As Evin watched, the lich’s body trembled like a tree caught in a windstorm. The monstrous wizard’s wail turned into a howl as his bones began to disintegrate into dust. Sefron’s robes twisted and fell as his body dissipated, no longer held together by the magic of his phylactery.

And then, the lich’s howls ended. All that was left of him was a pile of dusty robes.

The study was suddenly very, very quiet. Evin stood in place, almost paralyzed, as he looked down at where the evil creature had once stood.

Then he remembered that his friends were still on the roof, that the lich may have chosen to finish them off before making chase.

Not wasting a moment, Evin leaped over the lich’s robes and raced down the hallway. He bounded up the steps, his body surging with adrenaline even though his aching muscles begged for him to slow down.

He burst onto the roof.

The potion that had been set ablaze was now almost burned out. The goo sizzled in black, tarlike bubbles. Sefron’s crystal contraption lay in a heap, his many empty bottles shattered, the clear pot that had contained the boiling blood melted. The moon still shone bright overhead, and the great blocks of white stone that had once made up the dome’s wall still hovered silently nearby.

Jorick and Bet stood together, hugging at the center of the roof.

“You’re all right!” Evin cried. Unable to keep from smiling, he raced across the roof and leaped on them, grabbing them in his arms.

“You too!” Bet exclaimed, and all three hugged each other, laughing and rocking.

Jorick pulled back, putting Evin at arm’s length. “What happened?” he asked. “We heard Sefron’s scream, and then we weren’t paralyzed any longer. How did you stop him?”

Patting Bet on the back, Evin said, “I found his phylactery. Like the book said, it was a metal box—the slab that Hennea was going to sacrifice us upon. He cast a spell and I threw the slab into it. Boom—no more phylactery, no more lich.”

Bet laughed. “You really are a quick thinker, you know that?”

Evin grinned. “Thanks. But I learned all I need to know from—” He fell silent as the realization hit him. Evin ducked beneath one of the hovering blocks and walked to the northern edge of the keep, the side that had once been made inaccessible due to the wall. He placed his hands on one of the crenellations and looked north to the lands that had once been safe from monsters.

Jorick and Bet came to stand on either side of him, and all three studied the dark landscape. They could see more flying beasts soaring in the velvet sky in the distance, seeking out new homes. In the trees below them, torches blazed as other smaller monsters made their way north.