So he told the wings to let him go.
As the hyperfriction field between his shoulders shut off, he was sucked over the edge. A rough-knuckled hand brushed his neck as it closed around the collar of his coat.
A white-hot flaming sword thrust down, sinking to the hilt between the goddess's empty eyes. The goddess hissed as her body began to twist and warp, distorted by the sun-like flame within her. Her hands pulled free of Jandra's shoulders.
She fell the length of Jandra's body, catching Jandra's right boot with hands tipped with tentacles instead of fingers. She dangled there as she swung her arm to climb again.
Jandra kicked down with her left boot, planting the blow on the hilt of the sword, shattering what remained of Jazz's face as the weapon sank deeper into the hollow of her body. The silvery tentacles loosened and Jazz tumbled free, limp and lifeless, trailing smoke.
As Jazz fell, her silvery form folded in on itself, looking less like a woman, and more like a heart pierced by a flaming sword. It fell, further and further, until the white hot flame of the sword dimmed in the thinning air. At last, the speck of her heart was lost in the yawning darkness.
Shay finally looked up. He was dangling in the grip of Bitterwood, who had a bright pink rope tied around his waist.
Jandra shouted above the wind, "Bant, as always, your timing is flawless."
Shay pulled Jandra closer as some force pulled the rope upward. They were locked in an embrace when they passed back over the lip of the pit onto the marble floor.
"I don't suppose you know how to close that hole, do you?" Bitterwood asked Jandra as they reached the marble pillar to which the other end of the rope was tied.
"Not a clue," said Jandra.
They climbed down the temple steps. There was a disturbingly large pool of red fluid where Shay's severed hand rested. Beside this was Jandra's bag. Shay was now more dizzy than he'd ever been in his life. Jandra's arm around him was the only thing keeping him on his feet. He dropped to his knees as they reached her bag.
He picked up Jandra's coat. She was naked save for her boots and her silver skull cap. Silver, he thought, really wasn't a good color on her.
"I kept this for you," he whispered. But as he tried to hand the coat to her, he fainted, tumbling face first into the pool of his own blood.
Jandra wasn't wearing her skull cap when his eyes opened again. Her hair looked freshly washed. She was dressed in a tight-fitting green velvet gown decorated with elaborate patterns of yellow lace. She smiled gently at him. It was mid-day, judging from the light.
"How long was I asleep?" he asked, raising his hands to rub his eyes. He stopped in mid rub. He opened his eyes and stared at two unscarred hands.
"You're really good at this magic stuff," he said.
She shook her head. "You can thank Vendevorex. I gave him back the skull cap. It had been his far longer than it had been mine. He's much more experienced. I'm good with it, but he really is magic. He stitched your hand back on without any scars."
Shay sat up. He was in a large bed with white cotton linens in a room with large open windows draped with sheer curtains that fluttered in the breeze. He could hear waves crashing in the distance. The air smelled of salt.
"I'm glad he wasn't dead," said Shay.
"Just banged up," said Jandra. "I could never have escaped Jazz's control if he hadn't put my genie back in contact with my nervous system." She leaned down and gave him a brief, soft kiss on his brow. "I definitely couldn't have escaped if you hadn't been there to fight for me."
"Some angry ghosts helped," said Shay. "Bitterwood also played a significant role."
Jandra grinned slyly. "One day, when we tell our children this story, we can emphasize the parts that make you look good."
"Our children?" Shay asked. "Are you… um…?"
"No, silly," she said, rolling her eyes. "But one day. You're the first man who's ever made me feel joyous that I'm human. You're the one I want to spend my life with."
"Are you certain?" he asked.
"You held on to me when I begged you to let me go," she said. "Who else could there ever be?"
They started to kiss, but halted when someone nearby cleared his throat.
Vendevorex, Master of the Invisible, stood by the bed.
"I'm sorry to disturb you," he said. "I wanted to check in on the patient."
Shay held up his hand. "Good as new." He stopped to feel his pulse. "I guess you found all my blood, too."
"It was easier to grow new blood," said Vendevorex. "Your marrow is quite healthy."
"Didn't you have a hole to outer space to close?" Jandra asked.
"Done," said Vendevorex.
"You know how to open and close underspace gates?" asked Shay.
"Not yet," said Vendevorex, shaking his head. "I do know how to reconfigure the molecules of the roof of a marble temple into a ball with a radius larger than that of the gate. It makes an efficient plug. The earth is no longer in immediate danger of having its atmosphere sucked into orbit around another star."
"That's good news," said Shay, though he hadn't realized that was a danger until just now.
"Weren't you going to check on the boy that Zeeky rescued?"
Vendevorex tilted his head to the side. "Daughter, are you anxious to have me leave?"
She smirked. "Possibly."
"I'll go," he said. "You can open the gift later." The air shimmered and he disappeared.
"Is he gone?"
"I don't know," said Jandra. "He's really good at this invisibility stuff."
"I'm gone," said Vendevorex from the hall.
"Now for that kiss," said Jandra.
Shay leaned forward. But, as he closed his eyes he noticed a bright blue box sitting on the bed by his feet. It hadn't been there a moment ago.
"Now what?" asked Jandra, her face only inches from his, looking perturbed that he wasn't focused on her.
"That must be the gift he mentioned."
Jandra picked up the box and lifted its lid. Inside was a silver skull cap, a duplicate of Vendevorex's own.
"Do me a favor," he said. "Change it to different color when you wear it. I don't want to see silver against your skin for a long time."
"Oh," she said, lifting the hair at the back of her neck and twisting so he could see the upper part of her back. A strip of silver metal ran along her spine, into her hair, where it clung to her scalp like a three fingered claw. The silver turned to jade before his eyes. "Done," she said.
"You're already wearing a genie?" he asked, puzzled.
"Ven's genie has always had the power to spawn new ones. He's simply been cautious in sharing."
"Then whose…?"
Jandra lifted the skullcap from the box. "It's your genie, Shay."
Shay took the skullcap, staring at his reflection. His hair was a hopeless mess.
There was a note in the box. "Thank you for saving my daughter," it read. "Study hard in case you need to do so again."
"He has nice penmanship," said Shay. He shook his head. "I adjusted to the wings, but I don't know if I'm ready to learn magic."
Jandra took the skullcap from his hands and set it back in the box.
"Learning magic can wait," she whispered. "Making magic is the order of the moment."
Her lips brushed against his. He closed his eyes.
And then there was magic.
Vendevorex floated down to the fishbowl garden. The fish, he noted, were still doing well. Jazz's antenna was dismantled, spread on the ground before the young boy who studied the pieces with ancient eyes. He was dressed in a white toga torn from the scraps of a larger garment.
Zeeky sat near him on the lip of a large flowerpot. Skitter foraged at a nearby tree, ravenously devouring the ripe avocados that weighed down the branches.
The boy looked up as Vendevorex's shadow fell over him.
"The jamming signal is gone," said Vendevorex.