Celestial Storm: Golden Dawn

Chapter Seven: Siegfried The Light Mage

It was around seven in the morning when we walked through the front gates of Kasodral. The golden sun was behind our backs, casting long shadows across the ground. I could now smell the salt breeze from the ocean.

"Yes!" Flame hooted as he raised his arms in the air. "I now have enough money to pay for the damage I did a few days ago!"

"Yeah!" Fryn squeaked in agreement as he bounced around Flame.

I yawned loudly from my lack of sleep, and I covered my mouth as I did so.

"You were quite amazing, Lucina," Siegfried said to me.

"In what perspective?" I asked in confusion.

"Regarding your ability to conjure so many spirits at once," he answered. "I've met very few mages with that much magical power and ability. Most that try to summon more than one spirit at the same time usually were seriously injured from it or even died."

"That was the first time that I had ever made an attempt to summon that many as I did last night," I admitted to him, "I wasn't sure if I could until I gambled with my life to see so. To be honest, I thought that I was going to die for even trying to summon two."

"If you really had thought you would have died from it, then why did you do it?" he asked me in a serious tone.

"Because if I did not try, we could have not taken Starkadhr down. He was slowly over powering all of us," I answered. "And I would rather die trying than watching my friends get harmed!"

Siegfried looked surprised as though he expected a different answer; even Flame and Fryn had stopped bouncing around and were looking at me too.

"I see...," Siegfried said slowly. "You're a greater person than I first thought. Not very many mages would put their friends' lives before their own."

Siegfried, Flame, and Fryn smiled at me.

"I'm glad you're a member of Celestial Storm, Lucina!" Flame said as he laughed. "We're not only your friends; we are your family!"

"Aye!" Fryn squeaked as he started to bounce around Flame again, then added. "But even so, you're still just as useless in general!"

"You sure know how to make people felt good about themselves," I said to Fryn sarcastically. "You did nothing to help us against the battle with the vampires. You just hid the entire time while criticizing about my fighting abilities."

"What are you talking about?! I took all three of them on single handedly!" Fryn squeaked indignantly as he bluffed.

"You're a big liar!" I yelled indignantly as Flame laughed, and Siegfried smiled in amusement.

After a few minutes, the town's people started to wake up and come out in to the streets to work. There were a fair number of sailors that made their way to the harbor, and miners that started to make their way to the roads that led inland. Some of the locals were coming out of their homes to go to their jobs at work or household chores. Some of locals recognized Flame, and judging by their increased paces at the site of him, he must have had some negative relations with some of the locals. Flame must have destroyed things that had belong to them in the past.

"Don't destroy anything today, Flame!" one of the locals called out to him. "You already caused enough trouble the other day!"

"Don't rub it in! I didn't do it on purpose!" Flame called back without looking to see who it was.

"Bugger off!" Fryn squeaked at the local.

Some of the locals, Fryn, and Flame argued as we made our way back to the guild. Siegfried and I started talking together again.

"So what kind of magic do you use?" I asked Siegfried curiously.

"I'm an elemental style mage that specializes in light magic. I also use some enchantment magic," he answered. "I'm also good with dimensional, transmutation, and conjuring magic."

"You sound like at very talented mage," I said. "So have you ever been in a guild as a member before?"

"No," he answered. "I've been traveling by myself for several years now."

"How old are you?" I asked him.

Before he could answer my question, Flame came over to us.

"I need to get some more candy," Flame interrupted.

"Good idea, I need some too," I said remembering that I needed some candy to give Vlukyn if she bothered me again.

"Yeah!" Fryn agreed. "I need a new lollipop since Vlukyn stole my last one!"

Flame marched up to a general store with a rather abused looking sign with a leaping frog on it that read Jolly Frog General Store. It had some boarded windows as though they had been broken recently, and the green paint on the store's wall was peeling in some places. The door looked like it was enforced against rough customers, for the door had many dents and gouges in it. Siegfried winced as Flame kicked the door open which slammed into the wall making a loud racket as merchandise on the walls vibrated violently. I found it surprising the door was unharmed as it bounced back to the frame unharmed. Siegfried and I stopped the door as we followed Flame into the store.

A moment later the cashier of the store came running from a back room and up to the counter. He looked disgruntled at the site of Flame. He was middle aged man with some white in his black hair and had a mild girth.

"Oh no! It's you again!" he groaned as he slapped his forehead. "You've almost destroyed my store and merchandise several times, and you still owe me a few windows!"

"Shut up! Or I will destroy your establishment completely," Flame grumbled as he waltzed down an aisle and to a section of candy. Fryn and I followed him while Siegfried waited at the door.

Flame and I grabbed five one pound bags of candy together, while Fryn grabbed a large lollipop. We took our merchandise to the counter, the man looked annoyed as he eyed the candy on the counter.

"That's one golen, two seklens, and three kalons," the cashier said sounding as though he said this every day.

"Oh, oh, this too!" Fryn squealed in excitement as he placed a two pound chocolate bar on the counter.

"Two seklens, and two kalons," the cashier said.

After Flame and I paid together, Flame abruptly tossed a bag of candy to the side at Siegfried, who caught it calmly.

"What's this for?" he asked. "Does this have any use, aside from eating? I really don't eat candy often."

"Just give that to Vlukyn if she bugs you," Flame said, as though that answered his question as we walk out back into the street.

"Who's Vlukyn?" Siegfried asked me, as we followed Flame and Fryn back to the guild.

"Remember that dark elf I was with when we first saw each other on the beach? That's her name," I answered. "As I noticed quickly, she gives newcomers a hard time. If she does so to you, give her some candy; she has a sweet tooth. She may leave you alone for while if she is distracted by eating candy."

"I'll keep that in mind, but I don't see how candy is going to convince a dark elf to leave you alone once they set their mind on you," Siegfried said with a chuckle.

In the back ground just then I heard a big bell ring several times within a few seconds, which made me jump slightly since I did not expect a loud noise just then. Then came the sound of something hitting it hard several times making it vibrate loudly. Fryn whined as he covered his ears. Judging by the sound of the bell continuing to make strange noises, I assumed that it was being abused by Vlukyn like Sreldes had claimed.

"Die, you cowardly bell!" I heard Vlukyn's voice yell off away in the back ground as the bell made a loud clunking noise. "Ah, ha, ha, ha! Victory is mine today!"

"I wish she would stop doing that," Fryn whined as he winced at a loud ring just then.

"Hmm, sounds like Vlukyn has challenged the bell in combat again," Flame said casually as though it happened every day.

After a minute we arrived at Celestial Storm's double front doors. Flame just waltzed up to it and kicked it open.

"WE'RE BACK!" he roared into the guild.

"Aye!" Fryn squeaked in agreement.

"Will you fools quit kicking the door and ruining my carvings!" the half elf yelled at Flame as he jumped at the sound of the door slamming into the wall.

"The door doesn't need stupid carvings on it," Flame said without looking at him as he walked to the bar.

"I told you a thousand times over! My carvings aren't for the door, damn it!" the half elf yelled at Flame.

He and Fryn sat at the bar as Flame said, "Murina, give me some strong wine."

"Milk!" Fryn squeaked. Murina then obliged as she gave them their drinks. They starting drinking their beverage of choice.

The common room was filled with most of the guild members with the exceptions of Ethiza, Dukhiza, Khanordhoi, Vlukyn, and others that were on missions. Siegfried and I followed Flame to the bar. Sreldes was sitting at the bar. I heard him mutter under his breath something about young hoodlums at it again. Sreldes turned as he noticed us and greeted us.

"Flame, Fryn, I can't believe that you two used Lucina as a virgin sacrifice!" he said sounding amazed with them as he chuckled darkly. He then added to me. "I'm glad you're alright my dear. I have to admit that you did a fine job fighting those vampires. That was a close call with the second one when he almost got you."

"How do you know about that?" I asked him.

"Vlukyn told me," Sreldes replied simply. "She said that she watched the whole battle through a spell of seeing she placed on your dress or something like that."

"And you must be the light mage, Siegfried," Sreldes said as he turn to greet him. "You can call me Sreldes, everyone does. Let me give you my thanks for saving our new member, Lucina."

"Don't mention it, the honor was mine on saving such a fine young lady," Siegfried replied with a short bow.

"Well you seem to have some good manners for a man of your age, a true gentleman!" Sreldes laughed. "I also heard from Vlukyn that you wish to join Celestial Storm."

"Yes, I do," Siegfried said as he got on one knee facing Sreldes. "Please let me join Celestial Storm. I really want to join."

"Is that so?" Hebikage asked as she came up to us. "Then as of now you are a member of our guild, our family."

"I wonder why all of the newcomers believe I'm the master now?" Sreldes asked. "Maybe young people these days think an old timer like me should be a master of the guild."

"I'm sorry," Siegfried apologized.

"Don't feel bad about it," Sreldes said. "You're not the first to think so. Well, I was master awhile back for a few times."

Hebikage then pulled the some dome like object that she used when she gave me my symbol of Celestial Storm. She then asked Siegfried, "Where would you like to carry the Celestial Storm symbol?"

Siegfried then pulled the jacket from his right shoulder, to reveal his upper right arm. He then pointed at the same spot where I had the symbol on my arm, before saying, "I want it here."

Hebikage then pressed the dome like structure to his skin, after she removed it the spot on his arm were it was glowed white for a moment before fading to a bright yellow color.

"Ah... this not a common color, I've seen this color a few times in the last decade among mages I've met around the world," Sreldes said observing the symbol on Siegfried's arm before Siegfried pulled his jacket back onto his shoulders.

Just then Gazual kicked the double doors open and stomped over to Flame, who had finished his drink.

"Quit kicking the damn door!" the half elf yelled at Gazual as he ruined another carving.

"Quiet buffoon!" he yelled back at him and then at Flame, "You still owe me a chemistry set Flame! Go and get me one before I kick your ass!"

"Ah, shut up!" Flame retorted as he rose to his feet. "If you want to kick my ass then bring it, alchemy freak!"

The half-elf was spluttering incoherently in rage in the background as Gazual and Flame shouted at each other.

And after shouting at Gazual, Flame punched Gazual in the face. Gazual flew into nearby table, where Dolof, Regdor, and Stelgun sat. That part of the common room erupted into a bar fight within seconds. Chairs and tables flew as everyone used foul language and took part in the a cycle of unnecessary violence. Hebikage just shook her head and then whistled loudly with her fingers in her mouth. Everyone in the bar fight paused in mid fight, and everyone in the common room gave her their full attention.

