Bladvaneer

  Talb nodded, and they left. They found Simko’s familiar sitting outside, licking his paws. He had reverted back to a regular cat. They couldn’t help but notice feathers all over the place.

  “And what was that all about?” Maurya asked, pointing at the familiar.

  “Oh. Arkin, the wizard who got that arrow out of Talb? Well, guess what. He hates Tarquin too. He gave me a temporary transformation spell to give my familiar the muscle he’d need to get revenge on that eagle. Considering the mess around here, I’d say it worked.”

  Simko summoned vines from the ground and commanded them to pull down the temple. Within an hour the building was reduced to a pile of rubble. The heroes, feeling there was nothing left to do here, headed home.

  “Well, for our next adventure we should have people tripping over themselves to join us,” Simko said.

  “What do you mean?” Klavin asked.

  “Once people find out what we’ve accomplished, we’ll be getting offered quests all the time. And everyone’s going to want to be a part of our group.”

  Klavin shook his head. “I wouldn’t get your hopes up. I think it’s more likely most people will never know what we’ve done here.”

  “What are you talking about? We saved the kingdom. Maybe the world. We sent Krot to an eternal punishment. We even got rid of Tarquin. That in itself is something to brag about.”

  “Sure. You know that and I know that, but no one else will. There’s no evidence of anything that we’ve just done. The only bodies left are of Tarquin’s two guards, and they’re buried under tons of rubble. And I wouldn’t count on the royal family corroborating any of this. They’d have to answer way too many questions if this came out.”

  “But we could at least try to tell people!”

  “Go ahead. Walk into the next tavern we get to and tell them that the three of us found the most sought-after weapon in history and defeated the villain that used to scare every child in the kingdom. Let us know how that turns out.”

  They continued walking in silence for a while.

  “But that’s not fair!” Simko argued.

  “I agree. But then again, what’s the difference? We know what we did. And we know that we could do it again, if we needed to. Isn’t that enough?”

  Simko remained silent, but it was obvious he didn’t agree.

  “Still,” Maurya said, “it’s hard to believe after all we’ve been through that we’re going to get nothing out of this.”

  “Well, once we get back we’ll have guards head out and round up Vosko and his men. Assuming they’re still alive, of course. I suspect the Karthuma would have only scared them, at least as long as they didn’t do anything really stupid. If the mayor of Prasten is still alive, we’ll try to get him removed too.”

  “Try?” Maurya asked.

  “Yes, try. I suspect that he must have some serious connections if he’s managed to stay in power for so long, especially since everyone seems to know that he’s a madman. But I’ll try to convince the king to unseat him. I honestly think he’s already dead, though. And we’ll get someone to track down that Ligear. If Tarquin’s spell didn’t just wear off, they can try to find some way to reverse it.”

  “And what about all those poor people left on Lakron Island? Do we just leave them there as well?” Maurya asked, the anger in her voice obvious.

  “Well, considering that would bring shame not only on the royal family, but also on practically everyone of noble blood in the entire kingdom, I seriously doubt that there’s anything I can do to force their hand on that one. Unfortunately there’s just no way I can force them to reward us for saving the kingdom since there’s absolutely no evidence that we did. If I could, then doing away with Lakron Island and letting the Healers live out their days among us would be the first thing I would ask for. The second would be for them to stop the endless successions of false Gareths, but they’re not going to do that either. We’d stand a better chance of getting them to reward us with a mountain of gold than to get them to reveal anything that would besmirch the name of the royal family. There’s really no point in us even asking.”

  They walked a bit further in silence, Maurya glaring at Klavin every so often.

  “Which is why I’m not going to ask,” he finally added. “How about on our way back home we take a trip through that cave and bring the Healers to the palace with us? It would be pretty difficult to cover them up when they’re all marching down the street with us. I think we owe that to Gareth, and the others, who gave so much so that we could succeed.”

  Simko and Maurya both beamed. Simko especially seemed happy about this, for obvious reasons.

  “But what about your promise to keep everything the king told you a secret?” he asked.

  “I’m not repeating anything he told me. Besides, he never told me I wasn’t allowed to free the Healers. As far as we know, it’s what he wanted all along.”

  “And will you tell the king about Bladvaneer?” Maurya asked.

  “I don’t think I will. I think it’s best if people continue to search for it, rather than know where it is. Seems safer that way. We know that we have it. I think that’s enough.”

  They continued down the path and disappeared into the distance. A man stepped out of a small house that hadn’t been there a moment earlier. He smiled at them and went back inside. A few minutes later, a deer ran through the space where there had once been a house, looked around, and ran off into the woods.