Jeremiah screamed, "Please don't-" His hands flailed around. His fingers fell onto the scabby strips of flesh that had once been Frost's ear. He gripped these shreds of skin for all he was worth.

Frost screeched, pulled Jeremiah from his shoulder, and threw him to the hot brick floor. Jeremiah rolled onto his back, skittering and kicking to get away. He scooted backward until he was pressed against a low brick wall.

"Until now, I wasn't planning on enjoying this," Frost said, rubbing his ear nub with his good hand. He pulled his fingers away; they were orange with blood and puss. He reached toward Jeremiah's face. "Before I throw you in, I'm going to break every last d.a.m.n fi-NNNG!"

Frost cried out in pain as an arrow erupted from his good hand. He drew back, staring at the missile that had entered the back of his wrist and pa.s.sed through to the skin on the other side, pushing it out in a little pointy tent. The arrow was fletched with fresh green leaves that wilted in the sweltering heat of the foundry.

Frost craned his neck. "Who?" he screamed. "Who did this?"

From above, a voice answered. "The boy is mine. You may not touch him."

Frost and Jeremiah both looked into the shadows of the rafters. A human figure could barely be seen, the contours of his body distorted by a cloak. It was apparent, however, that he held a bow before him, with a second arrow aimed at Frost.

"This boy has yellow-mouth!" Frost protested. "He's dying anyway!"

"We're all dying," said the shadowy archer. "Some of us today, perhaps. Step away."

Frost walked backward, clutching his bleeding wrist with the thumb and splinted fingers of his other hand. The arrow swayed when he walked.

The archer dropped a pink rope down from the rafters. He slid down, landing at Jeremiah's feet. Jeremiah recognized the man; he'd traveled with his sister, Zeeky. It was the old man who'd claimed he was Bitterwood. But Bitterwood and Zeeky were dead, killed by the demons in the mines. Did this mean that Zeeky was also alive?

"I'm taking the boy," Bitterwood said. "We're leaving Dragon Forge. He won't spread the disease further."

"You can't leave," Frost said. "There's a blockade of dragons."

"They didn't see me come in," said Bitterwood. "They won't see me go." He looked down at Jeremiah. "Stand up. We're leaving."

Frost snarled. "Who are you to come here and start issuing demands?"

Bitterwood held his hand down to meet Jeremiah's outstretched grasp and help him to his feet.

"My name isn't important," said Bitterwood. "If you're going to order your men to stop me, do so. Their blood will be on your hands."

Frost glared at his a.s.sailant, studying his face. Bitterwood met his gaze with an icy stare. At last, Frost looked away.

"Let him go," Frost said to the men who'd gathered between Bitterwood and the door.

Bitterwood tugged at the rope in the rafter. The pink cord snaked down, shrinking as it fell into his gloved hand. He turned, prodding Jeremiah with a nudge between his shoulder blades. Jeremiah scuffled forward. When they reached the street, Bitterwood slung his bow over his shoulder then picked up Jeremiah. Jeremiah draped his arms around the old man's neck and was carried toward the city gates. He rested his head on Bitterwood's shoulder.

"Is Zeeky here?" he whispered.

"She's near," said Bitterwood. "Poocher, too."

"Will she catch yellow-mouth from me?"

"Don't know," answered Bitterwood.

"That man said I was going to die."

Bitterwood continued to walk, without saying another word.

SHAY'S FEET WERE sore. He'd lost track of how many days they'd been walking underground. He had no idea how many miles they'd covered. Since this morning when he'd confessed his attraction to Jandra, they'd walked without conversation. He followed behind her has she led the way. Lizard scrambled along like a faithful dog at her heels. The little dragon had a strange walk. He was bipedal, but he didn't really stand erect like a human. His torso leaned forward as his tail jutted out beside him. He bounced along in a gait resembling some flightless bird. sore. He'd lost track of how many days they'd been walking underground. He had no idea how many miles they'd covered. Since this morning when he'd confessed his attraction to Jandra, they'd walked without conversation. He followed behind her has she led the way. Lizard scrambled along like a faithful dog at her heels. The little dragon had a strange walk. He was bipedal, but he didn't really stand erect like a human. His torso leaned forward as his tail jutted out beside him. He bounced along in a gait resembling some flightless bird.