"We have another new member now," she said as she presented her hand to Siegfried. "This is Siegfried: he is a member of Celestial Storm and our family."

Everyone said their words of greetings to Siegfried, and some of the members came over to give him their formal greetings. After that, as though on command, the participants of the bar fight resumed their fighting.

I tried to make myself appear small as the gigantic bar fight behind me raged on and just then a chair slammed into the bar a foot away from me and broke into bits of useless wood. I jumped in surprise, and I moved a chair away from the part of the bar that was just assaulted. Siegfried took a chair next to my side looking a bit lost about the point of the bar fight.

"Ah, the young hoodlums are going at it again," Sreldes said as though he was an old man, "This common room has been abused enough by them alone."

"Is it okay to let them fight like that? Should we do something about it?" Siegfried asked me. But before I could answer, Murina answered the question for me.

"It is best to let them be, this is a common practice in Celestial Storm," she said to us. "Besides, isn't this fun?"

"Yeah! Kick their butts, Flame!" Fryn squeaked from behind the bar. He seemed to have hidden there when I was not paying attention to him earlier.

"Please don't encourage him!" I snapped. "It would be best if they would stop."

"Nah, this is fun!" Fryn squeaked happily.

"I don't see how that can be fun," I retorted. "You're insane!"

"No, I'm not," Fryn replied happily.

Just then someone kicked the door open again. It was Ethiza, who was only in her underwear, gauntlets, and greave-boots. It took me a moment to realize that she was in my underwear. She strode into the common room.

The half elf looked as though his was about to have a stroke as he leaped to his feet in rage as he ruined another carving, "GOD DAMMIT! Will you stop kicking the f—!"

He cut himself off as he realized that it was Ethiza, the look of rage quickly turned to fear on his face. "Oh, I'm so sorry. I didn't realize it was you—"

He was cut off as Ethiza rushed at him and punched him in the chest so hard that he flew into the wall.

"Hey! That's my underwear!" I yelled indignantly as I jumped from my chair, and then pointed at Ethiza.

She, however, paid no attention to me. She jumped into the bar fight and started to beat on random people in the fight yelling, "You fools have no chance of victory! For I shall punish all of you, for ruining the common room hundreds of times over!"

Vlukyn kicked the door open and came running in, with her hands in the air as though in triumph. She too was in nothing but underwear, my underwear. However I said nothing, instead I dove behind the bar as soon as I saw her. I was afraid of what she would do to me if she saw that I was back from being a 'virgin sacrifice' from the previous request.

"Victory is mine!" Vlukyn yelled into the common room. "For I've defeated the cathedral bell in combat!"

Sreldes placed his face into his hands, "That cathedral bell is an antique. It's been around for almost two thousand years. That bell is a historical land mark, so it doesn't need you, Vlukyn, to carve away at its expiration date. The cardinal has been trying to tan our hides for that alone."

"It was the bell who declared war on me, Sreldes!" Vlukyn snapped as she ran over to the bar, and pressed her face to him. "But I will win the war when the bell finally breaks!"

"The bell is an inanimate object, so it can't do anything of that sort," Sreldes said, and then added, "Will you please stop doing that, it's disturbing."

"Hm, so this is Vlukyn," Siegfried said thoughtfully.

"And since Flame is back..." Vlukyn said as she reached over the bar and behind it and grabbed me as thought knew where I was. She dragged me from my hiding spot and onto the bar on my back. She pinned me to the bar by my wrists. "Then Lucina must be as well."

"How did you know where I was?" I asked indignantly.

"My spell of seeing is still on the dress I gave you," she reminded me. She then reached into my bag and claimed her dress. "I would like that back now."

"Vlukyn, will you please let Lucina go?" Sreldes said to her. Instead of letting me go, she climbed onto the bar and sat on top of me. She was still pinning my wrists to the bar top, and she made her own dress disappear into thin air as she did so.

"Oh, Lucina, my love," Vlukyn said as she lowered her face to mine, she then said to Sreldes. "You're enjoying this aren't you, old pervert?"

"That is not what I asked you to do, and what would make you think that I would enjoy something like that?!" Sreldes said looking stern and red in the face although the color was not from rage.

"AHA!" Vlukyn suddenly roared in triumph as she pointed at Sreldes' face. "So you are enjoying this! If you want, we can switch places; that's why you want me off her, right?!"

"I would never consider those possibilities for even a second!" Sreldes snapped as his eyebrow twitched with annoyance; he now looked greatly offended as Vlukyn laughed at him.

"Someone please, get her off of me!" I squealed indignantly as I struggled to get free. I looked over at Siegfried for help, but he was so deep in conversation with Hebikage that he did not notice Vlukyn was on top of me yet.

Vlukyn suddenly jumped off of me, slid across the bar and skidded to a stop in front of Fryn. She grabbed the lollipop from Fryn, who was happily licking it.

"Hey, that's mine!" Fryn squealed indignantly. I quickly got off the bar and on to my feet, and took my seat next to Sreldes who looked highly relieved that Vlukyn had turned her attention to something else.

"Oh, Fryn, you know how to make me pleased," Vlukyn teased Fryn as she licked his lollipop, "You're so kind to me."

"No, give it back! Please!" Fryn whined as he tried to snag his lollipop back from her. She just jumped behind the bar out of his reach.

"And you were even so kind as to get me chocolate as well!" Vlukyn almost sang out as she hooted with glee. Using extremely dexterous hands, she grabbed the two pound chocolate bar from Fryn's bag. "You really do know how to please a woman, if you were at least humanoid I would make you my sex slave for tonight!"

"That's my chocolate! Give it back!" Fryn squealed. Vlukyn hastily ripped the wrapping off the bar in response. She then licked it as though it was precious.

"Ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah," Fryn whined trying to grab it back.

Vlukyn bit down on the chocolate bar so hard that it shattered it into bits of chocolate that flew off onto the bar. She was still holding on to what was left of the chocolate bar as she jerked her head back and let out a moan of ecstasy as though she got gratification from the taste.

"AH! Delicious, smooth chocolate!" Vlukyn breathed as Fryn started to cry, which sounded fake to me. She then noticed that Siegfried was present for the first time since she came into the common room. He was still in deep conversation with Hebikage.

"Oh-ho!" Vlukyn hooted with glee as she saw Siegfried. She leaped over the bar, and landed in between Hebikage and Siegfried then faced him. "So this must be that studly new light elementist mage that saved my precious Lucina! He's so handsome. Flame should go on missions more often!"

After hearing her say that, I tried to make myself look small and used Sreldes to block her view of me. Fortunately, Vlukyn seemed too occupied with Siegfried to notice me. I thought I saw a bit of drool slide from her lips down to her chin as I ducked behind Sreldes.

"You're very attractive. How would you like to be my pet for awhile?" Vlukyn asked Siegfried.

"That's kind, but I will pass, thanks," Siegfried said.

He leaned back a bit as he spoke. It seemed that he was afraid he might get a disease if he was too close to Vlukyn.

"Only an idiot would pass up on that offer," Vlukyn said.

"I'm not sure if I was insulted or not," Siegfried muttered.

"Oh..., why does everyone play hard to get?" Vlukyn moaned, "Ah, well. I doubt that you'll be shy when I've gotten you into my room."

Vlukyn seized Siegfried around the waist and started to lift him off the bar stool he was sitting on. Siegfried suddenly lit up for a moment then disappeared. Vlukyn nearly fell to the ground as the weight she was lifting abruptly vanished. Siegfried had teleported himself to the other side of the bar.

"Clever!" Vlukyn congratulated, "Very clever. But don't think that I'll be deterred that easily!"

Vlukyn shoved the bar stool out of her way and ran at Siegfried.

"Lucina, my dear, I think that I shall explore the town for awhile. I will be sure to bring some flowers back for you," Siegfried said.

With that, he disappeared. Vlukyn let out a disappointed groan.

"He's so hot," Vlukyn said, "He's coming on a mission with me. Imagine having both Siegfried and Lucina in my bed with me!"

"That sounds unpleasant. My head hurts just processing the notion," Sreldes commented.

"Are you insane?! Who wouldn't want those two in their bed?!" Vlukyn cried.

"Since I'd be called a pervert if I wanted such a thing, I would be one of those who would not want those two in my bed," Sreldes replied.

"You're just saying that because you don't want to be called a pervert!" Vlukyn retorted, "You definitely would enjoy having them in your bed."

"I think that I shall study my spells some more," Sreldes said abruptly.

He stood up and strode out of the room heading for his room.

"Think of me while you're enjoying the thought of having Siegfried and Lucina in your bed with you!" Vlukyn called after him.

In answer, Sreldes went from a fast walk to a trot. Vlukyn cackled as she watched Sreldes disappear up the stairs. Ethiza appeared next to Vlukyn a moment later.

"So, did you find yourself a new boyfriend, Vlukyn?" Ethiza asked.

"I've met my future boyfriend at least," Vlukyn answered.

Behind Ethiza lay everyone that had been in the bar fight. Fryn was still whining about his demolished chocolate bar. As though Fryn's whimpers were a reminder of the candy she had stolen, Vlukyn suddenly reached into the bra she was wearing and pulled out the lollipop she had taken from Fryn. I winced slightly at the thought of how difficult it might be to rid my bra of the stickiness that was almost certainly in it.

"Well, we still have four days to go until the main mission. In the meantime, what are we going to do in those four days?" Ethiza wondered.

"I'm not suuuuurrrrreee... Ah! Seagulls!" Vlukyn answered.

"What?" I asked in confusion.

"Excellent idea!" Ethiza said.

"Get yourself ready for a day of intensive training, Lucina!" Vlukyn said.

"I just remembered that I've been awake for forty-eight hours straight by now," I said, "I should get some sleep now."

I turned and started to hastily retreat to my room. I didn't get very far. Vlukyn grabbed me and pulled me back over to the bar.

"Now then, you are going to catch seagulls for Ethiza and I," Vlukyn announced, "We won't be satisfied until you bring us ten. They're hard to catch, so the sooner we get moving the better. Now off to the restaurants!"

"Oh, no," I moaned. "I want to go to bed."

Ethiza grabbed one arm while Vlukyn grabbed the other. The two of them marched me out of the guild.

Well, at least seagulls are better than sharks, I thought.

Ethiza and Vlukyn marched me into the town. Vlukyn started singing about capturing seagulls and roasting them. Ethiza laughed as Vlukyn sang about seagulls. Vlukyn's voice was slightly shrill, but she could sing better than I would have given her credit for.

