Theo passed Hasan impatiently on his way to the stairs, but stopped when the portal whirred to life without Hasan's presence. It was clearly a world hole—the Multiverse void could be seen through it, and it looked as thin and disorienting as the one back in the library's upper office. Another bubble was just within reach through it, like the portal was established for access to a specific world from the get-go.

And you're positive this portal leads to Caerpinwyd? Theo called from the steps.

Go ahead, my friend.

With his powerful bunny legs, Theo stepped up to the outer edge of the ring and launched himself across the gap. It intercepted his force like fabric, but it wasn't strong enough to repel and tore on contact. Kevin immediately followed, sprinting up the steps and leaping into the new hole in the opposite bubble.

Theo stumbled to his knees through tall grass on the other side. He'd returned home at last—the swampy ground and pine trees were unmistakable for the ones behind his house. Better still, he looked like his old self—no shiny big eyes, no strange fur patterns.

Oh, I thought we'd never be home! Theo cried, drinking in the familiar clean air and long, soft grass that came up to his wrists.

Cool! Kevin was, well, still morphed—aardwolves weren't quite as tall in the world of Pinède, and his jacket and shorts had been switched out for a green tunic and trousers. Still, he looked reasonably similar. Where's your house?

Over that hill...

A two-story mixture of bleached rock and cobbles framed by wooden accents stood on the lakeside at the bottom of the hill. A wide dormer with one of its windows left carelessly open long ago jutted out from the roof at the second level, and a fallow, fenced-in plot of garden sat at the foot of the house around back. Kevin wandered off absentmindedly to explore it all.

Theo was so absorbed in resting on the ground, he hadn't noticed Hasan had come with them through the portal. He'd walked a distance away to examine Theo's house as well, then turned back to face him. He resembled an agama more than a gecko here, his skin warmed from dark brown to orange-red along his head and blue along his body and tail. His eyes grew rounded and shifted on his head, and his ornate golden headgear had disappeared. He, indeed, looked like a Muradian as Theo recognized.

Caerpinwyd gets too chilly for me, Hasan hissed under his breath.

I'll get a fire going inside, Theo assured him, climbing to his feet and approaching. ...I would like to thank you for getting us home.

It is my pleasure, friend. Ah—though I do expect payment soon, yes?

I am a man of my word. You will have it tomorrow.

Excellent.