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Then, to our horror, he walked into the fire

My friends rushed forward, and the creature extinguished its power The sudden absence of all that force left the glade eerily quiet, except for the strange crackling sound of the supernatural fire But without the force of the creature’s an to die down

And when it did finally extinguish itself, there lay Gus, huddled in a fetal position in the center of the fire

Ryu and Caleb were first to reach hi in relief I was slowly co my body’s functions to normal Quietly, so that no one would notice and they could focus on Gus, I gasped in pain as pins and needles sprang up all overto a minimum as I also tried to pay attention to poor Gus

‘Gus Gus Can you hear roan from the stone spirit, and my heart soared with relief even as other parts of rily

‘Gus, co to shift the stone spirit, as knotted up, clutching his sto hted hi his storayish-brown stone It was gray and looked totally innocuous, but I could sense its power even from here

‘Here’s the stone,’ Gus said, totally unaware of the panic he’d caused by walking into the fire ‘Isn’t she beautiful?’

That’s when everyone re on her heel and running toward s crossed as tightly as they would go

‘Bathroome up, Iris sprinted with s to an epic sacred ritual, but I’d like to see anybody sit for three days and not have to pee when it was over

Chapter Thirteen

After being awake for three days, falling asleep wasn’t difficult It was staying awake long enough to strategize with Ryu and the rest of ed it, and we’d coood plan Actually, we’d coot froed on the hypothesis that my dream Anyan was the real Anyan, and that he actually had an idea of as happening outside that little mental space he inhabited, prisoner in his own body We had to uess that ar was all about And at least ere only risking our own lives, although that was bad enough I thought about the generals of wars, acting on intelligence they couldn’t knoas accurate, and sending hundreds, even thousands, of lad I wasn’t a general

I was also very glad to be able to sleep after what had felt like eons spent drawing little flowcharts andover exactly what I should say under which circumstances It had only really taken us a few hours, but it didn’t feel like that by the ti bed

Minutes later, at least toin front of Anyan’s hut

I raced a few steps forward, all thoughts tuned to hest, when I stopped short

For the hut wasn’t as substantial as it had been The first time I’d seen it, it had been so real But now there was soauzy about the earth piled up around the structure, and the wood looked less wood-like and more like a sAnyan, I knew, and I knehat that so was … if only I could re, that I was here to do so important I tried to focus on my duties, but they swooped away like unladen ss

When I entered the hut, however, all thoughts besides relief were pushed out ofquietly in front of the fire, watching it with sad eyes Like the outside, the inside of the hut had lost some of its detail The far side of the space loomed dark and empty, where once I knew there had been a back wall, full of shelves and sporting colorful paintings The fire was still alive, though – bright and dancing, looking just like a real fire

I ca my arms around him

‘Jane,’ he said, his voice thick with relief I kissed the shell of his ear in response, and held hi while

Eventually, he pulled me around and down into his lap I cuddled up to him happily, but my nervousness increased when I saw his face He looked tired, and wan, as if he were at the end of his rope Trying to remember what it was that I had to ask hi a hand down his face, I said, ‘You don’t look so good’

Anyan shook his head, his dark curls flopping adorably ‘Let’s not talk about it Letsoftie He studiedevery feature of rew a little more detailed, a little more solid