Vlukyn and Ethiza stopped suddenly just before we reached an intersection. The sound of drums beating to a slow march sounded. Ethiza and Vlukyn pulled me off the street. A group of people dressed in black with sad expressions on their faces were slowly walking around the corner. I realized that it was a funeral procession. Four coffins were being slowly pulled on black carts. Flowers covered the coffins and spilled onto the carts. A young woman cloaked in black sat on one of the carts. She clung to the coffin and wept as the procession moved past us down the street. A man with a truly enormous top hat that had two black ribbons coming out from under the rim was patting the weeping woman on the back obviously trying to comfort her. He was wearing all black clothing in addition to his top hat with a leather long coat that had a slightly large collar over the rest of his black clothes. He had long white hair that partially obscured his eyes and hung down to the backs of his knees. His five centimeter long fingernails had been painted black, and I saw a gold ring with a strange symbol etched onto it on his ring finger. As the funeral procession moved toward us, he looked over in our direction. I could have sworn that he stared right at me for a moment.

"Looks like someone didn't come back alive," Vlukyn muttered.

"What happened?" I asked.

"There are many people here who fight against the evil cults here. Some of them never come back. Some die, and their bodies are returned. They paid the ultimate price to advance our cause. May their souls rest in peace," Ethiza replied.

"Amen. Let's go through the back of this building," Vlukyn said.

Vlukyn opened the door of the shop we were standing next to. It appeared to be a clothing store. Many fancy looking dresses were on display. A fat, middle aged woman gasped as she saw Vlukyn walk into the store.

"H-how many fingers am I holding up?" the woman asked nervously as she held up three fingers.

"I'm not drunk!" Vlukyn snapped indignantly, "I'm just avoiding the funeral procession. I don't want to stand there and listen to them cry about their dead friends and all that. Preaching about dead bodies doesn't accomplish anything."

The woman looked quite miffed by this statement, but Vlukyn ignored her as she steered me to the back of the store. Vlukyn kicked the door open and strode out into the back alley. She moved through the alley and onto a different street. A couple of dwarven blacksmiths quickly tossed tanned hides over some of their wares when they spotted Vlukyn. Vlukyn winked at them but didn't say anything to them.

We reached the wharf after a few minutes of walking. We walked along the wharf a bit before we reached a restaurant. Judging by the smell, there was a lot of greasy food being made within. There were seagulls covering the surrounding buildings. Thick droppings covered many of the building tops. Some of the seagulls that were close to us flew to different positions. Some started flying around over our heads as though expecting us to toss food up at them.

"Here we are!" Vlukyn sang, "These dirty bastards will pay for stealing the food that I claimed! Now grab ten of them, Lucina!"

"I'm still not seeing the point to any of this," I moaned. "Why do we need sea gulls?"

"Stop your moaning and just catch the sea gulls," Ethiza said sound amused by the idea of me chasing sea gulls around.

"The seagulls aren't going to catch themselves after all!" Vlukyn said cheerfully, "Now catch ten of them by the end of the day and meet us back at the guild. We shall be very disappointed if you fail to catch ten of them."

Vlukyn clenched her fist as though to squeeze the life out of something invisible. I winced slightly. Having thus charged me with the capture of ten seagulls, Vlukyn and Ethiza turned and started running off.

"Wait a minute! Where are you two going?" I cried.

"We have unfinished business to take care of," Vlukyn called, "Catch those seagulls or I shall find something truly embarrassing for you to wear throughout the entire day! I'll make sure everyone in the town gets a chance to see it!"

I shuddered at the thought. If Vlukyn thought something was embarrassing, I didn't even want to picture what it might look like.

Having no idea how I would go about capturing a seagull, I looked around the area. There were a lot of exotic buildings in the area considering that it was near the wharf. It appeared that most of the customers were hungry sailors. The architecture had been inspired by various cultures in different regions of the world perhaps to attract sailors from different cultures. The streets were lined with stones. I noticed that the stones were perfectly aligned and of the exact same shape and size. They had all been smoothed and polished as though someone very obsessive compulsive had designed and constructed the street. The canal that came in from the ocean was similarly lined with stones. It looked like small boats sometimes came through the canal to deliver goods further upstream. Judging by the size and depth of the canal, only canoes, dinghies and similar boats would be able to make the journey up the canal.

As I looked around, I casually moved toward a group of seagulls. The seagulls appeared to be busy picking at bits of food that had been dropped or thrown on the ground. I gazed around pretending not to be interested in the seagulls. I easily got within two feet of them before they hopped away. Still pretending not to notice them, I stood there for a moment gazing at my fingernails. I suddenly jumped at the seagulls intending to tackle them, but they swiftly flew off before I could pin them to the ground.

I landed flat on my chest. Several people stared at me as though concerned that I had a disease. Ignoring them, I remained on the ground wondering how I would be able to successfully capture ten seagulls. Catching one was going to be hard enough.

"Lucina, what are you doing on the ground?" Fryn's voice asked.

I looked up to see Fryn gazing down at me with his head tilted to one side like a bird. The stick of a lollipop was sticking out of Fryn's lips.

"I am trying to determine a way to capture ten seagulls. I want to avoid performing Vlukyn's degradation ceremony. She was going to find something truly embarrassing for me to wear through town if I fail," I replied.

I might be able to capture one if I make a mad dash, but their reaction times are really good. In addition, the seagulls have sharp senses. It seems that I can't sneak up on them, I thought.

I stood up and began pacing as I pondered the problem at hand.

"Why aren't you with Flame anyway?" I added as I passed Fryn.

"It's not like I'm always magnetically attracted to him or anything. I can go off on my own. I'm sure he's off doing something. He said something about getting a new shell phone to replace the one that stray cat ate. So, if that's the case, he must ha—LAAAAAAAARRGGGHHH!"

I jumped and spun around to see what had happened the Fryn. Fryn was howling with rage as he watched a seagull fly off.

"That dirt ball stole my lollipop!" Fryn squawked indignantly, "Get it, Lucina! Make it suffer for that!"

"How do you expect me to get a lollipop back that it already swallowed?" I asked indignantly.

"Make it puke it back out!"

"Wouldn't it be easier to buy a new lollipop?" I asked as I wrinkled my nose in disgust at the thought of Fryn eating a regurgitate lollipop.

"But I want that one back! Besides, I can't get vengeance if I just buy a new one!" Fryn said.

"How do you expect to pick out one among millions?" I asked indicating all the seagulls flying around and sitting on the buildings with hungry expressions on their faces as they waited for more opportunities to get food.

"Just look for the one with the lollipop shaped stomach," Fryn directed.

"They don't have stomachs like that! They have crops. And their crops won't stretch out like that either! We can't find the one that stole the lollipop like that! Besides, why don't you just fly after them and catch the one that stole the lollipop?" I protested.

"Geh-eh-ah-ah... I can't fly around here with all these buildings in the way. My wings will get caught on the corners, and my feathers will break," Fryn whined.

"There must be a hundred meters between the buildings on this street," I said, "How is that not enough room?"

"One hundred meters isn't enough room," Fryn protested.

"You can just fly above the buildings if you're trying to say that you don't have enough room to turn," I said.

"That won't work if I'm chasing it and it flies down to the building level," Fryn objected.

"Are you sure you can even fly at all? It is pretty useless if you have wings but can't fly in a place like this. Why do you have wings at all? We both have problems. I'm going to attend to mine first," I said.

"Weh-bleh-ah-argh!" Fryn squawked indignantly.

Ignoring the indignant squawks coming from Fryn, I turned to consider how to catch the seagulls. A sudden, strong gust of wind blew in from the ocean making a lock of my hair stream out in the wind. I noticed several of the seagulls in the air fumble in the strong wind. An idea suddenly struck me. I reached into my signet bag and grabbed the signet of the Air King.

"I summon thee, Oren the Air King!" I intoned.

As Oren appeared, Fryn cried, "Bird-Elf, get the seagull that stole my lollipop!"

"He's helping me first!" I snapped.

"How can I help you, my lady?" Oren asked as he glanced at Fryn and I curiously.

"I need you to create strong gusts of wind aimed at the seagulls. I need to catch ten of them," I replied pointing up at the seagulls flying overhead, "Once you've caught them in the gusts of wind, I need you to direct the gust of wind toward me."

"I shall do so, my lady," Oren said.

I reached into my medium sized bag and pulled out a length of rope that looked far too large to fit into my bag. I tied ten half knots in the rope so I could stick ten seagull legs into the knots within seconds. I looked up as Oren started sending gusts of wind flying at the seagulls. The seagulls rocked and tumbled like drunken sailors on a rocking ship as Oren pushed them off course. The gigantic gust of wind that came at me was like a tornado. Without thinking, I started grabbing the seagulls that flew past me as the whirlwind tossed them around. I was stunned when I had finished. I had captured ten seagulls in just as many seconds.

"Ga-ah-ah-hah!" Fryn stuttered in disbelief.

"Is that sufficient, my lady?" Oren inquired.

"Yes," I said, "Thank you, Oren. You are dismissed now."

Oren disappeared as he returned to the spirit realm. The stunned and confused seagulls were flapping at random as they tried to fly away. I held onto the rope they were attached to quite easily. I noticed that a fairly large amount of people were staring at me. I ignored them as usual.

"Ah, what's with the seagulls?" said Siegfried's voice from behind me.

I turned around to see a slightly confused looking Siegfried.

"Vlukyn and Ethiza wanted me to catch seagulls for some unexplained reason," I explained, "Vlukyn said that she would find something truly embarrassing for me to wear if I didn't catch ten seagulls by the end of the day. I suppose I should take them back to the guild now."

"Hey, you didn't catch the one that stole my lollipop!" Fryn cried indignantly.

"It has got to be fully digested by now," I said to Fryn, "Anyway, if you want one so badly, I'll buy you one on the way back to the guild."

I heard a growling noise from my stomach. I realized that I was very hungry, for I had not eaten in a while.

"You'll buy me one? Hooray!" Fryn said looking very happy.

Siegfried seemed to have heard the growl from my stomach, for he said, "Let's eat at one of the restaurants here. I am feeling rather hungry myself."

"My thoughts exactly," I said in reply, "Hey, Fryn, what restaurant is a good one?"

Fryn thought about this for a moment before answering, "The Pearl Shark is good. It always has yummy fish! And a sushi bar!"

"Sounds good to me," I said.

"Yes, fish strikes me as very tasty at the moment," Siegfried agreed.

