Fic: Shadows of the Past Parts 4-6
Jan. 29th, 2011 08:15 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
bookishwenchFor earlier parts, see Parts 1-3
" Goodbye to Hollywood" Billy Joel
" Man's Road" America
" Flight of Dragons" Don McLean
Chapter 4: Return to the Realm
The moon was indeed much brighter than Eric had thought was possible when the gang snuck over the wall of the closed amusement park and darted into the shadows of a Tilt-a-Whirl, hoping that security guards weren’t about to have them arrested. It was nearly as bright as daylight. The stars were also clearer than normal, and it looked like somebody had added a few thousand extra for good measure.
“Everybody okay?” Hank whispered, checking carefully over his shoulder to be sure they weren’t followed.
“Yeah,” Sheila whispered back, drawing her jacket around her tightly even though the night air was balmy. “We’re all here.”
“Right. Then let’s get to the ride and see if anything happens,” Hank said.
“Or if we all just stand there like a bunch of losers and get hauled off to the pokey for trespassing,” Eric said cheerfully. “Either way, we’re pretty well doomed.”
“Enough gabbing. Let’s get moving already,” Presto said, and to Eric’s surprise, the magician was the one leading the way for once. He wasn’t sure he could ever remember that happening before.
Past the pond where the paddleboats usually drifted, around the silent carousel whose horses seemed to be staring right at them, and beneath the geometric shadows of the roller coaster and the darkened Ferris wheel, they could finally see the closed off Dungeons and Dragons ride. There was plenty of yellow tape strung around it, complete with giant Keep Out signs and other warnings of impending disaster if anyone even looked at the place too long.
“Okay, so, Varla said to go back to the beginning,” Diana said, scuffing at a bit of the rubble with the toe of her shoe. “We’re here, right?”
“Almost,” Presto said. “I think we need to actually go inside.”
“In there?” Eric said, pointing at the crater that used to be the entrance through the dragon’s mouth. “Are you nuts?”
“Maybe,” Presto said grimly, but he was already starting to pick his way through the debris.
The rest of them all looked at each other, but Terry followed next, Bobby right behind her, and then Sheila, Diana, and Hank in a pack. Eric stood outside for a few seconds, looking at the world around him.
“I hope this works,” he mumbled. “I don’t know why, but I do.”
The tracks were a mangled mess, but they were still pretty much where they’d been before the portal had opened to the Realm. It was dark inside, but the ceiling had given way in many places, and the moonlight glowed enough for them to make their way forward.
Suddenly, an enormous green and brown dragon roared up in front of them, belching fire and waving its arms furiously.
It’s possible Eric had squealed and tried to form a shield out of thin air, but then again it’s also possible that everyone else in the group had alternately screamed or started to run until Diana began to laugh.
“Guys! We just stepped on the pressure switch that triggers the dragon. It’s fake, not real,” she said, pointing at the spot where the cars would normally have made the robot move.
“Yeah,” Eric said, dusting imaginary dirt from his shoulders. “I knew that. I just didn’t know if the rest of you did.”
“Well, if I remember right, the ride started to go all wonky pretty soon after that dragon went off,” Hank said, staring ahead of them. “I think it was right about… there.”
They stared around them, looking at the exact spot they’d been fished out of almost a week ago. They moved towards it, standing on top of the bent metal and shattered plaster, and waited.
“Does anybody know what time it is?” Sheila asked, staring up at the moonlight coming through the ceiling above.
“11:59,” Presto said, glancing at his digital watch.
Suddenly, the moon’s light was coming directly through the hole overhead, and it became brighter, whiter, more intense than was physically possible… at least in their world.
“Something tells me it just hit midnight!” Eric yelled as the winds of another vortex swirled around them, warping reality and propelling them forward into the unknown once more.
When the world stopped moving again, they were on the outskirts of a swamp that smelled all too familiar.
“Where are we? The town dump?” Bobby asked, holding his nose.
“Nope, I’d recognize this stench anywhere,” Diana said. “We’re back in the Swamp of Darkness.”
“Yeah!” Presto said excitedly, “The one right outside of Varla’s village! Come on!”
“Uh, does anyone else remember that the last time we were there the villagers wanted to burn us at the stake?” Eric said, moving his cloak out of the way of the water.
His cloak? Yes, he was back in chainmail again, and a glance at everyone else showed that they too were once more in their clothes as Ranger, Acrobat, Thief, Barbarian, and Magician. Terry was now in a knee-length dress of dark blue fabric, the exact color of the jeans she had been wearing earlier, with bell sleeves and a pair of dark brown boots. She didn’t seem to have noticed the change, nor had the others.
“Hey, they never actually said they were going to burn us at the stake,” Diana said.
“Technically, no,” Eric said, “so maybe they could have been planning to drown us instead.”
“See, there’s optimism,” Diana said with a smirk. “But we’ve got to get out of here before we all keel over from the smell.”
“With that, I agree,” Eric said, and he followed in the others’ footsteps as Presto led the way towards the village.
It wasn’t until then that Eric noticed that he did not have his shield. None of them had weapons. He frowned and decided it might be better to wait and bring that little point up when they were inside, safely away from prying ears and eyes.
They walked on and on through the darkness, waiting to see the lights of the little village, but there was nothing but darkness. The three moons of the Realm were at half, quarter, and new, so there wasn’t anywhere near as much light to see by as there had been back on Earth, and Eric was beginning to suspect that Presto had lost his way. He would have made a very witty and pithy comment about it, but frankly he was too worried to come up with one.
“It should be right here,” Presto said, looking around them in confusion.
“Should be, but isn’t,” Hank said, bending to look at a dark shape near his feet. “This used to be a house. This whole place has been burned to the ground.”
“What? Are you sure it’s not one of Varla’s illusions?” Sheila asked, running her hands over the charred wood.
“No,” Presto said, “I’m pretty sure it isn’t.”
“How do you know?” Eric asked suspiciously.
“I don’t know how I know, I just know, you know?” Presto said.
“No, I don’t know how you know. If I knew how you know, you know I wouldn’t ask how you know that you know,” Eric said. “So no.”
“Try saying that five times fast,” Bobby said out of the corner of his mouth to Terry.
“Look, obviously something bad happened here,” Hank said, glancing around warily, “and whatever did it might still be hanging around. I think we should seek some kind of shelter until morning.”
“Good idea,” Sheila said. “I’m bushed.”
“I’m not tired,” Bobby said through a yawn, but the way he was leaning heavily against a tree trunk suggested he was going to be asleep in another second.
They picked out a spot that had some coverage in case of an attack but was still open enough to allow them to run if they needed to, then bunked down in a circle, completely exhausted. No one stirred until morning.
When dawn came, the two suns seemed dimmer than normal. There was light, of course, but it felt shaky and thin somehow, like afternoon light in winter when the sun goes down too early. At first Eric wondered if they’d all overslept, but no, the suns were definitely low in the east, exactly where they should be in the morning even in the Realm.
The ruins that daylight did reveal were not a happy sight. Hank was right. The whole village had been razed to the ground, and it seemed as though there hadn’t been anyone there for quite a while. It suddenly occurred to Eric that time might be moving differently in the Realm than it did on Earth. After all, years had passed here and not more than an hour or two had at home. If they’d been gone for days in Earth time, centuries could have passed since then.
“Uh, guys,” Eric said. “How long have we been gone?”
“Same thing was going through my mind,” Diana said, “but it can’t have been that long. Varla didn’t look much older than the last time we saw her.”
“Yeah… if she ages like a normal person,” Eric said, frowning. “Hey, Presto, your girlfriend might have a millennium or two on you now.”
“Shut up,” Presto said. “There has to be a reason she sent us here. Look around. Maybe there’s a sign or something.”
“Or Dungeon Master. Or some weapons. Or a map. Or a Magic Eight Ball,” Eric grumbled, stretching the kinks out of his back. He might not miss a lot about home, but his bed was definitely on the list. “Nice, hot oatmeal and some fried eggs wouldn’t be bad either.”
“Presto’s right,” Hank said. “I don’t think that vortex pulled us here accidentally.”
“Fine, fine, but I’m keeping an eye open for breakfast, too,” Eric said, starting to prod around the burned out remains of the village.
It wasn’t long before Terry called out, “Over here!” and everyone came rushing to the charred spot where the jail that had once held them used to stand. There in the soot was, unmistakably, an arrow pointing eastward towards the forest.
“Okay,” Hank said. “I guess we go that way, then. Keep a sharp eye out for any other trail markers.”
“Righty-oh, mon capitan,” Eric said with a mock salute, but he trudged along in line like everyone else, looking left and right for any clues.
They travelled onwards, moving as closely along the line of the arrow as they could, and eventually arrived in a small clearing. An X made of white stones marked the ground.
“This must be the place,” Hank said. “X marks the spot.”
“Yeah,” Presto said, “I guess. I don’t feel anything.”
“Oh no?” Eric said, his eyes going wide. “I think I see something, though!”
Just over the topmost branches of the tree across from them was not one but five heads, each one like something from a nightmare. Tiamat was coming towards them, and they were in the open, defenseless and doing everything but holding up a Free Lunch sign.
“Well, don’t just stand there gawking!” Eric yelled. “Run!”
“No,” came a screeching voice as Tiamat entered the clearing. “There is no use in it, and it is not my intention to harm you… now.”
“Oh, that’s real comforting,” Eric said. “What about fifteen minutes from now?”
“Silence, fool,” the dragon said, and its white head let off a short stream of ice in protest. “The girl Varla has sent me to you.”
“Varla sent you?” Presto asked doubtfully. “Why should we believe you?”