From time to time, Lizard would look over his shoulder, glaring at Shay with what seemed to be a newfound hostility. Did Lizard understand the conversation he and Jandra had shared earlier? Was the small beast jealous? Or did his muted hostility somehow reflect Jandra's own reaction? She certainly had been anxious to change the subject. Was she looking for a way to let him down gently? He'd been a fool to say anything. He'd never mention it again.

Or was he being a coward now? When he'd praised Jandra for her bravery, it had been a subtle confession of his own lack of courage. He'd run to escape from Chapelion while his master was away. A braver man might have waited for Chapelion's return and killed him. The biologian certainly wouldn't have antic.i.p.ated it. No doubt, Shay would have been killed in the aftermath, but as a tactical move, killing the head of the College of Spires would have been a serious blow to the morale of all sky-dragons. But was courage only measured as a willingness to kill or be killed? Wasn't it also a type of courage to steal books and run so that he could teach others to read?

He'd read a thousand books on the subject of courage, and been offered a thousand different answers. The same was true of love. He'd read countless poems and essays on the matter, studied numerous plays, and could recite from memory a hundred lines where a man summed up his feelings and offered them to a woman like some gilded rose. And now that his moment of romantic confession had come and gone, what had he summoned up? Something like hunger? Nothing like hunger? Something like hunger? Nothing like hunger? A lifetime of working with words had left him with these inanities. Perhaps, in the end, Bitterwood was right. Books had never done the world any good. A lifetime of working with words had left him with these inanities. Perhaps, in the end, Bitterwood was right. Books had never done the world any good.

He was pulled from his thoughts as the smell of the mines started to change. The damp, egg-scented air took on a saltier, more marine smell, as if they were nearing the ocean. It was like salt.w.a.ter at low tide, a sort of soggy, methane-rich rot.

Jandra halted as she studied the tunnel ahead. The pa.s.sage widened. The mine shaft led to a cliff, and beyond this he couldn't see anything. Jandra reached up and took off her visor. She turned, nodded her head toward the end of the tunnel, and said, "Light."

He removed the visor. He blinked in the darkness that swallowed him. Yet the darkness wasn't complete. The open end of the tunnel had a dull glow, like dawn just over the horizon. Jandra was a dark silhouette against this faint light.

"Something's changed," said Jandra. "When we left, the place had fallen into total darkness."

"We're here? This is the kingdom of the G.o.ddess?"

"Yes," said Jandra, walking forward at a rapid pace. "It's a world within a world. I only saw a small part of it when I was here with Bitterwood and Hex, but it stretches out for over a hundred square miles."

Shay hurried to keep up. They halted at the mouth of the tunnel, on a ledge overlooking a large underground lake studded with islands. The stench of rot was extreme. The light came from thousands of small bright pin points scattered across the roof of the endless cavern.

"To have been built by someone who loved nature, this has to be one of the least natural places on earth," Jandra said. "After the human age ended, Jazz withdrew to this underground world. She took her self-appointed t.i.tle of G.o.ddess a bit too seriously perhaps, and began to populate it with life of her own design. She was fascinated by the limits evolutionary history had imposed on organisms. She wondered if she could create species that were more intelligently designed to fill niches left in the earth's ecology by the ma.s.s extinctions brought about by civilization."

"She thought the world needed long-wyrms?"

"And talking cats, and amphibious sharks, and zebra-striped winged monkeys," said Jandra. "She thinks of herself as an artist. She has the freedom to work on a canvas that no artist has ever truly been able to master: life itself. Some of her art is serious; some is whimsical. And, from the looks of things, some of it might still be alive."

Shay wrinkled his nose. "It doesn't smell like much is alive down there."

