Candlelight vigils had been held both in England and the United States with speeches by friends and tearful pleas from parents. A prime time TV special had even detailed their lives, disappearance, media storm, and the international investigation, with the typical stock footage of friends in happier times and how bright their futures were – or had been. The four lost friends had become famous for the wrong reason, and if they were ever to turn up alive, a worldwide media storm would greet them, questions flying. Everyone wanted answers, but those closest to them really just wanted them back.
With the apparent exception of Anna’s father, thought Jack.
He stepped further into the condo, seeing the cats come out from hiding in expectation of food. He’d been taking care of them and was supposed to take them home soon, once he cleared out the place. Anna’s father hadn’t put it on the market yet, but it couldn’t be far off. It seemed he wanted to put the whole mess behind him and move on. Still feeling like this was a terrible mistake, Jack picked up a cat and headed for the kitchen. He would start tomorrow.
Autumn leaves rustled under the horse’s hooves as the elf cantered along the road from Olliana. After much toil and danger, he rode with less alertness than usual, for there was little to worry about so close to the city. He needed to relax anyway after all the recent fighting and stress. It was why he’d freed the other elves with him to stay or go on alone, for he wanted some time to himself. He breathed in the fresh air and scents of the forest as he entered a wooded stretch of road. It reminded Lorian of home, his destination.
He could enjoy the comforts of Arundell for the first time in months, a crate of rare wine waiting for such an august occasion as the second banishment of the dragons and, even better, the death of Nir’lion. While elves valued life, some lives were bent on the destruction of all others and were best extinguished for the greater good. She wouldn’t be causing such trouble again even on the uninhabited Soclarin, a thought which reminded him of the ore.
It was just as well that the gate had been sealed and that ore locked away. The ore was a dangerous thing for anyone to learn the existence of, and it pleased him that Queen Lorella, her Prime Minister, and Sonneri had agreed to destroy the scroll copy. No one else would learn its contents, and it could be safely forgotten. Hopefully Soliander would never open the gate again, or if he did, the new champions could lock it swiftly next time. They had done very well, very well indeed.
Thoughts of Soliander troubled him. The wizard he’d known would never have let the dragons loose to cause such damage or been so careless about leaving the gate unguarded. Where he had gone to and what he’d been doing all this time troubled Lorian as much as the attempts on both his and Matt’s lives. It raised fears about what had become of the real Andier, Eriana, and Korrin. Something told him the wizard had something to do with their disappearance and he rode along thinking of every detail he could remember from their time together, looking for clues into this destructive behavior. Lost in thought, he never saw the net falling until it was too late. It swept him from the horse’s back to the ground, where someone delivered a blow that knocked him out.
Queen Lorella strode into her private chambers, leaving her guards outside and breathing a sigh of relief that this whole affair with the Ellorians was over, at least publicly. There were reconciliation meetings to occur between kingdoms via messengers and other intermediaries, but she’d leave those details to others as befitting a ruler of her stature. Now the armies threatening war had backed down, their warriors going back to their regular lives, unmindful of any danger that might turn up in the next days. Everyone’s guard would drop and no one would think to watch the skies any longer.
She smiled. This was perfect, even better than she had planned. For a time, there she’d been rather angry, and more importantly, at a loss for how to salvage the situation. Then the champions had come against all odds and a new plan was born, one that left Honyn even more unsuspecting than before. It had unfortunately cost the life of the same foolish dragon that had caused the problem by being spotted, and there would be a hefty price to pay for her death, but in the end, disaster had not only been averted but turned to her advantage.
She turned to a map of Honyn on a table, eyeing the nearby kingdoms and recalling what Olliana’s generals had told her about troop movements and battle tactics in the event a dragon horde emerged from the gate. No one had been willing to share plans due to suspicion about which kingdom’s wizard had unleashed them, but knowing they wouldn’t cooperate with each other was worth knowing, too. The fools didn’t deserve the peace they now enjoyed, but sometimes fools got what they deserved. Their
