James stared at the phone, his vision tunneled. It was Harley’s—there was no doubt in his mind. It was small, rectangular in shape, pink in color, with the letter “H” sequined near the flashlight. He repeated himself to the gnomes, but louder. He wondered if they understood.

“Harley’s my sister and she never goes anywhere without her phone. It’s important to her. It’s important to me—to call for help. You have to help me get it!” pleaded James.

Yendar responded in an even tone, “There are strong currents beneath the surface that can’t be seen by my eyes nor yours. What falls in the water belongs to the Olm.”

“But something bad must have happened! I need your help!” said James. He met eyes with the others.

The gnomes looked down, then looked at each other, One scratched his head, but none of them volunteered, not even Tinker.

James’ kicked a rock into the pool, his worry mixing with frustration. Not satisfied with Yendar’s reason, he stomped right up to him. “What’s so special about the Olm anyway?”

“Inside the Olm lies the Dolomyte Egg,” said Yendar. “The Stone of the Mountain.”

James turned flush with anger. He didn’t want a real answer. He wanted them to snap out of it and do something. Without the phone, how else would he find his family and his home and everything he loved? Getting that phone was his best chance—his only chance. He clenched his fists.

“I NEED HELP!” shouted James as loud as he could. “CAN ANYONE HELP ME?”

The words echoed in the cavern. The silence that followed felt like a punch to the gut. James collapsed to his knees and began to cry.

“You should never have come here,” said Pendar with a lecturing tone. “The mountain is no place for a human. If you didn’t lose the net, we’d…”

“Hold your tongue,” interrupted Yendar, clenching his hand into Pendar’s shoulder. “Or I’ll hold it for you.”

Pendar wiggled out from Yendar’s grasp with a grimace.

Yendar frowned. He sat beside James and spoke, “I will not waste words, for the reality is grim. The waters below are as deadly as the Olm is mighty. That is the truth. And as hard as it might be for you to accept that, if you go in that water, you will never come out.”

James turned away from Yendar and faced the glowing water. A drip of water rippled the pool. He focused directly on Harley’s phone as the beam of light etched a spot in his vision.

Yendar continued, “We are gnomes, James—we are born of the rock and to the rock we will return. You are a human of course, and your destiny is outside the dark caves of the mountain. Do you understand?”

He understood Yendar just fine but that didn’t make him feel any better. James wiped his tears away with his fingers, then pulled his legs in close and slumped against his knees.

Yendar spoke more but in a new way, saying sounds that made no sense to James. Pendar and Pendle nodded their heads and left without a word as Tinker crossed his arms with a scoff. Yendar stroked on his beard for a moment before going to James and wishing him a safe journey. Without saying more, Yendar was gone.

Tinker stayed behind.

“My brothers don’t remember what it’s like to be young,” said Tinker, crouching down beside James. “There’s not many gnomes left, and hard truths are more frequent than helping hands.”

The light from Harley’s phone dimmed from a bright beam to a faint dot, a sign of the end if there ever was one. James sighed and buried his face. He wasn’t getting the phone, just like he wasn’t getting out of here.

“This is hopeless,” said James.

“Look here,” said Tinker, pulling a lensed gadget from his apron pocket. He twisted it twice, each time the gadget making a click. The front lens beamed pale yellow, like a battery-powered flashlight with no juice.

James wasn’t impressed. He looked back at the water.

“Tell me about Harley. Is she your older sister or younger sister?” said Tinker.

“Older,” said James.

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“And what is she like?” asked Tinker.

“She’s taller than me,” said James. “But not that much taller, and she’s always telling me stuff, what to do, what not to do, you know what I mean?”

“Older siblings are known to do that,” said Tinker. “Is Yoyo older too?”

“Yoyo’s my little brother.”

“Younger, OK. And what is he like?”

“He never tells me what to do. He likes to run and play,” said James. “And he loves hide and seek.”

“It sounds like he’d make a good scout,” said Tinker with a smile.

“Where do you think they are?” asked James.

“They must be working together to navigate the mountain,” said Tinker. “And since they made it this far, chances are good they’ve figured out a way to the surface.”

“Really?” asked James.

“Absolutely,” said Tinker, nodding.

“But what about me? I don’t know where to go,” said James. He hated the feeling of being left behind.

“You need a map,” said Tinker. He twisted the lensed gadget with both hands and pulled. A tube grew out of the front, then it grew larger, and larger still.

