Chapter 1: Birthday Season Begins

"That still leaves us over two hours to explore the mountain," Tommy, as Kordek, retorted.

"I agree with the dwarf," Jaden interjected, using his "noble paladin" voice, "We should take the time to explore this land while we're here."

"Indeed," I agreed, as Grogan.

Amy squeezed my hand, "If my love agrees, then so must I."

I nudged her shoulder with mine, and we looked into each others eyes again. She seemed to be genuinely happy, happier than I'd seen her in a long time.

"Ugh," Ashley, as Adora, nearly spat, "you two are too cute. Let's just go."

She pretended to storm off toward the mountain with a huff, but her eyes lingered on Amy for just a second. I could have swore I saw her wink, but it could have been my imagination.

Tommy and Jaden laughed, following her, and Amy followed them, tugging my arm. I snapped out of my daze, following quickly to walk by her side.

"Is something wrong?" Amy asked quietly so only I could hear.

"No," I replied, "Just zoned out for a moment."

Amy laughed slightly, "You do that a lot."

"I know," I conceded, "I'm sorry."

"It's okay," she leaned against me sweetly, "I've always thought it was... cute..."

She turned her head to hide her face from me, so I knew she was blushing.

"That's... um... Thanks?" I stammered, not sure how to respond.

"Come on, love" she said in-character, "Lets catch up to the others."

I realized we'd lagged quite a bit behind the others, who had already disappeared into the "cave" in the "mountain".

"Indeed," I agreed, back in character.

We quickly walked to the entrance of the "cave", and just as we entered...

"ALRIGHT!" Tommy's voice echoed through the stony corridor.

Amy and I began hustling toward the group when the area suddenly opened up into a large cavernous room. A stream of sunlight beamed down from a large hole in the "cave" ceiling, illuminating a variety of merchant stalls, game vendors, and entertainment venues, which were situated around a makeshift subterranean lake, all staffed by people dressed as dwarves. Tommy was ecstatic as he bounded from stall to stall.

"What else did he expect to find under a 'mountain's peak' in a fantasy kingdom?" I asked to no one in particular as Amy and I met up with Ashley and Jaden.

"I'm not sure," Jaden replied, "I don't think he really thought about it until just now."

"For someone who's always thinking, I don't know how he could have not expected this," Ashley added.

Tommy bounded back to the group, "Come On! Let's see what my kin have to offer!"

We spent the next hour or so exploring the dwarven town, which the "Dwarven Guide" told us was called Stonewell, because of the small "underground" lake that fed into the Fishing Lake near Castle Town. Tommy found a "Dwarven" Blacksmith that would fashion Axes, Hammers, and Armor for people who could afford the price. Tommy spent two hundred dollars on a fancy Dwarven Battleaxe that would take at least two months to be crafted and another month to deliver. Afterwards, we all ate lunch at the "Dwarven Mead Hall".

The Mead Hall was little more than an open area with picnic tables surrounded by various food vendors selling "dwarven" foods (mostly re-branded meats and alcohol). Jaden, Amy and I decided to try the "Underbeef burgers" while Tommy ordered a "Cockitrice Leg" and Ashley had the "Subteranian Salad".

Ashley sat down at one of the tables, and Tommy and Jaden sat next to her, one on either side. Sitting down, their height differences were much less noticeable, especially when Jaden took off his helmet to eat. I sat down across from them, and Amy sat right next to me, a little closer than was necessary, our shoulders brushing as she did. I looked over at her, but all she did was smile at me cutely, making me smile back in return.

"Alright," Jaden said, looking at his phone, "It's about one o'clock now. If we head out once we're done eating, we should be able to make it to Castle Town by two."

"Sounds good," Ashley replied, "I'm anxious to get a look at the Archery Range for the Tournament. If they use standard barebow tournament distances, I should do pretty well. As you saw, I'm pretty good at close distances..."

"Pretty good?" Amy interjected, "You call that just 'Pretty Good'!?"

"I mean," Ashley replied, "I did practice those tricks over a hundred times a week for nearly two years. Before I started college, that's pretty much all I did in my spare time, other than playing D&D. Why do you think most of my D&D characters use bows?"

I hadn't Thought about it, but even Ashley's spellcasters had been built to use bows.

