There is no such thing as an end to life. It merely takes on another form, or travels to another plane of existence.

You cannot undo what is meant to last forever.

“Let me go!” shouted Lili.

Alhannah pushed her through the doors of the Keep and into the wind. “Don’t let his sacrifice be in vain,” growled the gnome, coughing, “—now get OUT!” The shove was forceful enough that Lili fell upon the steps. Alhannah drew her swords to re-engage in combat…but there was no one left to fight.

The courtyard of Til-Thorin was frozen in an eery silence.

Lili gripped the snow in her fists and glared back at the gnome. She opened her mouth to snap a retort, but her fingers brushed against a soldiers body. A man, laid upon the steps, his face twisted in the last emotion of life. Snowflakes drifted down and landed on his blue lips.

She pushed backwards, away from the body.

Alhannah stood silently, staring out over the courtyard.

A dense fog had settled over the Keep. Bodies of soldiers lay strewn across the ground. But it wasn’t the fallen bodies that held the gnomes attention, so much as the contorted expressions in death. Their pale skin, faces frozen in pain, anguish and terror. Wagons overturned and on fire, small groups huddled with their backs to the flames, shield, sword and bow in hand. The ground was torn, a gaping chasm separating the far edge of the courtyard from the remainder of the Keep.

Three of the Rook crouched in a semi-circle, near a cracked section of the curtain wall. Their bows were drawn, watching the fields. Next to them, the body of Lady Tamorah lay upon the ground, covered with their cloaks. Her head was tenderly cradled in Dax’s lap, who looked very pale himself. He stroked her raven hair and shielded his sisters face from the falling snow.

Soldiers crowded around breaches in the wall, staring out the gaps. Above them, standing boldly upon the remaining sections of the catwalk, was King Robert. He was attended by Lord Joram and Chuck.

The King stood motionless, the dying winds tussling his salted beard. The embers of Woodside still glowed through the grey mist of the day, black smoke rolled up the hillside.

There was, however, no sign of the enemy.

“They had us,” said Joram aloud, “We could have been completely destroyed…and they let us live?”

The King watched the smoke rise from Woodside. It whipped and curled in the air, then rolled down and across the fields like the waves of an ocean at high tide. “We weren’t what they were after.”

“Sire?”

“See that the wounded are moved into the keep, Joram. We have repairs to make, lest we find ourselves exposed and the enemy change their minds.”

“Yes sire,” Joram bowed, but he paused before leaving. “And the dead?”

“Once we have fortified the living, we will have time to honor the dead.”

Joram nodded and scuttled down the steps.

Chuck leaned forward on his staff and watched the Steward. “He’s good for this Keep.”

Robert continued to stare over the valley, “I agree.”

Elder Altorin was tending to Lady Tamorah, a grateful Dax assisting, while Elder Gaidred bandaged those in dire need. Til-Thorin had sustained heavy losses. More than half of its soldiers were dead. At least two thirds of the volunteers had either joined them or were heavily wounded.

“Watch yer back, pup,” grumbled Animal from below.

Though visually tired and scarred, the freemen seemed undaunted.

“Leaving so soon?” King Robert asked.

Animal grinned, which looked unnatural to his chiseled, weathered face. “It’s time we do some hunting of our own. The green-skins have other plans and we aim to discover what they are.” He nodded to Chuck, respectfully, “Old man.”

The wizard returned the nod without comment.

“I’m grateful for the assistance, Animal,” said the King.

The freeman grunted, “It was just payback, nothing more.”

King Robert raised an eyebrow, “You’ll have to tell me about it someday.”

“No, I wont.” Animal and his crew turned to leave, “But we’ll spread the word. You got problems brewing you can’t avoid any longer.” Then he added, “We’ll let ourselves out.”

The freemen made their way to the stables.

The King watched them leave until the fog hid them from sight.

“What are you thinking, Robert?” asked Chuck, his own gaze still scanning for signs of Thule’s forces. “You’re mind’s as squeaky as a gnome-fashioned clock. What’s up?”

He looked at the wizard, dark rings under his eyes. “They didn’t want me, or to invade Andilain. They were after something specific.” The cracks in the curtain walls and the gap along the courtyard would take days, maybe even weeks to repair. “This wasn’t done by Tauku magic, was it old man?”

Chuck bit his lip, then said, “No Bobby, I’m afraid not.” He laid a hand on the Kings shoulder, “We’re in this for the long haul, now, you and me…just like we planned.” He gave a little squeeze, “And it’s going to be a rough course to navigate.”

The King nodded and turned back to watch the fields through the fog and smoke.

