Dungeons & Disappointment

Chapter 63: Mine of Kaal-Kabyle

I stood up, still staring at the booth where the king was, and Sin came up to us, congratulating us on killing and defeating Shrieker and his mech.

"That was a fight for the ages!" She said. "I'm really happy for all of you here!"

"Thanks Sin." I replied, wiping my brow of the sweat and the Kenku blood. "What now?"

"Now, you get your reward. The king is offering you one gift. Come, talk to the king."

I gave Finana a rather happy look, glad that we got our audience, and a single wish. I got up, following Sin right out of the arena, pumping my fists into the air to give the crowd one last notion of happiness. They roared again, clapping and cheering, and some were even throwing roses at me, which Finana didn't look very happy about. I accepted none of the roses, but with Finana's permission, I blew a kiss to some of the elven girls that were cheering my name, and one of them fainted as her friends screamed.

I smiled at Finana as she giggled, and we walked back into the warriors lair, then up to the stands and through the arena, where Celenta, Drar and Tharngeil were all talking to a crowd of elves and bragging that they were my friends. I smiled a little at Tharngeil checking out some of the elven women, and Sin led us through the crowds of excited Arena watchers. Finally, we got to a large stone staircase that spiraled upward, right into the King's booth.

We started ascending the staircase, our boots and shoes thundering their ways up the marble of the staircase, and as we ascended higher and higher, the Arena grew quieter and quieter, as tired crowds went home t enjoy themselves. The celebrations and tournaments were over, but our day was anything but.

We finally made it to the top of a staircase, emerging into a large balcony that showed off the second layer of the Arena, and directly in front of us, in his booth, was the king, lounging rather lazily on the chair. And yet, as I studied him over, he looked anything but lazy. Battle hardened and weary, sure. But certainly not lazy.

"A spectacular fight, that." The elven king said. "My champion was defeated. I, king Entrydal, will grant you one wish, so long as it is REASONABLE, and within my power."

I stepped forward. "Your majesty, we wish for you to halt the war with the southern elves."

The Elf looked at me, studying me over, a rather surprised look in his eyes.

"No one has ever wished for that before." He said. "And yet, I could not even if I tried. Come with me, victors."

King Entrydal stood from his seat, then snapped his fingers, speaking in elvish, and we suddenly weren't in the arena anymore. We were in the middle of a large room, with many bookcases, scrolls, maps, and artworks on the wall. It was gorgeous, and the most gentle breeze blew through the air, ruffling all of our hair. It was such a far cry from the chaos of the arena, and I preferred it so much.

"Welcome to my study." Entrydal said with a smile. "Behold, the dragon."

I looked up upon the wall, and I saw that there was a large artwork of a huge, two headed red and blue dragon, looking as angry as ever, with a plasma beam that was coming out of the red ones mouth. It was so big, it might as well have just been in a monster movie at this point.

"Wow." I said. "Is that Sisyphilious?"

"It is." The elven king said morosely. "The rest of the world believes that we are fighting over Mythril, and yet, this is only partially true. Us elves have been fighting over the Mythril under our lands, but that was merely the final straw. The elves have been split for a thousand years, since Sisyphilious disappeared. The north and the south used to be no different, and we used to be united. The younger elves know nothing of this, no offense."