We won! We could finally go home to our children. I sighed as I stared at the canister.

"We did it, Rhys. Now we can go home," said Addie.

Yes, Home. I imagined our children's happy faces as they hugged us. I imagined the twins' broad smiles as they flew into our arms and Daria embroidering again. I imagined hugging Rosie tightly and her kissing my cheek. I imagined R.J. greeting me with a hug, and Meryl saying "welcome back." I smiled.

Suddenly, the canister's lid popped off, blurry smoke shooting everywhere. Marid was escaping! He leaped out in dragon form and grew to an unfathomable size that dwarfed Jafe, the largest dragon I had ever seen.

My heart pounded so hard I thought I'd die of fright.

"I told you I cannot be defeated by a human!" he roared. Marid whipped his tail around Addie and squeezed, instantly crushing her to death.

No!

Marid laughed at my misery. The creature's middle head flamed before coming down to eat me.

I was frozen in place by some heavy force.

The dragon's head came down until it finally consumed me.

I lurched awake, panting. Disoriented, I looked around and saw that I was in a bed inside a castle that was not Bamarre or in Marid's underworld. Addie slept beside me. After the disorientation subsided, I realized that we were in Ziriat castle. We were even in the same chamber I had used when Addie had eradicated the Gray Death. Relieved, I sighed and fell on my back. I knew I was safe, but even so, my heart still pounded.

My heart! I still had a heart!

No... I wanted to be a sorcerer again. I rolled over on to my side and felt my stomach rumble. So that's what hunger feels like... how annoying. My eyes felt heavy. Was that what being tired felt like? No! I didn't want to go to sleep again. What if I had another nightmare?

Someone opened my door and stepped inside. "How are you feeling?" a deep male voice whispered.

I knew Drualt's voice anywhere. Even at a whisper, his voice resonated. I rolled over to face him. "Tired," I replied, sitting up.

He advanced toward the bed. "Get some rest. You'll feel better after you've slept."

I shook my head. "I don't want to. Please turn me into a sorcerer again," I begged.

"We will after you've rested."

I wanted him to change me now. "Why after I've rested?" I could rest as a sorcerer.

"Humans may not be magically inclined, but they recover faster than sorcerers because they can sleep."

Of course. The first time we were at Mount Ziriat, I took longer to heal than Addie had. Drualt was right about sleeping, but I didn't want to look pathetic by admitting I was afraid.

Drualt tilted his head, sensing my fear. "You're scared," he stated. "Did you have a bad dream?"

I nodded, avoiding eye contact.

He smiled. "Now you see how your wife and kids feel when they have bad dreams."

I felt sorry for them even more than I used to.

Drualt patted my pillow. "Here," he said, fluffing it back up. "Lie down and sleep. Your dreams will be lovely, I promise."

I laid back down. Before falling asleep, I observed Addie in her sleep. Her face was so serene and gentle. I grazed her cheek and kissed her forehead. I held her hand and was asleep in no time.

As promised, my dreams were lovely. I dreamed I was inside the ballroom for my birthday celebration. I watched with delight as R.J. danced with Matilda, then with Addie. I knew in the dream that they had reconciled. I felt jealous of Addie for reconciling with her most trying child before I did with mine. Merry approached me and asked for a dance! Before she had the chance get the last word out, I blurted, "Yes!" We danced all night until Merry needed to retire. Oh, how much I wished it were real!

Then, I stood next to an exhausted Addie in the lying-in chamber. Holding our swaddled newborn, Addie looked up at me. "Look, Rhys. We now have seven kids."

I wept tears of joy. We had finally conceived another baby to replace the one that we had lost.

Addie reached up to stroke my cheek.

The soft caress in my dream was real. I awoke to Addie stroking my cheek. "Hello, Husband."

"Hello, Wife," I whispered back, happy to see her alive and next to me. I moved closer so that I could kiss and hold her.

"I could tell you were having lovely dreams," she said.

I told her about the first part of my pleasant dream, knowing that the second part would sadden her.

"See, they're not that bad. Most of the time dreams are either neutral or pleasant."

