The dragon reared back, then fell backwards completely and hit the ground with an earth-shaking crash, before dissolving into noxious purple fumes which disippated into the foul air.

‘Phew, he was a tough one,’ said Wyvera. ‘First the wyvern in the Crystal Cave, now this one. I’m beginning to rethink my fondness for dragon-related fashion.’

‘We don’t have time to rethink anything right now!’ Horatio said. He had spied a white-clad figure, still running towards the tower, who had gained some ground on them while they had been fighting the dragon. ‘There’s Alex! Come on!’

As one, the party dashed forwards to catch up to Alex again, still refusing to allow him to brave the tower and attempt to retrieve the sword by himself.

They called after him to wait for them, and again he ignored them.

A bright white flash filled Horatio’s vision and there was a loud popping noise like a single sharp thunderclap

When his sight returned, he saw a man standing about ten paces in front of Alex.

This finally made the destined hero stop his running, and he skidded to a halt, his momentum bringing him to a stand just in front of the man.

At last the party had time to catch up to him again, and they arrived to support him, fanning out to flank him on either side. Horatio took a space immediately to Alex’s right.

The man who had just teleported in front of them was tall, with stylised spiked-up blue hair, a bit like Walter’s, which suggested he hailed from the same place. He had tan skin, also reminiscent of Walter, and wore a purple robe with golden trim and a high collar, and bright red bracelets forged of some kind of metal.

‘Who are you?’ Alex asked of the man. Apparently he was as perplexed as the rest of them about where this person had come from, whether he was friend or foe.

‘My name is Tyler,’ said the man in a voice that betrayed both youth and experience.

Stolen from its rightful place, this narrative is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

‘Hm, Tyler…’ muttered Walter next to Horatio. ‘I always thought that was a good name for a boy...’

Tyler must have heard him, because he said, ‘Yes, Dad. That’s because I’m your son.’

‘What?’ said Walter. ‘Don’t jest with me, boy, or you may get a taste of my steel.’

‘I’m not jesting.’ The man held out his hands. ‘I really am your son.’

‘I don’t have a son!’ Walter had put a hand to his sword-hilt. ‘And if I did, he certainly wouldn’t be as old as you! Take it back! You dishonour the memory of my dear wife!’

‘How did you get here, anyway?’ Ursula interjected. ‘The magical field of the tower is too strong to allow incoming teleportations this close to it. How did you bypass that?’

‘Because I didn’t teleport in from somewhere else in this present–I traveled backwards in time from the future.’

‘Impossible!’ said Primus. ‘Time travel is impossible! No mage has ever been able to do it!’

‘They have in my future,’ said Tyler. ‘It takes a huge amount of mana, and several people have to contribute, but it is possible. Trust me–I’m a time mage.’

‘I don’t have time for this,’ said Alex, making to move past Tyler and continue on to the tower. ‘I’ve got a sword to get back.’

Tyler held up a hand to stop him. ‘No, please, Alexander, you do have time for this. You don’t understand: In my future, you lose against the Demon King. You are killed, and you fail to banish him back to hell, and Lord Brax takes over the whole of Gard, enslaving everybody and populating it with monsters. I’ve come back to you from that future to try to prevent this from happening. You have to listen to me.’

Alex had stopped in his tracks just in front of the ‘time mage’ and froze still, apparently unsure of what to do or say next.

‘Prove it!’ demanded Walter, evidently still disturbed by this man claiming to be his son. ‘Prove you came from the future, and that you’re my son!’

‘My ability to travel here by magic should be evidence enough,’ Tyler said calmly. ‘But, seeing as you ask: You have a bear-shaped birthmark on your inner-right thigh. The substance you use to quiff up your hair is a mixture of gajunga-tree resin and walrus juice. And, ahem, I would expect that you probably already have a rather large crush on this woman over here…’ He gestured towards Ursula. ‘And perhaps even she on you…’

Ursula looked at the ground awkwardly.

Just then, a pack of monsters reached them. They had been so busy interrogating Tyler that they hadn’t noticed them coming over.

Tyler joins the party!

Battle 1