The bronze dragon rose up slowly again and both Serna and Caliaphy went sliding down squealing anad screaming with excitement. He craned his neck down a bit and told the elemental to repeat exactly what he said, *Arcaniss daratrix!*

Seama flew over to Quake, "Here let me help steady yourself," offering her hand.

Quake took Seama's hand graciously and repeated what the bronze man said, *Arcaniss daratrix.* Her form reshaped itself into her dragon form and sank like a twenty ton heavy thing in the lagoon.

***SSPPLAAOOOSSSHH!!!***

The water sprite realized it too late and was dragged beneath the surface of the water in the iron grip of an elemental dragon. Moments later Quake emerged up out of the water as her true self with a saturated, drowned-rat of water sprite panting heavily. "NOOOOOOO!!!"

The bronze dragon, Alyson, and Madame Mabel burst out laughing. "MUWHA! HAHAHA! AHAHAHAHAHA!"

Alyson was laughing so hard, she was crying. Madame Mabel wiped a tear from her eye from laughing so hard. And the dragon, who had been pranked the most of any, laughed so hard that Caliaphy and Serna were literally shaken off of him.

Quake made sure she was out of harms way with her large size. "It's so good to be me again." She turned and gently picked up the nearly drown kurori off of her back and placed her on the beach. "Sorry, I had no idea that I was set up either."

"That's...*pant*...not..*pant* FAIR!!" Seama yelled out loud.

The elementalist calmed down enough and sat back up from laughing so hard, "It's called KARMA, Seama. Do onto others as you would have them do onto you."

The bronze man settle back down in the lagoon and let Serna and Caliaphy get on and slide down him a couple more times.

"WWWWWHHHHHEEEEE!!!" Serna slid down The Bronze Man's back, "THIS IS FUN! WWWHHHHEEEEE!!!"

"You know, Irzen, with all of this abuse I'm taking just for being civil, you damn well better drown me like a dead rat and make it worth my while!" War Scribe snapped as she dipped beneath the water.

"Don't worry, Scribe, I'll make it worth your while alright," Irzen replied, "When I off you, I'll make sure that its slow and painful so you can enjoy every second of your life being squeezed out of you."

"Thank you, Irzen," War Scribe popped her head back above water, "You're so sweet!"

"I try, Scribe," Irzen rolled his eyes, "I try."

War Scribe promptly splashed some water in Irzen's face, "Did I hear sarcasm in your voice? Good, because now I feel justified in splashing you. Catch me if you can, Swordsman."

The Drowling ducked back under the water.

Irzen grumbled as he gave chase to the Drowling.

War Scribe swam as fast as she could but Irzen was able to catch up with her and grabbed her leg. The Drowling did her best to kick the Drow in the face but Irzen was able to yank her into his arms, wrapped his arms around her waist and brought both of them to the surface.

Both of them gasped for air as they broke the surface.

"Ready to give up, Scribe?"

"You know me, Irzen, I never give up!" War Scribe whipped her drenched hair back into the Swordsman's face with an audible "SMACK" forcing him to release her.

"Got you!" The Drowling smirked, "No Drow is no match for no Drowling!"

"Grrrr!" The Swordsman growled as he rubbed the side of his face.

*****

On the shore Madeous was joined by Madame Mabel and sat down next to him. "Just reminiscing, sire?"

He looked over to the courtesan, "Yes. Yes I am. Lazheros looks the same as he did when I first met him when I was a young man."

"I suppose it might 'ave to do with 'im being a dragon. Being a creature of magic. Letting 'em take on whatever form he chooses. He ages but a lot slower than us mortals." Madame Mabel smiled. "I am happy for 'em. He's found true love."

"...yeah." Madeous sighed, "I would of never figured that my niece was the one he bonded with. Well, I suppose it was fate in a way. She is home and she is happy here. Truly happy."

"And that is a good thing," Willow added standing not too far behind them, "It has been a very long time since I have seen Alyson smile this much and this long. This land definitely agrees with her."

The platinum knight looked at the elemental, "So that's what you look like."

"Yup." Quake gave him a toothy grin.

"It is good to see you as yourself again, Quake," Willow smiled, "How does it feel to be yourself again?"

"Oh yes. I feel so good to be me, again!" Quake sat up on her haunches. "I mean it was okay being mostly human but the hangovers are seriously killer." She told the ranger.

The Ranger laughed, "That's good to know. So I'm curious: What have you learned from this experience?"

