We spent the rest of our time in Panarena that night helping to guard various caravans or trade-vessels that some of our alliance partners had out and about, ensuring that they reached their destinations safe and sound. There were a few times when we had an exchange with the King-Priests; fortunately none of them involved Djaziim. Venomheart did not make another appearance that night. One of the pirate guilds, however, did.
It was only a brief encounter, but it happened very close to the port which was our destination. We were in one of our larger vessels now, helping to safeguard a trade-cog fleet from Gears and Wheels. A vessel started moving towards us from the port side of our ships; it was a galley, its sails were a sea-green color and its pennant had three crowns in a field of dark blue.
“What guild is that?” Ariana asked me.
“I''m not sure,” I said as I passed her the spyglass.
“Judging from just the banner, I''d say Deep Blue Kings,” Derwydd remarked. “We''ve had a couple incidents with them ourselves, but nothing serious.”
A cannon from the unknown ship fired at that moment, its shot delicately missing our prow. There was a chorus of laughs and jeers from them, and then they turned to head in another direction.
“Just saying hello, I suppose,” I frowned. A voice from an allied ship then caught my attention.
“Lana?” Valkrysti called over with concern.
“Just an introduction, I guess,” I said with a wry grin, shrugging.
“Should we go after them?” she asked in a more serious tone.
“No point, we''re almost at port,” I said, pointing towards the harbor we were fast approaching.
“All right, we''ll let them off this time,” my friend returned. We slowed our approach as we entered the harbor, and then the field officer for Gears and Wheels, Borin, gave us thanks for the escort.
“I reckon that won''t be the last we see of those pirates,” the Dwarf grunted.
“Probably not,” I sighed.
“And you''ve got, what, two orbs left to find? Heh, good luck with that,” he said as he went to help his crew unload the cargo they were delivering.
“Hahh... just two?” I wondered.
“Might as well be two-hundred with the way we''re feeling,” Healina sighed. “I''ll have a look at this book we found in that last dungeon.”
“I''ll help!” Derwydd said.
“And me!” Ari added, giving me a kiss before she scurried off with the two of them.
“What''s the plan, boss?” Lizzy asked, putting an arm around me.
“What time is it really?” I wondered.
“Heh, it''s about three in the AM.” she remarked.
“More or less,” Lysandra nodded as she checked her panels.
“Bleh.” I shrugged. “Hey, aren''t they having sparring matches in the Arena?”
“Ooh, they are!” Lizzy grinned. “Wanna enter or watch?”
“Eh, just watch, really,” I returned.
“Sounds like fun!” Belle grinned.
“I would rather compete again and vindicate myself from last time...” Anhe remarked as we made our way to a telepad.
“You and me both,” Maryn nodded.
“I think all of us except Lana have that feeling,” Lysandra said with a wry smile, and Myanihia adopted a similar expression.
“Heeyy... well, I didn''t get to compete, so I guess I kind of count...” Lizzy shrugged. We entered our destination, and headed to Harmonia City for the rest of our evening.
The matches we saw were nowhere near as high profile as they had been during the Grand Tournament, and none the three GMs presiding over them were the ones who had been there, but they were still pretty intense. Ironsides had entered the matches, making a name for himself once more with his mostly-impossible-to-counter reflect.
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just herself
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“that
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them
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This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.
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Gu''hyeck?! A dragon versus sirens... what the heck kind of crazy and interesting situation have I set up now?? I wondered to myself with both dread and eager anticipation.
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“might make it,” she said.
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Why is this bugging me? What is in my head that''s trying to be remembered? I frowned to myself as I listened to the conversation. Ariana then tugged one of my sleeves as we approached a sharp turn heading upwards.
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“excuse to leave Lizzy behind...” I softly jested as we backed away from the edge.
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“someone had thoughts about leaving me here when they found that out.”
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“yooou... but defs for Lana!” she added with a cheeky grin.
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“nice tonight, kiddo.” Lizzy patted my head.
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