Dungeons & Disappointment

Chapter 62: Our next steps

The moment I made it back to the Warriors lair, Finana nearly tackled me with a bear hug, kissing me as hard as she could, and BahnBarr gave me a smile as Ormgaul and Haneen gagged.

"That was so awesome!" She said, giving me another kiss as BahnBarr helped me to my feet. "That was incredible!!"

"Thank you." I replied. "I did that for you. For your honor."

She squeezed my hand, and the elven woman came up to us.

"Hey, we have some news for you." She said. "Youre not fighting again until tomorrow, and you guys have done excellently. Only one more one on one fight, and its against a black dragon. Make sure you are prepared."

"Thank you....?"

"Yysinu." She said. "That's my name. You can just call me Sin."

"Thank you Sin. See you tomorrow."

She flashed me a smile, and we made our way to the stands, where there were many elven girls that were asking for my autograph, which I gave them, and we made our way over to Celenta, who had sat down with Drar and Tharngeil and was happily talking to them. When they saw us, Tharngeil nearly dropped his hotdog, for which I was extremely wistful.

"LADDIE!!" He yelled. "Those were incredible fights there!!"

He jumped up from his seat, laughing all the while with his thick Dwarven accent, and he gave me a hug as he led us back to the few seats that Celenta had saved for everyone.

"So, who are you fighting next?" He asked.

"A black dragon." I said. "All by myself. It's a one on one fight."

Celenta's jaw dropped. "Wow, thats going to be a tough fight. I really hope you can do this, because a black dragon is no joke."

"Good then. It'll be difficult, and that means it'll impress the king better."

And with that, we watched the shows. Elves kept coming up and asking for autographs, which was also fun, but the most fun came from watching the spectacles, and that was until Shrieker the Shredder finally made his appearance, and it wasn't what I thought. It was a Kenku, piloting a massive mechanical humanoid beast. One of the arms had a grappling hand on one arm, and the other hand had the wrapped up guts and head of a blue dragon. It looked awesome, and every single time it opened its mouth, lightning flew and struck the contestants, eliciting a boom, and a roar from the crowd. It was incredible, but my heart sank. He was the king's champion, and we had to defeat him to talk to the king. Great.

Finana turned to me as the fight was finishing up, and Shrieker the Shredder was running around the arena, hyping up the crowd the entire time. She gave me that beautiful smile, interlacing her fingers with mine, and she rested her hand against my shoulder, right as fireworks began to light up the night sky.

"I cant wait to spend the rest of my life with someone as incredible as you." She said. "I want to build a home with you, Trevon. A family."

"We have a family." I said, gesturing to my friends and earning smiles from them. "And its a family I wouldn't trade for the world."

I gave her a kiss right as the fireworks exploded overhead, painting the arena, and Finana's beautiful face, in an azure glow. And boy, it was gorgeous.

* * * * * * * * * * * * *

The next morning, and the roar of the Arena was already as loud as it could be. The roar nearly shook the vines, the roots, and the stones that the Arena was built from, getting the contestants ready to fight and win their own respective honors. The first up wasn't me, but when my turn came along, Finana gave me another kiss, sending surges of Bardic Inspiration right through my veins.