Chapter 26

"The Great Bilbo?" Max asked.

Medb came close Max's ear and whispered *He doesn't look great to me at all.*

"Hehe I'll act like I never heard you say that young lady." He said much to Medb's surprise and continued, "You're not gonna introduce yourselves?"

"You can call me Max. And this here is Medb. Let me thank you again. I don't know what we would've done if you didn't took us in." Max said with all seriousness. Even though he was an eccentric old man, he wasn't a bad person. At least Max hoped so.

Because as he said at first, if he had any evil intentions, he could've done anything he wanted to them when they walked inside.

And Max believed that because he couldn't mount any defenses against the old man no matter how much he tried.

"Max and Mebd? Nice to meet cha." He nodded and continued, "Now that pleasantries are over, let's get to your payment." He flashed an evil smile.

His wife Raelyn rolled her eyes from right next to him.

Max and Medb tensed up because the happy old man's expression changed instantly. "Yes. What do you need?" Max asked.

"I..want…you..to" he paused between the words for more dramatic impact.

"Oh cut it out Bilbo. You're actually scaring them." But Raelyn cut in.

"Hahaha you should've seen your faces!" Bilbo laughed as hard as he could. Upon seeing him happy like this, Raelyn also couldn't help but smile.

"Don't worry. All I'm asking is to tell me of your adventures."

"Tell you our adventures? Is that it?" Max asked doubtfully.

"Yes. That's it. Nothing too serious right? Now, hurry up." He said. "Oh wait!" Then he got up and rushed downstairs. After a minute or so, he came back with a box full of beer bottles.

*Thud

He put the box on the table and grabbed a bottle. "Now, we can start." He said jovially.

——<>——

"What in Oblivion? A tyrant?! There is no way!" Bilbo said in disbelief.

"I swear! Even the captain Leopold was surprised let alone Isran. Well, captain wasn't that surprised but you know what I'm talking about." Max said.

"Then? What happened? How did you kill it?"

"Well, it was all captain's plan. Do you know what he said when I asked if he had a plan?" Max said with mysteriousness.

"What did he say?" Bilbo was intrigued.

"He said…" he also stopped for the dramatic impact. "No. I don't have a plan, not right now at least."

"What does that even mean?! He will have a plan?"

"I asked the same thing and he said 'No. I 'had' a plan.' And then looked up where we saw Darien jumping down from the top of a gigantic bird! He landed in a superhero pose and shouted, 'Fear not, for I am here!'"

"Hahaha I'd like to meet that Leopold one day. He seems like a very smart guy."

"Yeah. He would have contingency plans in contingency plans. I never know what he is thinking."

"That is a sign of being wise. Never let your opponent guess your next move." He said with surprising seriousness. "Thank you for telling me all those stories. They made my day."

"No, thank you for letting us stay."

"If you don't mind me asking, where are you headed to next?"

"I don't mind at all because it's not a 'secret' anyways, we are traveling to Falinesti. They say that a dragon was killed but its hoard was left intact."

"A dragon's hoard eh?" He looked thoughtful. "It's getting late. You should be sleeping if you want to leave early. Come, I'll show you where you will be sleeping."

——<>——

Well deep into the night, Bilbo sat on his favorite chair as he watched the night sky while puffing out smoke.

He looked like he was in deep thought because he didn't notice his wife coming closer and pulling a chair to sit beside him.

"They were good kids." She said while she watched the night sky also.

"Yeah, they were. At least the boy was. I got mixed signals from the girl." He replied after a moment of thought.

"…The hoard of a dragon, huh. Sounds like an exciting adventure." She said after she turned her head to look directly at Bilbo.

Bilbo also turned to her and ruminated on his answer. "Raelyn, I-" but he couldn't finish his sentence as Raelyn cut him off.

"You can go." Then turned to watch the night sky again.

"I- What?" He was flabbergasted.

"You can go. I know you'll ask me to let you go." Then turned to look at him once more. "Bilbo, I've known you for 40 years. I know you more than anyone else. Yes, I'll be lonely after you are gone but I'll manage."

"…but why?" Bilbo asked, still in confusion.

"…Do you know how many times I've seen you laugh the way you did when the boy was telling his adventures? Four times. I've only seen you laugh like that four times in our whole forty years of marriage." She stopped as a single drop of tear fell down her cheek. Then she continued with a shaky voice. "The first was when we got married. The second was when we had kids. And the third was when you first heard that we would have grandchildren. And that was the fourth. You have only been laughing for our family… I think it's time for you to laugh for yourself. Go after your dreams Bilbo. I'll be waiting." She said and finally couldn't hold herself and burst into tears.

Seeing her like this, Bilbo couldn't hold himself either. He hugged his wife and burst into tears too. "Thank you. Thank you Raelyn. I love you. With all my being."

"I love you too. Why are you crying? You should be happy." She said with a voice that cracked with every word.

"I don't know but these are tears of happiness. hahaha" he said but his laugh told of a different story.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~-~~~~~~~~~

Alright, you know the drill. Extra chapters in exchange for stones.

Let's say… 100 stones = 1 chapter how's that? Is it too much?

I was gonna say 50 but you guys scare me. I feel like I might be worked to death that way. So, let's keep it light and breezy okay?