The Wizard

Return

Mevner teleported back to the necropolis. The hall he'd left was full of smashed skeletons and broken bones. Chandeliers ripped from the ceiling sat burning on the ground and the gauntlets were nowhere to be seen. 

Down the next hall, he found his friends in a ritual chamber that Redwing used to commune with the dead. Runes and ancient writing covered the walls, ceiling, and floor. Countless corpses littered the room and at the far end sat Øregård and Grimble.

The iron golem lay helpless on its back missing a leg. Grimble sat on his broken creation's chest smoking his pipe. Øregård was slashed to pieces, his broken armor lost to battle, yet he still held the sword of doom. He didn't look too bad, considering. They both turned as the wizard entered.

"Ah, my fine friend, you made it back. Did we win this time?" 

Mevner held up the amulet on his chest. "If you want to call it that."

"And Malzo the Wicked?" 

"He's no more." 

"What about de Martín? We haven't seen her since you left?"

The wizard looked down at the floor. "She followed me until the end. Redwing killed her."

"Grumble," huffed Øregård

"I'm sorry, lad, it's the good wizard losing his love all over again." 

"I'll miss her sneaking around. It happened so fast." 

"I'm sure you did all you could. What say you to getting out of here?" Grimble gestured to the cursed gauntlets propped up against his now useless iron soldier. 

Mevner poped the fire ruby out of Grimble's war hammer, set it on the floor in the center of the room, picked up the gauntlets, and put them on. 

"Careful," warned Øregård as he placed the gnome on his shoulder. 

Mevner reached out, touched his two friends, then focused on the ruby. 

"Ignite."

From far below the empty capital an underground explosion of volcanic proportions erupted. The central fortress collapsed into a flaming sinkhole that eventually stretched out and swallowed the entire city. The Western Kingdom was no more. 

***

In the main hall of the Stone Mountain castle, the three appeared out of thin air. They slept, healed, indulged in wine, and filled their belly's to bliss in Melock's kitchen of plenty. 

Mevner told them of the battle with Redwing, of the futuristic city, and of the beach where he was defeated. 

Øregård asked to stay at the castle while the wizard wrapped up his mission. 

Mevner took Grimble and visited the city of Luki, where he informed the Dutchess and the General that the dragon had been defeated and the town would be safe. The Dutchess looked at him with hardly disguised fondness. All would be right in Varina Luki. 

Celebrations rang into the evening across the great city by the sea. Word traveled fast about the dragon-slayer wizard. The two slipped away during the festivities and no one saw them leave town. 

In the basement of the lighthouse, Mevner created a wicked-looking metal cube, a spell adopted from his older brother. And in it, he placed the entire contents of Melock's lab, his library, Luhng's eye, and the cursed gauntlets. It turned out he was able to remove them without much trouble. They gave him a taste of marvelous evil power but he wasn't feeling much in the mood for wickedness.