The next morning, the camp was bustling with activity. Dad and the rest of the Duergar were packing up, and so were we. I was feeling stiff. Dad’s tent was nothing compared to the enchanted bed inside uncle’s cabin, but the door refused to open when I got there.

It didn’t take a genius to figure that one out, so I asked dad for one of the spare tents for me and Amber. And now it was time to go home. As we finished breakfast, Uncle and Sarirrva emerged from the cabin. Sarirrva was as elegant as always, while uncle looked unusual.

Uncle wasn’t a slob, but he wasn’t the cleanliest either, so his hair and beard would have this adoring messiness to it. The type you get used to seeing all the time, so you just expect it. Which meant that when he arrived with a neatly trimmed beard and styled hair, he stood out like a sore thumb compared to before.

What was the most surprising thing, however, was that he looked… younger. It was as if fifty years were shaved off his apparent age. Where his beard and hair used to be white from age, it was now salt-and-pepper. His wrinkles were mostly gone, and the apparent frailty of his limbs that his old age caused was disappearing as well.

If I didn’t see Sarirrva beside him, I would have mistaken him for someone else. Just what in the world happened to him to become younger like that? Hmm, I could ask later. For now, I should help with packing. It was time to go home.

The mood in the camp was mixed. Those who agreed with Narja about the lost vengeance were down. While those who, like Ursus, realized that you couldn’t interfere with divine judgment and accepted the news with a calm disappointment, but also a hopeful outlook on the future, knowing that these events wouldn’t repeat.

As we finished packing, I noticed Ozweld approaching. He seemed in good spirits, all things considered. “Say, you’re you wouldn’t be going towards Therinos, by any chance? I saw you talk to the Duergar, you see.” I looked at him. “Well, yes, we are, actually. Dad’s the leader in charge of the Duergar, after all.” Ozweld seemed to need a second to process it. “Oh, adopted child, that makes perfect sense then… wait, it couldn’t be…” He seemed lost in thought as he turned around and left. He was mumbling to himself, but I couldn’t make out what it was. What was that all about?

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The chill morning air felt nice and refreshing after all the stress with Slyvanport. All that remained now was the cleanup. Sarvus was leading the restoration effort, healing the injured, repairing the streets and houses, that sort of thing. Which left me with the paperwork. Something I was thankful for, as I needed some time to think. The events underneath the city revealed something I wasn’t supposed to see. Lord Sarvus was throwing himself into his work to forget, and I wish I could do the same. However, while the paperwork was a pleasant distraction, it was also a boring one that didn’t hold my attention for long.

That left me with nothing but time to think. Think and hope. It was a madwoman’s hope, of course. I saw my brother vanish into blue energy in front of my very eyes, after all. But maybe, just… “Thinking about it won’t help in the long run, you know.” I nearly dropped the cup of tea I was holding before I turned around, with hope and fear warring with supremacy. That voice. “Aridarro?” It looked somewhat like him, but not him at the same time.

A strange rainbow aura seemed to surround him, and instead of dragon scales, a thin mane of fur covered most of his body. His legs were cloven hooves where he used to have normal legs, and he was dressed in only a loincloth, something my shy brother would never dare to do. He, it? Gave a sad smile.

“Once, maybe. I am Hope now, and I was provided this opportunity by her Divine Ladyship because of the many services you have given to the gods ever since you accepted the position as Lady Justina’s avatar. Furthermore, you are free to visit me in Lady Labyrinthia’s domain once in a while, should you so desire.” Before he could continue, I pulled him into a crushing hug. “If you got something else to say, it can wait a bit, can’t it?” He hugged me back, the same strong loving hug that my younger brother always had. “Sure thing, sis, sure thing.”

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“You know, I’m surprised about this outcome.” I looked over at aunt Inlas. “You shouldn’t be. After all, your approval helped sway most of them. Well, you and Grandfather’s immediate approval.” I took a sip from the tea she was serving, a medicinal blend Medino brought. Medino himself glanced over at me. “I just hope you’re not making a mistake.”

I shrugged. “Even if I did, it wouldn’t be a major one. Balance, or rather, Libra, is a mortal now. All the powers she wielded before have been stripped, and she is being raised in my domain specifically to monitor her. She won’t stay there for the rest of her life, sure. But from what I can tell, her life will be a peaceful and fruitful one.” Medino’s expression darkened. “That's more than she deserves…” Medino was still upset. He voted with Inlas during the meeting, but he was not happy about the outcome, even if Inlas was content with it.

“That’s a sentiment, many who were affected by all of this share, no doubt. However, even if that’s the case, this is still the best solution. Many are unhappy, yes. But they, and their descendants, won’t be harmed further by Libra. Which is the goal here. Even Grandfather, who disliked the idea the most, agreed it was better to put his own personal feelings aside if that can make sure nothing like this can happen again in the future.”

I glanced over at the side for a bit. Erika was over to the side where she was sparring with Indella, and doing a decent job of defending herself. Her years of training under Yunika while she was part of Keari were paying off, as it allowed her to fend off the more powerful Indella. After a century of daily sparring sessions with Minos and getting more comfortable with her own powers, she was now a powerhouse in her own right. Minos even privately admitted he was pretty sure he would have to go all out to keep up with her soon.

I couldn’t say I was surprised. Indella’s powers were improving because of our bond. My divinity was steadily flowing into her through that bond and enhancing her powers. It wasn’t a matter of if, but when, she herself would ascend to godhood. I was honestly surprised it was taking so long. It was tempting to take a gander at Indella’s future to figure that one out, but why ruin the surprise? Being able to see all the answers wouldn’t be much fun, after all.

