NO ONE LEFT BEHIND

A D Animated Series Story

By Ralph Sanchez

1

It was a nightmare.

SHEILA could feel her heart pounding in her ears as she ran as

fast as she could. With every step hitting the ground, she knew

she had to pivot to a new angle, furiously zigzagging over the

rocky surface to avoid the magic spheres being lobbed in her direction. The heart pounding

in her head was so intense, it was drowning out the screams of the others who were also

running wildly in desperation. She forced herself to focus on her little brother Bobby in front

of her as he too dodged the flying spheres of incandescent blue. She needed Bobby to

make it out okay, even is she could not.

What had begun as a jubilant celebration of finding the portal that would take them back

home and away from this wretched Realm they had been trapped in for countless months,

soon turned into a nightmare. The sorcerer only known to them as The Nameless One had

appeared, determined to prevent the kids' escloak to safety by launching glowing stasis

bombs that would magically freeze whatever target they hit. He was firing them with

machine gun-like volleys from a glowing blue crystal atop his staff. The portal home had

opened thanks to the Trigger Stone the kids got from Dungeon Master shortly before he left

them, but now they were on their own and they knew enough about The Nameless One's

power that running away from him was their only chance. The portal was only a few yards

in front of them now and freedom seemed within reach.

But then a magic sphere landed right in front of Shelia, between her and Bobby. Her

momentum was such that she knew she was going to run right into it with no chance to

dodge. She was done, she thought. Until the sudden force of two hands pushing her to the

side sent her flying past the sphere. Instinctively she looked back and saw Eric… her friend,

Eric… the frustratingly annoying and still wonderful Eric… yelling at her to run. He had

saved her, but he could not save himself. He was instantly consumed by the sphere, turning

his body into a crystalline-like form and freezing him in mid-scream, his face contorted in

pain.

"Nooooooo!"

Sheila suddenly sat up on her bed, awoken from a nightmare, her hair mopped in sweat.

Her heart was still pounding and for a second she was disoriented and looked behind her

as if to look for Eric, then realized she was in her own room. In her parents' home. She

clutched at her night shirt's collar and closed her eyes, taking a breath. It had been a

nightmare. It had also been a memory. She opened her eyes again and swung her legs over

the side of the bed. She was trying hard to calm herself down. And then a wave of sadness

washed over her.

Sheila got up and took a step towards her desk. She picked up her phone and pressed it on.

The screen lit up and she looked at it holding back tears.

"Eric," she whispered.

…..

2

THE SCHOOL CAFETERIA at Walt Whitman High School was

packed this morning. It was raining outside and most of the

students decided not to brave a typical Chicago windy

rainstorm, choosing to spend the lunch period inside, some

begrudgingly sampling the limited menu of chicken fingers,

applesauce, and celery sticks.

"Yum," Diana said sarcastically as she carried her food tray

to a nearby table. "The one day my mom doesn't make me a lunch."

"I'll take your celery sticks," Albie said in quick response. Diana threw a look at him.

"You're a walking garbage disposal, Presto."

"Shhh. Don't call me that here."

She laughed. They had been back for two weeks now, and Albie was more paranoid than

the others about revealing what had happened to them. It was a surprise to them that

when they came through the portal, they landed in their neighborhood of Oak Park, right

during the middle of the night, and not at the amusement ride that had brought them to the

Realm. And then when they got to their respective homes, to their next surprise, their

families were sound asleep, and everything looked normal. Where was the parental anxiety

over missing children?

Checking on calendars and cell phones, the kids huddled up in Hanks's front porch and

discovered they had returned to the late evening of the same day they had left! It was as if

they had not been gone at all, when in fact months had passed for them in the Realm. It

was Bobby's first time that he used the F word when he blurted out, "What the -" Albie

had turned to Sheila and said something to the effect of, "Your little brother is growing up."

But she was silent and shaken, white as a ghost.

That's when all of them learned what had happened to Eric.

"You guys want to split some cornbread?" Hank was offering one of his dad's special self-

baked goods as Diana and Albie sat down across from them.

"Don't mind –" Albie began.

"If he does!" Diana finished it for him.

"I'm still a growing boy," he said, taking a slice of the bread. She threw a look at his

stomach.

"I see that."

Diana and Albie had grown closer since their return, and they had not stopped to analyze

why. It was just happening, and it seemed unforced and natural. The fact both were

children of single parents may have had something to do with it, as they found spending

time with each other was easier than finding time with Hank and his big family and football

team buddies, or with Diana who had grown sullen and reclusive. Their growing comfort

level with each other was also easier to fall into as there was nothing romantic about the

relationship at all. They were becoming really good friends.

Hank took a bit out of one of his chicken fingers and made a face. "The chicken they made

this from died 900 years ago."

"Ush," Diana said just going for the apple sauce. "Hey, you guys, don't you think it's weird

that we have lunch together every day?"

"You are getting bored with us there, Diana," Hank said with a smile.

"No, I was just making an observation."

"Well, not all of us," Albie said, nodding to a table three rows over. Diana was at the end of

the table, two seats removed from the other kids, slowly eating lunch by herself.

"She won't let it go," Hank said, his eyes on Sheila.

"I miss Eric, too," Diana said. "But… she's feeling guilty over what happened. Eric did a

heroic thing. Who knew he had that in him. But she didn't make him do it. It's not her

fault."

"I think it's what they call survivor's syndrome," Albie piped in. "And it doesn't help that

Eric's parents live down the street from her. She sees them all the time."

The three fell quiet for a moment, looking at each other in silence. The kids had made the

decision not to say anything about Eric. Their story was they did not know where he was;

why did he not show up to school that morning two weeks ago. They did not trust

themselves to support a lie, and figured best to act like they did not know anything. The

parents, with the help of the police, announced a reward for any information on Eric's

whereabouts. The kids felt horrible not being able to tell them the truth, but how would

their story be believed? And how would it make them feel better if he was never going to

come back anyway?

"Guys," Albie said as he turned his eyes. "She's coming over here."

3

SHEILA pushed her hands into the pockets of her hoodie

and stopped next to her friends. She managed a half

smile, trying not to look as sad as she realized she

appeared all the time.

"Hey, guys," she said, again trying to sound more upbeat

than she had since coming back. The others smiled at

her and returned her greeting, but she barely heard them.

She was rallying up the courage to tell them something

she had just decided this morning. It was Bobby who at

breakfast said something that had woken her up from her self-imposed wallowing.

Bobby too had been struggling with loss – the loss of Uni, who they had to leave behind. But

that was different – Dungeon Master had reunited Uni with his family and at least Bobby

knew that Uni would be alright. That still did not stop Bobby from missing him. And then

this morning, Bobby seemed more chipper than he usually was. When Sheila asked him

why he seemed so upbeat, Bobby said he was done missing Uni. There was nothing he

could do about the situation, so why continue feeling bad? Besides – and that's when he

pulled a small snake out of his open backpack – he had discovered "Bingo" in the backyard.

