“No!” Shela yelled, banging her fists against the side of the tunnel. She steered clear of the portal, as it wouldn’t take her to Rayna anyway.

“What in System’s name is wrong with her?” Gann asked. “She was running like she had Sharpas on her tail.”

“She’s hallucinatin’,” Shela said. “From the way she’s actin’, I think she saw the tunnel collapsin’ in on us.”

“So, she’s stupid and crazy?” Gann asked.

Shela turned around and punched Gann in the jaw, sending him slamming into the wall on the other side of the tunnel.

The spells in this part of the tunnel were more stable than his ill-advised route. The dirt didn’t even shudder.

“Are you nuts?” Gann snapped, holding a hand to his swollen lip.

“Open your mouth again and I’ll break your jaw, understand me?”

Gann stood, bristling. “I don’t know what your deal is, but we don’t have time for this. If you find the half-pint, you can tell her to find her own way out of here. The rest of us aren’t waiting.”

He stormed away, the other two following reluctantly behind.

Shela leaned against the wall, banging the back of her head lightly on the tightly packed dirt.

What could she do? She had to find Rayna, but traveling through the panic portals was a surefire way to end up starving to death down there.

How did a damn Lerian child end up in the capital anyway? Shela hadn’t been a hundred percent sure until Rayna’s hat came flying off, letting her hair loose. Shela didn’t think she was a halfling, either. Rayna was a full-blown goddess-forsaken Lerian.

And she was close to evolving.

Shela grabbed her scry glass from her Soul Realm, silently begging the goddess to let her spell make it through the layers of dirt and stone above her head.

“Shela?” Elder Lona’s voice asked through the scry glass. “What’s going on? You never call me.”

“A need a search party at Mount Herdo as soon as possible,” Shela said without preamble. “There’s a child lost in the tunnels. Mid-twenties. Black skin, white hair. She tripped through a panic portal.”

“Goddess bless!” the Elder exclaimed. “How did she end up there in the first place?”

“It’s a long story, most of which I don’t actually know. She’s just hit the first plateau if I’m judgin’ correctly but she acts like she doesn’t have a clue what’s goin’ on. I think she was raised outside of the community.”

“What species is on her name tag?” Elder Lona asked.

“I’d be right shocked if it wasn’t Lerian,” Shela said. “But she claims it’s broken. I haven’t seen it yet.”

Shela wasn’t sure if this was a cover story, or if Rayna really didn’t know what was going on. The first possibility seemed more likely. Rare race names tended to cause a stir and whenever Lerian came up, there was usually someone there to clean up the mess.

How Rayna had made it to her twenties without anyone finding her was a mystery in and of itself.

“What symptoms should we look out for?” Elder Lona asked.

“Irritability. Mood swings. Hallucinations. No idea on the magic side o’ things. Oh, and possibly delusions. Girl claims she’s from the tutorial.”

“What?!”

“Just get down here with the sniffers as soon as you can. I’m going in after her.”

“Shela, don’t you dare! That portal could take you anywhere in the mountain and you can’t even see the markings to get out.”

“It’ll get me inside,” Shela said. “I’ll find Rayna, then my scry glass can serve as a beacon to make it easier for the sniffers to find us.”

“What makes you think you can find her?” Elder Lona asked skeptically.

“‘Cause this girl’s givin’ off enough magic to feel on the other side o’ Ellis. I’ve been sneezin’ all morning. It’s drivin’ me crazy.”

Elder Lona shook her head. “Fine. But find her and stay put. I’ll have the sniffers looking for your trail.”

“Thanks,” Shela said with a reluctant smile. “I’ll see you in a few hours.”

She ended the spell and stowed her scry glass. This was a terrible idea, Elder Lona wasn’t wrong about that, but Rayna was too young—and too volatile—to be left on her own right now.

Shela stepped forward through the portal, praying it dropped her close to Rayna.

* * *

Gann grumbled as he stomped through the tunnel, his lip still stinging from Shela’s blow. He refused to heal it, because right now he wanted to be reminded of why he didn’t work with people.

Life was less painful when you made your own way in the world.

He didn’t have time to waste on belligerent children or crazy temple folk. He was trying to get out of this situation alive.

