Sarah gave him a sly smile. “Mm-hmm. Alright, let’s go see the king.”

  She brought up one of her safe zones and teleported them to R’Tal, placing them directly before the open drawbridge leading in to the mighty castle. Several guards, in the process of interrogating a large family attempting to cross the bridge, paused as they looked over at them. Steve looked down at himself. He was still wearing the clothes he had brought with him from the 19th century, which consisted of a dusty white winged collar shirt and dark trousers. Sarah was wearing one of the many outfits she had accumulated. The one she had on now was a dark blue jacket and skirt, worn with a bustle. She also had on a matching bonnet that nicely complimented her outfit. Mikal had turned to look behind them and had inadvertently stepped behind Steve, so he wasn’t seen. Husband and wife returned the guard’s frank stares while Mikal continued to remain concealed.

  The closest guard approached and dropped his right hand to rest on the hilt of his sword.

  “State your business, friend. Who are you? What are you doing here?”

  Steve smiled and stretched out his right hand as though he was trying to shake the guard’s hand. He waited a few moments and then ignited it.

  “Hi there. My name is Steve. Steve Miller. You might know me as the fire thrower. This lovely lady is Sarah, my wife.”

  All four guards gasped with shock.

  “Sir Steve! Lady Sarah! We had heard that you disappeared!”

  One guard instantly turned around and bolted inside the castle.

  “We did disappear,” Steve confirmed. “We just made it back.”

  “What happened?” a second guard asked, genuinely curious. “Where did you go?”

  Mikal stepped out from behind Steve and walked around his former bodyguard. The prince eyed the three guards, who instantly snapped to attention.

  “Kre’Mikal. Our apologies. We didn’t see you.”

  “We have business to discuss with my parents. Would you…”

  Mikal trailed off as a commotion sounded from somewhere within the depths of the castle. It sounded as though a herd of elephants were heading in their direction.

  “I think it’s about to get super noisy, pal,” Steve told the friendly guard. “Why don’t you help that poor man and his family out of the way? I think that they’d appreciate it.”

  The three guards quickly ushered the large family of seven to the side.

  “Please forgive us, Nohrin. You may pass.”

  Sarah smiled at them. “Why thank you, good sirs.”

  They only managed a dozen steps towards the interior of the castle when a group of soldiers came barreling out of a side door and came to a stop before them. Leading the way was a familiar and very welcome sight. Steve’s face split into a grin.

  “Rhenyon! It’s good to see you, buddy!”

  Rhenyon stared at the three of them as though he was seeing them for the first time.

  “Wizards be damned! It’s true! You’re back! Finally!”

  Steve shrugged. “Sorry. Uh, due to circumstances that were damn near out of our control, we are just glad to be back. We were shooting for no more than three or four days later but clearly we misread the signs.”

  “Misread the signs?” Rhenyon repeated, puzzled. “What is that supposed to mean?”

  The king and queen emerged from within the heart of the castle. Judging by the large number of soldiers all scrambling to keep up the Kri’yans must have dropped what they were doing and hurried outside. Mikal approached his parents as the guards hurriedly reformed their squadrons.

  “Son!” Kri’Entu exclaimed, surprised. “I am pleased to see you home!”

  The queen embraced her son and, while still holding Mikal, gently turned him so that she could look at Sarah. Tears were streaming down her face which naturally caused Sarah to tear up as well.

  “We are so very relieved,” Ny’Callé exclaimed as she released Mikal from her embrace. “We all are. What happened?”

  “What happened?” the king echoed at the same time.

  Steve pointed towards the castle’s interior.

  “Do you mind if we go find a place to sit down? It’s been a very long day.”

  “Of course, of course. We will adjourn to the Antechamber. Commander, you are welcome to join us.”

  Rhenyon smiled. “Don’t mind if I do, your majesty.”

  Once they were all seated Steve looked straight at the king and cleared his throat.

  “Now would be the time to seal that thing, your majesty.”

