“Here. I couldn’t find anyone after I sorted things out with the king,” answered Will. “The entire city was deserted.”
His sister glared at him, and he noticed that her eyes were red and swollen. “You told me to get them out of the city.”
“But everyone was gone,” he said, knowing he was missing some important clue.
Janice intervened. “After we got the students out, Laina insisted on coming back for the citizens, in spite of her father’s objections. We found Tiny at the school entrance, along with all the bodies. You were nowhere to be found, and we couldn’t wake him up.”
“They had to use a cart to carry me out,” Tiny boasted with a grin.
“And when he did finally wake up the next day, what he had to say…,” Laina’s voice tapered off as her throat closed up. She went to the window, facing away from them.
Janice helped once more. “His story wasn’t very reassuring. So we spent the next day waiting miserably. It took everything we had to keep the people from returning to their homes, but fortunately Laina can be very persuasive when she puts her mind to it.”
Selene smiled faintly. “Another speech? You really do have a gift, Laina.”
Laina still wouldn’t turn around, and she was busily rubbing her face with one sleeve.
Janice continued, “So the entire populace camped outside that day and the following night. We only returned this morning, when it was obvious that the city wasn’t going to be destroyed. We’ve been trying to find you ever since.”
“You could have left a note somewhere. Something!” exclaimed Laina, her composure crumbling again and angry tears falling to her cheeks.
Will crossed the room in two large strides and pulled her into a firm embrace. They stood that way for several minutes, and when he stepped back and looked at his friends, he saw an excess of moisture in everyone’s eyes. More hugs were the only solution.
When things finally calmed down, Tiny brought up an urgent concern. “You asked if we were hungry a few minutes ago. I think we should revisit the topic.”
Laina wasn’t ready to let him off the hook, though. She shook her head. “He still hasn’t told us what happened.”
“We can talk and eat,” suggested Tiny plaintively.
Laina threw up her hands. “Fine!”
They went to the palace kitchens and were promptly rushed out. While Selene’s presence made a strong impression, they were told it would be some time. The forced evacuation and subsequent return had left the palace in a state of disarray. The returning soldiers and servants had wiped out the food that was already prepared, and it would take some time to get things back in order. Will suggested they return to Wurthaven. “I know my kitchen, and I can make a better meal anyway.”
Selene lifted one brow. “Your kitchen?”
He refused to capitulate. “Your house, my kitchen.”
“Our home,” she corrected, leaning forward to rub noses with him.
Laina gagged. “There went my appetite again.”
“I’m still hungry,” Tiny insisted.
They left the palace and headed for Wurthaven. Will resumed telling his story. Earlier with Selene, he had ended at the point where he and Tiny separated, so he began with his entrance into the old Arenata residence. When it came to the point at which Androv had started inflicting terrible injuries, he tried to gloss over them with less dramatic phrasing. Selene’s face went pale at those points, but Laina demanded more detail.
“Wait,” said his sister, holding up one hand. “What do you mean he took the rod and broke your wrist? You had the iron-body transformation going, right?”
Will winced. “He just squeezed, and it sort of crushed all the bones.” He watched Selene, carefully, noticing a pained look on her face.
Laina nodded, urging him to continue, but less than a minute later she interrupted again. “You said he ran you through with the sword. What does that mean? From behind?”
Will nodded.
“Where did it go in?”
He pointed to his spine.
“Ouch,” said Laina, with a grimace. “What does that feel like?”
“Sort of like your lower body is being burned alive, but I think it’s just the nerves, like a phantom pain, since I couldn’t actually move my legs,” he explained.
“If he stabbed you in the back, how did your guts come out?”
“He kept working the sword back and forth.” Will demonstrated by moving his hand back and forth across his midsection. “That’s when everything just sort of—spilled out.”
Janice gagged and ran for the bushes. Meanwhile, Selene exclaimed, “Please stop. I can’t bear thinking about it anymore.”
Laina gave her friend an uncompromising look. “Don’t be such a wilted flower. I want to know what happened. He’s obviously fine now.”
Will held up his hand. “It’s all right. That’s the worst of it. After that, I defeated him with a simple combination of spells.”
“How?” demanded Laina incredulously. “One arm was broken, the other broken or dislocated, your spine was severed, and your guts were all over the floor! Not to mention this Androv was apparently immune to virtually every form of attack, magical or otherwise. There’s no possible way you could have beaten him at that point.”
Will couldn’t help but embellish the story slightly. “I had a wind-wall spell prepared already, and since he didn’t seem to care what I did, I readied another spell.” He glanced at his wife so he could watch her reaction. “Selene’s Solution.”
Janice frowned, Laina blinked, and Selene gaped then said, “Tell the truth. What did you really do?”
Will drew an ‘x’ over his heart. “I swear to the Mother. That’s what I did.”
“Now I know he’s full of shit,” stated Laina, but Selene waved her to silence as her brain mulled over the possibility.
“Let him finish,” said Selene.
Will smiled. “So, I was lying there, half dead and stricken with unbelievable pain, and I looked Androv right in the eye and told him, ‘You may think you’ve beaten me, but you’re about to make a clean exit from this world.’ I cut loose with the wind-wall, and while he was still whirling around in dust form, I used Selene’s spell to fatally tidy him right into oblivion.” He stared at them to gauge their reactions, but no one said anything, so he added, “Get it? It was a tidy termination.”
Selene groaned, and Tiny began chuckling.