Tye was furious when he appeared back in the living room, causing both Joe and Christine to stop their own celebrating. No time had passed here while they adventuring, and they were both back in their normal, human teenage bodies again. But now they were rich! The bags of gold and jewels had come with them. This had given them a couple of minutes of delight before Tye’s angry return put a damper on things.
“What wrong?” Christine held one of the bags of gold to her chest protectively.
“Brian decided to go all goody two-shoes and went back to try helping Mike.” Tye clenched his fists. “Llandros is going, too.”
“Oh!” Relieved, Christine grinned. “Well, if he wants to keep playing hero, that’s his problem, right? He and Mike can stay there. I won’t tell anyone where they are. Who’d believe us, anyway?”
Joe chuckled. “Yeah, if the twerp chose to stay in a world with no sewers or electricity instead of coming back here rich, who cares?”
“Yeah? Well if he brings Mike back somehow, then we won’t have left anything there, and your precious treasure will go right back to where you got it.” Tye took some pleasure in the stricken expressions on the other’s faces.
“What!?” Joe scowled. “That’s no fair! We did our jobs and earned this fair and square!”
“Yeah!” Christine looked about her bags of gold and jewels with panic. “Just because Brian wants to keep playing an elf doesn’t mean we should be punished.”
Playing an elf. Christine’s words suddenly sparked a thought that made Tye smile. “Maybe it won’t come to that. I mean, if something happens to Brian…” His smile widened into a grin. “Yeah! If Brian wants to save Mike, then Brian should be Brian. I’m not doing anything to him, I’m undoing something.” After a moment of concentration, Tye was his old chipper self again. “I don’t think you need to worry about losing your riches.”
Both Christine and Joe sagged in relief. Neither one wanted to know what Tye had done, and in truth, neither one cared.
Back in the D&D world, Llandros and Brian were still heading for the stables to retrieve their mounts. As they got close to the building, Brian felt a sudden wave of disorientation, then stumbled and fell as his body seemed to become a tangle of arms and legs. He sprawled in the muddy road and lay stunned for a moment until he realized that not all of the filth he was face-down in was mud. He scrambled up, wiping at the mix of dirt and manure, then froze as he saw the bright T-shirt and jeans underneath. Where was his armor? His tunic? His weapons? Then he got another shock when he looked up at Llandros. Or down. The young wizard was gaping at him, nearly a head shorter.
Llandros grabbed his arm and dragged him quickly into the stable, with Brian stumbling on legs that felt too long. Once they were hidden from public view, the wizard looked him up and down, then cursed quietly. “The Wizard Tye must have restored your true shape. You are a human.”
It took a long look in a water bucket’s surface to confirm, but Brian discovered that he was just as he had been just prior to the adventure. A sandy-haired, slender 17 year old boy wearing casual clothes and sneakers. After a week as an elf, his ‘real form both felt and looked weird. Worse, even though he had been child-sized as an elf, the muscles of that body had been wiry and strong. Though he was much taller, Brian was nowhere near as strong or agile. Brian frowned as he examined himself. “This sucks. But I can get some new clothes and weapons and stuff, right?”
Llandros leaned against a wall and closed his eyes. “We can replace items, yes. But you are not an adventurer anymore. As an elf, you had skills, strength and ability, plus an innate resistance to magic. As a human, and one who looks pretty weak, you are a walking target.”
Brian paled. “Is it really all that bad?”
“Before, there was a small chance you would end up as a stable boy or a beast. Now, if you survive at all, there is little chance that you won’t.” Llandros sighed. “Your companion has found an effective way to extract his revenge.”
“Could you turn me back into an elf?”
“Yes, but that would be using magic of this world. It will carry over to your world should you return. Not fully, of course. You would be shorter, thinner, perhaps have oddly shaped ears. And you would be even more susceptible to magic here. It is best you avoid all magic as much as you can.”
Brian scowled. “The bastard must really want to keep Mike here. And now me. I’m still going. If you’ll let me.”
LLandros nodded. “I am pleased to hear you say that. But you cannot go dressed like that, and you are unsuited to be any sort of fighter. Best that you accompany me in a disguise that won’t attract attention or mark you as a potential threat.”
The wizard gestured with one hand and Brian was startled as he was surrounded by a flickering blue glow. When it passed, he looked down and saw that the magic had…