Raylen might’ve started calling me a boy scout but really one should always be prepared for anything. As Sabyne rustles around the tree house, examining the shelves of potions and such, I work on lighting a fire over the image of the dragon since the image is surrounded by stone inlaid into the wood. I always carry extra matches in my pockets and the flower basket Sabyne sets down has enough mushrooms and other fodder for tinder. I definitely want a fire tonight since it got so cold last night.

I promised Raylen…I broke that promise.

I shouldn’t have left without her. She isn’t the outdoorsy type at all, and this place isn’t exactly normal, even I don’t know what to expect, and then there are those real life Smurf things that she doesn’t even know to avoid yet. The mushrooms spark and I carefully fan the flames until they grow. The warmth sets into my hands and it should be soothing, but instead causes me to remember that Raylen is probably somewhere on the forest floor.

She’s probably cold. Most definitely extremely angry. I imagine her reaching through the flames and strangling me when Sabyne suddenly shouts and lunges forward, knocking me down and throwing a pink powder over the flames. They instantly die out until all that’s left is a sizzling pile of charred mushrooms and ash.

“Are you insane!? To bring that-that killer substance to our world?!” He starts to back away muttering to himself. “Of course, of course, don’t be angry he is one of them after all, trying to burn the gateways down. Trying to burn me. The forest would be ash, all just ash…the vents would wither. Just like the Hollow Forest. Can’t happen again.” Sabyne is pacing back and forth, wringing his scaling claws together. “Matilde of course you’re just merrily enjoying your prison cell and here I have to deal with these foreigners and their—”

“Um…who is Matilde?” Sabyne stiffens.

“Matilde, Matilde who?” He clasps his four clawed hands in a sort of fake relaxed pose.

“You just said something about someone named— ”

He lunges forward again and clasps a clawed hand over my mouth. So, he doesn’t want me to say the name…all right then. What is it like Voldemort?

“No. No. No. No…No, no, no. You didn’t hear that name. I can’t explain that right now, but on to a more pressing subject. That stuff, that living heat beast, what is it your kind calls it again? It’s been so long since I’ve had to deal with it.”

“You mean the fire?” Sabyne nods and reaches into his pack again. He begins to mutter to himself, but this time in a strange language that sounds like a mix of Korean and German.

He pulls something out and stares at me with a your grandma just died type look on his face.

“Our world and that fire beast are incompatible. Your kind nearly destroyed our Xanvis. I can’t fully explain the extent to which it nearly depleted our kind. It’s dangerous, more than you can comprehend. You cannot. I repeat, cannot, use it here, ever. Do you understand?” He says. His tone is almost as tense as his posture. I can’t even formulate a question. As if to accentuate the severity of it Sabyne adds, “If anyone other than myself saw that beast, they would have killed you.” I gulp and nod. Sabyne pats me on the head like a child and grins. “Good, good, now that that’s out of the way.” He motions for my hand and places something in my palm. It looks like a small river stone mixed with an ice cube. But after a few seconds it begins to change until it resembles a glowing coal.

“This is our main source of heat here. It’s called a heartstone. It reacts to ones heartbeat and warms. It was discovered about a century ago in the belly of a great snapper, and then a more direct source was found in an idle volcano by a, your kind would call her a witch. Are you listening to me?”

I nod. “Yeah. The witch sounds interesting. You lit up when you mentioned her. Is she a relative or something?”

A peaceful look crosses his face and he grins. “Something like that. Now you should get some rest. Our nights are not as long in this season, as those you may be accustomed to.” As much as I want to stay up and ask more and more questions, I know he’s right.

Especially since nothing is what I’m accustomed to. No, now isn’t the time to be depressed. It’s an adventure. A quest, a journey, one that I will bravely follow, I’ll find Raylen, we’ll figure out why we’re here, and we’ll get home. Thoughts of Raylen cloud my mood. I distract myself by inspecting the heartstone. It’s perfectly smooth, the color of a slowly burning coal, but feels somewhat like a hand warmer except one huge difference. The heat seems to travel through the stone and reaches out towards me like a warm blanket. Even without anything around me, sitting in this chilly air, just by holding this tiny stone in my hand, I can feel the heat down to my very bones. It’s far warmer than a fire would be.

There’s something about being in a cozy place with warmth surrounding you that makes it impossible to stay awake. I don’t remember falling asleep. Only that the heartstone was a warmth in my hands that constantly reminded me of my guilt over Raylen. Sabyne snored contentedly beside me.

I hope Raylen is warm wherever she is.