I nod slowly, then face the patches of light. They surround me as usual, now that I’ve come out of the Board, glowing in the air around me. Half eager, half afraid, I think about Paskinston.
It doesn’t take long. I slot the patches of pulsing lights together. The window opens. Clean blue light. The doorway out of all this craziness. I take one last look back before stepping through, at the castle, the demon-laced sky, Beranabus.
“Thank you,” I mutter. “I know you only helped me because you wanted to find the Kah-Gash. But I couldn’t have discovered the truth without you.”
“Much good it did you,” Beranabus grunts. He looks at me with his grey-blue eyes. Cocks his head. “Home isn’t always where you expect it to be. It can change, as life changes. If you ever need me, you know where to find me.”
“He won’t,” Dervish says shortly, then pushes me through the window of light, out of the universe of demons.
Night. We’re in a field outside Paskinston. Where Mrs. Egin exploded and Cadaver crossed. The four of us standing beneath a half moon, looking at each other, breathing in the delicious smell of our own world.
“We are a sight,” Sharmila laughs, nodding at our torn clothes, ripped flesh and bare feet.
“At least we’re not a stench,” Shark says. He sniffs a sleeve and his face turns green at the memory of the gory pool.
“Thank you,” I whisper, eyes lowered, suddenly shy, feeling like a child again, the way I did before I crossed universes. I was their equal over there. Here, I’m just a boy.
“No need for thanks,” Dervish smiles. “We had the adventure of a lifetime.”
“I would not call it an adventure,” Sharmila says thoughtfully. “More like a nightmare, that I hope never to experience again.”
Dervish smiles. “Be truthful. Now that we’ve come through alive, don’t tell me you aren’t a bit sorry that it’s over. It was wild but magical. Right?”
“No. It was horrible. I hated every minute of it.”
?
??Shark?” Dervish asks.
“I hated the pool of slime,” he grunts, and we all laugh. “Otherwise it was a buzz. But that’s because we survived. I’m sure Raz and Nadia had a different view of it.”
I feel a jolt of guilt when he mentions Nadia. I should tell them about her. But I gave my word. Besides, she said she wouldn’t hurt them. The only one she hates is Beranabus.
“What was Raz like?” Dervish asks, smile fading.
“A gentleman,” Sharmila says.
“Yeah,” Shark agrees. “I knew Raz. A top cat. But let’s not talk about him. In our business, it’s best to forget about death and focus on living.” He stretches and groans. “I’m off to find a lake to soak in. How about you all?”
“I’ll come with you,” Dervish says. “I still have a lot to learn about being a Disciple.”
“I’m not so sure,” Shark murmurs, then raises an eyebrow at Sharmila.
“I want some time off,” the Indian lady says, gazing at the moon. “I have been a Disciple for many years. I am due a break. Maybe I will go to the village of my parents and pray to their memory. They were killed by demons.” She sighs and lowers her eyes. “I will pray for Raz too. And Nadia. And the others who died in the course of this quest.” She looks at me. “And I will pray for Kernel. And maybe for Art, even if he did not ever really exist.”
I smile at Sharmila thankfully, then stretch out my arms for a hug. As she wraps her arms around me, she whispers in my ear. “It was strange that you could not find the Kah-Gash.”
“Maybe it doesn’t exist,” I reply.
“Or maybe.. .” She hesitates, then releases me. “I wonder what would have happened if you tried to open a window to one of us when we were with you in that universe.”
I frown. “What do you mean?”
She smiles cryptically in answer, kisses my cheeks, then steps back.
“We can stay with you a while,” Dervish says, as I hover uncertainly at the edge of the village. “Help you readjust and explain all this to your parents.”
I laugh. “You really think you can explain Lord Loss to my Mom and Dad?”