“Let’s try this again,” I said.

“Shouldn’t we tell the army to go away or something?” said Kelser.

“I don’t mind having an audience,” I said.

“But the fairies, they might not like some of the things that might come up,” said Taoc.

“You guys didn’t like what I said at first, either,” I said, facing the hovering spirit.

“Yes. We did not say anything because you are an elf,” she said.

“Then the fairies won’t say anything either,” I said. “After all, there are two elves here now.” I stared down at Noel, still lying unconscious on the ground. With her eyes closed and her expression relaxed, she looked almost like the Noel I had met when I first came to this world. She looked a little older, which was unusual for an elf. When we first met, she thought we were both the same age, going into the Forest of Three for the elfin coming of age ceremony. A hundred and twenty, from what I remembered. She didn’t change much over the time we spent together, but over the past few years she had changed so much. Aged so much. It was almost as if she had been gone for longer than a few years.

I frowned. That was totally possible, wasn’t it? She was working for the Immortal of Madness. He clearly had some sort of time travel ability. I had to make sure to ask her about this once she woke up. Speaking of which, there was no way she wasn’t already awake.

I smacked her shoulders, hard.

She let out a cry.

“Next time you want to pretend to be out of it, don’t twitch your fingers as soon as you wake up, got it?” I said.

Noel grumbled.

I clasped her hands with magic hands. “And don’t try to conjure up more of those weird bubbles. Didn’t you see? I’ve already figured out how to neutralize them.”

“Bubbles?” she said with a frown. “What are you talking about?”

“The spell you used to kill an entire nation,” I said.

“I told you, I haven’t killed anyone,” she said.

“Oh, did you hear that Taoc? Come up here. I know you can hear me from back there, but I want a representative from your nation to be right up here. You deserve to hear her explanation,” I said as I dragged up with magic hands.

“No, great elf, I don’t think,” she began.

“Yes, don’t think, just come and listen,” I said. “Go ahead Noel, make your excuses.”

“I am not making excuses. I did invade the Lux Republic, but I haven’t killed anybody,” she said.

“Then where are they, Noel? Men, women, and children, thousands of them. Where are they?” I asked.

She shifted her gaze but kept her mouth closed. “Did you have to hit me so hard, Kelser? Man, you’ve gotten tall. Humans really do grow up quick, don’t they.”

“Sorry,” said Kelser with a nervous laugh. “No, wait, I’m not sorry. You’re a murderer! Don’t think I’ll like you again because you praised my height!”

“Like me again?” said Noel with a grin. “Little Kelser, how cute. I had no idea!”

“Wait, no, I didn’t mean it that way!” said Kelser, blushing.

“Knock it off,” I said, cutting short their little romantic comedy routine. “Stop trying to distract us. Don’t you see all these people around you?”

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“Yes, they’re very intimidating. Fairy soldiers, demon soldiers, human hunters. You’ve really assembled everybody here, huh.”

It was an impressive coalition, now that she mentioned it. “All of them have a bone to pick with you. The fairies and spirits want to know what you did to their kin. The demon’s want you to release their capital city. And the humans, well, I guess the humans are here because I’m here, and I have a bone to pick with you too.”

“Wait, the demon capital? Hold on, there’s a lot going on here. What happened to the demon capital?” asked Noel.

I narrowed my eyes. Noel didn’t used to be a good liar, but it had been a while, so perhaps she had learned. But based on what I remembered, it certainly sounded like she really didn’t know about the demon capital. I looked at the other person tied up next to her: Alek Izlandi, the Ikon of Evil.

Alek was lying unconscious on the hard earthen stage that I had conjured up for this impromptu public interrogation right outside the city gates. Unlike Noel, who was held up near the front edge of the stage where everybody could see her, Alek was lying on the floor, so only the people on top of the city walls and those of us on the stage itself could see him. I almost couldn’t remember when we had knocked him unconscious. Right, he’d hit his head when I threw him up here.

I splashed him with water.

He woke up sputtering and gasping for air. He looked from side to side, frantically, before finally meeting my gaze. I could almost see him recounting the events of the past two days in his head, as he understood the situation and settled into a grim silence.

“No need to be so uptight, your highness,” I said with a wide grin. “You are in good company. Two Ikons, sitting right next to each other, and at my mercy. What a sight!” I looked up at the still bright, sunny sky. “Man, am I glad you chose such a convenient time for your assault, Noel. I’d half expect the moon and red star to be falling to the earth as meteors if it was night.”

Noel frowned. “You, you don’t know anything do you.”

It was my turn to frown. “No, I don’t. Thanks for rubbing that in. But that’s why I’ve tied the two of you up, right? So you can fill me in on the details. No, so you can fill all of us in on the details!” I gestured to the crowd, all of whom were standing in a tense but eager silence.

“Revealing powerful secrets to a crowd like this is inadvisable, Cas,” said Noel.

Hearing her say my name made something drop in my stomach. “They live in this world. They have a right to know. About their history, their beliefs, the rules of this world. Especially the fairies and spirits. It’s the least you can do after you killed so many of their friends and loved ones.”

“For the umpteenth time, I did not kill anybody,” she said.

“Then where are they!” I said loudly.

“I don’t know, I left them right where I found them!” she shouted back. She had gotten up, her arms and legs still tied up with invisible magic.

I frowned. I hadn’t really noticed during our fights, but Noel had gotten taller. Just a little taller, mind you, but it was quite noticeable. I’d never been too conscious of my height in this world, but I did envy Noel the couple inches she’d sprouted. “What do you mean, you left them where you found them?”

Noel’s body began to glow silver. I rushed forward and made her freeze again with ‘still life.’ The glow dissipated and I let my spell dissolve.

Noel grit her teeth. “I always hated that spell.”

“You’ll be happy to know it’s almost as inefficient as ever,” I said.

“Doesn’t matter if you’re only going to use it long enough to mess up my spell,” she said.

“Exactly. Man, I’ve missed having you around. You’re really got a talent for understanding magic,” I said.

“Hey, I’m pretty good too,” said Kelser.

“Yes, yes, Kelser, you’re amazing,” I said. “You also didn’t sell your soul to a maniacal being of unfathomable power, like Noel here did. That makes you much smarter than this silver haired dummy.”

“Your insults are as childish as ever,” said Noel.

“And your comebacks are as lame as ever,” I said. “Now tell me about that spell. Those weird magic bubbles that make people disappear. Are you saying those people really aren’t dead?”

“No, they’re not. They will reappear in a few days,” said Noel.

Reappear? “You sent them somewhere?” I asked.

“No, I left them exactly where I saw them,” she said.

I frowned. The way she was saying that was incredibly strange. Was the translation magic messing up my ability to understand her or something? “You mean they’re still there, just invisible?”

Noel shook her head, which looked funny because of the way her limbs were tied up. “They are not invisible. I simply helped them escape the tyranny of the past.”

“The tyranny of the past?” I repeated, my brows furrowed. My eyes widened. “You sent them into the future!”

Noel stared into my eyes and did not say a thing.