“She said if you did not believe me, I was to tell you that when she stumbled down the mountain and you lifted her, she whispered in your ear the words—” the dragon began, but Presto abruptly interrupted her.
“Okay, okay, no one else knows she said anything. We can leave it there,” Presto said.
“No, I think I wanna know for sure,” Eric said with a grin.
“’You’re standing on my dress,’” Tiamat continued anticlimactically.
“Oh,” Eric said, disappointed. “That’s what you didn’t want everybody to hear?”
“Hey, it was my one big hero moment,” Presto said. “Can I at least have the illusion of being suave once?”
“No,” Eric said, then turned to Tiamat. “So, let’s say we believe Varla sent you. What does she want us to do?”
“I am to bring you to her,” Tiamat shrieked, the red head releasing a small jet of flame as though in disgust.
“And you’re doing this why exactly?” Hank asked.
“You may help in the battle we fight against the Shadow, and I hate it more than I loathe you,” the dragon said, spitting acid on the ground and shriveling the grass to punctuate that it seemed to be a near miss in her levels of dislike.
“Okay, so we’re on the same side,” Diana said. “Fine. I’m good with that if you are, so lead the way.”
Tiamat snorted, and then bent her five necks towards the ground.
“Wait… you want us to ride you?” Eric said in disbelief.
“No, I do not want you to ride me,” Tiamat said, raising the blue head towards him, “but I must let you this once. It is the only way to be certain no one finds your trail.”
The kids looked at one another with varying degrees of trepidation, but eventually Hank mounted the red neck where it joined the dragon’s shoulders. Eric, not to be outdone, chose the green one, while Presto threw a shaky leg across the blue neck and Diana sat on the white one. Sheila looked nervously at the black neck, then at her brother and his friend.
“So, who wants to…,” she began.
“I shall carry the two smallest in my claws,” Tiamat said. “Waste no more time! They are coming!”
Sheila quickly climbed onto the black neck, and Tiamat gripped Bobby in her left hand and Terry in her right.
“Hey, watch it!” he yelled. “Those claws are sharp.”
“And poisoned,” Tiamat added. “Stop struggling or I may decide that bringing six back is quite enough.”
“You’d drop me?” Bobby said, looking angry.
“No,” Tiamat said, shaking her right hand, “her.”
“Okay, okay, I’m quiet,” Bobby said, keeping his mouth firmly shut.
What happened next was something Eric could never forget. With a thunderous rush of wind, the dragon’s great orange wings pumped the air three times, and then lifted them from the ground and high into the sky in less than a heartbeat. He clung for dear life to the green scales in front of him, apparently too tightly since the head whipped around to hiss at him fiercely. He willed himself to slacken his grip a little, and he looked down at the world beneath him. The countryside was speeding past, hills and valleys, fields, forests, mountains, but the one thing they all had in common was none of them seemed vibrant. It was like a thin layer of shadow clung to everything.
At last they reached a great desert of yellow sand that continued as far as the eye could see. The shadow didn’t seem to have penetrated this far, and Eric found himself able to breathe better in this place. The dragon’s wings still beat the air in steady strokes, but they were slowing, and Eric could see they were beginning to get closer to the ground. He glanced sideways and saw Diana with a look of exhilaration on her face, her hair blown back in the wind. She was actually enjoying this. Hank, however, looked a little bit green. Somehow this gave Eric a moment’s satisfaction.
A few minutes later, Tiamat’s feet touched the sand, and with a gentle bowing of her heads, they dismounted. There was a small collection of tents only a few yards away.
“Thank you for the ride,” Sheila called up to her.
Tiamat stared at her. Eric swore he saw the white head roll its eyes in disbelief, but the dragon merely flapped her wings and took flight, creating a small sandstorm as she rose and flew further east, becoming nothing but a dot in the sky and then disappearing entirely.
“She’s here,” Presto said, his voice cracking in excitement, and he took off running at top speed towards a tent on the far end of the little settlement.
"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" Police
"Owner of a Lonely Heart" Yes
"Separate Ways" Journey
"Time (Clock of the Heart)" Culture Club
Chapter 5: The Shadow Left Behind
The others followed close on Presto’s heels, catching up with him as he tried to figure out how to open the tent flap. He needn’t have bothered, though, as the ties were quickly undone from the inside and Varla pushed the door aside.
She stood silhouetted against the light of a brazier burning inside, her red hair glistening in the sunlight, still clothed in white, and her eyes sparkled with joy.
“Hi,” Presto said, seemingly unable to move and not even blinking so he didn’t miss a moment of seeing her.
“Hello,” Varla replied, equally frozen, her eyes drinking him in.
“Yeah, good morning, nice to see you again, when’s breakfast, and what are we doing here,” Eric said, pushing past her into the tent.
“You just do not have a single romantic bone in your entire body, do you,” Sheila said, shaking her head as she followed him in.
“Not when I haven’t had anything to eat for this long,” Eric said, then spotted kebabs roasting on the brazier. “Ah-ha! Food!”
“It is intended for you, my children,” said another voice they recognized at once, and this time Eric really was pleased.
“Rahmoud!” he said, completely forgetting about food and giving him a hug. “It’s great to see you again!”
“And you,” he said, returning Eric’s unusual show of affection with a ruffling of his hair. “All of you have been missed.”
“We’ve missed you too,” Sheila said, hugging him in turn. “How’s Aiyesha?”
“Very well, very well,” Rahmoud said, carefully removing a kebab from the brazier and handing it to Sheila. “She has no more bad dreams, and the children are free. However, there are other things that weigh upon the Realm now. But first, eat and refresh yourselves after your journey. We shall speak of these things later.”
Rahmoud got no argument from the gang as they tore into the food. Bobby explained to Terry about their previous experience with the City on the Edge of Midnight, and she smiled shyly at Rahmoud, who treated her as one of his children as much as the others. Any friend of theirs was his as well, he told them. Eric had nearly forgotten how much he liked Rahmoud, and he felt more relaxed in his tent than he had in a very long time.
When they’d all had their fill, and considering Eric’s appetite no one could figure out how he could still fit into his armor, they sat around the fire and waited expectantly for the explanation of their summons. Varla looked at Presto, who had eaten less than the rest and never taken his eyes from her face, and interlaced her fingers with his.
“It has been a year since Venger was redeemed,” Varla said, “and much has happened since then.”
“A year, huh?” Eric said. “It’s been a week for us.”
“Will you let her get on with the story?” Diana urged him, slapping his arm.
He vaguely considered mouthing off again on the off chance she’d do that again.
“Go on,” Presto encouraged her. “What happened?”
“Though Venger remains one on the side of light, his minion, the Shadow Demon whom he forced to do his will, has gained power,” Varla explained. “Part of the bargain Venger struck when he put aside his goodness and became a servant of the forces of evil was that he should have the Shadow Demon as his servant and spy in return. When the bargain was broken, the Shadow Demon became free once more, and it was only then that the scope of its might became known.”
“Wait, the Shadow Demon?” Eric said. “That wispy thing Venger used to have? You called us back here to fight a shadow puppet?”
“He’s no puppet,” Varla said. “You have seen how the light of the Realm is dimmed throughout the west. Each day the shadow grows longer, trying to capture more and more, and what falls under its spell is enslaved to its will. It must be stopped or else all the land will be in darkness.”
“Can’t Dungeon Master help you?” Sheila asked.
“No,” Varla said, looking sad. “He went to the far west to try to battle the demon, but he did not return. We fear he may be dead.”
“Dungeon Master? Dead?” Eric said. “Nah. He’s way too smart for that.”
“I hope that you are right,” Varla said, but her voice sounded uncertain.
“So what can we do to help?” Hank asked.
“There is a prophecy that says the darkness may be defeated by the seven who came from the other world, returned from the Realm, and breached the gap again to bring back the light,” Varla said.
“That does sound like us,” Presto said.
“Yeah, but how do we do it?” Diana asked.
“By going into the edge of the west, finding the Shadow Demon in its lair, and smiting it with the Crystal of the Two Suns,” Varla said.
“Boy, this prophet sure was specific,” Eric said. “I don’t suppose he knows the winning spread on the Super Bowl this year by any chance?”
“Raiders over Redskins, 38 to 9,” Varla said without missing a beat, “and the prophet isn’t a he but a she. Me, actually.”
“They told her that her powers would grow over time,” Rahmoud said. “This is another that has come forth.”
“Illusions, prophecies, inter-dimensional holographic phone calls,” Eric counted off on his fingers. “Your girlfriend’s got some pretty marketable talents there, Presto.”
Varla smiled at Presto, and he blushed a very bright red that clashed horribly with his green wizard’s robes.
“Okay, so we need to get the Crystal of the Two Suns, and we could really use our weapons,” Hank said. “How do we go about getting those?”
“Tiamat has returned to the Dragon’s Graveyard to find your weapons,” Rahmoud said. “She will return with them on the morrow, for it is a long journey, even for a dragon.”
“Yeah, how exactly did you get old Five Heads working for you?” Eric asked.
“She hates the Shadow Demon as well,” Varla explained. “It means to extinguish all light, and as dragons have fire within them, this means she too will perish. She is not a friendly ally, but she is a trustworthy one.”
“It’s gonna be weird, getting our weapons from Tiamat,” Bobby said. “I think I like Dungeon Master playing Santa Claus better. I hope he’s okay.”
“Me too, Bobby,” Sheila said with a worried look towards the door that opened to the west. “Me too.”
The rest of the day was spent relaxing befor the upcoming battle and catching up on the rest of the changes since they had been gone. Varla’s parents had escaped the burning of their village, but they had both been injured. They had gone into hiding with others who needed time to heal in another settlement even farther east. Venger was anxious to prove himself after his fall from grace, but his punishment for his choices had been the removal of his ability to do magic. He had received a minor injury in a skirmish with some of the Shadow Demon’s minions, and he was expected to arrive back in camp the next day.
