Kate followed the lizard away from the cellars hidden door and down a narrow tunnel cut it the rock. The creature said that Corvan might die if they didn't reach him on time. That could only mean there had been another accident at the mine but how would this passage get them there any quicker? The tunnel tapered down until her head touched the roof. She looked over the lizard's shoulder and her stomach heaved. The lizard’s exit from the tunnel turned out to be only a small oval hole at the base where Corvan’s tunnel ended.

"I could hear Corvan pounding on the walls on this side,” the lizard said, patting the rocks. “I was sure he was trying to make it through to my dwelling, so I cut this hole with my small firesticks to meet him,” the lizard pointed at the hole. “But when I made it through, he was already gone."

"I can't fit through there." Even as she said the words, Kate imagined herself trapped inside with the rock closing in around her. She shut her eyes and took a deep breath. With the cellar door closed was there even enough air in this tunnel?

At a sharp tug on the leg of her jeans, she opened her eyes. The lizard had already backed halfway into the hole. "Don’t be worried,” it said with a grin. “The Cor-Van fit through one much smaller than this. He told me we only need enough room for a human's shoulders. I was running out of fire sticks, so it’s not very high, but I made sure the opening was wide enough to fit his shoulders."

He cocked his head to one side. "But you are different."

Kate nodded. She hated that she had wide shoulders. Her mother never let her forget that a difficult cesarean birth had scarred her body and supposedly ruined her mother’s chance as an actress.

The lizard reached out one of its claws. "Let me pull your bag through first. The tunnel is not very long, so I can always push you back if you become stuck."

Stuck? Kate's throat tightened and her breathing grew shallow. The dusty air filled her chest. Dropping her bag, she sagged to the floor as a wave of nausea rolled over her. As she reached the floor, a sharp point dug into backside. Twisting to one side, she shoved her hand in her back pocket and pulled out the medallion.

The green light from the star lit up the tunnel. Taking a deep breath, she leaned in closer to the small hole and cupped the light in her hands. A clear memory of holding it the same way in other dark places came to mind along with a comforting thought. She had made it through other places like this by the medallion’s glow. She could do it again.

A call from inside the small tunnel brought her attention back to the task at hand. Crawling forward she used the medallion's light to examine the small opening. The sides of this tunnel were smooth, and her bag had gone through without getting stuck.

A muffled banging echoed down the tunnel from the cellar. No doubt Billy and his father were ransacking the workshop. They might find the hidden door, so there was no choice but to keep moving forward.

Holding tight to the medallion with one hand, she extended the other into the opening, dug in her toes in behind and pushed herself forward. Ignoring the rising panic, she wriggled and pushed until she felt her face move into a more open space. Her hand went past a rocky lip and touched the canvas of her duffle bag. Squeezing herself out of the hole in the darkness she dropped down on top of it.

The lizard's fishy breath drew close, and his eyes glinted in the dim light of the medallion that squeezed past her clenched hand.

"That is good you made it through,” the creature said. “I am glad I did not have to find a rock to break your bones."

Kate sat up and pulled her bag close. How could she trust this creature with all the talk about killing people with its claw, and breaking bones? Her memories of the lizard jumbled together and a vivid recollection of the angry face snarling at her in the Castle Rock came clearly to her mind.

"Do you have Corvan's light stick with you?" The lizard was pointing at her hand.

Kate let the medallion drop free and it spun on its chain, lighting up a small room and the lizard's narrow face in flashes of green.

"That's mine!" The lizard's angry eyes reflected the flickers of light. "You stole it from me!"

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Kate pushed herself back from the advancing lizard, keeping her duffle bag between them. "I found it in the cellar," she said.

"You lie!" the lizard snapped. "You stole it when Corvan and I were lost in the labyrinth, when you also took his shoes and my other things!"

Kate retreated into the shadows. "I don't know what you are talking about," she said in desperation. She had no memory of anything it was saying.

The lizard stopped and its face softened. "Yes, that would be true. The black band was controlling you. I forget how powerful it was. Please forgive me, but my star medallion is very important to me." The lizard extended a long claw. "I would be most grateful if you would please return my possession."

