At that moment a strange ringing sound reverberated about the realm. A great quake proceeded immediately. Since I was standing near the edge, I nearly fell off to a very fiery death, if not for Fono who grabbed me in the nick of time and pulled me to safety.

The tremor subsided, but only after having caused countless boulders to race down the slopes of volcanoes. Thankfully we were not standing in the path of any rogue boulder.

“What was that?” I asked Pook.

“Since you have sighted Bono’s soul, a time limit has been set for you to get him,” Pook replied. A frustrated Fono slapped his forehead.

“Limited time?” I asked Pook. “Why did you include something like that in this quest?”

“Well,” Pook replied, “I just had to. There has to be obstacles in a quest. Otherwise it would be too easy.”

I opened my mouth in protest, but shut it tight. It was futile to reason with Pook.

Bono was still hovering over the chasm, at least a hundred meters away, slowly drifting in the opposite direction. Nothing was coming to my mind. I wished I had a flying spell.

“I think I know what to do,” Fono said.

I raised a brow at him. 'Determination' was the word written on the stone giant’s face.

Fono turned to Pook. “The moment any one of us gets Bono’s soul, the quest would be completed right?”

“Absolutely,” Pook confirmed. “Just grab a hold of him, and it is done.”

“Okay then,” Fono said, “I have got long legs. It should be possible for me to leap and pluck my son from the air.”

“But you will fall into the magma!” I said.

Fono’s plan was suicidal. There were grounds to believe that even if Fono got hold of Bono in mid-air, Pook would invent an excuse to lengthen the quest. This would prove fatal for Fono. He would fall into the river of fire.

“The time’s running out,” Fono said, “Like our renowned quest-maker has himself explained.” He added, narrowing his eyes at Pook.

A second ringing sound. Another powerful quake. A chunk from the edge of the cliff dropped into the red glowing river.

“The third time that sound is heard, the quest will be over,” Pook informed, matter-of-factly.

Fono clenched his fist, almost like he was going to strike Pook. But he heaved a sigh and calmed himself.

“I am going to jump now,” Fono declared, “Pray that I succeed… I am coming for you, my son, Bono.”

Fono strode some meters away from the edge to prepare his leap of a lifetime. Queasiness brewed in the pit of my stomach. This was not going to work out.

Fono locked his head at the floating Bono. And then the father burst into an impressive run. I was absentmindedly biting my nails. Perhaps he might pull it off after all. When Fono reached the edge of the chasm, he let out a great grunt and launched himself into the air, the momentum from the run propelling him forwards.

Time slowed down, as Fono inched closer to Bono. He stretched out his arms to grab him. The power from the launch was fizzling out, and Fono began his descent.

Bono had been gazing away the entire time, with only the back of his head towards Fono. But now, Bono abruptly turned. Finding a huge giant next to himself frightened Bono, and he beat his ear wings and dashed away from his father… towards us.

It was with a horrified cry that Fono plummeted down to a guaranteed death.

I acted instinctively.

Bono’s flying head had zoomed considerably close to the edge of the chasm and was only a few meters away from us. I transformed myself into a Skhite, acquiring slightly longer legs.

I hurled myself into the air towards Bono. My heart beat like a drum. This was utter madness.

My fingers clasped the edge of Bono’s gigantic ear. He fought to break free, but quickly I grabbed his other ear too.

Gravity sucked us down.

Bono tried to beat his wings, but the manner I held them made it impossible for him to sustain a flight. Maybe if I let go of one ear, he would have flown me to safety. But fear rendered me incapable of rational action.

We kept falling. The river of magma now looked like a sea. I knew it. There was some hidden catch to the quest, and it would not complete immediately.

Expletives aimed at Pook spewed from my mouth.

May he never create another quest again!

I was in for a last surprise though. Fono was alive.

Instead of plunging into the magma, he had dropped onto the chunk of the edge of the cliff that had dislodged and fallen because of the second quake.

However the chunk was only slightly bigger than Fono and was fast shrinking in size, dissolving into the magma. Fono only had a few more moments of life left.

I was destined to die earlier.

The river of magma advanced, the scalding hot wind hitting my face hard. Bono was able to break one wing free from me, and flapped it. For a brief moment, instead of going down, we went up.

A translucent box formed in the air in front of me.

Congratulations! You have found Bono’s soul! You win this quest!

Bono failed to sustain his flight with a single wing, and once again we dropped. I was positioned above Bono and he was below me. Bono’s head sunk into the magma, however just a split-second before the same fate met me, everything dissolved and went black.

Eventually the game world materialized out of the blackness. I found myself standing before the boulder that hid the entrance to the sage’s dwelling.

I realized I was holding a golden diamond. Something large cast a shadow on me.

Bono.

He had a body now. A tiny one for a stone giant. He reminded me of a bobblehead. He was reduced to one-fourth of his actual height. Still he towered over me by a considerable degree. His new body was fashioned from lava that had yet to cool. I leapt away before I accidentally touched him and burnt my skin.

Bono shrieked when it dawned on him that he now possessed a body.

“Well,” he said, as he held out his palms and observed them, noting how small they were compared to the original ones, “any body is better than no body, I guess.” He began to jump up and down like an excited kid. He even came to hug me, but I held out a stern finger.

“Don’t do it,” I told him. “You are hot!”

“Uh, right,” Bono said. “Will keep my distance from you. Any idea how I have this strange new body? It’s got something to do with the quest you were offered?”

Clearly Bono had no recollection of whatever had transpired.

“Well, basically you fell into a river of magma,” I told him.

“Hmm,” Bono said. “So, what did you find about my family in the quest?”

“I met your father,” I told him. His eyes widened.

“My father? The last time I met him was a long long time ago,” he said. “I wish I could have met him too.”

I recalled Fono’s willingness to sacrifice his life so that his son’s head could be restored.

“He loves you and cares for you. I promise you that,” I told Bono.