The first hour of the trip back to Ferndale was surprisingly calm. It was too peaceful, which should have been Greg's first sign that things were about to go very wrong, like always.
He sat in the carriage between Marina and Lylia, and both women leaned comfortably against him as the Eternal Engine hummed along the road. Felix was still asleep, but he kept mumbling about "grinding levels" and "legendary drops."
Seraphine was engrossed in a book about advanced ice magic theory, her nose deep in it. Elwen quietly drew in her journal, but Greg could tell she was looking at him with an unreadable look.
Mira and Donetta had become solid enough to curl up in the corner. Her spirit form was finally stable after the chaos of the Calamity battle.
Everything was okay, and it was going completely normal. A man was sitting between two women who both loved him.
He was going home after saving the world from an apocalypse caused by living weapons.
Greg's head was screaming.
