make her laugh. "Hey no pouting allowed. Only smiles and laughter are acceptable at this table."

"Ha hahaha! Ahahaha!" Caliaphy squeeled and squirmed from the elementalist tickling her. "Ha! Hahahaha! Okay! Okay! I give! I give!"

The Bronze Man chuckled, "Ah, the sounds of laughter have once again filled the lighthouse once more. Just as it should be, for children are the bringers of happiness and the little joys of life."

The elementalist smiled and helped Caliaphy into her chair. The poor creature was still giddy after being tickled. She turned back to the bronze man, "And to memories old and new." She got up from her chair for seconds. "Finished with your plate, Lazheros, or would you like a refill?"

He met her gaze, "I will refill my own plate, Alyson. Thank you for the offer, though."

She shrugged at him and went to refill her plate with more fruit, bread, and made herself a cup of coffee before returning to her seat at the table. Alyson savored the coffee. It had been awhile since she had it back on Earth. "I wonder where Neven and the others are? Has anyone seen or heard from them?"

"Nope!" Serna declared shaking her head, "I haven't seen or head from Neven since we departed the temple yesterday. I hope he is alright."