“Fine, but when that day comes, I for one will be there at his side,” said Willow.
“Me too,” said Gibrig.
“As will I,” said Sir Eldrick.
Murland forced a smile. “Thanks, guys.”
“Sir Eldrick!” called one of the mounted knights from the back of the king’s procession.
“Just a moment,” Sir Eldrick called back and, turning, he smiled upon his friends.
Gibrig suddenly hugged him around the waist before hugging Akitla as well. “Keep in touch, now, ye hear?”
“We will,” said Sir Eldrick.
Willow hugged them as well. Sniffling, she ruffled Sir Eldrick’s hair. “You keep off the juice, you silly nannywiggins.”
“He will,” said Akitla, eyeing her father.
“If you’re in Magestra, look me up,” said Murland. “I’ll be at my father’s estate. I think I’m going to take up the family business.”
“Fair enough,” said Sir Eldrick, shaking his hand. “Be safe, my friends.”
“You too,” said Murland and Willow.
“Till our roads be crossin’ again,” said Gibrig.
***
Murland, Gibrig, and Willow watched Sir Eldrick and Akitla as they mounted horses and joined the Knights of Vhalovia. The mood of the group seemed to be reflected by the smoldering battleground around them.
“Well,” said Murland, seeing that the Magestrian army was heading out as well. “I guess this is goodbye for now.”
“I guess so,” said Willow, still seeming quite disappointed.
Murland shouldered Packy, and Gibrig stroked one long white wing. “Ye take care o’ Murland now, ye hear?”
The backpack’s wings fluttered, and Gibrig smiled as he sniffled.
“Alright you two, come here,” said Willow, pulling them in and crushing the air out of them with a big bear hug. She set them down and glanced southwest. “I gotta catch up to my people, but I want to hear from you both. Write me, okay?”
“We will,” said Murland.
“Say hi to Fern for me,” said Gibrig. “If ye go see her again and all.”
“I will,” said Willow, and for a moment Murland thought she might cry, but then her face twisted, and she gave a loud burp. “See you around, nannywiggins!”
She hurried off after the ogres, and Murland smiled to himself when she took a beef shank from her pack that she must have snagged from one of the camps.
“I hope she don’t eat too much worryin’ over Brannon,” said Gibrig.
“I suspect that she’ll be alright.”
Gibrig looked to Murland and smiled. “Yeah, I guess so.” He let out a sigh. “It be funny, we won the day, but I feel like we lost.”
“Me too, Gib, me too.”
They said their goodbyes, and Murland promised to bring Caressa to see Gibrig and Hagus’s restaurant. Gibrig was cheered up by the idea, and he left Murland to join the dwarves, waving back at him repeatedly.
“I trust that you have regained your senses,” came a voice behind him.
Murland turned to find Headmaster Hinckley scowling at him.
“I haven’t changed my mind, if that is what you mean,” said Murland.
Hinckley nodded, surprising Murland. “Then I will do what I have done all of my long life. I will be patient.”
“Don’t hold your breath. When I said I was done, I meant it.”
“You would be surprised how long I can hold my breath. Until then, I will hold on to your wand and spell book.”
“Look, I appreciate everything that you have done for me, but…I had my shot. I tried to kill Zuul and I failed. What do you want from me?”
Hinckley patted him on the shoulder. “Every failure brings us one step closer to success. You will find the light, I just hope that you do so before something like this happens again.”
Murland let out a sigh. “Goodbye, Headmaster.”
“For now…” said Hinckley with a knowing smile.
“Come on, Packy.” Murland leapt into the air and flew away from his master and his responsibilities as the chosen one.
He looked east, setting his sights on the road leading to Magestra.
***
Kazimir watched the crystal projection as Murland flew away, and he wondered…
“Well-Well,” said Day-Day as the camera turned to her. “It looks like the Champions of the Dragon have disbanded…for now. With Fairy Vision-Vision, I’m—”
Kazimir clicked off the projector and glanced at Zuul, who sat chained to a high-chair and had fallen asleep crying. He thought of killing the little bastard, for Zuul had killed Hazel. Kazimir explored his emotions, wondering why he felt so bad about Hazel’s death. She had tried to have him killed while his body lay helpless in Azkatraz, and he owed her nothing. Still, he lamented what could have been.
With a waggle of his fingers, he conjured a glass of rum and shot it back with a grimace. He conjured another, holding it aloft. “To Hazel,” he said, before emptying it with one quick pull.
Kazimir forgot his sorrow and laced his fingers, contemplating the Champions of the Dragon. It seemed that for the time being, they were done questing. Murland had quit, which didn’t surprise Kazimir. But he wondered of the implications.
Was Murland destined to defeat Zuul?
And if so, what did it mean for Kazimir, who was the only one able to control the Dark Lord. Would Zuul turn on him as well? Would Zuul be his undoing? Kazimir had a lot of respect for prophecies, and though they were a dime a dozen, this one had come from Allan Kazam himself.
He glanced at Zuul again, wondering if his own lust for power would lead to his demise.
Of course not…
Kazimir would just finish his study of the Dark Lord’s magic, and then he would kill him once and for all. And if it was truly Murland’s fate to defeat Zuul, then he would let him do it instead. Kazimir did not much care, as long as he got what he wanted.
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The Mother of Zuul: Humorous Fantasy (Epic Fallacy Book 4) Page 24