Kate looked at the lizard's claw glistening in the medallion's light. The creature had poisoned Billy's father with that claw. She glanced behind her. The cave they were in led to another narrow tunnel that disappeared around a corner.

"The first entry is not open yet," the lizard said, pointing to where she had been looking. "I am sorry I frightened you. Please sit and we can talk together. I will tell you how I came to find that glowing star and how it would always comfort me."

Kate didn't respond, and the lizard backed away. "Let me find more light. Perhaps you will feel better if my home is not in darkness." The shadowed figure disappeared behind a tattered curtain.

Kate slipped away down the narrow tunnel. She had to get out in the open where she could get away if the lizard attacked her to get the medallion. Extending the light revealed another tunnel branching to the right and up toward the surface. She was about to go that way when she discovered a single set of human footprints in the dust, heading down. The lizard said she couldn't go down, but it had to be the way out there were no footprints coming back her way.

Hurrying down the tunnel she used the medallion's light to dodge the boulders strewn on the floor, but as she turned a tight corner, she found herself in front of a blank wall. The lizard wasn't lying. It really was a dead end.

The dusty tracks, however, made no sense. Human footprints came down the tunnel, but only the lizard's tracks went back up. There had to be a secret door or another way out. With the medallion's light, Kate examined the stone walls. On her right, a patch of smooth black rock was inset into the rough stone. She reached out to touch the shiny surface and a blue spark leapt from her hand. The scar in the center of her palm burned, and Kate yanked her hand back. As she watched, the spark spread out in soft blue ripples on the stone, as if it were made of water and she had dropped a pebble in.

A rock rolled in the tunnel behind her.

"It is no use to wait down there,” the lizard said softly. “The portal door will not open for a while because moon is not out." The lizard spoke from the darkness up around the corner. "We have time to talk about what we must do once we reach the Cor. Please come back to my dwelling where you can rest. You must be very tired."

Kate closed her hand around the medallion to hide its light. The blue ripples spreading across the wall shimmered beside her like a large picture frame. Could this be the entry the lizard talked about?

The lizard’s voice drew closer around the corner. "I will not try to take the light away from you. You will need it to help us if we are to reach him in time."

The lizard must be talking about Corvan. Could this tunnel be connected to the mine? Kate shifted her weight and her ankle twisted on a loose rock. Instinctively, she put out a hand to steady herself and her fingertips touched the circle of shimmering blue rock.

Instantly the smooth stone melted away, leaving a large open hole framed with a ring of shiny molten rock. A moist wind blew past her face, heavy with the scent of Sulphur. Shining the light of the medallion through the opening she discovered a larger cave lay beyond. That must be way to get to the mine where Corvan was in trouble.

The wind grew stronger.

"Nooooo!" the voice of the lizard filled the tunnel along with the sounds of its claws clicking and scrambling toward her. "Do not touch the walls. They will hurt you!" She heard the lizard tumble and fall just beyond the corner.

Kate examined the blue ring of rock. She didn't have to touch the sides to go through. Bag in hand, she stepped over the edge of the ring to the other side then turned around. The lizard was framed in the blue circle, its eyes wide with amazement, blood oozing from its reopened wound.

"How did you . . .?" The lizard extended a claw through the blue ring. "Did my glowing medallion make it open?"

Kate clutched the silver disk. "It’s mine now. You can't have it. I'm going to take it to him."

The lizard shook its head vigorously. "No, Kate. Please do not take it to Him. His black band is still calling you, but you must not . . ."

Kate held up her hand to ward off the lizard's words and another blue spark leapt from her palm to the molten ring of rock.

Snap! The hole in the wall closed off like the shutter on a camera. The cave went dark, and something soft fell to the ground.

The stillness was overpowering. An eerie sound filled the space, as if a small drum were beating out time—it was her own heart.

Green light flowed past her fingers, lighting the cavern with the medallion's glow. The rock in front of her that had been molten a moment ago was now black and solid. Something glistened near the wall. Kate aimed the medallion like a flashlight and moved closer.

The long claw of the lizard, still attached to a leathery piece of its paw, lay severed at the base of the wall.