Dawn of the Last Dragon Rider - Chapter 048 - A Party to Remember Part 2 (Patreon)

“So tell me your plans,” Gertrude asked. “Are you really going to try and find a group to quest with or try to keep doing quests alone?”

Kaen glanced around at the pack of adventurers who had been firing off questions at him for the last twenty minutes.  Gertrude was a silver token warrior, and she was more forward than the others around him right now.  Perhaps it was the dwarf side of her that made her this way, but regardless he appreciated her direct approach.

Glancing at her as she twirled her finger through her well-oiled and braided brown beard, Kaen smiled and winked at her.

“My first plan is to complete a few more quests with Hess and learn some of the basics I know I lack.  While everyone seems to think I know a lot about fighting, the truth is I realize I need to learn how to quest with others,” Kaen glanced at the others as he paused for a moment and saw them smiling and listening to what he said.  “After that, I would love to join a party that would help me learn the ropes.”

Kaen leaned closer to Gertrude and whispered loud enough for those around to hear.

“The truth is I need to learn a lot of things.  Growing up in a small town has not given me much experience.”

Gertrude suddenly yanked hard on a braid, and her cheeks went flush. She moved her head back in shock as she let what he said sink in. She stared at Kaen with a hard look, uncertain just what he was trying to say.

The other adventurers around were snickering and laughing, and she glanced at them before shaking her head and smiling.

“I’ve heard rumors about your tongue, boy,” Gertrude stated as she went back to stroking her beard.  “I’ll have you know, dwarven women enjoy a good tongue-lashing.”

Kaen’s face turned red, and Gertrude grinned with satisfaction, knowing she had gotten the upper hand.

Never to be beaten, a lifetime of sparing with words with Hess, Kaen fired back.

“Well, perhaps when I managed to secure my own room from my overprotective mentor, I could schedule a time for a good lesson or two.”

Gertrude laughed and slapped Kaen on the arm, impressed to find that he did not flinch or move with the effort she put into it.  She knew he could be a fun friend indeed.

“Stop hogging the boy,” a voice called out from behind Gertrude.

Turning around, Gertrude saw Amra slinking over and moving to stand next to Kaen.

“He already promised me just the other day that we would make a bet that would benefit both of us.  I am still waiting to collect on that.”

Kaen suddenly felt like a deer or some other animal trapped between two predators, both fighting over who would get to devour it.

“Uhm.. ladies,” Kaen said with a slight squeak in his voice as he cleared his throat.  “I believe I need to let you two sort this out and see what that group over there might need.”

Freeing himself from Amra, Kaen quickly moved to find another group of adventurers who were waiting nearby to talk and engage with Kaen.

“I’m not saying we couldn’t share him,” Amra said with a throaty laugh.  “I do know that dwarves have been known to do that on occasion.”

Gertrude huffed and shook her head no.

“Something tells me you wouldn’t share very well.  Everyone knows a rogue often ensures they get what they want first.”

Both women glared at each other, and the adventurers that had stayed around to watch the two women started moving away, not wanting to get caught in a potential catfight.

A few hours later into the night, the music became the main attraction.

Lines were formed on both sides, and the band started to play a fast-paced song. The men and women lined up on different sides, finding a partner and moving the music.  The song was one played in most towns and inns, often called the Parade of Mates.  People who were married were not allowed to dance to it.  Every thirty seconds, the partners would shift down the line and dance with a new friend, doing their best to impress them with their grace and quick feet.

The steps were not overly difficult, but some had improved on them, adding kicks, twists, and even flips for those well-versed in the arts of dancing or blessed with exceptional dexterity.

Kaen had not enjoyed a lot of practice when it came to dancing, as in Minoosh, festivals only happened once a year, and he had yet to reach the age where he was permitted to dance to this song on the main dance floor.  Any practice he had gotten was off to the side with his friends and the girls in town, preparing for when they could.

Now with his dexterity being what it was, he found the moves came far easier than they had a year ago.  His feet moved exceptionally fast, and the rhythm felt much easier to follow.  As the song went on, with each partner he danced with, he experimented more, watching the moves of those who were showing off and mimicking most of them with success.

Applause and cheering came from the crowd around them as the onlookers encouraged them to attempt higher degrees of difficulty as they danced.

Three minutes into the song, everything changed when he found himself dancing with a partner who took his breath away from the moment she stood across from him.

An iron token adventurer with a smile that made his heart skip a beat and green eyes, which reminded him of a day in the forest, left him breathless.  They danced and twirled, kicking and spinning as if somehow connected in perfect unison, and when the moment came to switch, neither Kaen nor his dancing partner broke away as they were supposed to.

They ignored the call to change, instead drawing closer to each other.