  The king nodded. “Consider it done. We were waiting… hoping to hear from you two before we did that. We didn’t want to eliminate all chances of return by doing so.”

  “We didn’t use the portal to get back,” Sarah told him. “That’s what took so long. We couldn’t. It was a one-way portal.”

  “Created by Zevern the Inept,” Steve automatically said.

  The queen’s eyes widened and she covered her mouth with a hand but was unable to prevent the giggle from escaping. The king leaned back in his chair and smirked.

  “Zevern the Inept, is it? How odd. I always thought it was ‘Zevern the Magnificent’.”

  “Not even close,” Steve assured them. “He really didn’t know what he was doing when he created that portal.”

  “Why did he create it?” Rhenyon asked.

  “That was how Luther Miller arrived on our world,” Steve answered. “That’s how they linked your world to ours.”

  “What of the villagers that fell through besides the two of you?” the queen wanted to know. “Were you able to find them?”

  “We found four. One elected to stay behind while the other three returned with us.”

  “And the girl?” the king worriedly asked. “Please tell me the girl isn’t the one who remained behind.”

  “That would be Lissa,” Sarah answered. “And no, she wasn’t. Steve found her on Lentari.”

  “What?” Kri’Entu demanded. “I thought the portal was linked to your world.”

  “It was,” Sarah confirmed, “but not all the time. Sometimes it dropped the person in Idaho and other times it dropped the person in Lentari.”

  “Where in Lentari were they dropped?” the king inquired. “It’s odd that we weren’t notified. Were they dropped in the middle of the Bohanis?”

  “Lissa arrived near that waterfall where Sarah and I first appeared,” Steve answered. “But not in the right time.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?” Rhenyon wanted to know.

  “It means that the portal remains linked to a general point in time, regardless of how much time passes. When Luther, that’s my great-great-grandfather, first used the portal it dropped him backwards in time by about three years.” Steve turned to the king. “You saw Sarah go in. Then you saw me go in right after her, right?”

  The king nodded.

  “I arrived six months after she did.”

  The three Lentarians turned to look at Sarah, who nodded.

  “It’s true. I was in Idaho for six months before Steve showed up. And it gets better. We were transported to Idaho.”

  “The portal took you to your home?” the king asked, confused.

  “Right place, wrong time,” Steve added. “It took us over a hundred and twenty years into the past.”

  “How is that possible?” Rhenyon wondered aloud.

  “We can thank ‘Zevern the Inept’. Remember? Now, let’s see.” Steve took a deep breath. “Long story short, we had to help Luther activate the portal he had built by getting another athe crystal and we ended up tangling with a corrupt sheriff, er, constable.”

  “I had to help Luther and Cora, that’s Steve’s ancestors, hold off an angry mob of the sheriff’s men by making our future home look haunted,” Sarah nonchalantly added. “I hope that didn’t mess anything up.”

  “Don’t forget getting kidnapped by that jerk who thought he could convince you to help him retire by robbing banks,” Steve reminded her.

  “Banks?” Rhenyon asked, unfamiliar with the word.

  “Uh, places to keep your gold,” Steve translated.

  “Ah.”

  “I was kidnapped,” Sarah continued, “thereby stranding Steve and a friend on Lentari, that’s Lentari of the past, with no way to get back. You’ll have to explain this next part, Steve, because I still don’t know exactly what you did.”

  “Do you people still use dennais?” Steve asked as he looked at Rhenyon.

  “In times of emergencies only,” the commander immediately answered. “Why do you ask?”

  “That’s how Cecil and I got back to Idaho from Lentari. Without Sarah.”

  “Or a portal,” Sarah added with a smile.

  “A dennai is nowhere large enough to pass a person,” Rhenyon informed them. “Not to mention those small portals are trained on each village’s constable office. You can’t change that.”

  “You can if you know a gatekeeper,” Steve smugly answered.

  Kri’Entu nodded thoughtfully. “Gatekeepers are rare. I am very surprised you found a skilled gatekeeper strong enough to change the dennai’s destination to that of another world.”

