After finishing the request, we went and told the king and dragon the outcome. They were very pleased, but before celebrating, they sent some knights to check if we were telling the truth; they would get back tonight. During which we rested and recovered from our wounds. Once the knight got back, the king announced a celebration the next day.

  We were all given rooms, and we had a great night's sleep. felt strange for once in this world, I wasn't with Sid.

  The celebration was big and glamorous. During the festival, we were all going to be given some of the water dragon's blood, but for now, we started drinking and partying. You could see jugglers performing, and hear Bards playing lutes while singing of our heroism.

  The knights were even doing public spars as a way of entertainment for the people; it was mostly knights, but us otherworlders were allowed to join the spars, and some did. Merlin was winning a lot of matches.

  Then Merlin waved me over. I walked over, and he said, “Our last match ended in a draw, but this time I'll kick your butt.” He wanted a rematch. I tried to refuse, but he started throwing insults at me. I was going to ignore him, but then Sid said, “He’ll accept,” looking at me expectantly. I asked her what she was thinking? She said, “He's testing you in front of everyone. If you back down now, every one of them will see you as weak. Sometimes the fight you don't want is the one you can't avoid, kick his butt.”

  So reluctantly, I got in the ring, the knight watching over the match counted down, three, two, one, then the match started. He charged at me, and I thrusted my staff towards his chest. He parried it with his parrying dagger, then he was about to stab me, but I reflected on our last match, which went the same way. I swung my hand, and wind blew towards him, blowing him away, and I got back in stance, but the knight said, “Liam wins.” I then turned around and saw Sid smirking.

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  Thinking back on my actions, a mistake that me and the other heroes made was that we depended too much on our weapons, forgetting that we had wind magic. I realized this while fighting the drake. Also, those who did use the magic used it as a far combat weapon, but it is a versatile weapon that can be used for defence.

  Merlin looked at me, confused and hatefully, then said, “No fair, you used magic,” but the knight explained that there was no rule against magic. So he spouted a few curses and walked away, saying, “We will just call this one a draw, as I wasn't using magic.”

  Night came, and King Loch then yelled, “Gather, now we will see the great water dragon bless the heroes that saved our land.” It was time to receive our blessing, so we walked to where the water dragon was, and he gave a long speech. This time, learning from last time, Merlin didn't interrupt him, and eventually, some blue kobolds brought us glasses full of the dragon's blood, but before drinking it, some people asked what the dragon's name was? He scoffed and said, “I already told you in my speech, were you not listening? So be it, I am Aqua, dragon of the water." Then we all drank the blood we were given again; it tasted gross and like iron.

  Then we all looked around, and the people who asked what the dragon's name was had above their head (blessing of the water dragon low). Evidently, Aqua was not happy that they didn't listen to his speech, above everyone else's heads, it said (blessing of the water dragon medium). The only exceptions were me and Merlin, above our heads, it said (blessing of the water dragon high). Some of the others questioned Aqua about this, and he responded, “They are the ones that finished off the drake, so it’s only natural that they get a bigger prize.” They seemed disgruntled, but couldn't complain.

  Then the festival was over, and we all went to bed. We would be able to stay in the land of water for the next couple of days and rest, so it was some time off for us. But walking back to the castle, I felt eyes on me. Not the awe from the townsfolk, but a cold, measuring stare from a group of other heroes. My ‘High’ blessing suddenly felt less like a reward and more like a flag I was carrying.