[Red's giving him the double nod. She's not tearing up neither, so Richie just holds his breath and regards the sword with cautious awe. How can she tell?

Whatever the secret was, his time to learn it has evaporated. There's that tinny reverberation, shaking up grunts of pain with metallic twang.]

Jesus. [He watches, expectant. The man doesn't materialize. Looks like the lightning bolts had sapped the juice from him, in more ways than one. He sounds like he's taken a swing of the ash-handle to the forehead, far off and ready to doze.]

Shit, you think so? [Richie laughs, but it's hardly in derision. It's all the tension seeping out, pure gratitude.] If either of us tried to walk through the ring of fire we'd be swapping forms from human to ghost! Fuck, you scared me.

[He trails off, frowning. He shoots Red a look, grave and apprehensive.] Look, maybe this was a real cock-up from the get go. If we take another bad step it could be curtains for us. I'm...I'm all good to turn back if you are. I'm sorry about this, I shouldn't have dragged you in. It was a stupid idea to start with. Don't know what I was thinking.