"Why haven't you mentioned any of this before?" Jaden asked, "I've known you for nearly three years and not once did you mention you actually knew how to shoot a bow."

Ashley started laughing, as if she knew the punchline to a joke we all missed.

"She was waiting for just this kind of event, so she could surprise everyone," Tommy answered, "You know how many times I almost spoiled it when Ashley would do trick shots in D&D, and some one would ask if they were really possible? I'd seen her do them all!"

Still laughing, Ashley added, "And. It. Was. PERFECT!"

We all started laughing.

"I have to say," I admitted, "It was really impressive watching you shoot, especially shooting two arrows at once as accurately as you did."

Ashley leaned on the table and said quieter, as if to tell me a secret, but spoke so everyone at the table could hear, "I can actually shoot up to four at once at five to ten meters, and I can hit a target up to thirty yards with two arrows, but not as accurately. Beyond that I can really only use one arrow accurately."

"That's still impressive," I replied.

"Thanks," Ashley seemed to blush a little.

"Anyway," Amy said a little sternly, "I thought we were going to stay in-character while we were in the park."

"She's right," Jaden agreed, then changed his voice to his "paladin" voice, "We should finish our meals and head out to make sure we have enough time to explore Castle Town before Adora is summoned to her Archery Tourney."

"I'd like to return here later," Tommy said as Kordek, "maybe try my hand at the 'Hammer of Fate'"

The "Hammer of Fate" was one of those games where you use a hammer to hit a lever that throws a puck up to hit a bell, like you'd see at any fair, except that it had a runed "Dwarven" hammer, and on the way back down, the puck can travel various paths back to the bottom, depending on how high the puck went. Each path was labeled with phrases such as "Dies Alone" at the lowest, or "Finds True Love" at one of the highest. These are supposed to reflect the "fate" of the player.

"Perhaps after the Jousts we can return," I suggested as Grogun.

"Maybe we can split up for a bit after the Jousts and do our own thing for the last hour," Ashley added as Adora, "I know I want to explore the bandit's camp before we have to leave."

"That's a good idea," Amy agreed, "I was hoping Grogun and I could v-visit the Lover's G-Grove before we leave."

There was that stutter again.

"Indeed," I agreed as Grogun, gently placing my hand on hers.

Amy smiled as big as she had before.

It should have been awkward, acting like lovers as our characters would, her being my sister and all, but for some reason, it just felt, good. It made me happy seeing her so happy.

We finished eating and left the "mountain" through the same entrance we'd used to come in and continued our path to Castle Town. Just before we reached the castle walls, a path cut off to the left with a sign that read, "Fishing Lake". While I was curious to see what they had there, that might have to wait until next year, as our time was unexpectedly limited by Ashley's amazing archery skills.

As we passed through the castle gates, the smells of various foods wafted through the air. Sweet and savory scents that, if we hadn't just eaten, would have instantly made me want...

"FUNNEL CAKE!" Amy screamed excitedly, pulling me by the hand through the street toward the food court.

Behind us, I could hear the rest of the group laughing as Amy nearly dragged me to the funnel cake stand. She stopped just short of the line to the stand and turned to face me. She started bouncing up and down on her toes like a little kid.

"Gabe can we get a funnel cake please I know we just ate but you know how much I love funnel cake and we haven't gone somewhere that has it in so long and I really want to share a funnel cake with you please?"

I would have started laughing at how adorable she was being if it weren't for the very distracting fact that every time she jumped, her boobs nearly escaped from what I suddenly remembered was her very revealing outfit. My heart began pounding in my chest and then I realized, my pants were suddenly feeling tighter than normal.

"Elyveria, dear," I said in-character as Grogun, placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her from bouncing, "I would love to share a funnel cake with you."

Amy squealed, then hugged me tightly, "Thankyou thankyou thankyou!"

Her chest pressed against mine, and I could feel everything. Her soft, voluptuous bosom was pressed tight against my chest, and I could feel... were her nipples hard? I mean, she must have been cold in that dress, as revealing as it was. Although, it was a mild day, around seventy at the moment, but it would be getting colder as the evening approached.

Suddenly Amy broke our hug, recomposed herself, and said, "I mean, 'Thank you, my love, we rarely get to enjoy such a treat together.'"

