Wizards At War

Nita was tempted to say No, please, I need one more day! But then she nodded, for it struck her that the utter terrible normalcy of school might actually be something of a rest, after all this. “Okay,” she said. She turned to Kit. “Let’s get him upstairs so he doesn’t have to be floating around down here.”

It took a few minutes to maneuver Ronan up the stairs and into Dairine’s bed. When Nita got up to her room, Dairine was standing and looking into the closet with a very strange expression. As they came in, she turned hastily.

“Give us a hand here, Dair?” Nita said, pretending not to have noticed. Within a few moments they had Ronan settled, and Nita pulled off Filif’s levitator field, wrapped it up into a small tight ball, and stuffed it in her pocket.

“Did Dad tell you about school?” Nita said quietly to Dairine.

“Yeah.” Dairine gave Nita a look. “And don’t even ask. Yeah, I’ll be there. The last thing we need right now is more trouble. But I’m going out in a little while, and I might not be back till late.”

Nita nodded.

“I’m lying on an effing Star Wars bedspread,” said a dry voice behind them. “Will I ever be able to look myself in the eye again?”

They all turned.

“By the fact that I’m not on Rashah,” Ronan said, looking around him, “but instead apparently in suburban hell and in contact with this dubious cultural artifact, I take it that we won.”

Nita went over to the bed and looked down at him. “Mostly,” she said, “because of you.”

“Now why do I doubt that?” Ronan said. He started to stretch, and then scowled. “Janey mack, feels like somebody’s been performing Riverdance on my chest.”

Nita spared a moment to wonder who or what “janey mack” was. “That would be because of the incredibly dumb stunt you pulled,” she said.

“Wasn’t so dumb, was it?” Ronan said. “We’re here.”

Nita found herself getting annoyed. “You scared us to death.”

Ronan looked at her. “Oh, stop your whinging,” he said. “I couldn’t go anywhere, the way you were yelling at me. Don’t think I didn’t hear you.” He turned his head wearily to look at Kit. “What is it with these women? Always yelling…”

“They do that,” Kit said, rolling his eyes.

Nita scowled at him, joined by Dairine.

“But it has to be a lot quieter in there now,” Kit said.

Ronan snorted. “And sure now don’t I miss Him,” he said, sounding annoyed. “Typical. If I’d known I’d be rid of Him so soon, maybe I’d have appreciated Him more.”

“But you didn’t know,” Nita said. “You thought He was going to be in there forever.”

“He knew, though. That much I gathered as He was leaving. And He was just after gathering that the Spear hadn’t been forged for me, or for Him, all that while ago. It was always forged for Her, for the Hesper, even when the Smith of Falias first made it, ten thousand years ago. And I thought I was just a spear-carrier? So was He.” And Ronan laughed, then. “He thought it was a stitch. You should have heard Him laughing.”

“I did. I mentioned about His sense of humor,” Nita said, and rubbed one ear in memory of having been bitten there by the Defender, long ago.

“You did. But the whole bloody thing was a setup. The Hesper’d never have broken loose all the way unless the Lone One was there trying to stop Her. If It’d just ignored Her, none of this would ever have happened.” He grinned that dark grin of his. “But wasn’t that how They had it planned?”

He sighed, then, and glanced at Kit. “Where’s the big fella?” he said.

Kit shook his head and turned away.

“It’s a long story,” Nita said. “You get some rest. We’ve got some things to do.”

“And what’s that big ugly thing on your face?”

Nita put up one hand, astonished. The zit stung her. She glared at Ronan.

“As soon as you’re rested,” she said, “go home, you ungrateful slob!”

Ronan grinned at her as they went out.

***

Nita paused just long enough to take the shower she had been desperately longing for and change her clothes. About half an hour later, pausing only to stop in at a shop in a little strip mall on the way, she and Kit were standing on Tom and Carl’s doorstep.

Nita pushed the doorbell. She looked at Kit uneasily while they waited, and waited.

The inside door opened. Tom and Carl were standing there looking at them.

“Uh, hi,” Nita said.

The silence lasted a few moments. Then Tom said, “We are on errantry… and, boy, do we ever greet you!”

He held the screen door open for them. Nita tackled Tom, and the hug went on for some time.

A few minutes later, they were sitting around the kitchen table. Nita shrugged out of her backpack, pulled out the little cup for which she’d stopped at the strip mall, and put it down on the table.

Carl picked it up, looking bemused. “Why thank you,” he said. “It’s been months since anyone brought me half a pint of mealworms.”

“Tell Akegane-sama that I owe him one,” Nita said.

“Her,” Carl said.

“Are you guys okay now?” Kit said.