The prince and princess laughed a little before they took their drink. Once they were finished with their toast, Princess Cauladra addressed the Elementals, "Now that the vampiric threat is over, where shall you and your company go next?"

"Don't know yet. We go where the lady goes." Quake sat back down next to Mermidon.

"Your loyalty in following her from one corner of The Realm to the other is admirable." Princess Cauladra noted.

"Yes, it is!" Prince Birch added, "Lady Alyson should be proud to have such stalwart companions as you in her company."

Mermidon nodded, "Yes. Well, lady is most generous to give us free will. Some call it, to be awakened."

"The freedom to come and go as you like," Prince Birch replied wistfully, "The freedom to give aid and comfort when you see fit. The freedom to wander where you like. Accountable to no one only oneself! What a life you must indeed lead! But I am curious, when you are not serving Lady Alyson, what do you do in your spare time?"

Mermidon spoke up first, "I split my time between this plane and serving the platinum dragon on quests. When I have free time, I spend it with the deurgar of Mount Chasme, since we freed them from the mindflayers that had enslaved their king."

"REALLY?!" Prince Birch gushed as he nearly jumped out of his seat in sheer surprise, "You have met Bahamut, The Lord of the North Wind?! The Angel of the Seven Heavens?! The Draco Paladin?! The God of Dragons?! The Grandfather of Dragons?! The King of the Good Dragons?! The Justicemaker?! The Justice Bringer?! The Lord of Pure Incantations?! The Platinum Dragon?! The Valiant?! REALLY?! Tell me, what is he like?"

This just got really awkward for Mermidon suddenly from the prince's outburst. Still he kept his composure and stated, "Yes. Yes, I have but only when it was deemed necessary."

"Yes, but still! What is he like?" Prince Birch pressed the issue, "What is his nature? What is his demeanor? Please tell me, I am oh so curious!"

"Calm. Stern and very patient." Mermidon stated, "Prefers to listen and then cast judgement down on the accused."

"Fascinating!" Prince Birch gasped breathlessly, "His nature and demeanor is EXACTLY as I have imagined. Oh, would that he would pay us a visit. True, we do are followers of Labelas Enoreth but I doubt The Lord of the Continuum would object to a friendly visit by the Lord of the North Wind to our domain."

Quake shrugged, "Lately, I've split my time between the lady and her uncle, the platinum knight."

"Do you go on quests with King Madeous or merely serve in his court?" Princess Cauladra asked.

"Well, umm me going on quests with the platinum knight has been a recent thing. You know like I wanted to learn how to polymorph better from other dragons and such. I don't really serve in his court, I'm just another visitor to the Kingdom Beyond the Great Veil." Quake replied honestly.

"And I see you have mastered polymorphing else you would not be in the current form you have," The princess noted, "Still, I have heard of The Kingdom Beyond The Great Veil and its many wonders but I have not visited it. Please tell me, is it as wonderful and as great as the stories of legend make it out to be?"

"Ah, well," She began, "I uh...umm had a mishap with magic that teleported everyone all over and even back in time throughout the Realm. I was glad when we found each other and the Bronze Man helped me with the magic part."

"Well, that is good to know," Princess Cauladra smiled, "The Grand Cleric of Asylum is quite a very useful fellow. He knows a great many things and has wonders of his own apart from that his deity bestows upon him. Still, you and your brothers are most welcome in our dominion. You may stay as long as you like and learn of our ways if you so choose."

"Thank you for your hospitality," Mermidon addressed them getting up, "I must take my leave once more. I hear the calling of a quest of most urgency."

"Hey, now wait a minute, bro," Quake stood up and grabbed him, "What's your hurry?"

*si tire di nomenoi vaecaesini. astahii tir ti entertain ve hefoc tundari.* He grumbled in draconic.

Translation:: ((I tire of these elves. They do not entertain me like dwarves.))

"Oh, umm. Okay, could you excuse us, Prince Birch and Princess Cauladra. I need to stretch my legs and have a family chat with him, sorry." Quake escorted him out of the dining hall.

******

"That's very thoughtful of you," The Swordsman rubbed his sore hand, "Consider myself reminded. Although, in complete fairness, it doesn't take much to piss off your creator these days. She seems to be living on a razor's edge, ready to pounce on anyone that even so much as steps out of line. Care to explain why that is?"