Trent and Pria followed in silence, obviously not agreeing with his approach. He valued their opinion, but he wasn’t going to bet his life on it. Pria was too soft, and Trent didn’t even like to travel. He had no doubt that both of them would switch over to non-combat classes after they reached a high enough Vitality to make it through the Dark Age.

They weren’t really fighting monsters; they were fighting the relentless march of time. The majority of the people on Ember would die of old age before the Dark Age could run its course. Even Lord Myre might not make it to the end of the calamity.

The higher your level, the higher your Vitality. It was as simple as that.

It didn’t take Gann long to retrace their steps. He had taken care to memorize the route Rayna took as she ran away. Losing track of where they were on the map could be a death sentence.

How had Rayna known the portal was there? How was she able to go through the walls in the first place? It had been bugging Gann since the first time they ran into a dead end. He thought at the time that Rayna was just playing a trick. Kids liked to do that: use their skills and pretend it was their own power and not something given by the System. It made them feel more powerful.

But then Rayna had never fessed up. She stuck to playing dumb and Shela had even backed her.

Shela certainly knew something, the way she was constantly siding with Rayna.

‘Leakin’. That’s what she had said to Rayna. What did that even mean? Did it have to do with the girl’s extravagant magical hair? The glow was a bit over the top, but Gann had had his fair share of frivolous magic usage as a child. Children from richer families tended to pick up the odd spell or two from pawn shops and magic stores.

But then why had Rayna been covering her hair with a hat? That would defeat the purpose. Shela had seemed shocked by Rayna’s sudden outburst, despite telling her to calm down in the first place.

Gann shook his head. No matter how much he thought about it, he couldn’t find a logical answer for his questions. And the people who could give him the truth were lost in the endless maze of tunnels.

If his luck held, Gann would never see them again.

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“Gann, are you sure we came the right way?” Pria asked, dragging him from his thoughts.

Gann checked the map. “We’ve got a few more turns before we’re back to where we were.”

“No, we don’t,” Trent said matter-of-factly.

Gann looked up from his map.

Pria stood with her mage light in hand, illuminating a mound of dirt blocking the way out of the tunnel.

“It’s fresh,” Trent said, picking up a handful of soil. “Looks like the ceiling caved in.”

“Rayna was right,” Pria said, taking a step back from the pile. “If we didn’t run after her, we would all be dead right now.”

Gann shook his head. “She didn’t predict the cave in, she caused it. The ceiling was stable until she threw a temper tantrum.”

But even as he said it, Gann knew it wasn’t true. Whether she predicted it, or simply saw it coming with plain old observation, Rayna had been right.

Gann didn’t like owing his life to strangers. “Forget it. Let’s find a way out of here, then we can worry about apologizing to dead people.”

“You’re an ass, you know that?” Trent asked, coming up on Gann’s left.

“A live ass is better than a dead angel,” Gann said.

“And a dead ass is worse than both,” Pria pointed out. “Let’s pick our tunnels more carefully from now on.”

Gann nodded. “If fancy pants here complains about his hair, we’ll pick a different tunnel.”

Trent rolled his eyes. “That won’t work, my hair’s already a lost cause.”

Pria shook her head. “You’re both mad.”

Wasn’t everyone these days?

* * *

“I said unharmed!” Lord Myre snapped.

Nali couldn’t see where he was, what with the blindfold that the Vanishers had tied around her eyes before they threw her in the wagon, but she was fairly sure he was close.

Not that the blindfold made a difference with both her eyes swollen shut.

“She put up more of a fight than we were anticipating,” another voice said. “But with her Endurance, she will be back to normal by the time she reaches her destination.”

“And the other one?” Myre asked.

“We’re just going to use a memory charm on her. Twenty-four hours should do the trick, and her mental defenses aren’t as strong as Lady Emery’s. She’ll be back to tending her inn before sundown.”

Nali breathed out a sigh of relief. Din didn’t need to get mixed up in all this, and it was better that she stay in the safe house, in case the others went back there.

“Like hell you will!” Din snapped. “You mess with Nali, you mess with all of us! Untie me so I can slap you so hard your grandparents will feel it!”

