The hatch atop the steel hull popped open, and Captain Pneumo waved. “I’ve got gold in the boilers and steam in the pipes,” he called. “There’s some kind of madness going on around here. C’mon, let’s go!”
“None of this seems possible,” Moreen said quietly. “Even you-you found your father, and lost him again.”
“Yes,” Kerrick said, turning, wading into the water. He stopped to look back at the island, barren and bleak as ever, now with a huge smoke column billowing upward, marking the pyre of an elf, a weapon, and a reign of terror.
He choked on the words, as he drew a breath. “Now, at least, I know he died a hero.”