The sparring session concluded with Erika getting blasted backwards and would have smashed into our tea table if Inlas didn’t slow her momentum and put her down on her feet. “Alright, you two, that’s enough, I’d say. The sparring rings destroyed, and the barrier shattered.” Indella landed in front of Erika and looked her over. “You know, most have forgotten, but I haven’t.”

Erika stiffened for a moment. “Guess that explains why you were so keen on beating the shit out of me. Fully deserved, honestly.” She pulled her arm under her nose where a bit of blood dirtied her arm for a few moments, before the blood faded away along with her injuries, courtesy of Medino.

Indella shrugged. “I’d be lying if I said beating you up didn’t fill me with more than a bit of satisfaction. However, this is as far as I’ll take it. After all, Pearl’s forgiven you, so I shouldn’t be holding a grudge, either.” She held out her hand. “Was a good match. With some proper training, we might have an actual spar. If you’re interested, I’d be willing to teach you.”

Erika hesitated for a moment before she took the hand and shook it warmly. “I’ll take you up on that offer, as my experience in actual combat is lacking. And even though Milady is the goddess of peace, sometimes violence is the answer to maintain it.” Well, looks like those two would get along just fine. Considering Indella’s reaction when she first saw Erika, I was worried shed do something drastic. Then again, beating her half to death could be considered that, I suppose.

“Oh right, I almost forgot because of this entire mess, but Indella talked me into accepting your offer, Aunt Inlas. Although I can’t really say I know much about weddings, never was in one back home and while I presided over Yrsha and Rael’s ceremony, it was a rather simple and private affair, as per the tradition of fox spirits. From what I heard, this one’s gonna be rather… lavish.” Both Inlas and Medino lit up at the mention of the wedding, and judging from their expressions, this would probably take a while.

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There was a sudden outcry from the entrance of the camp. In the distance, I could see a few beast-kin rush over to dad, who paused, then hurried over towards the main entrance. Then I could head dad shouting for both uncle Moor and us. He sounded… panicked. I felt a chill go down my back. As we arrived, I saw uncle looking at uncle with a desperate, pleading expression. “Moor, ye got some magic ta get us back to da mountain?”

Moor seemed genuinely confused at dad’s sudden need to get home. Before he could say anything else, dad pulled him in and whispered something to him. Moor flinched back. “Sorry, old friend, but I have no way of transporting us back since I don’t have a recall spell set up. Well, I have for me and the kids, but the rest… But that won’t do in this case.”

Behind him, I could see the beast-kin help an exhausted-looking Duergar to his feet. I couldn’t identify who because of the helmet, however. He must’ve run all the way from the mountain without rest. “Hmm, I do have an idea on how to get us all back, just… give me a moment.” Uncle hurried off for and disappeared into the cabin. “YOU WANT ME TO WHAT?” The roar was loud enough to make me cover my ears, even through the walls of the cabin itself.

A few moments later, Uncle returned with Sarirrva. “She’s agreed to give us a ride. Me, the kids and you, the rest of them, will have to walk.” Sarirrva seemed angry. But when Uncle wasn’t looking, I could see she glanced over at him with an approving smile. Dragons and their pride, well, at least Sarirrva would help. However, that still left one unanswered question “What's going on anyhow?” Dad handed me a hastily scribbled note. “My King — the queen —— return —— soon —— within —— possible ——” The rest of the note was a smudgy mess. Whoever wrote it was too hasty when rolling the note up, so the ink didn’t dry properly. I wanted to ask the messenger about the note, but he was in no state to talk.

We were airborne less than five minutes later. Amber was sitting in front of me, since she lacked the strength to hang on herself, so I worked like a chair for her to sit in. It wasn’t much of an issue for me. I had a solid grip on one of Sarirrva’s horns and wasn’t about to fall off unless she did some aerial acrobatics. Dad and uncle were sitting behind me, each of them clambering on for dear life. “At this speed, we should arrive home within the hour!”

That proved to be an understatement as we landed at the entrance of the Mountain Home less than half an hour later, as Sarirrva sped up after hearing that comment. Her sudden appearance and subsequent landing caused the gate guards to panic for the few moments it took dad to hop off and rush past. I helped Amber down, then followed. Finally, Uncle jumped off, and Sarirrva took her human form once more.

The guards tensed up as she followed uncle towards the entrance, but he just waved the guards off. “She won’t cause any trouble, I guarantee it.” As if to prove the point, he offered Sarirrva his arm, all gentleman like, and she took it with a pleasant smile. The guards got the point easily enough and let them pass without a fuss. We hurried through the halls and arrived at dad’s chambers where we could hear him yelling at someone. “Yeah? Well, next time, make sure da damn ink’s dry, ya dunce, gave us da scare of our lives!”

We entered the room to see mom sitting there with an amused expression, patting her now clearly pregnant belly. “I will admit I have to agree with Gran-Gran on this one. There was no need to rush. After all, I’m not due for another two weeks, or around that.”

I hurried over to mom and gave her a hug. “Congrats, mom. But how do you know it’s about two weeks until your term?” Mom gently patted her stomach. “Because your grandmother would only swell like that when it was around two weeks left before her term, too. And she told me then what it meant. I assume it’s something that’s normal to all fox spirits.” That made sense, I guess. I was just relieved nothing bad happened to my mom.

The rest of the day was busy with preparations for mom’s upcoming term. On top of making ready to receive the other Duergar back, they would undoubtedly rush back as fast as possible once they got the story from the messenger. There was also the influx of metal from the new mine, which, in our absence, was now stabilized and in full swing.

There was now an entire pulley system set up to deliver it all back to the mountain home. It was temporary until the rail network could get out there, but it would work for now, provided the mountain didn’t throw a fit. And as the sun set, and I were looking out at the mountainous landscape together with Amber after a hard day of work, I could safely say, it was good to be home.