There was no good time to leave Elysium. I could have stayed on the slope of that sun-kissed hill forever. Guilt nagged at me, but guilt was always nagging at me. I’d listen to my conscience when the time came. It was far less underhanded. It simply spoke the truth.

Things like:

“If you don’t wake up now you’ll be sore all day.”

“If you want a clean room you have to clean it.”

“You have lost something important enough to Master Tom Oldshoe he considers it a binder against your betrayal even if you can’t remember what it was.”

There it was.

Reason enough to leave, but not reason enough to leave right now.

***

“Is Eric here?” Conan asked suddenly.

Oscar shook his head, “I cannot say.”

Conan frowned, “You don’t know or...”

“To answer your question would be to rob your quest of its core, which would be the same as continuing the quest myself. This I cannot do. Duty is for the living. Not the dead.”

The three of us were walking along the beach, watching the waves crash upon the kindly sand. Conan’s question had come out of nowhere, but clearly he’d been thinking about it for a while. I stayed silent, content to let the two friends talk.

Conan clutched at his chest, “Don’t you care?

“I desire Eric with all my heart. I desire all of you with every fibre of my being. Even Brace,” Oscar smiled briefly, then clasped his own hand over his heart. I wasn’t sure what the gesture meant. From Oscar’s face it was a sign of earnestness, “but I’ve done my time. Your burdens are not my own.”

“I-” Conan stopped. He squatted down and began poking in the sand with his finger, “So that’s what the old coot meant. ‘True desire is free from burdens.’ I thought he just meant it was easy.”

Desire this and desire that. It was a bit much. Perhaps a turn of phrase in the Delta language. It made feel uncomfortable. But the conversation wasn’t for me.

Oscar picked up a stone and sent it skimming across the waves, “Old Master Finn. I’d forgotten about that. I always thought he was saying you should do whatever someone else asks without complaint. Or that one necessarily removes the other.”

If you spot this narrative on Amazon, know that it has been stolen. Report the violation.

Conan sent his own stone after Oscar’s, “Guess it was more complicated than that. And simpler. It’s no one’s duty to suffer. Especially for one they desire.”

And again. Made me feel like an object. I preferred to respect others rather than covet them.

“Destroy the mosaic.” Oscar said suddenly.

We both looked over at him.

“I can tell you that much. The mosaic. We were right about it. Its effects are transcendent. It dampens everything in the dungeon. Nature, harmony, desire. Even these isles.”

That got my attention, “Are the isles in danger?”

He shook his head, “They cannot be harmed. But their touch is no longer felt by the living. The mosaic has smothered it.”

“Then it shall be done.” Conan promised, “Even should we fail to find Eric, our journey will not have been in vain.”

***

There was no good time to leave Elysium. But eventually, we left.

The timing of our departure was somewhat arbitrary. Having decided we’d leave at some point, one length of time in Elysium became much the same as any other.

So we did not linger.

Neither did we hurry. Eric and mosaic may indeed need to be dealt with, but there was a time for everything. If everyone put their lives on hold to fulfill their duties they’d simply be living their lives for others, which was to say no one would be doing any living at all.

Our happiness did not come at another’s expense, despite the voices clamouring in my head.

HURRY! HURRY! HURRY!

My head had been full of voices which were not my own long before I’d ever had my first taste of magic. Everyone’s heads were. I ignored it, as I had all the others.

Conan and Oscar talked endlessly as we (and the shades who had joined us) walked under fair trees caught at the cusp of autumn. An ageless blanket of golden leaves was the carpet upon which we trod.

Conan and I needed the respite. Even though he hadn’t faced the same tortures as me, he’d lost a number of friends, and the dungeon itself was oppressive. Monsters, death, and madness aside, all men needed the kiss of the sun.

When finally our path brought us to approach the door once more, we found ourselves able to near it, with the shades as our guide.

Conan wrapped Oscar in a simple embrace before departing through the door. No embrace could last the men a lifetime.

To my surprise, Oscar approached me next, “Something clouds your mind Oswic. Something you yourself do not see.”

I nodded, “I made a deal with a dobby to protect... something? Though I do not remember what I gave him as collateral to insure I kept my side of the bargain, nor whom I asked him to protect.”

He smiled, “As long as you are aware you are not aware. I wasn’t sure.”

He placed me in an embrace of my own. Though we’d only spent a short time together we felt as ancient friends, fast and true. Even with the other shades whose faces I could not see did I feel a bond of loyalty between us. Such was Elysium.

“Fair thee well, Oswic. Better days have come at last.”