We barreled through the tunnels. My feet were lead; I kept tripping over them and stumbling into walls. Keenan resorted to slinging his arm around mine and dragging me after them. I did not, could not watch the hoodlums slaughter any Serpeople. They had run ahead of us, eager to murder some serpents.

We went right at a fork. Ahead, we heard shouts, hissing, shrieks, and blades slicing through flesh. Serguards cried for "Reinforcementssss!"

"Yeah right!" Geary shouted. There was a swish, a sickening crack, and the Serguard was no more.

Keenan tugged at my arm. "C'mon, the boat's not far."

The hoodlums had cleared a path for us. Serpeople lay decapitated on the floor, gold blood oozing onto the ground. They all had friends and family that would never speak to them again. Did the fact that they had gold blood make them less human? The stabbing in my chest and bile in my throat said no.

"I'm sorry Ash, but we've got to go," said Fabe, tugging on my Caval.

I closed my eyes and said a quick blessing for the fallen, then followed after the others.

We emerged from the humid caves into the airy cavern breathless, with blood pumping in our ears. The cavern was bathed in soft, white light from the giant pearls overhead. They cast enough light for me to see something that choked all the air out of me.

"No!" cried Marylea. "Stop them!" She ran towards the dock where our boat was - had been. It was now afloat on the river, all four hoodlums piled into it.

Geary saw us and winked. "Thanks for the ride." Their bloodied weapons lay on the floor of the boat, staining it a sticky gold.

"We shouldn't have woken them," I cried. "I'm sorry I was so stupid."

"No time to beat yourself up, Ash," said Fabe. "I hear Serpeople coming."

I could always count on Fabe to set my priorities straight.

"You're right." I cast my eyes around the cavern, and couldn't believe my luck when I saw what would be our escape. "There," I said, pointing at the walls. "That ledge looks just wide enough for us to walk on. We can hide in that crevice."

"I'll go first," Marylea said, and made for the ledge.

"Please be careful." I inhaled, exhaled, and gestured for Fabe to follow. He swallowed and walked to the ledge.

"I'm sorry I set the hoodlums free," I said quietly to Keenan as we scaled the ledge. I had to apologize to someone before the guilt ate me alive.

"Not your fault," he muttered under his breath. He was wider than the rest of us, and he had to crabwalk across the ledge so he was practically hugging the walls. "Hold on a sec. I'm trying not to fall." He flashed me a quick smile, and I managed to curl my lip.

We made it to the crevice and started edging our way in. I had barely squeezed my petite frame into the crevice before Serguards pattered out of the cave.

"The boat'ssss gone!"

"Blardy fangssss. They got away."

One of them shouted into the cavern. "Watch out. We'll remember what you did to usssss."

I squeezed my eyes shut. I'm sorry. I'm so sorry.

I felt soft skin brush my hand. Then a hand squeezed my palm. It was like Keenan could read my mind. Almost.

I twisted my hand away. I didn't deserve his comfort.

"Are they gone?" whispered Marylea. "Air's getting pretty thin in here."

I trained my ears on the crevice opening. "I think so," I whispered back. "Let me check." I inched outwards and peeked out. Sure enough, the cave opening was empty.

"It's clear," I said. "Move out."

One by one, we eased out of the crevice. We skirted the ledge to put more distance between us and the cave entrance. Finally, we reached a platform that was wide enough to fit the four of us without one of us tipping over the edge. It was there that we finally stretched out our stiff limbs.

"So," said Marylea, "What's next?"

"This ledge seems to stretch as far as I can see," I said. "Hopefully it leads to the Keeper Core."

Fabe frowned. "What're the chances it does?"

"If it doesn't, I guess we swim."

"I hope not." Fabe hugged himself. "I thought I saw something fat and silver in those waters."

"The last thing I want to see," said Marylea. "More murderous marine creatures."

"There seems to be a lot of those," said Keenan. "C'mon. We need to keep moving."

I looked at both of them. Marylea and Keenan seemed to be talking normally again, just without the snuggling and giggles. It seemed near-death situations shelved heartbreak and brought cordiality. The funny things survival did to us.

We walked along the platform, me in the lead, Keenan in the back. Ahead of me, glowing purple moss carpeted the already slippery rock.

"Careful," I said. "It's mossy ahead."

I treaded across with painstaking slowness, my sandals hardly finding purchase on the slimy moss. I got across and waited at the other side for Fabe.

"Slowly," I said.

"I've got this," said Fabe. "Easy p-" And then he slipped and rammed his butt on the jagged rocks. He yelped in pain. His feet flailed and splashed into the water. Thick gleaming fish jumped out of the water and snapped where his feet had just been. Fabe backpedaled from the edge, staring at the water in horror.

Then he started screaming.

