"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.

"Of course, of course!" Prince Birch replied as both he and Princess Cauladra rose from their seats, "By all means, you may take your leave."

"And there is no need to apologize, Quake," Princess Cauladra smiled knowingly as she turned her attention to Mermidon, "After all Elves and Dwarves entertain their guests differently and no offense is taken."

"Huh?!" Prince Birch scratched his head, "Did I just miss something?"




"No, my dear husband, I was merely making an observation, that's all." Princess Cauladra replied evenly.

"Oh!" Prince Birch returned to his seat and continued with his meal.

Mermidon looked at his older sibling standing against the wall, "What?"

"What do you mean, what?" Quake replied.

He grumbled and kept walking, "I have need of battle in me now, sister. Danger is on the horizon with a terrible foe, yes."

"Like 'ole horn head?" She quipped catching up to him walking through the large doors to the outside courtyard.

He gave a slight nod keeping silent.

******

"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."

"I do have a hobby, Dragolem," Irzen sneered back with a vicious grin, "My hobby is being a friend to the friendless--that's why I hang out with you so much! You don't have a friend in the Realm--except 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."

"Dungeon Master!" Irzen turned towards the Gnome, "You come when you're not asked and heed us not when we call you. What do you want of us this time, O Wayfarer of The Realm?"

"I am where I need to be at any given time, swordsman. Heed my advice and choose which path I set before you but know this, Venger will learn eventually by default if you choose the latter." Dungeon Master's expression was very clear.

"Fine!" Irzen replied honestly, "Then I choose the former. Where can I go to find the nearest portal back to Earth? You said I had to return home but you never mentioned to which home I had to return."

Dragolem's jaw opened in surprise.

Dungeon Master raised an eye brow, "You wish to return to your home world, swordsman? Then know this while you two cannot be separated, the human half will dominate your appearance. The nearest portal to your world is on the island of mists but beware there is more than one portal to your world and time is not what it seems. The island you seek lies between East Port and Port Thelmys where the suns meet the surface of the water."