But the visitors tried to enjoy at least one day back in the Realm, not thinking of the battles that lay ahead. Eric, for his part, spent a good part of the day in the shade of the tent, watching the suns trace their path across the sky. He sighed in contentment, then went outside to get a pitcher of water from the nearby oasis. It was strange, he thought, that when he was in the Realm the first time, all he could think of was how much he wanted to be home. Once he got home, some part of him had always wanted to be back here. Now that he’d returned, he felt no draw at all towards Earth. He missed his brother, but his parents, school, the home that was really just a house, all of it felt less important now.
He stood with his back against a palm tree and drank deeply from the pitcher, the water tasting cool and fresh after the hot sun. Suddenly, he heard a faint cry from behind him. Turning on instinct, immediately in a battle position, he realized the sound was coming from behind a thicker stand of palms. He moved cautiously towards it, ready for anything from an Orc attack to a relapsed Venger, then heard scuffling noises as though a fight were taking place. Realizing they were probably in an ambush, he grabbed a large stone from the ground and hoisted it, ready to hurl it at the unknown foe.
He rounded the corner and stopped in complete shock.
Presto and Varla were lying together on a richly patterned rug spread under the base of one of the trees, facing one another. He cradled her face with one of his hands as he kissed her, touching her as though she were made of porcelain. Clasping him tightly around the waist, she closed her eyes in bliss, and a low moan filled the air. As Eric watched, dumbstruck, she rolled them so she lay on top of Presto, then rested her head against his heart. Presto’s hands tangled themselves in her hair, and he pulled her upwards towards his mouth to kiss her again, holding her like the most precious thing in the world. She bent to whisper something in his ear, and Eric was pretty sure it wasn’t “You’re standing on my dress” this time.
Eric delicately tiptoed away back towards the camp, certain that they hadn’t noticed his intrusion. He was just glad he hadn’t hit them with the rock.
“Hey, Eric,” Diana called when she saw him, “have you seen Presto anywhere?”
“No!” he yelped. “I have absolutely not seen Presto or Varla anywhere at all, no, no, no I have not!”
Diana stared after him as he darted into the tent, wondering what on earth was up with him, then shrugged and chalked it up to the mystery that was Eric. For his part, Eric spent the rest of the afternoon desperately trying not to imagine Diana and him on that rug dappled with sunshine, and failed miserably.
Hank, however, was in conference with Rahmoud, trying to pick up any stray bits of information that might help them. From his face when he finally came back to the tent, Eric could tell he hadn’t been very successful.
“No luck?” he asked.
“None,” Hank said, sitting down near the brazier and staring at the flames.
“Well, maybe Varla will get another brain wave before we set out tomorrow,” Eric said hopefully.
“Maybe,” Hank said, “but our first destination isn’t exactly my favorite place in this world.”
“And that would be?” Eric asked.
“The Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn,” Hank said, glancing from the flames over to Eric. “That’s where the Crystal of the Two Suns is kept.”
“The place where we all nearly got killed and the only way we escaped was Dungeon Master teleporting us out?” Eric said, his voice getting hysterical. “That Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn?”
“It’s the only one I know about,” Hank said, sighing heavily.
“If they’ve got a spare one laying around somewhere that’s full of ice cream cones and puppy dogs, now would be a good time for them to tell us,” Eric grumbled.
“Yeah,” Hank said. “That’d be nice. You ever notice how absolutely nothing is ever easy in the Realm?”
“Earth isn’t exactly a picnic on the beach every day either,” Eric said. “Still, I’m going to feel a lot better once we’ve got our weapons back. We’re way too vulnerable like this.”
Hank nodded silently in agreement, staring at the flames again and lost in thought.
“Hank?” Eric asked after a long moment. “Is there anything you like about this place?”
“No,” he answered immediately, then grimaced. “That’s not true. I like some of the people here… beings... whatever they are. Like Rahmoud and Varla, they’re good. But I belong back home. We all do. None of us are meant to be here.”
“Yeah,” Eric said, “I guess not.”
Eric’s eyes didn’t meet Hank’s, though, and he got to his feet and left the tent, looking out over the open desert as the sky darkened into evening. Not far away, Sheila was speaking with some of the women of Rahmoud’s tribe, kneading bread dough into a large, flat circle on a paddle to be baked. She laughed at something one of them said, and Eric thought she seemed pretty happy all things considered. A little farther off, he caught sight of Bobby and Terry playing some game of their own invention that looked a little like a combination of baseball and hopscotch using rocks and sticks. Terry was giggling as Bobby tried to toss a small stone backwards over his shoulder into a space she’d drawn in the sand.
But Eric couldn’t see Diana anywhere. After wandering aimlessly from one tent to another, he finally caught sight of her standing off by herself, watching the sky. As he approached her, he noticed that the first stars were starting to appear, glowing brilliantly above the desert. Their light made the edges of her silhouette clear against the dark blue of the sky, almost as though her skin glowed with the luster of silver. Eric caught his breath. She looked beautiful, powerful, but wistful.
“I know you’re there,” she said when he was still a good fifteen feet away.
He gulped and was suddenly reminded of a story his English teacher had told them once, a Greek myth about the goddess Diana who had caught someone watching her. If he remembered right, she’d sicced his own dogs on him until he was pulled apart. Hopefully she wasn’t quite that mad.
“Then we’re even,” he said, continuing towards here. He looked up at the sky, wondering what she was searching for. “So… what’re you doing?”
She took a deep breath and shook her head.
“Nothing,” she said. “Just looking. Trying to pick out constellations, I guess.”
“Diana, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re a really lousy liar,” Eric said. “You’re thinking about Starfall.”
She didn’t reply right away, but then she sighed softly and said, “Maybe.”
“Seriously, you spent, what, one whole day with Kosar?” Eric said, instantly jealous. “I mean, I get that he was cute in that whole Michael Jackson-esque kind of way, but was he really so spectacular that you keep mooning about him for years?!”
Diana gave him a sharp, bitter look and said, “What would you know about it, Eric? You’ve never loved anyone but yourself.”
She turned and stalked off towards the camp, disappearing into the shadows.
“Not true,” Eric said quietly to no one, looking at her retreating form, “but I’m starting to think no one’s ever loved me. Or ever will.”
"Abracadra" Steven Miller Band
"October" U2
"Edge of Seventeen" Stevie Nicks
Chapter 6: Gifts and Goodbyes
Eric slept poorly that night. Rahmoud put all of the travelers into one tent, and while Eric mentally wondered if grouping that many hormones in one space was a good idea, there didn’t seem to be any untoward liaisons happening under his nose. The only mischief anyone got up to was an impromptu game of flashlight tag played with torches between Bobby and Terry that involved enough giggling that Eric stuck his pillow over his head to drown them out. Eventually, even they fell asleep, and Eric was left to listen to everyone’s breathing, his thoughts glumly retracing the same patterns over and over. No matter how many times he told himself he should go to sleep, that he was going to be a sitting duck in a fight come morning if he didn’t get enough rest, he just couldn’t make his eyes stay shut.
Morning came, and Eric wasn’t sure if he’d slept at all. He was already awake when Rahmoud pulled back the flap of the tent and let in the morning light, but what got him to his feet was the sound of a large horse approaching, its hooves thudding dully against the sand, clear in the morning stillness. As far as he knew, there were expecting only two visitors to the camp that day, and one of them most definitely wouldn’t be riding a horse, at least not unless it was a five-headed one.
“Hank?” Eric called in a low voice to the next bed. “You up?”
“Yeah,” he replied, “I heard it too.”
“Reformed or not, I really don’t want Venger catching us all asleep the first time we see him again,” Eric said, pulling his greaves onto his legs and adding his boots.
“Good point,” Hank agreed, slipping his own shoes on as well.
“You’re not the only ones,” Sheila said, already sitting up.
“Aw, man,” Bobby moaned, “it can’t be morning yet!”
He determinedly rolled over, stuffed his head under a fur wrap, and was immediately snoring again.
“That’s my kid brother,” Sheila said, looking with amusement at his bed. “Venger shows up at the door and he still goes back to sleep.”
Eric glanced around the tent and realized everyone else was up as well, readying themselves, and as the hooves stopped completely and someone dismounted, he distinctly heard Varla gasp.
“Are you okay?” Presto asked.
“Yes,” she said, “I’m sorry, but even after his redemption, I can’t help but remember…”
“Hey, he kidnapped you, tortured you, and nearly killed you,” Presto said, his face darkening. “There’d be something wrong with you if you did feel okay with him.”
She smiled at him.
“Do you want to stay here?” he asked.
“No,” she replied. “It won’t be the first time I’ve seen him since then. It’s just… awkward.”
“Then we’ll go together,” he said, taking her hand.
“We’ll all go,” Eric said, hoisting himself to his feet with a stiff clanking, “but if it’s alright, Presto, I’m not holding your hand.”
Diana snorted with laughter, but Eric could still tell she wasn’t back to normal yet. It didn’t matter, though. Everyone except Bobby headed outside together, but Eric hadn’t quite been expecting what he saw.
It was Nightmare, looking precisely the same as she had when the evil Venger had ridden her across the sky. She was still coal black, red tipping her hooves and glinting in her eyes. Eric couldn’t help it if he broke out in a cold sweat. The horse just seemed to have that effect on people as everyone else looked similarly nervous with the exception of Diana.
