"So once they had rested and provisioned themselves, the merry band took a squadron of the county's soldiers and they all set off for the tower of the evil sorcerer."
"Well, yeah. It's a story, after all. The good guys almost always win in stories."
When they arrived, the sorcerer was out--possibly searching for the boy, possibly arresting someone on behest of the evil king. The boy knew the magic password to get the tower's doors open, because the sorcerer hadn't bothered to change it."
When the sorcerer came back, the fire-woman was the first to greet him. She hugged him as she had hugged the mercenary guards, and said in his ear, 'remember me?'
The sorcerer was extremely surprised, but he was far less susceptible to fire than a random mercenary. He flung the fire-woman off of him into a magic pool, and her fire was put out, and she was a human woman again."
"No, she wanted that, remember? She couldn't go home and take care of her little sister while she was made of fire."
This didn't kill the sorcerer, of course, because he was very magic. But now he was a little singed and a lot battered and very ticked off."
The boy was waiting for him in his workshop, and he blasted him with magic energy before the sorcerer could react. The sorcerer was having none of this, so he retaliated by sending a swarm of knives at the boy. The boy turned the knives into golems that looked like ravens, that flew back at the sorcerer and started pecking him."
Eventually, the sorcerer managed to overcome the boy, and as he was standing above him to land the final blow--
The countess's brother came up behind him, pressed a hand to the nape of his neck, and sent him into a deep sleep."
"So the two good mages performed a ritual to strip the evil sorcerer of his powers, and left him in his bed, so that if ever it was better for him to be awoken than not it could be done. And they came down and hugged the formerly-fire woman, and were not set alight for their troubles. And the countess sent her home to her sister with an escort of soldiers to make sure she made it home safely. And then the rest of them set out for the capital to overthrow the king."
'What?' said the king. 'But I get along great with the Count of Vesser!'
'Ah, well, yes, sire,' coughed the courier, 'but it seems the Count of Vesser has been usurped by his stepdaughter, the last Count's firstborn.'
'Oh, blast,' said the king. 'Well, summon my sorcerer.'
'Er, they got him first,' the courier said."
'They've got his old apprentice, sire, the one who ran off last year.'
'Ugh. Did he forget to change the password on his tower?'
'It seems so, sire.'
'I always knew his lack of carefulness would be the end of him.'"
The king was very surprised to see them! For one thing, he had expected the new Countess of Vesser to be a bit more with the pretty dresses and jewels, and a bit less with the armor and the really awesome swords the sword-smith kept making for her."