Avi
When the sun finally rose into the sky and cast its warm light onto the soggy countryside, Avi was forced awake by Fira. Avi grunted. It felt like she shut her eyes but for a minute. Her body wailed for her to get back to sleep, but Fira had no patience for her impudence and was forced to pour cold water on Avi's head. Avi darted out of the covers coughing and shivering.
"CUNT!" she shouted at Fira.
"Now, now, Dove, you mustn't use such foul language. I though Ser Gehalos raised you better than that."
Blair jumped out of bed. She saw the ordeal and was not pleased. "Hey, now! If you don't want her getting all angry at ya, don't be such a bitch."
Aldara wagged her finger in front of Blair's face. She took a bar of soap out of her pocket and shoved it in her mouth before walking away.
"Pitoowee!" Blair went, spitting it out. "I can't believe a Prince of Termnnia recommended you for our group."
"Why have the Daltons cursed me with such a companion!" Avi retorted pushing away her soggy bangs off her heart-shaped face.
"Up," Fira commanded, activating the holographic ornamentation of her armor, making her glow bright orange. "I will see you at breakfast. Don't be late, Dove."
"She's got a lot of nerve!" Aldara said, helping Avi out of bed.
"Well serves me right for staying up so late," Avi said sitting at the edge of her bed. "But I'll get my revenge on her yet!"
"Lady Avi seeking revenge," Trish smirked while using a towel to dry Avi's neck and chest. "That's a new one. And here I thought you were a girl filled to the brim with patience."
"Fira and Arietta have sucked it all dry," Avi snarled. "Ser Gerhalos as well. He is way too overprotective of me. I beat every Summoner to Feldia and bac. I summoned the three Prehistoric Dragons and defeated King Forrest's army again! I won two Summoner Festivals. What more does he want from me?"
"You really want common rabble to ride alongside you, Summoner?" Blair asked. She walked back to her bed and put on her trousers and her belt with ammo pouches and med-kits. "He wants only the best at your side. The only reason why that showoff, Ser Damien, is in our party is that you allowed him to. Ser Gerhalos respects your wishes thereby letting him stay. But if you ask me, I believe that despite him being one of the few dragon riders in Termnnia, he is all flash and no show."
"It's time to test his skills in battle then," said Avi. "I wonder how he fares against the tests in the mountain. For that matter, what can I hope to do?"
"You leave those tests to us," said Trish, putting on her leather jerkin. "You worry about summoning those dragons of yours when the time comes."
Avi dressed into her elegant white gown and then dried her soggy hair before brushing it a hundred times to make it glow.
"Lady Avellana," Ser Gerhalos walked into the room. His chainmail and armor clinking and clanking with every step and his feet shook the room with each step. He had a package in his hands wrapped in white paper and topped with a red bow. Another present was stacked on top of it, but it was wrapped in black and tied with a gold ribbon.
"What is this?" Avi asked.
"They are gifts."
"I can see that, but from who?"
"Well, the little black one is from Master Yugi and the Princes of the Alliance."
"Oh!" exclaimed Avi taking the gift. There was a note attached to it.
Greetings, Avellana,
We wish you luck on your journey in finding the dragons of Saafani. This ring is from both Yugi and us as a token of our faith in you. May it bring you good fortune in the long road ahead and guide you to me. We look forward to meeting you one day, Summoner of Dragons.
Best Wishes.
-Master Yugi Muto the King of Games.
Prince Michael Dalton of Eredas
Prince Anastasio Trevelyan of Mondé
Prince Marcel of Akuuda
Prince Shim Jaeyoung of Azumé
Prince Jon Jahangir of Riftgaard
Prince Ryon Balor of Katina
and Prince Daveed 'Yuri' Wallcroft
"Oh, they shouldn't have!" Avi said tearing open the wrapping to discover a velvet box. She opened it and discovered a ring in the shape of a dragon's head that could fit the length of her entire finger. The beast was made of platinum and veined with gold and was crowned by a diamond glittering in all the colors of the rainbow.
She quickly put it on and felt a surge of mana rush through her veins. She groaned with pleasure, feeling recharged.
"By the Goddess, what have they put in this thing?" she asked while examining the ring.
"It is a magical ring that boosts your mana. Now you shouldn't have too much trouble summoning your beasts. With that enchanted staff and hairpin also on your person, it wouldn't surprise me if you could call two."
"That would be amazing to do," Avi said, looking at the ring one last time. "And what of that one? You held it rather tight."
"I don't like this, Lady Avi." Ser Gerhalos shook his head. "I say we burn it."
"Why?"
"It's from King Forrest's son, Steffan Ungard. He is now both King of Naralia and Archbishop of the Church of Yeyu."
