We slept the rest of the afternoon, waking just before sunrise. Using the rest of the chicken skewers to make tacos, I couldn’t help but feel anxiety welling up in me at the thought of Aerona asking me to go back to that place in my dream.

“You’ll be fine,” Steph said, pouring two glasses of wine. “Here. I’d guess each glass is worth more than we can possibly comprehend wine being worth.”

“As least it won’t be that illusion bullshit again,” I replied.

Accepting the wine, I took a couple of sips and tried to focus on the taste—a bit earthy, but pure and rich—but mostly couldn’t take my focus from thoughts of Glitonea and the Drow.

“I want to think on the runes,” I said, handing her back the glass and heading for the door.

“You’ll be on the roof?”

“Yes, thinking… waiting.”

“I’ll be the welcoming committee.” She winked when I glanced back. “Let them know what to expect.”

“Sure, do that.”

I exited, moving the house again to create easy access to the roof. Fun, when you don’t have to go to the stairs, but can make the stairs come to you. The little moments in life, right?

Shisa was waiting for me on the roof, and glanced back with a welcoming wag of his little curled tail.

“Thanks for the help,” I said, kneeling and rubbing him behind the ears. “Let me guess, rune magic doesn’t alert you?”

Shisa cocked his head at me. That innocent look was too much. I chuckled, stood, and looked out over the city. Trees swayed gently in the cool breeze—a welcome thing on this warm evening. One of our neighbors, a large man, was exiting his car, lugging a box out from the back seat and heading inside. As I watched, he dropped the box and peaches rolled out, and then he set about trying to collect them.

“Don’t forget to get ‘em all,” I said softly, earning a confused look from Shisa. “It’s a bit much, sometimes. And I’ve barely just begun. Imagine what sort of craziness we’ll get into over the years?”

Apparently, that was enough for Shisa, because he turned and walked off, heading back inside.

“Thanks for listening,” I mumbled, then pulled up the rune screens, looking them over. As I did, I found there were two that I could activate easily, even from here. The illusion one—which I didn’t want to touch for now—and the protective one that turned magic on or off in the vicinity.

Nothing else was working for now. Instead I pulled up the llyfr sillafu, or spell book. The spells I had learned were highlighted, both the ones from the book and the new ones I had added on my own through fighting and experimentation. There was “gorffwys” for sleep, “hurtio” for stun, “tarian” for defensive boosts, “elfenol streic” for elemental weapon, and more. Then there were the easy ones, ones I could make happen without speaking the words, such as frost bite, ice wall, and… Frost Remnant. I still hadn’t had a chance to try the last one, and glanced around, wondering if I could make it work here.

Stolen novel; please report.

I gave it a try, but nothing happened. To ensure the magic of the place wasn’t blocked, I cast an ice claw and watched as it snapped out, tearing into the night air. It was a beauty, making me even more excited to see how the Frost Remnant spell would work. In battle, I would likely have the opportunity.

For the time being, I went over by the garden and leaned against the tool shed, arms folded, and closed my eyes. There on the rooftop with the breeze rustling my hair and caressing my cheek, all I wanted was to remember simpler times, to go back to those days of ignorance and feel what it was like once more.

Laughter. My mom’s pleasant smile as she served her famous oatmeal-chocolate-chip cookies. Me and a friend, Max, riding bikes along a dirt path in the woods, trying to find jumps to go off. My first blowjob in a dark closet with a girl while her friends played some dance game just outside, oblivious.

A trip to Six Flags, zipping along roller coasters, overindulging on nachos smothered in fake cheese. I assume it was fake—that stuff in the pump machines couldn’t be legit. Getting ready for college, bent over SAT study books. My celebratory dance the day I had gotten in, and then time spent with Steph, telling her I would miss her. Funny, how that part turned out.

It had been my life. A good life. One that had brought me to this point.

As pleasant as that all felt, one word kept floating up—boring.

Fuck, that life before all of this magic and mayhem was boring. I laughed, then I laughed again, louder, until I was standing there laughing at the darkening sky and streaks of sunset, still laughing as the sky turned blue and then black.

Laughing as Kordelia and Ebrill emerged, each of them staring at me like I was crazy.

Kordelia chuckled, then Ebrill giggled.

We were crazy, standing up there and laughing, and I loved it. Not boring at all. Soon it subsided, and I took both of their hands, lifting them to my lips for a welcoming kiss to each.

“The others?”

“On their way,” Ebrill said.

“What exactly was that?” Kordelia asked. “It came out of nowhere and your laughter was contagious. I couldn’t help but join in.”

“I don’t know.” I wiped away a tear of laughter. “Sometimes you just gotta let go, right?”

“Sure enough,” Ebrill answered.

I stepped over to the railing, leaning against it and watching headlights in the distance, then turned to the cathedral. “You think you’d ever get bored with this view?”

“Please.” Ebrill leaned against the railing with me. “Never.”

“It’s nothing compared to Avalon.” Kordelia wrapped an arm around my shoulders and kissed the top of my head. It was such an odd gesture, her being so large and therefore making it feel like I was her bitch or child or something. Yet, it was comforting, and I appreciated it. “Still,” she admitted, “the place has its own sense of magic.”

Glancing around and noting Steph and Aerona’s absence, I couldn’t stop my mind from wandering back to the dream land I had visited last night.

“And that place… what was it?”

“Aerona told you,” Ebrill replied. “You’re trying to get to something else, wondering if it’s what you think of as Hell, right? I can’t help you there, but I doubt it.”

“That concept was around in our time,” Kordelia said. When I gave them a confused look, she added, “Been talking to Steph, trying to catch up on the world.”

“Okay, so maybe not Hell,” I conceded, glad to be done with that train of thought. “But it sure felt like it. How do we even know there’s something in that place for us?”

“Because,” Aerona said, and I turned to see that she and Steph had climbed up to join us. “I have a connection to the others, one the rest don’t have, exactly.”

“A mental connection,” Ebrill explained. “As if, she’s the hub… and we’re spokes on a wheel.”

“And what’s the wheel?” I asked.

“You. This world… maybe the next. All of it, as long as we can keep it together. The minute it falls apart, we’re all fucked.”

I nodded, watching as Aerona held out her hand, my gaze locked on her golden fingers.

“Please,” she said.

That’s all it took. I sighed and took her hand as the other three ladies watched.

“Come on, then.” She guided me by the hand back down inside, pulling me into the bedroom. Steph looked uncertain, somewhat confused, even. At least I could understand that emotion.