The Wandering Isles: Session 39
The battle against The Inferno erupted in a storm of fire and fury. Flames roared across the battlefield, the heat pressing against their skin as they faced an enemy unlike any they had encountered before. Fitz, The Inferno, burned with an unnatural intensity, his form shifting between raging fire and something almost human. But the group fought with strategy, precision, and an unshakable determination.
Amaedrianna and Hatsu moved first, working together to secure the absorption collar—the key to subduing their volatile foe. With practiced coordination, Amaedrianna launched off of Slate’s support, wings propelling her upward as she pursued Fitz through the air. She reached him, forcing the collar around his neck, but before she could lock it, Fitz turned his burning gaze on Eos.
Fury crackled in Eos’s eyes as she retaliated, hurling every ounce of magic she could summon at the fiery creature. The team fought relentlessly to hold him back, buying Amaedrianna just enough time to snap the collar shut. The effect was immediate. The roaring fire flickered, then faded, revealing a towering, bald humanoid beneath the flames. A single tattoo on his arm caught Slate’s eye—Fitz—a name that now held far more weight than before.
The battle had been won, but their work was far from over. Hatsu rushed to the fallen, tending first to Nora Shadeclasp, stabilizing her wounds as best he could. Then came a choice—a brutal one. Rowan Darkwood and Eldric Shadowclaw, two warriors of the Lunar Kin, lay on the ground, life slipping away from both of them. Hatsu and Eos knelt together, praying in unison, their voices carrying through the battlefield like a whisper of hope.
A golden bee—a divine sign—landed upon Rowan.
His breath returned.
Eldric’s did not.
As silence fell, Amaedrianna moved toward the muffled cries she had heard in the chaos. Bound and hidden, she found Orla Voltheim, weakened but alive. Beside her, a map—dotted with marks of Fitz’s past atrocities, a chilling testament to his reign of fire and death.
With their mission complete, the group loaded their wounded and their captured foe onto the Slart, preparing to return home. Before them, Remington Maleficum conjured a massive, ornate door as if pulling it from thin air. And beyond it, waiting patiently, stood Duckie—Eos’s trusted horse, a sight that brought a rare moment of warmth after a night of hardship.
Slate, however, had noticed something else. The markings on Fitz’s wrists mirrored his own—indentations left by shackles worn for far too long. Another connection, another unanswered question.
Before heading back to the Arcanum, there were debts to settle. The stolen gold, taken during the chaos in Dagtorp, was returned to the bank, where a sharp-eyed, impeccably dressed man handled the transaction with barely concealed disdain. From there, they made the long journey to Brautarðir, ensuring Nora received the help she needed, before traveling to Hartwell to return Rowan to his people—and to lay Eldric to rest.
A solemn toast was raised in Hartwell that night, the firelight flickering over the faces of those who mourned, those who had survived, and those who still carried the weight of what had been lost.
At last, the road led them home.
As they arrived at the Arcanum, weary but victorious, their presence carried a newfound weight. Their honor had grown, their deeds no longer whispers but solidified actions that shaped the world around them.
Before they parted for the night, they made one final stop—Weslyn Theiwyse’s grave. To their surprise, something had begun to grow there—flowers unlike any they had seen before, petals shimmering with an iridescent, rainbow-like hue. A quiet, beautiful testament to the life he had lived and the legacy he had left behind.
Returning to their rooms, exhaustion settled over them like a heavy cloak. Dash found himself in a larger space now, making room for Lysa Sablewood beside him. Eos, barely keeping her eyes open, noticed something—an unfamiliar room next to hers. But fatigue won, and she let the mystery wait for another day.
For now, they could rest.
For now, they could breathe.
Their journey was far from over.
But for the first time in a long while, they could finally sleep easy.