  Steve nodded. “Turns out gatekeeping runs strong in my family. Luther was on my world. So was Sarah. I was on Lentari. Who, then, could I use? Turns out Luther had a sister. We found her, rescued her from a bunch of nasty little suckers called griskis, and convinced her to change the dennai’s destination.”

  “Griskis?” the queen repeated, frowning. “They’ve been extinct now for over…”

  “A hundred years?” Steve guessed, after the queen trailed off. “That’s probably because of me. I won’t even say I’m sorry. Disgusting little boogers, let me tell you. That’s where we found another survivor of the portal. Quinn, a schoolmaster from Capily. He was next on the menu, if you catch my meaning.”

  Kri’Entu shuddered while the queen paled.

  Rhenyon sat back in his chair and thoughtfully stroked his chin. “I’m still unclear how you used a dennai to return to your world.”

  “We changed the dennai to target, uh, a tavern in Coeur d’Alene. A friend of ours was running it. We dropped the athe crystal along with a note that said it should be given to Luther. He got it and activated the portal, thus allowing us to return.”

  “I have a question,” Sarah suddenly interjected. “When did the dragons and the humans become allies?”

  The king blinked his eyes a few times as he curiously stared at the teleporter.

  “We became allies a few years ago. I thought you knew this, Lady Sarah.”

  “Thanks. Just checking.”

  “Can I ask why?”

  “Do you know when the dwarves became allies with the dragons?” Steve asked, drawing another puzzled look from the king.

  Kri’Entu was silent as he thought back to the many facts drilled in to him by his many tutors.

  “It was over…”

  Kri’Entu paused as he looked at his son’s former bodyguards.

  “Over a hundred years ago,” Steve finished for him. “We know. We were there when it happened. That’s the thing. It wasn’t supposed to happen for a number of years.”

  “How do you know this?” the queen quietly asked.

  “Because that’s how it happened before,” Steve clarified. “For us, before we entered that damn portal. Don’t you see? Our presence in the past changed the present. Who knows what else was changed?”

  “Since that past is all we know,” the king gently told him, “our present is unaffected. We can only trust what you say is true and the events you are familiar with have altered to something else. Why did you ask about the human-wyverian pact? Did that happen at a different date?”

  “Oddly enough, no,” Steve admitted. “We heard Kri’Calin say over and over that he wanted to broker his own pact with the dragons so they could become allies, too. I don’t think Rinbok was too keen on the idea.”

  “You met Kri’Calin?” the king breathed. “His rule was considered one of our kingdom’s best. I am envious of your adventures.”

  The Antechamber’s doors opened. Two unusually quiet figures, walking side by side, approached. Maelnar instantly dropped to one knee while Shardwyn snatched his hat off his head and began wringing it between his wrinkled hands.

  Kri’Entu raised an eyebrow and looked over at Steve. The king nodded his head, giving him permission to deal with the somber pair. Steve slowly stood and approached the two figures.

  “On your feet, my friend.”

  Maelnar looked up, hopeful.

  “Words cannot even to begin to describe the anguish I have suffered since you and Sarah fell into that terrible portal,” the elderly dwarf began. “I offer my humblest apology. Shardwyn and I have promised to end all grievances that exist between the two of us.”

  Shardwyn nervously cleared his throat.

  “Aye. Master Maelnar is quite correct. I haven’t spent two weeks as miserably as I have since the time Maelnar bested me at a game of turkin in less than five moves.”

  “Turkin?” Steve repeated as he looked around the room for an idea of what it could be.

  “It’s like chess,” Mikal translated.

  “Ah. Got it. Listen, Shardwyn. I promised myself that if I ever got back here that I was personally going to make the two of you bury the hatchet. As it turns out, it looks like our disappearance has done that very thing for us. Since Sarah and I went through that portal has either of you raised your voice to the other?”

  Surprised, Maelnar looked up at Shardwyn just as the wizard looked down at the dwarf.

  “Er, no, Sir Steve,” Shardwyn admitted.