It took us a few minutes to reach the Pearl Shark with Fryn leading us. Fryn looped around through dark allies and along more heavily traveled roads until we reached the Pearl Shark. The restaurant looked quite nice. The doors were decorated with mother-of-pearl and coral. A large sign above the restaurant depicted a shark swimming next to a gigantic pearl. The windows were pale blue stained glass sometimes depicting ocean scenes. As we walked in, I saw that the tables were decorated and carved to resemble the steering wheel of a ship. The chairs were carved to resemble the stern of a ship. The right side of the restaurant was dominated by an aquarium that appeared to be partially in the jaws of a gigantic shark that had been carved from the thick wall. The plates were decorated with blue sharks, albatrosses and giant clams around the rims. The cups set on our table were heavily decorated with shells. The silverware had delicate engraving depicting various sharks leaping or diving.

Fryn seemed to be a regular customer, for all the waiters, waitresses and cooks greeted him cheerily. As we moved toward the tables, Fryn nudged my leg slightly with his nose and held up a small magic pouch.

"For the seagulls," Fryn explained.

"Oh, thank you," I said.

I stuffed the seagulls in the bag, which was not a particularly easy task since they all kept trying to fly out. After several tries, I managed to stuff the reluctant seagulls into the magic pouch and tie the bag shut.

I sat down at one of the smaller tables with Fryn and Siegfried. A young waitress with black hair that appeared to have been oiled or otherwise treated to straighten it a bit came over to our table with menus.

"Hello, Fryn," she said, "I see you brought some fine friends along with you today."

"Yup!" Fryn said happily, "I recommended that they come here."

"We appreciate the business," the waitress said with a smile, "What will you have to drink?"

"Milkshake!" Fryn declared.

"I will have tea," I said.

"What she said, " Siegfried said.

"Very well. I will get those drinks for you. Please make yourselves comfortable as you look at the menu in the meantime," the waitress said.

She disappeared into the kitchen. Fryn seemed to already know what he wanted, for he didn't bother to look through the menu. Siegfried and I, on the other hand, perused the menu.

"Order whatever you like. I am paying," Siegfried said.

"Sushi!" Fryn squeaked happily.

The special for the day offered a sample of the usual seafood that was served in addition to a choice of side dishes. When our waitress returned with the drinks, we ordered the special while Fryn asked for "the usual".

When our waitress returned, we found out what "the usual" was. Another waitress, this one a middle-aged blonde, came with a gigantic tray that was filled with sushi. Our waitress had two trays, which she placed in front of Siegfried and I.

"Hooray, sushi!" Fryn cried.

Both the waitresses smiled and bade us enjoy our meal.

"Hey, Siegfried, why are you copying Lucina? You ordered the same thing she did," Fryn suddenly said.

"It seemed like a good idea," Siegfried said with a shrug.

We ate our meals for a few minutes before talking any further. Fryn was eating his sushi happily using some very rude manners in the process. What surprised me more was Siegfried, who, when he had finally reached his sushi, used a large amount of wasabi sauce on each rice bar without giving any indication that it must have been burning his nostrils. I almost chocked on my food in shock seeing Siegfried eating so much wasabi, so he looked at me in concern.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"Yes," I replied. "So what did you do when you traveled around before we met?"

"It's a long story, my dear. But if you insist on knowing I'll tell you."

"I do. I want to know you better than I do now. After all, we only have known each other since last night."

"Quite true, we should know one another better. I will tell you some of my background, and you can tell me some of yours."

"Sounds fair to me."

"I basically earn my living as a bounty hunter. I hunt down members of dark guilds and turn them in for the bounty," Siegfried explained.

Fryn nearly choked on a piece of sushi in shock.

"Wha-what?" Fryn stammered in amazement.

"Oh, yes," Siegfried said, "Basically, as I said, that was one of the only ways I could make a living since I could not take requests from the local guilds. That can change now since I can do missions other than bounty hunting missions."

"Bou-bounty hunter?" Fryn stammered apparently still shocked by this announcement.

Fryn finally pulled himself together and stared at Siegfried with an expression that looked very much like suspicion.

"Who are you after?" Fryn demanded.

"No one at the moment," Siegfried answered.

"Are you after Flame?" Fryn asked suspiciously.

"Flame isn't in a dark guild, is he?" Siegfried asked in reply.

"No, of course not!" Fryn squawked indignantly.

"Then I'm not after Flame's bounty. I only chase after dark guild members," Siegfried said.

It was my turn to nearly choke on my food.

"Flame has a bounty on his head? For what?" I blurted.

"For destruction for private property, arson, causing an avalanche, causing a landslide, destruction of the town halls or council chambers of thirty-two towns including Thiolvelt, Dinardas, Gaslinlung, To'or and Fillid, destroying world government property, breaking and entering, destruction of holy buildings, disruption of rituals, desecration of the dead, stampeding cattle, destruction of crops, destruction of museums, destruction of harbors, destruction of ships... I'm going to need more fingers to tick all these off," Fryn said.

"How big is the bounty on his head exactly?" I asked.

"About three hundred thousand golens last time I checked," Fryn said.

"Flame is from a good guild, so why would he have a bounty on his head for that? Doesn't he pay damages?" I asked.

"The world government doesn't like him," Fryn said.

"That is quite true," Siegfried said, "The world government is against the idea of the cults and guilds controlling certain portions of the world. They are trying to get rid of mages and clerics that they consider to be infamous."

"But that's unjust. They can't just place a bounty on someone's head because they don't like them," I objected.

"I know. They should be thrown from power!" Fryn squeaked, "Unfortunately, any attempts to throw the world government down have failed, so the injustice remains. We just avoid them when we can or blast them out of the way if they try to stop us."

"That is the thing about people in positions of power; they fear to lose it. Absolute power corrupts absolutely," Siegfried said, "Either way, that is a little off the subject. I should continue with my story."

"Yes, please do," I said.

"As you already know, I am a light elementist mage. Light elementist mages hardly exist in the world anymore. It is a complex magic, and I am probably the only person able to use it to its full extent. Long ago, the dark mage feared the light elementist mages and attempted to destroy them. At present, I am the only light elementist mage that I know of in this portion of the world. In ten years of travel, I have yet to encounter another one. I would not be surprised if I was the only light elementist mage left in the world. And so, here I am trying to find another light elementist. I you can see, I have been very successful," he added sarcastically.

"But I thought you said you hadn't found any other light elementist mage in ten years," Fryn said obviously not understanding the sarcasm.

"That last statement was just me being sarcastic," Siegfried explained.

"Oh. Huhr?" Fryn said tilting his head.

"So, who taught you light elemental magic?" I inquired.

"That's another long story," Siegfried said with a smile, "Now tell me more about yourself."

"I'm not anyone special. I am just a rookie mage that joined Celestial Storm a week ago. I traveled from town to town gambling to make enough money to live. I have always wanted to join Celestial Storm since I was a child," I explained.

"Well, if you wanted to join since you were a child, why didn't you join the guild when you were a child? They surely would have accepted you despite your young age," Siegfried said.

"Well, back then the problem was my father, who had a disagreement with me," I muttered as I shifted uncomfortably.

"Why did you father not want you to join?" Siegfried asked.

"I really don't know," I replied, "I really don't feel comfortable talking about it."

Fryn tilted his head.

"I'll respect that," Siegfried said simply.

"Huhr?" Fryn said.

"Well, I already know that you are a celestial mage and a pretty good one. I've never known one who could summon that many spirits at one time," Siegfried said.

"Thank you," I said feeling a little bit of heat come to my face.

Fryn made a loud slurping sound just then. It seemed that he had reached over and slurped a noodle out of Siegfried's bowl.

"So, Fryn, do you have any special story about your past?" I asked.

Fryn concentrated for a few moments then said, "Nope."

"Why did you think so hard about it if the answer was a simple no?" I asked somewhat indignantly.

"It could happen to anyone," Fryn replied.

"What could happen to anyone?" I asked.

"Being sucked into a vortex and all the world going bonkers and zoom-zoom for a moment then "bleh" spit you out on the muddy ground. And "squelch, squelch" as you move out of the mud. Then the evil that you were chasing was gone, and your companions were gone. Then everything gets very sad for awhile until someone finds you. Then everything gets better again. It could happen to anyone," Fryn explained.

"Sounds like you do have a special story," I remarked.

"Nope. It happens to everyone where I come from," Fryn said.

"Sounds like that could get old very quickly," I said.

Siegfried chuckled at this.

"Well, it only happened to me once," Fryn said, "And nobody knows what happens to the others that disappeared. We always assumed that they got killed and had their blood sucked out of them."

"So, are you trying to say that there are more of your kind?" I asked.

"Uh-huh, uh-huh!" Fryn said with a nod.

"Exactly what are you?"

"Well, I'm a Midgern. What else would I be?" Fryn replied looking at me as though I had asked a silly question.

"Nope. It doesn't ring a bell," I said.

"Laaahh!"Fryn squeaked in shock, "No wonder nobody knows what I am! So, there aren't any other Midgerns on the face of this planet?"

"You mean you're not native?" I asked.

"I am now," Fryn said.

We had finished our dinner by then. Fryn hopped down from his chair before I could question him further. Siegfried paid the tab before we left. Fryn was waiting for us at the entrance to restaurant.

"I am surprised to see that you got free food, Fryn," Siegfried said, "Not that I'm going to complain or anything."

"Yep! I always get free food. I saved them from a difficulty once, so they give me free food in gratitude," Fryn explained.

"Sounds like you get along with everyone in this town," I commented.

"I do now. For awhile, a lot of people were afraid of me. They had no idea what I was doing in the town, but since I was with Flame, they must have gotten reassured," Fryn told us.

"Ah, I see. So, where shall we buy your lollipop?" I asked.

"The violin candy store!" Fryn cried excitedly.

"Well, lead the way," I said.

I soon found out that the violin candy store was called Suitolin's Sweets. I also found out that Fryn called it the violin candy store because the manager hired violinists to play in the store. This was apparently because the manager wanted to attract customers with the music.

The manager was a half-elfin woman who called herself Turi. Fryn apparently came to her shop on a fairly regular basis, for she greeted Fryn when we entered the shop.

"Hello, Fryn. I hope you and your friends are doing well. I just got in a new order of chocolate if you are interested," she said.

"Ooh, chocolate!" Fryn squeaked.

"Alright, if you want chocolate that badly, I'll get you some," I said.

"Hooray! Turi, get me five dark chocolate bars, ten milk chocolate bars and fifteen white chocolate bars please," Fryn said, "Oh, and I want one of the giant lollipops too! And I want some rock candy, and some yogurt covered raisins! O-oh! I want some of the caramel filled chocolate bits, and the peanut butter bites! Oh, you have some cream filled doughnuts! Lucina, I want one of those too!"

