The ride home felt lighter.
Not because the caravan carried less weight.
If anything, it carried far more.
Crystals.
Mana bulbs.
Rare resources.
Future inventions.
Enough wealth to change entire cities.
No.
The journey felt lighter because something had been left behind.
Doubt.
The mountains gradually faded into the distance as Grim and Steed pulled the hovering caravan along the road with effortless power. The massive shadow beasts seemed almost proud of their new assignment, heads held high as they thundered forward.
Inside the dimensional space, celebration had begun before Crystalshire disappeared from view.
Wine bottles appeared.
Ale kegs materialized.
Someone had started a drinking game.
Nobody remembered who.
Several people were already losing.
For the first time in weeks, nobody watched corners.
Nobody listened for monsters.
Nobody slept with one eye open.
They were safe.
And they knew it.
The Vixens occupied nearly every available seat in the common room.
Which was impressive considering several of them had abandoned chairs entirely.
"Tables are chairs if you believe hard enough," Bunny declared.
"That's not how furniture works," Zee replied.
"Sounds like something someone sitting in a chair would say."
The argument somehow continued for ten minutes.
Jax listened from the kitchen counter, smiling into his drink.
The girls talked over one another constantly now.
Stories.
Jokes.
Exaggerations.
Every victory somehow becoming larger each time it was retold.
According to Bunny's latest version, she'd personally fought six dungeon bosses simultaneously while carrying the rest of the party on her shoulders.
"That's not even remotely true," Llandra said.
"It could have been."
"It wasn't."
"Details."
Laughter erupted again.
Jax watched them quietly.
Because he knew something they didn't.
The dungeon hadn't changed them.
It had revealed them.
The strength was always there.
The courage was always there.
The potential was always there.
All he'd done was refuse to let them hide from it.
The caravan rounded a bend.
Outside, something caught his attention.
Jax moved toward the window.
The others followed.
"Oh," Zee said softly.
The bridge.
The same bridge.
The place where the bandits had tried to stop them weeks ago.
The damage Bunny had caused was gone.
The bridge stood stronger than before.
But something new had been added.
A stone marker.
Large.
Impossible to miss.
Even from a distance they could read it.
BANDITS, MURDERERS, AND RAPISTS ARE NOT WELCOME HERE.
Below it, in smaller letters:
THE LAST ONES TESTED THIS POLICY.
The Vixens stared.
Then Bunny burst out laughing.
"Oh my gods."
Nyxian nearly fell off the couch.
"They made it a landmark!"
Llandra covered her mouth, trying and failing to suppress a smile.
Jax rubbed his forehead.
"They actually did."
As the caravan passed, they noticed flowers near the marker.
Fresh flowers.
Not for the bandits.
For travelers.
A family stood nearby reading the sign.
A little girl pointed excitedly toward the bridge.
The father said something they couldn't hear.
The girl looked impressed.
Bunny sat back.
"Huh."
"What?" Zee asked.
"Feels nice."
Nobody argued.
The road continued.
Conversation eventually drifted elsewhere.
Toward the future.
Toward possibilities.
Toward things that seemed impossible only a month ago.
Jax eventually found himself explaining dimensional gateways.
Which was a mistake.
Because the moment he mentioned instant travel, everyone had opinions.
"So I could visit Solmere and Crystalshire in the same day?"
"Yes."
"And come back?"
"Yes."
"And shop in both cities?"
"Yes."
Nyxian gasped.
"You buried the most important part."
Jax blinked.
"What?"
"Double shopping."
The room exploded.
Even Llandra laughed.
Later, as evening settled across the road, the conversation shifted again.
This time toward fame.
"I still can't believe they painted us," Bunny said.
"I still can't believe that's what they think I look like," Nyxian replied.
"They made your horns bigger."
"They are not that big."
"They are when you're excited."
"They are not."
"They absolutely are."
Nyxian threw a cushion.
The cushion missed.
Echo somehow got hit instead.
The shadow ferret immediately collapsed dramatically onto his back.
Tiny paws curled.
Tongue sticking out.
Completely motionless.
Everyone froze.
"Oh no," Zee whispered.
Bunny gasped.
Llandra covered her mouth.
Nyxian stared.
"Echo?"
Nothing.
"Echo?"
Still nothing.
The ferret remained perfectly still.
Then one eye opened.
He chirped.
And rolled over laughing.
The room erupted.
"He's learning from you," Jax told Nyxian.
"That's terrifying."
"It really is."
The laughter lingered long after the joke ended.
The kind of laughter that came from people who trusted each other completely.
People who had survived together.
People who planned to keep doing so.
As darkness settled outside, Jax found himself simply listening.
Listening to Bunny's stories.
To Zee's laughter.
To Llandra's quiet observations.
To Nyxian pretending she wasn't secretly pleased by all of it.
For the first time since arriving in this world, the future felt close enough to touch.
Not because of the crystals.
Not because of the wealth.
Not because of the inventions waiting in the back of the caravan.
Because of the people surrounding him.
His team.
His family.
His Vixens.
The road stretched ahead into the darkness.
And for once, none of them were eager for the journey to end.
Not when they finally understood something important.
The adventure wasn't waiting at the destination.
It was right here.
And they were going to enjoy every mile of it.