Max was snoring softly on the windowsill. I would have liked to be blissfully unaware of this fact, because being aware of it meant that he had somehow managed to find enough comfort in this cold, dark dungeon to fall asleep, whereas I had not. I would have liked very much to have been snoring myself and keeping him awake, rather than the other way around.

“Will you be quiet?!” I said, but not really loudly enough to wake him.

If I wanted to be honest, I would have acknowledged that being unaware of Max’s snoring was the least of my list of wants. I would have also liked to be able to stop shivering. I would have liked to not be in the dungeon. I would have liked to be back on solid ground. I would also have liked to be rich, with a complete understanding of where I came from and who I was, and while I was at it, I would have liked to be the ruler of all of the land.

I would also have liked it if I was with Gabby.

But that last, it seemed, was not to be. At least tonight. She hadn’t returned from her dinner with the Shadow.

What was she doing? I wondered. Were they still awake, munching (or gumming, as the case might be for him) some sort of flavorsome after-dinner treat and talking? If so, what were they saying? Would the Shadow return her here once he was done with conversation? Or would that gleam in his eye as he saw her lead to something else, perhaps?

Like to bed?

No way, I told myself. Surely he was much too old for that sort of behavior. But then, he was the Shadow, and the stories about him included those of unending virility….

I shifted uncomfortably on the cold stone floor, rattling my chains and doing what I could to get that image out of my head. Not Gabby, I thought. No way. And yet, what did I really know?

To distract myself from this thought, I wondered if I would ever see her again, or if it was my fate to stay here until I rotted away into nothing.

“Would you please stop your snoring!” This time I said it loudly enough to wake him.

“Huh? Wassat? Watcha talkin’ about? I don’ snore.”

“Well, you’re certainly doing a very fine impression of it then.”

“Yeh’re imaginin’ it. Hush up now an’ lemme sleep.” He rolled over and in moments he was snoring again.

I spent most of the night like that. Thinking and worrying about Gabby, yelling at Max from time to time, and maybe dozing a little. It was a long, cold, slow night, but at least I wasn’t in any danger of getting beaten up or killed, and that made an almost pleasant change.

Eventually, as it tended to do about once a day, the sun rose again. I considered moving over to the window, but didn’t think even the truly spectacular view offered would be enough to take my mind off my troubles. But then Gabby returned, flanked by a couple of orcs.

“Gabby!” I said, bouncing to my feet as if I’d never known tiredness in my life. “I was worried about you. Where have you been? What happened?”

I took a moment to study her and realized there was something different. Then I understood. She was clean. The dirt and grime that had built up during the course of our little adventures had all been washed away, her hair was newly combed and she smelled awfully good to a guy who’d been stuck in a dungeon with a snoring pixie all night. Probably she would have smelled awfully good even to a guy who hadn’t been stuck in a dungeon with a snoring pixie all night, but about that I was in no position to tell.

“You look fantastic!” I said without even thinking.

Amazingly, she blushed a little. Then she reverted to her old self. Almost. “Don’t call me … oh, never mind. Thank you. But we don’t really have time for questions. I’ve come to get you out of here.”

“Really? How?”

“Let’s just say that I explained to Timmy that we weren’t here with any ill intentions towards him or his Demesne, he believed me and now he’s letting you go.” She didn’t look at me as she said it and I felt she was hiding something. But I didn’t get the chance to pursue it as she’d already turned to one of the orcs. “If you don’t mind?”

The orc in question might have been the same one that had captured us initially, but then I’ve never been all that good at telling one big bluish bulging brute from another. Anyway, he unlocked the door and unchained both me and Max.

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“Just like that?” I asked.

Gabby smiled. “Just like that.”

Max buzzed into the air and said, “Feels good to be free, don’t it?”

I had to agree. I left that dungeon without a backwards glance and walked up to Gabby in the corridor, with Max buzzing along beside me. But then I paused. “Now what?”

“Now we get you off this floating mountain and back to your quest for the Fracture.”

“We get off? How?”

“You’ll see. But you have to hurry.”

Together with Gabby and the orcs (who seemed content to accompany us but made no move to intervene in anything we did), Max and I strode past the various buildings that formed the Shadow’s palace. The part of me that realized Gabby hadn’t really answered any of my questions wanted to ask them again, but the rest of me was like a pixie in an ale house. Everything about this place promised marvels and I couldn’t help but strain my neck this way and that just to catch a glimpse of the fine stonework that made up the buildings, the sculptures of marble and bronze (or were they gold?) and even the way the gardens had been lovingly cajoled into growing in just the right way.