Fryn was bouncing up and down on curled toes in excitement.

"I don't want to imagine what you will act like after consuming all these sugary calories," I muttered, "You just ordered a hundred pounds of sugar..."

"Yum! A hundred pounds of sugar! Yum, yum!" Fryn squealed in excitement.

Chuckling slightly, Turi started pulling out the newly arrived chocolate from long, narrow crates. Fryn ran through the store grabbing various bags of candy from the shelves. I ended up paying twenty-five golens for all of the candy.

"Thank you, Lucina!" Fryn squeaked when we were out in the street again, "I really do like you even though you are quite useless."

"Is that any way to treat someone who was generous enough to buy you all that unnecessary candy?" I said somewhat indignantly.

"I said thank you and that I liked you," Fryn pointed out as though this fact made everything better.

I couldn't help but smile. "You're welcome," I said, "Now can you lead me to the Hat And Boot? I have been wanting to go there ever since I came here."

"Yup! Follow me!" Fryn answered.

Fryn trotted off down the street then sharply turned left and headed down a narrow, twisting and rather dark alley. It was a rather sinister looking alley, and I was secretly glad that we emerged safely onto another, much larger and lighter street. It was then that I noticed that Siegfried was no longer with us.

"Hey, where is Siegfried?" I asked.

"Oh, he went that other way after we left the restaurant," Fryn said casually.

"How come I just realized this?" I asked.

"Because you're useless," Fryn replied.

"I am not useless," I moaned.

Fryn didn't seem to be listening. He was trotting along at a fairly fast pace now that we were in the larger street. I had to almost run to keep up with Fryn. Fryn suddenly turned right into a small street. It was only after I followed him that I realized that we had entered yet another ominous looking alley.

"Why do we always have to take the creepy side-streets?" I moaned.

"Don't worry. I'm pretty sure that Ethiza and Vlukyn killed all of the nasty little trolls and weird little bug people that were lurking in these dark alleys. I haven't met one yet," Fryn said.

I almost squealed in fright after I realized what Fryn was talking about.

"Although there are occasionally murderers and insane people that hide in these places," Fryn unhelpfully added, "I haven't run into those kinds of people in about two months."

"What kind of insane people?" I asked in a fearful whisper.

"Oh, you know, the people that rip you up and stuff your body with fruit and vegetables and things like that. Last time Flame and I met one, we threw him in the trash can," Fryn replied.

"Don't tell that there are serial killers in these allies?" I squeaked.

"Oh, yeah, that's what they are called. I forgot what they were called for a moment," Fryn said, "Since this is a fairly big port, occasionally crazy people come in on ships. The wars make people funny sometimes."

I ran faster trying to stay closer to Fryn. I doubted Fryn would be of much use in a fight if a serial killer really did jump us, but at least I would be closer to Fryn. As I caught up with Fryn, I hear something behind me. Fryn and I both looked around to see someone jump out from behind a dumpster.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!" Fryn and I screamed at the same time.

"Ah, we got a lively one," the scumbag said.

"This chick is cute," said another voice from behind us, "All alone walking her dog."

"D-dog?" Fryn repeated in shocked and indignant tones.

"What are you up to there, pretty?" the first scumbag's voice called through the darkness of the alley.

"I guess I just took a wrong turn," I said as I slowly took a step back and stealthily reached toward my signet bag, "Well, I guess I should be going now."

"Lucina, make the fish lady scare them away," Fryn whimpered.

Before I could do anything, someone jumped on the first scumbag and knocked him out cold. The figure zoomed past me and brought the second scumbag down as well.

"Ah, it's good that I came before they roughed you up," Siegfried's voice said.

He dragged the two scumbags over to the dumpster and tied them to it with a rope that he conjured out of thin air.

"You were stalking us," Fryn said, "You are definitely a stalker!"

"I am definitely not a stalker," Siegfried said turning his head away and pushing on the bridge of his glasses uncomfortably.

"Liar! You're guilty! Guilty!" Fryn cried, "You always show up no matter how far away we think you have gone! Guilty!"

"Actually, I'm kind of thankful that he was," I said, "This is the third time Siegfried has saved my hide."

"Let's just get out of here," Fryn said, "I don't want to meet anyone else like those scumbags."

Fryn started hurrying the rest of the way down the alley without waiting for a reply. I followed Fryn with Siegfried on my heels. We finally emerged onto a large street that appeared to be heavily traveled. Fryn took a left down this street and I followed him past two hooded women walking in the other direction. One of them ducked her head as I walked past her. I glanced back curiously at her then quickly turned my head forward again as Fryn made a hiccupping sound.

"What's wrong, Fryn?" I asked as Fryn hacked and spat something into his hand-like paw.

"I almost inhaled my rock candy!" Fryn said giving the piece of candy a look that suggested it had just betrayed him.

Fryn popped the piece of candy back in his mouth after a few seconds of considering the piece of rock candy. Fryn straightened up and continued onward moving at a jog this time.

"Maybe you should wait until we aren't moving anymore before you eat the candy," I suggested.

"No way! I can't wait that long! It tastes too good!" Fryn objected.

We passed a large group of people, who appeared to be celebrating something. They were dressed in bright clothing and many of them had garlands of flowers around their necks. An old woman was following the group with tears of joy in her eyes. I soon noticed that a young woman wearing battle scarred armor was in the center of the group.

"What were they celebrating?" I asked once they had gone out of ear shot.

"It looked like they were celebrating the safe return of that woman in the worn armor," Fryn said, "Everyone is really happy when someone comes back safely from the war."

"Well, I can understand that," I said.

"Well, this war has been very tough on us throughout the years," Siegfried said, "No one can remember how long it has been going on. Everyone worries that the war will get dragged into their homes. No one can predict when the evil cults and evil guilds will strike next."

Fryn made a squeaking sound that could have been agreement. Since he coughed up the piece of candy again, that might not have been the case. Fryn moved on again munching on the treacherous piece of candy.

Fryn finally stopped in front of the Hat And Boot. The store had been carefully tended to. It looked as though a new coat of oil had recently been applied to the wooden support beams that held up an overhanging roof. The building itself had been painted white and lavender. Brown and black hats and boots decorated the white walls. The lavender trimmings appeared to have been added recently, for they glistened slightly as though the paint was still wet.

We walked through the door, which swung inward fairly easily. I noticed that the wall behind the door was very heavily padded as though to prevent the door from denting the wall. The padding resembled a fat mattress. The door itself was rather heavy. It appeared to have been polished recently as well. The handle looked slick.

The store was very neat and tidy. It looked kind of like an obsessive compulsive person had stacked the shelves. Everything was ordered according to size, shape and color and sat perfectly squarely on the shelves. I noticed that there were not any empty spaces on the shelves at all. I had expected to see signs of merchandise being purchased, but it looked like it had been a very slow day in the store. As we approached the front of the store, we saw a tall elf sitting behind a counter with his hands folded in his lap. This elf appeared to be the source of the obsessive compulsive oiling of the door and support pillars. His black hair was so perfectly parted down the center that it looked unnatural. He was wearing a yellow waistcoat that was buttoned up to his collar. It appeared that he was wearing a white shirt underneath the waistcoat that perfectly matched his pale skin. I noticed that his pants perfectly matched his waistcoat. Even his boots perfectly matched his clothing. There were yellow and buttoned closed at the front. The buttons on his waistcoat and boots were exactly alike. Two daggers sat at each hip and were partially concealed by his waistcoat. From what I could tell, the sheaths were the exact same hue of yellow that his waistcoat, pants and boots were.

"Greetings," the elf said smoothly as he stood up, "Aside from Fryn, I don't believe I have seen you before."

"I'm Lucina, a new member of Celestial Storm," I said by way of introduction.

"I'm Siegfried, and I'm in the same boat as her," Siegfried added.

I noticed the elf's eyes widen slightly at the sight of Siegfried. He almost had a pained expression on his face. He looked over at me, and his hazel eyes narrowed slightly as though there was something about me that he didn't like. He suddenly leaned over the counter and brushed my bangs behind one ear.

"Uh, is there something wrong?" I asked.

"No, everything is alright now," the elf said smoothly.

Despite this statement, I noticed that the elf's fingers twitched slightly when he glanced over at Siegfried.

"So, do you have any invocation signets?" I asked.

"Ah, a celestial mage. I don't have much in the way of signets right now because they are difficult to obtain. I only have four right now," the elf replied.

"Well, that's better than what I expected," I said.

The elf bend down and rummaged a bit. I saw a door open. It appeared that the hinges had been well oiled since the hinges didn't make even the slightest sound. The elf pulled out a small tray and set it on the counter. Four signets sat on red cushions. They appeared to have been recently polished as well. I could still smell the odor of the polish.

"Freyr the Gale Cat, Spissura the Hopping Sparrow, Malo the Dancing Flower and Slipsqeak the Squeaking Mouse," the elf said pointing to each signet as he named it, "Not a very impressive collection at the moment, but at least there are four of them instead of three or five."

"Actually, Freyr is a fairly powerful entity that can actually fight although I have spirits that are far more powerful than he is. I will buy him," I said.

The elf pulled out another piece of red cloth and carefully wrapped the signet in the cloth before handing it to me.

"Four hundred eighty thousand golens," the elf said.

Fryn spat out another piece of rock candy in disbelief.

"That's a rip off!" he gasped.

Siegfried, however, looked unfazed. The elf looked as though he had been slapped in the face. He quickly grabbed a rag and a bottle of cleaning solution and hurried around the counter to clean up the spot on the floor.

"It's actually a lot cheaper than many of the other signets out there," I told Fryn.

"Fryn, I keep telling you not to spit things on my floor!" the elf hissed at Fryn.

"Oh, sorry," Fryn said.

The elf walked over to Siegfried on his way back to the counter and quickly tucked Siegfried's shirt into his pants. As soon as the elf turned his back, Siegfried recovered from the shock of having someone else tuck his shirt in. He pulled his shirt out again.

"I only let girls do that," he muttered.

The elf's slender fingers twitched again, and I saw one of his eyebrows rapidly twitching as well. I looked rather shocked after I heard Siegfried's muttered statement.

"Anything else?" the elf asked calmly.

"That's it for me," I said as I paid him.

The elf started counting out my money golen by golen. He made stacks of ten golens that were perfectly aligned with each other. We spent nearly an hour waiting for him to finish.

"I think it would be easier if you had paid me in platlens or dailens," the elf remarked as he carefully lined up another stack of ten golens.

"At the moment I don't have any on hand," I said.

"Oh, I won't complain," said the elf, "In the end, it is all worth the same amount."