Wobbling down the stairs, Chuck caught sight of the gnome.

“Alhannah!”

His robes were tattered, the hem soaked red and black. He pushed himself forward with a heavy limp. “Where’s Wendell?” he huffed.

Alhannah looked up with a stern expression, but her lips started quivering.

“Speak, child!” Chuck snapped. He caught sight of Lili upon the steps. His eyes narrowing to slits. She still gripped the snow in fists, head bowed and unmoving. Kneeling slowly at Alhannah’s side, he pulled the gnome close and tenderly wrapped his arms around her.

“Thank the gods you’re alright,” he whispered, “and I’m sorry I snapped at you, little one. Now, where’s the boy?”

Small arms wrapped around his neck, a pigtail rubbing against his cheek. She wept into the folds of his hood. When he pulled her away, Alhannah’s face was red and puffy. She avoided looking him directly in the eyes. “I’m so sorry, Uncle Chuck. There just wasn’t…” she faltered and sniffed, “I’m…so sorry.”

Chuck lifted her little chin and smiled weakly. “Where is he?”

****

The magical fire had all but died out, consuming every stray crate, box and supply in the hall. The scorch marks looked like long, black spider legs, stretching down the hallways. Even the stone sagged, where Wendell had fallen against the wall or rolled along the ground. The upper torso of the Tauku’s body had melted into the wall, one of Alhannah’s swords still protruding from the skull.

The stench of burned flesh hung heavy in the air, making it near impossible to breathe. Chuck covered his face with a handkerchief, while others breathed through the crook of their elbows. Gaidred and Altorin seemed altogether unaffected.

Alhannah examined the Tauku’s body, then mule kicked the sorcerer’s torso off the wall. Her sword has withered in the flames, but at least it had dispatched a real enemy of her people. The burned lower extremities of the mägo snapped off like a dry twig.

The hallway was a sea of ash, centered around the blackened remains of Wendell’s skeleton. His body sat in the middle of the floor, curled in a fetal position. The mägoweave jeans and sneakers were perfectly intact, while the rest of his exposed body was nothing more than charred skeletal remains.

Dax pushed past the wizard and Elders. He dropped to his knees by Wendell’s side. “No, no, no!” he wailed. Large hands reached out, hovering over the body. “This…isn’t possible.” He looked up at Chuck, then to the Elders, “THIS CAN’T BE!”

The wizard stood motionless.

Gaidred and Altorin immediately knelt at Wendell’s head and feet. Gaidred began whispering the Iskari prayer, Altorin bowed his head.

“How could Ithari choose him, just to let him die?” cried Dax, gritting his teeth. His expression morphed to sheer anger, “SHE CHOSE HIM!”

“She’s not all powerful, my boy,” Chuck said remorsefully, “As hard as it is to believe, Ithari has limitations.”

“Chuck!” called King Robert, from down the hall, “You’ll want to see this.”

The King was standing in the cell, where Wendell had been locked up. Straw and dirt had been pulled away frantically from the corner of the cell. The wizard sighed heavily as he knelt and picked up fragments of the figurine. The body was snapped in half, the base of the sculpture shattered into pieces. Fragments of a thin clay disc lay among the remains.

“Joram said the guards had placed Wendell in here for safe keeping.” Robert knelt down, “Said he’d gone berserk in the chapel.” He picked up the tiny female head and studied it. “Looks like he found a secret compartment.”

Boney fingers traced the runes of magic upon a fragment, now powerless. Chuck let it fall from his grasp. It shattered like glass upon the ground.

“One to go,” he whispered.

The King frowned, “You know what this means?”

Chuck brushed off his robes, “It means we have to find that last seal before Thule does.”

They walked back to Wendell. The Iskari were still praying, while Dax sat staring at the charred remains.

King Robert studied the scene for several minutes, then purposefully stepped on the charred remains of a tentacle. “There’s a traitor in Til-Thorin!”

Chuck glanced between the bodies, “How so?”

“There’s no way this creature could have gotten in here without help.”

The wizard knelt down and ran his fingers around the Tauku’s neck, lifted the folds of its robes. “I don’t think it needed help getting in, Bobby,” he said, then, “Ah, here it is.” He pulled a silver ring with weaving bands from one of its charred fingers. It was silver, with a center stone, which looked like an eye. Yellow with a red pupil. Chuck handed it to the King. “That is how he got in.”

“What is it?” he asked, examining it.

