Page 19 of Crown of Flame

But it’s a solid minute before she adds anything. I can see her mind drifting off somewhere else, and I grow jealous.

I want her here with me, helping me figure this place out, so that I can return home.

“Well, we have more than mountains, trees, and flat land,” she says.

“So you’ve claimed. But I’ve not heard or seen anything to the contrary other than those towers?”

She mulls over my question.

“We also have oceans filled with water, and seas, lakes, and ponds. Those are also filled with water…”

She starts to trail off, and I realize I’ve sent her down a tangent.

“We have towns, where people have built dwellings and businesses. There are craters and volcanoes, and islands and caves–”

“We actually have those, too,” I reply. “I forgot to mention those.”

She looks slightly frustrated that I interrupted her tangent.

“Islands?”

“No, caves,” I tell her. “The goblins and ogres live in them.”

She shakes her head. “I don’t know what those are.”

“I don’t know what most of the things you said are,” I reply.

She laughs, and I feel a sense of elation overtaking me.

“It’s pretty interesting that you’re even able to understand me,” she observes. “Do you speak the same language I do even though you come from another world?”

I ponder the question.

“I guess I understand the meaning of what other creatures say in any language, because I mostly interface with your mind,” I reply.

7

SERENA

“What’s that?” Cinis asks.

I blink slowly, not noticing what he’s referring to at first.

“What?”

Cinis might be the most interesting thing I’ve ever encountered. Of course, there have been moments during this conversation where I’ve wanted to turn around and sprint far away from him, but they’re becoming fewer and farther between.

Something tells me that he’s not looking to hurt me or consume me. I think he likes my presence as much as I like his.

“That.” He gestures towards my hands. “They’re shaking. Why is that?”

Glancing down, my shivering hands serve as a reminder that the cold is truly doing a number on my body. I don’t remember how long we’ve been walking, but my arms and legs feel numb. The nightly freeze is finally arriving, and the cold is almost too much to bear, even with the added heat Cinis provides.

“It’s because I’m cold.”

“Why would you move erratically if you’re cold?”

That comment makes me laugh quietly. When he puts it that way, it makes us humans seem like weird creatures after all.

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