Page 10 of His Greatest Treasure

I’d spent a lot of years flitting from one place to another and staying as long as I could before moving on. I’d spent most of my recent years giving myself over to my spirit form and simply burning, burning, settling myself at the heart of a fire and letting the flames take me. It was almost as though I went to sleep.

The last place I’d settled was the intense heart of a fire in a factory. It burned 24/7 and never stopped. I’d been lost among the flames, warm and safe and hidden away. No bother to anybody. Nobody knew I was even there.

I’d lost track of time, which was one of the reasons that spirits tended to find it difficult to keep track of years. We didn’t respond to time in the same way that others did.

All I knew was that, one day, the fire had burned less hot. It had died down and then, suddenly, stopped.

I’d forced myself out of the place. Cold, disorientated and hungry, I’d found myself floundering.

All I could do was flit to the next fire and the next. I hadn’t been thinking properly. It was as though I were waking up and my brain had been sleepy and slow, my eyes blurry. The world around me had changed and I had blinked at it, trying to take it all in. The new cars on the roads, the new sounds that filled the streets, the strange fashions that paraded up and down the high street as I stood there in the last clothes I’d worn that had once been incredibly trendy.

And then the witches had seen me. They’d wanted me.

I’d barely managed to escape their traps, the cold, wet spells. I’d been confused and terrified, and I’d run. It had been a long time since I’d had to protect myself from avaricious eyes, and I wanted to burn again and forget that I was alone and vulnerable.

Seeing a dragon’s territory had been ideal. Fire spirits had an affinity for dragons. Long before my time, we’d been natural allies. There was probably some residual, lingering feeling inside me that drew me towards them. At least, that was how Iexplained the warm feeling in my belly that Iwantedto be here, that I wasmeantto be here.

When I heard footsteps outside, I rushed to the door and then realised that it might not be Alfie. I cursed myself for not thinking of it before but we really needed a password or something so I knew it was him.

Looking around, I shifted into my flame form and shrank down, scurrying behind the table to conceal myself. Hopefully, anyone looking in wouldn’t notice me.

The door opened, footsteps entered, and then the door closed and latched again. Alfie spoke, just as the aroma of home-cooked stew hit me.

“It’s okay, it’s only me. We really need a password or something so you know it’s me and not someone else. Although nobody else comes here except me so you don’t need to worry.”

I stepped out from behind the table leg and looked up at Alfie, towering over me. He was looking straight at me. So much for hiding.

He smiled. “I managed to get you a whole portion of beef stew. I hope you’re not a vegetarian. That didn’t occur to me until now. If you are, that’s okay, Ican—”

I cut him off, already knowing he’d apologise round in circles if I let him carry on. He made me smile. I couldn’t remember the last time I’d talked to a person this friendly.

“Beef stew sounds lovely. It smells good, too.”

Alfie beamed and my heart gave a little pitter-patter at the sight of it. He was bundled up in a large parka and he looked incredibly sweet and warm.

“Can you eat like that or do you need to be in human form?”

I flickered back to my solid body and sat down in the chair where he’d laid the tray.

“Are you staying a while?”

Alfie sat in the other chair so fast, he nearly tumbled right out the other side. He scrambled to stay sitting and I pretended not to notice. His cheeks flamed red and although the sight of him all flushed did something to me, I didn’t like him being embarrassed.

Instead, I took a spoonful of the stew and nearly moaned at how delicious it was. It had been ages since I’d tasted food like that.

I shovelled it into my mouth greedily, enjoying the taste of it. I’d had plenty of fuel to burn in thefactory and the fire had done an excellent job of sustaining me, but it wasn’tfood. It didn’t taste like this.

It was only when I was scraping my spoon across the bottom of the bowl to get the last drops that I even looked up. I’d been totally absorbed in the experience of eating again.

When I did look up, I met Alfie’s eyes. They were round and fixed on me with a strange expression. His cheeks were flushed and red.

“Are you okay?” I asked.

“Yes! I’m fine. I wasn’t watching you. Maybe I was watching a little. You really enjoyed that, didn’t you? Are you still hungry? Because I can get you some more if you want it.”

I considered. I was still getting used to being in a physical body. After a moment, I said, “No, I think I’m full up for the moment, thank you. Are you sure you’re okay because you look flushed.”

He waved a hand in front of his face, fanning himself.

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