Lan watched Luna and Seras hold each other as if they had only realised how much they cared for one another. After seething, Lady Rin stormed towards Lan before sticking her finger in his face.

  ‘If you ever lay a finger on Chacha again, I will rip your head off,’ she declared before pushing past and heading towards the Gate of Light.

  Lan watched her go, but Maxwell placed a hand on his shoulder before he could wonder what was her deal.

  ‘Try not to hold it against her, Lad.’ The older man said as he looked after her. ‘She is one of the few in our group that Leeto summoned. Only she wasn’t alone.’ He added sadly. ‘She made it out, but… her sister did not.’

  Lan heard the words, but accepting them took him far longer. When it did, the feeling of guilt, like he was somehow at fault for the Summoned Heroes, hit him again, only far worse.

  And that was to say nothing of Lady Rin’s power. To have the power to be anywhere and still not be able to save her sister… Lan couldn’t bring himself to hate her.

  Before Lan could get lost in his thoughts, he felt Maxwell’s eyes on him. Turning, he momentarily met the man’s gaze before Maxwell blinked away his empowered sight.

  ‘That ability of yours… it is something. How did you get it?’

  Lan’s ears perked up when the question was in the air because what he heard was, “How do I get it.” But looking into the man’s eyes, he saw that it wasn’t entirely right. The real question was, “Do others have this ability?”

  ‘It’s a long, long story and something tied to my bloodline.’ Lan offered, seeing the man’s shoulders relax ever so slightly.

  ‘Good, because you really gave us a run for our money.’ Maxwell laughed, and Lan couldn’t help but grin.

  ‘Yeah, right,’ he laughed too. ‘Even for an amateur like me, it was obvious none of you were trying to hurt me, let alone kill me,’ that fact had been clear to Lan from the start, but what drove the point home was when Maxwell had turned that weapon on him after the Wisp Walk. If there had been a hint of killing intent, that would have been his last moment.

  ‘True.’ Maxwell smiled. ‘But we were trying to incapacitate you, and we failed. If you can do that much against four Other Worlders as an amateur, then I am glad we are fast friends.’ He grinned.

  ‘Me too.’ Lan smiled

  With a firm handshake, Maxwell nodded and headed to wait near the gate, replaced by Nova, who appeared from behind Lan and was once again too close.

  ‘I am glad I did not hit you with any energy constructs.’ She beamed at him.

  ‘Me too?’ Lan said back, ‘You didn’t get hurt, did you?’

  ‘How could I when you never once tried to hurt me? Even though I should have been your first target. It’s a good thing you didn’t.’ she said before her eyes fluttered again. ‘Myth Maker, Song Smith, Lover of- oh my…’ Nova blinked and giggled at whatever she saw before she flowed away.

  Before Lan could call after her, Conner walked up the next.

  ‘Nice sword…’ he said, his eyes changing colour as he looked at the sword.

  ‘Uh… nice axe,’ Lan returned, getting an appreciative nod from the taller man.

  ‘Would you trade it?’

  ‘No.’ Lan answered, without hesitating or feeling the need to justify it to the strangely stoic man who just nodded.

  ‘Hmm, I wouldn’t either.’ he shrugged before just looking at Lan until something hit him, and he raised the bag dripping with blood. ‘I’m taking these.’ He said and Lan believed it was whatever he had been trying to gather from the Hell Hounds.

  ‘Go for it.’ Lan breathed, getting another nod before Conner joined the others.

  Guessing that was the end of the goodbyes from the Otherworlders, Lan looked over to Seras and Luna, who were waiting for him. Lan headed over, immediately getting hugged by Luna.

  The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.

  ‘Hey, you okay?’ Lan asked, picking her up to see that aside from the fact that she had been crying, her eyes had changed to an icy blue.

  ‘I’m fine.’ she said, surprised at her own voice.

  ‘You did great.’ Lan smiled, making her blush as he reached down and helped Seras up. ‘How about you?’

  ‘I have been hit harder.’ Seras answered and wiped some blood from her lip. ‘looks like we cleared things up in the end… or should I say she did.’ Seras added as both looked at Luna, who blushed harder.

  ‘That she did,’ Maxwell cut in. ‘So it pains me that I must reopen this wound. Lady Rin’s reaction has made one thing clear. Those in our group brought here by Leeto may not be happy to see Lady Seras. It may be best… if she was not to follow us,’ he finished, even though it clearly upset him to do so.

  ‘No!’ Luna cried, the timid girl that had been there a moment ago replaced by a fiercely defensive one. ‘Seras is not like the others! She saved me and took care of me. I… I am not going with you without her.’ She ended, staring Maxwell down.

