All Roads Lead to...

Devrim's face reflected the light of the flickering flames as the four people came on shore.

"Father!" Mairwen leapt into her the Emperor's arms, nearly knocking the burning beacon from his hand.

Thinking quickly, Gandr took the light before it could singe the princess's luxurious hair. Grateful, Devrim took up his daughter in his arms and held her tight. "I thought for a moment my mind was playing tricks on me in the darkness. It really is you! What are you doing out in a boat?"

Before she could answer the man reached out and pulled the cloaked figure into a bear hug with the princess sandwiched in between.

"It's good to see you, my boy," Devrim said, his voice filled with emotion. He shook his head to clear a stray tear from his cheek before chuckling softly. "Although there isn't a lot of you I can actually see in that cloak, is there?"

"That's kind of the point," Alaron embraced his sister and father. "Though it doesn't seem to stop you from knowing me, does it?"

"You'll have to do better to hide from me." Devrim tugged playfully at the Guardian's hood and received a small shock from the cloth in return.

The grey-eyed man shook the pain out of his hand with a smile as he backed up from the twins. After the Emperor greeted Eira and Junayd, all gave their warm wishes to Gandr, who was genuinely glad to be back with his old friends.

"I am so glad you are safe." Devrim held his hand to his chest. "But you shouldn't be out at night. Surely Junayd has told you that the wolves are coming."

"They are here already. We've just seen them on the other side of the valley," Mairwen glanced over her shoulder across the glassy water.

"Did any of you get hurt?" Devrim began to search the group for any sign of trauma.

"We are fine, father. They didn't actually catch us." The princess was comforted by her father's worry.

She had seen those lines etched between his brows every time something happened to her as long as the princess could remember. They were a piece of home just as much as the palace itself.

Devrim relaxed slightly. "Did you say they are on the far bank?"

"And a little northward, Your Majesty. I do not think they can swim, either. At least, we did not see any of them try to pursue us." Junayd reported quickly.

"That's a small mercy. My troops are on the other side of the hill sheltered in an embankment. We should warn them of these developments." Devrim turned toward Gandr.

The halfling handed over the torch and bowed. "I will be back in a moment, Sire." Using a combination of his wind and earth magic, Gandr sped away, then disappeared into the ground without a sound. The Emperor put out the torch, bathing them in moonlight instead. There was no longer a reason for them to notify others of their presence.

"I am glad you are safe!" Devrim repeated. "What are you even doing out after dark? Is Renat back in Oblivion? Surely he must be worried to death that you have not returned!" Devrim tilted his head toward Oblivion. In the moonlight, the city looked like a dark island in the distance within the large river of shimmering starlit water.

The Emperor did not see his daughter's face as she struggled to form her words. "Renat is not with us father, nor is he in Oblivion."

Devrim snapped his head to the princess, fear gripping him. "Is he...?" he could not finish his words as memories of two years before flooded his mind.

Now that he looked at the young woman in the dimness of the night, he could see the same sadness that he had witnessed when they abandoned the palace after the dragons attacked. Only then he had mistaken it for simply the loss of a mentor and friend. Now he knew it for what it was, a mix of grief and deep, abiding love.

"I do not think he is dead, but he is certainly missing. The flood waters carried him away. We were searching for him when we ran into the wolf creatures." Mairwen got out all the words as calmly as she could. With more of her family around her, things somehow seemed better even though nothing had really changed.

Devrim hugged the princess tightly to hide his watering eyes. "I am sorry, my dear. You and that boy are as bad as Aurora and me. I am sure you will find your way back to each other." Behind her, he made a small Fate's symbol in hopes that his words would be true.

Gandr appeared through a hole formed beside them in the dirt. "The troops will stay put and stay on guard until we return," he reported to Devrim.

"Thank you," the grey-eyed man paused, "I don't suppose you can fit two more in your little rowboat?"

Junayd eyed the two impressive males. Even adding the lanky Renat would have been a stretch, but these large warriors would be nearly impossible to fit. "We will make it work, Your Majesty."

Gandr shifted to a leaner, more human version of his halfling body. "This should help a little."

They piled into the boat. Eira gave her spot to Gandr, as the bench was wider and she was tired of rowing. Junayd, still a general at heart, would not give up his position, so the ladies filled the short bench in the pointed front while the other two men sat in the back.

The boat sat low in the water, the heavy mass of the gnomic halfling straining the watercraft to its limit. The water came up nearly to the top of the railing but came short of spilling over.

"Being made partially of stone has its disadvantages," Gandr mumbled to himself. "Should I get out?"

"No, We can make it." Junayd had faith in the tiny boat. It would hold, though the Emperor might owe the Duchess a new watercraft by the time they arrived at the city walls. They pushed away from the shore, and rowed back into the safety of the middle of the valley.

The air was getting cooler all the time, but Mairwen barely felt it as she explained what happened in their time since leaving the palace. As the ride was short, she gave only the most necessary details including the loss of the magical mirror, the lizards and flood, Renat's disappearance and the wolf encounter. The others listened, adding tidbits or asking questions they thought were necessary.

"I'm so sorry, Mairwen," Devrim pressed his lips together. He could tell she regretted not listening to her parents' warnings, yet she would also likely have done the same thing all over again. 'Just like my wife,' he realized.

"You've caught up on our adventure," Alaron said. "What brought you here, Father?"

"You, actually. Aurora said you and Mairwen were going to be somewhere near Oblivion. After the second attack at the palace--a story that I will tell once we are with the Duchess--We knew that the wolves would be heading this way. I couldn't sit in the palace knowing you both were possibly in danger. I had to come. We would have been here sooner, but the weather got bad and slowed us down considerably."

"It seems the same storm that hit you moved southward," Gandr observed. "It washed out some of the bridges and made other rivers impassable. This place was no exception..."

The Emperor looked in awe at the scenic view. It would have been very romantic with different company. He sighed. "We made it to the head of the valley this morning, but traveling up and down the hills because of the flooding meant we only made it here just before dark. You are the first boat we have seen. I knew Oblivion could flood, but I have never seen it happen this time of year."

"That seems to be the general consensus." The Guardian had lost count how many people had mentioned how unusual the flooding was. "How did you get here, Gandr?"

"When the Empress went to the land of magic, I joined the Emperor. I must say it has been an interesting vacation from the elven palace. You humans know how to keep things interesting." Gandr smiled appreciatively.

After giving up life as a minion of the gnome king, the halfling had found fulfillment in his life as a spy for the Empire. The last couple of years, though very rewarding, had been very tame by comparison. Gandr craved excitement.

"I could do with a little less adventure," Devrim sighed. What he wouldn't give for a quiet life in the countryside with his family!

"Our family attracts problems." Alaron allowed his fingers to trail in the water behind the boat. "It is part of our charm."

"Your family has more charm than anyone I know," Junayd mused aloud. "Lizards and wolves, missing scientists and murdered chancellors…Any more charm and you all might die from charisma."

There was a light chuckle from those in the boat. When it was put like that, it all did seem rather extraordinary.

"Ah," the emperor said knowingly, "but I haven't told you the most interesting part. All the problems you have just listed stem from one source. I will admit the princess saw it long before while we were all still blind…"

"You mean you have proof?" Mairwen's breath hitched.

"I do. Dania, Fannur, the wolves and the lizards—they are all connected. No matter which way we have looked at it, all roads lead back to Sir Taran."