Sure, we’d passed some of this yesterday, but the thing about being marched to a dungeon by an orc who wouldn’t think twice about wrapping your innards around the business end of a pike is that it puts a serious dent in your aesthetic appreciation, especially if you’re also still dealing with the remnants of pixie dust upsetting your status quo.

This time, I had the leisure of not having to worry about such things, so I ogled as much as I wanted, wondering all the while if I couldn’t just sneak off for a moment to bag myself a few precious ornaments or jewels that the Shadow would never miss. Maybe one day, I thought, I’d come back to do exactly that.

But not today. Today was all about getting off the Demesne, and getting back to finding the Fracture. So I followed Gabby and the orcs to wherever they were taking me. Us. Because Max was there as well, alternately buzzing happily along or riding on my shoulder.

At last we came to a small stone building that must have been where we were heading because the Shadow stood there, clutching his walking stick and accompanied by his orc guard of honor. I’d seen the Shadow before, so instead of looking at him I focused my attention on the building, which wasn’t anywhere near as ornate as some of the others we’d passed. In fact, it was about as simple as a building can be, with four corner columns holding up a roof. Inside, a spool as big as me and more rested on its side in a sort of cradle thing that held it off the ground. It had large handles on either side that looked as if they allowed it to be turned.

I realized how close to the edge we were, and when I saw the thick rope leading from the spool, I understood. On the other end of the rope, somewhere on the land below, there was an anchor of some sort that at this moment was holding the Demesne in place.

“Ahh, there you are my lovely,” said the Shadow. “I was starting to worry that you had become lost.”

Gabby gave him the type of smile I’d seldom seen her use: it was open and friendly, without any hint of mixed feelings behind it. “No, your directions were perfect. We came straight here,” she said, and moved to stand altogether much too close to the old man before turning back to me.

I’m not altogether certain what happened then. Gabby sort of flinched, and the Shadow presented me with what I interpreted as a gloating toothless grin. Had he pinched her?

Before I could ask, Gabby started to talk as if nothing had happened. “Timmy has very kindly halted the Demesne’s progress for a time. To get back to the ground, use these to slide down the rope.” She held out at what was basically a leather strap with a curved metal bar in the middle.

I took it and understood, but Gabby explained anyway. “The metal bit goes over the rope. You can see it’s curved to keep it in place and smoothed so it won’t catch. You wrap the leather straps around your wrists. It’s quite easy.”

“So we go now?” I asked.

The Shadow barked a laugh. “Do you see any better time, sonny?”

And Gabby nodded.

Ok, I thought. Why not? I moved to the edge of the Demesne and looked down to the land below, then hooked the strap-and-metal thing over the rope and around my wrists as instructed. Then I turned back to Gabby and grinned.

“I’ll be there to catch you when you get to the ground,” I said.

Her face fell. She shook her head. “I’m not coming,” she said.

“Huh?” Again, not one of my most intelligent expressions, but it conveyed exactly the confusion I was experiencing at the time.

Looking back, I guess it was obvious that she intended to stay; the clues were all around. The smile she gave the Shadow, the way she’d never explicitly said that we were leaving, and even the fact that she was accompanied by the Shadow’s own orcs. I just hadn’t seen it. Or I hadn’t wanted to see it. Or I’d seen it and refused to believe it. Or something.

Either way, I was an idiot, and I was standing at the edge of the abyss with all my roiling emotions plain for anyone to see. The Shadow obviously did see them, because he chose to rub salt into the wound. And not just a little bit of salt; he used the whole shaker.

Keeping his leery old eyes on me all the while, he turned Gabby towards him and kissed her full on the mouth.

I must have made some sort of move towards them. I’m not really sure. All I knew was a moment of blackness where anything might have happened, and then Max was suddenly in my face, screaming, “Stop it yeh fool! It’s what he wants!” and all of the orcs had their weapons aimed squarely in my direction. I didn’t look at Gabby and never saw what she was doing. But I heard what she said.

“We’re not far from that village I told you about,” she said. “Brelor. I hope you find the Fracture.”

There was nothing in her tone at all to encourage me. It was as if she didn’t care at all.

So that was it. Without any other options, I looked at Max, said, “Are you ready? Hang on tight,” and stepped out into space.