Chaos. It was the only word Lewis could think of to describe what was going on. The foundations of the tower were shaking more and more by the second as he led Olivia, Russell, and Cassandra through the corridors and down the stairs. As they got further down the tower, there were more people—a combination of teachers and students, some in cloaks and some without—running in every direction as chunks of debris began to fall around them.

With a crack, the window to Lewis' left shattered as he ran past, shards of glass showering him. He paid them no attention, continuing on, well aware that the others were still behind him. They had to get out of the tower fast. Piece by piece, it was beginning to collapse around them.

'How much further?' Cassandra asked breathlessly. A glance over his shoulder revealed that she was clutching her side, the burns from the chains visible on her pale wrist.

'No idea,' he replied. He had lost track of the number of flights of stairs they had run down ages ago.

'Two floors,' Olivia said, breathing heavily as the four of them skidded around the corner and started on another staircase.

One more turn, and the corridor opened out to reveal the balcony that sat above the entrance to the dining hall. As they set foot on it, there was a bang from above. Looking up, Lewis saw a huge piece of the ceiling falling towards them. Just in time, he managed to throw out an arm, catching Cassandra in the stomach as he stopped her. If he hadn't been so quick to react, it would have landed directly on top of her. Instead, it smashed through the balcony, landing in the entrance hall below. For a second, there was silence, and then, with an echoing boom, the balcony collapsed beneath them, sending the four of them tumbling down after the debris.

With a thud that was sure to leave a bloody wound, Lewis' head hit the rubble as he landed on top of it. There was no doubt that he would be sporting dozens of bruises after the heavy landing as he scrambled to his feet again. All around him, pieces of the tower were falling from above. 'Is everyone okay?' he asked quickly, helping a dust-covered Cassandra to her feet as she winced.

'Fine,' she muttered.

A moment later, Olivia called with a similar response. 'Where's Russel? He was right here!' she asked as she began clawing at the rubble desperately.

'Olivia, we need to go before the rest of the tower collapses,' Lewis insisted, dragging her away from the huge pile of stone. He felt terrible for leaving him behind, but he needed to get Olivia and Cassandra out while he could.

'We can't leave him!' she screamed, pulling against him as she tried to get back to the heap of rubble that was blocking the doorway to the dining hall.

'I'm sorry,' he said, grabbing her around the waist with both arms and dragging her away. He knew that she felt indebted to him after he saved her life, but there was nothing that they could do. If he was buried beneath the rubble, then it was more than likely that he was already dead.

It was like a wave of relief passed over him when he felt the cold night air. How different it was from the last time he had felt it as Veronica had led them out onto the bridge to the volcano. The three of them had made it almost all the way across the courtyard when he realised that it had started raining, the heavy drops washing the mixture of blood and dust off of his face and on to the white cloak.

'Don't stop! he shouted, urging them on. All around them, teachers and students alike had frozen, turning their gaze back at the tower and watching in awe as it crumbled with each passing second. They had to keep moving. He had no idea what was going to happen when the dust from the tower finally settled. As far as he was concerned, he wanted to be as far away as possible.

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'Where are we going?' Olivia asked.

'Away from here,' he said. In truth, he didn't know, but the burning in his veins told him that this wasn't the place they should be; they needed to be somewhere else.

They hadn't gone far along the mountain path that led back to Springcaster when there was an almighty crash that echoed far into the distance. As one, the three of them turned, looking back at the tower. For a second, it seemed to teeter on the edge, then, almost in slow motion, it began to collapse in on itself, a huge plume of dust rising into the night sky. Then, the tower was gone; the light from inside was extinguished, leaving the three of them alone in the dark.

In silence, the three of them stood on the path, staring at where the tower had once been. It was gone; he was free again. He wanted nothing more than to turn around and run all the way back to Tristan, but there was something nagging at him deep down, as if Tristan wasn't the place to be. Then, as he looked at Olivia, something strange happened. He could see her mouth moving but couldn't hear what she was saying.

Puzzled, he squinted, trying to make out the words before her face disappeared entirely and was replaced with an orange glow emitting from somewhere deep in a cave. For the briefest of moments, he saw the glow, and then a silhouette obscured it. Through the darkness, he recognised the face. It was George, the crown hanging loosely at his side.

Just as quickly as the images had appeared, they were gone, replaced by Olivia's concerned look. Beside her, Cassandra was watching worriedly. 'Lewis?' Olivia asked, reaching out to him.

'I saw something,' he said. Suddenly he knew where he needed to be, as if she had just reminded him. He had to find the glowing orange light. George would be there along with the crown. There was no logical reason for why he felt he had to go there, only that if he didn't, something bad would happen.

'What did you see?' Olivia asked, holding up a hand to silence Cassandra so she could speak.

'A glowing light deep in a cave. George was there. He had the crown as well,' Lewis said. Pushing between them, he set off along the path towards Springcaster. There was no more time to waste.

'Who's George? What crown?' Cassandra and Olivia both asked at the same time.

'He stole the crown and tried to kill me,' Lewis said.

'What crown did he steal?' Cassandra asked. In all the time they had spent together since they had left the Cimant village, he had never told her about what had happened before he met Olivia.

'The crown that belongs to the King of Tristan belongs to me,' he said. 'It isn't just about the crown, though; I can feel it. Why would he be in a cave with a glowing light?'

'What colour was the light?' Olivia demanded, grabbing his arm and turning him to face her.

'Orange, why?'

For a moment, she looked at him vacantly, and then, slowly, a look of worry spread across her face. 'It's true. Veronica was right; it is out there.'

'What's out there?' Cassandra asked, looking between them as if they had been communicating in another way that had left her oblivious.

'The Orb of Embers.'

'Okay, someone please explain what is going on right now,' she snapped.

'George stole the crown; he is in a cave with a glowing orange light, and I have a bad feeling about it,' Lewis said.

'The Orb of Embers was stolen from a vault decades ago and supposedly hidden somewhere. It is said to give off a pulsing orange glow when the souls of the departed are near,' Olivia continued.

'What does The Orb of Embers do?' Cassandra asked slowly.

'It has the power to raise the dead,' Lewis and Olivia said at the same time, a realisation dawning on Lewis as he remembered Veronica and Ellen talking about the orb.

'No, no, no! You can't bring dead people back to life. I refuse to believe it!' Cassandra said it adamantly.

'You can't bring back dead people, but you can bring back dead precursors,' Olivia said. 'Death might destroy the body of a precursor, but it doesn't destroy the power that can be used to break through the veil.'

'We need to stop him,' Lewis said. Who George could possibly want to drag back into the living world, he had no idea, but he doubted it would be any cause for celebration.

'Agreed,' Olivia said with a nod. 'Where do we start, though? Ellen was right: No one has seen the orb in living memory.'

Looking to the starry sky, Lewis replayed the vision in his head, hoping for something that might give them a clue as to where they should start looking. Instead of seeing something, he felt a little tug deep in his stomach. He could just about feel the burning of his power running through his veins. 'I know where to go,' he said, suddenly setting off down the path towards Springcaster again, allowing the power inside him to be his guide.