  Instead of being upset, Maxwell smiled at the little girl. ‘Well, just as I can not tell others what to do, I or no one else can tell you what or who to bring if you join us.’ He said before clearing his throat. ‘Lady Rin says we only have ten more minutes until the gate closes. I will leave you to say your farewells.’ Maxwell said, patting Lan on the shoulder before joining the others.

  Realising how little time they had, Lan set Luna down, but as he tried to step back, she held on to his shirt,

  ‘They said I could bring anyone I wanted.’ She stated. Lan didn’t miss the implication of the offer.

  ‘There are still a lot of people who need me here.’ Lan said, watching as Luna’s face fell, but it was clear she had known this would be the answer. ‘Tell you what, when I get the chance, I will come to visit, and Tyr will have a place to stay.’ Lan added as he reached into the chest for the other thing he had bought when he had been looking for supplies—A Crafter’s light crystal on a white gold chain.

  ‘At the very least, it is something to remember me by right.’ Lan said, placing the chain around Luna’s neck. Luna looked at the Light Stone resting on her hands for a long moment before her eyes welled up. In moments, large, round, crystalline tears fell and rolled down her face as she began to cry.

  Lan started to move before stopping himself, for he knew it wasn’t tears of pain, fear, or sadness. No. As Luna’s eyes changed from icy blue to gold, and laughter chased her cries, he knew they were tears of joy.

  ‘Thank you,’ she said, holding the Light stone to her cheek. ‘For saying goodbye.’ She added as if the Light Stone was the greatest treasure.

  Instead of crystallising and falling to the ground like before, Luna’s tears gathered in the space between them before shaping into a perfect golden sphere and falling to the ground.

  Drying her eyes, Luna picked up the golden orb and placed it in Lan’s hand. ‘It’s a promise. And so that we meet again, I give you a part of my heart to keep you safe.’ Even though the words had clearly been taught to her, the meaning behind them was all hers and enough to leave Lan feeling moved.

  ‘With this, I am sure nothing will stop me.’ Lan smiled, making Luna giggle.

  ‘Close enough.’ she added before hugging him, happy enough with his part of the ritual. ‘Thank you.’

  ‘You are very welcome.’ He said, hugging her back as he realised he had done it, he had brought both Seras and Luna safely to the Otherworlders. As much as the heat of any battle made him feel like a real adventurer, this felt just as good. More than that, he was just happy for them, and that was enough.

  After a moment, they broke off the hug as Lan stood to face Seras.

  ‘After all this, you better keep your promise to her.’ She warned with a small frown fixed on her face, a frown that fell away a moment later before she looked thoughtful, and just when Lan was about to say something, Seras cupped his cheek and kissed the other. ‘Thank you, Landrin Cross.’

  Completely taken by surprise, Lan just looked at her until she smiled. ‘What, doesn’t the hero often get a kiss at the end of the Tail?’

  ‘They do.’ Lan grinned. ‘I just didn’t know I was travelling with a princess.’

  ‘You will have to make do with a former Lady.’ She smiled before taking Luna’s hand.

  ‘You sure you want to go with them?’ he asked.

  ‘That’s up to her.’ Seras said, looking at Luna, who nodded without hesitation.

  ‘We will be safe from Leeto with them.’ Luna said, sealing the deal.

  After a moment, when none of them had moved, Seras squeezed Luna’s hand and started for the gate—stopping to wave one last time.

  Lan waved back, realising this little journey was ending, when something from the corner of his eyes caught his attention.

  ‘Wait!’ he called, ‘what about the horses? I don’t know who to return them to!’

  ‘You don’t have to. I bought them.’ Seras shouted back.

  ‘Then shouldn’t you be taking them with you?’ Lan tried. Those were three Crown Bolts, after all.

  With a sly smile, Seras shrugged. ‘Keep them,’ she said, and Luna and she vanished through the light.

  Lan watched as the gate shrunk to the size of a coin before winking out.

  For a long moment, Lan just stood there as he felt the horses’ eyes on him.

  ‘Unbelievable.’ He laughed before looking to the horses, who seemed to look back at him with eyes that said, “Well? We aren’t going anywhere just because you keep looking at us.”

  So, with a sigh, Lan walked over to them and checked their packs, gratefully finding the right of ownership on the one Seras had been riding, which meant that he really did now own three Crownbolts.

  Three Crownbolts. They were not known as the third-best breed in Crownguard for nothing. In fact, outside of nobles, the only people who could own them were extremely wealthy commoners and army captains. Which he very much wasn’t.

  Lan sighed deeper, trying not to think about it. Although the village boy in him was over the moon at the idea of owning three horses ridden out of a Tail, the merchant in him was much less happy.

  With another sigh, Lan tied the other horses to the one he had ridden and climbed on, finding the other two just as agreeable as the first one.

  ‘Come on now.’ Lan called before kicking the horses into motion.