Queen Lorella, no longer invisible, gasped. “Oh! I thought you were…”
“I know,” he replied, relaxing. “It’s over. Let’s get out of here.”
“Gladly.”
Lorian saw the portal the dragon had used to visit her captive. “An elven Mirror of Sulinae,” he said in surprise, moving toward it. “Do you know where it leads?”
“Yes,” answered Matt from the doorway, “to Castle Olliana somewhere.”
“Good. Then let’s use it.” The elf stroked its edge and spoke magic words as the others joined them. It had never occurred to Matt that Lorian might know how to use it. In moments, the frame filled with an image of the queen’s royal chambers, empty. The elf gestured for them to go through, Eric first, then Anna, the queen, and Ryan, all disappearing from Castle Darlonon in relief. Even as Matt left the ruin, the tower began to tremble ominously. Lorian shoved him through and leapt after as the tower collapsed in a shower of debris, taking the other mirror with it. This one shut off abruptly. A moment of silence followed before everyone realized they were safe.
The next day, Ryan felt a mixture of relief and regret that they were going home. For the most part, he was eager, but he’d finally had time to think about the reality of this quest, for the first time since arriving. Dragons. Elves. Magic. It was all real. It seemed almost strange to finally marvel now, but danger, fear, and the unknown had taken any potential fun or amusement right out of this whole thing. He’d heard himself sighing repeatedly since arriving back in Olliana, where they’d taken care of various issues, including a good bath, warm meal, and a little too much wine and mead, followed by a long sleep.
They reached an agreement with Sonneri and the queen on how to deal with Honyn’s questions about why the dragons had appeared after the quest’s apparent completion. The story was that the Ellorians needed to spring Nir’lion’s trap on purpose as the only way to discover and rescue the queen, held prisoner in an unknown location with the dragon taking her place. Revealing this also helped Queen Lorella avoid explaining some questionable decisions Nir’lion had made while posing as her, even as she quickly reversed those orders. Since they couldn’t admit the real Soliander opened the gate, they claimed Raith had done it without giving his name so that neither Cirion nor Nola would counter this. The pair hadn’t been seen and couldn’t be trusted to keep secrets either way. To prevent further trouble with the Dragon Gate, a protective force would guard what remained of Castle Darlonon indefinitely.
Most of Honyn had seen the dramatic display of dragons pulled across the sky, knowing what it meant, but few cheers had erupted due to the devastation. Months, even years of rebuilding and burying the dead lay ahead. This time no fanfare accompanied their quiet departure, everyone feeling it was inappropriate. It almost seemed like they’d failed Honyn and were skulking off in secret, their accomplishment diminished by destruction.
Now Matt stood in the throne room with the others, atop the dais, the Quest Ring around them beginning to light up with words of blue fire. They hadn’t seen the ring since arriving and hadn’t previously noticed the hole on one pillar, for the top of Soliander’s staff, which would trigger the return spell if the quest was done. In the back of his mind, he prayed they were truly headed home, not to the home worlds of the four champions they’d replaced. It would be especially bad in Matt’s case, arriving right into Soliander’s grip. They hadn’t spoken of it, but Eric had quietly told him not to speculate aloud about it so as not to worry the techie. If it happened, it happened, and there wouldn’t be much they could do about it. There was only one way to tell what was going to happen.
Hoping for the best, Ryan let his thoughts turn to home. Were people looking for them? What should they say about their absence when asked? More importantly, what, if anything, had Soliander done to their friends and family while they’d remained here?
Moments later, the vortex of light and sound ended and the four friends stood in the dark countryside, a black sky above, a familiar moon to one side, and giant stone monoliths beside them. Stonehenge looked just like it had when they left and caused an audible sigh of relief from all of them, which made them start to laugh.
“We’re home!” Ryan said, noticing that Eric was not only dressed as before, but holding the SUV’s flashlight in his hands. It was on, too.
“Thank God,” said Anna.
“It’s cold,” Matt observed.
Ryan nodded. The air seemed a bit too cool for what they wore – the same Earth clothes they’d been wearing several weeks earlier. “I don’t think we’re dressed for the weather anymore.”
Eric remarked, “I guess the spell just returns you to how you were before the quest, not change your clothes to something appropriate like it does when you’re summoned.”
“I hope we’re never summoned while naked,” Matt joked. “That could be awkward on returning.”
“Let’s hope we’re never summoned again,” said Anna.
“I’m just glad to be back in my own clothes,” remarked Ryan. He pulled out his iPhone but still had no signal. Checking in on Daniel, or giving him the good news that they were back, would have to wait.
“It’s good we didn’t return in those outfits we had on,” said Matt. “That might’ve been hard to explain. I wish I had the spell books, though.”
“Speaking of explanations,” started Ryan, “we need to get our story straight.”
“Can we get out of
