018

"So." Perun said flatly.

"Cheers." Reynard said lifting his glass into the air. "First cheers. You've always been to eager to work. There is more in what on this earth then that. When was the last time we were all together, here? Now that Kwyn is here I think that we deserve a cheers."

"Cheers." Cytheria said.

"Cheers." Kwyn said.

"Cheers." Perun said with a shrug of his shoulders. "For you this might be something, but not for me. I haven't forgotten the old ways, I didn't let them fade. How long has it been for the rest of you? And this year Reynard? What makes it so special? Why summon us back to this place and recreate that journey? I do not know what you hope to find at the end. You will all come to a place that you will no longer recognize. Your absence has left it's mark."

"You remained behind? You continued?" Kwan asked.

"I remembered."

"What is special about this year?" Reynard laughed. He shrugged his shoulders, mimicking Perun's gesture from moments before. "This year is different, things are at work that require our attention."

"What is different?" Perun finished off his mug of ale.

"We have a long journey a head of us, and we leave tomorrow. There will be much to describe the details while we travel. Many things have happened, but tonight," Reynard's mood brightened as he waved at Nail who stood behind the bar. "Another round kind sir."

"I've not even have half." Kywn said.

"No matter, no matter. As I was saying, tonight we celebrate the journey ahead of us. We toast to the journey as a reflection of this same journey we started on long ago. We remember the past and what we felt then, and we prepare for the future."

"It has been a long time Reynard." Perun said with a shake of his head.

"Has it?"

"Ten thousand years is a long time," Perun sighed, "for anyone." He buried his face deep within his mug and swallowed the last of his ale as Nial brought four more mugs to the table.