Caliaphy sat on Serna's shoulder humming a little tune, "Somewhere out there beneath the pale moonlight..."

"That sounds nice," The Shield Maiden mused with a smile.

Alyson stopped when she heard the kurori singing her favorite childhood song, "A nice song best sung at night when the stars fill the heavens."

Madeous walked along side the Swordsman, "Irzen, when was the last time you were home in the Underdark? Surely, there's a part of you that longs to return home and to see how your kin have been."

"It's been a full century since my Shadow Riders and I rode out of Naermon Nithren," The Swordsman sighed wistfully, "And I do long to return home and to see how my son is carrying on our family business and how my daughter is doing in her arcane studies. I miss them. I also miss my men. It was after my Shadow Riders defeated a contingent of Venger's army at the Battle of The Nudorn March, that I was plucked from them and dropped into Alyson and Willow's company. My men had standing orders that they were to return to Naermon Nithren should I fall in battle or disappear for an extended period of time. I wonder, sometimes, if they returned home. I wonder if they are waiting for me there."

Madeous glanced about the party and nodded, "Hmm, perhaps venturing towards your home wouldn't be such a bad idea sometime when there aren't any young ones in our company. And as much as I enjoy the company of children, the Underdark is no place for someone like Serna or Caliaphy."

"Or any Surface Dwellers for that matter." Irzen confessed apologetically, "Don't get me wrong. My people have had contact with Surface Dwellers in the past. But those Humans who came were either explorers or part of a diplomatic mission or a trading party. And they were always armed to the teeth. When they arrived, my people always treated them with respect and did business with them but we never allowed them to stay longer than necessary."

"Well, it was just a thought." Madeous stretched a little as they walked along the coast.

"And its a good thought!" Irzen smiled at Madeous, "I have no problem returning to Naermon Nithren with you guys. But you're going to have to be careful and our visit is going to have to be a brief one. My people are fairly open-minded but we are still Drow. And as you well know, we Drow do not nurse grudges, we harbor them!"

"Of that I know too well. Grudges held by elves in general can last and or passed down through each generation without really finding out the whole truth." Madeous nodded.

"Isn't that the way of the Realm though?" Irzen asked rhetorically.

Lazheros looked over at the elemental pondering something, "Alyson told me that you've already laid your first clutch of eggs and they've hatched?"

Quake stayed back about ten feet behind the party to keep pace with him, "Yes. Gifts of fire, stone and metal to the Duergar of Mount Chasme. We freed them the mindflayers and in return I gained a lair and provided them with smaller versions of myself as guardians."

The elementalist quietly thought about her creation that sacrificed his life at the battle of West Fall, "Oh Mermidon, what should I tell Trokar Whitebeard now..."

The fire-stone dragon swung her head over to Alyson and nuzzled her, "Lady, my little brother who flies high in the heavens and the sky shall return soon but my brother, black and brooding will evolve just as you awakened us only months ago. One will become steel and the other mithral in their final stage of evolution. After all we three are aspects of you brought to life."

"Serna," Lazheros asked seeing the girl being quiet, "Are you alright? You're too quiet for my liking."

The kurori continued to hum the song from an American Tail pausing only to tap the shield maiden on the shoulder, "The Bronze Man has a point, you are really, really quiet, Serna."

"I was just doing some thinking," Serna quipped honestly, "That's all."

"Oh, may I inquire what is it you're thinking about?" The Bronze Man asked.

"Why can't we all be Drow?" The Shield Maiden replied as she turned towards the others, "You're a dragon right? Why can't you cast a spell on all of us and turn us into Drow. I would love to see Captain Irzen's homeland. Why can't we all be Drow for a day or two?"