Avi gasped. "How does he know I'm here?"
"I do not know how, but somehow somebody in Domino intercepted the messenger boy sending you the gift from Yuri and Yugi. They must have told them to deliver this to you as well. And knowing the radicals of Yeyu, it was likely with a knife to his throat."
Avi took the gift regardless. Inside was a pendant made of myrrh and gold in the likeness of a dragon encircling the Eye of Yeyu, and there was a roll of parchment on the side. She opened it and shook her head as her eyes read the words repeatedly.
"What is it?"
"It's a sonnet," said Avi. "And beneath it is a message from Steffan himself." She read the letter carefully. "Apparently, he wants to meet with me in Domino City for the peace conference with the King of Eredas himself, Eldon."
"A peace conference?" Ser Gerhalos spat. "When did the Yeyunists start calling for peace? I say this is a trap, Lady Avi. His spawn from the Church persecutes you at every turn. They will kill you before you can ever reach Domino. Heed not his invitation and let us continue our journey finding the dragons."
"I don't know Ser Gerhalos. He even asked to join the princely alliance and join High King Yuri in the Termnnian Table."
"He's trying too hard to gain your favor," Ser Gerhalos growled. "His father sent the entire Naralian army south just looking for you. I say he's using a different tactic. A friendlier approach. You walk into his conference, and he will grab for you."
"The best soldiers in Termnnia protect Domino City, and let us not forget King Eldon thinks highly of me, as does his son Prince Michael. They would never allow King Steffan to do me harm."
"Let us search for your dragons first, My Lady," Ser Gerhalos said, taking Avi's hand. "We need not listen to King Steffan's invitation."
"Why must you worry about me so much, Ser Gerhalos?" Avi pouted like a spoiled child.
"Avi…please," he got down on one knee. "We travel a dangerous road. I may be skilled with a blade, but I am still mortal. Something could happen to me and…forgive me for being so stern with every mercenary, warrior, knight, and whoever-with-a-blade that comes to you seeking companionship. I just…I just want to make sure you're taken care of."
Avi grinned. She knew Ser Gerhalos only meant well. Over the years that she had known her knight of the beast folk, he had become the closest thing she had to call father. Avi was the girl from nowhere after all. She recalled herself walking the dark streets of Normandia as though walking out of the darkness from total nothingness. And the man and woman who cared for her shooed her out of the house when she was sixteen. Even after finding Arvas in Naralia and gained her fame as the Summoner of Dragons, it felt like the kings and lords only used her as a means to their own end, so she fled them and was found and rescued by her champion in the swamps of the Eldermoors.
"I know you mean well, Ser," Avi patted his large golden-furred hand. "I did not mean to shout. But I can't know my true potential if I have everyone handing me everything on a silver platter and making decisions for me. If I truly am to grow out there, I have to do things myself."
"I understand," said Ser Gerhalos. "But I will still test those who wish to get close to you. And forgive me if I don't get along with that Ser Damien."
Avi giggled. "Getting jealous my champion?"
"Why should I? I could crush his head with no trouble."
Avi admitted he was right. He fought back the members of the faith militant of Yeyu when they came to collect her in Princess Evelyn's castle. He bit one's head off and used his bare hands to crush the head of another without so much as a squeeze. If Ser Damien ever grew foolish enough to challenge Ser Gerhalos, he would most likely lose.
Ser Gerhelos rose up and offered his arm to take Avi downstairs for breakfast. Avi smiled and got up from her seat to follow his lead downstairs to the throne room. As they approached the lower levels of the castle, Avi could smell sausages roasting over a fire and the sweet scent of honey bread and hot chocolate.
"The Summoner approaches!" Ser Gerhalos shouted to the castle crier, a stout fellow in a purple garb and a black hat with a white feather.
A blast of trumpets announced Avi's arrival, disrupting the silence of the morning. The elk antler chandeliers cast a warm glow over the throne room, and the stained glass windows, still dotted with rain, added color to the tables
Lord Karl Devil arose to greet her from his cushioned throne at the dais in front of the fireplace. His guests stood up and applauded the Summoner while she walked arm in arm with Ser Gerhalos into the throne room towards the dais to take her place alongside the lord of the castle.
"Welcome, welcome," Lord Karl said taking Avi from Ser Gerhalos's arm. He took her hand and kissed it. "I was beginning to think you weren't hungry."
"I am fine, My Lord, thank you."
"Come sit," Donna said, showing Avi to her seat.