“A Shade Ring. Powerful magic, those things…and it’s a Tauku specialty.” Chuck stood up and walked back to Wendell’s body. “It shifts your perception, so you can move unnoticed by those around you. It won’t make you invisible…but you won’t be seen unless you call undue attention to yourself. Like becoming a piece of furniture in a room. You know it’s there, but it’s unimportant, so you don’t focus on it. The sorcerer didn’t need help getting in—not with us so aptly distracted.” He looked at the King sternly, “But I believe you’re right…about the traitor. Someone knew the seal was here.”

Gaidred finished the prayer, opened his eyes and nodded to Altorin. They grasped Wendell’s hands and wrists.

“What do you think you’re doing?” yelled Dax, “Leave him alone!” He grabbed Gaidred’s forearm forcefully.

“Dax, I understand you’re plight, but we must return Ithari to Sanctuary—quickly.” With a gentle touch, the Elder removed Dax’s hand. “We may still have time for you to retrieve the actual hero.”

As they rotated the body over, the Ithari sparkled in the center of Wendell’s chest, unblemished.

Gaidred placed his hand over the diamond. “Kotiin meille,” he whispered.

There was an intense flash of blinding light and both Elders flew backwards. Altorin’s body slid down the hallway, while Gaidred slammed against a nearby wall.

King Robert rushed to Altorin’s side, checking his pulse.

“He’s out cold.”

“Same here,” answered Dax, hovering over Gaidred.

Chuck bunched up his robes and knelt over Wendell. Leaning over the body, he gingerly lifted an arm and studied it.

“Well aren’t you a clever girl!”

Rolling back his sleeves, Chuck pulled off his hat and reached in. Tinkling glass sounded. “Robert, I need a fresh fire made in the hearth upstairs. Burn three logs of oak and one of maple. Bring me three cups of the ash and one gallon of fresh spring water from the well. Do it now and do it quickly…we haven’t much time!”

Dax looked at the wizard hopefully, “What can I do?”

The smile vanished from Chuck’s face. His brows rolled forward in a storm of their own, overshadowing his eyes.

“Bring me Lili.”

****

No one spoke a word as Chuck measured and mixed the various liquids from his vials. Placing the deep wooden bowl in front of him, the wizard poured the ash into the water and then added the sparkling liquid from his vial. Smoke puffed above the rim of the bowl, dispersing into the air.

“So he’s not dead?” asked Alhannah eagerly.

“No, my dear, Wendell is not dead,” answered Chuck, swirling the container as he knelt up. “That brilliant gem couldn’t stop him from burning, unfortunately. Poor boy—must have been painful beyond imagining, but they haven’t made a strong enough connection yet. Ithari was unable to use their full potential to protect him.”

Holding the bowl out over Wendell’s body, he slowly poured the liquid over the charred corpse. “He might have survived, had he been wearing his full mägoweave, but I’m guessing she protected the little intelligences that make up our young friend, somewhere inside herself.”

She frowned, confused, “Intelligences?”

Chuck wriggled his nose, “Itsy-bitsy stuff that make up everything around us.”

“So what exactly are you doing then?” asked Dax, wrinkling his nose at the stench of the steam rising from the body.

Chuck smiled in triumph as gasps erupted from both Elders.

Wendell’s skeleton…relaxed.

Joints released their lock on his limbs, straightening out upon the ground until Wendell was lying flat upon his back. “I’m just giving Ithari some building blocks to work with.”

They all stared in awe as Wendell’s chest cavity filled in and expanded, his muscles thickening. Within minutes, the charred black skin had smoothed out and turned a dull grey.

Chuck sat back on the floor beside the body and tossed his beard over his lap. Alhannah gripped his shoulder, excited and hopeful.

Patting her hand, he whispered, “This won’t bring him back, my dear. It’s only a bandaid, so to speak.” He looked at her seriously, “I’m going to need your help to save him.”

“Anything,” she said firmly and Chuck nodded, letting his head rest against the wall.

Wendell’s grey skin slowly turned pink. Eyes inflated in the gaping holes of his skull and lids reformed to cover them. Wendell’s lips inflated over his teeth. Everyone watched as Wendell’s entire body, completely regenerated.

Lili stood off in the hallway and looked away.

“He looks perfect, Uncle Chuck….” gasped the gnome, “There’s nothing you can do to…wake him up?”

Chuck slapped his hands together, “Can’t have your cake and eat it too, my dear.” He paused, “Well, unless you’re a fat baker. Nope, this is as far as I can get him.”

Dax gripped Wendell’s arm. “He’s got a pulse!”

“Of course he does!” cheered the wizard, “But he’s only half alive.”

Gaidred, shaking his head in disbelief, looked to wizard. “Half…alive?”