"Something or someone turned on the lights," said Jandra. "The other long-wyrm riders, perhaps? And... wow. Look at the walls." She pointed to the stone behind them. He turned and found that almost every surface was studded with pale yellow mushrooms. There was also something moving over his head. It was the size of a squirrel, but furless, slimy, like a long, pink frog with a tail. It crept along the rock face using sucker-toes, pausing to munch on mushrooms.

"I've never seen one of those before," said Shay.

"I haven't either," said Jandra. "But somehow I know that if you lick the hide, you experience psychedelic visions."

"My first instinct wouldn't be to lick it," said Shay.

"When you're immortal, even with all of creation as your plaything, there are times when you get a little bored," said Jandra. She looked back out over the salt.w.a.ter lake. "Luckily, that big island a few miles away is where we need to go. That's where we buried the G.o.ddess's heart. It was a genie... the same sort of device I used. Vendevorex said his was designed to unlock upon his death so that anyone could use it. I'm gambling that hers acts the same, if it still works at all. We buried it with a flaming sword stuck through it. I'm not certain any technology, no matter how advanced, is going to survive that."

"How are we going to get over there?"

"That's an excellent question," she said. "Swimming is a bad idea if the ichthyosaurs are still alive. They were the apex predator of the lake and could survive quite a while by hunting one another. Any that are left are likely to be hungry."

"So what options do we have?"

Jandra pointed toward a stony path leading down the cliff side toward a black beach below. The beach ran along the outer perimeter of the cavern. About a half mile away, a waterfall spilled down over the rocks, crashing into an elevated pool before it spilled into the lake. A few sad trees stood beyond it, their leaves gone.

"Maybe we can build a raft?" she said. "I'll think about it some more in a little while. More immediately, I want to take a bath. There aren't any ichthyosaurs in that pool. I'll feel better and be able to think clearer once I get the grime out of my hair."

"I know what you mean," said Shay. "I've never been this dirty. Even my teeth feel gritty."

"There may be some small fish in the pool," said Jandra. "Won't it be nice to eat something fresh, instead of hardtack and jerky?"

"Good hardtack," said Lizard. "Good jerky."

"You'll like good fish even more," Jandra said. "You can use a bath, too. You used to be green. Now look at you."

Lizard looked down at his coal-darkened scales. "No bath," he said, firmly. It was the first time he'd ever said no to Jandra that Shay could remember.

Jandra gave the little dragon a good, firm stare.

Lizard looked down, avoiding her gaze, then looked up at Shay with big, pleading eyes.

"Don't drag me into this," said Shay.

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE:.

THIS CLOSE TO HEAVEN.

THE WATERFALL FELL a hundred feet into a pool twenty yards across. The water churned white at the point of impact, but most of the pond was crystal clear, revealing schools of silvery fish no bigger than Shay's thumbs darting through the water. On the rocks surrounding the pool, white crickets the size of mice jumped away as they approached. The insects chirped with a high pitched rhythmic drone that provided a musical accompaniment for the thunder of the falling water. The whole scene was lit by a trio of bright lights high overhead. They looked like shards of moon set in stone. They emitted a steady radiance like nothing Shay had ever seen outside the heavens. a hundred feet into a pool twenty yards across. The water churned white at the point of impact, but most of the pond was crystal clear, revealing schools of silvery fish no bigger than Shay's thumbs darting through the water. On the rocks surrounding the pool, white crickets the size of mice jumped away as they approached. The insects chirped with a high pitched rhythmic drone that provided a musical accompaniment for the thunder of the falling water. The whole scene was lit by a trio of bright lights high overhead. They looked like shards of moon set in stone. They emitted a steady radiance like nothing Shay had ever seen outside the heavens.

Through some lucky chance of geology, the water smelled like nothing more than water, free of the sulfur stink that had tainted their canteens ever since they'd moved underground.

Jandra dropped her pack on the rocky sh.o.r.e. "I've never wanted a bath so badly in my life," she said.

"No bath!" Lizard chimed in. He was perched once more on her shoulder.