“Din, be quiet!” Nali hissed. “That doesn’t even make sense.”

“You really think I’m going to let them spell me into thinking everything is fine and dandy?” Din asked. “You might as well toss me off a cliff. I go with Nali, end of discussion.”

There was a long moment of silence before the unfamiliar voice said, “The Island could always use more wards…”

“Damn you both!” Nali snapped. “Myre, I don’t know why you’re doing this, but I have a proposition.”

Nali waited, hoping he didn’t just shrug her off.

The blindfold was tugged off of Nali’s head and she had just enough vision to see Lord Myre wince. He healed Nali’s eyes, since she couldn’t do it herself with the magic suppression field around the wagon.

“What is your proposition?” he asked.

Nali straightened, ignoring the pain in her broken hip. “Place me under a geas. I won’t speak of you or whatever it is you think I know. You can do the same for my subordinates if you are worried about them as well.”

Myre shook his head. “A geas isn’t reliable. They are too easy to circumvent.”

“Were you born this suspicious, or did you have to work at it?” Din asked sarcastically.

Nali shot her a look to be quiet.

Din shook her head and looked away.

“All right,” Nali said. “At least tell me where we are going. Your men have treated me and my former student poorly, so I deserve at least that much.”

“She’s stalling.” The other man came into view and Nali memorized his visage for later reference. He would regret messing with Nali’s people.

“Stalling?” Myre asked. “What for?”

“She thinks she can find a way out of those cuffs if we keep talking.”

Nali resisted the urge to roll her eyes. She was stalling, but it wasn’t for that.

“Where is she?!” Hinesh snapped, coming around the side of the wagon.

“What are you doing here?” the other man snapped.

“Nali is a friend of mine,” Hinesh said, crossing his arms. “If you’re sending her to the Island, you’re taking me too.”

Lord Myre frowned. “If you wanted to go to the island, you could have just asked.”

Hinesh faltered. “Oh…” He straightened his back. “Well, I am officially asking, then.”

“Before that,” the other man said. “Why did you send Lady Emery a note?”

Hinesh didn’t miss a beat. “To track her here.”

Nali sighed. “Read the note if you don’t believe him.”

She handed Lord Myre the note, rubbing her wrists.

Din shook her hands out. “It would be nice if they gave us an actual challenge.”

Lord Myre frowned at the useless cuffs on the bench beside Nali. “You’re not running?”

“Someone has to keep that moron out of trouble,” Nali said, nodding at Hinesh.

Hinesh crossed his arms. “I had everything under control.”

“You sent Lady Emery a note that says, ‘Sorry, I’ll explain later. Stall them for me’?” the other man asked incredulously. He turned to Nali. “No, forget that, why did you actually do it?”

“Esh is my oldest friend,” Nali said simply. “I assumed he had a good reason.”

And this gave her an excuse for why she had fought so hard to keep them busy. It was one more thing standing between them and finding the trap door.

Lord Myre shook his head. “You’re too impulsive,” he told Hinesh. “You need to learn to wait for things to play out.”

Nali found herself in agreement with Lord Myre. Hinesh had always been the impulsive sort—it was something he and the real Esh Quar had in common—but he was getting too old for this kind of recklessness.

“You used to be impulsive, too,” Hinesh said. “Then you grew up and got pissy.”

Lord Myre raised an eyebrow. “Did you just call me pissy?”

Hinesh said nothing, standing by his remark.

“Sire, if I may,” the other man cut in, glancing nervously at Nali’s unbound hands. “The sooner we get them on the boats, the better.”

Hinesh nodded. “Very true! Just give me one moment.” He walked around the side of the wagon, proceeding to have a very loud conversation through a scry glass with his second in command, telling him to take care of the temple while he was gone.

He returned, climbing into the wagon.

Nali scooted over for him and Din moved to the other side of the wagon, glaring at Hinesh. Nali would have to explain to her later that Hinesh was on their side.

They waited silently while Myre and the other man left.

Once they started moving, Hinesh leaned closer and whispered, “Sorry about this, Nali. I didn’t have a way to stop them.”