Chuck smirked. “This was the easy part. Ithari has preserved Wendell’s body, but now we need to wake up his mind.”

“What the fairy farts are you talking about?” asked Dax.

Chuck flipped his wide brim hat up onto his head and pulled a small box from his sleeve. He handed it to Dax.

“We’re going to Clockworks City. Now, put a shirt on him.”

Alhannah shook her head, “The law bans outlanders, uncle Chuck. If you’re caught, you could be executed!”

Chuck patted her on the head and nodded at Wendell’s body. “The only magic that can save that boy now is the darkest type. Only gnomes know it. That psycho-olligee-stuff. You know, brain magic. That’s why I need your help, ‘Hannah. You have clout, connections…and enough fame to run interference for us.”

Alhannah looked at Wendell as Dax pulled the mägoweave over his head. He’d thrown himself in front of death, to save someone’s life. Without sword, shield or knowing how to fight. He’d sacrificed himself for another.

She nodded to Chuck. “Done.”

“And you, my dear,” said Chuck, pointing at Lili, “are coming with us.”

“Me?” she squeaked, backing away, “I’m not going to the Gnome homeland! Are you crazy?”

Chuck smiled, “Oh, that’s so beyond the point.” He grabbed her by the arm and escorted her out of earshot. With all eyes on them, he leaned close to whisper.

“You have no idea what you’ve done, child…or how many millions of lives you have placed in jeopardy.”

Lili glared at the wizard and pulled her arm free. “I don’t know what you’re talking about,” she cursed, “and I’m not going anywhere with you.”

The smile never left Chucks face. He held up the Shade Ring from the Tauku. “Look familiar?”

He grabbed her by the wrist and compared it to the ring on her middle finger. They looked like yellow eyes staring up at him.

“And we have a winner.”

He let Lili’s hand drop and placed the Shade Ring onto his own finger. “That’s fine. If you don’t want to help, I won’t force you to go with us, my dear.” The cool tone of his threat was unmistakable, “I’ll simply make sure Dax escorts you home.”

Lili’s glare immediately faltered. Her expression changed to worry.

“You owe that boy your life, Liliolevanumua,” he smiled, her name rolling off his tongue as if he’d spoken it all his life, “and I aim to hold you to it.”

Worry changed to fear. “How do you…”

Chuck tapped the tip of his nose, “Do we have an understanding?”

She searched his face for a weakness. Something she could exploit to her advantage. She had been outmatched.

Lili’s head lowered. “We do.”

“Excellent!” Chuck snapped out loud, standing upright. He walked briskly back to Wendell’s body, leaving Lili sulking in the shadows. The yellow smiley face was asleep on Wendell’s chest, small ‘z’s’ floating across the cloth. Reaching out his hand, Chuck shook Gaidred and Altorin’s hands.

“This is where we part ways for a bit, boys. You run on home,” he looked at King Robert, “or better yet—make yourself useful and help Bobby get home and settled. He could use some moderately good council while I’m gone.”

He grabbed King Robert and hugged him tight. “Keep the faith Bobby-boy, the fight just got interesting.” With a wink and a nod, he turned to Dax and snatched the small box from him.

Dax looked worried and he fidgeted. He searched desperately for a cigar in his waistband, but found nothing.

“Ready monkey?”

“I don’t have the strength, Chuck.”

“We all have to find the strength from this point forward.” He stared at Dax and gave him a full teeth, genuine smile, “If anyone can find the strength to be extraordinary—it’s you.”

For a moment, Dax’s face turned a reddish green. “Right,” he coughed, clearing his throat. Holding his arms out, Dax stood over Wendell’s body. “Get as close as you can,” he said firmly.

Chuck and Alhannah stepped up next to him. The gnome gave him a quick hug.

Dax looked over at Lili. The girl’s face had gone pale and she rubbed her arms furiously.

“Come on kid.”

She shuffled over and stood next to Alhannah. The gnome reached up and took hold of her hand with a squeeze.

Chuck tapped his staff on the ground heavily and grinned back at everyone. “Oh, stop with the long faces! A dead hero brought back to life, two adorable girls, a midget elf and an exceptionally handsome wizard on a one-way trip to possible prison or death? You survived an assault by the army of General Thule and now have an enemy to pursue in your own lands. Evil is loose once more and has come to our doorstep! Do you know what this means!?”

King Robert looked to the Elders, confused, then back at the wizard. “What?”

Chuck laughed out loud, “It means we’re doing something right to gain all this attention from the Dark Lord! It is definitely a Monday!”

With that, he tapped Dax on the head with his staff.

BAMPH!