"It burns!" he cried. "Put it out - it burns!"

"Fabe," I said. "Nothing's burning. Your feet, it's - it's -"

"Put it outt!" he screamed.

I watched, half mesmerized, half terrified, at what was happening to his feet.

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"Fabe, your feet," whispered Marylea, "They're changing."

Steam crawled in wisps from his feet, but that wasn't the most terrifying part. Amidst the smoke, his bare toes stretched to join one another. His extra wide feet pushed against the roped sides of his sandals. Then the steam disappeared, and Fabe's new feet were in clear view.

"What the trout?" he cursed. "What happened to my feet?"

"Flippers" would've been a more accurate term. Fabe's feet had grown webs, and now resembled a frog's appendage.

It could be worse.

The universe had a strange, sadistic way whenever a thought like that passed your head. No sooner had it crossed my mind did Fabe start screaming again. Ominous steam rose once more, this time from his hands.

He stared at his steaming hands. "Oh trout," he murmured, then his head lolled backwards and bounced on the rock. He was out as a bat in the day.

"Fabe's becoming one of them," said Marylea. She looked a little shell-shocked.

I pictured Fabe with flapping gills in his neck, staring at me with gold eyes.

"No!" I said. "The Keeper will fix him." Because if she couldn't, no one else could.

I hoisted Fabe over my shoulder and stomped on.

The cavernous tunnel went on for what felt like ages. When my arms started burning from Fabe's weight, Keenan offered to take him. We ended up taking turns at carrying Fabe while keeping as close to the wall as possible, avoiding the water at all costs.

Fabe was unconscious but for the occasional moan. Whenever he made a sound, we'd look at him and find a new feature. Gills, webbed hands, elfin ears, scaly skin.

"Ash?"

Keenan's voice broke me out of my vision of a SerFabe. "Yeah?"

"The hoodlums will have gotten to the Keeper Core by now."

I bit my lip. "Guess we'll have to find a way around them."

He swallowed, and I knew what he was thinking. I wish that'll be easy.

I wished it would be too.

Fabe emitted a loud moan. I looked at Fabe, who was draped over Keenan's shoulder. Sharp, spiny fins were pushing against his tunic, threatening to rip it apart.

I gulped. "Um, Keenan -"

"Shh," he said. "Sharp turn ahead."

Marylea, who was at the head of the line, poked her head around the turn. The look of alarm on her face answered my questions.

"They're waiting," she hissed. "On the shore."

"What's over there?" I whispered.

"A bay. And a wall that stretches almost to the ceiling, with a small gap at the top. I thought I glimpsed leaves poking out through there."

Leaves in a cave. Interesting.

"That must be the Core," whispered Keenan.

"How're we getting past the gang?" asked Marylea. "There's no way past them."

"Maybe they won't do anything to us," said Keenan. "Maybe they're just looking for a way in."

"And you trust them to meet with the Keeper?" asked Marylea, who obviously thought the very idea disgusting. "They'll make her wipe the other Kingdoms' resources so their precious swamp will flourish, or something."

"All they did was kill some Serpeople who meant to imprison us for life."

"They're murderers."

While the two argued, all previous heartbreak forgotten, I scanned the walls for a path to the Keeper Core. There was no other way to the Core but the ledge that led us to the bay.

"Keenan's right," I said. "They did nothing to harm us. They mightn't harm us now."

"They stole our boat!"

I bit my lip. I hadn't forgotten the snide smiles on the hoodlums' faces as they rowed away, leaving us to the mercy of a group of very angry Serpeople. But we hardly had room to hold grudges right now. There was only one way into the Core, and that way was past the hoodlums.

Before I could say anything, Fabe made our decision for us by yelling out in agony. "ARRGGHHH."

The hoodlums' gruff voices echoed in the empty cavern. "They're over there! We won't hurt ya, young'uns. We just need help gettin' in, tha's all."

"Trout, Fabe," Marylea hissed. She rolled her eyes. "Guess we have no other option." She walked around the turn and I heard her say, "Hey, guys."

Keenan looked at me, resigned. "There was no other way," he said, and followed Marylea.

The hoodlums met us with open arms. "Sorry we stole your boat," Geary said. "Was the only way. Glad you got away from those monsters."

"Yeah," added Stieve, who sported a dash of gold blood across his face, like a lightning bolt. "Now we're all here, safe and sound, eh?"

I held back my urge to scoff and spit at their feet. "Why haven't you gone in?"

"Door's locked, ain't it?" said Geary. "Blardy secretary won't let us in. Said we need permission. Now where da hell we getting this permission, eh?"

I had a feeling this "permission" was only an excuse to keep a gang of suspicious men out of the sanctuary.

"Perhaps you can help us, eh?" said Stieve. "Maybe they'll give you permission." His eyes widened and narrowed. "What happened to your friend?"

