exposed to her cold heart will eventually wither and perish. Even I.”
“If I knew how, I would remove it from this place to stop it from hurting you,” said Infidel.
“I know,” said Greatshadow. “I see your thoughts so plainly. You have not come here with hatred in your heart.”
“No,” she said. “I set out on this quest to find comfort for my own broken heart, not because I held any animosity toward you.”
“You came to steal my treasure,” he said.
“Yes.”
“But you’ve decided you no longer want it.”
Infidel touched the band of hair on her finger.
“Gold and glorystones are wealth, not treasure. I can see that I was surrounded by genuine treasures all along. I just had to learn how to recognize them.”
“How sorrowful to find these truths only once you are in the realm of the dead,” Greatshadow said.
“But I’m not dead.” Infidel looked up to meet his gaze. “I arrived here by accident and I need to go back. You must possess the power to send me home. You have the ability to travel between the spiritual and physical worlds, or else Zetetic wouldn’t be so worried.”
“Traveling between the worlds comes at a cost,” said Greatshadow.
“Name the price,” she said. “Send us back and I promise that we’ll never bother you again. I promise to take the Jagged Heart as far away from you as possible, and I promise to fight anyone who even whispers of making an attempt to kill you.”
“You would kill my offspring? The one you call Relic?”
“Consider it done,” she said, snapping her fingers.
Greatshadow pondered for a long moment. “No. Tell the pathetic broken-wing that I shall have my revenge at the time and place of my choosing. The thought of the sleepless nights the young one shall endure pleases me. A swift death shall not slake my smoldering rage.”
“Consider the message delivered,” she said. “Just send us back.”
Greatshadow eyed the Jagged Heart. “You must take this weapon from this place. I cannot recover while its bitterness poisons the energies of this land.”
She gingerly lifted the harpoon, making sure not to point the tip toward him.
“Some people are worried you’ll destroy the world because of what we’ve done to you,” she said, softly. “I could have killed you as you slept. I chose mercy instead.”
“Mercy is not a quality often attributed to flame,” growled Greatshadow.
“Is it not?” asked Infidel. “Many a wound has been cauterized by fire. Meat half gone to rot becomes a safe meal once it’s cooked. Men could not survive harsh winters without your help. There is more to flame than wrath and destruction.”
“Too many men think this way,” said Greatshadow, sounding indignant at what I thought had been a compliment. His eyes began to blaze as he said, “Men believe they have tamed me, trapping me in hearths to bake their bread and in foundries to forge their steel. They forget that I am a wild thing that will not remain in a cage. I have killed many men to remind others of this truth.”
“Perhaps you need reminding, too,” she said.
The dragon tilted his head in a quizzical look.
Infidel said, “The wind, the sea, the frozen wastes… these elements are used by men, but none are worthy of the partnership that man has formed with flame. Thanks to mankind, fire is everywhere. In the middle of the trackless ocean, fire can be found in lanterns aboard a ship. On the most frigid, snow-capped mountain, you’ll find fires glowing on hearths. Right now, even at this moment when you are at your weakest, men are lighting candles, torches, and bonfires, all of which help to restore you. There is far more fire in the world due to the actions of men than there would be without us. You may be a wild thing that doesn’t wish to be tamed, but certainly, even the wildest beast enjoys being fed. We nourish you with coal from far beneath the earth, we cut down forests to fill our fireplaces, and sometimes we even offer you our dead.”
Greatshadow nodded grudgingly. “You are wise, Princess Innocent, though you tell me a truth I already know. Even in my darkest moments of smoldering anger, I dare not destroy mankind. In a world without men, I would be very hungry indeed.”
“I don’t know that I’m wise,” said Infidel. “I just think we’re alike in some ways. We both hate anyone who tries to tame us, but understand we sometimes must do things we don’t want to do in order to keep a full belly.”
Greatshadow lifted his head high, sparks flying from his jaws as he roared, a sound like a blast furnace in great, puffing gusts. The noise nearly deafened me, but I felt no fear. It was obvious from the expression in his eyes that he was laughing.
“That a mere mortal thinks she is in any way like me is an amusing notion, Princess,” said the dragon. “It has been many centuries since I laughed so freely. You have earned your journey home.”
With these words, he extended his talon and used a long glowing claw to trace a large circle upon the ground before him. The stone inside that circle fell away, revealing a black pit, full of stars.
“The material world lies through this portal,” said Greatshadow.
Infidel turned her head toward me and motioned with her eyes that I should join her. I ran up and clasped her hand, giving her a swift kiss. She dragged me closer to the ring of fire. Fortunately, the Jagged Heart shielded us from the heat. Hand in hand, we stared into the abyss.
“Is it safe to jump?” I asked.
“When have we ever worried about that?” she said with a grin, falling forward, her fingers wrapped in mine. She dangled on the edge for the barest instant as my weight held her. Then, in total confidence, I leaned forward and we tumbled into the darkness.
Infidel released the Jagged Heart and it fell beside us in a lazy spin. We hugged each other tightly as we flew past stars, past moons and suns and comets. We tumbled though airless voids, hugging one another in terror, awe, and wonder. We were neither in the spirit realm nor the ordinary world of matter; we were two isolated souls, entangled, entwined, a whole and complete universe where seconds and hours had no meaning. Yet, despite our inability to measure time, our eternity of togetherness drew to a close as a great blue jewel of a world emerged from the void beneath us. We clung to each other as the world grew large enough for us to make out the shapes of landmasses beneath the wispy white oceans of clouds. We fell toward a small green speck amidst a vast blue sea, the wind tangling our hair as we slowly emerged from the abstract realms. Far below, we spotted a smoking caldera atop a high mountain that seemed to be the bulls-eye where we’d land.
We looked into each other’s eyes. There was no hope of speaking amid the howl of the wind whipping past us. We both knew that Greatshadow had cared nothing for our safety by sending us back along this path. Dropping to earth was no problem for him; he had wings. It was going to take more than a net of vines to save us this time.
Despite this knowledge, all I felt looking into Infidel’s face was joy that we would once more be together in the land of the living, however brief that experience might be.
She kissed me.
I kissed her back.
Her lips grew softer and softer until, suddenly they were gone. My arms closed around empty air. I opened my eyes and she was still inches away, her eyes wide, searching. I raised my hand to her cheek and it passed right through, as if she was a ghost.
Or as if I was. Infidel had fully emerged into the physical realm, and I was left behind, still a phantom.
“Infidel!” I screamed, as she dropped away, feeling the full tug of gravity. The Jagged Heart flashed past me, following its parallel path. I hovered in mid-air, no longer touched by gravity. I felt for the spirit tether of the bone-handled knife to pull me closer to Infidel but didn’t move at all. I looked down, and saw the knife tucked in my belt. My link to the material world was trapped with me on the other side.
I gave chase with all the speed I could muster, drawing close enough that I could see genuine fear in Infidel’s eyes as she tumbled toward the black caldera below. Even if Infidel had still been invulnerable, I don’t know if she could have survived a landing on volcanic stone without a net of vines to cushion her.