"Well, I made a lot more friends and was able to see how you humanoids do stuff in groups." Quake said to Willow. "You're a true friend, Willow. Maybe, I'll see you sometime in the kingdom beyond the Great Veil."

"Thank you, Quake, and you are a loyal friend and companion too," The Ranger smiled, "And I see no reason why I cannot join you in the kingdom beyond the Great Veil in the future."

Madeous looked skyward and noticed the suns were almost at their zenith. He stood up and brought his fingers to his lips and whistled. A pair of lion roars were heard in the distance with the sound of flapping wings. Both dragonee flew down onto the beach and remained at the edge of the party on the beach. "Alyson, its time."

The elementalist stood up and dove into the deeper water in front of the dragon entertaining two little kids. She surfaced about fifteen feet out and waded the rest back to the shore. The bodysuit changed back into the robe briefly as she approached her uncle. "Still getting used to this new attire."

"Dragons are such fickle creatures," Madeous laughed as he walked with Alyson over to the dragonee. "You've done quite well for yourself, Alyson. I am proud of you. You have a good group of friends here too."

Quake got up on all fours and walked behind Alyson and her uncle. "Sir, I was thinking about what you said early about having me go with you and learning from elemental dragons."

The platinum knight stopped and face the elemental, "And?"

"Lady, I want to go with him."

Alyson was taken off guard, "Uhh. Is this what you want? Truly want?"

Quake dipped her head into Alyson's arms, "Yes. Besides, I am you. An aspect of you. I am very grateful for everything. This way, I can bring what I learned by studying abroad."

The elementalist became teary eyed and rubbed her creation on the snout. "Fare thee well. Good journey, Quake."

"Okay lady!" The fire-stone dragon stood up on her hind legs and bowed to the bronze dragon in the lagoon. "*Aujir daratrix,* Lazheros. *Sunathaer* Bahamut."

The Bronze Man rose again and moved towards the shore gingerly stepping between or over the others swimming in the water. "Madeous, *Ux daratrix, Bahamut.* Safe travels my friend."

The platinum knight bowed before his long time friend and hugged his niece one more time before opening the portal. "Think of it as a really vacation on my end this time."

The suns peaked now bearing down rays of light between the dragonee and the platinum knight. He took his medallion of Bahamut off and spoke words of Sylvan and Draconic and the door to his kingdom opened before everyone on the beach. It was like looking through a large window to the outside. He nodded to the fire-stone dragon to follow him now. The portal shimmered in the light of the noon day suns as the dragonee went through first, then Madeous who stopped one last time and waved to everyone before he passed through. Lastly Quake went through giggling all the way. The portal shimmered a few more times and then it vanished as if never was.

Caliaphy swam over with Serna. "Awww! Quake left?! I really liked her! She was cool for being a hard head! Ahahaha!"

Serna smiled at Caliaphy, "Quake is not just cool, she's wonderful. I'm really going to miss her but I know she will be back one day. At least, I hope she will."

Seama still put out from her being pranked rolled over and sat up. "She was weird but fiery in her own way, I suppose. Still not as cool as me."

The elementalist didn't say much. She had seen her uncle create and enter the portal before back on Earth or here in the Realm. In fact, she really didn't feel like swimming anymore today. She didn't expect Quake to go with her uncle but she did. She entered the water again and swam out to the part of the reef that jutted up above the surface in the deeper water. Climbing up and just sat there her head buried in her arms.

Madame Mabel watched the elementalist sitting by herself. She had seen this many times before, Alyson would come out here and think by herself. It gave her some peace of mind, she figured. Abruptly, she stood up and walked over the bronze dragon, "You can go with Alyson if ye like. I can keep this sorry lot in line. When they're all tired from swimming I'll take them to the Neverending Story for the evening. Although, the people might be celebrating from you winning the challenge. Who knows."

"Caliaphy," The bronze dragon addressed the kurori, "I meant what I said yesterday regarding Serna."

The kurori jumped up and down excitedly, "Oh thank you! Thank you very much!"

"What did he say regarding me?" Serna asked Caliaphy with a raised eyebrow.

The dragon carefully turned around and walked towards the elementalist sitting on the reef. He extended his wing for her slide across onto his back. When she got settled, the dragon and his companion swam out into the deeper waters of the bay and disappeared beneath the surface and vanished.

The old courtesan shook her head, "You won't see either of them until tomorrow."