I really could have just cut and run, except. These goodbyes meant a lot to me. And no, not Mom or Piers, though I really should have felt more kindly toward the Sorcerers League leader than not. He'd been so good to me, he deserved my thanks.
No, the so long, see you laters I had to say were far more poignant if only because guilt played such a huge role in the fact I was leaving them behind to such an uncertain fate while I ran off to who knew where, hopefully with the end result meaning they would be safe, ultimately. Free.
As if, Leah grumbled, but let me be as I entered the heavily shielded room next to the one where Piers and I tested and retested the transmutation for any chance to break it. I paused at the entry to the hum of greetings from the mental voices of the kids trapped,
