Long Goodbye; Belated Reunion

The last time Skott saw Lamora was in the inn at Crossroad’s Ford.

“So, they say portals manifest just south of town, past the river,” Lamora had said as she laced up her traveling boots.

“Yeah.” Skott made sure he had his full list of gear and supplies.

He’d come to Aeirun with just the clothes on his back. Every one of his personal effects had been lost in this new world. His new clothes were plundered—well, ‘appropriated’ —elvan garb. He had to hope that his parents hadn’t sold all his wardrobe yet. It had been a year. He was undoubtedly a missing person’s cold case back on Earth. The grandparents must be mad with grief. 

“Traders say the portals last until something passes through them. So, if you get to one first, there should be nothing stopping you from returning home.”

“No. Physical barriers… right.” Skott frowned.

Lamora hugged him from behind. Her big ol’ incisors retracted as she leaned in to kiss him on the cheek.

A stave with a crescent moon emblem sat by the door. A catalyst for Lamora’s nature magic. With elvan in a state of route throughout this region, they hardly needed the protection on the road.

“You should go,” she said. “You have family there, do you not?”

“I do.” Skott reached up and held her hands.

“Go. You’ve done more than enough for this world,” Lamora said.

Reluctantly, Skott nodded. “I’ll try to find a more stable form of portal and come visit.”

“I’ll leave the torchlight on for you,” Lamora promised as she reached for her stave.

Prepped and ready to go, the pair opened the door to the inn’s top-floor suite. They walked out of the room, through the hall, and down a stairwell.

Heads turned as they entered the inn’s mead hall. Gasps turned to cheers. Reputations preceded them.

“Yes, yes, two heroes of the rebellion coming out of the same hotel room,” Skott said with his hands up in mock surrender.

“Perhaps someone will ask for, what are those things you told me about, our ‘autographs’?” Lamora asked.

The pair walked to the door.

“I suppose this is goodbye,” Skott said with a sigh.

“For now.” Lamora nodded.

He really should return home. Having been missing for a year, he probably had a missing person’s report out for him. It wasn’t right to leave his family wondering about what happened to him.

But he really wanted to stay. He was a hero here. People cheered for him on sight! Certainly, Lamora was good company. There was a lot of work to be done in this world.

Skott steeled himself for a goodbye. People always went back home after these kinds of adventures. There was no telling how long the portals would remain in this region.

“So, I really hope we’ll meet again,” Skott said, avoiding eye contact.

“As do I, Skott.” Lamora kissed him on the lips.

The rest of the inn cheered.

“Yeah, yeah, gawk all you want, ya jokers,” Skott told the crowd.

“Safe travels,” Lamora said, her cheeks blushing olive.

“I’ll be back,” Skott said, gravelly voiced, in a reference the people of this world would never understand.

+++

Lamora of Clan Kignora, Prime Ministress of Aeirun, walked down the steps of the Senate chambers.

“You’re back, as promised,” Lamora said breathlessly.

Skott gulped. Ah, that was meant to be a twee reference. Me and my pop culture knowledge overrides common sense

But he had kept his promise, in a way. Skott decided to just wing it.

“Took a while to find a way back,” he managed.

He’d tried so hard all through college. Even aimed higher, went to a fancy Ivy League with top-notch quantum physics and technology departments. But until mere days ago, he’d never seen another portal before.

“Mother! It was I who brought back our old hero from the other world!” Lucy jumped up and down in excitement.

“You… found him? In the realm of Omaha?” Lamora let out a surprised gasp.

Lucy nodded. “Aye, but he’s transmigrated again to the land of Boston, apparently.”

“I, uh, went to college. It’s a college town. Like that city on the coast with the mage’s tower. Y’know the one. Dabbled in theoretical physics. Trying to find a way back.” Skott let loose a toothy and awkward grin.

Senators murmured around them.

“The old hero is back! From the other world!”

“Will the elvan dare even fight back against him?”

“We should use this chance to go on the offensive.”

Lamora had a familiar olive blush as she stepped down onto the speaker’s floor. She maintained the stately airs of a politician, though Skott sensed a strong desire to run up and embrace him.

Orcs grew continuously throughout their lifecycles. It was the primary anatomy-based difference with humans. Last time, with Skott at eighteen/nineteen and Lamora at twenty, the couple were roughly the same height. Now, Lamora was a good head and a half taller than Skott. In their eighties, when they could no longer grow vertically, orcs would widen out horizontally with broad shoulders.

“You’ve changed,” Lamora admitted. “Still, human aging has been quite good to you, Skott.”

“You’re exactly like how I remember,” Skott said.

The Earther gazed upward admiringly.

“We shall put the senate in recess for the night, provided all parties vow to return tomorrow,” announced Prime Ministress Lamora.

With the drama of earlier resolved and Skott’s arrival having brought a morale boost to the coalition, they were reasonably confident that the lowland humans’ threats to quit the government had abated. Situation resolved, Lamora turned to Lucy.

“How did you find a portal to the other world?” Lamora asked.

“Oh, Grognar taught me,” Lucy said matter-of-factly. “Portal magic is all the rage at the mage’s tower.”

Lamora sighed. “You and your brother will be undergoing a crash course in the dangers of portalmancy this summer. But until then… thanks.”

Skott looked to Lamora, then to Lucy. Grognar was… her brother? Lamora seemed to sense his questions and his assumptions. The older orc let out a soft smile. He knew just what she was thinking: If Skott had already put two and two together, it would save her a great deal of explanation soon.

“Skott of Omaha. Meet me in the Prime Ministress’s office. You’ve missed a lot in these sixteen years.”

“I’m… sure I have.” Skott looked at Lucy. She really did take after her parents.

“Lucy, wait outside. We’ll call you in when ready.”

Obliviously, Lucy-Kignora nodded.

All eyes of the Senators were upon their Prime Ministress and the hero from the other world as they retreated up the stairs for a very important talk.