Diana had experience with horses, as everyone in the group knew from her attempts at riding various creatures of the Realm. Her aunt had owned a riding stable on the outskirts of town, and she’d all but been born in a saddle. She approached the horse slowly, carefully, extending a hand towards her forelock. To everyone’s amazement, the horse nuzzled into her touch, closed her eyes and whickered softly.
“Aw, see,” Diana said. “She’s a good girl, aren’t you!”
Eric raised an eyebrow uncertainly. He wasn’t sure he’d go so far as to call her “good,” but at least she hadn’t taken Diana’s arm off, so that was something.
Venger was nowhere to be seen, but as Nightmare was tied up outside Rahmoud’s tent, it was an easy guess whom he was talking to. By now Sheila and Terry had joined Diana in petting the horse, who was still perfectly docile except for a tendency to snort small sparks every few seconds.
“Weird,” Bobby said, looking with undisguised confusion at the girls petting the horse.
“I don’t know,” Hank said. “Something about girls and horses just goes together, I guess.”
“Huh,” Bobby said. “I guess that explains My Little Pony.”
“Does it strike anybody else as incredibly strange that we’re standing out here waiting to talk to Venger of all people… if Venger even actually is a person,” Eric said.
“Yeah,” Presto said, and Eric noted that Varla had stayed beside him rather than going up to Nightmare. “Things change.”
“I hope so,” Eric said.
A few moments later, Rahmoud walked out of the tent, followed closely by Venger. It was still startling to see him without a horn, fangs, or wings. Heck, his eyes didn’t even cross anymore. He looked surprisingly normal without the red and silver robes he’d previously worn; in fact, aside from being unusually tall, he looked downright ordinary.
“Venger,” Hank said by way of a greeting.
“Ranger,” he responded.
“Great, we can rhyme,” Eric said. “Can we all just not pretend this isn’t incredibly uncomfortable and move to the next level here?”
Venger’s eyes went to him immediately, and a ghost of a smile played over his lips.
“It is indeed awkward,” Venger agreed, and his voice, though still deep, sounded much less, well, evil than it had before. “I thank you again for freeing me from the cenotaph. My mistakes were many, and mercy was not a fate I thought would be mine.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re welcome,” Eric said. “Can we get back to the problem of your ex-lackey trying to plunge the Realm into eternal darkness?”
“We shall leave later today to journey towards the Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn,” Venger said.
“We?” Sheila asked, turning away from the horse and walking warily towards them. “You’re coming with us?”
“I know the Shadow Demon better than anyone else, and he has taken my father,” he replied, and for a moment the smallest spark of red crept into his eyes. “He will regret that choice.”
“You know, I never really got that,” Eric said. “So Kareena is your sister and Dungeon Master is your dad. Nobody in your family looks like anybody! Who the heck is your mother?”
“Eric,” Presto hissed warningly. “That’s not very polite.”
“It’s Venger, specifically de-fanged Venger,” Eric said. “I’m not sticking diplomacy at the top of my priority list.”
“Mother died after Kareena’s birth when I was still very young,” Venger said, his voice slightly annoyed. “I had not yet turned one hundred. She was a shape shifter, as is Kareena and as I once was before the penalty was exacted for my treachery.”
“You actually chose to look like a one-horned, black-winged, chalk-faced demon with a massive overbite?” Eric asked.
Venger seemed to shrug.
“I found it got the effect I wanted,” he said, then turned to Sheila. “My sister wished me to convey her greetings to you along with this.”
He handed her a small box. When she opened it, the Ring of Heart fell into her palm, its red gem glittering in the sunlight.
“Oh, that’s nice,” Sheila said, smiling as she placed the ring on her finger. “Thank you. Where is she?”
“The last I saw of her, she was in a somewhat less than pleasant dimension being tutored in the dark arts,” Venger said.
“Um… well, I guess I’m glad she’s happy?” Sheila said uncertainly.
“I believe she is,” Venger said, though he didn’t venture any opinion as to whether that was a good thing. “Tiamat should return soon with your weapons, and then we may leave, the more quickly, the better.”
“Fine by us,” Hank said. “Come on, guys. Let’s pack up.”
“Are we travelling by dragon again or using those weird short-nosed elephants of Rahmoud’s?” Eric asked.
“We shall be travelling in a caravan. The dungeon is not far from here, no more than two days’ ride,” Venger said. “There are too many of us for Tiamat to carry, and in spite of our truce, I do not think she would willingly allow me to ride her.”
“You are correct,” came a rasping voice from overhead, and the five-headed dragon appeared at the center of a vortex in the sky above. “I would never willingly bear you even if universes should perish.”
“What the heck did you do to tick her off that much?” Eric asked Venger as she landed beside the nearest tent.
“Before our first battle centuries ago, she was originally a six-headed dragon,” he replied.
“Oh,” Eric said, looking moderately impressed. “Yup, that’d do it.”
Tiamat dropped a simple burlap sack to the ground, hissing slightly as she did so.
“You will find your weapons within,” she said. “Take care. Their powers are still heightened from the Dragon’s Graveyard, though that will diminish in time.”
Hank went first, retrieving his energy bow and testing the weight of it in his hand. Cautiously, he pulled back on the glowing string and aimed at a distant rock. When he let the bolt fly, the energy crackled through the air like lightning and didn’t merely split the rock but reduced it to cinders. Diana’s staff came next, followed by Presto’s hat (he really did look a lot taller with it on), Bobby’s club, Eric’s shield, and Sheila’s cloak. The bag, however, did not appear to be empty.
“There is one remaining,” the dragon said. “The bones told me to bring this to the Dreamer.”
Terry looked uncertain, but placed her hand in the bag.
“If she’s the one who finally gets an actual sword, I’m quitting in protest,” Eric said, leaning against his shield.
It was not a sword Terry produced, though, but a glowing net that looked familiar.
“Hey, that’s the thing that saved Uni in the Dragon’s Graveyard!” Bobby said, walking to Terry and examining the net. “It heals really bad wounds. You just throw it over whoever’s hurt and pow, no more problem!”
“That’s the way it worked in the graveyard, Bobby,” Hank said. “I don’t know if it’ll be that powerful after the supercharge on it wears off.”
“Even so, it’s still a good thing to have handy,” Sheila said.
They looked at their weapons, remembering the feel of them as though becoming reintroduced to old friends, and a silence fell over them as they each began feeling their heft, testing their range. Terry, for her part, was weaving her fingers through the net with her eyes shut, almost as though she were listening to it. Eric remembered that in the graveyard Sheila had said the net felt as though it were alive, and now he found himself wondering if maybe all their weapons were a bit more alive, even sentient, than he’d given them credit for… not that he was planning on having a conversation with his shield anytime soon.
“We should leave now,” Venger said. “Rahmoud has prepared mounts for us.”
They went quickly back to the tent and found Rahmoud had already put sacks full of provisions on each of their beds. It seemed so final, realizing that they were leaving the small oasis and going back to the Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn. Their adventures were beginning all over again, but this time, Eric wasn’t being dragged in against his will.
“Come on,” he said, shouldering his bag. “Let’s move out.”
When the gang of them came to the open sand where Rahmoud kept his animals, they divided into pairs, each duo standing beside one of the strange, vaguely elephantine creatures with horns and tusks. Hank took up his position with Sheila at the front, followed by Presto and Varla on a slightly smaller beast. Diana had to choose between riding with Venger or Eric as it was obvious Terry and Bobby, currently in the middle of an argument over whether Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark was better, were definitely staying together. She frowned at Eric, and he realized that she had to still be pretty angry about their conversation from the night.
“You’ll do, but I’m driving,” she finally said unenthusiastically, grabbing Eric by the gauntlet and walking him towards the nearest animal.
This left Venger with the last of Rahmoud’s beasts, but there didn’t seem to be anything left for Bobby and Terry.
“Hey, Rahmoud!” Bobby called. “You’ve run out of… what are these things called again?”
“They are korznas, young Barbarian,” he said, “and I thought perhaps you would prefer a different mount.”
Rahmoud gave a loud, bird-like whistle, and immediately a smaller animal shot from its hiding place between two tents.
“Uni!” Bobby shouted happily, running towards her. “Gosh, I’ve missed you, girl!”
The unicorn gave an ecstatic bleat and raced towards him. It was clear that the once-baby unicorn had grown in the year since they had left. Her head now reached just above Bobby’s shoulder as she nuzzled him affectionately.
“But… can she carry me and Terry too?” Bobby asked, turning to Rahmoud.
“The unicorn can shoulder great burdens without effort,” Rahmoud said. “She seems pleased to carry you and your friend.”
In fact, Uni had already butted Terry onto her back. The girl looked absolutely delighted, patting the unicorn’s mane fondly.
“Thanks, Uni,” she said, smiling. “Hop on, Bobby!”
Bobby settled himself behind her on Uni’s back, and the little unicorn did indeed seem more than equal to carrying two small humans. With another bleat, she jogged to her position in line between Eric and Diana’s korzna and Venger’s.
“My children,” Rahmoud called up to them, “I wish you every good luck. I would go with you, but I must remain here to help organize the rest of the resistance against the Shadow Demon. Know that my heart goes with you all, and I look forward to rejoicing with you when our enemy is defeated.”
“Thank you for everything, Rahmoud,” Hank said, bowing from atop his korzna. “We hope we’ll see you again soon.”
“Really,” Eric said, trying to put all the affection he had for Rahmoud into the word. “Tell Aiyesha… tell her she’s lucky.”
“Indeed, and now, remembering to roll your r’s…,” Rahmoud prompted them.
“Katrrrrrrash!” Eric yelled with significantly more volume than he needed, and it took all of Diana’s skill to keep their korzna from racing off across the desert, leaving everyone else in the dust.