"Isn't he cute?" She recoiled back and was incredulous, until he said – "Time to move on. "

It occurred to her at that moment that Bobby was more mature than she was. He was

taking control of his emotions and was doing something proactively to feel better. She

needed to do the same. And that's when the thought hit her.

"So, what's up?" Albie said after a few seconds of awkward silence.

"I'm sorry I've been such a downer," Sheila said.

"Oh, no," Hank began. "you've got nothing to feel sorry about." The others nodded in

agreement. "You're good," Diana added.

"I've come to a decision," Sheila continued.

"Yeah, what's that?

She paused, maybe for dramatic emphasis; maybe because she wasn't quite sure she was

about to commit to this idea.

"I'm going to go back and get Eric."

There was absolute silence in response. Hank, Diana and Albie stared at her as if they had

just seen something shocking. Finally –

"I'm sorry… what?" Albie said.

"I know that sounds crazy," Sheila said, starting to talk softly but gaining momentum as she

continued. "But Eric risked himself to save me, and I figure that I should do the same in

return. There's no reason to believe he's not alive still, and, well, actually… I want to get

him home."

Diana got up and brought her arm around Sheila's shoulders. "Honey, I can understand you

wanting to have him back here with us, but it's just not possible. As much as we would all

want that to happen."

"Why not?" Sheila challenged.

It was Hank's turn to get up. "For starters, we don't know where he is. And even if we did,

what … uhm… state he might be in. "

"Not to mention," Albie said, "we can't get back there anymore."

"Ah!" Sheila beamed as if ready for that response. She pulled her cell phone out of her

pocket and turned it on. She had left it connected to a web page. She showed the phone to

Diana. Diana leaned down and started reading.

"The traveling circus is still town. And so is –"

"—the Dungeons and Dragons ride," Albie finished.

Hank slowly sat back down.

"Oh boy," Albie whistled.

Diana held her friend tighter. "Sheila," there's no reason to believe that the ride will send us

back there again. "

"There's no reason to believe it won't" Sheila answered back. Diana looked at Hank for

help.

Hank got back up. "It took us forever to get home. There were many times while we were

back there we could have not made it; we could have died. Thanks to Dungeon Master, and

weirdly enough, Venger turning good, we are back with our friends and families as if nothing

had happened. Everything back to normal. Safe."

"Except for Eric," Sheila retorted. "He has none of those things. Because he was selfless

enough to save me. We didn't all make it back, Hank. We are missing one of us."

Hank took a breath. "I know."

"Look," Sheila began, putting her phone back in her pocket. "I told you I made a decision.

That decision is about me. You don't have to come. I don't want you to come. For the very

reasons you said, Hank. I am going back there by myself."

"Seriously?" Albie said, and then realized he sounded insensitive the moment he said it.

"Yes, seriously."

Sheila gently removed Diana's arm from her shoulders and half smiled at all of them.

Without another word, she nodded and walked away.

"Shouldn't we stop her?" Diana wondered.

Hank put a hand on her back.

"We should do something," he said.

4

THREE DAYS later, as the weekend arrived on a Saturday

morning, Sheila made her way into the relatively small-sized

traveling circus. She had made no fuss at breakfast, making

it seem to her parents… and to Bobby … like a normal day.

She figured if she succeeded, she would be back here with

no time passing like before. They would never know anything

had happened. And if she failed… the knot that was in the pit of her stomach since she

woke up tightened harder. She was scared, but she had resolved to do this, and she was

going to go through with it.

Up ahead, she saw the iconic open-mouthed dragon's head entrance to the ride. There

was a healthy line forming to go in. She wondered for a moment if others going on the ride

would be thrown into the same experience she and her friends had had. How was there a

way to know, given there was no trace of their own journey. She braced herself and kept

walking toward it.

As she reached the back of the line, she felt something brush her arm. She turned around

quickly, with the catlike reflexes that she had developed over the course of her time in the

Realm, were dangerous surprises were a common occurrence. It was Bobby, touching her

hoodie sleeve, with an odd expression on his face.

"Hey, isn't this moms?" he asked coyly.

"I didn't have time to do laund—hey, what are you doing here?"

Bobby crossed his arms, trying to act tougher than his age, his face contorted in a comical

frown, as if imitating a stern adult.

"I should be asking you the same question," he said, his voice going down to baritone level.

"Stop it," she said, annoyed she had been caught.

"Stop what? Stop you from going back for Eric by yourself?"

She looked at him incredulously – how did this kid put two and two together just like that?

Bobby did not miss that look and jabbed a thumb in the air, pointing it behind him. Sheila

followed the direction in which the thumb was pointing and saw Hank, Diana and Albie

walking up toward them.

"Three birdies told me, "He continued.

She leaned down to him – "What did you do?"

"I did squat. Sis, you may think I'm a kid –"

"—You are a kid," she interrupted.

"But I'm old enough to read you like a book, and this morning you were saying it without

saying it, 'I'm going to go get my boyfriend!'"

"He's not my boyfriend," she shot back, perhaps a bit too defensively.

"Right. And I suck at Pokémon, which I don't. So, I talked to Hank, and he said he knew –"

"That he was my boyfriend?"

"No, that you were coming here. But… you're really hung up on this boyfriend thing, aren't

you?"

"Shut up!"

"Language…"

Sheila glared at him but stopped as the other kids arrived.

"Hey, there," Hank said.

"Wait, where you going to be here today?" Diana chimed in with a quizzical look.

"You're not changing my mind," Sheila said defensively.

The kids stole looks at each other.

"Talk you out of what?" Albie smiled.

"Nah, girl, it's all good, we just came over to…" Diana trailed off. Her eyes shifted to Hank,

as if saying, you tell her.

Hank took a step towards Sheila. "We're going to jump on the ride with you."

Sheila suddenly felt like the ground was dropping beneath her. She steadied herself; this

was the last thing she expected to hear. She was instantly moved and confused.

"Uhm," she could not really get the words out.

Hank gently put his hands on her arms. "You know my dad was in the Gulf War. He was a

Marine. He always said to be a good marine, you had to clean your rifle every day, change

your socks twice a day, especially out on the field, and… leave no one behind."

Sheila scanned the faces of the others; they were nodding and smiling in agreement. She

fought through the surprise and said what had to be said:

"Guys. This is on me. It's my quest, like the ones Dungeon Master used to say. Not yours.

You're home. You're safe. I can't ask you to go with me."

"We know," Diana answered. "But we are going anyway."

Sheila looked down at Bobby. Oh my God, my little brother, she thought.

"You can't go. We won't do this to mom and Dad if we both don't come back."

