They approached the hole Tsarek had cut in the base of the tunnel wall leading out of the cellar, and Tsarek slipped inside. Kate must have been pretty desperate to go inside such a small opening. That alone was proof she was still under the influence of the black band.

Corvan easily squeezed inside. The panic he had experienced when he and Tsarek had first entered the Cor through the narrow crack where Tsarek broke his shoulder was completely gone. Working at the mine had cured him of those fears.

Emerging into Tsarek's dwelling, he found the lizard waiting with one paw behind his back.

"I have a present for you,” Tsarek said past a happy smile. “It was in the water after Tyreth killed the Chief Watcher and Jorad was arguing with you in the water creature's cave. You might want this one since yours was burned up." Tsarek held out a coil of translucent blue rope. “It belonged to the leader of the Rakash before Jorad cut his hand off. It’s one is not as long as your green one, but it does have a double end."

Corvan took the krypin rope from the lizard's paw and examined the control end. This handle was T-shaped, with a control bump on either side. Holding it in one hand, he attempted to activate the controls with his thumb and baby finger but only succeeded in getting the ends of the rope completely snarled up around each other.

"You need to use two hands," Tsarek said. “That what the Rakash did.”

Corvan tried holding the handle in a way that allowed him to use a thumb on each toggle. It was easier to control, and he sent the ends of the rope climbing the walls in opposite directions until the tension in the middle picked him off the floor. Letting a bit of the lumien strength into his arms. he used the krypin to swing himself around the room.

"Do you like it?" Tsarek said. The familiar pleased with himself grin across his narrow face.

Corvan lowered himself to the ground. "I'll need to learn how to work the controls with only one hand, but I'm sure it will be useful." Coiling up the thin rope and he attempted to fit it into a pocket of the raincoat.

"I don't believe that coat will keep you warm, especially under the water. Where is your special cloak?" Tsarek asked.

"My father wore it to the mine by mistake. The Rakash leader has it now."

"Oh, that is much more dangerous, now you won't see him coming."

Corvan looked up at him, rope in hand. He hadn’t thought a lot about having to fight the Rakash leader. Now that he was carrying the krypin rope it used to own, it might get even more angry.

Tsarek looked him over. "You will need better clothes, especially to go through the cold water.” He pointed at the lunchbox, “and to carry your things.” The lizard vanished into the pantry and reappeared with a flat butcher paper bundle tied up with hay bale twine. He laid the parcel at Corvan's feet. "I found these in the entry beside to your past-father when he . . ." Tsarek stopped and pointed above him to where his grandfather’s bones lay.

Corvan untied the neat bows holding the package together, unfolded the paper and spread it open. Inside were a pair of pants, a short sleeve shirt and a dark gray cloak with a deeply cowled hood.

"These are special clothes,” Tsarek said, holding up the shirt. “And not only because they belonged to your past-father. This is the clothing worn in the Cor for keeping the body warm, but these ones are the finest quality, worn only by the rulers of Kadir." He pointed to a crest embroidered on the front of the shirt. "You might want to keep this symbol covered under your cloak. Some people in Kadir would not be happy to see it."

Corvan took the shirt and traced his fingers over the embroidery. Did this mean his grandfather once ruled Kadir? Was the man going back to take his rightful place in the Cor when Tsarek killed him?

“Try them on,” Tsarek said. “I think they will fit you.”

Removing the raincoat and his clothes down to his underwear, he found Tsarek watching him closely. "What are you looking at?" he asked the lizard.

"The lumiens are changing your body sir. Look over here." Tsarek stepped over in front of the metal artwork he had created on his wall. Pulling down a tattered cloth from the middle section, he revealed an old mirror with the glass cracked from corner to corner. "I covered this looking glass when I no longer wanted to see myself wearing the black band," Tsarek said.

Corvan looked himself up and down. His head appeared to have stuck on a body taken from one of his comic book ads for Charles Atlas. Every muscle was clearly defined, a sight was both frightening and reassuring at the same time. He flexed his bicep, amazed at how powerful his muscles had become.

“I think it’s from the lumien seeds,” Tsarek stated.

Corvan nodded and watched the sinews moving in his neck and shoulders. At least now he might be able to hold his own in a fight with the leader of the Rakash.

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He quickly pulled on his grandfather's shirt and pants. They were a better fit than his own clothes, although the pants stopped just shy of the top of the slipper shoes. His mother had said that his grandfather was a bit shorter than he.

"This is much better, Tsarek. That was a good idea."

‘Yes, those clothes will keep you warmer under the water, but you should move your lamp and other things into the pack to keep them dry." He pointed back to the unwrapped brown paper at an odd-looking flat bag with straps secured across the front. Tsarek lifted it by the straps and handed the flat oblong bag to Corvan.

Corvan held it up to the light. "Is this like the hunting rucksack I left in the crypts?"

"You wear it the same way,” Tsarek said, “but it was created for a different purpose in a place long forgotten in the Cor. If we put your things inside, they will stay dry even under the water."

