Mevner teleported back to the necropolis. The hall he'd left was full of smashed skeletons and broken bones. Chandeliers ripped from the ceiling sat burning on the ground and the gauntlets were nowhere to be seen. 

Down the next hall, he found his friends in a ritual chamber that Redwing used to commune with the dead. Runes and ancient writing covered the walls, ceiling, and floor. Countless corpses littered the room and at the far end sat Øregård and Grimble.

The iron golem lay helpless on its back missing a leg. Grimble sat on his broken creation's chest smoking his pipe. Øregård was slashed to pieces, his broken armor lost to battle, yet he still held the sword of doom. He didn't look too bad, considering. They both turned as the wizard entered.

"Ah, my fine friend, you made it back. Did we win this time?" 

Mevner held up the amulet on his chest. "If you want to call it that."

"And Malzo the Wicked?" 

"He's no more." 

"What about de Martín? We haven't seen her since you left?"

The wizard looked down at the floor. "She followed me until the end. Redwing killed her."

"Grumble," huffed Øregård

"I'm sorry, lad, it's the good wizard losing his love all over again." 

"I'll miss her sneaking around. It happened so fast." 

"I'm sure you did all you could. What say you to getting out of here?" Grimble gestured to the cursed gauntlets propped up against his now useless iron soldier. 

Mevner poped the fire ruby out of Grimble's war hammer, set it on the floor in the center of the room, picked up the gauntlets, and put them on. 

"Careful," warned Øregård as he placed the gnome on his shoulder. 

Mevner reached out, touched his two friends, then focused on the ruby. 

"Ignite."

From far below the empty capital an underground explosion of volcanic proportions erupted. The central fortress collapsed into a flaming sinkhole that eventually stretched out and swallowed the entire city. The Western Kingdom was no more. 

***

In the main hall of the Stone Mountain castle, the three appeared out of thin air. They slept, healed, indulged in wine, and filled their belly's to bliss in Melock's kitchen of plenty. 

Mevner told them of the battle with Redwing, of the futuristic city, and of the beach where he was defeated. 

Øregård asked to stay at the castle while the wizard wrapped up his mission. 

Mevner took Grimble and visited the city of Luki, where he informed the Dutchess and the General that the dragon had been defeated and the town would be safe. The Dutchess looked at him with hardly disguised fondness. All would be right in Varina Luki. 

Celebrations rang into the evening across the great city by the sea. Word traveled fast about the dragon-slayer wizard. The two slipped away during the festivities and no one saw them leave town. 

In the basement of the lighthouse, Mevner created a wicked-looking metal cube, a spell adopted from his older brother. And in it, he placed the entire contents of Melock's lab, his library, Luhng's eye, and the cursed gauntlets. It turned out he was able to remove them without much trouble. They gave him a taste of marvelous evil power but he wasn't feeling much in the mood for wickedness. 

He sealed the iron cube behind a brick wall and left the lighthouse in perfect working order. 

***

At the tower in the woods, the wizard and the gnome appeared. The building effort on the wizard's tower was coming along nicely, in truth exactly as Mevner had envisioned it. Iron Oxide the rust bucket of a robot stood at the base of the tower with one hand clamped to the ground of the lightning rod. 

Mevner gestured to the robot and a bolt lit out of the top of the tower and threw cracks across the sky. The little tinman stepped forward and bowed in thanks. 

"Hello, old friend," said Grimble.

The pleased gnome toured the grounds with Mevner. 

"It's coming along well. Your little fellow certainly can build."

"That he can. My village isn't far away and I'll check in on his progress from time to time. I see you've got him building out a proper forge." Grimble nodded in approval. 

"I didn't want to presume, but I thought it would be useful to have a workshop here. You might make good use of it while I'm away." 

"Can't you stay a while?"

"I promised Øregård I'd take him home." 

"A world of ogres. That's something I'd like to see."

"You're welcome to join us."

"At my age, I like to take it one adventure at a time. With an ample recovery period between them, of course. Maybe next time."

"Can I call on you? If I needed your help again?"

"You know where to find me, Wizard." 

"No more new friend?"

"I think you've earned your title."

They smiled at each other. 

"I don't know how hard it will be to get Øregård home but I'll try to stop in and check on you after."

"Goodbye, Wizard." 

With a nod and without even touching his amulet, Mevner teleported away.

***

Waiting for him in the sun on the front stoop of the entrance to the castle was Øregård. He was decked head to toe in new red dragon scale clothing; boots, pants, a reinforced chest plate, and bracers over his forearms. The sword of doom hung off his back in a new dragon hide sheath. His tooth horned helmet repaired to pristine condition. 

Sunning itself in the yard and also in pristine white condition was Luhng's skull with horns and lower jaw attached. It was the ogre's prized possession. The Gastraddar grinned when he saw the wizard return. 

"I have completed my end of the bargain. Now, it is your turn to fulfill the promise."

"I suppose you'll want to take that with you?" Mevner waved toward the dinosaur skull looming at the castle gate.

"Yeah." 

Mevner spread his fingers wide, aimed then at the giant skull, and brought them back together. It shrunk down so small it could fit in the palm of your hand. Øregård looked physically upset by this action. 

"I can return it to normal size. Now, where are we going?"

The relieved ogre reached inside his shirt and brought out an old map. It was a star chart. 

"We are here." He moved his thick finger across space. "Gastraddar is here, but first we must go to the shipyard."

There was a fleur-de-lis next to a hash mark and the number 71. Under it were words the wizard didn't understand. 

"A shipyard? Not directly to your homeworld?"

"Gastraddars don't believe in magic. We will return on a ship with my prize. So my people will understand." He walked over, picked the shrunken dragon head off the ground, and stuffed it in his pocket.

"When you say we, do you mean you'd like me to journey home with you?" 

"Yes." 

Mevner looked closely at the map. It was vague at best. "The #71 shipyard is our destination. One star to the left of Gastraddar?"

"Correct." 

Melock had taken him to other worlds before, but he had never guided himself to an unknown destination. He focused on the destination. 

"Shall we go now?" He handed the map back to Øregård.

The ogre stood up straight and took a deep breath. "I am ready."

Mevner touched two fingers to Øregård's arm and they were gone. 

Sunset threw spectacular pinks and oranges over the mountains and the twinkle of a star-studded night fell on the empty castle.