The forest was much quieter this time, amicable to their passage as the seer escorted his visitor back the way she came. Before too long, they were standing on the shore, gazing towards the stormy shroud that encircled the isles under the light of the moon.

“Your shard was a welcome change to my solitude—brief though it was.”

Luna turned to him, her eyes twinged in melancholy. “Perhaps we will meet again.”

A light breeze wafted between them, and for a moment the hermit paused. He let his face turn with the wind’s subtle course, letting his dark brown eyes close in brief meditation.

A small smile graced his lips as he opened his eyes again. “No… No, I don’t think we will.”

Luna expected him to be more downtrodden at the prospect of losing companionship once more; she certainly would be, in his position. She watched as he meandered closer to the edge of the isle, then joined him there.

“You have your company to keep. The rest of your soul to seek. And after all that, your calling will return you to the place beyond the moon. I will return you to one of the isles on the other side of the wall.”

He faced her and casually leaned on his walking staff. For a moment he looked more like a boy with an easygoing attitude. “From there, you must find your own way back to civilization.”

Luna looked at him incredulously. “You can’t be serious! Even having gained another shard of my soul, I don’t have nearly enough magic in reserve to carry me all the way back to the Farthest Edge!”

The seer merely offered her a grin—not one of revelation over his thoughtlessness or even resignation that nothing could be done, but one touched with mischief. Whatever that cheeky expression could mean, Luna wouldn’t have it. But before she could protest further, the hermit of the Isles Beyond raised his staff, jabbing it into the air.

The wind answered his silent command and swept Luna clear off the shore before she had a chance at further protest.

As he watched his young visitor being ferried along her way, he took in the feeling that came to him as he escorted her back to this shore. It came along a small breeze that whispered something he had yearned to hear for a long time. The wind once again began to kick up around him, enveloping the old man in its easy embrace. He felt relieved. He felt forgiven and redeemed. He felt… complete.

He eyes at the stormy wall that had been his barrier; someday it would dissolve into tamer weather. Then his gaze wandered turned towards the forest that had provided for him in his long years of solitude; someday it would fall quiet and docile as the day he had found it. He briefly wondered how many more adventurers would come seeking this place, now that one made her return to civilization. But truly, it was no longer his concern.

He had made himself part of these isles. And with their treasure now claimed, that part had come to an end.

The old seer raised his arms to the moon. His grip around his staff slackened, causing it to fall away from his hand. And when the staff found its resting place in the sand, the only part of its wielder that remained was the soft echo of his voice carried along the wind.

=-=-=

Luna’s cry of surprise was cut off as another gust sent her sailing straight towards the wall of storm. Unable to control her motion, completely at the mercy of these windy waves, she braced herself for a rough escort through the shroud.

But the storm clouds parted. As the winds carried her into these perpetually treacherous skies, it made way for her—a moving pocket of sanctuary that enveloped her as she careened along. The speed at which she soared was easily five or even tenfold what it was in her little winged dinghy.

It made for an anxiety-ridden experience. Luna had to remind herself if worse came to worse, she would have to summon her wings. She would pour every ounce of energy she had into her flight so that she might have a chance of reaching the safety of one of the isles on the other side of this stormy wall.

Finally, the storm clouds spat her out into the more docile part of the sea of sky. Luna tumbled through the air like a spinning cannonball as she sailed towards the small bit of floating, solid ground.

Just when she thought the roughhousing winds would drop her unceremoniously, the wave that escorted her slowed to a waft. It gently spiraled down to a nearby isle and set a very dizzy Luna down on the grass.

The young angel staggered to her feet, turning about in her disorientation as she tried to fix her gaze back towards the stormy shroud. Steadying herself, she scowled in the direction from where she came. The seer’s senile sense of humor had left her stranded without any feasible means of returning to civilization—

“Moon!”

Luna’s frustration stopped short, replaced by an abrupt bewilderment. Only one person in the whole world called her by that name.

She whirled around, nearly knocking herself over in the incomplete recovery from her dizzy spell. But she managed to keep her balance and find her footing as she turned her gaze to the sound of the voice.

It was Sage. The ebony elf was perched upon the bow of a small sail-ship, waving excitedly in her direction. From her vantage point below, Luna could just barely make out a top of red hair at the stern of the craft. She could almost hear Sarech grumbling in reluctance to be here—especially as she watched Sage heckle him to lower the boat “faster, faster you complete and utter imbecile!”

As the boat descended to be level with the isle, Sage leaped off the boat and threw her arms around her precious friend. Her embrace was warm and secure, and Luna felt herself relax easily beneath her chin. There would be no loneliness for her here at the edge of the world.

“It hasn’t even been a week,” Luna cooed teasingly.

A bit of purple bloomed on Sage’s dark cheeks as she pulled away. Her firm grip on Luna’s shoulders didn’t match the embarrassed aversion of her eyes. “I recall saying to you a week at most. I am sure a day or two falls within that boundary.”

Luna beamed at her for a moment. As she did, she caught sight of fiery red hair standing a few feet behind.

“Hey, uh…” Sarech also seemed to have a hard time directing his gaze towards her, keeping his eyes turned toward the sky. “It’s kind of a long way back to the Farthest Edge, so—”

Without warning, unprepared in his distracted state, the redheaded bounty hunter found himself under attack. Fair arms clamped themselves around his waist, and a head of thick, ash-colored hair nestled itself against his chest. For all Sarech’s reluctance, Luna knew that he still chose to follow Sage and find her out here in the uncharted areas of the sea.

Sarech stiffened at the abrupt embrace—a futile attempt to distance himself. His face turned as red as his hair. “All right, all right, I get it! Can you save the rest of your gross mushiness for when we’ve got a roof over our head again?! Please?!”

With prospects of a continued celebration amongst themselves awaiting them at civilization, the party of three boarded their sail ship. There was a single cabin to shield them from any clouds looking to relieve themselves of rain. Sage reminded Sarech to avert his gaze if his female shipmates needed to wring out their single set of clothes (to which the hunter said he wasn’t interested in the slightest, while his face turned the color of a tomato).

With Sarech at the rudder and Sage pouring over the map she had charted for them with help of a compass, Luna was left to simply enjoy the trip back. She climbed onto the roof of the cabin, from which the mast protruded. With an arm wrapped around it to steady herself, she looked out toward the open sea.

A noticeable wind wafted pleasantly against their sails, pulling them along. As Luna looked up at the billowing sheet, she smiled to herself.

“Thank you,” she whispered.

For a moment, she was sure she felt the wind smile back at her. It twirled about her and then wafted upwards, aiming for a place beyond the moon.

=-=-=

Thanks for reading all the way to the end! …Or maybe you just skipped to it? :P If you like this story and want to support me on my way to writing full time, I hope you’ll consider buying me a ko-fi!

Look forward to future chapters of my ongoing novel Luminescent, and maybe even other projects along the way!