Bobby stood defiantly. "Mom and Dad always say families stick together, right? You're my

family, sis. So, you and I stick together, no matter what. Besides, maybe I'll get a chance to

see Uni again. "He beamed. "That would be worth it too."

Sheila was lost for words, but she would be lying to herself if she didn't admit she felt relief.

Having them along would make things less scary, less formidable. They might succeed.

She stared at their faces and could not perceive a trace of fear in them. How are friends

like these possible, she thought.

"Bring it in," Albie said, opening his arms. As one, the entire group hugged. With the

warmth of that embrace, fear slipped away from Sheila and resolve kicked in again. She

pulled back and –

"Let's go."

Two hours later, they were still in Urban Park. The kids had gone on the ride three times,

and nothing had happened. They found a bench nearby and sat down, trying to determine

if what they were attempting was truly futile.

"Is anybody hungry?" Albie asked, looking around for a food stand. Diana looked up at him.

"Are you ever not hungry?"

"No."

There was a moment of silence, as Sheila felt like her idea was becoming less and less

reasonable. Hank rubbed his eyes and looked at them all.

"Maybe what happened the first time was a one in a million accident? Or pre-destined.

Venger used to say he had planned to get our weapons when we came through. He may

have known we were coming. "

"It's not like Zoltar Speaks," Sheila said quietly.

"What?" Bobby asked.

"Zoltar Speaks. It's the amusement park machine in the movie Big that turned this kid into

adult Tom Hanks. And then he used it to turn himself back to a kid. I guess I had this silly

notion that the ride would kind of work like that."

The kids went into deep thought, some of them trying to remember the film.

"That was a good move," Albie said.

The silence continued as the kids grappled with their situation. Finally, Diana snapped her

fingers in realization.

"Wait, in that movie, at the end, Tom Hanks unplugged the machine and then it worked.

The magic kicked in."

"Sure," Hank replied. "But it's not like we can turn off the entire power source for the ride.

And even if we could do, I don't think it works that way."

"So, what do we do now?" asked Bobby. "We go again?"

Just then, a park janitor made his way to their bench slowly, a slight limp in his walk. The

older man was holding a broom in one hand, and something small in the other.

"Excuse me, young'ns," he said with a mild and a tad trembling voice.

"Young'ns?" Albie repeated.

"Shhh, be nice," Diana said to him.

"I think one of you dropped this," the janitor said. His brighter than expected eyes behind

wrinkling eyelids were staring at Sheila. He opened the palm of his hand and revealed a

shiny broach. Sheila recognized it immediately – it was the broach that clasped her cloak

around her neck back in the Realm.

"That's my broach," she whispered.

"It is, isn't it?" the old man said, pushing the palm of his hand towards her.

"Ah, yes, yes it is." She grabbed it quickly, as if fearing it would not be offered to her much

longer.

"I thought so," he said. He nodded and turned, now looking at Hank. He winked at him

then started walking away.

"Wait, how did you get that?" Hank said, his voice trailing off as the man didn't turn back

toward them. The kids all looked at the broach. It was from the Realm alright.

"Holy DM Intervention," Bobby said.

"That wasn't Dungeon Master," Albie said. They all looked as one back toward the old man.

Except he was not there. He was nowhere to be seen. A chill ran down Sheila's spine.

"You sure?" she asked.

"What do you say we all go on that ride again," Hank said.

"And put on that broach," Bobby suggested.

As they started walking back to the ride…

"Shouldn't we get lunch first?"

The kids stared at Albie and continued to walk toward the ride.

5

IT HAPPENED AGAIN. The ride car swept around a bend

and suddenly the friction of the wheels underneath

against the track disappeared and the kids felt a rush of

air as the car rose straight up. They took on two or three

g's as if they were riding a rocket, but then two seconds

later the car plummeted downward, this time back-end

first. It was like being in a small plane hit by violent

turbulence. The darkness that had been part of the ride

itself gave way to a swirling array of lights and puffy

clouds, kaleidoscope-like in motion. The kids screamed, just like they had a few months

ago.

"I changed my mind!" Albie yelled over the others.

Sheila closed her eyes, her stomach churning with nausea as they tumbled through what

she knew was the portal sending them back to the Realm. She was feeling sudden regret –

not that she had come, but that she had allowed the others to come. Even with her eyes

closed, she reached out to grab Bobby's hand, who was sitting next to her. Sheila was not

religious, but she whispered barely audibly, "God please…"

It was over as quickly as it had started. There was a sudden jolt and then they were

immersed in total darkness, feeling their bodies flying through the air. When they hit… the

ground… the floor?... the world lit up around them again.

They had landed on a small creek in the middle of a forest. A shallow creek babbled

nearby. Small flying insects resembling dragon flies buzzed about. In the distance, above

the skyline of tall trees, a snow-capped mountain loomed over the terrain. Hank was the

first to get up from the ground, looking around to see if he recognized anything about the

area. Sheila got up next, rubbing a sore elbow that had taken a nasty hit on landing, and

quickly took notice of Han's appearance as she stood behind him.

"Hank!" she said. He turned around to face her and she was pointing at him. He looked

down at himself and saw that he was wearing his Ranger outfit. He looked back at her, and

she was wearing her thief outfit as well, minus the hooded cloak. The others were getting

to their feet, and they too, had been geared up into their "hero" outfits from before. The one

immediate departure from the last time they wore these - they had no weapons this time.

"Where's my club?" Bobby noticed right away.

"I don't have my staff either," Diana chimed in, looking around for it.

"Hey, guys, remember we didn't get our weapons right away the last time when we came

though the portal. Dungeon Master gave them to us."

"Well, we're going to need them," Albie threw in.

"Eventually," Hank tried calming them down.

Sheila saw something in the direction of the creek and shouted with alarm: "No, we need

them NOW!"

They all turned toward the creek. Three massive Lizard Men, standing easily seven feet tall,

had emerged from the water and were heading toward them, sharp-pointed tridents in their

claw-like hands,

"Not good," Bobby whispered.

Hank knew he had to think quickly about how to handle this danger. Instinctively the others

would be looking to him to have an answer; bark a command; give them hope. It's not like

they were completely new at dealing with these types of encounters – they had done so for

months their last trip to the Realm. But in all those situations, they had their magic

weapons and a chance to survive thanks to them. Not this time.

The one thing he quickly realized is that the Lizard Men were moving slow as they

approached. It gave Hank his first idea –

"Disperse!" he yelled at the others. "Run for the tree line and keep moving in a circle

around the clearing!"

"What good will that do?" Of course, Albie had to challenge that – he was sounding like Eric

now.

"Buy us time!" Hank yelled back. The others started to follow his instructions. The Lizard

Men stopped, seeing their prey moving away from what would have been a nice kill zone for

them. There was a moment of confusion on their part, and then they too began to disperse

toward the tree line, following the movement of the kids.

"Climb!" Sheila yelled out. "Climb the trees!"