  Maelnar nodded. “I would concur. We were both so worried about what horrors you could have been facing that we didn’t give our grievances a passing thought.”

  “Continue like this and you’ll have no problem with me. Will the two of you agree to that in front of the king and queen, myself and Sarah, Mikal, and Rhenyon? If the two of you agree to this then you will be held to your word. Do you understand?”

  Maelnar bowed. “Of course. And I hereby agree.”

  The wizard bowed low. “As do I.”

  Maelnar nodded. “I do believe it’s time that I returned home to Foronlir.”

  Shardwyn nodded. “I will accompany you to the portal room, my friend.”

  Maelnar bowed. “Appreciated, my friend.”

  Wizard and dwarf walked companionably towards the Antechamber’s main door and departed the room.

  “They certainly look chummy,” Steve observed. “It’s starting to freak me out.”

  “They have become practically inseparable,” Kri’Entu agreed, masking the smile that wanted to form. “It would seem that your unfortunate events have brought them closer than either would have ever believed.”

  Steve nodded. “Good. Hon? Are you ready to go home? I think we both have earned a vacation.”

  “A very long vacation,” Sarah agreed. “Wait. Wait a minute. What city did Maelnar say he was going back to?”

  “Foronlir,” Kri’Entu answered.

  Steve blinked with surprise. “Didn’t he say he was going home? Doesn’t he live in Bohragg? I’ve never heard of Foronlir.”

  It was the king’s turn to be confused. “Foronlir is his home. He’s lived there for years.”

  “Really? What happened to Borahgg?”

  “Foronlir is Bohragg’s sister city,” the queen informed them. “Usually when a dwarf clan grows too large then a second city is built.”

  “Foronlir is a Kla Guur city?” Steve eyed his wife. “That wasn’t there in our time.”

  The king smiled. “Some day, when you have some time, I would very much like to hear as much as you can remember about what originally happened here. Before your visit to the past. I think it’s absolutely fascinating.”

  “We will,” Sarah promised. “Just not today. I’m sorry. I’ve been away from home for a very long time. I just want to get back to Idaho.”

  Both Kri’yans nodded.

  “Understood, Lady Sarah. You’ve earned your rest. Go now.”

  So you’ve finally returned. This is the point in time in which that portal returned you?

  Steve’s head snapped up.

  Pryllan?

  I have been wondering for so long when I would be able to share my experiences with you that I was beginning to wonder if I had simply imagined it. As you might have surmised by now, that was why I agreed to help Kahvel look for you when he reported a human had become lost. He had mentioned your name and I couldn’t help but wonder if you were the same human that I had befriended all those years ago. It was the first time you had met me, but not I you.

  Steve smiled. Sarah gently nudged him in his ribs.

  “What’s going on? Is it Pryllan?”

  “Yes. Apparently she’s been waiting for us to get back.”

  “Ask her about her father,” Sarah urged.

  What about my sire?

  “She heard you,” Steve whispered.

  Of course I did. We’re sharing senses. Surely you haven’t forgotten that we sometimes do that?

  About your father…

  What about him?

  Is he, uh, alive?

  Ah. Now I understand the source of your confusion. I had forgotten that for all intents and purposes, your return means that you will not have remembered anything that transpired during the last 120 years. Am I correct?

  Completely. I mean, I know what Sarah and I originally did during our previous visits here, but something tells me it isn’t the same anymore. Just tell me. Is your father still alive?

  Aye. I’ve been chatting with him while I’ve been waiting for you to discover my presence. Even though your previous self has known him for several years now, and Caradoc accompanied us on our hunt for the red oskorlisk, you, on the other hand, will have no recollection of that. He wants to talk to you.

  He was with us when we were hunting the oskorlisk? Not in my original timeline.

  I surmised as much. However, as far as I’m concerned, he accompanied us the one and only time we hunted the serpent. In fact, Caradoc was one of the dragons we competed against.

  He was? Did we win?

  Of course. It’s still a bitter point of contention with him. Now that he knows you have returned he wishes to converse with you. In person.

 

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