" Goodbye to Hollywood" Billy Joel
" Man's Road" America
" Flight of Dragons" Don McLean
Chapter 4: Return to the Realm
The moon was indeed much brighter than Eric had thought was possible when the gang snuck over the wall of the closed amusement park and darted into the shadows of a Tilt-a-Whirl, hoping that security guards weren’t about to have them arrested. It was nearly as bright as daylight. The stars were also clearer than normal, and it looked like somebody had added a few thousand extra for good measure.
“Everybody okay?” Hank whispered, checking carefully over his shoulder to be sure they weren’t followed.
“Yeah,” Sheila whispered back, drawing her jacket around her tightly even though the night air was balmy. “We’re all here.”
“Right. Then let’s get to the ride and see if anything happens,” Hank said.
“Or if we all just stand there like a bunch of losers and get hauled off to the pokey for trespassing,” Eric said cheerfully. “Either way, we’re pretty well doomed.”
“Enough gabbing. Let’s get moving already,” Presto said, and to Eric’s surprise, the magician was the one leading the way for once. He wasn’t sure he could ever remember that happening before.
Past the pond where the paddleboats usually drifted, around the silent carousel whose horses seemed to be staring right at them, and beneath the geometric shadows of the roller coaster and the darkened Ferris wheel, they could finally see the closed off Dungeons and Dragons ride. There was plenty of yellow tape strung around it, complete with giant Keep Out signs and other warnings of impending disaster if anyone even looked at the place too long.
“Okay, so, Varla said to go back to the beginning,” Diana said, scuffing at a bit of the rubble with the toe of her shoe. “We’re here, right?”
“Almost,” Presto said. “I think we need to actually go inside.”
“In there?” Eric said, pointing at the crater that used to be the entrance through the dragon’s mouth. “Are you nuts?”
“Maybe,” Presto said grimly, but he was already starting to pick his way through the debris.
The rest of them all looked at each other, but Terry followed next, Bobby right behind her, and then Sheila, Diana, and Hank in a pack. Eric stood outside for a few seconds, looking at the world around him.
“I hope this works,” he mumbled. “I don’t know why, but I do.”
The tracks were a mangled mess, but they were still pretty much where they’d been before the portal had opened to the Realm. It was dark inside, but the ceiling had given way in many places, and the moonlight glowed enough for them to make their way forward.
Suddenly, an enormous green and brown dragon roared up in front of them, belching fire and waving its arms furiously.
It’s possible Eric had squealed and tried to form a shield out of thin air, but then again it’s also possible that everyone else in the group had alternately screamed or started to run until Diana began to laugh.
“Guys! We just stepped on the pressure switch that triggers the dragon. It’s fake, not real,” she said, pointing at the spot where the cars would normally have made the robot move.
“Yeah,” Eric said, dusting imaginary dirt from his shoulders. “I knew that. I just didn’t know if the rest of you did.”
“Well, if I remember right, the ride started to go all wonky pretty soon after that dragon went off,” Hank said, staring ahead of them. “I think it was right about… there.”
They stared around them, looking at the exact spot they’d been fished out of almost a week ago. They moved towards it, standing on top of the bent metal and shattered plaster, and waited.
“Does anybody know what time it is?” Sheila asked, staring up at the moonlight coming through the ceiling above.
“11:59,” Presto said, glancing at his digital watch.
Suddenly, the moon’s light was coming directly through the hole overhead, and it became brighter, whiter, more intense than was physically possible… at least in their world.
“Something tells me it just hit midnight!” Eric yelled as the winds of another vortex swirled around them, warping reality and propelling them forward into the unknown once more.
When the world stopped moving again, they were on the outskirts of a swamp that smelled all too familiar.
“Where are we? The town dump?” Bobby asked, holding his nose.
“Nope, I’d recognize this stench anywhere,” Diana said. “We’re back in the Swamp of Darkness.”
“Yeah!” Presto said excitedly, “The one right outside of Varla’s village! Come on!”
“Uh, does anyone else remember that the last time we were there the villagers wanted to burn us at the stake?” Eric said, moving his cloak out of the way of the water.
His cloak? Yes, he was back in chainmail again, and a glance at everyone else showed that they too were once more in their clothes as Ranger, Acrobat, Thief, Barbarian, and Magician. Terry was now in a knee-length dress of dark blue fabric, the exact color of the jeans she had been wearing earlier, with bell sleeves and a pair of dark brown boots. She didn’t seem to have noticed the change, nor had the others.
“Hey, they never actually said they were going to burn us at the stake,” Diana said.
“Technically, no,” Eric said, “so maybe they could have been planning to drown us instead.”
“See, there’s optimism,” Diana said with a smirk. “But we’ve got to get out of here before we all keel over from the smell.”
“With that, I agree,” Eric said, and he followed in the others’ footsteps as Presto led the way towards the village.
It wasn’t until then that Eric noticed that he did not have his shield. None of them had weapons. He frowned and decided it might be better to wait and bring that little point up when they were inside, safely away from prying ears and eyes.
They walked on and on through the darkness, waiting to see the lights of the little village, but there was nothing but darkness. The three moons of the Realm were at half, quarter, and new, so there wasn’t anywhere near as much light to see by as there had been back on Earth, and Eric was beginning to suspect that Presto had lost his way. He would have made a very witty and pithy comment about it, but frankly he was too worried to come up with one.
“It should be right here,” Presto said, looking around them in confusion.
“Should be, but isn’t,” Hank said, bending to look at a dark shape near his feet. “This used to be a house. This whole place has been burned to the ground.”
“What? Are you sure it’s not one of Varla’s illusions?” Sheila asked, running her hands over the charred wood.
“No,” Presto said, “I’m pretty sure it isn’t.”
“How do you know?” Eric asked suspiciously.
“I don’t know how I know, I just know, you know?” Presto said.
“No, I don’t know how you know. If I knew how you know, you know I wouldn’t ask how you know that you know,” Eric said. “So no.”
“Try saying that five times fast,” Bobby said out of the corner of his mouth to Terry.
“Look, obviously something bad happened here,” Hank said, glancing around warily, “and whatever did it might still be hanging around. I think we should seek some kind of shelter until morning.”
“Good idea,” Sheila said. “I’m bushed.”
“I’m not tired,” Bobby said through a yawn, but the way he was leaning heavily against a tree trunk suggested he was going to be asleep in another second.
They picked out a spot that had some coverage in case of an attack but was still open enough to allow them to run if they needed to, then bunked down in a circle, completely exhausted. No one stirred until morning.
When dawn came, the two suns seemed dimmer than normal. There was light, of course, but it felt shaky and thin somehow, like afternoon light in winter when the sun goes down too early. At first Eric wondered if they’d all overslept, but no, the suns were definitely low in the east, exactly where they should be in the morning even in the Realm.
The ruins that daylight did reveal were not a happy sight. Hank was right. The whole village had been razed to the ground, and it seemed as though there hadn’t been anyone there for quite a while. It suddenly occurred to Eric that time might be moving differently in the Realm than it did on Earth. After all, years had passed here and not more than an hour or two had at home. If they’d been gone for days in Earth time, centuries could have passed since then.
“Uh, guys,” Eric said. “How long have we been gone?”
“Same thing was going through my mind,” Diana said, “but it can’t have been that long. Varla didn’t look much older than the last time we saw her.”
“Yeah… if she ages like a normal person,” Eric said, frowning. “Hey, Presto, your girlfriend might have a millennium or two on you now.”
“Shut up,” Presto said. “There has to be a reason she sent us here. Look around. Maybe there’s a sign or something.”
“Or Dungeon Master. Or some weapons. Or a map. Or a Magic Eight Ball,” Eric grumbled, stretching the kinks out of his back. He might not miss a lot about home, but his bed was definitely on the list. “Nice, hot oatmeal and some fried eggs wouldn’t be bad either.”
“Presto’s right,” Hank said. “I don’t think that vortex pulled us here accidentally.”
“Fine, fine, but I’m keeping an eye open for breakfast, too,” Eric said, starting to prod around the burned out remains of the village.
It wasn’t long before Terry called out, “Over here!” and everyone came rushing to the charred spot where the jail that had once held them used to stand. There in the soot was, unmistakably, an arrow pointing eastward towards the forest.
“Okay,” Hank said. “I guess we go that way, then. Keep a sharp eye out for any other trail markers.”
“Righty-oh, mon capitan,” Eric said with a mock salute, but he trudged along in line like everyone else, looking left and right for any clues.
They travelled onwards, moving as closely along the line of the arrow as they could, and eventually arrived in a small clearing. An X made of white stones marked the ground.
“This must be the place,” Hank said. “X marks the spot.”
“Yeah,” Presto said, “I guess. I don’t feel anything.”
“Oh no?” Eric said, his eyes going wide. “I think I see something, though!”
Just over the topmost branches of the tree across from them was not one but five heads, each one like something from a nightmare. Tiamat was coming towards them, and they were in the open, defenseless and doing everything but holding up a Free Lunch sign.
“Well, don’t just stand there gawking!” Eric yelled. “Run!”
“No,” came a screeching voice as Tiamat entered the clearing. “There is no use in it, and it is not my intention to harm you… now.”
“Oh, that’s real comforting,” Eric said. “What about fifteen minutes from now?”
“Silence, fool,” the dragon said, and its white head let off a short stream of ice in protest. “The girl Varla has sent me to you.”
“Varla sent you?” Presto asked doubtfully. “Why should we believe you?”
“She said if you did not believe me, I was to tell you that when she stumbled down the mountain and you lifted her, she whispered in your ear the words—” the dragon began, but Presto abruptly interrupted her.
