Corvan opened his eyes, blinked, then blinked again to make sure they were open. Absolute dark was an unsettling sensation. It felt like he was breathing the black into his head and it was seeping out his eyes.

A faint glimmer appeared on the other side of the pool, and then a growing light pushed the shadows away. Tsarek walked toward him with the stub of a fire stick hanging limply at his side. Giving the pool a wide berth, he shuffled up to the stone table.

“Did you find a way out?” Corvan asked.

“No, I did not.” The lizard wedged the short fire stick into a crack on the table. “I found one thin, twisting tunnel and followed it for a long way. It kept getting lower until it reached a narrow crack you cannot fit through.”

“So, it’s a dead end?”

“No.” Tsarek scowled at him. “There is a larger cavern after the narrow place, but as I just said, you can’t fit through.”

“But it is the only way out of here?”

“Yes.”

“Then we have no choice but to try.”

Tsarek pulled himself wearily onto the rock. “You are the master, but I will need to rest first. If you could let me eat one of your cows, I would be grateful.”

Corvan handed a piece of jerky to the lizard. “My fire stick must have burned out. It was pitch black in here before you came back.”

Tsarek talked past a chunk of meat. “You must have put it out before sleeping. It should have at least two full times of burning left.”

“I don’t think I did.” Corvan said, leaving the table to check where it had been stuck in the rock. “You must have come back for it.”

The lizard stopped chewing and shot him a withering glance. “And how could I do that and be far away down that very long tunnel at the same time?”

Corvan pointed to the ground. “Well, it’s not here.”

Tsarek was beside him and searching the spot in a flash. Dropping to all fours, he sniffed at the rocks and scampered from side to side. He groaned as he stood up. “Not lost. It was stolen. The Kate has come through here while you slept. Her flower scent still lingers.”

Corvan’s head snapped up, and he searched around the cavern. “Kate was here? Why didn’t she wake me?”

The lizard’s short arms shot up over his head. “Wake you? Be glad she did not kill you! The Kate is under the control of the band, but she must have sensed the hammer about you and dared not come close to you.”

Tsarek bounded to the wall where he had carefully stored his possessions. “Nooo! The thief! She has taken it from me.” The lizard stamped back to the rock table while hissing and muttering.

“What did she take?”

“She took the one I value most.”

“The silver disc?”

The lizard’s eyes blazed as it leapt onto the table. “Who said you could look at my things?” He pointed a sharp claw at Corvan’s face. “Is that why you hid it in your pack? Because you wanted it for yourself?”

Corvan took a step back. “No. I saw the middle of it when I took it out for you. It was … warm.”

Tsarek sank down onto the rock. “Yes, it feels nice. All those years I would hold it to ease the weight of the black band.” His body sagged lower. “Without it, I would have been completely lost to the darkness. When I held it close, the band would burn me, but I did not care.”

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

“Is that why you got so angry when I touched it?”

“I knew you would want to take it for yourself,” Tsarek pouted.

“Why would I do that?”

Tsarek squirmed. “Because it belongs to the hammer. It is the counterpart.”

Corvan sat bewildered. Kate was a counterpart and now the hammer had a counterpart? “How do you know it belongs with the hammer?”

“I saw the markings on the bottom of the hammer when you were going to punish me with it.” Tsarek said, then looked away. “They are the same as the ones on the disc.”

“Are you sure?”

Tsarek stared at the ground and then nodded. “I know it belongs with the hammer because,” he drew in a long breath, “because it was in your past-father’s hand when he died.”

Corvan’s mind reeled. The disk had to be the third piece his grandfather had spoken of, the one he’d said he would need to take with him. Instead, Kate was taking it to the lizard’s evil master.

Tsarek put a paw on his shoulder. “I am sorry to bring up your past-father’s death.” He spoke softly. “I see it has hurt you greatly.”

Corvan focused on the lizard’s eyes. “It’s not only his dying. I just don’t understand why the hammer needs the disc. If he were here, then he would help me figure it out.”

“All I know is that the hammer tells me what I am,” Tsarek said, “but the disk always gave me hope that I could be better.”

“That doesn’t explain why a hammer would be paired with a disc. It seems a hammer should be with another tool, like a saw, or else a large spike or nail.”

Tsarek shrugged and then left the table to pull clothes from the line.

Corvan slipped the hammer free of the holster. It was too small to be any good for building things; the handle was too short. It was more like a model you’d see on a shelf or on a desk. A memory formed. At home, he had seen a small wooden hammer that was lying next to a round disk. Closing his eyes, he pulled the faint recollection forward.

“Of course! That’s it!”

“Sir?” Tsarek scurried back to the table.

“It’s not a hammer, Tsarek, it’s a gavel, and the disk is what it pounds on.”

“Gravel, sir?” Tsarek came closer to the table. “I thought that was your word for small rocks?”

“Not gravel, gavel. It’s a ceremonial hammer that a judge bangs on a wooden disk to stop an argument. I saw one at the town council meeting when they tried to take our field away. Old Man Fry was shouting at my dad, and the mayor banged his gavel on a disk to get everyone to be quiet.” Corvan held out the hammer, and Tsarek backed away.

“With the band gone, you don’t need to fear this anymore.”

Tsarek slowly shook his head and then turned back to pulling the clothes from the line.

Balancing the hammer in his hand, Corvan thought back to the council meeting and the injustice his father had suffered. He had been angry to see how prejudiced people were against his father. It was good to seek the truth, but there also needs to be some kindness. He nodded to himself and held the hammer higher. Maybe that’s why the hammer needed a counterpart. The disk could ensure the truth was balanced with compassion.

Tsarek called over his shoulder from where he was picking through his things. “You will need to pack up your belongings. If it is permissible, I need to put a few things in your pack. I no longer have a way to carry them.”

Corvan slid off the rock and pulled the pack closer. One of the side pockets hung open. The bag of cookies was gone. For a moment, he was angry at Kate for stealing them, but then he thought of her wandering alone in the darkness with nothing to eat. He wouldn’t even mention it to Tsarek—no use getting him more upset.

The lizard approached as if he were in a funerary procession. His tail dragged limply on the rocks, and his crystal was cradled against his chest. “There is nothing else I will need, except this.”

Corvan wanted to say no, that the pack was too heavy, but the sadness in Tsarek’s eyes would not let him. Adding the crystal to his pack, he retrieved the krypin and his clothes. The fireworks lay on the ground where they had tumbled out of the cloak. It was a good thing he had wrapped them inside it; they were still dry. He tucked them in along one side of the pack before he realized that his wet sneakers were missing. The old sneakers Kate had taken from the scarecrow were likely too big for her feet, so she had stolen his. At least he had the new slipper shoes.

Tsarek pointed at the krypin. “I have seen where people use the opening end to make a coil and attach it to their waist in case it is needed quickly.”

Corvan nodded and did as he suggested. With his hammer and holster on one side and the coiled rope on the other, a renewed sense of confidence settled over him.

“Since the Kate has already gone through this level,” Tsarek intoned, “the door will not open here again. I fear this cave will be our tomb.”

Corvan pulled on his pack, “Then we must take everything along with us and try the small tunnel that you found.”

Tsarek did not respond and shuffled away around the pool.

Corvan followed. He did not want to think of what would happen if Tsarek was right.