Charlie stared me down with a bemused smirk across her lips, her shimmering crimson eyes teasing me like they always did.

Right. I sighed into my palm. Getting straight answers out of her was always more difficult than fighting a basilisk barehanded.

As the silence stretched between us for a moment, I shook my head. “If you’re going to play games, Charlie, then I’m going home.”

I turned back around and began walking slowly, my back throbbing. I hadn’t gone more than five steps when she huffed behind me, which was followed by a low thud that told me she just stamped her foot.

“You are just no fun, Marcus. At all!”

I shrugged and then winced. “One of the perks of being my age, I don’t give a damn about keeping up appearances anymore.” I turned back to smile at her. “Now, come on, you must have come all the way from Haleila for a reason. And I doubt it was just to catch up with a friend.”

She stomped over to me and just snorted with a shake of her head as we started walking towards Uptown. It was quiet for a while as Charlie forcibly slowed to keep pace with me.

“How have things been?” she asked, finally breaking the silence.

“Quiet, for the most part. Not much to bother us out here, save for a few small monsters in the forest and the occasional undead that manages to slip out of the graveyard every now and again.”

She snorted and brushed a lock of dark purple hair from her face. “Sounds boring to me.”

“It is. That’s why I like it. We can’t all be thrill-seekers like a certain someone I know.” I smiled at her. “Heard about the nest of drakes you took down a few weeks back. Pretty impressive.”

“I know.” Her haughty smile faltered. “Would’ve been more fun with you and the others beside me, though.”

Her words caused me to stop for a second. I looked up at the moon for a moment before I continued walking.

“Yeah. It would’ve. Lodric or Elawin would definitely be seething that they missed it.”

“Their own fault.” She shook her head. “Some friends they turned out to be. Just up and abandoned us when it was all said and done.”

There wasn’t much I could say in response. Though I knew she wasn’t being fair to them, I couldn’t deny that their departure stung more than I wanted to admit.

But I can’t blame them. They got a chance to go back to their people. I understand, even if it hurts.

I also understood Charlie’s feelings. Some days, it felt like they’d betrayed us.

Though, I’ve got no room to talk. In the end, I left, too, giving up life.

“The elves and dwarves welcomed them back with open arms. They’d have been fools to give that up.” I placed and hand on her shoulder, and we stopped once more. “I mean, even after everything if I could’ve gone back home, I’d have done it in a heartbeat. But that doesn’t mean that I don’t care about you three.”

She nodded. “Yeah, but you’re different. This isn’t your world. I get that. But what about Elawin and Lodric? I thought our titles as heroes meant more than that to them. I thought we meant more to them than that.”

It was a familiar argument for us. Something that was always brought up whenever we saw each other, but as always, no answer would bring either of us any comfort.

We eventually let the subject drop as we left the dilapidated streets of lowtown and headed for the well-paved roads of uptown. This section of Weswood was clean and well kept. The houses and businesses on either side of us were maintained with barely a hint of anything out of place.

After a few minutes of silence, we reached the gated-off section of the city where the wealthiest of the residents resided. It was a small section, tiny compared to the entirety of Weswood, but it boasted the most room.

A long line of mansions resided on either side of the street, with plenty of space between each of them for a lush green lawn and a few gardens.

My house was at the very end, past the long line of estates.

It was a tall, three-story manor built of stone, with dark glass windows and a slate tile roof. The grass had just been cut, and the windows were spotless.

“You live here?” Charlie whistled, staring up at it.

I nodded. “You made just as much lyra as I did. Surely you could’ve afforded something just as nice?”

“Not in the capital, I couldn’t…well, maybe something close to it if I didn’t travel so much. But I’d rather have a slew of little houses in every city than one giant one way the hell out here.”

“Fair enough.” I snorted and waved my hand towards the door. “Let’s get inside, and you can tell me why you’re really here over a cup of coffee.”

I ushered her inside, and I opened the door and stepped into the entrance hall. My head butler greeted us.

“Welcome home, Master Cassian,” Caldwell said with a bow.

“Thank you, could you prepare the sitting room for us?” I asked.

“Of course, sir.”

He went off as one of my maids dusted the marble stairwell just past the entryway.

Charlie whistled once more from beside me, swiveling her head around as she took in my house.

“Well, just look at you, all fancy and proper. It’s a far cry from when we were neck-deep in filth and blood fighting for our lives.”

“I think I prefer my life now…though I can’t say we didn’t have a hell of a time.” I walked over to the large wooden coat rack by the door and slipped out of my vest, hanging it up as I kicked off my shoes. “But that was a long time ago.”

“Yeah.” She hooked a hand around my shoulder, and I groaned as she put most of her weight on my back. “Now you're up and gone decrepit.”

“Speaking of, get off me.” I winced as I rolled my shoulder. “I pulled a muscle earlier today, and it hurts like sin.”

Charlie laughed and leaned up. She patted my back and grabbed the folds of my shirt, trying to tug it out of my pants.

“Well, if that’s all it is, c’mon. Off with the shirt, I can fix you right up.”