I still wanted to change back into a sorcerer.

Meryl and Drualt entered, bearing breakfast trays. They set the trays over our laps.

I twisted around to adjust my pillows so I could sit up to eat, but I felt fatigued and fell back down.

Addie put a caring hand on my shoulder. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"Yes," I replied, nodding, "I'm just weak."

"Here," she said, collecting the contents with a fork. Addie blew on the food before guiding it to my mouth.

I chuckled, remembering how I had done the same for her before we had left Bamarre. I savored the moment. As soon as we returned home, she'd be back to her queenly self.

"How are you feeling, Addie?" asked Meryl.

"I'm fine, thank you."

Meryl faced me. "Rhys, are you still weak?"

I didn't want to answer out of fear that she'd make me stay a human longer. "A little bit," I admitted. Who knew how long it'd be before they showed up again. I wanted to become a sorcerer again as soon as possible. "May I please be a sorcerer again?"

"Yes, of course. We'll restore you your original form," Meryl said gently, placing her hand on my forehead.

I felt tired again. I shook my head. "No, I want to be restored now," I protested, feeling sleepier by the second. "Please, I don't want to have another dream." My eyelids drooped, and I was out.

This time, I didn't dream. I finally awoke and knew my convalescence was over. I opened my eyes and saw Meryl, Drualt, and Addie standing around me. Drualt bent over me and asked, "Are you ready to be a sorcerer again?"

"Yes!" I exclaimed, springing up.

Everyone laughed. "You're always dramatic," noted an amused Drualt.

In a whorl of light, I was transformed back into a sorcerer. I felt my flame burn instead of an annoying constant thumping in my chest, and I instantly sensed my magical powers coursing through my body. I summoned my baton and it appeared! I got out of bed and floated! I really was a sorcerer again. I darted to hug Drualt and then Meryl, thanking them profusely. They hugged me back and laughed.

"Get dressed," Meryl directed. "We're taking you to King Salah, and then we'll take you home."

"Yes!" I shouted, fist thrown above my head.

Laughing, Addie hugged me from the side. "Just one more stop and we'll get to go home."

I couldn't wait!

Once Meryl and Drualt left, I got dressed. Addie explained how Meryl and Drualt had transformed me into a human to defeat Marid. If I had been a sorcerer, he would have killed me instantly. For that reason alone, I was glad I became human. At least now I could relate better to Addie and our children.

Addie told me that falling rubble from Marid's collapsing castle had knocked me out. Once Marid was captured, Meryl and Drualt had been able to see and rescue us.

We made it to Pevir palace in no time and were granted an immediate audience. Addie and I stood in between Meryl and Drualt. Addie and I bowed to King Salah while the fairies remained standing, surrounded by their whorls of light.

The king stood and bowed to the fairies. He sat back down. "So you have captured the genie?" he asked, pleasantly surprised.

I held up the canister. "We captured it in this," I said. We explained the truth about Kumal.

Salah's face was solemn. "That's too bad." Then his face brightened. "But at least I have the genie."

Did he not care what had happened to his sorcerer? I supposed not. I couldn't expect any less of a selfish king.

Salah ordered a servant in Pevirian. The servant took the canister from me and gave it to Salah. The eager king opened the lid and blurry smoke shot out, billowing to the floor.

Meryl and Drualt prepared themselves to fight just in case.

Marid emerged in his blurry humanoid form, stretching. "At last, I'm free."

"Guess again, Marid," said Meryl, pointing at the canister behind him.

Marid turned around. He saw that instead of having legs, he had a smoky tail that connected to the opening of the canister. He tried flying away but couldn't. He tried firing a blast of darkness at the ceiling, but nothing happened. The genie looked horrified. "No!" he cried.

Drualt approached Marid. "Remember your punishment? You are now this human's servant and are forever bound to that canister."

Enraged, the genie thrust his arms down and roared, dark magic firing in every direction but doing no harm.

Amused by Marid's fit, Drualt said, "You know the law. That is what happens to any fairy who oppresses mortals."

