9 Party Time!

Soon, the ship came back into the port, much to the astonishment of the people there who had seen it leave. As the ship fully docked, the heroes looked over the side at the crowd that was beginning to form. A group of knights and dragons had formed at the front as well.

"What's going on here?" Adrion asked.

"The serpent had been plaguing this town for months," Kai'sair replied, "It's quite an event when a ship returned from its waters."

"What do we tell them?" River asked.

"The truth," Kai'sair said climbing onto one of the nets so that the people could see him. As he did, he pulled Adrion up with him.

"This is your quest," he told the wizard, "You tell them."

Adrion took a deep breath, then, looking at the crowd, raised his staff in the air and began, "People of Port-Town, for too long you have lived in fear of the sea serpent that has plagued these waters. Well, now you can rest easy, as thanks to the help of my friends, and the power of the Sea-King Hydraxus, we have ridden your waters of the serpent's plague and have slain the monster. I say to you again: THE SERPENT IS DEAD!"

After a few moments, the people began to cheer, the knights raised their swords in the air and yelled in triumph while their dragons roared in victory. Kai'sair raised his sword and joined in the cheering. Then, the heroes and dragons began disembarking from the ship. As they did, the people began to swarm around them with cheers and shouts of thanks.

All Adrion and River could do was smile back, shake their hands, and sometimes even hug the kids back if possible. As Adrion noticed, Kai'sair had been able to get through the crowd enough to talk with one of the knight captains that were there. After trading a few words, the captain had his dragon roar to get the crowds attention. The people quieted down and looked at the knight captain, who proceeded to say: "People, I understand you are grateful to these heroes for their deed, but they are incredibly weary from such a journey and battle. Clear a way and allow them passage to our guild haven where they may rest before continuing their journey."

At those words, the people began to disperse, and Kai'sair made his way back over to the other heroes, saying: "The captain will let you guys shack up for a bit back at the guild. You can rest and figure out your next move there."

"Thank you, and thanks for the save back there" Adrion said, "Any more of that crowd and I was afraid I might be crushed." The group then laughed a bit and then headed for the guild tavern, the captain leading them. As they walked in, the captain announced: "Heads up, men! We got us some new sea serpent killers!" At that, the rest of the knights clapped and shouted in approval.

"Let's give these guys some of the good stuff, they deserve it. And someone get these two dragons some help; their wings are busted."

As a medical knight came up to escort Rhogar and Paletar to a medical room in the back, where he could tend to their wing injuries, Adrion, River, and Kai'sair were brought to a table where they were each given pint sized jugs of a golden drink and different platters of steaming food: Adrion and Kai'sair got a steak with a side of mashed potatoes, while River was given a plate of grilled fish, which she began to light up at the sight of.

"This stuff is on the house," the knight bringing them the food said to the heroes, "Our way of saying thanks for killing the serpent. Enjoy."

"Excuse me," Adrion said, holding up the mugs, "What is this?"

"That is our specialty mead. We noticed that you guys are still a bit too young for the victory ales, so we decided to break out that stuff instead."

Kai'sair lit up, and then took a sip, saying afterwards: "Oh, that definitely hits the spot. Kinda tastes like a creamy honey."

Adrion cautiously took a sip; it actually was pretty tasty.

"Huh, that's actually not bad," the wizard said, "I feel like it's gonna fill you up quick, so let's eat first."

"Way ahead of you." River said, her mouth already full of fish.

The three spent the next few minutes eating in silence, savoring every bite of their meals while they were still hot. The plates were soon licked clean, and the three began to discuss the next part of the quest to come.

"You know, you should come with us," Adrion said, "You helped us out pretty well against the serpent, you can probably help us further on our quest."

"I'll accept," the knight replied, "Besides, I've got nothing better to do here anyways. So, where are you guys planning on going now?" Kai'sair asked.

"Well we still need to find the second piece of the relic before we can bring it to the Shadow Canyons." Adrion said.

"Do you know where that is?" River asked.

"No," the wizard admitted, "but the scroll probably does."

Saying this, he pulled it out from his coat, unrolled it, and placed it on the table for the others to see. As he looked at it, it changed to a full map of Pandreia again, this time with a new gold line going down south from Port-Town, through the Great Wood which they had crossed to get to the town, and into a piece of land that was a sicklier shade of green. Adrion gulped in fright: that could only mean one thing.

"It's in the Reptil Marshes." He said.

River widened her eyes in shock, and Kai'sair almost chocked on his mead; they both knew of that place. It was the swamp lands known for the race of reptilian humanoids that lived there: the Lizard Men.

"The Reptil Marshes!?" Kai'sair said, "That place is practically a death trap!"