Though I didn’t want to deal with her antics, she was by far the quickest method of dealing with my injury. And she knew it too, which was why she had such a self-satisfied smirk on her lips as her grabby hands pawed over my skin as she stripped me.

“I’m going, Jesus Christ, you’re pushy tonight,” I grumbled and helped unbutton my shirt before she could tear it off me.

When I was shirtless, Charlie’s smirk grew deeper. “Look at you.” She poked my side, pinching my skin. “Still muscly and lithe after all these years.” She frowned. “You know, that’s kinda weird. Your body doesn’t match your old face at all. It's creepy.”

The tale has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the violation.

I snagged my shirt from her hands and brought it to my chest, clinking the chain around my neck. “Well, you don’t have to look.”

“Your cross is on backwards,” she said with a laugh.

I quickly adjusted my necklace and harumphed.

Caldwell came back in a moment later.

“The room is prepared, sir.”

“Thank you,” I said, stalking off to my left, through the double doors, and into the sitting room.

It was as elegant as the rest of the house but held half a dozen plush leather chairs, a few tables, and a couch and loveseat so guests could sit wherever they felt most comfortable.

Oil lanterns set atop each of the tables, and a brass chandelier hung overhead with over thirty candles burning brightly.

Along the coffee table were a tea set and two cups of steaming black coffee. Fresh cream and sugar sat in bowls on either side.

Charlie marched in after me but stopped when she noticed the affluence of the space. She just shook her head and muttered something about rich people, and walked right past me.

She strolled around the space, sitting in the chairs at random and checking things out until she reached the far side of the room, where there was only a long glass case atop a wooden base.

“You still kept these after all this time?” she asked, tapping the glass with a long slender finger.

“Could never bear to throw them away,” I said as I came up beside her and peered down into the display case. “Not when they’re the few reminders of home I have left.”

Sitting inside the case were a few random items that the people of this world had no reference for. A worn and faded t-shirt depicting a band that was twenty years old even when I’d bought the shirt, a pair of dark wash jeans with holes in the knees, a leather wallet, and my smartphone, which had run out of power decades ago.

“Besides, the few people who visit like to hear about Earth, and they enjoy seeing a few things from my world. So, I’m glad they still serve some use.”

Charlie just laughed and tapped on the case once more before she turned to me and grinned wide.

“Alright, gramps.” She held her hands up and mimed a squeezing motion. “Time for me to get handsy.”

“You haven’t changed all these years either.” I shook my head and sighed. “And somehow, that’s comforting.”

I turned around, and she padded over and laid her hands on my back. Her warm and strong fingers kneaded into my muscles as her nails dug ever so slightly into my skin. As her flesh rested against mine, a heavy warmth built in her palms and radiated throughout my entire body, erasing the pain and aches that plagued my aging body in seconds.

Just as soon as she’d touched me, her spell faded, and the heat in her hands vanished, leaving only the warmth in my body. Though she’d finished, her hands lingered on my back for a moment longer than was necessary, but I didn’t mind her touch.

When she finally pulled back, I stood back up and went through a few careful movements.

My body was as light as a feather and completely pain-free. It was like I’d regressed twenty years in a moment, and it was a wondrous feeling.

“What did you just do?” I asked.

She just smiled and winked at me. “While you’ve been retired, I’ve still been on the front lines. And I’ve picked up a few new things.” She crossed her arms and chuckled. “Unfortunately, the buff I gave you lasts only a few hours, but the healing spell should fix up most of your minor injuries, so you’ll be fine for a good little while.”

As she finished speaking, she vaulted the couch and landed with a thump on the other side, stretching out.

“Now that that’s done, we need to talk,” she said.

I nodded and went around the side while I threw my shirt back on, though I didn’t bother buttoning it.

As I sat down on the loveseat across from her, I picked up my cup of coffee and took a sip. The time it’s taken her to heal me had let the steaming cup cool to just how I liked it, and I sighed deeply.

I sat back and crossed my leg, resting the cup on my knee. “So, tell me. What does the Ashenwand Hero need from a washed-up bartender?”

Charlie sighed and sat back up. She crossed her legs and leaned over, grabbing her own cup of coffee before dumping a metric ton of sugar and cream into the small cup. She took a sip and sighed in bliss.

“Perfection.” She shook her head and leaned back. “I don’t know if you’d have heard all the way out here, but has there been any news from the west?”

“Adaen? Nolgin mentioned something about it tonight, actually.” I squinted. “What’s going on? The demons have been quiet for nearly twenty years now.”

Charlie shook her head and sat her cup down. “I don’t know. Nothing concrete yet, but rumors of trouble have been making their way from the frontier towns for months now. Something is going on, and from the sounds of it, it could be bad. Rald was razed to the ground a few weeks ago.” She sighed. “No survivors.”

“What?” I sat up and set my cup down, the coffee having lost its appeal. I stroked my beard, lost in thought for a moment.

Rald wasn’t a large town by any means, but there were still a couple of hundred people living there. What could wipe them out so completely that not even a single person escaped?

