Mazer's hand drifted over the wall. It felt like limestone to him, but he knew the others would feel equally unpleasant surfaces. He had been through the wall once, on a futile mission that would cripple his corporal form for years, but he no longer feared what he'd find there. The children however…
"Can we go together?" Val asked.
"That will only make things worse. One strong beast is easier than ten weak ones. One after another, five minutes apart." Gently he pushed Dink forward, the young wizard looking back nervously. Mazer just nudged him further. Dink inhaled, sighed deeply, and opened the oak door.
Cold water stained his legs. His entire body was riddled with cold, an icy feeling sticking to his very bones. Dink tried to move, but he found his feet trapped in the mud-like sand. Slowly the water receded, fading into the horizon as the entire ocean seemed to retreat. Dink pulled helplessly at his ankles, but then grinned. He scribbled runes, ice climbing up his legs and down into the sand. Grabbing a stick, he carved a bursting spell into the ice, the blast blowing him into the porch. He screamed as ice lodged itself into his torso and shoulders, fighting with fractured wood for puncture space. Dink tilted his head up blearily, spots playing in front of his eyes.
A great wave grew from the shore, a wall of ice towering over the entire city of WestKallepe. Horrified eyes not unlike his own stared out from inside, a fiery bursting spell pulsing in the ice's center. Dink tried to move but the ice had pinned his clothes to the house. The rune began to swell, and all Dink could do was watch. "No no no no PAPA!"
The door opened and spit Dink onto the wet, soft grass. He curled up in it, undoing his cape and wrapping it around himself like a blanket. Something slid under him and began to move, but he hardly cared. "Papa…." He mumbled, tears brimming in his eyes.
"Not quite, Mr. Meeker. But it's okay." Cham carried Dink back to Dragon and set him on a sleeping bag.
"Valentine." Mazer's hand was steady on her back, but Val rushed away from it and through the door.
Val squinted, bold theatre lights glaring above her. Quiet murmuring spilled towards her from the audience. Val grimaced. Using her fear of public speaking was low level. "Do a trick!" Yelled a random no-one. She sighed and boredly twisted her hands till her familiar appeared, scampering around the stage for scattered applause. "Here, look, random magic! Laugh!" Val already felt the usual rage building her throat, but she swallowed it. Uninterested she twirled magic light around the theatre, illuminating darkened and delighted faces. Val smirked, but soon uneasy settled in her stomach. "W-what do you people want next huh?"
"Chains!"
"What?"
"Chains chains chains chains!" Val turned back, but her hands were already bound in iron. Clawing hands pulled at her face and forced a bit-like machine into her mouth. Somewhere in front of her her familiar went flying into the audience, an enchanted girl holding it above her head like a prize. Pins dug into her hands, forcing them to move and cast. Tears poured down her face, but she raised her head in defiance. She would be a witch if it killed her. And back home, it almost had. But something caught her eye. In a single light booth, her brother watched.
Val crawled across the damp grass, practically spitting into the ground with every breath. Blindly she reached out, latching onto something sturdy and solid. "Mr. Meeker said you'd be coming. Don't worry." Val looked up, and realized it was not a tree, but a leg.
Mazer watched as the children and Hyrum disappeared behind them. Shivering at the wave of cold the wall shot back at him, Mazer crossed into the wall.
"Hello. Passport." Mazer stiffened. Pahu stamped papers behind a small desk, nothing but a tiny shield separating the veteran and his son.
"I don't need a passport."
"Why not? Everyone else here needs one."
"I don't see any others."
"Doesn't matter if there aren't any others in the general area of you sir. I need a passport to go to the living world, authorized by your closest book keeper be it by fate or kin-" Mazer smacked the glass, face turning a deep red. Pahu just raised a sarcastic eyebrow.
"Pahu Rangi Rackham-Summers as your father I demand you let me through without any of this bullshit!"
"Sir reciting my full name will not get you through. Look, I can see your passport sticking up out of your pocket so if you just gave it to me, we could save so much trouble." Mazer gritted his teeth and slammed the piece of burueracy on the table. Pahu took it and retreated to a back room. Mazer scooted himself onto the ledge of the table and waited. Pahu came back and handed it to him. "Go. Now."
"Pahu."
"I'm not here because I want to be okay? This is nothing but ghostly community service."
"But-"
"Here," Mazer was surprised at Pahu's stregth as he jammed the booklet into his chest. "Get to the living realm, and leave me be." He lowered his head and slipped the passport into his pocket, sulking as he walked towards the door. The gentle wind of the living realm hit his face, and for a moment Mazer was glad to leave.
"I'm sorry to bother you." He mumbled as the gentle dew hit his face.
"Wait, Dad don't-!" Mazer swung back, but by now Pahu was gone. All that remained was him and the long unkempt grass of Dragon. Cham's hands extended to him, but he pushed them away.
"Don't touch me."
"Okay. Are you alright…?"
"I'm fine Jawaharlal. Keep your mitts off me."
"Sorry." Cham muttered.
By the end of the night, Dragon was full of shivering, crying children, and a few weary adults. They were strewn across the floor, huddled around space heaters and swapping stories of what they saw. "Have you seen Gwen since the attack?" Hyrum asked.
"No. I haven't left the bunk since. The kids have been sweet enough to not rat me out."
"They're good like that." Hyrum laughed, though the sound was humorless.
"This place is…" Mazer rubbed his hands along the decaying wood. "Nice."
"Just nice? We actually have real electricity in this one!" The others just smiled, but soon the quiet over took the bunk, and the night grew long. Within the week, they would face Achilles. And within the week, they could all be back in the under realm.