Avi sat down and waited patiently for her food to arrive and looked around the throne room at the guests. Some of them were faces she hadn't seen the night before. There were energetic groups of knights and adventurers here dressed in armor and garments that stood out over the other guests in the castle. There was a group of youngsters playing Duel Monsters, betting Star Chips and gemstones. They were all no more than twenty with the youngest being eighteen. They each wore matching scaled armor enameled in dark gray with an emerald shamrock on the large pauldrons and etched in emerald threads on the back of their black capes. One of the lads stood over the table holding up a banner which also bore the shamrock in a field of dark gray with a vertical green stripe in the middle.
One the table to the eastern side of the throne room sat a group of little men. They were gnomes from the Isle of Elder Rock adorned in plain steel plate. Their leader was wearing a hog-shaped helmet plumed with white while he threw dice at a game board with figurines of Duel Monsters. It seemed they were playing Dungeon Dice Monsters, the invention of Lord Karl's son, Duke Devlin.
"Go dice roll!" the little gnome shouted throwing his dice at the board.
In the middle of the hall sat a young boy with messy red hair and a face full of freckles. He happily ate his breakfast surrounded by heavily armored warriors and what appeared to be his older brother, red-haired and freckled as well, stood above him with his arms crossed. He did not look happy to see Avi, and when his piercing green eyes met hers, she quickly turned away.
Lord Karl explained that they were all Summoners with their companions. Many of them had traveled here to see Avi, not to befriend her, but to outdo her. The boy who looked at her fiercely was named Ser Jack of Pennyhill, and his little brother was the gifted Summoner that he and his armored warriors were traveling with. He was not pleased with Avi getting special treatment and even an endorsement from Master Yu-Gi-Oh. Then again, neither were the other Summoners. They studied for years to become what they are, but Avi was just handed her gifts overnight by the goddesses themselves, and they found that unfair. And word spread of her defeat to Arietta making them feel quite confident they could take down the mountain giant before she could.
But despite this, not all of them felt ill will towards her the way Ser Jack did.
The company of men in with the shamrock emblem was the Knights of Green Market, a small kingdom in the realm of Rimgarden. The Summoner leading them was a bald man with a bushy black beard called Thomas Rein of Flowerhall.
"The competition is fierce," said Lord Karl, raising his cup to his lips.
"Competition?" Avi said fiercely.
"These Summoners came from far and wide just to beat you." Ser Karl set down his cup. "I had no hand in inviting them here, but they are Summoners, and therefore must be given home and food by the host. It is the law, for they are closer to the Goddesses than any in the world. None more than you, it seems. Saafani, Goddess of Dragons chose you to be her Summoner."
"I know," said Avi. "And it looks like some of those others down there hate me for it."
"True, they had to toil for many years of their lives to achieve the gift of summoning monsters from their planes of existence, but sometimes fate has its way of blessing those with gifts. I do not know what it is about you that caused Saafani to have a change of heart with the dragons, but if it means that these noble creatures can return and safeguard us from the oncoming storm of the Black Continent, then so be it."
Avi nodded in agreement. The True Dragons were part of the reason why Orcs never set foot into Termnnia. They were too powerful to fight alone, but with thousands taking to the air, there was no hope in fighting them. Saafani chose her for the task of seeing if Man was worthy enough of living with dragons once again. With the current events taking place it did not surprise her Saafani came to the decision to finally allow a Summoner to call her children into the world of Men. The Church of Holy Fire was slowly dying, and the main kingdoms of Termnnia were coming together in a grand alliance like the days of old.
As she ate her food she was being watched by Ser Arthur who was sitting alone at the table closest to Lord Karl's dais. This could be his moment to be named a full-fledged knight. For, after all, Summoners had the authority to name men knights. With such a close tie to the divines, how could they not?
Ser Arthur knew he didn't have much time to make himself known to her. He slammed his tankard on the table and approached the stairway to the dais in the stone platform where it stood. But he was blocked by Ser Gerhalos.
"If I may, good Ser, I wish to speak with the Summoner."
"You may speak to me," snarled Ser Gerhalos. "I am her mouth and eyes."
"Please, My Lord…"
"I am not a lord, hedge-knight. Now move back, or I will force you back."
"I just want to be a part of this company."
"Get in line, boy, you and half of Termnnia wants to be Lady Avellana's best friend right now."
"I am nineteen!" Arthur said impatiently. "Don't call me boy!"
"Then step back, girl!" Ser Gerhalos stomped forward.
Ser Arthur took out his sword. It was a family heirloom passed down to him by his father. The guard and handle were blackened iron, and the pommel had a red jewel encased in the center.
Ser Gerhalos unsheathed his sword from his back. The blade was taller than Arthur, wider as well, and without so much as a fight, he yielded.
"I didn't think so," said Ser Gerhalos, sheathing his sword. "Lady Avellana faces dangers far worse than myself. If you cannot handle battle with me you have no place in her company. Now be gone with you!"