“Okay, okay, no one else knows she said anything. We can leave it there,” Presto said.
“No, I think I wanna know for sure,” Eric said with a grin.
“’You’re standing on my dress,’” Tiamat continued anticlimactically.
“Oh,” Eric said, disappointed. “That’s what you didn’t want everybody to hear?”
“Hey, it was my one big hero moment,” Presto said. “Can I at least have the illusion of being suave once?”
“No,” Eric said, then turned to Tiamat. “So, let’s say we believe Varla sent you. What does she want us to do?”
“I am to bring you to her,” Tiamat shrieked, the red head releasing a small jet of flame as though in disgust.
“And you’re doing this why exactly?” Hank asked.
“You may help in the battle we fight against the Shadow, and I hate it more than I loathe you,” the dragon said, spitting acid on the ground and shriveling the grass to punctuate that it seemed to be a near miss in her levels of dislike.
“Okay, so we’re on the same side,” Diana said. “Fine. I’m good with that if you are, so lead the way.”
Tiamat snorted, and then bent her five necks towards the ground.
“Wait… you want us to ride you?” Eric said in disbelief.
“No, I do not want you to ride me,” Tiamat said, raising the blue head towards him, “but I must let you this once. It is the only way to be certain no one finds your trail.”
The kids looked at one another with varying degrees of trepidation, but eventually Hank mounted the red neck where it joined the dragon’s shoulders. Eric, not to be outdone, chose the green one, while Presto threw a shaky leg across the blue neck and Diana sat on the white one. Sheila looked nervously at the black neck, then at her brother and his friend.
“So, who wants to…,” she began.
“I shall carry the two smallest in my claws,” Tiamat said. “Waste no more time! They are coming!”
Sheila quickly climbed onto the black neck, and Tiamat gripped Bobby in her left hand and Terry in her right.
“Hey, watch it!” he yelled. “Those claws are sharp.”
“And poisoned,” Tiamat added. “Stop struggling or I may decide that bringing six back is quite enough.”
“You’d drop me?” Bobby said, looking angry.
“No,” Tiamat said, shaking her right hand, “her.”
“Okay, okay, I’m quiet,” Bobby said, keeping his mouth firmly shut.
What happened next was something Eric could never forget. With a thunderous rush of wind, the dragon’s great orange wings pumped the air three times, and then lifted them from the ground and high into the sky in less than a heartbeat. He clung for dear life to the green scales in front of him, apparently too tightly since the head whipped around to hiss at him fiercely. He willed himself to slacken his grip a little, and he looked down at the world beneath him. The countryside was speeding past, hills and valleys, fields, forests, mountains, but the one thing they all had in common was none of them seemed vibrant. It was like a thin layer of shadow clung to everything.
At last they reached a great desert of yellow sand that continued as far as the eye could see. The shadow didn’t seem to have penetrated this far, and Eric found himself able to breathe better in this place. The dragon’s wings still beat the air in steady strokes, but they were slowing, and Eric could see they were beginning to get closer to the ground. He glanced sideways and saw Diana with a look of exhilaration on her face, her hair blown back in the wind. She was actually enjoying this. Hank, however, looked a little bit green. Somehow this gave Eric a moment’s satisfaction.
A few minutes later, Tiamat’s feet touched the sand, and with a gentle bowing of her heads, they dismounted. There was a small collection of tents only a few yards away.
“Thank you for the ride,” Sheila called up to her.
Tiamat stared at her. Eric swore he saw the white head roll its eyes in disbelief, but the dragon merely flapped her wings and took flight, creating a small sandstorm as she rose and flew further east, becoming nothing but a dot in the sky and then disappearing entirely.
“She’s here,” Presto said, his voice cracking in excitement, and he took off running at top speed towards a tent on the far end of the little settlement.
"Every Little Thing She Does Is Magic" Police
"Owner of a Lonely Heart" Yes
"Separate Ways" Journey
"Time (Clock of the Heart)" Culture Club
Chapter 5: The Shadow Left Behind
The others followed close on Presto’s heels, catching up with him as he tried to figure out how to open the tent flap. He needn’t have bothered, though, as the ties were quickly undone from the inside and Varla pushed the door aside.
She stood silhouetted against the light of a brazier burning inside, her red hair glistening in the sunlight, still clothed in white, and her eyes sparkled with joy.
“Hi,” Presto said, seemingly unable to move and not even blinking so he didn’t miss a moment of seeing her.
“Hello,” Varla replied, equally frozen, her eyes drinking him in.
“Yeah, good morning, nice to see you again, when’s breakfast, and what are we doing here,” Eric said, pushing past her into the tent.
“You just do not have a single romantic bone in your entire body, do you,” Sheila said, shaking her head as she followed him in.
“Not when I haven’t had anything to eat for this long,” Eric said, then spotted kebabs roasting on the brazier. “Ah-ha! Food!”
“It is intended for you, my children,” said another voice they recognized at once, and this time Eric really was pleased.
“Rahmoud!” he said, completely forgetting about food and giving him a hug. “It’s great to see you again!”
“And you,” he said, returning Eric’s unusual show of affection with a ruffling of his hair. “All of you have been missed.”
“We’ve missed you too,” Sheila said, hugging him in turn. “How’s Aiyesha?”
“Very well, very well,” Rahmoud said, carefully removing a kebab from the brazier and handing it to Sheila. “She has no more bad dreams, and the children are free. However, there are other things that weigh upon the Realm now. But first, eat and refresh yourselves after your journey. We shall speak of these things later.”
Rahmoud got no argument from the gang as they tore into the food. Bobby explained to Terry about their previous experience with the City on the Edge of Midnight, and she smiled shyly at Rahmoud, who treated her as one of his children as much as the others. Any friend of theirs was his as well, he told them. Eric had nearly forgotten how much he liked Rahmoud, and he felt more relaxed in his tent than he had in a very long time.
When they’d all had their fill, and considering Eric’s appetite no one could figure out how he could still fit into his armor, they sat around the fire and waited expectantly for the explanation of their summons. Varla looked at Presto, who had eaten less than the rest and never taken his eyes from her face, and interlaced her fingers with his.
“It has been a year since Venger was redeemed,” Varla said, “and much has happened since then.”
“A year, huh?” Eric said. “It’s been a week for us.”
“Will you let her get on with the story?” Diana urged him, slapping his arm.
He vaguely considered mouthing off again on the off chance she’d do that again.
“Go on,” Presto encouraged her. “What happened?”
“Though Venger remains one on the side of light, his minion, the Shadow Demon whom he forced to do his will, has gained power,” Varla explained. “Part of the bargain Venger struck when he put aside his goodness and became a servant of the forces of evil was that he should have the Shadow Demon as his servant and spy in return. When the bargain was broken, the Shadow Demon became free once more, and it was only then that the scope of its might became known.”
“Wait, the Shadow Demon?” Eric said. “That wispy thing Venger used to have? You called us back here to fight a shadow puppet?”
“He’s no puppet,” Varla said. “You have seen how the light of the Realm is dimmed throughout the west. Each day the shadow grows longer, trying to capture more and more, and what falls under its spell is enslaved to its will. It must be stopped or else all the land will be in darkness.”
“Can’t Dungeon Master help you?” Sheila asked.
“No,” Varla said, looking sad. “He went to the far west to try to battle the demon, but he did not return. We fear he may be dead.”
“Dungeon Master? Dead?” Eric said. “Nah. He’s way too smart for that.”
“I hope that you are right,” Varla said, but her voice sounded uncertain.
“So what can we do to help?” Hank asked.
“There is a prophecy that says the darkness may be defeated by the seven who came from the other world, returned from the Realm, and breached the gap again to bring back the light,” Varla said.
“That does sound like us,” Presto said.
“Yeah, but how do we do it?” Diana asked.
“By going into the edge of the west, finding the Shadow Demon in its lair, and smiting it with the Crystal of the Two Suns,” Varla said.
“Boy, this prophet sure was specific,” Eric said. “I don’t suppose he knows the winning spread on the Super Bowl this year by any chance?”
“Raiders over Redskins, 38 to 9,” Varla said without missing a beat, “and the prophet isn’t a he but a she. Me, actually.”
“They told her that her powers would grow over time,” Rahmoud said. “This is another that has come forth.”
“Illusions, prophecies, inter-dimensional holographic phone calls,” Eric counted off on his fingers. “Your girlfriend’s got some pretty marketable talents there, Presto.”
Varla smiled at Presto, and he blushed a very bright red that clashed horribly with his green wizard’s robes.
“Okay, so we need to get the Crystal of the Two Suns, and we could really use our weapons,” Hank said. “How do we go about getting those?”
“Tiamat has returned to the Dragon’s Graveyard to find your weapons,” Rahmoud said. “She will return with them on the morrow, for it is a long journey, even for a dragon.”
“Yeah, how exactly did you get old Five Heads working for you?” Eric asked.
“She hates the Shadow Demon as well,” Varla explained. “It means to extinguish all light, and as dragons have fire within them, this means she too will perish. She is not a friendly ally, but she is a trustworthy one.”
“It’s gonna be weird, getting our weapons from Tiamat,” Bobby said. “I think I like Dungeon Master playing Santa Claus better. I hope he’s okay.”
“Me too, Bobby,” Sheila said with a worried look towards the door that opened to the west. “Me too.”
The rest of the day was spent relaxing befor the upcoming battle and catching up on the rest of the changes since they had been gone. Varla’s parents had escaped the burning of their village, but they had both been injured. They had gone into hiding with others who needed time to heal in another settlement even farther east. Venger was anxious to prove himself after his fall from grace, but his punishment for his choices had been the removal of his ability to do magic. He had received a minor injury in a skirmish with some of the Shadow Demon’s minions, and he was expected to arrive back in camp the next day.
