Return to Daletopia

Without the leadership of the Divine Speaker, the rest of the Priests of the Golden Sun quickly scattered, leaving us alone in the meeting chamber. Atlas pressed his paws into the spot where the Divine Speaker had vanished. When that yielded no results, he smacked the floor angrily.

“Where do you think he went?” I asked Ser Erik.

“In the ancient texts of the Order of the Golden Sun, it is said that when we die, our souls are taken to the sun, which is heaven.” The knight explained.

“So you think he tried to go to the sun?” I asked.

“It’s likely.” Ser Erik said.

I sighed. That would figure.

“Yeah, there’s no way we’re getting the gem back.” I said, burying my head in my hands.

Atlas yowled in frustration and returned to smacking the floor.

We located the truck afterwards. Two priests had been assigned to guard it. They fled when they saw Atlas charging at them, fury burning deep within his eyes. We had to drag him away to prevent him from mauling them to death.

The drive back was as solemn as it was uneventful. We made it to Daletopia by nightfall. A grim pall hung over us as we came up over the hills.

A cheering crowd greeted us as we drove down the dirt road into the center of town. The village looked more in order. Houses had begun to be rebuilt, shops and stalls assembled. Soon the crowd became so thick that I had to stop the truck.

“What is the meaning of this celebration?” Ser Erik asked the priest, whose usual white robes had been exchanged for blue.

“We are celebrating the return of our hero, Dale, the messenger of Ford.” The priest explained, “He has brought us safety, and now he grants us riches beyond our wildest imagining!”

“I sent the priest a message after we defeated Almaxor,” Lynessa explained, “Dale said we should give the remainder of the treasure to the people of Daletopia, so I sent them the location of the cave. They have people bringing back the treasure now.”

That night we ate well. The village had pooled together to make a feast in our honor. Fireworks shot into the night sky, glistening gold and green. Crickets chirped merrily, folk clamoured amongst their friends and Imalor stood atop a great wooden table and drunkenly recounted to the townsfolk how we had slayed the dragon. Great cheers rose up as he described lassoing the dragon’s horns from the bed of the truck. I couldn’t help but smile.

The other party members were in high spirits as well. Arthur and Ser Erik took turns shooting empty tankards off a nearby fence. Whenever one missed, he would drink, and by the end the stern priest had to confiscate their bows as their shots sailed closer and closer to the frightened spectators. Lynessa sat near the edge of the celebration, reading one of the tomes she’d acquired from the dragon’s lair. When she saw me, she smiled shyly and motioned for me to come over and sit by her. I started to walk over, but a nagging feeling in the back of my mind stopped me.

I hadn’t seen Atlas since we got back to Daletopia. I did a quick scan of the celebration. He wasn’t present, and nobody seemed to know where he was. I excused myself, and stepped away from the light and into the cool night air.

I found Atlas curled up in the bed of my pickup truck, pressed up against the bearskin he’d acquired from the dragon’s stash. At first, I thought he was asleep, but he opened one eye as I approached. He grunted and turned his back.

“Hey,” I said, “How are you doing?”

I hadn’t expected him to take losing the Gem of Traversal so hard. Most of the time he seemed pretty indifferent about everything.

“What would you care?” He asked solemnly, “You’re the reason I’m even here to begin with.”

“Okay, so, you can’t go blaming me for all of this,” I said, “It was the Honoured Heroes who summoned us here. Y’know, to defeat the Demonlord?”

“I wouldn’t have been in that truck to begin with if you hadn’t kidnapped me!” He growled accusingly.

“I thought I was doing you a favor!” I argued, “You were the last of your species, rotting away in some animal prison.”

“I never asked for you to do me a favor!” He raised his head and glared at me, “I was happy there, in the zoo. I never had to worry about my next meal, never had to fight for my life against demons or dragons or evil priests. Life was simple. Good. And you took it all away from me.”

I was at a loss for words. I’d never once considered how Atlas felt about this whole situation. Hearing him now, so lost, so depressed, woke a pang of guilt deep within me.

“I’m sorry.” I said.

“No. You’re not.” He snapped, “Hell, if killing you didn’t kill me as well, I’d rip out your throat here and now.”

He lay back down and curled up, burying his head back into the bearskin.

“You may not believe it.” I said, “But I promise you that I will stop at nothing to get you back home.”

He gave no response. I sighed and walked back into town. The celebration seemed to be dying down. Imalor slumbered on top of the table, an empty tankard clutched in his hand. Arthur was passed out at the door to the church. Ser Erik hadn’t even made it that far. The knight slumbered peacefully under a nearby bush using his breastplate as a pillow.

Lynessa sat alone, still reading her book. I slumped down beside her.

“Oh, Legendary Hero!” She said, seemingly startled.

“For the love of all that is holy,” I sighed, “Just call me Dale.”

“Right.” Lynessa said, lowering the tome, “Dale.”

“I was wondering about the spell you used to bring me here,” I said, “If you knew anyone else who could replicate it.”

“Well, as a matter of fact,” She said, her face brightening, “I have! A part of this book here outlines how we can make another dimensional travel scroll, but it requires some very rare ingredients. It would require a lot of searching”

“I’ll find them, no matter what they are.” I said, determined, “That tiger has saved my life so many times since we got here. I owe it to him to find a way to return home.”

“You must really care about him.” Lynessa said.

“I mean, no. Not really. I don’t think so.” I said, “But I do feel bad for him.”

“Wait, really? Why not?” Lynessa asked, “I thought all beastmasters had inseparable bonds with their beasts.”

“It’s complicated.” I said, rubbing my chin. How could I explain this in a way that would make sense? I decided to try the truth. A little bit of it, anyway. “Atlas and I had barely met each other before you summoned us to your world.”

“I thought his name was Foggy.” Lynessa tilted her head to one side.

I sighed, “No, so it’s actually Atlas. I kind of messed that up. It was part of us still getting to know one another.”

“Oh.” she said, her eyes widening, “So you guys really must have just met.”

“Yup,” I responded, “The morning prior. And don’t call him Foggy because he says it makes him want to rip your face off.”

Lynessa looked wounded, “He doesn’t like me?”

“Uh,” that was getting a little closer to the truth than I liked, “No, he’s just annoyed by that. He likes you just fine.”

“Oh, okay!” She said, “Well, if it helps, I can get started on that spell right away!”

“You could? That would be great!” I said. I felt bad for lying to her in parts. But if she knew I wasn’t really a hero, would she still be willing to help send me home? I hoped so.