That meant the celebratory banquet that day had been not only a welcome-home feast for him, but also a farewell feast for Mahama. Perhaps Big Guy had been waiting for his return so he could say goodbye in person before leaving.
Ruger reclined in his lounge chair, watching the Furry Friends playing and bustling about in the distance.
Without realizing it, he had stopped being so cautious that he dared not reveal the Spatial Gate, or, by extension, the existence of his companions. He no longer lived in fear. That was the reward of growth: as he grew stronger, the things he had once worried about would cease to be concerns.
He stretched in his chair, put on another pot of tea, and lowered his gaze to the One-Ring spell in his hands, Scorching Wings.
Mahama had already returned to his own little island.
The waves came and went, their echoes different every time, yet after listening long enough, they all seemed the same.
Before leaving, Mahama had asked for some of Ruger's exclusive Sour Mushroom Wine. He had wanted ten bottles, but Ruger had generously given him two barrels, plus a barrel of Bubble Wine, much to Mahama's delight. In truth, Ruger's reasoning was that Tuzel could make barrels himself, whereas once they ran out of bottles, they would have to get more from the tavern. He usually sent his empty bottles back to the Bedroom Space to be washed and reused. At small taverns like the one on Kurt's island, most drinks went straight from barrels into large mugs, and bottled wine to take away cost extra. That was how small islands worked. Naturally, the large islands that could accommodate dozens of ordinary human kingdoms were nothing like that.
Something Lord Layden had said in the Nightmare World