The Blackwyrm Chronicles #1: A Misadventure like no other...

Chapter 71

(A week later...)

I woke up with a yawn and smiled: "Ah, home sweet home..."

"You keep saying that, love," Luna mumbled as she stirred beside me.

"Huh? Oh, sorry Luna," I murmured.

Luna got up slightly and leaned on one of her arms to look at me, yellowish-green eyes glowing in the dim light of the morning. Thankfully, she was clothed, so I didn't have to worry about my soul leaving my body or anything.

She poked my nose, and I looked at her with a raised eyebrow to convey my confusion.

"Was that necessary?" I asked.

She chuckled, pecking my cheek with her lips. "Yes, yes it was."

I felt Sylvia stir between us: "Why are you two talking so much? I'm trying to sleep..."

I smiled and recounted the events of the past week.

Sylvia was amazed when we walked through the portal and back into Lowell. Back on regular soil. We had bid Soren farewell the day after we arrived back in his village: he informed us that he and his team had to clean up the mess Thaleous left for them in Mareth. He told us that someone has to help the people of Mareth bounce back from Thaleous' reign of terror, so he said with a wry grin that his work was far from over.

Thankfully, we were able to ride back to Helios via carriage, and I introduced my daughter to King Fredrick when we pulled into the courtyard of the keep.

After he had embraced me, Fredrick looked at Sylvia and smiled. "Hello, little one. What is your name?"

"S-Sylvia. Sylvia Maestro Tsuki," She had replied.

Fredrick chuckled and looked at me: "That's a lovely name, Sylvia."

With Stanford back, he got all of his fellow Templars back to work with a smile on his face and a spear in his hands.

Luna's parents had reunited when we got back to Helios, and they were overjoyed to see each other again after so long.

My mother must've been visiting my father a lot because he bear-hugged me when my team got back to Helios. He seemed...I dunno, cheerier than his usual self. Maybe I was just envisioning things, but my father looked younger and more alive. (I'm grasping for straws at this point. I'm sure you get the point.)

Warren was excited to see me as well: we shared stories of what happened to us on the evening we got back to Helios. He told stories of what happened at the Skag while I told him about my misadventures in Mareth, and I have the slightest feeling my stories were more interesting than his.

The thing that surprised me the most was when Analise asked me the day after we got back to Helios if we could go back to the exorcist that had previously pulled Argus out of her and see if we could permanently remove him from her body.

"What caused you to want him gone?" I had asked her.

"I want the fucker out of my body. I'm sick and tired of Argus messing around with me like I'm some...Some god damn toy. Also, I feel awful every time I lash out at you guys. You're my family for fuck's sake..."

"Hey, no worries Ana." I assured her. "Please don't feel bad. We understand you've been dealing with Argus, so we're not mad at you."

"Really?"

I placed my hand on her shoulder. "Ana, You're a member of my team, and my team always comes first. Never forget that."

Her throat had bobbed in that moment, and she could only nod as a few tears ran down her cheeks.

So we went back to the exorcist after Ana talked to me. He told us that he'd have to bind Ana's soul to another person so her body wouldn't wither away. I still remember the look on Analise's face as she listened to the exorcist while trying to ignore the incredulous demon within her that was doing everything in its power to change my best friend's mind.

Dorrian rose his hand, "You can bind her soul to me."

Ana looked at him in surprise: "R-Really?"

"Yep!" Dorrian replied cheerfully, "When will the exorcism start?"

"We can start now," The exorcist offered.

It had taken about two hours to pull Argus out of Analise and banish him from this world. Believe it or not, I was the one who pulled Argus out of Analise and banished him to Oblivion.

"You will pay for this!" Argus had screamed. "I will feast on your soul!"

I barked out a laugh, "Fuck off bitch, and stay away from Analise."

When the little shit was finally banished, the exorcist and I had to quickly bind Ana's soul to Dorrian so she wouldn't die. She had passed out when Argus was removed from her body, and she thankfully woke up the instant she was bound to Dorrian.

"...the fuck happened?" Ana mumbled as she rubbed the bleariness out of her eyes.

Dorrian laughed. "Same old Analise. Thank the gods she hasn't changed."

Ana looked at him in confusion: "Why would I change? Nobody can be me, except me."

We all laughed.

"But seriously," Dorrian continued, "How do you feel?"

Analise shrugged, "I feel like myself -wait..."

She hugged me, then she crushed Dorrian's ribcage.

"I...I haven't been myself in...damn, in a long time. Thank you so much for getting Argus out of me," She breathed as Dorrian's lungs were flattened

Dorrian made a strangled squeaking noise.

"Oh, sorry, sorry," Analise apologized as she released him, "You okay Dorrian?"

He fell to the group and squeaked out a laugh, "I...need a medic."

I starting laughing, then laughed even harder when Luna started to chuckle herself.

"Yeah, yeah, laugh it up you two," Dorrian grumbled, "You guys are assholes..."

Analise laughed, "Don't worry Dorrian, we'll get even with them soon enough..."