"I can feel it on the wind, an adventure is brewing!"
- Excerpt from the children's book, 'Haviere's Hijinx'
"Atlas! Now!"
Roman's voice snaps me out of my thoughts.
I can hear his mechanical legs creaking under the strain as he holds back the drake, its wide, horned head ramming square into his broad, bare chest. I shake my head and leap forwards, piercing my halberd into the drake's side, crimson blood spraying as I retract my blade. The drake howls and falters in its stance, and I watch as Roman throws the beast backwards over his head. It lands with a sickening crunch on a rock behind him, and lays still, dead.
"Took you long enough" Roman leans over, catching his breath.
"Sorry, Roman" I say, "I was lost in thought"
Roman looks up at me and undoes his orange, dreadlocked hair, shaking it around like a mane as it falls behind his long, pointed ears.
"I should've guessed" he chuckles, "you've always been that way inclined".
I smile back, wiping the sweat off my brow with my forearm.
"Remind me again why you chose to do this shirtless, Roman?"
He laughs, a deep, hearty bellow "some cute lass is bound to notice, right?" He flexes "Da always said the women like battle scars" he chuckles, a slight sigh coming through his macho facade.
"Let's head back, the others are waiting for us" he picks the drake up by the nasal horn and slings it over his shoulder, red blood spiling over its emerald green scales. I follow behind as we make our way across the grassy field to the church. As we approach, the head Nun of the chapel runs over to us, a smile coming to her aged face.
"I don't know what we can do to thank you" she looks at us both, then back to the chapel.
"We don't get very many adventurers coming through, but praise be to Harna, you have brought peace to this small parish."
"We have just done our duty, Mother Superior" I say with a smile. She reaches out and holds my cheek in her hand and places a hand on Roman's shoulder.
"Stay, and lets feed you a nice meal!" She smiles, "your companions are already inside!"
We follow the woman, and Roman drops the drake's corpse, and I leave my halberd leaning up against the wall. We walk through the chapel doorway, the golden, open hand holding a lotus flower, the symbol of the Goddess Harna, sits above the door, glimmering in the afternoon sun. The first thing I noticed when entering the chapel, is how white and clean it is. The ground is a shimmering, polished granite as are the walls and pilons. The light comking through the stained glass window at the far end of the building coats the room in a warm rainbow glow, and I slightly wince from the sudden change of lighting. Not too far from the left side of the entrance, stands Emmet, book in one hand, staff in the other. The crystalline ball at the staff's head refracts the rainbow light in the hall onto his freckled face and slightly obscures his eyes from behind his round glasses. He looks up as we enter, and smiles, then returns to his book. My eyes turn to see Esme marching down down the aisle in a huff, her brown boots clicking on the stone floor, her dress and long black hair bristling due to her pace.
"You boys need to be more careful!! I'm telling you, you should have let me go with you!!" She pouts.
She stops in front of us, turning to Roman and seeing the drake horn shaped graze in the middle of his chest. "Heavens help me!" She declares, exasperated. "Luckily we don't need to get the sisters to help fix your stupidity! I swear". She holds out her hand a few centimetres from his chest, a white light beginning to pulse from it as his wound is healed in a matter of seconds. She then turns to me, searching me over for injuries, and only finding grazed palms from where the drake knocked me on my butt earlier. She looks up at me , her dark brown eyes full of concern, and she gently holds my hands in hers, the same white light whisping upwards and sealing the wounds. Healing magic has always amazed me. The sealing of wounds, recovery from sickness. A great wonder if the Gods. She looks to my hands and back to me, before letting go of my hands and quickly turning away and folding her hands in front of her. "Be more careful next time." She says, as she walks back down the aisle, stopping at one of the pews to pick up a shirt and leather vest, throwing them back to Roman. "And show some decency, Roman. You're in a church!!" Roman laughs his signature laugh, and puts his shirt on, throwing his vest over his shoulders. Esme shakes her head and returns to praying at the altar at the far end of the chapel.
Suddenly, from behind, an arm wraps around both my and Roman's necks, pulling us close to each other. From between our heads, Clem pokes her head through. "Fifteen minutes! I win!" She shouts, pulling us closer together. She lets go soon after and pushes herself past us. She pulls out her phone and waves it in our faces, a timer showing fifteen minutes. "I was able to down a drake in twelve!" She beams, "Twelve! With just daggers mind you! You boys owe me a drink at the next bar we find". She turns and walks down the aisle of the chapel, her brown ponytail swaying, and a clinking coming from the ear rings on her pointed ears.Roman follows after her, demanding a re-count. I sigh and stretch, rubbing my neck where her arm had wrapped around it.
I reach into my pocket and pull out my phone, it's screen lighting up a faint blue colour. It read:
3:56pm, Eisday, 31st of Anki's Sun, 3000.
It had been only a week since we all reunited. It had been four years since I had seen, or even heard anything from any of them. Everything changed that night. In the ruins to the south of Luxhaven. The mysterious cloaked elven woman with bright white hair. The dreams. The visions, as the woman had called them. They called us together. For what reason, none of us yet know. The mysterious woman had not said why. What we do know is that fate had brought us together again for a reason, and that we are in this together.