He finally finished counting the golens. He carefully took a ring out of a nearby bag and placed it on the empty pad Freyr's signet had recently sat on and put the tray away. He put the golens away in a large box that had been under the counter.

"Thank goodness for magical containers," the elf remarked, "Carrying all this gold around would be enough to break someone's back."

"Can we go now?" Fryn asked.

"Yes, but be careful that you don't bump anything with your tail on the way out," the elf replied.

"Oops," Fryn said.

The elf hurried over and aligned the box Fryn had just bumped as we left. I noticed that the elf was carefully aligning it as we left.

"Do you want to go anywhere else?" Fryn asked me.

"I'd say it is about time to head back to the guild," I replied.

Fryn walked down the street. He led us through a few back alleys again, but no one else tried to rob us as we made our way back to the guild. Fryn walked up to the door, lowered his head and promptly head butted the door open.

"Are you sure that's healthy? You'll give yourself brain damage," I said.

"No, I won't," Fryn said over the half-elf's howls of indignation, "My skull is much thicker than yours is."

"Nurrrrr-aaarrgh!" I heard Vlukyn growl from the bar, "My future boyfriend and my future girlfriend just came in together. Could they have been dating?"

Letting out another indignant growl, Vlukyn grabbed the collar of her shirt and started biting it. It looked like this shirt had taken some of this abuse before, for I could see teeth marks all along the leather collar.

"Vlukyn, if you need fiber in your diet, you should eat more grains," Sreldes said, "Eating your collar won't help."

"That's what you think, is it, Sreldes? Just look at them! They went on a date without me!" Vlukyn growled.

"Vlukyn comes up with the wildest ideas without proof," I muttered.

Siegfried chuckled at the thought.

"Oh, yeah, you failed to catch ten seagulls!" Vlukyn cried as she ran up to me, "Since that is the case, you have to w—"

I quickly pulled out the magic pouch and opened it. Vlukyn's words were cut off midsentence as the seagulls fluttered upward in her face and squawked indignantly. They still didn't go in the same direction, so they fell to the floor.

"Curses! I really wanted to make you walk around town wearing this," Vlukyn said.

She pulled out a very skimpy thong and a huge, fluffy headdress that appeared to be made out of pink feathers.

"You wouldn't catch me dead wearing that!" I gasped.

"Don't be ridiculous. If you had failed, you would be wearing this," Vlukyn sorted.

"That is the stupidest thing I have ever seen," Flame said as he walked in.

"That's the point," Vlukyn said testily.

"What's with the seagulls?" Flame suddenly asked.

"Lucina had to catch them or wear this stuff," Vlukyn explained.

"I think you are underestimating her," Flame said, "Lucina can do anything if she puts her mind to it."

"Yeah! What?" Fryn agreed only to look at me uncertainly.

I felt quite flattered by Flame's statement. My cheeks felt warm again. Vlukyn, however, simply glared at Flame.

"Flame, I've already claimed her," Vlukyn growled.

"Vlukyn, Lucina is a proud member of Celestial Storm. She isn't anyone's property. She is a member of our family not a possession," Flame corrected.

"We'll see about that," Vlukyn spat.

She stalked over to me and wrapped her arms around me.

"We shall see," she repeated giving Flame a venomous look.

"Um, Vlukyn, I wish you wouldn't do that," I said uncomfortably.

Vlukyn had grabbed my breasts again. She started squeezing my breasts as though trying to milk me.

"Stop that!" I cried trying to prying Vlukyn's hands off.

"Vlukyn, can you stop doing that?" Sreldes asked.

His face had turned beet red.

"No! In fact, I think I'll do it more. Don't you want to have some viewing pleasure, old pervert?" Vlukyn snarled.

"That looks like fun!" Fryn said.

"Oh, no, not you too," I groaned.

"Vlukyn," said Murina from the bar, "please stop harassing her."

Vlukyn's fingers twitched for a moment then she grudgingly let go of me.

"Oh, look, more competition just walked in," she grumbled.

I turned in time to hear the door swing shut after having been pushed open. A slender man wearing a tattered cape with a hood strode up to the bar. His hood was pulled so low that I was surprised he could see where he was going. It was not until he sat down on the end of the bar away from the rest of the guild members that I got a look at his face. He pushed his hood back revealing his face. I could plainly see that he was another dark elf like Vlukyn. However, unlike Vlukyn, he was slightly taller than I was and had a fairly haughty look about him. His eyes were the color of amber. I couldn't tell exactly how long his hair was, but it appeared to go down to his waist at the shortest.

With a cry, Flame jumped up on the bar and squatted down to stare the dark elf in the eye.

"Ha! Fight me!" Flame challenged.

The dark elf suddenly disappeared from the bar stool he was sitting on and reappeared behind Flame. I saw his lips move as he reached out and touched Flame's shoulder. Flame shot forward as though he had been fired from a cannon. He struck the door and kept going ripping the door off of its hinges in the process. Flame disappeared into the growing darkness outside.

"Leave me alone, Little Savage," the dark elf said softly.

Placing one hand on the bar, he swung over the bar to sit on his stool again.

"Murina, please get me the usual," the dark elf added.

"Coming right up," Murina sang out happily.

A few moments later, Flame came running through the double doors, which had preceded him to the guild. It seemed that there was an enchantment on the doors to make them fly back in place if they were forcibly removed. Flame ran over to the bar and jumped into the air attempting to drop kick the dark elf.

With extreme speed and agility, the dark elf slid off his stool, nearly bent over backward and grabbed Flame's ankle. Kicking the bar to give himself some added momentum, the dark elf spun around in a circle and flung Flame across the room. Flame came to rest in the fireplace.

"Ugh, he's strong," Flame said, "Note to self: need more training."

The dark elf gave Flame a slightly sour look then sat down again. He untied his cape and let it fall to the floor behind him revealing that his hair went slightly past his hips.

"Get out o' the fire there, lad," one of the dwarves grunted, "Ye're suckin' up all o' the heat."

Flame grabbed the flames around him as though they were actual objects and ate the fire leaving only hot coals behind. He jumped out of the fireplace and walked up to the bar.

"He ate all o' the flames again," another dwarf grumbled.

"No way! He can actually eat fire?" I gasped in amazement.

Siegfried looked completely unsurprised as though he saw this every day.

"There're a lot of weird people in the guild," one of the dwarves grumbled.

I wasn't sure if he was commenting because of my amazed gasp or if he was simply commenting because he had seen Flame eat the fire.

"Aye, we do,' another dwarf agreed, "We've got Kloedya, who's got some weird resistances ta th' cold. Phoebe's got demon blood in 'er. There's tha' selkie woman 'o's ne'er around. Then we've got our smatterin' of dark elves. Dukhiza c'n eat necrotice energy, an' Khanordhoi seems ta 'ave some nat'ral resistance ta fire. There's the Atlantean team... Oh, an' then there's tha' shy guy tha' no one e'er seems ta see."

"Ye've forgotten the chocolate elf, laddie," Regdor grunted.

"Aye, that's ano'er one..."

"I see we managed to obtain another rookie," the dark elf quietly said to Murina completely ignoring the conversation the dwarves were having.

"Oh, yes, her name is Lucina. She just joined a couple of days ago. She's going on a pretty dangerous mission in a couple of days. Dukhiza, Ethiza, Vlukyn and Gazual are going with her. I think Flame and Fryn are too for that matter," Murina happily replied.

The dark elf snorted.

"I doubt that she'll last," he said, "The last woman that came here with udders on her chest was quickly driven out by Vlukyn."

At the word udder, I crossed my arms over my chest.

"The treacherous wench that ran off to Blazing Eye. Unforgivable," Vlukyn growled.

"What was that, you scumbag?" Flame roared jumping on the bar again, "It's a bet then! I bet one thousand golens that she'll last!"

Flame actually grabbed the dark elf's collar in his agitation. The dark elf placed his forefinger against Flame's throat.

"Unless you want to sleep on the roof with the rest of the birds, I suggest you let go of me. You could be our mascot. A seagull that breaths flames," the dark elf said in a sinister tone.

Flame looked as though he wanted nothing more than to slap the dark elf across the face, but Murina placed a hand on Flame's shoulder perhaps as a subtle suggestion that this was not a good idea. Flame released the dark elf and hopped back down to his stool looking disgruntled.

I heard a howl from the stairs, and Sreldes, who had retreated from the sight of Vlukyn groping me, suddenly came running down the stairs. He flung himself at me and wrapped his arms around my waist.

"Nooooooo!" Sreldes cried, "Don't go! Don't leave us! Please!"

"I'm not going anywhere," I said looking quite shocked.

"Sreldes, pull yourself together," the dark elf said, "A person of your age and status should show more dignity. It's rather sad to see you clinging to a human like that."

"Oh," said Sreldes looking somewhat taken aback, "Oh. I... I thought that someone said Lucina was leaving. I must be getting senile in my old age."

He quickly straightened up and let go of me.

"So, uh, how was your mission, Prince Keilixaugil?" Sreldes asked.

"Former. And I've had better missions," the dark elf replied.

"You're royalty?" I blurted in surprise.

"Formerly," the dark elfin prince said looking at Murina rather than at me.

"Oh, yeah, this is Kelix," Sreldes said grabbing my hand and pulling me over to the dark elfin prince, "Kelix, where are your manners? Why don't you introduce yourself?"

"I see no reason to waste my time on humans. As soon as I get to know her, she'll just die of old age. How old is she now? Forty? She only has a few more decades to live," Kelix said disinterestedly.

"F-forty?!" I cried indignantly, "You're no good at guessing age at all, are you? I'm seventeen! You're off by twenty-three years!"

"Well, at least she's a lively one," Kelix remarked.

I noticed then that Siegfried was still standing near the door glaring at the prince with a look that might have been suspicion or simply a state of great distrust. The prince followed my gaze, and his eyes narrowed. However, he turned back to his drink.

"Good idea, Kelix. We can drink together!" Sreldes said happily.

"I don't want to," Kelix growled.

"I remember how this turned out last time," Murina said mildly.

Dukhiza and Khanordhoi came down the stairs just then.

"Ah, you're back," Dukhiza said.

Dukhiza's aura of hatred was still around him.

"There you two are," Kelix said, "Hurry up and save me from this old man. He wants to drink with me again."

"Sreldes, you don't need anything to drink tonight. You're best off going to bed. Who knows what the hell you will do in your senile old age?" Dukhiza said.

"You did just say that you must be getting senile," Kelix muttered.

"Well, that doesn't mean I can't drink," Sreldes muttered as he gave the three men sour looks.