"That's a good idea!" Hank barked out.

Bobby jumped onto a tree bark and his agility did not fail him; he found grooves in the bark

to grab onto and propelled himself up. Sheila and Diana worked together to get themselves

elevated – Sheila got on Diana's shoulders and reached for a sturdy, low- hanging tree

branch. She flipped up onto it, and then reached for Diana to pull her up.

"Let's hope this branch can hold our weight," Sheila said.

"I'll ignore you calling me fat," Diana shot back. The two looked at each other for a second,

then laughed.

"Let's keep going!" Sheila said, reaching for another branch above as a Lizard Man was

moving up toward them.

Albie was the only one having trouble. He could not get a good hold on the bark and kept

sliding down. Hank saw this and ran over to him, but one of the Lizard Men was closing in,

extending its trident to attack. Albie took note of it and said to Hank," I know that look. He's

hungry! We're going to be lizard lunch in a hot minute!"

Hank pulled Abie by the scruff of the neck and dragged him deeper into the forest, buying

more time.

"I'm joking," Albie muttered. "I'm about to die and I'm joking."

And then, there was a beam of blue light that zapped down from above, engulfing the Lizard

Man, and he was gone. Disappeared into thin air. The blue light dissipated.

The same thing happened to the other two Lizard Men. One second they were there,

advancing on the kids, the next they were struck by a beam of blue from above and

disappeared.

"What the –" Bobby stammered.

There was silence as the kids looked around, trying to find the Lizard Men. But they were

truly gone. After another moment –

"So sorry!"

A woman's voice in a deep British accent spoke loudly to the group. "So, so sorry!"

Bobby shimmied down his tree and was the first to see her. Walking in a hurry from the

other side of the clearing toward them, he could see a young woman with long blonde hair

slapping her palms together as she walked, as if in a washing hands motion. As she did,

sprays of blue energy came out of her hands and fell harmlessly to the ground.

Hank and the others came out from the trees and joined Bobby, quizzically staring at the

woman. She finally came to a stop and put her hands on her hips.

"I'm late. Very late. I should have been here. My bad, as you folks from your side say."

Hank spoke for all of them. "Who are you?"

"Me? Oh, yes, right." She smiled broadly and spread her arms wide, almost a bit too

dramatically.

"I'm Dungeon Master."

6

THE SVELTE YOUNG WOMAN wearing an outfit similar in

style and color to Hank's, propped herself up against an

outcropping of rock in the clearing and snapped her fingers,

magically materializing a piece of parchment that floated in

the air in front of her. She leaned her head toward it.

"Let me see, here. Who is Sheila? I suspect it's one of you

two ladies, eh?"

Sheila raised her hand. "Here," she said as if she was in home room during roll call.

"Just a minute," Hank jumped in. "Can you repeat what you just said. You're … Dungeon

Master?"

The young woman smiled, and Hank could have sworn a sparkle came from her teeth.

"That's right, she said.

Before Hank could continue the line of questioning, she pointed a finger at Sheila and

suddenly Sheila's hooded cloak materialized on her. Sheila recoiled in surprise.

"Ah, perfect. Good on me. Go ahead and broach that closed, darling, "the woman said.

Albie exaggeratedly leaned toward the young woman and squinted his eyes. "Are you in

there, Dungeon Master?"

"Don't be absurd," she responded, waving him back. "Your Dungeon Master is on holiday.

With his son. So, he put me on stand-by to come fetch you when you came back through.

He had an inkling you'd want to return for your friend, Derrick."

"Eric," Sheila corrected her.

"Oh, yes, right. Now, if I may continue. Hank…"

She pointed a finger at him and with a spray of blue from her fingertip, his bow and magic

arrow suddenly materialized in his hands.

"Just like before," Diana said. "That's how Dungeon Master gave us our weapons. And

you're doing it the same way. "

"Well, not quite," the new Dungeon Master said. "These weapons might look the same, but

they are significantly upgraded. "She smiled, puffing up her chest proudly. "I did that."

"Can I get mine?" Albie blurted out eagerly.

"No, you've been a bad boy, and you don't get one," she said in deadpan. Albie's

expression fell.

"B-b-but, what did I do?"

Dungeon Master broke out in laughter. "Just messin' with ya!" She pointed a finger at him

and in similar fashion to the other items, his long wizard's hat appeared in his hands.

"Yay!" He started to bring it up to his head, but he felt something inside weighing it down.

"Hey, what's this?" He reached inside and produced a foil-wrapped hamburger.

"Dungeon Master never did that!" Albie exclaimed in joy, unwrapping the burger.

"Oh my God, you're spoiling him already," Diana said. Dungeon Master looked at her and

pointed a finger to materialize her staff.

"Well, I don't know how long I'm going to have to be your Dungeon Master, so I figured I

might as well get you to like me right off."

Albie took a bite of the burger and with a full mouth he said. "Oh, I love you already!"

Bobby stepped up to her. "Can you bring Uni here? That would make you my friend real

fast!"

Dungeon Master looked at the others and with a genuinely confused face, "Uni? How is

this Uni person?"

Bobby's shoulders drooped. "Strike on, lady."

Hank put a hand on Bobby's shoulder. "Let's address that later. Look, ah, Dungeon Master,

so you knew about Eric and that we were coming. How?"

"Your Dungeon Master told me. I thought that would be obvious. "

"How did he know?" Sheila asked.

"That crafty old gnome has his ways. He's much more experienced than I, and he has an

uncanny ability to know things that happen even in other dimensions."

"Other dimensions?" Hank wondered. "You mean like ours?"

"Yes, yours. And about twenty-seven others. Do you know that there is a dimension where

the five… I'm sorry, six… of you are students in some school called Hogwarts."

Albie stopped eating. The others looked aghast.

"You're kidding," Albie said in shock.

"Never mind that," Sheila pressed with dwindling patience. "You know why we are here.

Can you help us find Eric?"

"Find him? Why, my dear, I don't need to find him; I know where he is."

Their new Dungeon Master walked the kids out of the forest and onto a craggy landscloak of

winding canyons and rock formations. As they walked, she told them the improbable story

of how the Nameless One (no, she did not know his name either) had taken the frozen Eric,

still encased in the magic sphere, alive but unconscious, to one of the Nameless One's

rivals. Eric was to become a peace offering. A gift to the High Chieftain of the Bog Warriors,

King Gurgle, who had been in control of the passage to the sea where the Nameless One

wanted to craft a navy to expand his rule. Eric became a trophy for Gurgle's wall of

conquests in his high castle by the ocean– he had never caught a human before. Eric would

make for a great conquest prize. In exchange, the Nameless One would get a part of the

coast where he could start building ships.

"Why couldn't the Nameless One just blast that King guy and the others with like Fireball

and all that magic stuff?" Bobby had asked. "Just blow them away."

