Kate sat on the slab of stone and contemplated the glass-like pool of water. Her faint memories of this place were like fragments of a long-forgotten dream. The last time she was here, Corvan had been asleep on this slab of stone. If he was here with her, then why had he not even tried to tell her about these caves or medallion, or the lizard. He could have at least dropped some hints or tried to help her remember what happened before she hit her head.

Shivering, she buttoned up the top of her coat. When she had watched Corvan sleeping, she had been so angry she wanted to throw a rock at him. Now, she couldn't even remember what made her so mad in the first place.

Kate raised the light of the medallion toward the wall where she had first found the pointed disk, wrapped up and hidden in a pile of rags. Was this the place the lizard was talking about? Did the medallion actually belong to him, or was she searching the cave to take it back after he stole it from her? All she could recalled was intense relief when she first picked up the glowing disc. Her anger at Corvan had quickly dissipated and she want to go back to the rock and talk to him, but then a great tension grew within her as the black band fought to take back control.

That battle had raged for a long time before the medallion finally won the battle. Where that happened was a mystery but the relief of the black band falling away was a powerful reality. Corvan had been close to her at that time, leaning over her and telling her he would take her home. Kate focused on the memory but found Corvan's face being replaced by a handsome man with dark hair. Jorad was his name but who was he and why did his memory give her a sense she had been special to him?

The medallion pulsed in her hand, sending shafts of light past her fingers. Kate sighed and got to her feet. The last time she'd been here, the black band drew her through these caves but this time she followed the medallion. She turned in a slow circle, keeping an eye on the metallic surface.

The points worked like a compass; a lighted symbol would glow brighter within the point that would lead her on to the next blue opening in the cave wall. She had stepped through at least five so far but the lizard said this tunnel would take her to Corvan so that had to be a long ways underground. The lizard also said Corvan didn't have long to live. There was no way she would turn back now.

Following the star's direction, Kate stepped up to the wall and placed her palm against the stone. Blue ripples of light flowed out. The rock turned to jelly and then opened up to let her pass.

Kate ducked through the portal and into a low tunnel stretching out in both directions. The medallion in her hand glowed brightly but none of the star points grew any stronger. The new tunnel slanted upward to the left and dropped off steeply to the right. She was too tired to go up the slope. Downward seemed a better choice if Corvan was working deep in the Red Creek mine.

The long tunnel wound generally downward, even steeper at times, stretching on and on until Kate thought she couldn't take another step. Kate paused in the middle of a steep incline. If this was a dead end then she would have to climb back up to try the other direction.

Holding the medallion overhead, she peered down the slope and caught a flash of white in the boulders piled at the bottom of the slope. Stepping closer, she noticed a pair of tattered sneakers perched up on top of a column of rock.

Clambering down over the rocks, Kate edged closer to the shoes. The laces were nibbled to tattered strands, and a cozy nest of fluff occupied one heel. A plastic bread bag lay between them, chewed full of holes. The shoes had once belonged to her, but why would she have left them here and gone on in her bare feet? Kate picked up one shoe and closed her eyes. The memory came back. She had stopped here because she had been putting on the sneakers she had taken from Corvan and eating the cookies she too as well. That’s when a light had come on and a stone door had appeared in front of her.

Kate opened her eyes and searched behind the boulders but couldn't find a door.

A whisper of a breeze blew up from the tunnel below her and in the silence that followed, she thought she heard a voice.

"Corvan?" Kate walked along the main path to where a smaller tunnel branched off to the left. She stepped inside and called Corvan's name again. Glancing at the medallion she the light on the points spinning around as if she were sitting on top of the North Pole. The new path inclined upward. It may be better to try it and if it didn’t lead her back to the Red Creek mine it might at least take her to the surface, and she could hitch a ride to the mine. It was worth a try.

The new passage climbed straight ahead for a long while. Weariness set in as Kate trudged along. When the floor abruptly gave way to a steep slope, her feet flew out from under her, tumbling her down into a pile of broken sticks.

Groaning, she stood and dusted off her bruised body. At least her duffle bag had broken her fall. Examining her surroundings by the light of the medallion she found herself in a smaller bowl-shaped cave with two other paths dropping down into it from the opposite side. Kate stumbled over the sticks piled up at the bottom of the bowl and pointed the light down at her feet. These weren't sticks; they were bones—a ring of broken and shattered bones!

On top of the pile a human skull stared up at her. Just below its jaw, a tarnished silver chain was draped over the ribs. Kate bent down and pulled gingerly on the chain but the links were tangled up on the bones below. She tugged harder and it suddenly broke free, sending her stumbling backward against a rounded boulder in the very center of the ring of bones.