"Not that much," River said, "I've heard the Lizard Men are willing to help any travelers that reach any of their villages. They've lived in those swamps for ages, so it might be possible that they could also lead us to the second piece."

"Maybe, but that's assuming you can find those villages; the Lizard Men don't exactly have the most obvious and easy to find villages. And that's not our only problem."

"What do you mean? "River asked, puzzled.

"Snake Men," Adrion replied, "I read a little while back that some of their tribes have camped out there, out of sight from the Lizard Men."

"Which is really sayin something," Kai'sair said, "Not much gets past their attention. What's made things even more intense is that the new Lizard Chief has finally started cracking down on finding their camps and destroying them. At least that's what I've heard."

"I'm wondering how we even plan on getting to the marshes." Adrion said, "Both Rhogar and Paletar's wings are wounded, so flying isn't going to be an option as of right now."

"Agreed," Kai'sair said, "We'll have no choice but to walk."

"As relieved as I am that we won't be flying for a bit." River said, "It's way too easy to get lost in the Great Wood, which lies ahead of us before we make it to the marshes."

"Actually," Adrion said, "I've studied maps of that place, and there are some paths in the Wood that lead through it faster than others. It's certainly possible that we'll also end up getting the attention of the Wood Elves that live there. If we can get their help, they may be able to show us the fastest way through. I'm sure they have a hidden path somewhere that is quick."

"You really think that the Wood Elves will help us?" Kai'sair asked, "They're far more cunning and dangerous then most of their kin."

"They're also the most loyal to the White King," The wizard argued, "Which means they will more than likely help us. As for dangerous, they're only really lethal to the monsters that we ourselves have to fight."

Kai'sair nodded his head as he pondered this: "True. But the problem is finding them."

"I wouldn't bother with that," River said, "I've been in those woods dozens of times. They'll find you well before you find them."

"So, what path were you wanting to take?" Kai'sair asked.

"I was planning on following the river through the woods," Adrion replied pointing to the river on the map, "It's right next to a source of fresh water, plus, the river also leads towards a lake near the marshes."

"Fair enough," Kai'sair said, "So, we're all in agreement of what's happening next?"

River spoke up: "Follow the river to the marshes, get the help of the Wood-Elves if we can, get to the marshes, possibly find the Lizard Men, possibly cut our way through some Snake Men, and get the second piece."

"That just about sums it up," Adrion said, rolling the scroll back up, "We'll rest here for the night, and then head out in the morning."

"I'll go let the guild captain know," Kai'sair said, standing up and walked away to look for the knight captain. As he did, Adrion and River noticed that the dining room of the tavern was somewhat emptier than it was before?"

"Where'd everyone go?" Rive asked.

"Not sure," Adrion replied, getting nervous. Just then Kai'sair came back, a grin on his face.

"Good news," he said, "the captain says you guys are allowed to stay here for the night, but there's something else you gotta see."

"What is it?" River asked.

"Come see for yourself." The knight replied, and he led them outside, where they were met with a shocking sight. The entire street had turned into one big festival grounds; there were colorful lanterns hung up from the ropes above along with sheets that had the vibrant dyes Adrion saw earlier. What's was more, the people were all running through, laughing and playing around as they did.

"What's going on here?" Adrion asked.

"The captain of the ship we took confirmed your claim of slaying the serpent while we were busy planning," Kai'sair replied, "Once he did that, the people all agreed to hold a huge celebration in your honor. At least, that's what the guild captain told me."

"Where are these people going?" River asked.

"The center of town, I think; that's where the main part of the celebration is. The captain told me that our dragons are already there so we can come and join as soon as we were done planning our next move." The knight replied.

"Well, then I guess that's where we go now," Adrion said, "Would hate to be late for my own party."

"Can't argue with that," River replied. And with that, the three followed the townspeople to the center of town, which was a large circular, empty area ringed by the other buildings. When they got there, sure enough, they saw Rhogar and Paletar standing on a podium near the center, the guild captain and town master standing with them.

As they entered the crowd, someone pointed out their arrival, and then the rest of the townspeople turned and cheered when they saw the three's arrival. Then, much to the three's surprise, the people lifted them up and then carried them over their heads to the podium. River couldn't help but laugh as they did, while Adrion and Kai'sair smiled while trying to keep their balance. Once they were dropped at the podium, they went to join their dragon companions, who had their injured wings in bandages. Adrion petted Rhogar's snout and asked: "How ya doing, buddy?"

Rhogar snorted: "I've been better, but I'll live."

"Same here," Paletar said.

