A God's worthy celebration

"Yeah!"

"Wup! Wooh!"

"Ahahahaha!"

"Wahoo!" The room was filled with cheers despite there only being twelve of them. It had taken no small amount of effort to prepare defences and fight an almost unstoppable foe. Especially for Marcus and the rescue party.

So after returning to get some rest, cheers of victory met them and a party was held the next day. Wolf meat wasn't the tastiest but how else could they let loose AND avoid using up their entire food store for winter.

Gavin even contributed several clay jugs of booze. He'd crushed up grapes and distilled them at just the right temperature to make wine using natural yeasts. Something he apparently remembered doing in his previous life. Things soon got interesting at the very least.

"I bet noo-ooo one can beat me in a handstand contest!" James flipped himself into a wall and clumsily lowered himself into a headstand. Not quite a handstand.

"Oh yeah! Well I-I can stand on my hands for two minutes straight!" Hollered Jessica who leaned into a teetering frog balance. Violet, who was not under the influence of alcohol, aligned herself into a perfect handstand in which she stayed up in until James toppled into Jessica.

"Ah! Ge' off me!" Jessica yelled at James who had just fallen asleep lying across her. Violet received an adequate amount of applause as she gave a curtsy in response to her win.

Marcus sat and talked with Tarik, Gavin and Rowan. Taemin seemed to gravitate towards Violet and Lana while Clary hung out with Michael, Jessica and James which made sense since they were all equally drunk.

Everyone intermingled but it was nice to see some were forming closer relationships. Sam had been having fun with Clary at first but after seeing the situation devolve into drunken madness had come to sit beside Rowan.

Although Marcus and the people he was surrounded with were more sober than the others, it seemed even they weren't entirely themselves...

Tarik would spontaneously let out a string of curses to express how glad he was to know the dragon was dead. Rowan was utterly depressed. He seemed to mumble sad, unintelligible things about how much of a failure he had been as a leader. Even Gavin was louder and had lost his cool, calm attitude that produced such wisdom at the right times.

Marcus just watched it all silently despite the drunk hiccups he gave every now and again. He kept glancing at Lana, wondering why she appeared even more beautiful than usual.

Sam had had enough but not because she wasn't just as drunk as them. She slammed her hand down on one of the coffee tables and stood on top of it to strike what would have been a glorious pose if not for her disheveled look.

It was at that moment she began to chant a song.

She stomped her foot so it would echo throughout the bunker and catch everyone's attention. Voices began to quieten down and all eyes were on her.

1, 2, 3, 4. Stomp, thud, thud, stomp. "Red dragon, s-o-a-r through clear blue skies. A spot of blood amongst the waters rise. Hail thee dragon down cliff side dive." She took a slow breath. "Red dragon, today's the day you die." Stomp, thud, thud, stomp.

Everyone began to join her stomp. Slowly building until it matched the drum of the song. And they continued as she sang. 1, 2, 3, 4.

"Epic soldier boy stand tall. He fought that dragon with every bit of his soul. Sword is gone but dragon did fall." Again with the pause. "Into the woods, to face the wolves." Every face shone determined. All giving her their full attention. Sober or not, the people of georift stamped their foot each with just as much passion as the last.

"And here is where I end this song. Dragon's no more, the devils now gone. Clenched his fist for the dragon had died!" One last moment of suspense; her voice shook to let the words ring out. "With broken wings had fought by..."

Everyone stilled. Quiet for the final line. "By his side..."

Marcus had only just realised the tears sliding down his cheeks. Even if he had, he would not have wiped them away to interrupt his view of the performance even for a second. The song played on inside his head.

He'd told everyone about what occured after he'd been swept away and crashed in the woods. He didn't know anyone could actually understand what he'd felt at that time though. Now everyone did. Thanks to Sam. Her voice had resonated so well inside all their hearts tonight.

Suddenly, rapturous applause woke him from his reverie and Marcus joined in with much enthusiasm. Sam claimed to not be aware of the fact that she could sing. Every person let her know individually exactly how it brought them joy and that she should sing at every party.

Gone were the troubled feelings people had earlier expressed. Now there was a happy sense of belonging like no other. Taemin had written down the lyrics in an empty notebook he declared would be for storing all the epics, ballads, stories and songs their tiny nation came up with since remembering songs of the past was nearly impossible.

They all sang the song several times into the night once everyone learnt the lyrics. Marcus had never felt more honoured to not only be their leader and protector but also to be the first to have a ballad written for him.

He showed the group his flame fist like some sought of party trick that they would later discuss more so as to find out how others could unlock enhancer skills. However, Marcus was still wondering as to how he'd unlocked one of his own in the first place. Of course, he remembered the animal sense enhancer skill. However, that had been unlocked differently with the skill tree.

Cake was shared and tasted even better than the one Marcus had made last time. So did the cookies he successfully baked as part of his contribution to the party. Tarik jested that Marcus should have unlocked an enhancer skill in cooking to which Rowan added maybe his flame fist could cook a chicken if he struck it hard enough.

The girls said the chickens in the coup outside were too cute and that the boys better not test it out on any of them. On the other hand, they weren't too picky about eating the chicken they'd cooked and prepared for the party. Even if it was just a wild one.

Although there was no music, there had been much dancing under the stars as people slowly accumulated outside to party some more. The wolves didn't scare them even when their howls pierced the night. They only howled back.

Eventually, it became quite cold so everyone went back inside and after a few more drinking games, decided on going to sleep. Marcus thought that maybe they could take it easy tomorrow. Maybe only focus on the most basic of chores. Many agreed.

Falling into comfy beds had never felt so cosy before. For once, they were not afraid and had the time to notice such things. The girls had their side and the boys had theirs. There was a divide between the hovel-like beds.

The girls also made sure the boys got changed at the other end of the room with their backs turned. After much giggling and late night chatter, shushing came about to the ones still wild from adrenaline until the whole room was once again quiet and only one of them had trouble sleeping.

Marcus. But not because he was worried. Because he was full of joy and contentment and excitement and so much more he wanted to burst but even he drifted off without any disturbance for he had survived another day.