"Explain what? That the lady is or has been irritable of late. That she invoked the Nine Fold law in order to fight the Legion of Evil because she was uncertain of the outcome between said chaos lord and the Gamer. That what she has done to help guard the Realm against greater evils than the Venger himself, makes her more aggressive. It's a price she chose to pay. A price she has to live with until the end of her life. She will out live you times five unless, one finds a Wish and uses it to free her of said burden." Dragolem snorted.

"Find a Wish?" Izren shook his head, "Dragolem, one does not simply find a Wish. Usually you find someone who can grant a wish and usually it comes with a heavy price attached to it."

Out of the shadows an image of a deck appeared in front of Dragolem, "It's called The Deck of Many Things. One card, the MOON card can grant the person one to three wishes if drawn, a high level spell caster can cast the spell, Wish but the odds of finding such a spell caster here are high. And we both know, anything done with Venger always has a price and it's always stacked in his favor."

"True," Irzen took note of the image, "But finding a Deck of Many Things is a fool's errand at best! Those decks are the rarest of the rare. You would have better luck finding a Deck of Illusions. And even if the near impossible happens and you find a Deck of Many Things, you have a one in fifty-two chance of picking the MOON card and you only get one crack at picking from that deck. Those are long odds at best, Dragolem, long odds indeed. There has to be a better way of obtaining a wish than that."

"Always the pessimist, aren't you," Grumbled Dragolem as the shadows dispersed around him, "What would you do if you found such a card?"

"That's easy, I'd wish for a Chocolate Fudge Hot Fudge Sundae!" Irzen smiled, "I could kill one of those right about now. What would you wish for?"

Dragolem merely shook his head, "Are you for real? That's what you would wish for, some random sweet treat because you have a craving? Forget I asked. A wish granted for the lady must come from the heart, or soul depending on the person excluding Venger. You just don't get it, do you?"

"You asked for what I would wish for and I did!" Irzen responded honestly, "Fine then! What would you wish for Dragolem?"

"What I would wish for is none of your business, bub. Although, your true wish would be to get ultimate revenge on Venger for what he did to you. Every single time we run into horn head, that old grudge comes out. It's getting old. Deal with it and be done. Holding onto it, will dig your grave sooner rather later." The black grumbled loudly.

"My grudge against The Dark Lord was satisfied when I emasculated him while I was rescuing my friends, Zakiyah and Tommy Tanaka," Irzen replied honestly, "And while I hold the The Dark Lord in ill favor, the old grudge I had with him no longer exists. And what grudges are you holding onto, Dragolem? I see that you are seldom around when Lazheros is present. What do you have against The Grand Cleric anyway?"

"It's a dragon thing. Kind of like you staying too long in an elven city when you know you're not exactly welcomed. Mainly because I represent Tiamat and not Bahamut." Dragolem huffed.

"It may be a dragon thing but Lazheros isn't going to smite you or banish you so long as Alyson is present," Irzen smiled, "So I think you're safe on that front. And as for me staying in an Elven city for too long," Irzen showed Dragolem the royal marker King Sunrider X gave to him, "As long as I've got this on my person, I've got safe passage throughout Northaven and its adjoining kingdoms!"

"Well aren't you Mr. Fancy Pants." Dragolem sneered at him, "Live it up, bub. You may be fine here in this elven kingdom but others not so much."

"True." The Swordsman admitted with a sly grin, "But I'll cross that bridge when I come to it. For the time being, I'm good to go. So, are you sticking around to join us, Dragolem, or are you just dropping by to say 'I'm still alive' and you're going to move on out to feast on whatever road-kill you might come across?"

"Hey bub," Dragolem growled at him, "I don't do rotten or road-kill! I prefer my meat raw and warm with a slathering of blood to wash it down. As for my presence here, I am always at the call of the Lady where ever she is or who she is with."

"I stand corrected!" Irzen held up his hands, "I forgot that you are a Draconic Elemental who possesses a more refined taste than your average creation of Alyson. And its good to know that you are going to be with us for a time. It's nice to have someone to talk to that actually gets me."

A deep growling emanated from the black, "You like to ASSUME a lot. I think the scared little human man in there needs a hobby. Maybe you should venture back down into the Underdark, or better yet, go harass Venger some more. I'm sure Dungeon Master would agree with me."

