Never Been There

Angela stood at the edge of the wizard’s circle, waiting for the smoke to clear. If Lionel had pulled this off, she’d even be excited to see the wizard’s smug grin on the opposite side of an empty circle.

Raising her arm, she waved furiously to speed up the process. As the haze cleared, she wished she hadn’t. Lionel stood opposite her; however, the center remained stubbornly occupied.

Trenton turned slowly from Lionel to her, scowling. He wasn’t supposed to be there.

“He’s not supposed to be here,” Angela said.

“I know,” Lionel said. Raising a finger, he traced the air. Orange light trailed, marking runes.

“He’s not supposed to be here.” Angela gestured, emphasizing each dismayed word.

“I can hear you, you know,” Trenton said.

“He’s not supposed to be here.”

“We know,” Lionel and Trenton said together.

“So why is he here?” Angela folded her arms in frustration.

His being there marked a perfect waste of the last week. A week spent gathering the materials Lionel had sworn would help them transport Trenton to the Atheid caverns. There he would prevent the coming apocalypse.

Both of them had been so sure.

And yet, there Trenton stood. Fully armored with his ensorcelled sword.

Lionel stopped, his face going blank. He blinked once. “Oh.”

“Oh?” This time Trenton joined his voice to Angela’s.

“He’s never been there.” Lionel shrugged.

“I’ve never been there.” Trenton’s sword clanged against the ground.

“He’s never been there?” Angela repeated. “But I thought the fact that he’d been there was the entire reason he could defeat the apocalypse.”

Lionel looked away from his sigils and stared directly at Angela. She waited, pressing her lips into a thin line. Surely he’d have some grand diatribe to explain this.

Instead, he shrugged.

Angela smacked her forehead and groaned. He’d never been there.