Meric the Storyman: Rega and the Dragonstones
Chapter 34: The Story’s Over

Having returned from the special mission with Cupramos and Doman, Rega was over by his friend when Bahamut, in the shape of a man again, walked up to him.

“How is he doing?” he asked the thief.

“I think he will make it.” answered Rega. “He just needs plenty of rest.” He then asked the King of Good Dragons a question. “Did we win?”

“Yes we did, but we lost a lot.” was the reply. He went on to tell Rega that only ten good dragons were left alive, excluding himself and his entourage.

“What about the evil dragons?” asked Rega.

“My entourage recently returned with news that they had killed the last of the army.” answered the platinum dragon. “Unfortunately, there are sure to be more evil dragons out there that did not answer the call to battle. There are young and most likely eggs being tended. However, what we did today should help keep things calm for many years.”

“How about Soliat? Is he still alive?” asked the thief.

The man smiled. “He is alive and well. In fact, he had a lot of good things to say about you. Apparently, he claims that you are the one responsible for bringing me here. Is this correct?”

Rega hesitated before answering. “Well...I did have the help of my friends. Besides, I was offered a lot of money to get the Dragonstones. How could I refuse?”

Bahamut laughed this time. He continued laughing. Soon Rega started laughing too, which caused Dexir to opened his eyes and ask, “What did I miss?”

This brought a renewed round of laughter between the two of them. Rega finally answered his friend. “Nothing, Dex. Nothing.”

Bahamut walked up to Dexir and placed his hand on the warrior’s chest. “I am most proud of you.” he said. “I was told you singlehandedly slew a blue dragon. That is not an easy task, even for one such as I.”

He then began a spell of Healing on Rega’s friend. Dexir was soon sleeping soundly, the cuts on his body already showing signs of healing.

“Thank you.” said Rega.

“No. I thank you.” said the platinum dragon. “You are in my debt.” He then pulled out a whistle. It appeared to be made out of platinum. “I am going to leave this with you. If this world ever needs my help again, you are to summon me by using this whistle.”

Rega didn’t know what to say, so he just reached out to take the whistle.

“Now, take care of your friend.” he told Rega. “I have a few things to talk over with the Council first before I can return home, so I will be leaving you.”

As he was leaving, he turned. “By the way, see Soliat for your money. I don’t happen to have any with me at the moment.” he said, laughing again.

Doman and Lobaki walked up to Rega. Behind them were Stice, Lano, Certi and Ardi. They had seen and heard everything.

King Motagula had heard, too. He walked up to shake Rega’s hand. “I hope we will work together again.” he said, and then quickly added, “Also, if you ever need anything from my palace, just ask me. I am not overly fond of my things being stolen.”

The Elven King walked away to check on some of the injured elves.

Rega looked around for the others. Zekil and Marissa were still busy assisting the injured. Nomis was insisting he was fine enough to help, but between Marissa’s and Lobaki’s continual presence, he was forced to remain resting. Soliat was in discussion with Cupramos. Cupramos was holding the scepter with the black pearl, so Rega had an idea about what the topic was.

“So, when are we out of here?” asked Stice. “I think it may be about time to give marriage a chance. What do you think, brother?”

Lano agreed.

It was several days before they left. Many dead had to be buried. Bahamut held a massive funeral ceremony for the fallen heroes before he left the world, returning to his own home. The fallen member of his entourage was given a special burial in Dragonlair.

True to the agreement, Soliat paid Rega the promised gold for getting the Dragonstones. Rega split the money evenly with his friends. Each of them, including Ardi and Certi, got three-thousand one-hundred and twenty-five gold pieces.

King Motagula also had something to present to Rega. “This is a special gift from Beska, so I will let him have the honors. He recently arrived with it.”

The elf who Rega had met before when near-death, walked up to Rega with a cloth-covered item. “I wanted to make you something special as an apology.” said Beska. “I had taken the Dragonstone because I didn’t fully trust you. I was very wrong.”

Beska unwrapped a beautifully crafted short sword. “I will first need to finish the final spell here. Please hold out your hand. This should only be a minor discomfort.”

Rega nervously held out his hand. Beska gripped it from behind, facing Rega’s palm upward. He then chanted something in elvish, sliced Rega’s palm with the blade of the sword, and then placed the sword’s hilt into Rega’s hand.

Rega felt when the sword came to life. In his mind he heard it speak for the first time.

*Welcome. As the ritual of blood was performed, I only answer to you or your bloodline. Please give me a name so I may serve you.*

Rega had a surprised look on his face. He then thought for a bit before deciding upon a name. Holding the sword up, he then said aloud “I name you Shadowsteel, the Sword of Mystery.”

*Shadowsteel is a great name. Thank you*

Beska then explained to Rega that the sword could perform the following once per day. It could make the wielder invisible and then later visible. It could create a radius of silence of fifteen feet. It would also heal minor wounds. It was a perfect weapon for him.

Rega then used the sword’s power to heal the cut on his palm. Satisfied, he thanked Beska for the wonderful gift.

Soliat came up to Rega to give him his promised bonus. Two manuals were handed to the thief.

“One is a Manual of Quickness of Action.” said Soliat. “It will help you raise your dexterity. The other is a Manual of Stealthy Pilfering. It can be used to increase your experience as a thief.”

The silver dragon then looked at Rega closely. “I actually wanted to give you something else, but Effron insisted. He got a kick about making one of the best thieves in the land even better. I failed to see the humor. Anyway, they are yours.”

Rega gladly accepted them. “Don’t think this will let you off so easily.” he said to the brass dragon sitting nearby. “I still owe you for the gnome incident.”

“I look forward to your revenge.” said Effron. He was back in human form next to another man missing an arm. “These other Council members refuse to play along most of the time, so I have my fun elsewhere.”