From nearby I heard our friends laughing hysterically. Amy and I both turned to look at them as they finally caught up with us.

"Your bondmate seems to really like funnel cake," Tommy noted as Kordek.

Amy started blushing, embarrassed at her childish outburst.

I simply smiled and replied, "Indeed."

I took Amy by the hand and we got in line at the funnel cake stand. Amy wrapped her arm around mine and leaned against my arm.

"I'm sorry if I embarrassed you just now," she said quietly.

"You didn't," I reassured her, "I'm glad you're having fun," I kissed the top of her head, "Even if you do get overhyped about what is basically a glorified giant donut."

"Agh," Amy balked, "how dare you compare the majestic sweetened confectionary of the funnel cake to a lowly donut."

We both laughed together. When we reached the front of the line, Amy ordered a basic powdered sugar funnel cake, and I paid for it (since she had no way to carry a wallet or anything, I'd agreed to pay for things while we were there and she offered to pay me back. When we got our cake and sat down, the others joined us.

"That looks goooood," Ashley, as Adora, observed, leaning over toward the sugary dessert.

"It smells good, too," Tommy, as Kordek, added.

Amy pulled the plate closer to her, "Back, heathens! Go get your own funnel cake. This one's MINE!"

Just then, I quickly pulled a small piece of the cake off and popped it in my mouth.

Amy pretended to be appalled, then sighed, sliding the plate halfway between us, "I guess this one's ours."

Everyone laughed, even Jaden who had been trying his best to maintain a neutral "serious/annoyed" expression that his character often held.

"Now I want one," Ashley whispered loudly to Jaden out of character.

"Why don't you wait until after the Archery Tournament so that you don't get a stomach ache while you're shooting," Tommy suggested out of character.

"I'll buy you one after the Tournament," Jaden agreed.

"I can use the token I won to get my own funnel cake," Ashley mused, "I just wanted to know if you wanted to share one with me."

By this time, Amy had already dug into our cake and was shoving bite after bite into her mouth. I was also occasionally taking a few bites here and there, but Amy was nearly inhaling it.

"Slow down, my love," I said as Grogun, "We're not in a hurry."

"Sorry," Amy mumbled with a bite of funnel cake still in her mouth, slowing her eating.

Jaden again checked his phone. Apparently he had become our unofficial timekeeper.

"It's almost two, so we do have a little time until Adora needs to be at the Tournament," he declared .

"We should probably see what this town has to offer before the Tournament," I suggested.

"Good Idea," Tommy replied.

"Oh, so now we are in a hurry," Amy snarked, placing the last bite of funnel cake in her mouth, "lebs go."

After throwing the paper plate away, we all set out to explore the town. The town had all the usual entertainment, shows, and stands you'd expect from a Renaissance Festival: glass blowers, swordsmiths, sword swallowers, people with whips and swords showing off their skills, turkey legs, funnel cake (obviously), and fried food of all sorts.

There was also a large area where the jousts would be held, and an archery range that, at the moment, was holding the same kind of event that the elven village archery range had: a ten-yard, ten-arrow, "hit the target to win" challenge with a reward of five hits to enter the tournament.

When we approached it at around two twenty, they had stopped accepting customers and their final challenger was shooting. He already had four arrows in the target, none bullseyes, but only had four in his quiver. He aimed his last arrow and fired. The arrow hit the outside ring. Rather than continue shooting, he accepted his tournament entry and commemorative plaque. As he left the range, so the crew could set up for the tournament, the crowd congratulated him.

At two thirty, they started taking entries for the tournament. Ashley was one of the first to hand in her entry ticket, and was directed to have a seat in a waiting area while they finish setting up. By three o'clock, twenty three people had entered the tournament.

Tommy, Jaden, Amy, and I had found seats in the stands right up close. At three o'clock on the dot, a horn sounded, and a man dressed in medieval-esque attire appropriate to the fantasy setting stepped out onto the range near the stands and contestants.