But the visitors tried to enjoy at least one day back in the Realm, not thinking of the battles that lay ahead. Eric, for his part, spent a good part of the day in the shade of the tent, watching the suns trace their path across the sky. He sighed in contentment, then went outside to get a pitcher of water from the nearby oasis. It was strange, he thought, that when he was in the Realm the first time, all he could think of was how much he wanted to be home. Once he got home, some part of him had always wanted to be back here. Now that he’d returned, he felt no draw at all towards Earth. He missed his brother, but his parents, school, the home that was really just a house, all of it felt less important now.
He stood with his back against a palm tree and drank deeply from the pitcher, the water tasting cool and fresh after the hot sun. Suddenly, he heard a faint cry from behind him. Turning on instinct, immediately in a battle position, he realized the sound was coming from behind a thicker stand of palms. He moved cautiously towards it, ready for anything from an Orc attack to a relapsed Venger, then heard scuffling noises as though a fight were taking place. Realizing they were probably in an ambush, he grabbed a large stone from the ground and hoisted it, ready to hurl it at the unknown foe.
He rounded the corner and stopped in complete shock.
Presto and Varla were lying together on a richly patterned rug spread under the base of one of the trees, facing one another. He cradled her face with one of his hands as he kissed her, touching her as though she were made of porcelain. Clasping him tightly around the waist, she closed her eyes in bliss, and a low moan filled the air. As Eric watched, dumbstruck, she rolled them so she lay on top of Presto, then rested her head against his heart. Presto’s hands tangled themselves in her hair, and he pulled her upwards towards his mouth to kiss her again, holding her like the most precious thing in the world. She bent to whisper something in his ear, and Eric was pretty sure it wasn’t “You’re standing on my dress” this time.
Eric delicately tiptoed away back towards the camp, certain that they hadn’t noticed his intrusion. He was just glad he hadn’t hit them with the rock.
“Hey, Eric,” Diana called when she saw him, “have you seen Presto anywhere?”
“No!” he yelped. “I have absolutely not seen Presto or Varla anywhere at all, no, no, no I have not!”
Diana stared after him as he darted into the tent, wondering what on earth was up with him, then shrugged and chalked it up to the mystery that was Eric. For his part, Eric spent the rest of the afternoon desperately trying not to imagine Diana and him on that rug dappled with sunshine, and failed miserably.
Hank, however, was in conference with Rahmoud, trying to pick up any stray bits of information that might help them. From his face when he finally came back to the tent, Eric could tell he hadn’t been very successful.
“No luck?” he asked.
“None,” Hank said, sitting down near the brazier and staring at the flames.
“Well, maybe Varla will get another brain wave before we set out tomorrow,” Eric said hopefully.
“Maybe,” Hank said, “but our first destination isn’t exactly my favorite place in this world.”
“And that would be?” Eric asked.
“The Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn,” Hank said, glancing from the flames over to Eric. “That’s where the Crystal of the Two Suns is kept.”
“The place where we all nearly got killed and the only way we escaped was Dungeon Master teleporting us out?” Eric said, his voice getting hysterical. “That Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn?”
“It’s the only one I know about,” Hank said, sighing heavily.
“If they’ve got a spare one laying around somewhere that’s full of ice cream cones and puppy dogs, now would be a good time for them to tell us,” Eric grumbled.
“Yeah,” Hank said. “That’d be nice. You ever notice how absolutely nothing is ever easy in the Realm?”
“Earth isn’t exactly a picnic on the beach every day either,” Eric said. “Still, I’m going to feel a lot better once we’ve got our weapons back. We’re way too vulnerable like this.”
Hank nodded silently in agreement, staring at the flames again and lost in thought.
“Hank?” Eric asked after a long moment. “Is there anything you like about this place?”
“No,” he answered immediately, then grimaced. “That’s not true. I like some of the people here… beings... whatever they are. Like Rahmoud and Varla, they’re good. But I belong back home. We all do. None of us are meant to be here.”
“Yeah,” Eric said, “I guess not.”
Eric’s eyes didn’t meet Hank’s, though, and he got to his feet and left the tent, looking out over the open desert as the sky darkened into evening. Not far away, Sheila was speaking with some of the women of Rahmoud’s tribe, kneading bread dough into a large, flat circle on a paddle to be baked. She laughed at something one of them said, and Eric thought she seemed pretty happy all things considered. A little farther off, he caught sight of Bobby and Terry playing some game of their own invention that looked a little like a combination of baseball and hopscotch using rocks and sticks. Terry was giggling as Bobby tried to toss a small stone backwards over his shoulder into a space she’d drawn in the sand.
But Eric couldn’t see Diana anywhere. After wandering aimlessly from one tent to another, he finally caught sight of her standing off by herself, watching the sky. As he approached her, he noticed that the first stars were starting to appear, glowing brilliantly above the desert. Their light made the edges of her silhouette clear against the dark blue of the sky, almost as though her skin glowed with the luster of silver. Eric caught his breath. She looked beautiful, powerful, but wistful.
“I know you’re there,” she said when he was still a good fifteen feet away.
He gulped and was suddenly reminded of a story his English teacher had told them once, a Greek myth about the goddess Diana who had caught someone watching her. If he remembered right, she’d sicced his own dogs on him until he was pulled apart. Hopefully she wasn’t quite that mad.
“Then we’re even,” he said, continuing towards here. He looked up at the sky, wondering what she was searching for. “So… what’re you doing?”
She took a deep breath and shook her head.
“Nothing,” she said. “Just looking. Trying to pick out constellations, I guess.”
“Diana, don’t take this the wrong way, but you’re a really lousy liar,” Eric said. “You’re thinking about Starfall.”
She didn’t reply right away, but then she sighed softly and said, “Maybe.”
“Seriously, you spent, what, one whole day with Kosar?” Eric said, instantly jealous. “I mean, I get that he was cute in that whole Michael Jackson-esque kind of way, but was he really so spectacular that you keep mooning about him for years?!”
Diana gave him a sharp, bitter look and said, “What would you know about it, Eric? You’ve never loved anyone but yourself.”
She turned and stalked off towards the camp, disappearing into the shadows.
“Not true,” Eric said quietly to no one, looking at her retreating form, “but I’m starting to think no one’s ever loved me. Or ever will.”
"Abracadra" Steven Miller Band
"October" U2
"Edge of Seventeen" Stevie Nicks
Chapter 6: Gifts and Goodbyes
Eric slept poorly that night. Rahmoud put all of the travelers into one tent, and while Eric mentally wondered if grouping that many hormones in one space was a good idea, there didn’t seem to be any untoward liaisons happening under his nose. The only mischief anyone got up to was an impromptu game of flashlight tag played with torches between Bobby and Terry that involved enough giggling that Eric stuck his pillow over his head to drown them out. Eventually, even they fell asleep, and Eric was left to listen to everyone’s breathing, his thoughts glumly retracing the same patterns over and over. No matter how many times he told himself he should go to sleep, that he was going to be a sitting duck in a fight come morning if he didn’t get enough rest, he just couldn’t make his eyes stay shut.
Morning came, and Eric wasn’t sure if he’d slept at all. He was already awake when Rahmoud pulled back the flap of the tent and let in the morning light, but what got him to his feet was the sound of a large horse approaching, its hooves thudding dully against the sand, clear in the morning stillness. As far as he knew, there were expecting only two visitors to the camp that day, and one of them most definitely wouldn’t be riding a horse, at least not unless it was a five-headed one.
“Hank?” Eric called in a low voice to the next bed. “You up?”
“Yeah,” he replied, “I heard it too.”
“Reformed or not, I really don’t want Venger catching us all asleep the first time we see him again,” Eric said, pulling his greaves onto his legs and adding his boots.
“Good point,” Hank agreed, slipping his own shoes on as well.
“You’re not the only ones,” Sheila said, already sitting up.
“Aw, man,” Bobby moaned, “it can’t be morning yet!”
He determinedly rolled over, stuffed his head under a fur wrap, and was immediately snoring again.
“That’s my kid brother,” Sheila said, looking with amusement at his bed. “Venger shows up at the door and he still goes back to sleep.”
Eric glanced around the tent and realized everyone else was up as well, readying themselves, and as the hooves stopped completely and someone dismounted, he distinctly heard Varla gasp.
“Are you okay?” Presto asked.
“Yes,” she said, “I’m sorry, but even after his redemption, I can’t help but remember…”
“Hey, he kidnapped you, tortured you, and nearly killed you,” Presto said, his face darkening. “There’d be something wrong with you if you did feel okay with him.”
She smiled at him.
“Do you want to stay here?” he asked.
“No,” she replied. “It won’t be the first time I’ve seen him since then. It’s just… awkward.”
“Then we’ll go together,” he said, taking her hand.
“We’ll all go,” Eric said, hoisting himself to his feet with a stiff clanking, “but if it’s alright, Presto, I’m not holding your hand.”
Diana snorted with laughter, but Eric could still tell she wasn’t back to normal yet. It didn’t matter, though. Everyone except Bobby headed outside together, but Eric hadn’t quite been expecting what he saw.
It was Nightmare, looking precisely the same as she had when the evil Venger had ridden her across the sky. She was still coal black, red tipping her hooves and glinting in her eyes. Eric couldn’t help it if he broke out in a cold sweat. The horse just seemed to have that effect on people as everyone else looked similarly nervous with the exception of Diana.
Diana had experience with horses, as everyone in the group knew from her attempts at riding various creatures of the Realm. Her aunt had owned a riding stable on the outskirts of town, and she’d all but been born in a saddle. She approached the horse slowly, carefully, extending a hand towards her forelock. To everyone’s amazement, the horse nuzzled into her touch, closed her eyes and whickered softly.