Getting to her feet she raised both hands to give light to her discovery. Another medallion dangled from the end of a tarnished chain, identical to the one she held in her right hand except it didn't glow.

A bone snapped behind her.

She was not alone in the cave; something was moving up to her back. As Kate turned slowly around, a putrid odor flowed past her, and she gagged. What she took for a huge boulder in the bone nest shifted to one side. Kate scrambled back to the ring of bones as two huge eyes opened and focused on her face.

A mouth of jagged teeth opened below the eyes. A blast of rancid air blew her hair back as the massive creature roared into her face.

Kate stood still. There was no way to escape this creature’s nest of bones and it obviously ate people. She raised the green light of her medallion up between them and the creature grew quiet. "You're all right. I'm not going to hurt you." Kate laughed nervously. As if she could hurt this thing. It was as big as a horse.

The wide face drew closer until its round eyes filled Kate's vision. A low rumble sounded in the back of its throat as its moist breath flowed past her. Kate raised a hand and stroked a leathery cheek. A sharp prickle shot through the scar in her hand, and she sensed there was no threat here. This creature was also afraid and lonely. "I'm here. It's okay."

The huge eyes blinked and then pulled back as the beast sat back on its haunches like an enormous puppy and stared at her. Kate picked up her bag and inched her way backwards past the ring of bones to the path she had come in from. The creature rose to follow her. "You stay here. I have to go now." She climbed quickly up the bowl-like side of the cavern and turn around. The beast stood and watched her. Kate pointed to the ground. "Stay." It sat back. "Good boy."

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Backing away until its face disappeared below the rim of the bone nest, Kate turned around and strode down the tunnel, glancing back from time to time to make sure the huge animal wasn't following. Looping the new medallion around her neck, she cupped the glowing one in her hand and pointed its light ahead. It remained silent behind her but she still found herself half running down the long corridor.

Upon reaching the main tunnel, Kate looked back up to where she had found her old sneakers. A quick check of the passage behind her revealed no movement nor the glint of large eyes in the darkness. She sat on a knob of rock jutting out from the wall and leaned her head back. She hadn’t slept since leaving the lizard behind. For all she knew, that was days ago.

Her eyes closed and she faded into a dreamlike haze. The light above grew stronger, and a door appeared ahead. Was this a dream? She had seen this place before but the memory of it filled her with fear. She reached out to the door, then stopped. Beyond that door she had met an old man dressed in white who led her into a small room full of even more doors. The recollection of that event filled her with overpowering fear, and she sat up on the knob of rock as the light and door vanished. She blinked against tears that filled her eyes and a sob caught in her throat. What happened to her in that dream? Whatever it was, she did not want to sit here and let it come back.

Pushing to her feet she looked up the tunnel to where she found her sneakers. There was no way she had the strength to climb up that way. There was no choice but to keep going down.

The trail led through a series of switchbacks between tall boulders. Once past them she could see a small circle of blue light in the distance. The tunnel leveled out and as she drew near, a distinct memory came back. She knew for certain the light was from a keyhole in a door that would open into a huge cavern. She put her eye to the spot, but the thick door did not afford a view of what lay on the other side.

One thing was certain, this door was too tall and wide to be the door from her dreams. It should be safe to sleep here. Dropping her bag by the wall, Kate slumped down and leaned against it.

The chain of the new medallion pinched her neck. Pulling it out, she compared the two side by side. The medallions touched and the star points on both disks sparked. A symbol glowed briefly on the new medallion where they joined, then faded away. Kate tried again and studied the mark on the new medallion. Perhaps the mark showed who once owned them and identified the skeleton in the bone nest.

The soft pad of feet approached and the creature from the bone nest came into view from between the boulders. "I thought I told you to stay," Kate said. The angular head hung lower. "It's okay. Come here." She patted the ground beside her, and the beast plodded over and dropped down. Kate leaned in close and stroked its leathery cheek. Nestling against the warm body reminded her of the golden retriever she had as a child. The dog had been her closest companion until her mother punished her for not doing the dishes by giving her dog away. That was when she first started to hang out with Corvan. Kate gave a wry smile. The way Corvan was treating her now, it would have been better to find a new dog.

The steady rise and fall of the creature's breathing fell in sync with her own. As she drifted off to sleep, a faint memory of using the medallion to open the stone door beside her flickered in her mind. She should try it out.

