The return voyage was happily free of incident, and the ship docked at Castle Almaric not long after sunset on the second day of sailing. Aidan looked up at the castle that loomed above the harbor and sighed. He would be very glad to get off this world and hopefully back to his normal self, but all the same he felt a sudden pang of regret. It didn’t make any sense, being here had been little but misery and gloom, but all the same there was something… Ah, emotions are so illogical and messy, he thought. Why on earth would I miss this horrible place? What’s there to miss about being a vampire? I can’t wait to get out of here.

The Baron was waiting for the little group in the courtyard. Brianna, looking bone-tired and somewhat decomposed, handed him the amulet wordlessly. The Baron took it and examined it.

“Well, you have kept your part of our bargain. Does my sister yet live, or did you have to kill her to get this?”

“She lives, my lord. Lavasida struck up a friendship with her and got the amulet without a fight.”

Friendship huh? Is that what you call it? Aidan grinned a bit at the thought.

"I am a man of my word, so I will give you what you seek," said the Baron. "Come with me." He led the way across the courtyard and through a door. They descended a broad staircase to a basement storage room stacked with barrels and boxes and bales. A cloth was draped over an irregular waist-high object sitting amid the stores. The baron flipped back the cloth to reveal the crystal. It was unmistakable, an irregular chunk of silvery-blue, slightly translucent and seeming to almost glow as it reflected the lantern light and threw it back at a thousand different angles. "There is your crystal. How you take it from here is your concern though, not mine. I have done my part in giving it to you."

Brianna smiled. "So you have. But I don't think removing it will be any trouble." She looked around at the others, then stepped forward and placed her hand on the crystal.

Aidan felt the same tugging, whirling, queasy sort of feeling as he had felt when he went through the portal. When it cleared he found himself standing in the courtyard of Tara's castle. Sunlight poured down from a cloudless sky... and it didn't hurt! He tipped his face up to the sun and laughed. He was himself again!

When he finished assuring himself that he really was a mortal aerian again, he looked over to see Lon and Brianna clinging to each other as if they would never let go. Flame, beside him, was smiling at them.

“What’s with them?”

Lavasida gave Aidan a contemptuous look. “You’re rather dense at times. Tell me, what is it that Lon does?”

“He’s a cleric.”

"Indeed. And for the last few weeks what has Brianna been?”

“A zombie, but why…” suddenly it dawned on Aidan. Here he’d been wallowing in pity because of his vampirism, and he hadn’t even noticed Brianna’s greater curse. Her husband was a cleric, and she had been undead. They hadn’t even been able to touch for the entire time! “You’re right, I’m pretty dense. And pretty self-centered. Here I’ve been throwing myself a pity party, and Brianna and Lon have been so much worse off than me.”

"Quite," said Lavasida shortly. He stalked off towards the castle proper, and Aidan looked after him, feeling more than a little guilty.

Flame took Aidan's hand and squeezed it. "It's okay. It's not like either of them complained. I don't think they wanted our pity, and there's nothing we could have done for them."

"Yeah..." Aidan found that the thought did help him feel less guilty, and he was still feeling practically giddy to be released from his vampiric curse. He hugged Flame, and she laughed and hugged him back. "We're home!" he said.

She smiled. "Yes, we're home. But..." She glanced at the Tower, where Jordanis was hurrying out into the courtyard. "But only for a little while. Hard as this was, there's still more to come. We can't abandon our efforts now."

Aidan sighed. "No, I guess we can't. I just hope that wherever we go next hasn't got vampires in it."

Flame giggled. "Well it will once we get there, Lavasida's not going to change back like you did! But never mind that. Come on. The castle has proper bathtubs, and I haven't had a bath in two weeks. Let's enjoy ourselves while we can."

Aidan nodded and let Flame tow him off to the bath house. She was right. They should enjoy themselves while they could.