He shouted clearly enough to be heard by all, "Ladies, Gentleman, and others, welcome to the Metolac Grand Archery Tourney. I am Lord Holdstrom, master of the tourneys. Today we have twenty three archers who have decided to challenge each other for the title of Archery Grand Champion, along with special rewards for the top three competitors. The rules of the tourney are as follows: The targets start at fifteen yards, and have five rings with points ranging from five for a bullseye to one for the outer ring. Archers will each be given five arrows. Starting in order of entry, the first five archers will fire all their arrows at their designated targets. Once all archers have fired all arrows, our score caller will count and call out the score for each archer. Then the next five archers will take their place and fire their arrows. This will repeat until all archers have fired their arrows, at which time the archer with the highest score will be named Grand Champion, and the top three archers will be rewarded. In the event of a tie, a tie-breaker round will be held. Will the first five archers please step up to the first line where the bows and quivers are."

All the contestants stood up from the waiting area and headed to the shooting lines. As she did, Ashley stopped for a moment, then looked around the stands for us. When she saw us, we all waved and cheered at her. She smiled, then continued to the line.

Lord Holdstrom went over the basic whistle commands, then began the competition. Of the first five competitors, Ashley clearly had an advantage. We watched as she launched arrows, one after the other into the target. Her first three arrows were nearly perfect. Her fourth arrow was just outside the bullseye, and the fifth arrow once again hit the bullseye.

When the first five scores were called, Ashley's was the best by fifteen points, with her score being 24, and the others being 9, 8, 6, and 2.

As she returned to the waiting area while the next five archers took their places, Jaden stood up and, out of character yelled, "Great job, babe! You got this!"

Ashley smiled, and called back, "Hell yeah I do!"

The second group of five archers did only slightly better than their predecessors, with scores of 14, 13, 12, 8, and 6.

However, within the third group, there was one archer who suddenly became serious competition for Ashley. When his first arrow was a bullseye, our whole group suddenly got quiet. As his second arrow also hit the bullseye, we all looked at each other, worried. By the third and fourth bullseye, I could feel the tension in the air. By this time, all four other competitors had finished shooting their arrows, and a couple had started heckling the experienced archer. With the tension mounting, he loosed his arrow, which went too far left, hitting solidly in the 4 point ring.

We all jumped up and cheered. Ashley may have had to do a tie-breaker round, if nobody else scores perfect, but that would make it more fun. The remaining competitors all scored below 20, and only one scored above 15.

The contestants who scored below 15 were given a commemorative arrow with the festival's logo on it. The one who scored above 15 but less than 20 was asked to wait in the waiting area for the final awards. Ashley and her new rival were also asked to wait while they set up for the tie breaker. While they waited, we could see the two of them talking, but couldn't hear what they were saying.

While they were setting up for the tie breaker, Lord Holdstrom announced the rules for the tie breaker, "This will be a single-shot, same target, tie breaker. Each archer will be given a single arrow of different colors and both archers will be shooting at the same target. When the whistle sounds, each archer will have thirty seconds to take their shot. Once both archers have shot, whichever archer's arrow scores the most points will be declared the winner and awarded the title of Grand Champion. The other archer will be our second place winner. Now, normally for the tie breaker we would place the target at thirty feet, to add a little extra challenge," at this the crowd cheered, but went silent when Lord Holdstrom continued, "However, since our two competitors, Master Jerald Longstead and Lady Adora Bla'as, are also the only two who scored a perfect ten shots in the preliminary contests, and both scored nearly perfect during the Tournament, the target will be placed at fifty yards from the shooting line." The crowd went wild, shouting and cheering louder than before.

"Archers, take your places!" Lord Holdstrom commanded.

Ashley and Jerald took their positions at the waiting lines.

"Archers, take your bows," Holdstrom commanded.

As they took their bows off the stands, Holdstrom approached them holding an ornate pillow with two arrows, one red, one blue. He offered the arrows to them, first to Ashley, who selected the red arrow, then to Jerald, who took the blue.

"Archers have received their arrows," Holdstrom announced to the crowd, "Lady Adora has selected the red arrow, leaving Master Jerald with the blue."

He blew his whistle twice, "Archers to the firing line!"

He then blew his whistle once more. The atmosphere suddenly got tense. Both archers drew their bows, and held. They weren't just aiming. They were waiting... as if whomever shot first would surely lose.

10 seconds went by.

15 seconds...

20 seconds...

28 seconds...

Ashley fired her bow followed instantly by Jerald's shot. For just a second a blur of red and blue streaked down the archery range, red and blue arrows seemingly entwined as a single arrow streaming down the field toward the target until...