Khanordhoi walked over to sit next to Kelix.

"Budge up, new girl," he said as he sidled past me.

I immediately obliged.

"Hey, you can't talk to my woman that way!" Vlukyn snarled.

Khanordhoi looked like he was about to snarl something rude to Vlukyn, but Dukhiza beat him to it.

"Shut up, Vlukyn. Just go to bed and whore yourself," he said.

"Why you bastaaaaarrrd," Vlukyn growled.

"Now, now, men. Don't bother to waste your breath talking to that animal. She'd just end up with a hole in her head that's bigger than the one she presently has. We don't need that. Her brains would fall out, and she'd be worse than she already is," Kelix said.

"Are you sure she even has a brain?" Dukhiza asked, "If she does, she never uses it."

"She does. I just saw a piece of it fall out of her skull. She might not have any brain left now, however," Kelix said.

"That does it!" Vlukyn snarled.

She reached into her pants and pulled out several throwing knives, which she hurled at Kelix. Kelix caught them all and appeared behind her. Vlukyn spun, but she wasn't able to dodge the backhand blow that send her spinning aside. Vlukyn screamed out an incantation that made a turtle made of water appear and rush at Kelix. Kelix somehow ended up between the water turtle and Vlukyn, who looked surprised to see him suddenly get between her and her conjured turtle.

"Uuuuwwwaaaaaaaaaaahhhh!" Gazual screamed as he ran out the door away from Vlukyn's water turtle.

Kelix ran up to Vlukyn and attempted to sucker punch her. Vlukyn grabbed his wrist and flipped herself up in the air. Kelix spun on his heel and ran after Vlukyn. Vlukyn had enough time to land on her feet behind her turtle before she had to dodge a well aimed bolt of lightning. Vlukyn skipped back just in time to avoid being scorched. The water turtle snapped at Kelix, who raised a curved dagger to block the blow. The dagger seemed to be rapidly pouring a force field around Kelix's body. I could see the air ripple around his arm and shoulder almost as soon as he drew the dagger. Vlukyn threw what appeared to be a stone covered in thorns into her water turtle. The turtle opened its mouth, and thorny tendrils gushed forth and attempted to entangle Kelix. Kelix was remarkably quick on his feet and danced around as the tendrils tried to ensnare him. The tendrils the missed him started scratching up the tables, chairs, the floor and the ceiling.

I noticed that Murina looked annoyed. I had never seen such an expression cross her face before.

"If you two are going to battle at this level, do it outside," she said.

"That won't be necessary," said Kelix," This battle is over."

"Ha! You're giving up?" Vlukyn cried.

Vlukyn's question was answered a moment later. Kelix whispered something that I couldn't hear and transparent, black hands appeared all around her. The hands grabbed Vlukyn and slammed her to the ground. Vlukyn let out a muffled roar of rage. The hands picked her up and threw her out the doors, which opened of their own accord. Vlukyn landed hard on the ground, and the doors swung shut again.

I saw black runes appear around the door after Vlukyn had been expelled. Her water turtle had dissolved, and the thorns it had been spitting had withered into a fine black dust. Kelix sheathed his dagger and returned to his stool.

Dukhiza and Khanordhoi looked unfazed as though such fights were common.

"Sorry about the mess, Murina," Kelix said, "It should right itself in a moment."

"Well, at least it is nothing severe," Murina said happily.

She clapped her hands and everything flew back to its original position.

"I didn't mean that you had to do it," Kelix said.

A loud bang sounded on the door just then. I heard Vlukyn yelling outside the door. Another bang sounded, and Vlukyn cursed loudly.

"I think Vlukyn finally realized that I was able to cast several spells while I was dodging her thorns," Kelix remarked.

Vlukyn screamed several words that I didn't understand from behind the door. Another banging sound ensued followed by a wet splat.

"GAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH! THAT WAS MY VERY LAST KRAKEN SHADOW! YOU STUPID PRINCE! YOU OWE ME NEW SPELL COMPONENTS!" Vlukyn roared loudly enough to be heard throughout the guild.

"It was your fault that you wasted it on my ward," Kelix muttered.

"OPEN THIS DOOR!" Vlukyn demanded in a shout that echoed in the common room.

Kelix stood up.

"I'm going to bed," he said, "I walked here from Blazing Eye's town. The fastest ship I could get on went over to their town. Goodnight, Murina."

"Have a good night's sleep," Murina called happily.

"Heh, he's much friendlier toward Murina than the rest of us. He still hasn't forgotten the time Murina handed his ass over to him," one of the dwarves muttered.

"He still doesn't like humans much," Stelgun said, "He just blew poor Lucina off."

"So, why doesn't he like humans? What did humans ever do to him?" I asked.

"He is kinda tight lipped about that," Stelgun said, "but from what I understand, he apparently had a run in with some villagers before he joined us. It seems like he had some sort of arrangement with them, and they double crossed him. I guess he had two other run ins with humans on similar conditions, so by time he came here, he hated humans. He's gotten a bit better over the years. He still doesn't really trust humans though. I went on a mission with him, Neldi and Rolof once. All I can say is, it's just a good thing it wasn't just the two of us. He was always glaring at me and wouldn't talk to me about anything other than the action plan for the mission. I asked him if there were any food he particularly liked because it was my turn to cook that night. He told me he wasn't going to give me the opportunity to poison him and wouldn't say anything more."

"Aye, he's a wee bit rough around the edges at the best o' times," Rolof agreed, "He suffered a lot after his family was destroyed. O' course, his entire city was destroyed immediately after his family, so I suspect that he's still suffering some emotional trauma. Gone and hid in his shell never to come out again if you ask me."

"You guys are a lot better than the description of dwarves I heard from my dad," I told Rolof, "He said something about dwarves only being slimy, wrinkly, dirty potato-people. Not that I share his opinion."

I added my last statement quickly as I saw the looks on the faces of the dwarves.

"Slimy?" one of the dwarves repeated in disbelief.

"Wrinkly?" another added indignantly.

"Hmph, come to think of it, wasn't there some rich pretty boy about forty-five or so years back that said something like that to us?" Rolof asked.

"Dunno. Seems like I've 'eard that somewhere before, 'owever, I can't think o' where," one of the dwarves mused.

I heard a lot of banging on the roof.

"Oy! Murina, can you hear me?" Vlukyn's voice called out, "Can you take down that royal pain in the ass's wards?"

"If I do that, how do I know you're not going to bug Lucina again?" Murina asked.

"Come on, what's a little groping among friends?" Vlukyn called back.

"Lucina's day has been rough enough without you adding to it," Murina said.

"Then I shall make a deal with you. Let me in and I'll leave Lucina alone for the night," Vlukyn offered.

"Very well," Murina agreed.

Murina closed her eyes and seemed to focus on something. She muttered for a few seconds then the black runes on the door dissolved. Vlukyn came down from the stairs. It seemed that she had entered through one of the windows.

"Ah, now then. Seagull roast," Vlukyn said.

The seagulls had fluttered over to a corner, and Vlukyn ran over to them. Vlukyn grabbed the end of the rope and ran into the kitchen dragging the seagulls along with her. Their indignant squawks could be heard quite plainly from the kitchen. Vlukyn ran back out after a couple of seconds and settled herself next to Siegfried, who had walked up to the bar once Kelix had departed.

"So, future boyfriend, where did you and our girlfriend go?" Vlukyn inquired as she grabbed Siegfried's arm.

"We went to the Pearl Shark," said Siegfried looking rather uncomfortable to have Vlukyn grabbing his arm.

"What?! You went to a great place like the Pearl Shark without me? How irritating. Fryn always gets free food from there, so that means you only had to pay for two people. I want to go there and look at that fabulous aquarium now," Vlukyn cried.

"Knock yourself out," Siegfried said.

Vlukyn lifted her upper lip and sucked in air through her exposed teeth making a small sucking sound.

"Hey, Murina, can I have some vodka?" Siegfried asked.

Murina cheerfully brought Siegfried a glass of vodka. Vlukyn reached over and down half the glass before Siegfried could do anything to it. Siegfried simply raised an eyebrow.

"Are you feeling ill?" he asked.

"The only illness that I am afflicted with is my unrequited love for our dear Lucina. However, I still have you, so I can manage. I never said that I wasn't going to grope you," Vlukyn said.

She ran her fingers down Siegfried's abdomen as she spoke.

"It's a little early to be doing that, don't you think?" Siegfried asked.

"Early? Pft! Don't be so old fashioned. I can't stand it much longer. I need someone in my bed," Vlukyn replied.

Siegfried dissolved into light and reappeared on the other side of the bar sipping his vodka calmly. Vlukyn nearly fell off her bar stool since she had been heavily leaning on Siegfried. She caught herself on Siegfried's bar stool and looked around.

"I think I'll pass on that, my dear," Siegfried said.

Vlukyn glared at him for a moment.

"Such intolerable insubordination from a man," she said sounding both attracted and disgusted at the same time, "I think it makes me want you more."

She ran at him and tried to jump in his lap. She ended up going through him and landed on the bar stool next to Siegfried's bar stool. The stool fell forward, and Vlukyn swiftly jumped off the stool and onto the floor before the bar stool brought her down. Vlukyn reached out and caught the bar stool just before it hit the ground.

"Leave 'im be, lass," one of the dwarves grunted, "If ye want 'im that badly, maybe you should be more accomodain' o' 'is wishes."

"Ketven, you have a very shaggy animal on your face. Hold still a moment while I detach it," Vlukyn said suddenly.

This time she pulled a razor out of her pants and approached the dwarves. The dwarves scattered in all directions, and Vlukyn chased after Ketven after a few moments of hesitating. She chased Ketven around the room then stopped suddenly near the stairs.

"Hey, where'd my demon partner go?" she demanded.

"Oh, she went to bed before Kelix got here," Murina replied.

"In bed already? We'll see about this!" Vlukyn said.

She slipped the razor into her pants again and ran up the stairs. The common room was relatively peaceful for a few minutes then Ethiza came down the stairs dressed in a pink nightgown with kittens on it. Several people started making snorting sounds as they tried not to laugh. Sreldes let out a cry of joy and ran forward to grab one of Ethiza's hands.

"Oh, my dear, what a wonderful sense of style you have!" Sreldes cried happily, "It does my heart good to see the youngsters relax and wear bright colored clothes every now and then."

"Bleh! You're just a stupid homosexual, Sreldes," Dukhiza snorted.

"My dear boy, I most certainly am not! I do have children, grandchildren, great-grandchildren and great-great-grandchildren you know! They came from somewhere, and there wouldn't be any if I was a homosexual," Sreldes said looking slightly surprised that Dukhiza would say such a thing.