"Because" their new Dungeon Master explained, "the Bog people have a unique resistance

to magic. It's been that way for centuries. So, the Nameless One needed something else

to help him achieve his goal."

Diana snickered. "Just like the white man bought Manhattan from the Native Americans

back in the day, with $24 worth of beads. "

"Some things are the same in all dimensions," Dungeon Master said gravely. She brought

them to a stop.

"We're here."

7

DUNGEON MASTER led the kids out of a winding canyon

that emptied out onto the rocky coast. Night had come,

and a full moon illuminated the rising white-capped

waves of a rough sea thanks to the swirling wind. The

kids shivered as the temperature seemingly had

dropped ten degrees in just seconds. However, it was

not the sea or the chill that gave them pause. Their

attention was almost immediately stolen by an

impressive yet ominous site just up the coast.

A large castle stood brooding over the landscape at the top of a sheer cliff. It looked

hundreds of years old by the wear and tear that could be seen from here on the walls, but

that did not take away from its formidable presence. A very narrow and twisting path just to

the north of where the kids were standing made its way up to the castle.

"That," Dungeon Master began, "Is Whale's Breath, the home of King Gurgle and where Eric

is being held."

"Wait, let me guess," Bobby said. "In a dungeon, right?"

"Oh. no. I said Eric was a trophy. He's hanging on the wall of the visitor's foyer not too far

from the entrance."

Sheila took a long look. As easy as it had been since they arrived to get to Eric, thanks to

the foresight of their original Dungeon Master, it was just as fearful to see what was in store

for them in order to succeed in saving him. She took a deep breath and once again her

thoughts went to Bobby. She had put him at great risk, and she wasn't sure now what she

felt more guilty over – Eric's sacrifice or allowing Bobby to be here.

"How do we get in?" Hank asked. "I don't see any guards from here."

"There aren't," Dungeon Master answered.

"That's great!" Diana chimed in.

Dungeon Master shook her head, tho: "No, instead, the entrance is protected by a

Displacer Beast"

"Sunds not good," Bobby smirked. "What's that?"

"It's like… a very large cat—"

"Bobby sighed, "Oh we can handle that."

Dungeon Master continued," –with six legs and five tentacles, and it can magically shift and

pounce really fast, before you can blink."

The kids froze. Finally, Albie let out a long breathy whistle. Then, "Okay. Well, thanks for

showing that to us. Scary castle. Big kitty. I'll see you guys later. You guys coming? Do you

remember where we parked?"

Albie was trying to go back, and Hank grabbed him by the arm.

"We're not going back yet. Presto. We need you, buddy."

Presto felt a touch of shame, as he often did when Hank called him out on stuff.

"Sorry," he said quietly.

Sheila moved to the front of the group to face Dungeon Master. "Any ideas how we can

defeat this Displacer Beast thing?" she asked.

'Guess."

"That's helpful," Diana said sarcastically.

"It is," Dungeon Master pressed. "You have to guess where the beast is going to blink in

next once it blinks out. You'll have three seconds, and it won't blink farther away than eight

or ten feet."

"It's like playing Whac-a-Mole," Bobby said spiritedly.

"I don't know what that it, but sure."

"Any other tips," Hank asked.

"Yes. Get in and out before sunrise. When the sun comes up, a reinforcement of Bugbears

arrives to guard the walls of the castle."

"Yeah, let's pass on that," Diana said.

"Okay, then," Hank said with an attempt at sounding confidant and commanding. "Let's go

skin this cat and save our friend."

They all looked at him blinking with a deadpan look.

"Too much?" Hank asked sheepishly.

All of them nodded.

"The skin the cat thing was inappropriate," Bobby threw in.

As they started to head out, Dungeon Master snapped her fingers.

"Wait!" she exclaimed hurriedly. They stopped and looked back at her.

"I'm supposed to say something else, here," she mumbled a bit. Her eyes darted back and

forth as she strained for the right memory. Finally, "Ah, yes! By the code of all Dungeon

Masters, I am supposed to say something like – Be mindful, young adventurers and

remember that when you hide in plain sight, reveal your heart that will."

They looked at her with the same deadpan expression they had just given Hank. Dungeon

Master shrugged. "Best I got."

8

SHEILA gave Hank a look and pointed at her cloak. He

nodded, understanding what she was "saying." They

had all remined extremely quiet as they made their

way up narrow stone steps toward the gated entrance

to the front of the castle. They had seen a large

shadow moving up in the parapets near the gate as

they ascended toward it, but it wasn't until this very

moment that they first saw the beast.

It looked like a dark blue-haired puma, easily three

times the size of what a mountain lion would have been; it's fur reflecting back moonlight

with sharp streaks of shimmer. The tentacles moved about as if they had minds of their

own, all looking as if they were a set of five tails on the creature.

Sheila followed through on what she had gestured to Hank. She slipped the cloak's hood

over her head, and she disappeared.

"I'll see if I can slip by him unseen," she whispered to Hank. "Open the gate."

"It's an animal," he responded. "It might be able to smell you. Be careful. Get outta there if

you must."

Sheila slowly and gently tiptoed toward the gate, simultaneously closing in on the beast

that was now sitting and licking one of its front paws. For a moment she thought it looked

like a harmless big kitty. Then the tentacles swirled about, and she was reminded it wasn't.

Behind her she could barely hear Hank whispering to the others to move into position;

specifically telling Diana to get ready to rush and vault over the cat toward the gate if Sheila

got it open. His plan seemed to be to have Sheila and Diana rush in to look for Eric while

they others distracted the beast in a fight. Sheila frowned, thinking that the plan could

backfire if there were more … things… guarding the way toward the visitor's foyer and Eric.

The beast switched from one paw to another, continuing to wash itself. Sheila figured it

had not heard her gentle footsteps or smelled her yet. So, she continued, making a circle

around it, hugging a low buttressed wall that framed the path she was following. She spied

the gate beyond for a moment. She noticed it was an ornate metal grill double door with a

latch device that would open it, seemingly inward.

SNIFF! SNIFF!

The beast had suddenly paused. It raised its head and smelled the air. Sheila was to its 11

o'clock position, roughly about six feet away. She froze. Great, she thought. She eyed the

gate – that was about ten feet away. The latch did not have a lock, it might open easily.

Could she make a run for it?

The beast's head was facing straight forward, but as it continued to sniff the air, it started

turning toward her. She was not sure if it was real or her imagination, but she thought she

saw the eyes start to glow. It occurred to Sheila that maybe it could see the invisible. She

was not about to wait to find out. She opted to make a dash for the gate and hoped Hank

had some sort of backup to grab its attention.

Sheila ran.

HANK and the others were crouched down behind a curving section of low wall and noticed

the beast suddenly jerk its head up, smelling the air.

"Oh-oh," he said, jumping to his feet and pointing his bow and arrow at the beast. "Presto,

get a spell ready, I'm going to try and get its attention."

