Instead, she had spent the night with Matt, memorizing spells with him. She had noticed women intrigued by the wizard, but also intimidated by Soliander’s reputation. Matt had seemed little interested in them, but she suspected it was his new obsession with learning magic. She agreed with his desire to commit these spells to memory and write them down on Earth if magic became available to them.
In the morning, they had flown on Brazin and Jolian to the Kirii Cave. Eric seemed fine without a saddle, the crazy boy that he was, but Ryan had seemed concerned by the experience. Once there, they found another way into the cave itself and hid a second of the orbs’ three pieces in the bottom of the underground lake. In doing so, they discovered that the leviathan wasn’t entirely dead, though it didn’t attack, and they returned to Valegis to ensure Ogren and the townspeople knew. This would prevent anyone from seeking the orb shard. Before leaving the cave, they had removed the saddle from the dead Sebast and placed it on Brazin, who had paid his respects while the others were below. His own saddle had been left behind at the lake where Novir had disappeared.
After this, they flew to Morcanon, the dwarven kingdom. It had taken some convincing to get to the queen, mostly by using the remaining piece of the Orb of Dominion to convince anyone of their identities. She had been freed of her enthrallment and been in contact with King Orin, and thus were they given an audience. It was here that they wanted to leave the other piece, figuring the dwarves had learned a hard lesson. This had resulted in their second feast, this time for lunch and once again haphazardly arranged. The dwarves had reminded her of Rognir, her Honyn friend and mentor, but their offered tours of their underground world seemed too much of the Kirii Cave, an apprehension that vanished before long. Their stonework skill had her and the others in awe, but there was little time to enjoy it. They soon departed for a short flight to Castle Arking.
They told King Orin a riddle that Eric and Matt devised. No one was to know where the three pieces of the slave Orb of Dominion lay in case someone brought them together again. But since it was possible that they might need this and the four Ellorian Champions were no more, they decided on leaving a clue. The result was a quest they devised for someone else to complete. Even Ryan and Anna didn’t know where the first piece lay and found the clues to be suitably cryptic.
In ruins lies the first of three
Where once stood man but nothing be
Entombed in stone for none to see
In high noon’s light it can be free
Where monsters swim and darkness lies
The second piece it does reside
All arms and wings, two deadly foes
Beneath the waves that one must row
The third lies in the tunnels of stone
Among those who were once overthrown
Now free again they have all sworn
To hide the shard and keep it torn
Anna wasn’t sure which of the two came up with text because they looked equally proud of it when reciting it the first time, and they had cared little for her suggested edits. The thought made her smile. With danger over, they had returned to being like two boys playing Dungeons and Dragons. She wasn’t one to stifle someone’s entertainment anyway, and certainly not after everything they just went through. On the first quest, they had thought they would just go back to their lives after some initial attention, but this time they knew better.
Now Eric and Matt had created a quest instead of solving one. Maybe one day someone else might go on the quest to recover the slave Orb of Dominion, but hopefully it wouldn’t be the Lords of Fear, or anyone else during their lifetime. The orb pieces would not be unable to come together on their own, and only someone who knew the location of each piece could find them. Only Eric, Matt, and Jolian knew. They trusted the dragon.
Anna grew nervous as they neared the Quest Ring, the path to it lined by torches, an honor guard lining the way. The ring itself had been lit with more flames that illuminated those standing near it. Despite efforts to keep the crowd at bay, they were getting a hero’s send off, and she got the impression the guards had given up on keeping people away. The mood was positive but quiet, as if the night sky hushed everyone, kids jostling for position. She had learned that the champions had never been here before and with their summoning happening in secret, no one had seen the spectacle. They weren’t going to be denied this time.
The group dismounted and said their farewells, accepting some gifts despite knowing they wouldn’t arrive with them. What happened to them they didn’t know. Did they just fall to the ground here on Rovell? They would likely never get an answer. This was the first time they were supposedly bringing something they hadn’t arrived with back. Before going, Anna asked Jolian to please come find them if she heard that they had arrived on Rovell again. They could use a friend.
Then they mounted the dais as people cheered, Ryan turning to them and assuming the role of a heroic knight that he played at RenFest. Who knew he would ever
