When last we met: The Evil One turned back to survey the havoc he had wrought, but instead he saw the little blue house still standing, untouched on the other side of the huge inter-dimensional portal that the little mystics had generated for the storm to pass through. And just as the monster cried, “WHAT HAVE THEY DONE?!” the 17 little [unpronounceables] performed the special gestures and incantations that closed the portal again with a rather unpleasant zipping sound.
Grenn and Blurg clinked their glasses of mead together and drank heartily. The fawns scampered around the field chasing each other’s tails, and the eagles practiced aerial maneuvers that would challenge Blue Angels.
Seth the Dragon rested his head on the deck railing and smiled at the two golden retrievers who looked up at him.
“I got to tell you, as hard as it was trying to realistically fake being tossed away by a little wind, I have to admire how you two just stood there calmly being the bait for our trap,” Seth told them.
“I was not calm,” Summer admitted.
“I must admit, we were offended when it was suggested my forces pretend to be scattered by the wind,” said the eagle chief. “But the ruse served its purpose.”
“We had to keep the Evil One distracted so he wouldn’t notice the little ones conjuring at the fence,” Seth said.
“I’m just glad our [unpronounceable] friends came through with the spell that created a fake house on the other side of that inter-dimensional portal they conjured,” Dejah said. “It looked just like the real thing.”
“A perfect target,” Seth agreed.
We spent Halloween night reliving the unusual events of this year’s Time of Magic and laughing at the TV meteorologists who were flummoxed by the sudden disappearance of the world’s worst hurricane seconds after it made landfall from 60,000 feet onto a little plot of land in Northeast Wisconsin. They were calling it a climate change miracle — one or two called it magic and didn’t realize how right they were.
Around midnight the party started breaking up and the feathered and fur-clad friends we had met in recent weeks started to head to their own homes.
“It has been a pleasure to serve with you,” said the great buck. “Perhaps ‘pleasure’ is the wrong word. It’s been an honor.”
“The honor is ours,” I said.
“Thank you for your help,” Dejah said.
“And be careful next month,” Summer said. “Deer season is coming.”
“Don’t remind me,” the buck said with a grim chuckle, and then he and his family had disappeared into the night.
“You comported yourself with dignity and pride,” the chief eagle said as he said his own farewells. Before we could respond, he was gone, too.
Seth said goodbye to his four fellow dragons and then turned to us.
“My kind doesn’t really show itself outside the Time of Magic,” the big dragon said. “Nothing personal, we just don’t like to freak people out, despite our reputation.”
“Well, you never freak out [unpronounceables],” Grenn said, “so don’t be a stranger around our house.”
“You got it,” Seth said. “And Dejah and Summer, consider yourself honorary dragons. You did good when the chips were down.”
Without another word, and with a flourish of his mighty wings, the dragon lifted into the sky and disappeared.
“He didn’t give me time to say thank you,” I said.
“We’ll pass the word along,” said Blurg, taking Grenn’s hand, which confirmed my suspicion that she and the stalwart little leader were an item.
“I’m sorry we infringed on your land when we built the house,” I told them. “I hope we can be friends anyway.”
“Ah, there’s a lot of land to go around, and we don’t need that much space,” Grenn said. “You didn’t realize how rude you were being.”
“There’s that,” Dejah said.
“Don’t be a stranger,” I said.
“Well, it’s kind of a tradition that we only make ourselves seen during the Time of Magic,” Grenn said. “But we’ll make a point of dropping by next October if not sooner.”
“What about the Evil One? Is he stuck in that other dimension now?” Summer asked.
“Listen, little girl, when my crew zips up an inter-dimensional portal, it stays zipped until we say otherwise,” Blurg said. “Don’t you worry.”
“I guess this is goodbye for now,” I said. “October is just about over.”
“Yep, see you when next we see you,” Grenn said. “And thanks for everything. I’ll leave you three to say your last words to each other.”
“Last words?” Summer asked.
“Well, after the magic fades, your Daddy won’t be able to understand what you’re saying again until next year around this time.”
Dejah and Summer and I looked at each other.
“Oh,” Dejah said.