"Fell in the water," said Keenan grimly.

Stieve guffawed. Then the others caught sight of Fabe and joined in. Their laugh was more annoying than a pack of hyenas'.

"He's turnin into one of them!" cawed Oswald. "Is his blood gold, too?" He sneered and pointed at his gold-stained shirt.

Fear and a hot burst of anger flared in me and my fingers reached for my sword hilt under my Caval. "He's not turning into one of them," I said fiercely. "Don't you lay a finger on him."

"Ey! She's got a sword!" said Geary. "Relax, missy. Oswald was just kidding. Now, how about you four come here and talk to the secretary, eh?"

Geary looked at me expectantly. When I stood still, he cocked his head towards the metal door embedded in the stone wall. "Go on," he said.

I exchanged a look with Keenan, who nodded and swung Fabe over his shoulder and rested him on the sand. Now that his hands were free, he was free to spring into action anytime. I knew it meant he had my back.

I walked through the sand, its fine white particles tickling my feet through my sandals. The metal door had a rectangular glass pane near the top. The metal window was closed. I raised a bruised knuckle and rapped on the door.

I waited a few seconds, then rapped again. I was about to rap a third time when the metal window slid open. An eye black as midnight peered through it. "Who are you?" asked a woman's voice. "Are you with the men?"

I felt a pang of regret for releasing the hoodlums. "We escaped from the Serpeople cave with them," I said. "But no, we're not in the same party."

"We just want to speak to the Keeper," said Geary gruffly from behind me.

The black-eyed woman studied me. "Who are you?"

"My name is Ashling Dircourt. I'm the Princess of the Kingdom of Aragonia. That's Keenan, royal historian, that's Marylea, our new Shaper, and that's Fabe. He fell in the water. We've come to seek help from the Keeper. Our Kingdom is disappearing."

"Disappearing?" asked the woman. Then a look of recognition flashed in her eyes. "Kingdoms don't disappear."

For a moment, I forgot about the hoodlums, forgot about Serfabe. All that was on my mind was the fact that Aragonia was disappearing, one person at a time, and Tem was one of them.

"Aragonia is. Can you help us?" I asked, desperation creeping into my voice. "Please. Let us see the Keeper."

The woman was quiet. "I need time to think," she said. "Give me one night, then I'll decide. You can camp on the beach until then."

"No delays!" said Geary. "I know what you're doing. You're stalling. Maybe you'll squeak the door open while we're all asleep and let them in. That's not happening, lady. Let us in right now if you know what's good for you."

"She only wants us to wait," said Marylea.

"No more waiting!" Geary ran towards me. Before I could wrap my head around the turn of events, Geary had whipped out a dagger and put it to my neck. "You let us in now, lady, and no one gets hurt."

The black eyes widened in alarm. "Don't hurt her!"

I heard a shriek and a shout as Marylea and Keenan got seized by the others. Anger razed through me. "Don't touch them!" I cried. I reached for my sword, but Geary caught my hand and held it against my back. I gave a shout of protest. "Let me go!"

"And let you stab me with that sword of yours?" sneered Geary. "I don't think so."

"It's all right, Ash. We're fine," said Keenan. "We're fine."

"They won't be fine," snarled Geary. "If this door isn't open soon."

My fists were balled so tight my knuckles hurt. "Don't hurt them or you'll be sorry," I said through gritted teeth.

Geary pressed his dagger against my throat. "Shut up, girlie, unless you'd like your blood to fuse with the Serpeople's golden filth."

I could smell the tang of Serpeople blood on his blade. It smelt like metal and flowers, blended into a sickening sweet scent.

"Stop," said the black-eyed lady. "I'll let you in as long as you don't hurt them."

"No, don't -"

"Shut up!" said Geary, pushing the dagger against my throat. I swallowed to prevent the bile from rising. Shouldn't have released them. Stupid, stupid.

The black eye vanished from the window. The window remained open. Then I heard bolts sliding open, gears spinning, and finally, the metal door swung open.

Standing at the doorway was a slender, wizened woman with olive skin, wavy black hair and the same inky black eyes I saw through the window. She wore a modest blue dress draped across her right shoulder. A blue teardrop crystal the size of a thumbtack rested on her forehead. Fine wrinkles framed her glittering eyes. Eyes which I imagined would be kind, if not for our current situation. Her shoulders were drawn back, her chin high. The hoodlums didn't faze her.

"Now that the door's open," she said, "I request you let them go."

"Not so fast," said Geary. He pushed my Caval aside, seized my sword, then he released me with a shove. My sword in his filthy hands, he stomped towards the woman.

"We want to talk to the Keeper," he demanded.

The woman raised her chin and looked him squarely in the eye. "You're looking at her."