"Indeed, harbinger of Tiamat." Came a reply of the gnome himself sliding down a gnarled limb of an oak nearby. "A time when to return home, or stop Venger from learning the truth of the elementalist's heritage."

******

"You and everyone else keep saying that I'm trying to grow up too fast," Serna replied honestly, "But every time I look up, you and everyone else, keep putting me in life-threatening and dangerous situations that are forcing me to grow up fast. I have a childhood-and its a good one. However, its hard to enjoy your childhood when you're running for your life or beating up baddies!"

"And who's choice was it to leave the safety of Deeping Dale? That is where you hail from is it not?" Madeous countered with his own questions.

The kurori climbed back on the edge of the fountain and sat down. She simply sat there listening to debate between the two humans.

"It is!" Serna replied honestly, "And it was my choice. But only after I was given my shield by Dungeon Master and, if he didn't want me to join any of you, then why did he give me this shield in the first place?"

"You believed that Dungeon Master gave you a weapon of power to journey and quest in the Realm. That's part of it, finding your role but the other half is defending your home. You chose to go on an adventure. I did not allow Alyson to go with us because what we were doing and where we were going to was far too dangerous for a child to go." Madeous informed Serna.

"He has a point, Serna. I'm glad Alyson didn't go out into the Realm because like attracts like. She was safe in Asylum." Caliaphy looked from recording their conversation in her journal.

"Alyson also had you as a parent and a guardian, Your Majesty." Serna replied in earnest, "I never had that luxury. I was born an orphan, I worked in Baroness Meleranti's palace as one of her servants and the only family I have ever known has been Kana and Lysana who accepted me as their sister in all but blood. Alyson had YOU to shield her from the Realm, I had NO ONE until you guys came along. So my decision to adventure was mine and mine alone. For what its worth."

"No one? I find that hard to believe, Serna. An orphan always has friends, perhaps not permanent ones but you were never alone. You chose to go onto an adventure because someone else asked you to join them. Either way, this is your journey and how you proceed will be remembered by those who you interact with." The platinum knight sat down on the edge of the fountain.

"True, I had friends but they always came and went like the seasons," Serna admitted, "And I was asked to join you guys and I did. But I always thought that how I would be remembered would be by my deeds." The Shield Maiden held up the bracelet the Elder Fairy in Asylum gave to her, "At least, that is what the Elder who gave this to me told me."

Madeous looked at the charm bracelet for a moment and then nodded, "Hmm, it would appear the Elder sees much potential in you, Serna, for he does not simply give those out on a whim."

"Yup! Exactly!" Caliaphy exclaimed and put her tiny journal away.

"And that's another reason why I am here!" Serna added, "To discover my potential--whatever that may be. And from where I'm standing the only way I can discover that is by helping all of you and by travelling with all of you. But you are right about one thing." The Shield Maiden took a big yawn, "I could do with a little sleep and I am tired too. By the way, were we assigned bedrooms? I wasn't sure with all of the chaos going on."

"Yes. Your room was between mine and Alyson's room. A smaller one for children and just your size." Madeous escorted the two of them back to the palace.

"It would be good to get some sleep," Serna yawned again, "What do you say, Caliaphy?"

"Sleep sounds okay with me. Besides, I like having a snuggle buddy too." Caliaphy gave the shield maiden a thumbs up.

Serna gave Caliaphy a weary smile.

Madeous lead them back towards the guest rooms and opened the door for Serna. It was slightly larger than the one in West Fall but it was all hers. One child sized bed for her to sleep on in peace and quiet. "Get as much sleep as you want, Serna. We won't be leaving East Port for another day or so."

"Thank you, sir!" Serna walked into the room, "And thank you for the talk as well."

The kurori trotted ahead of Serna and practically leaped up onto the fluffy bed like a cat. She waited patiently for the girl to get in and settle down before snuggling up next to her.

Serna climbed into bed and was quickly asleep as Caliaphy snuggled up with her.

The platinum knight closed the door and breathed a sigh of relief. Finally he returned to his guest chambers to relax for some peace and quiet.

Serna slept well that night as the days activity finally caught up with her and sent her soundly off to sleep.