"Fine. Don't take a bath," Jandra said, reaching up and stroking Lizard beneath his chin. "I like you the way you are."

Lizard tilted his head, looking skeptical.

Jandra pointed toward the pool. "Look at all those fish! I bet they'd taste delicious. Too bad we don't have anyone fast enough to grab them."

"Lizard fast," the small dragon said, sounding mildly offended. "Good hunter!"

"But see how they're darting around? n.o.body could be fast enough to jump into the pool and start catching them by hand."

"Lizard catch!" The small dragon leapt from Jandra's shoulder with such force that Jandra stumbled backward toward Shay. Lizard looked like he was flying, sailing out twenty feet over the pool before splashing into the water.

Jandra lost her footing on the slick rock and Shay's hand darted out, catching her arm, giving her the added point of stability she needed to steady herself. She looked up at him. They stood there, still and silent. Jandra's eyes were fascinating, a complex mixture of hazel and amber flecked with mossy green.

"You have the most beautiful eyes," he whispered. It felt perfectly appropriate to kiss her.

She turned away as his lips approached, looking fl.u.s.tered.

"I'm sorry," he said, drawing back. "I didn't mean to embarra.s.s you."

"You didn't," she said. "I... I want you to kiss me. But, not right now. I want everything be right. I've never kissed anyone before. I mean, Pet kissed me me, but it was sort of a sneak attack that I wasn't really prepared for."

"That's more experience than I have with kissing," said Shay. "But my impression is that it isn't all that difficult."

"I'm sure it isn't," she said. "But, we're both covered with mine grime and have breath that could wilt flowers. A kiss at this moment might not be a pleasant experience for either of us."

"I'm absolutely certain I'd enjoy it," Shay said.

"You can wait, can't you?" Jandra said, backing away. "We could both stand a dip in the water first."

"Oh," said Shay. "I ... yes, of course. I'll go wait behind those trees while you bathe."

"You can wait there if you want," she said, shyly. "Or we could both go in the pool together. There's plenty of room."

Shay's mouth felt dry. "Of course," he rasped, as Jandra unb.u.t.toned her coat.

Behind them, Lizard splashed up onto the sh.o.r.e, his mouth and all four claws br.i.m.m.i.n.g with bright minnows. "Big catch!" he said, spraying wriggly fish parts over the rocks before him.

Jandra knelt down to her pack and pulled out the tin pot she carried. "Good job! Put the fish in the pot. They're small, so you'll need to catch a lot. Can you do that?"

"Good hunter," Lizard said as he dropped his catch into the pot. He turned and leapt once more. He undulated beneath the surface as gracefully as an otter, his long tail whipping around like a rudder.

"That should keep him busy," said Jandra, continuing to fumble around in her pack. She pulled out a walnut-sized chunk of white soap, the only thing that remained of the fist-sized bar they'd started the journey with.

Shay had his coat, boots and socks off by this point and was fumbling with the b.u.t.tons of his shirt. He peeled it off then reached for his belt buckle. He looked up, to see if Jandra was looking at him. She was. She had her hands on her own belt buckle. With a synchronized movement, each pulled their belts free. A few seconds later, each was standing before the other in their long-johns. The coal that had permeated their skin had sunk down to the once white cotton of their undergarments, leaving them gray. Jandra turned her back to him as she unb.u.t.toned her long-johns.

Slowly, she peeled the gray cotton down her shoulders, revealing her bare back. She was slender, but not boney. Her pale skin glowed in the soft light. Her underwear bunched up at her hips for a moment. She took a slow, deep breath and pushed the long-johns over her hips until they dropped around her ankles. She stepped out of them. She was now naked save for the silver bracelet on her wrist. She wrapped her hands across her b.r.e.a.s.t.s and looked back over her shoulders.

"So," she said. "This is me. Scaleless, tailless, wingless, pale, and hairy."

"I give thanks to whatever G.o.ds there may be that you are scaleless, tailless, wingless, pale, and hairy. You're breathtaking. The most beautiful woman I've ever seen."

"Have you seen many naked women?"

"None."