“What is that?” asked James. The gadget looked more interesting than before, like a pirate’s spyglass instead of a dying flashlight. He went to his knees and held out his hands to hold it.

“This is my latest invention,” said Tinker. He gave it to James.

James examined the gadget. It was lightweight, smooth to the touch, and the interlocking tubes were fastened together with tiny screws. A beam of adjustable brightness poured out the front and the back had an eyepiece with soft padding. James held it up to his eye for a look inside. Instead of darkness and gray, the cavern transformed into a rainbow of colors. The secret passages in the mountain came out of hiding and the colors showed the starts and stops and everything in between.

“I call it the Refractor—it’s the only one of its kind,” said Tinker, smiling proudly.

“It's amazing,” said James.

“It’s yours,” said Tinker.

James beamed a smile from ear to ear. Again he held the Refractor up to his eye as Tinker explained more about his invention. The gadget could act as a light source, but its primary function was a map, one that incorporated all the paths traversed by the clockwork sentries. And there were many paths—the view through the gadget was a sprawling labyrinth of colors, like flowing ribbons suspended in air. James let his imagination run wild; he was the explorer and the mountain was land to be conquered. His destination was the surface, out of the mountain, out of the dark. After studying the colorful ribbons for some time, he saw a path out, but as he lowered the Refractor away from his face, Tinker wasn’t there.

“Tinker?” asked James, turning around.

Tinker was standing near with his hands in his apron, his red goggles back on his face. “I need to go now. Remember to stay out of the water, yes?”

It took James by surprise. He searched for the words to thank Tinker for all that he’d done, but the thoughts stayed in his head, and the only word that came out of his mouth was soft and quiet.

“Bye…”

Tinker walked along the ledge to the sheet of white rock and crawled through the crevice.

James was alone again, a little bit sad, but also very hopeful. It was time for him to go too. Using the Refractor to guide the way, he started along the shortest path out of the mountain. He climbed up twisting tunnels of rock and marched past drooping curtains of flowstone. He sang to himself to keep up his spirits, and when doubts crept into his mind, he pushed them out with familiar songs. Eventually the path led to a large chamber, and he felt the cave take a breath.

“Monster!” yelled James, couching down quickly.

The floor of the chamber was hard, dry, not moving. Wind moved his hair as the cave took another breath. Fresh air filled his nose. He wasn’t in the mouth of a giant cave monster. The breath was drafting air currents—a great sign to be sure, that meant the exit was near.

James left the chamber, climbing upwards, then darted through a constricting passage that widened with every step. He found the next chamber pleasing—a gap in the rock let through rays of sunlight, and James raced toward it with boundless energy.

The light was blinding. It was warm. James climbed up a boulder that marked the exit, stretched his hands to the sky then relaxed back on the stone. Beyond the cave was a rugged slope with gray stone and green vegetation, and above him a wonderful white and blue sky. He let his body bake in the sun. The clouds formed shapes of cakes and cookies and ice cream, and the fluffiest, most delicious whipped cream. If he had a kite he would fly it, and he’d wrangle the clouds with the string, and eat them bit by bit until nothing was left but a yellow sun and a deep blue sky.

James’ growling stomach woke him up from his daydream. He balanced at the top of the boulder and took in a view of a land that stretched for miles and miles. The mountain range extended across the horizon, the rock fractured and uneven, and in the distance a valley cut by a river, and further still was a great forest that seemed to have no end.

Which way is home? He didn’t see any houses. He didn’t see Risanburg Park or his school or any familiar landmarks, and come to think of it, he didn’t see any roads either. That was strange. The exit of the mountain had put him smack dab in the middle of nowhere.

“Dumb, dumb, dumb,” muttered James, the situation making him loopy. “This place is so dumb. There’s nothing to eat, no one to talk to. I guess I’ll be lost forever, and then Yoyo will be sad he won’t have anyone to play with. And my school friends probably made new friends or forgot about me already. The only friend I’ll ever have is this stupid rock.”

James picked up his new rock friend and threw it as far as he could. It landed as a terrible howl boomed across the slope. He cowered, his heart racing, listening as more howls came, and then a booming shout.

“COME OUT!”

The command rumbled the dirt as if spoken by the mountain itself. Trembling, James slowly peeked out his head. Lower on the ridge, towering tall above the land, lumbered a giant made of stone. The monster howled in a fit of rage, violent and fierce.

Its anger was not for James.

There was someone else.

James gasped as a child appeared at the giant’s feet. The child crouched low between the massive legs of stone, and the giant brought down its fists to deliver a killing blow.