“How much do they think I know?” Nali muttered back.

“The name, and only that. Keep calling me Esh for now.”

“I didn’t plan on doing anything else,” Nali said with a grin. “Tell me you have a way around the magic suppression field.”

Hinesh shook his head. “You’ll have to wait until we get to the island. I can’t even get into my Inventory.”

“This is why you plan ahead,” Nali said, pulling two healing potions out of a hidden pocket in her sleeve. She tossed one to Din and drank the other herself.

It didn’t heal her completely, but it mended her hip and stopped the growing ache in her abdomen.

Din handed her empty vial back to Nali. “Is there a reason we’re not trying to escape?”

“Because what I need right now is information,” Nali said. “And because someone—” She pointedly looked at Hinesh. “—told them about Rayna. The further I am from her, the better.”

“In my defense,” Hinesh said. “You don’t understand how surprising it was to see her.”

“Because you still haven’t explained that part,” Nali pointed out. “I’ve worked some of it out on my own, but I expect a full account when we get to this island. No more half-truths or ‘not my secret to tell’.”

Hinesh nodded. “It’s not like they can kidnap you twice.”

* * *

Rayna leaned her head back against the closed portal. She had seen people die since coming to Ember—or more accurately, she had heard about the deaths. Most of them happened inside the trial—but this was the first time she had been responsible for it.

She had chosen the path. She had taken them to that hallway and escaped on her own.

What was Rayna supposed to do now?

“We need to get out of here,” Phira said, looking worried. She was sitting next to Rayna, floating a few centimeters above the ground with her back to the wall. “You look like you could use a healer.”

Rayna shook her head. “I’m fine.”

To her embarrassment, her eyes started to water again. Why was she so weepy lately? She never cried this much!

Phira shook her head. “What you need is a way to relax,” she declared, turning to face Rayna.

Phira motioned for Rayna to do the same and she didn’t have the energy to argue.

“All right. I once spent a week in a monastery with a group of Lenaman monks—my mother thought it would help me improve my court mask which was near non-existent when I was a child—anyway, they taught me some breathing exercises that are supposed to help you relax.”

She demonstrated, breathing in for four seconds and breathing out for five.

“While you’re breathing,” Phira said. “Picture somewhere peaceful. Don’t try to force anywhere specific; you’ll get better with time. Just try to picture the essence of peace, whatever that means to you.”

Rayna closed her eyes and tried to picture what peace meant to her.

She couldn’t think of anything.

“It’s too abstract,” Rayna said. “Can’t you give me something more specific to picture?”

“It’s different for everyone,” Phira said. “But maybe I can describe mine to give you an idea. When I was a child, peace meant laying on a bed with my pet Caral. She was big and soft, and I felt safe with her.

“Over the years, my idea of peace evolved with my experiences. When I picture peace, I see my workshop. The smell of machine oil coats my work leathers. Harvey—my assistant—brings me a cup of tea while I pore over a set of runes. It isn’t idle, for I never found idleness very peaceful, but it’s home. It’s comfortable. Where are you comfortable? What feels like home to you?”

Rayna thought back to her life on Earth. Could it ever be described as peaceful? She was an anxious wreck most of the time. She taught English, which was draining by nature, and she spent her weekends trying to catch up on all of the sleep she lost during the week.

Her life was anything but peaceful.

Her mind was drawn back to the day of the initialization; back to her and Emma sitting in the back of an empty convenience store. It was her safe space—even more so than her apartment. It was quiet, it had all the ramen she could ever eat.

And most importantly, Emma was there.

Emma constantly disturbed Rayna’s peace. She dragged Rayna to dangerous sports; begged her to play games when she would rather sleep; forced her to do her grocery shopping instead of ordering take out for the fifth time in a row.

Everything Emma did in their friendship should make Rayna feel the opposite of peace, and yet if she was there, Rayna was home.

Home for Rayna was a place where she wasn’t alone.

She opened her eyes to find Phira nodding. “I see you found something. Are you feeling better?”

“A little,” Rayna admitted.

“Excellent,” Phira said. “Let’s find a way out of here. The sight of stone is starting to get old.”

Rayna nodded. “Agreed.”