Hank aimed and fired his magic arrow. He rarely missed having done this a hundred times

and this was no exception. The arrow hit the beast in its torso, just to the back of its front

shoulder.

Presto reached into his hat, knowing that he would conjure something appropriate as he

had done many times before. "Hat, do your stuff!" he prayed.

The beast coiled back in pain from the arrow, and spun around, looking in the kids'

direction.

Presto pulled out a glowing, gaseous red ball that he instantly identified as a fire bolt.

"Throw it!" Hank yelled.

"What if I hit, Sheila?!"

The beast blinked out of existence for a second, then blinked back a few steps closer to the

kids as it had invisibly pounced forward.

"It's away from the door now, THROW IT!" Diana yelled.

Presto reared back with his arm like a pitcher in baseball and threw the fire bolt at the

beast. The bolt hit it square on, and a flash of red illuminated the area. Then the creature

was gone!

"I did it! Presto yelled victoriously.

And then the beast reappeared to the right of where it had been. Some of its fur looked

singed, but its face was contorted in anger and was coming for them.

"Time to jump, Diana," Hank screamed.

"On it!" Diana agreed.

SHEILA skidded to a stop in front of the gate. Her friends' sudden attack on the beast had

taken five seconds but had bought her the time she needed to get there. She could see

through the iron grill of the gate and an empty corridor stretched beyond. Good, no more

bad guys. She reached down and pushed down onto the latch. It gave way, opening the

gate.

"AAAAAHHHHHH!"

She turned around to the sound of the scream. Diana had used her staff to vault over the

beast, whose back was to Sheila and was at the zenith of her jump. As she started to come

down toward Sheila, a tentacle from the beast curled up and snatched her out of the air.

"Diana!" Sheila screamed. She looked around for anything she might be able to use as a

weapon. As she did, she heard, "Oh no you don't!"

It was Bobby's voice. Sheila turned around in time to catch Bobby running up and

smashing the brick-layered ground with his club. There was a resulting earthquake that

almost topped Sheila and sent bricks flying in the air, but the beast blinked out to avoid the

crumbing ground beneath it and then reappeared perched on the buttressed wall Sheila

had walked past moments ago.

With adept agility, another of the creature's tentacles reached out and snared Bobby. Now

it had him and Diana.

Desperate, Sheila looked around – still invisible – for something that she could use against

the beast and found a bunch of fallen bricks at her feet. She realized for a second she was

lucky none of them had hit her as they flew in. She grabbed one and although feeling

completely underwhelmed by this weapon, she started charging the beast that had not

seen her. Another arrow from Hank hit the creature who now roared, but it kept its balance,

seemingly taunting Hank and Presto by holding up Bobby and Diana with its tentacles.

Sheila with one fast arm motion removed her hood and became visible, yelling at Hank and

Presto –

"Don't let them fall!"

Then with the other arm, she reared back with all her might and smashed the brick onto

one of the beast's rear paws. The beast screamed more in surprise then pain, but it was

enough to disrupt his balance, and he started to fall off the wall and down toward the rocky

shoreline. The tentacles let Booby and Diana loose, who hung in the air for a fraction of a

second, then started to fall too.

"Noooo!" Sheila screamed.

But a second later, a glowing magical net appeared under them, and they landed softly

onto it. Sheila looked to Presto, who had created the net and started reeling them in.

"PRESTO, I LOVE YOU!" Diana screamed from the net.

If they could have, the kids would have seen Presto blush…

10

A quick glance over the wall revealed the ocean waves

crashing against the rocky shoreline, but no sign of the beast.

Had it been washed out to see? Had it blinked and displaced

itself somewhere else while plummeting through the air? If it

had, at least to this moment it had chosen not to come back

to the fight. The kids were alone.

"Let's not hang around here, guys," Hank said. "Let's get in

there and hope we don't have another one of those beasts waiting for us inside."

They quickly went through the open gate, stepping into a long corridor lit by torches on the

walls every five feet. The corridor appeared to be a good fifty feet long, interrupted every

few feet by alcoves on the sides that were empty. The kids could make out a set of sturdy

wooden double doors at the end. They slowed down and moved cautiously toward the far

doors. Sheila, anxious for results, threw on her hood and disappeared.

"I'm going to scout ahead," she said.

She double-timed it toward the door, slowing down as she crossed each alcove to make

sure she was not jumped by something hiding in them. As she approached the end of the

hallway, she started hearing sounds coming from the other side of the double door. She

strained to identify the sounds and was surprised to discover that it was mostly muted

music, with a drum-like beat driving the melody. There was also the sound of many voices,

cascading over each other in a sea of loud murmurs. If she did not know better, it sounded

like a party.

Sheila dropped her hood to become visible and waved the others to come over. Knowing

the approach was clear, they rushed to her, and soon were listening to the same muffled

music and voices coming from the other side of the door.

"Somebody is having fun" Diana said.

"What do we do now, Hank?" Sheila asked. "Just walk in?"

"This is your expedition, Sheila. You make the call."

Sheila checked the doorknob and turned it slightly. It was not locked. She looked at the

others.

"It's unlocked."

"Let's see," Presto began. "We listened at the door, check. We heard what sounds like a

friendly party going on, check. We checked the door for—wait, we didn't check the door for

traps."

Hank nodded, turned to Sheila, "Technically, you're the thief."

Sheila reached int her tunic and pulled out a lockpicking kit which she had almost never

used, even though it was given to her when she got here the first time. She could use the

spike and spooled wire to check for any traps on the lock or the grooves and divots of the

door. As she took a moment to examine the door, Bobby sighed –

"I miss playing D ," he said.

They all looked at him.

"What?"

Sheila finished and was relieved tat she found nothing peculiar.

"We're okay," she said.

"Shall we?" Hank noted, waving his arm forward.

They opened the door to find a large room with a

high arched ceiling, torch-lit chandeliers and a

large opening to the east that acted as a glassless

window facing out – framing a moon and a moonlit

ocean. The room was home at this moment to a

multitude of people talking, laughing, dancing as

music blared over them. There was a balcony

jetting out from one of the walls, about twelve feet

up, acting as a stage for a medieval band playing an

assortment of instruments.

Presto whistled and was hardly heard against the backdrop of music and raised voices of

merriment. He leaned into Diana, "Is this what Prom is like?"

She looked at him with a touch of shade. "How would I know? Somebody never asked me."

Presto slowly leaned away.

"I guess this explains why they didn't hear our fight with the Displacer Beast outside," Hank

mentioned. "This is pretty lively. "

"Eric is supposed to be in here somewhere," Sheila said, craning her neck to look further

into the room.

"Hanging from some kind of trophy wall," Diana added.

They started to move through the crowd. All were distracted by each other; talking,

laughing, some even dancing in place. Nobody seemed to notice the kids as they

maneuvered through them.