“Usually us” answered the Gnome leader. Everyone laughed.

During this period of recovery, Rega had a chance to speak with the Dwarven King. Finding Rega alone near Dexir, the King had walked up to the thief.

“I was ready to execute the thief responsible for stealing my crown gem, until King Motagula filled me in.” said the Dwarf King. “I do need to ask, to help prevent any similar attempts, how did you get up to the room?”

Rega replied, “A simple lower-level wizard spell called Spider Climb. It was very effective for getting up the smooth surface.”

“I will inform my staff upon my return.” said the King. “I do recommend that you avoid Cromwell, though. I will also be giving my staff your description.”

The contingent of dwarves left soon after that conversation.

Rega had also taken the opportunity the last couple of days to get to know more about the one-armed man. It turned out to be the brass dragon, Vezoth. He had been the one injured during the acid attack. In human form, the injury carried over as a missing limb.

Rega then spoke to the whole Council. A new bronze Council member had taken the place of the fallen one. All were still in humanoid form to help keep the makeshift healing area from being overcrowded.

“I will carry the whistle with honor, however I have a proposition.” Seeing he had their full attention, he continued. “I do feel this honor is more than one person should be responsible for. I propose that as soon as Vezoth is able to travel, he come assist me in this honor. There is plenty of room for him back in Ractah, as long as he stays in human form.”

The Council members discussed this, even calling upon Vezoth at one point, before returning an answer.

“We accept this proposal.” said Soliat, while walking towards Rega. When he got close, he continued, “And we thank you for giving Vezoth the chance to be useful. I can’t even begin to think what I would do if I lost one of my wings.” After a few seconds, he turned to look at Rega with a more serious look on his face, “Just don’t corrupt him.”

“Would I do that?” replied Rega with a smile.

Both of them laughed.

Rega turned to the rest of the Council, “If you ever need me, Soliat knows where to find me. I’ll make Vezoth at home once he shows up. Good luck.”

They all wished Rega good luck in return.

Rega and his friends then left, but not before Rega walked over to Marissa to give her a kiss and a hug.

“I wish you could travel with us, but I know you are still busy helping with the healing.” said Rega.

“Zekil, Nomis and I will stop on the way back.” replied Marissa. “We could even bring Vezoth with us.”

Lobaki said goodbye to Nomis, hugging him again.

“We will pick up our training again soon, although I think you are already more than capable.” said Nomis to his apprentice.

Lobaki gave Marissa a hug as well. The two of them had become good friends.

The group went back through the tunnels to get to the desert. Even with all of the dragons recently in the area, their horses were still there. Obviously, Doman’s words were the trick. That and care from King Motagula’s elves. If they had wandered off, they would have surely died.

They found the halfling’s wagon right where they had left it. Except for a few spiders, it had been left alone.

It took several days, as they were in no hurry. Rega said his first goodbyes when they got to the Great North-South road. The halflings and brownies turned south, Doman turned north. Rega, Dexir and Lobaki took the northeast road which would take them directly to Ractah. They promised to try to get together this time every year to celebrate their victory.

Many days later, the three were almost to Ractah. Rega slowed his horse, looking for something.

“What’s up, Rega?” asked Dexir.

“Just looking for a memory, Dex.” he replied.

The thief finally saw what he had been looking for. In a large tree were the remains of a tree house. He got off his horse and walked over to where he remembered the house used to be.

He looked at the ground for a few minutes before he spotted the stones used to mark the graves of his mother and father.

When he walked back to his horse, Dexir saw tears in his friend’s eyes.

They continued. Dexir remained quiet until Rega broke the silence.

“You do realize that there are still evil dragons in the land?” asked the thief.

“I do.” answered Dexir. “But for now, it should be peaceful for some time, although I do know a certain red dragon that could be a potential problem.”

They soon arrived at their home city. Dexir left to report to Zastin, but promised he would see Rega later that night.

Rega went to the Trader’s Shop with Lobaki. Milrop looked up from the counter with a smile on his face.

“Do I have a story for you.” said Rega.

“That is the story of Rega and the Dragonstones.” said Meric. He then took a deep long drink, finishing it off.

“Thank you again for the beers.” he then said to his guest sitting next to him.

“My pleasure.” said the guest. “I haven’t heard that story told so well before. You do it honor.”

A little boy in the front raised his arm. “What is it, child?” asked Meric.

“Whatever happened to them all?” the child asked.

“Well, let’s see...” started Meric, “The halflings went back to their farm. They are both married and have several children apiece, although they do travel on occasion to sell their crops.”

“The brownies finally went back to their own King. Since the halflings weren’t traveling as much anymore, their service was no longer necessary. They still keep in touch with Stice and Lano, though.”

“Doman first went back to his mother. He then convinced her to travel to Estu, where he then continued his training.”

“Lobaki went back with Nomis. Being free of the Dragonstone research, Nomis poured all of his time into teaching Lobaki many wondrous spells. She has become a formidable wizard.”

“Dexir was asked back to Makloran. The Makloran King himself wanted to see the warrior and his sword. After some more training, he now belongs to the Order of the Silver Rose. He and Akrun go throughout the land stopping evil threats. In fact, many times he is accompanied by Eric Torrel, who is also a member of the Order.”

“Lastly, Rega...” the storyteller started saying before being interrupted.

“I’ll tell you what happened to him.” said an older man just walking up to the front of the crowd. “He is sitting around listening to stories, making me do all the work.”

The man sitting next to Meric got up. “I’m sorry Milrop. I got so carried away by the story I had forgotten about you.” He then turned to Meric. “It was a fine story. Keep up the good work.” Rega then tossed him a gold piece.

Meric was caught off guard. He took the gold piece without comment. He was still speechless as he watched the two thieves walking away through a path opened up by the crowd.

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