Just then, the master and guild captain walked up, and the mayor silenced the crowd, saying: "First, let us not forget the troubling times we had gone through. We are the most prosperous oceanside town on Pandreia; that state of prosper was threatened. A sea serpent began attacking our ships, and we should never forget the lives that were lost trying to defeat the monster. But then these five heroes came, and they have finally put an end to this plague and now Port-Town will begin an effective and quick recovery to it's former glory."

This got a cheer from the people, then the master quieted them again to continue: "We owe these heroes a great debt. They are the ones who rid our town of the serpent, saving countless lives from being lost. As the token of my thanks, I, along with the captain of the knight's guild in Port-Town, have decided to reward these heroes with these special items." The guild captain walked forward, holding a wooden box.

Opening the box, he revealed five different items, which he then gave to each hero. To Adrion, he gave a bracelet with an aquamarine gem on the top. To River, he gave a small necklace with a water dragon charm on it. To Kai'sair, he branded a symbol on the shoulder plate of his armor that had the image of a pouncing dragon on it. Finally, to the dragons, he gave each a large armband with the image of a water dragon circling a ship, the symbol of Port-Town, etched on them. Each of the heroes admired their new items, then nodded in thanks to the town master.

"Thank you," Adrion said.

"And thank you," the master said, then, turning to the people, "I give you, the slayers of the sea serpent and saviors of our town!" At this, the crowd went into an uproar of cheering mixed with shouts of "Huzzah!" from the other knights of the guild and the roars of triumph from their dragons.

"Now, let us celebrate this victory," The master finished, "Let us eat, drink, dance, and overall just be plain merry!"

The people didn't need any more prompt; within a few minutes, a band had started playing an upbeat tune as some of the people began to dance. Merchant stands had been set up to help disperse the food and beverage to the people. Kai'sair and Adrion got pulled aside by some of the knights and townspeople who wanted to hear the full story of how the battle went down, which Kai'sair was more than happy to retell, Adrion filling in certain details from his own point of view.

The people listened very intently, while the knights occasionally chuckled or gasped at certain moments. While Adrion was explaining the moments of River and Hydraxus' arrival, Kai'sair looked over his shoulder, and noticed River herself was dancing among the people, laughing and enjoying herself. He thought for a few moments, then tapped Adrion on the shoulder.

"What is it?" the wizard asked.

"I can finish it from here," the Kai'sair replied, "But YOU should ask a certain someone for a dance." He said, pointing at River. Adrion followed Kai'sair's finger, then immediately turned beet red as he realized what the knight was implying .

"No, no, no, no," he began stammering, "I know what you're thinking and…"

"What," Kai'sair asked, "Too scared?"

"Kinda!"

"You mean to tell me that you can face a sea serpent, no problem, but you're too scared to ask a girl out for a dance?"

"Pretty much! What if she says no?"

"But what if she says yes?" Kai'sair asked, making Adrion pause, then he said, "You'll never know unless you actually go and ask."

Adrion took a deep breath, then said: "Yeah, I guess you're right."

Kai'sair put a hand on Adrion's shoulder and said, "Come on, I'll go with you." With that, he led the wizard over to where River was and then called her over: "River! Adrion wants to ask you something."

River walked over and said, "Yes?"

Kai'sair looked at Adrion, whose face was now very red. As he nudged the wizard, Adrion seemed to come out of a trance and then began stammering: "Oh, right. Well…River…I was wondering if…you would like to…go for a dance…with…me?"

Kai'sair facepalmed; it wasn't exactly the best way to ask, and as a knight who was taught to be chivalrous, especially to women, he knew this full well, but he assumed Adrion's mind had probably gone blank at this point and let the matter slide. River looked a bit surprised at first, but then giggled a bit after watching Adrion's expression for a few moments, then said: "Sure, I will. Do you know how to dance?"

"Sort of. I'm not the best dancer." Adrion admitted,

River giggled again: "Neither am I. But I would like to learn."

"Well, that makes two of us," then, Adrion held out his arm, which River promptly took. Together, the two walked into the dancing ring. Kai'sair went to finish retelling the story of their battle, but as he occasionally looked over, he saw Adrion and River in the group of dancers. They were trying to follow the others' example, but kept either stepping on each other's feet or accidentally knocking their heads together. It was rather comical to watch, but they seemed like they were having a good time, laughing and smiling the whole way through.

Meanwhile, Rhogar and Paletar were watching the two as well. They had been recounting their own version of the battle to the other dragons, though Rhogar had been occasionally glancing at Adrion to see how he was doing, and when he saw his friend trying to dance with River, he chuckled to himself. Paletar had just finished their tale and went to see what Rhogar was looking at. He followed the fire dragon's gaze to the pair, and chuckled himelf.

"Those two look absolutely ridiculous." Paletar said.

"Maybe," Rhogar replied, "but at least they look happy. Especially Adrion."