"Wow, it's like we are invisible," Presto said. "They're not paying any attention to us."

"There!" Sheila suddenly called out, pointing toward a wall just to the right of them. The

kids looked in that direction.

It had the feel of a trophy wall indeed. Stuffed animal heads, shiny ornate artifacts, and a

couple of crystal spheres hanging like ornaments from a Christmas tree adorned the wall.

From here, they could tell that inside the crystal bubbles there were creatures inside. One

of them looked human.

"Eric?" Sheila gasped.

"Let's not jump to conclusions," Hank said, trying to steady her. "Come on."

They made a beeline for the wall, and as they approached, the humanoid figure inside the

bubble revealed further details. It was not Eric, but rather a tall woman in a leather flight

jacket, olive green slacks and aviator goggles over ger forehead. Her eyes were closed.

"Not Eric," Bobby said the obvious.

"She looks like I've seen her before—" Diana started to say. But he was interrupted by a

loud, high-pitched voice behind them.

"Stop! Don't! Come on!" Instantly, the kids recognized the voice.

"Eric!" they all screamed in unison.

They spun around and ran in the direction of the screams.

"I said, stop!" Eric continued.

The kids pushed their way past the partygoers, who even then continued to ignore them.

Finally, they reached a gap in the crowd, and they came to a stop, stunned in silence.

Eric was sitting leisurely on what looked like a large

recliner seat from the early 70's, surrounded by more

partygoers as a young woman was pushing a tray of hot

dogs toward him.

"I'm stuffed, I can't eat another bite!" he laughed. He

was oblivious to the others as he was clearly enjoying

the moment.

"ERIC!" Sheila called out, half delighted, half confused.

Eric looked toward them, and his smile grew wider; his arms opened out wide, and in so

doing knocked the tray of hot dogs to the floor. The young woman did not seem to care as

she kept smiling.

"Guys!" he yelled, "You're back!"

Eric rushed up to them. The kids seemed in shock, but they all gathered around him and

there were hugs all around. Sheila was the last one to hug him and she did so with a little

more intensity than the others, but then she caught herself and pulled back, grabbing his

collar.

"We thought you were in trouble!" Sheila said relieved.

"Trouble?" He smiled wider and pointed to the young woman who was holding a new tray,

this time with burgers. "I'm living' large!"

Sheila put her hands on her hips," I see that. Silly me, worrying about you."

"What do you mean?" I was worried about you. You all disappeared suddenly. Then I

thought you left me. So, I was steamed for a hot minute."

Hank moved to Eric. "Don't you remember what happened?"

"Sure, we said goodbye to Dungeon Master and Venger. The now good Venger, I guess.

Then after they left, we went to sleep, and when I woke up… you were all gone. I was kind

salty about that, Hank. I thought you all bailed on me."

"He doesn't remember," Diana said.

"Remember what?"

A deep gravely voice interrupted them. "How you wound up here."

They turned to see an eight-foot-tall Bog creature, half-human, half-reptile, dressed in fine

silks and a cape, walking up to them. A duo of Bog guards flanked him. Eric stepped over

to the creature and patted him on the back.

"Hey, King! I want you to meet my friends! Guys, this is King Girdle –"

"Gurgle!" the Bog creature interrupted, annoyed.

"Right. He found me when I was all alone and brought me here. He said I could wait for you

guys for when you came back."

Sheila took a step towards Eric.

"Eric, don't you remember saving me? Running toward the portal home while we were

getting attacked by the Nameless Wizard and you shoved me out of the way of one of his

magic spells?"

Eric blinked. He made a frown, then smiled again. "Sheila, you've been drinking that

mushroom juice we got from the Grayhawk village, haven't you?"

"Didn't I tell you they would come back for you?" King Gurgle said with a toothy smile that

revealed a set of very sharp teeth, including a pair of fangs.

"Is it me, or is he unsettling?" Presto wavered.

"Oh. come on! King Greedo –" Eric began, trying to be reassuring.

"GURGLE!" the king yelled, his smile gone as he scowled.

"Right. Right. He's a little challenged when it comes to warm and friendly, but he means

well."

Gurgle reached into his cape, which part of it had folded over his front shoulder. He

withdrew from its fold a small crystal ball. He brought his other hand over the ball and

swiped over it. The ball glowed for a second, and then –

All of the partygoers disappeared. Blinked into non-existence.

"Woah!" eric said, surprised. That's some trick, King.

Gurgle ignored him and looked straight at the kids. "Your friend is wrong. I don't mean well.

I kept him here under the ruse that he could enjoy the fruits of my hospitality while assuring

him you would return. Which is what I wanted. I wanted you, and your weapons. "

"Didn't somebody once say, it's a trap," Bobby said with dread.

As if in answer, doors from the rear of the large room opened and a dozen bog warrior

guards spilled out, taking positions behind their king.

"Yup," Presto said. "It's a trap."

11

ERIC backed away form Gurgle and joined the

others, almost backing into Sheila. She stopped him

with her arms grabbing him. "I'm sorry, you guys," he

said. "I had no idea."

Hank brought up his bow and arrow, mostly to see

how Gurgle's men would react. They brought down

their spears and pointed them at him. He was doing

the quick math and knew that the numbers were not

in their favor. He was going to try and stall for time

until he could think of something.

"How did you know we'd come," Hank said slowly.

"I didn't. He did." His eyes went to the trophy wall. The kids followed his gaze. There had

been a second crystal sphere hanging from the wall, but they had not checked it closely as

they thought the one with the human inside was Eric. The sphere was cloudy inside, but

the kids could see a figure… a dormant figure. It was –

"DUNGEON MASTER!" Bobby yelled.

It was their old Dungeon Master, in his red robe, frozen as the woman was in the other

sphere.

"A gift," Gurgle said. "From the Nameless Wizard. The real gift. We knew your, as you call

him, Dungeon Master, had a power of persuasion that would have stayed with all of you

after leaving here. We hoped that it would trigger one of you to come back for your friend,

and we used his unique connection to you to make that happen."

"Oh my God," Sheila realized. "The old man at the park with the broach. That was you?"

"No, it was him. We just manipulated his thoughts, and the Nameless Wizard projected

them magically… with the broach… to where you would be."

After a moment to digest all of this, Hank said, "So, you're the Nameless Wizard's patsy in

all this."

"What is this, patsy, word?"

"It means," Eric chimed in, "you're going to do all this stuff for him and then he's gonna treat

you like a stooge!"

"Again," Gurgle replied, "stooge?"

"Let's get out of here!" Hank cried out. He aimed his bow and arrow at the torch-lit

chandelier above. Two of the Bog guards behind Gurgle responded by chucking their

spears at him. But Eric, who had his shield strapped to his back, turned around so the

shield faced the guards, and the shield deflected the incoming spears. Hank fired.