"What's wrong with kittens?" Ethiza demanded of Dukhiza, "They're cute."

"Kittens are such weak creatures," Dukhiza replied, "If a person likes kittens, it is a sign of his or her weakness."

"Don't say that to my demon partner!" Vlukyn snapped from behind Ethiza.

"If you don't like my kitten nightdress, I'll take it off," Ethiza said grabbing the shoulders of her nightdress and starting to lift the nightdress over her head.

"No!" Sreldes cried covering his eyes.

"Oh, do you like what I'm wearing then, you old pervert?" Vlukyn asked as she stepped out from behind Ethiza.

I groaned and covered my face with my hands. Vlukyn was wearing my underwear again.

"L-l-Lucina, you actually wear th-things like that?" Sreldes gasped as his face turned beet red.

"Not in front of everyone," I said feeling heat coming to my face.

"Heh, so Ethiza and Vlukyn have been getting the fancy underwear from you," Khanordhoi said looking at the underwear rather appreciatively, "I didn't think you'd have the guts to wear such frilly and partially transparent underwear."

"P-p-p-partially transparent?!" Sreldes cried.

Vlukyn stuck her leg out as though daring Sreldes to get a good look. Sreldes muttered something about needing to check the water in his basin into his collar and hurriedly ran upstairs as Vlukyn laughed aggressively.

"What's all the noise about? I was trying to sleep," came a soft voice from the other flight of stairs.

Kelix appeared wearing a fluffy, light blue bath robe.

"Hey, you nicked that from Khanordhoi!" Vlukyn cried.

"What are you talking about? This is mine," Kelix said sounding cross, "Also, what in the world are you wearing?"

I bent low over my drink trying to make myself appear as small as possible.

"I got these from my future girlfriend," Vlukyn said sounding downright pleased with herself, "Very sexy, yes?"

"Absolutely ridiculous, which is not unexpected coming from a human," Kelix said as he rolled his eyes.

I felt so much heat in my face at that point that I was certain being on fire would make no difference in the temperature I would feel on my face.

"Are you alright, Lucina? Would you like something cold to drink?" Murina asked.

"Yes, that would be nice," I replied without looking up.

"What's this then? Are we all having a pajama party?" a voice asked from the door.

A pale elf that wasn't much taller than Vlukyn was had just walked through the door. He looked like he could have been distantly related to the obsessive compulsive owner of the Hat And Boot. He had black hair that hung straight and had been parted in the center although the part in his hair was not as perfect as the owner of the Hat and Boot's central part had been. He had hazel eyes as well, but he appeared to have been fed less than the owner of the Hat and Boot. His cheeks were slightly pinched as though he hadn't eaten for several days.

"Hello, Nilfrasi," Murina called happily, "I'm glad to see you back again. How was your journey?"

"Very well, thank you," Nilfrasi replied as he walked up to sit beside me, "It took a long time to track my target, but it wasn't hard. How have you been?"

"I've been doing very well, thank you," Murina replied happily.

"Hey, what's wrong with you?" Nilfrasi asked me, "How come you're all red?"

"Back off, Nilfrasi, that's my woman!" Vlukyn snapped.

Nilfrasi jumped slightly.

"Your woman?" he repeated in surprise, "But I thought that Nifrael was yours."

"Oh, he is. We'll share her," Vlukyn said.

"Oh, no," I said burying my face in my hands.

"Worry not," Nilfrasi said as he patted me on the shoulder, "They won't force you to do anything nasty...although they can be rather persuasive at times."

"Well, that's comforting," I mumbled.

"You're awfully friendly with this woman, Nilfrasi," Kelix's voice said from behind me, "Do the two of you know each other somehow?"

"Why wouldn't I be? And, no, this is our first meeting," Nilfrasi said, "In fact, I don't know her name yet. What's your name, young miss?"

At this point, the heat that was previously in my face had left.

"Lucina," I answered.

"I am called Nilfrasi. Nice to meet you," Nilfrasi said shaking my hand.

I noticed that Kelix had circled around Nilfrasi and was sitting near him.

"I thought you were going to bed, pretty prince," Vlukyn said coming over to Kelix.

"Since you're being noisy, that doesn't seem possible at the moment," Kelix said sounding cross again.

"Now, now. My dear Nifrael isn't here right now. Why don't we—"

"Forget it!" Kelix snarled.

He slipped off the bar stool and stalked back over to the stairs.

"Gah! What is wrong with you?!" Vlukyn demanded, "You don't mind getting involved with Murina, but you don't want me?!"

"Don't say stupid things like that," he snapped, "It's no wonder no one wants you. Nifrael is only with you because he's been forced into it."

So saying, he stalked off. Vlukyn made indignant noises in her throat until she finally managed to let out a shriek of rage.

"That pompous, impudent, insubordinate piece of trash!" Vlukyn finally screeched, "I'll kill him for sure this time! I'll kill him in his sleep!"

"H-hey, Vlukyn, calm down," Nilfrasi said.

"Don't tell me to be calm! This is unacceptable! If we lived in a dark elfin community, he would be flogged and stretched on the rack for this!" Vlukyn shrieked.

"He's just goading you," said Ethiza.

"Geh-gri-gaa-aaarrgh!" Vlukyn spluttered apparently so enraged that she couldn't speak properly.

"Why don't you have a drink with us?" Stelgun suggested.
"Um, that might only worsen things," Nilfrasi muttered.

"I have a better idea," Vlukyn growled, "Let's form a war party and kill him. He turned his nose up at my fine bottle of wine."

She moved over toward me then stopped suddenly. Her fingers twitched a few times then she looked around hoping to find Siegfried. Siegfried was still sitting at the bar. From what the half empty vodka glass suggested, he hadn't taken any more drinks from the glass.

"Come to me, my future boyfriend," Vlukyn said moving toward Siegfried on the tips of her toes and in a pose that suggested she was stalking him.

Siegfried looked totally unfazed.

"You're not my type," he said.

"Hey, who's this guy?" Nilfrasi suddenly asked having looked over and spotted Siegfried for the first time.

"Di-ah-geh-aaarrgh!" Vlukyn spluttered angrily.

"That's Siegfried," I said when it seemed that everyone was just going to stare at Vlukyn and wonder if she was going to explode or not.

"Is there no one here that won't insult me?" Vlukyn finally ground out.

Her gaze suddenly settled on Nilfrasi, who shifted uncomfortably.

"You!" Vlukyn shouted.

Nilfrasi stood up very suddenly.

"I just remembered something! I forgot to pick up my bow from the hold of the ship. I have to hurry and get it before the ship takes off," he said swiftly.

He made a mad dash for the door. Vlukyn shot after him. Nilfrasi yanked the door open and shot out just in time to avoid being tackled from behind by Vlukyn. Vlukyn yelled something that sounded like a curse in a language that I wasn't familiar with and scrambled to her feet.

"Come back here!" she roared at Nilfrasi's retreating back.

Nilfrasi ignored her and continued running. Vlukyn sprinted after him. The door swung shut behind her.

"Looks like it's safe to go to bed, lads," Rolof said, "Nilfrasi was kind enough to distract her for us."

Rolof, Ketven and the other dwarf stood up and marched up the stairs. Stelgun took the opportunity to leave as well. I soon drifted off to bed as well. I heard Siegfried say, "Sreldes, thank you" as he stood walked past Sreldes to bed. Sreldes, who had been lurking out of sight near the end of the bar nodded his head without saying anything. I had just started drifting off to sleep, it seemed, when something dropped on top of me from the ceiling.

"Yaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh!" I yelped in alarm.

"Hold still, my sweet," Vlukyn breathed into my ear.

"Oh, no, not you again," I moaned, "I thought you weren't going to harass me tonight?"

"And I didn't. It is midnight, which means a new day has started. It is morning now, so I didn't go back on my word at all," Vlukyn declared.

"Oh, no," I moaned, "Why can't you leave me alone?"

"Leave my lovely woman alone? Are you insane? Someone has to protect you from those nasty, perverted men," Vlukyn cried.

"You don't need to protect me like this," I protested in a moan.

"Of course I do! Now quit moaning," Vlukyn said as she flopped down onto her side.

"Go sleep in your own bed," I moaned.

"I don't want to," Vlukyn said sounding obstinate, "I don't have anyone to hold onto while I'm sleeping since all of those ba—Hey! Where are you going?!"

At the precise moment Vlukyn had taken her hands of me to pull the covers over herself, I had sprung out of the bed. I ran out of the door and down the hall. Vlukyn didn't chase after me, which was fortunate. I almost ran into one of the dark-haired women that I had seen on the couch in a drunken stupor when I first came into the guild. She looked slightly tipsy at the moment, but she was still alert enough to step aside before I ran into her.

"Ah, sorry," I said quickly, "I'm escaping from Vlukyn."

She blinked then nodded slowly.

"You need someone's couch to crash on?" she asked.

"Yes, please. That would be great. Vlukyn won't expect that at first," I said.

"Follow me. I'll ask Murina if there are any extra couches or beds," the dark-haired woman said, "By the way. I heard that I was in a stupor when you first came to the guild. My name is Tugulia. Nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Lucina. You probably already knew that," I said.

Tugulia shook my hand briefly then stumbled slightly as she headed for the stairs. She seemed more drunk that I thought at first, for she pushed at the wall slightly as we walked down the stairs apparently unable to see straight. Once she found the wall, she leaned against it slightly as we descended to the common room.

Murina appeared to have just finished cleaning up for the night. She looked up inquiringly as Tugulia staggered into the common room.

"Hey, Murina," said Tugulia slurring her words slightly, "Lucina needs to crash somewhere for the night."

"Vlukyn invaded my bed," I explained, "I ran away when she let go of me. She said that since it was after midnight, she could bug me again."

"I have a spare in my room," Murina said, "Just come with me."

Tugulia staggered back up the stairs. Murina followed her at a distance, and I followed Murina. Tugulia staggered off down a different hallway. Murina led me into her room, which was quite neat and tidy. She pulled a foldable bed out of her wall and put sheets and a blanket on it. She opened a cupboard and took out too large pillows and set them on the head of the bed.

"There you are, Lucina," she said with satisfaction.

"Thank you, Murina," I said gratefully.

"No problem," said Murina with a smile.

I fell asleep almost as soon as my head hit the pillows. The bed was very comfortable. I slept very soundly. When I woke up, Murina's humming filled the room as she made her bed. The sun was shining through the window, and I could hear birds singing outside. It looked like it was going to be a beautiful day.