Kaen was smiling. He could hear himself laughing over the music when he saw that his dance partner was smiling back at him.  His heart began to pound in a familiar way, Kaen realized what was about to happen.  His lifestone joined in with a surge of power.  Letting his lifestone take over, Kaen reached out and grasped her hand and side, starting a harder move usually only done by men who had spent years practicing it.

With the speed he felt flowing through his body and the realization that his lifestone was now directing his steps, Kaen took over the movements of his new friend.  He twirled on his feet as he drew her close, creating the point they would both pivot on.  She let herself go, and he felt her body become light as her eyes widened and her smile grew.

Faster and faster, they spun. The room and the people around them were a blur.  The music had picked up its tempo, and Kaen felt like he was watching his body as a spectator, unsure how he moved so fast or so easily placed the next step.

Bounding and leaping, he glided through openings of other pairs on the dance floor, twirling this mystery woman like a top, watching her flow like an extension of his own body.

A part of the song he had only heard a few times in his whole life began, and Kaen knew somehow what was supposed to come next.  His lifestone roared inside of him, and the fear he had felt for the briefest of moments faded as he gave himself over to it.

The song’s tempo sped up again, and the beats of the music marked the movement for each step he now took.  The others on the floor had backed away, and Kaen had not realized it.  All he could see was the smile on the girl's face and those eyes that gazed back at him.

A twist here, a leap there, two bodies moving as one.  Her legs spun around him, and he leaned back, balancing her length and his mass.

Louder laughter erupted from Kaen’s mouth, yet he was unaware of it.

Four more beats.  He knew what was coming.

Using their momentum, he pulled her close and flung her out again, twirling her like a top attached to his hand.

Three more beats.

Pulling hard on her hand, he drew her back toward him, spinning toward him, bending his knees, and preparing for what came next.

Two more beats.

He swept her into his arms and then spun her around his waist, around his back, and to the front of him again in a matter of a heartbeat.  He prepared for the last part of this all.  He smiled at her as she was bent over slightly against his knee.  He could see in her eyes that she knew what was coming next and was ready for it somehow.

Kaen launched her into the air as the last beat began to play.

Like an angel in his mind, she flew up, spinning around and around, her hair whipping from the force and her dress fanning wide, giving any letch out there a view of things she had most definitely not meant to show tonight.

Kaen felt it all as she tumbled down through the air as the song was about to end.  His body was alive.  His lifestone made him feel like he could do anything.

The moment she came down toward him, Kaen reached up and caught her, absorbing the energy of her fall into his arms and legs, ending the dance with her bent over his knee and his face just six inches from hers.

The final beat struck, and every instrument went silent.

[ Dancing Skill Acquired ]

[ Dancing Skill Increased x13 ]

For a few moments, the room hung in silence.  His lifestone went quiet, his chest pounded from the exertion. He breathed deeply and could smell the flowery scent coming off of his dance partner.

The moment was perfect for Kaen.  His heart had connected with someone in a way he had never known was possible during this dance.  An urge to keep her close to him and breathe her scent overpowered him.

The room roared to life as people rushed forward to compliment the two of them.

Kaen stood her up, and she swooned for a moment as she caught her breath and smiled at him.

“I’m sorry you never gave me your name,” Kaen exclaimed as people started getting between the two of them.

“I know!” she shouted back over the throng that was congratulating her as well. “Perhaps later I might just share it with you.”

She winked at Kaen and allowed herself to be taken away by a group of female adventurers all wanting to talk to her about what she had just experienced.

Kaen groaned and smiled as he saw her wink and wave, moving to the other side of the dance floor, leaving him caught by the throng of people.

“Did you teach him that?”

Hess shook his head no.  They had watched the whole thing as they stood close to the band.  He had an idea how Kaen had pulled it off, but the very thought of it almost scared him.  If Kaen could somehow do that without any training, what else could that boy learn to do?

“He was always light on his feet, but maybe he had someone teaching him things I was unaware of back home.”

Sulenda huffed and drew close to Hess, finding comfort in his arm around her.

“Should I ask him to dance with me like that?”

Hess turned and winked at her and shook his head no.

“That poor boy wouldn’t know how to handle a woman like you,” he said with a mischievous grin.

Rolling her eyes, Sulenda bumped him with her hip, causing him to move sideways and bang into a random person.

“Sorry, sir,” Hess quickly blurted out when he saw he had caused the man’s drink to spill all over him.  “Allow me to get another one!”

The bronze adventurer waved him off and smiled.

“It’s okee, Mr. Heeasss.  Itzz prubly mah fuault,” he replied with such a slur one might have wondered if he was speaking a foreign language.

Nodding and smiling, Hess turned back to Sulenda, who was laughing and moving off toward the bar.

“Blast that woman,” Hess cursed under his breath as he took off after her.