Page 18 of Valentine's Day Treasure

These crystals are of similar substances but different properties than the ones ye are familiar with. These will melt nicely at high heat,Graeme said.

Heather looked at him, wide-eyed.You mean glass-blowing?

Aye. Take a few. I’ve been wanting to bring ye here since I first saw ye at yer hobby.

Heather looked back at the beach of smooth, round crystals, her mind whirling. Crystals normally were too unstable to work with, but these were obviously different. Some looked like quartz, and other minerals she recognized, but others looked completely foreign.

They made it to the beach. Heather gingerly stepped on the round spheres, while Graeme took a few normal steps to show her it was safe. It was like walking on packed, oversized marbles, and Heather was fascinated. She bent to pick one up, then stopped and looked at Graeme. He nodded at her and motioned that she could touch it. It was the size of a tennis ball, bright blue, and perfectly round. She picked it up and was so surprised she almost dropped it again. It was hot, as if the ground under their feet was volcanic. It also seemed to weigh very little. Heather moved a few spheres out of the way to touch the ground beneath, but the others weren’t hot and neither was the ground. She moved on and found another bright blue sphere and picked it up. It was hot also. She compared the two and picked her favorite, putting the other down.

Heather spotted a spattering of fluorescent pink spheres, and she headed that way. She found another the size of a tennis ball and picked it up, running her thumb over a crack in it.

Something touched her ankle. She looked down to see a wet red tentacle emerging from a hole in the ground and wrapping around her leg. Heather screamed, unable to help herself, and immediately, a riot of sound exploded under her feet, with the spheres popping one by one and many at a time. Sharp crystals flew in every direction. Heather bent forward, protecting her face and shooting her temperature up as fast as it could go. She blazed with fire and the sharp, shooting crystals melted in the air like thick rain—and then Graeme was there. He wrapped her in strong wings and—

sidestep

Intense heat and pressure from all sides—

sidestep

The pressure was gone but they weren’t on the ground—they were falling through the air, plummeting, because Graeme’s wings were wrapped around her. They were going to hit the ground—

I’ll flip ye!Graeme called inruhi.

Flip? What?Heather called back, but then she was out of Graeme’s wings and flipping in the air and with afwump, she landed on his back, with her legs side-saddle. She wobbled in her seat and he banked to correct her balance. She flipped one leg over, grabbed him with her forearms, and dropped her torso to lie on his back, breathing heavily, still clutching her treasures.

They were back on Earth and it was still snowing heavily. Graeme landed in an empty cornfield and transformed to a man before she was even off of him. He turned and caught her before she could fall to the ground and then he hugged her tight.

“How did you do that?” she asked, her voice muffled by his shirt.

Flip ye? I don’t ken, exactly, but I was certain I could do it, or I wouldnae have tried. I would have flipped myself to hit the ground on my back instead, protecting ye.

“What happened?”

I had no time for calculations and entered this world at altitude.

When her breathing had slowed, he held her at arm’s length and spoke out loud, as snow continued to fall all around them.

“Let’s have a swatch at ye,” he said.

She laughed weakly. “A what?”

He smiled and kissed her nose. “A look. Are ye fine?”

“Fine, yes,” she said, her brain still spinning from everything that had happened. She held her belly, feeling a bit of nausea, glad she hadn’t eaten anything. The nausea passed quickly.

Graeme took her hands and turned them over so he could see them. She opened them to show him her two round crystals.

He nodded at her, a proud look on his face. “Ye melted the whole beach, but not the ones in your hands. Impressive control.”

She smiled, warmed by his compliment, but also worried about what she’d done. “Will that world be okay?”

He nodded once. “The world’s name is Franronigen and it’ll be fine. That’s happened before, many times.”

“But what blew up?”

“There is one particular crystal on that beach that will explode upon hearing a voice. It is purple and black and usually smaller than the others, about the size of a golf ball. I didnae see any, but they were there. One crystal exploding will explode all its mates. That’s all.”

“That’s all,” she repeated, still a little shaky. “And the tentacle?”

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