To Return Home

The next morning, we piled back into the truck and headed out to the capital city of Folona. The villagers had treated us well and patched up our wounds the best they could during the previous night. We were allowed to sleep in the church, and left Daletopia with the rise of the sun.

Atlas sat in the passenger seat next to me. The least I could do for him after he saved my life yesterday was to allow him to sit away from Lynessa on the trip to the capitol. He sat, looking out the window as the fields and valleys rolled on by, not saying a word. I think he was still upset about all of Daletopia calling him ‘Foggy’. I almost felt bad for him.

Almost. He had told me that he would be perfectly willing to let me die.

Ser Erik had given us a few directions early on, but as the road drew further north, signs began to appear pointing the way to go. We passed more and more people as we continued into the late morning, at times having to pull aside to allow slow-moving carriages to pass in the other direction. Spirits were high, especially after one important piece of information from Ser Erik.

“The king will be excited to meet you, Hero,” he yelled through the back window, “But afterwards it will be no trouble at all to send you home. The spell we used to summon you only works once, but another can be made by the court wizard for when you are ready to return.”

That had been the best news I’d heard since I got here. Well, that and that there was to be a feast when we arrived. That was good, as the villagers hadn’t been able to feed us, which probably had something to do with all of their crops and storehouses burning down. As it stood, I hadn’t eaten since the morning before I was transported to this world.

When we approached the walls of the city, it was already noon. My stomach growled.

The guards lifted the portcullis to let us in when they saw Ser Erik standing in the bed of the truck. People waved to us as we began a slow drive up through the crowded streets of the city. Bells rang from seven ancient steeples throughout the city, cheers resounded from every side. People tossed flowers into the back of my truck as we climbed the winding street up to the towering castle.

Inside we were greeted by the king, a jolly, fat fellow with thick gray hair and a long beard. Folona, I learned, was the kingdom of humans. I was then introduced to dozens of people of importance to the kingdom, most of whom I promptly forgot, and we were escorted to a massive hall for the feast.

Nineteen courses were served. Nineteen! I barely made it through nine before having to put my plate aside. The king had arranged a place for me near the head of the long wooden table. He bombarded me with questions about who I was and where I had come from. I answered as best I could while maintaining as much of a ‘hero’ persona all the while. My answers seemed to satisfy the king, and after the feast the Honoured Heroes and I were led into a small underground chamber to await the arrival of the court wizard.

“It is truly a shame to see you gone so soon.” Ser Erik commented as we waited, “The Demonlord may be defeated and his army fled, but his generals still lurk in the shadows. It’s likely we’ll need to hunt them down before they begin causing more trouble, and you’d certainly make that a whole lot easier.”

“Sorry, Erik,” I replied, “But I have to return home and be a hero to the people of my realm. The longer I’m here, the longer they are without me. Who knows what dangers might befall them?”

“You’re right as always, Legendary Hero.” Ser Erik said, “I hadn’t considered that, but yes, it would make sense that your people need you to defend them.”

“You’re such a powerful hero!” Gushed Lynessa, “They must be so lucky to have you defending them!”

“Oh, uh, yes. They are.” I said. I was just hoping that I could actually be taken back. Maybe if I left this world I could make it back home and then…

And then what, exactly? Be arrested? Of course, this all could be just a hallucination or something, I reasoned, and it was probably better to spend some time in jail than to have the plug pulled on me because I couldn’t wake up from some coma.

But what if this was real? That was unlikely, but still I felt somewhere within me that it might be. This all seemed far too complex to be something I could make up in my head. And weren’t the things you see in comas just recycled little thoughts and experiences from your own life? You couldn’t dream something you’d never seen before?

I shook my head. It didn’t matter. It was going to be over soon, anyway.

The court wizard entered the room. He was an old man, well over a hundred if I had to guess. Supposedly he was the most powerful wizard in all four kingdoms, but wasn’t able to fight in the Demon War because he was too frail. He’d designed the spell that brought me here, though, so I hoped he’d be able to send me back. I noticed he was holding a pillow in his outstretched hands.

Atop the pillow sat a large, white gemstone. It was cut beautifully and seemed to have a hundred sides. I saw myself reflected in it, dozens of pairs of eyes all staring back at me from within its opalescent confines.

“This is the Gem of Traversal.” The elderly wizard said, “It possesses the power to transport you to any dimension of your choosing, and the king has authorized me to give it to you as a reward for defeating the Demonlord.”

That sounded useful, and like a mighty gift. If I could figure out how to use the gem then infinite universes would be at my fingertips!

I bowed my head respectfully, “Tell his majesty that I am forever grateful. Now, how do you manage to work it?”

“It’s quite simple, really,” the court wizard said as he placed the pillow on a table in the center of the room. He picked the gem up in a single, wrinkled hand. “You just hold it like so and recite the incantation, and it will take you to whatever dimension you so desire to go to.”

“What’s the incantation?” My excitement was building. I could hardly stop a smile from spreading across my face there and then.

“Ah, yes.” The mage said, “It begins with–”

A loud whoosh silenced the mage. His head tumbled to the floor.

My eyes widened in shock. The Honoured Heroes reached for their weapons. The priest’s body hit the floor, and standing behind him was a figure dressed in black robes embroidered with the image of the sun across the chest.

Lynessa cast a spell at the figure, but he merely held up a golden pendant. The magic of the spell was absorbed into the pendant, which glowed brightly, before releasing a flash which filled the entire room with blinding light. When I managed to blink away the light, the figure had vanished and the stone was gone.

“What was that?” I demanded. I was furious, having come so tantalizingly close to returning home.

“That was one of the priests of The Order of the Golden Sun!” Ser Erik exclaimed, “Though I do not understand why they would want to stop you, Legendary Hero. They are usually such a peaceful order, dedicated to helping those around them.”

“Something has to have changed, then.” Arthur said, “That, or the one we saw is an outcast of some kind.”

“We’ll have to find out in the morning.” Ser Erik decided, “We need to report this to somebody and lock down the castle.”

“Yes.” Lynessa agreed, “And we need to get some rest. It’s late and we’ll need all our energy to go hunting down that stone!”

I sighed and looked down at Atlas. He was eyeing the wizard’s decapitated head.

“You just ate.” I reminded him.

He yawned and slinked away, licking his lips.

I went to bed that night wondering if I could ever escape this world. The odds were dropping by the day.