A Second round
After our brief pow-wow and my informational expose on how to defeat the Dragon King, we got down to details. Randver acquired a dwarven mithril shirt that could fit a human being, while Oberon set out to acquire his last remaining piece of elven fossilized tree sap, or eleven amber as it's more commonly called. Curiously, the great trees of elven lore, the Earth Trees of which only one grows in the massive forests that elves typically home, is the only elven tree that produces amber. The magical potential of this amber is incredible, but very hard to acquire. Thankfully, Oberon being one of the great elven Lords, a piece has been passed down through his family line.
"Nassie, we're going to have to go meet up with Danni."
"Absolutely not. I want nothing to do with that infernal woman, ever again."
"We just had bad timing last visit, plus, by now she's ten years older."
"But still twenty years too young!"
"I believe in her talents, regardless of her age. Plus, can you think of anyone else that might still be alive after all that's happened over the past ten years?"
"I don't know. Demetrius! Demetrius get over here! I have a question for you!"
Demetrius turns away from the window, and slowly walks across the library we're in to where Ami and I are sitting. He looks glum, but being more than a hundred feet away from his precious undead tends to depress him a little. Most people get more cheerful as the undead get further away.
"Yes little sister, what do you want?"
"You haven't been collecting dust for the last ten years. Any of the great potions masters left alive?"
"Let me think for a moment. The elven masters were lost when the Dragon King burned down the great elven forests, the last one died when the grand capital was destroyed two years ago, so no. There are no more great potions masters left.
"See Nassie? Danni is the only person alive who can make this potion."
"Who is this Danni?"
"Danni is the greatest potion maker of the last two millenniums, though her talents are somewhat of a secret."
"What? Two millenniums? Did she discover the secret of immortality?"
"Better, she can make potions that make her young again. She can choose to grow old and die when she wants. She can make any potion she feels like making. Though she is slightly incapacitated at the moment."
"How so?"
"The old witch overdosed on a youth restoring potion. Instead of a beautiful damsel of 20, she became a ten-month old infant. That was about a year before we got locked away. So the all powerful Danni is currently a 12 year old girl with all the knowledge, whatever good it could do for her now, of two thousand years of potion crafting."
"Nassie, please don't embellish like that."
"What parts did she embellish?"
"Well, she was right on about the overdosing, but Danni and I have a wonderful arrangement that she has always honored. One must merely know how to play along with her games. She detests people with no sense of humor, and requires a little coaxing to do me a favor. I'm sure she'll see the importance of my request and accomplish it speedily."
"After you grovel all of your dignity away. There's nothing quite as embarrassing as a twelve year old who knows all your secrets."
"Nassie, that is quite enough!"
"Well I'm not letting you wander off with my little sister again with me not around. So I'll be tagging along. You can probably also count on Oberon and Randver coming as well. In fact, almost all of the leaders will want to come along to make sure you don't screw over their last chance to defeat the Dragon King."
"Absolutely not. I've met Danni when she's a full grown adult and she hates large crowds of people. I think she'll be even more unreasonable as a twelve year old."
"Nassie, I'm sure we'll manage. Demetrius, can you go gather up all the important people who'd like to tag along, I'd like to leave as soon as Oberon gets back."
"Sure, Malcolm. I would just love to be your errand boy. Don't disappear with my sister again, or I will kill you."
"We're not going anywhere. Now go!"
As Demetrius walks away, Ami turns to me,with a questioning look on her face.
"Why did you want to be alone? You didn't really need to send Demetrius on this little errand."
"There is one major issue that I haven't brought up yet in terms of fighting the Dragon King, and I need to talk to you about this."
"The Mystic?"
"Exactly."
"Jacob says they have a Mystic."
"A Mystic, but they're probably not trained to fight an enemy like the Dragon King. We may need to free Xerzon."
"He hates us, we imprisoned him close to a hundred years ago!"
"He's probably the only Mystic with the combat skills necessary to fight the Dragon King and deliver the killing blow. But he may need some assistance from us..."
"You may need me to become a sword again?"
"Unfortunately, yes."
"Then I will, if that's what needs to be done."
I suddenly feel a chill, and look around. Someone was watching me, and the albatross medallion around my neck glows slightly warm. It never glows warm. Looking around, the eyes are no longer looking at me and the albatross stopped glowing warm. Strange...