"What do you mean?"

"Taking this quest was a massive burden, and he didn't take it all that well at first. Part of me was worried that he wasn't quite ready for something like this at first."

"And now?"

"He still has much to learn, but for the time being, I think he will be fine."

"You know, I sometimes feel the same way about my partner."

Rhogar looked at Paletar in surprise: "Kai'sair? He seemed to be pretty level-headed about fighting the serpent to me."

"You don't know him like I do," Paletar replied, "When he was training, he proved to be one of the best fighters, yes, but after reading through the old Dragonsfold knight texts, he became loyal to their ancient creed. This was accepted by the old headmaster, but the new one changed everything when she came into power; she made an entirely new code.

While the code of the ancient knights revolved around sacrifice and loyalty to the people and, ultimately, the White King, the new code was more focused on military discipline and loyalty to the commander alone. Naturally, Kai'sair refused to follow such a creed, which put him in a bad position with the headmaster as well as most of the students who had already accepted the new code. Things only got worse when it came time to swear the oath of the Guardian Knights."

"Let me guess," Rhogar said, "He took the ancient oath instead of the new one."

Paletar nodded: "It was the last straw for the headmaster; she made sure he was looked down on and mocked by the other student. However, try as she might, once a knight swears an oath, there's no going back, and no changing it, and she knew it. So she made sure he suffered for it."

"She turned the ENTIRE school against him?!"

"No. There was a select few who were inspired by Kai'sair's example and who knew him long before the new headmaster showed up. They too took the ancient oath, and they, along with Kai'sair, would afterwards meet in hidden areas. They called themselves the Order of the King."

"And what did you do during all of this?"

"I protected him the best I could, which was relatively easy; even the students knew better than to fully anger a dragon."

Rhogar chuckled: "That seems like the one smart thing they do."

"It probably was," Paletar chuckled back, "But eventually, I could see that Kai'sair and the rest of the Order were not going to hold out for much longer, so we decided to escape. That night, the Order of the King met for the last time in Dragonsfold, and then we all went our separate ways. Obviously, Kai'sair and I came to Port-Town and managed to get into the Guild of the Dragon Riders. They let us in after we told them of what was happening; apparently they too are loyal to the ancient creed."

"So, why was he all alone when, Adrion and River found him?"

"That was because he prefers to be alone. You may not see it in him, but he is still haunted by the events at Dragonsfold, and feels that not many others can sympathize with his pain."

"So why help Adrion and river all of a sudden?"

"To be honest, I'm not sure. My only guess is that since your quest was given by the White King, he finally had a chance to once again adhere to the oath he swore long ago. You guys gave him a purpose again."

"Seems like a pretty good guess," Rhogar said after a few moments of thought, "I guess you and I can now say we have killed a sea serpent AND seen one of the four dragon kings in person."

"That we can, Rhogar," Paletar laughed, "That we can."

The rest of the night was spent in the joy of the celebration. Adrion and River finally started getting the hang of the dances and were now able to make it through a song without stepping on each other. Kai'sair was watching them from the side, until Adrion got one of the village girls to pull him in with the other dancers.

After a few more hours of dancing and fun, the three decided to make their way back the guild tavern to rest for the continuing journey tomorrow. Kai'sair managed to find a room big enough for the three to sleep in, while the dragons were let into the dragon stables. As the trio walked into their room, River ran to one of the beds and flopped right down onto it. Breathing a large sigh of relief, she said: "That…was…amazing."

"That it was," Kai'sair agreed, "though I can assume your feet are feeling a bit sorer than you thought they would be, considering how much you and Adion stepped on each other."

"Oh, please," Adrion said sitting down on a bed and massaging his feet, "you have no idea."

"To be honest," River said, "My head is way sorer than my feet. Who knew wizards have such thick skulls."

Adrion blushed: "Sorry."

River just chuckled, while Kai'sair simply rolled his eyes in amusement.

"Well, let's just get some shut eye." Adrion said, "We've got a long journey ahead of us."

"Yeah, good idea," River said, "Good night everyone!" and then she was silent after that.

Kai'sair laid down in the bed next to Adrion's, then said to him: "Aren't you glad to take that chance and ask her?"

Adrion was silent for a few minutes, then replied: "Yeah, I suppose I am."

"I'm happy for you. She seems like a nice girl."

"Yeah, she does. And who knows, maybe you might find a girl like that too."

"Maybe."

"And when you do," Adrion said, "I get to pick on you about asking her to dance."

Kai'sair shuddered: "Well, I guess I probably would have deserved it."

"Yes, yes you would."

And with that, Adrion and Kai'sair fell asleep, not knowing what the next phase of this quest might have in store for them.