Good. Such powerful beings needed limitations and consequences for any harmful actions against mortals.

"I'm still the most powerful fairy in the world," Marid declared haughtily.

Meryl smirked and crossed her arms over her chest. "Whatever you say, Marid. We'll humor you."

Drualt laughed and put his arm around Meryl. "Don't forget, we're not the ones bound to a map canister."

"And we still have free will," Meryl added, sneering. "Have fun drawing maps of the desert," she mocked.

Marid glowered at the fairies, angry that he couldn't harm them.

"Marid, I want you to grant your captors a wish as thanks for capturing you," Salah ordered. He jerked the canister toward himself to get the genie's attention.

Marid refused to face Salah. He crossed his arms over his chest, waiting for us to make a wish.

I didn't want anything, but perhaps Addie did.

Addie stepped forth, hands on her stomach. "I wish to conceive the next time my husband and I try again."

Marid hovered in place. Would he comply or would he refuse because we weren't holding the canister? Or maybe it was because we captured him.

King Salah jerked the canister again. "Marid, I command you to grant her wish. You cannot refuse—"

Marid closed his eyes in a tranquil fury. "I cannot grant something that has already been done."

Already been done? That meant... Addie was pregnant! It finally worked. Addie and I kissed before Meryl hugged us.

Addie faced the genie again and said, "In that case, I wish for it to be a healthy baby."

"Done," he spoke.

An excellent wish. I couldn't wait to meet the newest member of our family.

Salah ordered Marid to return inside the canister. Once Marid was inside, Salah closed the lid and thanked us for capturing the genie.

His servants gave us everything we arrived with, and we returned the borrowed items.

Salah gave us a final farewell before the fairies flew us to Bamarre. Since they wanted to use that time to talk, the fairies flew at a slow speed (for them) all the way home. They wanted to know what Marid's underworld had been like. We told them it was the complete opposite of Ziriat castle. Meryl and Drualt apologized for always showing up a few seconds too late. They explained how a battle raged on, preventing them from stopping our misfortunes.

We landed on the north tower, where we had originally departed from. We thanked the fairies for taking us home before heading inside to greet our children. Like I had imagined, they were ecstatic to see us—even Merry hugged me! Rosie hugged me so tightly she crushed my organs.

After spending the rest of the evening with the children, I retired to catch up on my studies. Lighting a candle in my study, I drifted to my desk and took out my spell book. Almost immediately, my mind wandered to the events that had transpired. The queen and her prince consort had embarked on an adventure and defeated a fallen fairy. No mortal—at least none that I knew of—had ever defeated a fairy. And we had done it together, me and my beautiful doughty wife.

My thoughts trailed to Addie. Who knew that such a timid beauty could one day become so fierce? But she wasn't fierce in every sense, much to my dismay. She was still a timid beauty behind closed doors at times. Of course, Addie was not as bad as she once was in the beginning of our marriage, but she still had a ways to go, in my opinion.

Someone knocked on my door. I told them to enter.

It was Addie, wearing my cloak. Why was she wearing my cloak? Was she cold? I supposed that was understandable, considering how we had just returned from the desert. She shut the door and walked toward me. "You need to see this, Husband," she said softly yet urgently.

I pushed my chair out, preparing to stand.

Addie put out her hand. "No, no. As you were."

What was this about? Did she come to bring bad news? "Beloved, what's wrong?"

Addie sighed. She untied the string and allowed it to drop to the floor, revealing the skimpy, two-piece outfit the exotic dancer wore.

My jaw dropped. I was right—she looked stunning. Addie stopped me from standing. Instead, she made her way toward me, using the same dance moves the Pevirian dancer had used. She did that until she stood right in front of me. I had to resist with all my might from touching her.

"As queen and the kingdom's ideal, it is my duty to acknowledge and reward acts of courage," she said while dancing. Addie finally stopped and straddled me on the chair. She leaned close to my ear and said, "Well done, Hero. Well done."

. . .

Delighted at the memory, I closed my journal to resume studying. Maybe someday Addie and I would embark on another quest that would test our strength and love for each other again.

Thanks for reading!