Tsarek ran a claw along a seam near the top and the pack spread open revealing an interior covered in soft tendrils. Tsarek touched them with the tip of a claw and the tendrils rippled away and the pack opened even wider. "You put your things inside and when you close it, all the air comes out. Water cannot enter and everything is held tight and secure." Tsarek handed him the lamp and the can of fuel. Corvan tucked them away inside. The tendrils tickled the back of his hands.

"What about this?" Tsarek held up Jake’s packet with the two sticks of dynamite inside.

"Yes, I will bring those as well."

Tsarek handed them to Corvan. "And your toy gun holder and jewels?" Tsarek was holding the holster with the fake hammer and Tyreth's tiara.

"I’ll take the jewels, but I don't have a belt for the holster." Corvan took the tiara from Tsarek and put it inside the pocket of the new pants.

Tsarek laid the holster on the ground and moved toward his pantry. "Should I bring some of my food supplies?"

Corvan glanced at the dried gopher carcasses hanging on the wall. "I think I have enough food for the trip. It won’t take us long." He reached for the metal lunchbox and as Corvan flipped up the metal clasps, Tsarek leaned in closer. "I've been stocking up on a few things from the Barron's store," Corvan said. “I set aside a bit from my extra shifts at the mine.”

Tsarek pulled out a bright packet. "These are good. They melt in your mouth, not in your paws."

“What did you say?”

Tsarek shrugged. "I saw it on Kate’s television box, but I don't have hands, so I changed it." The lizard dropped the candy inside the strange backpack.

"This one will definitely melt in your paws." Corvan handed Tsarek a red cellophane package. "It’s called a Cuban Lunch and it’s a bar of chocolate covered peanuts. Lots of energy in that one." Tsarek added in to the pack as Corvan held up five packages of Hot Rods. "You will like these. They taste like the beef jerky you liked but easier to chew." He added them to the pack. "And this is a Pez refill pack, little hard candies and these . . . "

"Berries from a Lita bush!” Tsarek exclaimed. “I love those! May I have one?"

Corvan looked down and smiled to himself as he opened one of the small cellophane packets, then held a red ball of candy out on his palm. Atomic Fireballs were made from pure cinnamon and packed a lot of heat.

Tsarek plucked the ball from his hand, tossed it into his mouth and began rolling it about in his cheek.

Corvan continued to move the rest of the snacks into the pack and closed the sides of the flap. There was a faint hiss, and the pack went flat with only the outline of bumps to show where the items were. "That's pretty neat. It would have been great to have this on our first trip. The jerky would have been dry and lasted . . . "

An explosion of disgust erupted from Tsarek, and a red candy ball ricocheted off the ceiling of the cave just over Corvan's head, then bounced over to land by Tsarek's musical crystals. Tsarek tore into his pantry and came back with a small jar of brackish water that he kept sticking his snout into and rinsing out his mouth.

"I take it you don't like the taste of an Atomic Fireball?" Corvan said, trying hard not to laugh. “Maybe it’s too strong of a taste for someone your age?”

Tsarek glared at Corvan’s reference to when he had showed Corvan how to smoke a firestick, then shook his head. "Not at all like a Lita berry. You can keep those ones for yourself. Tsarek pointed to the pack. “You should try it on and see how it works.”

Corvan tugged the green, translucent straps over his shoulders. "This looks like a flatter piece of my first krypin rope."

"Yes, this comes from the same place in the Cor. The people there invented these things—very clever. If it had the part for your face, it would have been even better." Tsarek pointed to the middle of the straps hanging over Corvan's chest. "Now you touch the two circles together."

Corvan ran his hands down the straps to the two flat circular pieces and joined them. As soon as they overlapped, all the straps tightened up and the pack snuggled in against his back.

"Let’s not forgot your new rope." Tsarek held up the blue krypin and threaded it onto one of the lower straps of the new pack. "Now you can reach it quickly if you need to." He picked up the holster. "this can clip on the side strap as well. You might be able to use it down in the Cor."

Tsarek fastened the holster in place on the other side, then stepped back to inspect the overall effect. He nodded his approval. "Now you put the cloak over top to hide your belongings," Tsarek said.

Corvan pulled on the cloak, threw the hood back and stepped in front of the mirror. Now he could he walk the streets of Kadir and easily fit in with everyone else. He did up one more button to cover the crest of Kadir that was showing through.

"Check in the glass at how your things are kept secret," Tsarek said.

Corvan turned sideways to the mirror. "That’s great. With my hood back, you can't even tell its under there."

Tsarek picked up the lunch box. "Should I put your special school case away in my pantry until we get back?" He shook it and something rattled against the tin sides.

Taking it from him, Corvan popped the latches open. At the bottom was the blue piece of glass that matched the white one he had given to Gavyn before leaving Kadir. He slipped into the front pocket of his grandfather’s pants and handed the case back to Tsarek. "You can keep the lunchbox Tsarek. I don't need it anymore."

Tsarek beamed and scuttled away with his prize swinging at his side like a proud first grader on his first day of school.

A moist breeze blew over Corvan's head along with the odor of matches being lit.

Tsarek’s voice came from inside the pantry. "Do you smell that, Sir? The first door is open. We can go now."