The crimson witch

second worldline. In any event, there was an irresistible force drawing them towards another speck of light that was still a pinprick thousands of miles ahead. When Jake had originally crossed, through the aid of the PBT, he had evidently short-circuited the route, come around the gulf or crossed it in one leap. He was thinking how much more pleasant that method had been when the Smoke Ghosts came…
        The Smoke Ghosts were, it seemed, members of the life form that inhabited this bleak landscape between concrete realities. They were of the same substance as the gloom, though lighter in color-a dusty, gray-white ash. They were shapeless, though they tried to assume the human form when they touched Jake or Cheryn and the dragon form when they were toying with Kaliglia. They formed fingers and paws and touched the three travellers as if examining experimental animals to see the effects of a new drug. Jake watched as the mist beasts penetrated his skin with their insubstantial fingers, shivered as he felt them exploring his insides, touching his organs, gently examining the things that made him tick. Cheryn's hand trembled in his as she felt the beasts doing the same to her. He held her hand more tightly, partly to reassure her and partly to reassure himself. He was glad he had someone to hold onto, someone to share the horror with. At least sound traveled in the gloom, and he could whisper to her and help steady her nerves. They discovered that sound traveled when Kaliglia bellowed at the first sight of the Smoke Ghosts. It had been a booming, wild, uncontrolled shriek that split the blackness in half.
        The light ahead was growing…
        Growing…
        As large as a dime…
        A quarter…
        A fist…
        Suddenly they were streaking out of the darkness and tumbling through into brilliant daylight, rolling over and over down a small hill in soft, lush, green grass. Colors had never had so much meaning before, never been so vibrant and exciting. The light hurt their eyes so that they had to squint, but when they gained full sight, they could see they were in a small park and that it was summer. Birds crossed the sky in perfect formation; bees hummed about, stopping at nearby blossoms and delving into the sweet liquors of the flowers. Beyond the tall, heavily leafed trees, the tops of city buildings could be seen, gray and massive, the sun glinting off hundreds of windows. And the children…
        Children came running from the swings and playground equipment, children of all sizes and shapes, colors and creeds, but all having the one common denominator of wonder: wonder at the dragon that had appeared out of thin air. They bounded up the slope to the middle of the hill where the trio had come to a stop, and they circled them in a half moon. Some of the children were afraid of Kaliglia, others were not, but none of them was going to miss his chance to see a real live dragon at close range.
        “Is he tame?” a brown-haired boy of about eight asked Jake.
        “Is who tame?”
        “The dinosaur.”
        Jake grinned suddenly and looked at Kaliglia. Somehow, he had forgotten what a sensation the beast would be in this worldline. “Yeah, son. Yeah, he's tame enough.”
        “Could I ride him?” the boy asked.
        Kaliglia chuckled.
        “Can he?” Jake asked.
        “Sure,” Kaliglia said.
        The children were speechless.
        Jake lifted the eight year old while Kaliglia settled to his knees and sat him on the base of the dragon's neck. “Hold on to the scales,” he said, “but be careful you don't get your fingers pinched in them.”
        Kaliglia lumbered away up the hill, turned at the top, and lumbered back down. By that time, the other children were shouting and pushing, all anxious to be next. Jake had to sort them out and line them up. He threatened, if they weren't orderly, that he would not allow them to ride the dinosaur. They quieted down at once and became perfect ladies and gentlemen.
        Their mothers were not quite as mannerly. Just then some of the mothers who were in the park with their younger children started running from the equipment, screaming and waving their arms. “What's this?” Kaliglia asked,
        “I think they're afraid for their little darlings. They don't trust dragons around here.”
        “They're going to take the kids away?” Kaliglia asked. “Before they even get to