Even dragons couldn’t wipe out a town so thoroughly like that. And though it was on the border of Adean, the demons didn’t have the strength to wipe out an entire town anymore.

“It can’t be the demons. It’s only been twenty years since the war. They couldn’t have rebuilt their army so quickly unless they’re using child soldiers, which even Amara never stooped to.”

“They could if there’s a new demon lord,” she replied, her eyes stern. “One even more ruthless than Amara.”

I shuddered at the thought.

Amara had been a nightmare alone, by far the strongest demon lord in the last millennium, and it cost us too many years and far too many lives to defeat her and her demonic army.

If there was someone more ruthless than her commanding the demons, it was a threat that could threaten the entire world.

But it was impossible.

I shook my head. “As I said, it’s only been twenty years since we defeated Amara. There can’t be another demon lord yet. Even if one were born the second we killed Amara, they’d only be twenty now. Amara was over seven hundred when we killed her. A twenty-year-old demon lord wouldn’t even have discovered their powers yet.”

Charlie nodded. “I know. But what else could it be if not another demon lord? Something that strong just doesn’t make sense that close to Adean.” She shook her head. “But regardless of what it is, the kingdom of Haleila isn’t going to wait around for it to become a problem. They’re taking the initiative this time.”

I was calm enough that I wanted another sip of coffee, just for something to do. I took a sip as I sat back and propped my leg on my knee.

“What does that mean?”

Charlie paused as she stared down at her coffee for a long moment before looking up to meet my gaze, her eyes holding conflicting emotions.

“They’re summoning another hero.”

“What?” I leapt to my feet so fast my cup slipped out of my hand and crashed to the marble tile, shattering on impact. Warm coffee splashed over my bare feet, but I barely noticed it. “They’re going to kidnap another innocent kid from my world and force them into their war?

“I won’t stand for it.”

Charlie sighed. “You don’t have a say in the matter.” She shook her head as she stood. “Neither do I. I tried to get them to reconsider, but they won’t. After witnessing your power firsthand, they think it’s the easiest method for ensuring peace in this world.

“I like it as much as you do, but we can’t do anything about it.”

“Dammit.” I ran a hand through my hair, just searching for something tactile. “Dammit, dammit, dammit.” I sighed as I stoked my beard as I glanced at Charlie. “So what, you came all the way here just to tell me that?”

“Unfortunately not. I have more bad news for you.” Anger and regret filled her eyes as she looked at me, refusing to blink. “It’s time.”

“Time? Time for wh─” It hit me like a bolt of lightning, and ice water flooded my veins. “Oh.” I sighed as my heart bottomed out. “Right. Of course.”

Her pained expression matched my own. “We knew they weren’t ours to keep forever.” Charlie touched the wand hanging at her side. “Giving it up makes me want to scream in rage or break down in tears.” She grimaced. “But we knew when we accepted them that we’d have to part at some point.”

I pulled Silverblade out and just held it in my hands. I clenched the hilt tight enough that my knuckles screamed in protest.

“Silverblade is mine. Has been mine for forty years now.” But even as I spoke, I knew it was a lie.

I hadn’t even drawn it in over five years since a pack of fiends threatened Weswood. And if a new hero was being summoned, all the exalted weapons had to be returned for the new hero to choose from.

“Lodric and Elawin already turned theirs in before they went home. It’s our time now.”

“Yeah,” I said, never taking my eyes from my blade.

The two of us just sat there, staring down at the weapons that gave us our heroic titles. Without them, we were nothing but shadows.

Just an old man and a witch.

But it’s time. I’m too old to wield Silverblade anyway. And if it helps stop whatever is happening in Adean, then I’m fine with that. No matter how much it hurts.

But that was a lie, as well.

Silverblade was my partner, was an extension of myself, and had been for most of my life. Living without it seemed as painful as cutting off my own arm.

But it wasn’t mine. Not truly. I was just holding on to it. And I’d held it for arguably too long already.

As much as I hated it, I had to let it go.

I sighed and stored my sword back in my storage space.

“Fine. When do we leave?”

“Tomorrow. I purchased two tickets for the magitrain that leaves at noon,” Charlie said.

I nodded. “Alright. You can sleep here tonight. There’s plenty of room, and the guest bedroom is already made up.”

“Thanks, Marcus.” She gave me a small smile. “Sorry to bring you nothing but bad news.”

“Not your fault. We both knew it had to happen sooner or later.”

I stood, and together, we walked to the stairs. I showed Charlie to her room on the second floor, and then I headed to my own on the third floor.

Though it’d been a long day, I was wide awake, and I went out on the balcony to look out over Weswood.

It was a small town compared to the capital, but it was out of the way and peaceful for the most part.

I hadn’t been back to the capital in a decade. King Valance and I hadn’t parted on the best of terms, and I wasn’t looking forward to that reunion. However, I was looking forward to relinquishing Silverblade even less.

The bright light of the moon bathed the entire town in an ethereal glow, and I sighed before turning and heading inside.

It’s going to happen whether I want it to or not.

Best get it over with.