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I kiss his knuckles, then give him a naughty look from beneath my fluttering eyelids.
“That’s a good point,” I murmur.
Systorak then takes me to the entrance of the portal that sits on the farthest plain in the ash fields outside the tower. He tells me how it’ll feel and how I can get back. We agree to meet back at the entrance in three to four hours.
“You’ll land just outside the tavern. It’s been calibrated to there,” he tells me.
I nod, then step to him, daring for one more kiss. He obliges me, yet I feel a distance already growing between us, a space of sorrow.
“I promise I’ll be back,” I whisper again.
He nods and proceeds to open the portal. My heart and body ache looking at him as I step two feet inside a swirling, kaleidoscopic entryway. I wish that there was some way I could get him to believe me. But I can only do that through my actions. I can’t make him trust me.
I raise a hand as the image of Systorak standing there, forlorn, begins to fade away. The colors of his dark glossy body, protruding horns, and hooved feet begin to blend together, shades becoming one massive blot of moving colors.
I close my eyes and tense my muscles just as he told me to. I start to feel sick as I blasted back to Milthar, but I find my footing as I stumble forward on a stone pathway.
“Shit!”
I catch myself before falling flat on my face and manage to keep from vomiting too. I stand up straight and orient myself. I am indeed right in front of the tavern in a small alleyway where others wouldn’t be able to see my abrupt arrival.
“Lana?”
My heart lurches in my chest as I turn to find Sheryl, my lovely, strong, capable friend. I grin ear to ear, and my eyes glass over with profound glee.
“Sheryl!”
I call out to her before I spring forward, taking Sheryl in my arms in an embrace we were previously not accustomed to giving. She had been standing outside the tavern smoking and grunts with surprise as I pulled her into my chest, resting her head on my bosom as she began laughing.
“What have they done to you there?” she says, chuckling between her words.
“Oh, I have so much to tell you,” I say, feeling my throat getting scratching with approaching tears.
“Let’s get inside before you tackle me to the ground,” Sheryl quips, raising her head from my chest.
I take her face in my hands, and she gives me a playful scowl. She is so beautiful and sweet. I give her a light peck on the lips, and her pupils bloom wide like a shark.
“I have missed you dearly,” I whisper.
Sheryl returns from her shocked state, then takes my hands from her face. She kisses them, and we return to our usual state of amusing banter.
“I have missed you too,” she says softly.
We go inside, hand in hand, and Sheryl serves me a tall pint of Milthar’s finest ale. I have a look around at the place, feeling like it has been years as opposed to weeks since I last saw it.
“Everything feels brighter in here,” I say, sitting on a bar stool while Sheryl cleans glasses.
“Aye,” she replies. “And something about you is certainly lighter too.”
I swivel back to her, a smug grin painted on my face.
“What are you talking about, honey?” I say playfully, raising the glass to my lips.
“Who’s fucking you is the better question.”
I nearly choke on my beer, and she cackles with laughter.
“Is it that obvious?” I say once I’ve regained myself.