“Aw, see,” Diana said. “She’s a good girl, aren’t you!”
Eric raised an eyebrow uncertainly. He wasn’t sure he’d go so far as to call her “good,” but at least she hadn’t taken Diana’s arm off, so that was something.
Venger was nowhere to be seen, but as Nightmare was tied up outside Rahmoud’s tent, it was an easy guess whom he was talking to. By now Sheila and Terry had joined Diana in petting the horse, who was still perfectly docile except for a tendency to snort small sparks every few seconds.
“Weird,” Bobby said, looking with undisguised confusion at the girls petting the horse.
“I don’t know,” Hank said. “Something about girls and horses just goes together, I guess.”
“Huh,” Bobby said. “I guess that explains My Little Pony.”
“Does it strike anybody else as incredibly strange that we’re standing out here waiting to talk to Venger of all people… if Venger even actually is a person,” Eric said.
“Yeah,” Presto said, and Eric noted that Varla had stayed beside him rather than going up to Nightmare. “Things change.”
“I hope so,” Eric said.
A few moments later, Rahmoud walked out of the tent, followed closely by Venger. It was still startling to see him without a horn, fangs, or wings. Heck, his eyes didn’t even cross anymore. He looked surprisingly normal without the red and silver robes he’d previously worn; in fact, aside from being unusually tall, he looked downright ordinary.
“Venger,” Hank said by way of a greeting.
“Ranger,” he responded.
“Great, we can rhyme,” Eric said. “Can we all just not pretend this isn’t incredibly uncomfortable and move to the next level here?”
Venger’s eyes went to him immediately, and a ghost of a smile played over his lips.
“It is indeed awkward,” Venger agreed, and his voice, though still deep, sounded much less, well, evil than it had before. “I thank you again for freeing me from the cenotaph. My mistakes were many, and mercy was not a fate I thought would be mine.”
“Yeah, yeah, you’re welcome,” Eric said. “Can we get back to the problem of your ex-lackey trying to plunge the Realm into eternal darkness?”
“We shall leave later today to journey towards the Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn,” Venger said.
“We?” Sheila asked, turning away from the horse and walking warily towards them. “You’re coming with us?”
“I know the Shadow Demon better than anyone else, and he has taken my father,” he replied, and for a moment the smallest spark of red crept into his eyes. “He will regret that choice.”
“You know, I never really got that,” Eric said. “So Kareena is your sister and Dungeon Master is your dad. Nobody in your family looks like anybody! Who the heck is your mother?”
“Eric,” Presto hissed warningly. “That’s not very polite.”
“It’s Venger, specifically de-fanged Venger,” Eric said. “I’m not sticking diplomacy at the top of my priority list.”
“Mother died after Kareena’s birth when I was still very young,” Venger said, his voice slightly annoyed. “I had not yet turned one hundred. She was a shape shifter, as is Kareena and as I once was before the penalty was exacted for my treachery.”
“You actually chose to look like a one-horned, black-winged, chalk-faced demon with a massive overbite?” Eric asked.
Venger seemed to shrug.
“I found it got the effect I wanted,” he said, then turned to Sheila. “My sister wished me to convey her greetings to you along with this.”
He handed her a small box. When she opened it, the Ring of Heart fell into her palm, its red gem glittering in the sunlight.
“Oh, that’s nice,” Sheila said, smiling as she placed the ring on her finger. “Thank you. Where is she?”
“The last I saw of her, she was in a somewhat less than pleasant dimension being tutored in the dark arts,” Venger said.
“Um… well, I guess I’m glad she’s happy?” Sheila said uncertainly.
“I believe she is,” Venger said, though he didn’t venture any opinion as to whether that was a good thing. “Tiamat should return soon with your weapons, and then we may leave, the more quickly, the better.”
“Fine by us,” Hank said. “Come on, guys. Let’s pack up.”
“Are we travelling by dragon again or using those weird short-nosed elephants of Rahmoud’s?” Eric asked.
“We shall be travelling in a caravan. The dungeon is not far from here, no more than two days’ ride,” Venger said. “There are too many of us for Tiamat to carry, and in spite of our truce, I do not think she would willingly allow me to ride her.”
“You are correct,” came a rasping voice from overhead, and the five-headed dragon appeared at the center of a vortex in the sky above. “I would never willingly bear you even if universes should perish.”
“What the heck did you do to tick her off that much?” Eric asked Venger as she landed beside the nearest tent.
“Before our first battle centuries ago, she was originally a six-headed dragon,” he replied.
“Oh,” Eric said, looking moderately impressed. “Yup, that’d do it.”
Tiamat dropped a simple burlap sack to the ground, hissing slightly as she did so.
“You will find your weapons within,” she said. “Take care. Their powers are still heightened from the Dragon’s Graveyard, though that will diminish in time.”
Hank went first, retrieving his energy bow and testing the weight of it in his hand. Cautiously, he pulled back on the glowing string and aimed at a distant rock. When he let the bolt fly, the energy crackled through the air like lightning and didn’t merely split the rock but reduced it to cinders. Diana’s staff came next, followed by Presto’s hat (he really did look a lot taller with it on), Bobby’s club, Eric’s shield, and Sheila’s cloak. The bag, however, did not appear to be empty.
“There is one remaining,” the dragon said. “The bones told me to bring this to the Dreamer.”
Terry looked uncertain, but placed her hand in the bag.
“If she’s the one who finally gets an actual sword, I’m quitting in protest,” Eric said, leaning against his shield.
It was not a sword Terry produced, though, but a glowing net that looked familiar.
“Hey, that’s the thing that saved Uni in the Dragon’s Graveyard!” Bobby said, walking to Terry and examining the net. “It heals really bad wounds. You just throw it over whoever’s hurt and pow, no more problem!”
“That’s the way it worked in the graveyard, Bobby,” Hank said. “I don’t know if it’ll be that powerful after the supercharge on it wears off.”
“Even so, it’s still a good thing to have handy,” Sheila said.
They looked at their weapons, remembering the feel of them as though becoming reintroduced to old friends, and a silence fell over them as they each began feeling their heft, testing their range. Terry, for her part, was weaving her fingers through the net with her eyes shut, almost as though she were listening to it. Eric remembered that in the graveyard Sheila had said the net felt as though it were alive, and now he found himself wondering if maybe all their weapons were a bit more alive, even sentient, than he’d given them credit for… not that he was planning on having a conversation with his shield anytime soon.
“We should leave now,” Venger said. “Rahmoud has prepared mounts for us.”
They went quickly back to the tent and found Rahmoud had already put sacks full of provisions on each of their beds. It seemed so final, realizing that they were leaving the small oasis and going back to the Dungeon at the Heart of Dawn. Their adventures were beginning all over again, but this time, Eric wasn’t being dragged in against his will.
“Come on,” he said, shouldering his bag. “Let’s move out.”
When the gang of them came to the open sand where Rahmoud kept his animals, they divided into pairs, each duo standing beside one of the strange, vaguely elephantine creatures with horns and tusks. Hank took up his position with Sheila at the front, followed by Presto and Varla on a slightly smaller beast. Diana had to choose between riding with Venger or Eric as it was obvious Terry and Bobby, currently in the middle of an argument over whether Star Wars or Raiders of the Lost Ark was better, were definitely staying together. She frowned at Eric, and he realized that she had to still be pretty angry about their conversation from the night.
“You’ll do, but I’m driving,” she finally said unenthusiastically, grabbing Eric by the gauntlet and walking him towards the nearest animal.
This left Venger with the last of Rahmoud’s beasts, but there didn’t seem to be anything left for Bobby and Terry.
“Hey, Rahmoud!” Bobby called. “You’ve run out of… what are these things called again?”
“They are korznas, young Barbarian,” he said, “and I thought perhaps you would prefer a different mount.”
Rahmoud gave a loud, bird-like whistle, and immediately a smaller animal shot from its hiding place between two tents.
“Uni!” Bobby shouted happily, running towards her. “Gosh, I’ve missed you, girl!”
The unicorn gave an ecstatic bleat and raced towards him. It was clear that the once-baby unicorn had grown in the year since they had left. Her head now reached just above Bobby’s shoulder as she nuzzled him affectionately.
“But… can she carry me and Terry too?” Bobby asked, turning to Rahmoud.
“The unicorn can shoulder great burdens without effort,” Rahmoud said. “She seems pleased to carry you and your friend.”
In fact, Uni had already butted Terry onto her back. The girl looked absolutely delighted, patting the unicorn’s mane fondly.
“Thanks, Uni,” she said, smiling. “Hop on, Bobby!”
Bobby settled himself behind her on Uni’s back, and the little unicorn did indeed seem more than equal to carrying two small humans. With another bleat, she jogged to her position in line between Eric and Diana’s korzna and Venger’s.
“My children,” Rahmoud called up to them, “I wish you every good luck. I would go with you, but I must remain here to help organize the rest of the resistance against the Shadow Demon. Know that my heart goes with you all, and I look forward to rejoicing with you when our enemy is defeated.”
“Thank you for everything, Rahmoud,” Hank said, bowing from atop his korzna. “We hope we’ll see you again soon.”
“Really,” Eric said, trying to put all the affection he had for Rahmoud into the word. “Tell Aiyesha… tell her she’s lucky.”
“Indeed, and now, remembering to roll your r’s…,” Rahmoud prompted them.
“Katrrrrrrash!” Eric yelled with significantly more volume than he needed, and it took all of Diana’s skill to keep their korzna from racing off across the desert, leaving everyone else in the dust.