The chandelier exploded and sent a shower of fire down on the Bog warriors below. They

scattered, but Gurgle, unfazed by it, stood his ground, yelling at the guards to do the same.

"Fools! It's just a little fire. Hold your position!"

Meanwhile, Sheila threw her hood on and disappeared. She started running to the wall

where Dungeon Master was hanging from. Diana saw this and started running toward the

wall, yelling to the invisible Sheila" "I got you!"

"Stand back!" Bobby yelled at the others. The guards had not dispersed enough, so he was

going to follow up the falling torches with something else. He raised his club to smash the

floor. Hank and Diana stepped back, but Eric unclasped the shield from his back and knelt

next to Bobby, turning the shield to the guards who were preparing to launch more spears.

Bobby took a practice swing, which annoyed Eric.

"It's a floor, Bobby! It's not going to doge. HURRY UP or we'll be shish kabob!"

Bobby smashed the floor in such a way that the force of the impact started to radiate

outwards from them, collapsing the floor underneath the guards. Spears flew into the air

wildly but missed.

But there was no deterring Gurgle. This time he pounced with an alacrity of reflexes that

seemed unfeasible for a creature of his size.

"Run!" Hank yelled.

Bobby and Eric turned around, but Eric tripped over some loose brick from the crumbling

floor and fell. Gurgle got to him and picked him up with one muscular arm. Hank aimed to

shoot him, but Gurgle knew what he was doing. He snatched Eric's shield and held it up in

defense with one hand, while still holding Eric.

"Let me go, you overgrown bullfrog!"

Presto reached into his magic hat, looking for a spell that could be an answer to this

predicament. Gurgle noticed this.

"Don't!" he yelled out at him. "If you don't stand down, all I need to do is close my hand

and the force will be enough to drain the life out of your friend."

They all stopped.

"That got dark in a hurry," Bobby said.

"Lay down your weapons," Gurgle said. "And you can all leave."

"Why is it always the same old thing?" Presto whined. "The bad guys all want our weapons.

It's like boring already."

"You call this boring?" Eric cried out, scared out of his mind. "Do what the nice Gargle

says!"

"GURGLE!" Gurgle yelled, tightening his grip.

"Ow!" Eric yelled.

Hank slowly laid down his bow on the floor. Presto followed with his hat.

"How do we know he'll keep his word?" Boob asked, still holding his club.

"We don't really have a choice do we?" Hank said.

Bobby smirked and started to lower his bow. But just then –

"Yes we do!"

It was Sheila's voice. Gurgle turned around, but she was invisible and could not see

anyone.

"Reveal yourself!"

Gurgle stumbled as he felt something jump onto his shoulders. A second later, Sheila

uncloaked and was right in front of him.

"Boo!" she said with a smile.

Simultaneously, Diana ran up and swiped her staff under Gurgle's feet to knock him over.

Sheila grabbed Eric and pulled him away as Gurgle fell. Sheila and Eric stumbled to safety,

landing entwined in a heap.

"You will pay for this!" Gurgle yelled, recovering quickly from the fall. Eric's shield had fallen

and skidded on the floor a few feet away. As he started to get up –

"No, you will pay for this."

It was Dungeon Master's voice. Out of the sphere and conscious, he pointed a finger a

Gurgle who was instantly encased in a similar crystal sphere.

"WE WON!'" Bobby let out with a jubilant cry. He and Hank, Presto and Diana ran over to

Dungeon Master to celebrate.

Sheila and Eric were picking themselves off the floor. Eric looked at her and touched her

arm gently.

"You saved me," he said.

"I guess we're even," she smiled, but then quickly looked away. That caught his attention.

He kept looking at her, wondering something.

"Was it your idea to come after me?" That was a loaded question, she thought, as she

pondered what her feelings were for him. Feelings she had felt disarmed by for the last

couple of weeks.

"We all wanted to come get you, Eric," she said looking back at him. "I just did my invisible

thing to -" She trailed off. Suddenly, she remembered what the other Dungeon Master

had said to them before they came up to the castle.

Be mindful, young adventurers and remember that when you hide in plain sight, reveal your

heart you will.

"That was meant for me," she whispered, realizing.

"What are you talking about?" Eric asked impatiently.

"Oh, shut up!" she said, and gave in to her impulse – she grabbed him by the cheeks and

kissed him in the forehead. It was fast. She backed slightly away, and she could see he

was blushing.

"Hey, you two love birds!" Presto interrupted him. "Get over here. "

As they finished getting up, Sheila and Eric hurriedly talked over each other. "Love birds?"

"Get out of here!" "What are you talking about?" We're not—" "Crazy talk."

Eric walked over to the group, picking up his shield. Sheila followed.

"What's next, Dungeon Master?" Hank asked.

"We leave, of course."

"What about King Gurgle-head?" Eric asked.

"The spell will dissolve in an hour. His weakness was giving in to his own thirst for power.

He thought he could achieve it by allying with the Nameless Wizard. But your love for each

other was the magic that destroyed his plan."

Eric found himself squeezing Sheila's hand. It was her turn to blush.

"Come, et us part from this place."

12

Dungeon Master and the kids had materialized in a glade

that was very familiar to them. The kids had often met

Dungeon Master here. Their other Dungeon Master leaped

over a flowing stream of water and joined them.

"Hey, look, it's Dungeon Master Number 2," Bobby said.

"You can call me Keera," she said. Then she looked at

Dungeon Master. "You were not mistaken. They performed

more than admirably. I had my doubts, but here you are—and here they are."

"We're veterans at this stuff now, "Eric boasted.

"Too bad we can't put it on a resume," Hank said.

"Who would believe us?" Diana added.

Sheila pulled Eric aside. She spoke in a quiet voice. "I'm scared," she said.

"But we're going home," Eric replied.

"That's what scares me. What are we going to be like, Eric? I mean, you and I, after this…

after…"

"After you saved my life and kissed me?" He said with a twinkle.

She nodded.

"I dunno. I've never had a girlfriend."

She slapped him on the chest.

"I'm not your girlfriend," she said a bit abruptly.

"Oh, so you're friend-zoning me now?

She made a face. "Uhm… no, that wasn't wat I meant."

They stared at each other for a beat. Then –

"Guys!" Diana barked out.

Eric ad Sheila turned around and noticed everyone was paying attention to them.

"Flirt later," Diana continued. "You're taking up our time and we want to go home."

Eric, "Yeah, sorry."

Sheila, "We're good to go."

They all turned at the two dungeon masters combined their powers to open a portal from

where they could see Chicago on the other side.

The kids ran through the portal and vanished. And then the portal disappeared. Keera

stared at the empty space where the portal had been and smiled.

"They are good kids. I'm glad they going to be safe."

Dungeon Master started to walk away, and said with a solid certainty:

"We shall see them again."