I must have dozed off, as sometime later I feel a gentle touch on my shoulder and open my eyes to see Elara crouched beside me.

"Hey, sleepy. Looks like Vita is awake and the others are starting to stir.”

I stretch, my back letting me know sleeping on a cave floor was not the ideal choice.

Looking about, I see others moving quietly. Sat on a chair brought from the tent is Vita, clutching a mug of some steaming drink that she sips from cautiously.

As I get up, I can’t help but notice that my steps feel looser, my body a bit more supple.

‘Is this because those point things are starting to have an effect?’ I would have to consider this further at a later point. ‘Makes sense, Misty’s increase of intelligence is pretty damned obvious.’

I look at Elara standing there with me.

“Shall we go see how she is doing?” I say, and we walk over to her.

All things considered, Vita looks better than I imagine I would, had I been in her place. Sure, she’s dusty and grimy from her ordeal, and her hair is a mess. But her eyes sparkle with that mix of curiosity and humour that had marked her when we first met at her cottage.

She watches us approach and smiles a tired welcome.

“I gather I have you two to thank for a lot of the effort of finding us before things went too far here.”

“Elara found Naomi. She was the key to solving things,” I tell her.

“Yes, Naomi,” Vita muses. “Paolo told me about her gift, a very rare talent indeed.”

I nod in agreement as Elara gives Vita more details about encountering the girl and helping her gift come out.

“I don’t know much of the higher magics,” Vita tells us. “My speciality is more to do with alchemy and cantrips around the healing arts. She was lucky you were there to help her, or else she may never have fully developed it.” She shakes her head.

“My own, small talent was not found until I was near puberty. I met a travelling healer who sensed something in me and took me on as an apprentice. Without him, my abilities would have fled into the ether as so many do when a body changes from child to adult.”

From the rising noise of conversation and movement around the area, I am made aware of the others now awake, also supping on steaming cups of herbal tea.

Breeda is talking with Merl, who has a gentle hand holding hers as she speaks. Sean, Will, and Silas are talking animatedly with the group gathered around Jake, with lots of arm waving and gesticulation as I catch snippets of their stories. Paolo sits on a low rock, his arm around Emily’s shoulder as he quietly talks with her and listens to her tale.

‘I reckon this is just the start of the unpacking this lot are going to go through.’ The thought saddens me, but it’s the reality of life that trauma causes scars, the depth of which can only be measured by time’s passage.

I zone back into the conversation between Vita and Elara. They are still discussing Naomi. Vita, as forthright as she originally impressed me with, is agreeing to help her family accept that Naomi will need to head to a bigger town or city to find a trainer, sooner rather than later.

Misty wanders over to them, jumps onto Vita’s lap, and presents the lizard she brought as a gift. Vita’s laughter rings around the cave, lifting the mood of the small group of tired villagers.

Paolo stands up and indicates that we should start to make a move back to the quarry.

“Elara,” I ask, “did you manage to recover everything from the mage and his tent?”

She nods. “All safe, though they will need proper looking at. I have the small items, but the staff and chest will need someone else to carry them out of here.”

Agreeing, I give Merl a shout, and with him and Jake, we head over to the tent as the rest get ready to move out.

Merl and Jake take the chest between them, and I grab the cloak-wrapped staff. Even through its covering, I can feel the tingle of its power resonating deep within me, making me shudder a little.

Joining Elara and Vita at the rear of the group, we are soon out of the dark passageway and emerging into the quarry. The rocks glint with silver, lit by the glow of the moon shining down from above.

At the ledge above the ladder, I see Lars standing and waving down to us.

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“The wagon just arrived,” I hear him shout, which causes the general pace across the quarry floor to pick up as thoughts of getting home take centre stage in everyone’s mind.

“We will need to rig up a hoist to lift up this damn chest,” Jake grunts.

“No kidding,” Merl agrees. “Give me an angry horse's hoof or a hot lump of metal to lift any day over this.”

“I can’t figure how he got this thing down there in the first place,” Jake continues.

“Has to have been magic, same as the people he took down there,” Merl puffs out.

Their complaints are more jest than frustration. Despite their grumbling, the banter is laced with good-natured humour. These were men shaped by hardship, accustomed to living life fully no matter what challenges came their way.

At the foot of the cliff, we sort the order for ascent. While it is strong, rope ladders can feel unstable to those not used to them, so special care is taken with Breeda as the oldest one here.

‘She should be in bed with cocoa, not climbing 50 feet of granite in the middle of the night.’

In the end, we send Jake up first, then Breeda with Merl behind but so close he is almost on the same rung as her, his presence a shield to stop her if she slips. Once they are safely up, the rest follow, each of the rescued led and followed by a rescuer. Sam carefully ascends, carrying Jason’s body on his back. Then Elara and Vita go up, with me as the last to leave the pit floor.

When I get to the top, I see that Merl has already rigged up a basic pulley, while Jake and Will have rigged up a simple frame from branches to run it over.

‘Ok idiot, back down you go.’ I pass the staff into Elara’s keeping and head back down. Once there, I grab the rope that is thrown down and attach it to the chest.

‘You would forget your own damn head if it wasn’t firmly attached.’

As it is pulled slowly up, I climb alongside it to ensure it doesn’t get stuck on a rocky outcropping.

Now all at the top, we load the wagon with Jason’s body, the chest, and an exhausted Breeda before beginning to make our way back to Stonebridge.

Our return to Stonebridge is met with the bark of a dog and little else. The village sleeps, and the creak of the wagon does nothing to disturb the night. The single guard on watch opens the gate as we approach, gives Paolo a simple nod, then goes back to his duty of manning his post, closing up the simple barrier once we have passed.

I see another of the town guards walking the street on the other side of the square as we unload there. With simple farewells, various hugs, and handshakes, everyone heads off to their homes. We arrange to see Paolo in the morning to discuss everything, then head with Jake and Vita back to the inn. Vita has decided to stay in the village for a couple of days to allow herself time to recover and also be on hand should any of the others be in need of her.

I lift the chest on my shoulder for the walk to the inn and see Jake give me an odd look, but I shrug it off. I am too tired to worry about stuff now. Tomorrow can bring tomorrow’s problems once it is good and ready.

Getting into the inn’s inviting warmth, I accept an ale from Jake and drink deeply from the cup.

“That was a hell of a night’s work,” Jake says, taking his own mug and sitting with me.

I nod and look down at the foaming suds. “We got them all back, though,” I add with a small, tired smile.

“Indeed we did, all apart from poor Jason,” he says, his tone heavy. “But we got that bastard. He won’t be stealing or killing anyone else.” His words carry strength despite both our tired states.

I finish the last of my pint and stand.

“We can try and figure out what the fuck this was all about tomorrow, my friend.” I pat him on the back as I pass. “But for now, I need my bed.”

“G’night, Del.” He looks up at me, “and thanks.”

I make my way up, following where Elara and Vita went a while before, and enter my room.

Clothes litter the floor wherever they fell, and her boots are thrown carelessly to one side. Elara lies sprawled across the bed with Misty curled up beside her.

I smile ruefully.

'We got back safe, girls, and neither of you the worse for it.’ As I undress myself just as untidily, I consider our next move.

‘Now we just need to figure out the whys and wherefores, Del, cross a few I’s and dot a couple of T’s.’

I roll the gently snoring elf over to make room and climb in. My eyes close, and I am asleep before my head hits the pillow.