Kate opened her eyes to find herself lying on the floor in a small round room carved out of solid rock. A soft white light shone down from the ceiling. A narrow door stood to one side. Her eyes drooped shut and for a brief moment she knew her body was still lying next to the large creature. She let herself drift away again and the round room reappeared. This wasn't just a dream. The glowing medallion had brought her to this place when she was here the last time. The tight knot in her stomach reminded her it hadn't been a good experience.

As Kate rose to her feet, the outline of a medallion shaped star came to life in the center of the narrow stone door. Kate stepped forward and touched it. The door quivered then disappeared in a curtain of tiny lights, scattering like fireflies on a summer night.

She stared into the dark void and strong memories washed over her. She knew, without a doubt, that in the space beyond she would find a seven-sided stone chamber. There would be a door set into each wall, and each one would have a star with a unique character carved into its surface.

Taking a deep breath to calm her nerves Kate slid one foot over the threshold. A band of light sprang to life near the ceiling inside the chamber. She scanned the room. One of the seven doors was broken apart but was different the last time she was here. A black drape had covered that doorway and an old man dressed in white had come into the room. He had grabbed her arm, but then someone had pulled her free from his grasp. She tried to recall more but it was like a blackboard had been sloppily erased, leaving only faint outlines under dusty smears. A cold breeze wafted out of the open doorway and settled around her ankles.

She was about to step back to the small anteroom when a light flickered across the chamber. The star on one of the doors was outlined with a thin ribbon of soft white light and a symbol like one she had seen before on her medallion was glowing. With one eye on the broken doorway, Kate crept across the chamber. She touched the light with her finger and the star slipped away to reveal a young man in a tattered green robe examining a medallion. He looked up. His eyes brightened in recognition, and he stepped toward the door. Kate quickly touched the edge of the star and the opening closed as he called out, "Kate!"

Kate stood stock still in the small round room staring at the narrow door. She had seen the man’s face before but who was he and how did he know her name? Kate raised her hand back to the star-shaped window but when her finger touched outside its border and the entire door dissolved in pinpricks of light. The young man stood just inside.

"Kate. I'm so glad to see you again. Are you back in the Cor?"

Kate looked into the young man's eyes but dropped her gaze as her face grew hot. Why was she thinking of kissing him? Her mind flickered. At some point in the past, she had kissed him but only on his cheek when they had been saying goodbye.

"Jorad?" Kate said tentatively.

He nodded. "That's right. You do remember me."

"Not really. I . . ."

"You were very sick,” he blurted out, “and I helped Corvan take you back to your world."

Kate nodded and a smile touched her lips. "Thank you."

"How did you open my door?" Jorad drew closer. "You must have one of these." He lifted a silver medallion hanging on a chain around his neck. The symbol glowing inside one of the points matched the one on his door.

Kate hesitated, then drew out the medallion she pulled from the bones. It’s symbol glowed brightly and Jorad's eyes widened.

"Mine hasn't done anything since I . . . since Cor. . . Kalian gave it to me when you left. Then tonight this symbol glowed." He pointed to the one on his medallion. "I waited until I fell asleep and now here I am. You must have brought me here with your medallion." He pushed toward the doorway, but something held him back from crossing the threshold into the main chamber.

"Where are you?" Jorad asked.

"I don't know."

"I'm not talking about this council chamber,” Jorad said. “Where were you before you fell asleep and came here?"

Kate looked over her shoulder. "I was in a tunnel by a door one with markings on it that leads into a large cavern. A blue light shone in through the keyhole, but I didn't try to open it."

Jorad nodded eagerly. "Yes. I know the place. And I have the key to that door. I'll join you as soon as I can." He pointed across the room. "I think if you go back into your entry cell that when you wake up, you will find yourself back in the tunnel by that large door." He paused. "Wait for me, Kate. Don't try to open the door. It may be dangerous. Promise me you'll wait for me."

Kate gave a slight nod.

"I'm so glad you're back." An anxious look crossed his face. "Is Kalian with you?"

Kate shook her head and Jorad smiled as he backed away and the light in his room faded into darkness. The door to Jorad’s small room became solid again.

Turning away, Kate looked around the room. Jorad said this was the council chamber, so each door must lead to a cell where the people who had one of the medallions could come and go. This chamber must be a place for the council to gather and make decisions, like the town council room at home—only this room didn't have a table to sit at. Or did it? She could recall lying on an angular stone table that dominated the center of the room, but it couldn't be correct. The doors were too small to bring a large table through.

Kate crossed toward the small room from which she had entered. The black void beyond the broken door to the right of her own narrow door frowned ominously as she went into her small cell. The door closed behind her.

Laying on the cold stone floor Kate turned her thoughts to sleeping next to the warm body of the large animal. The overhead light in the small round anteroom faded away.