I glanced over at the woman named Rayna, still standing firm with her hands on her hips, and got a good look at her for the first time. She had long, wavy brown hair, and a face that would make even the most courageous man screech like a baby and run away.

  Rayna was flat-out ugly.

  Hideous was a better word. Her face bore all kinds of pocks and scars, and her nose was the size of a small mountain. One of her ears stuck out through her hair, the other seemed withered, almost hidden from sight. One of her eyes was missing, leaving a mass of bulbous scar tissue. She was dressed from head to toe in leather, dyed the bright green of lime pie. I felt like I was looking at some kind of deranged comic book hero.

  She noticed the look of wonder on my face.

  “Jimmy Fincher,” she said, her voice gruff, matching her appearance. “It's okay to stare the first time. After that, try to refrain. I am of the Alliance. We are the humble and the neglected. We are here to help you, so please return our respect.”

  I didn't quite know how to respond.

  “Of … of course,” I somehow got out.

  She walked along the path, stopping within a few feet of me.

  “There are two things about me that you will find quite fascinating, Jimmy. Two amazing facts. One I will tell you now, the other you must figure out for yourself.”

  Rayna then told me her story.

  Rayna was from America, but had moved to Japan with her parents when she was a child. Both parents had been killed in a train wreck, and Rayna was left on the streets. Years of hard living left her in the state she was in, battered and weathered. But she'd had a special ability, and it eventually led her to the Alliance.

  Rayna's gift was something that seemed impossible to me. Not because it was weird or unusual or magical—that sort of thing had become second nature in my life. Her gift was unbelievable because it had to do with the future.

  She could do amazing things with photographs.

  When Rayna touches a photo, it changes. It becomes a window to the future, slowly alternating between many possible outcomes for whoever is in the picture. No outcome is certain or set in stone. The alternating pictures are merely possibilities.

  For years, Rayna wondered how such a talent could be of any use. She soon came to the conclusion that by seeing what may happen, one can work toward those things that they want to happen.

  Something in my mind clicked. The horror of those pictures I saw at the house where I met Hood came slamming back into my head. The blank faces of my family, appearing dead, our bodies lying on stone beds, in a dark, gray world.

  Joseph had told me that's what happens when the Stompers come. That's what lay in my future. The mystery of it and the terror of it were equally mind-numbing.

  “You did this to some pictures of my family, didn't you?” I asked. “I saw them in the house by the river, where I met Hood.”

  I looked over at him, and he shrunk away, lowering his head and refusing to answer.

  “Yes,” Rayna replied, “I had pictures of your family, and I touched them with my ability. We needed to know what might lie in your future, so we would know what we could do to either help or hinder. I sent them with The Hooded One as a way to convince you that we are your friends. It sounds like you were unlucky enough to see something that was not pleasant. We should have been more careful.”

  “But where did you get a picture of us?”

  “From your father, of course.”

  “My dad? You know my dad?”

  “There is a lot about me that will surprise you, Jimmy. But we've talked long enough. We need to descend into the Finger—time is running short.”

  “But—”

  Miyoko cut me off. “Rayna is correct. Let's go. You'll have plenty of time to reminisce after we save the world.”

  Frustrated, I followed the others as they walked around the circular path to the other side of the Finger, where the black extension leading to the strange slide began. Hood shuffled along behind me. Miyoko, Tanaka, and Rayna stopped next to the protruding piece of rock, and looked out toward the curly-que slide.

  A question had been burning in my mind since I'd first looked at the thing, and I finally voiced it.

  “It looks like a lot of fun, but how in the world do we get back up?”

  “Oh, mister Jimmy-san,” Tanaka answered, “you have much to learn about our world. This no ordinary stone path. This a magic path, and coming up is better than going down! You wait and see, my friend.”

  With that, and a hackling laugh, Tanaka walked out onto the extension toward the middle and sat down, his legs pointing down in the direction of the descending slide. He looked back at me with his bad-toothed grin.

  “Jimmy-san, don't be scared. Tanaka will catch you at the bottom.”

  He pushed off with his hands and shot down the slide. It appeared to be greased or something the way he flew. Winding around and around, he disappeared into the darkness below, his screams of delight slowly fading the further he went.

  “Hooded One,” Rayna called out, “you are next.”

  Hood shook his head and took a step backward.

  “What is wrong with you?” Rayna asked. “You've done this before, now come on!”

  She walked over to him and gently grabbed his arm. Hood whipped it away from her, and for a second I thought he would hit her. Something was terribly wrong with this guy. He was so obviously shaken from whatever had happened to him—I just wished he'd talk—or write—to us about it.

  He recovered his composure and waved his hand as an apology. He walked carefully out to the slide and sat down. Then, with his arms shaking, he pushed off and flew down the slide, his ugly robed form appearing and disappearing as he wound his way to the bottom.

  Miyoko was next. She gave me a wink, and without any hesitation whatsoever, ran across the path and jumped feet forward onto the slide, shooting downward even faster than the other two.

  Rayna put her hand on my shoulder.

  “I will go last. Don't be afraid. Tanaka is a silly man, but he wasn't lying. This black, winding path is indeed very mysterious and powerful. It will not let you fall, and will deliver you safely to the bottom. And just you wait until we come back up—that will be something you'll never forget. Now, go. You will be protected.”

  With a gentle push, she set me off toward the path. I was more fascinated than I was scared. At the moment, I knew I had The Shield, and that I could simply jump to the bottom if I really wanted to. But I still didn't quite love that sensation of falling through the air and then bouncing around like a ping-pong ball, so I chose the slide.

  As I walked across the extension toward the middle, I looked over the edge on both sides of me. There appeared to be nothing at all supporting the entire structure except this one line of rock attached to the circular path on top of the Finger. The winding slide went down and down and down, until it finally disappeared into that faint red glow. I suddenly realized that the shaft inside the Finger was much, much deeper than what we had just climbed to get to this point. Shield or no Shield, I was finally scared.

  I sat down on the edge of where it started to turn into the downward slide, and took a deep breath. I'd always loved roller coasters, but this was beyond anything I'd ever done. I also remembered that rides at the amusement parks that went in circles always made me sick. Well, there wasn't much choice, so I told myself to quit thinking and pushed off.

  The black rock was slick, and my body rocketed toward the ground faster than any roller coaster I'd ever been on. Round and round, wind rushing past me, I flew down the slide. It was fun until my stomach started to disagree with the experience.

  As I got sicker and sicker, I could sense the red glow intensifying, but soon couldn't take it anymore. I closed my eyes, and prayed for it to hurry up and end.

  It went on and on and on, circling, spinning, flying down the shaft of the Finger. After a while, the surface of the slide grew less slick, and my speed slowed somehow. Then the faint sound of Tanaka came rolling up from below, and before long, I shot off the slide into the arms of the laughing Japanese man, knocking him to the ground.

  Nauseous to the core, I then threw up on him.

  For the first time since I'd met him, I saw Tanaka frown.

  Before I could recover and sit up, I was kicked in the back of the head by a flying woman named Rayna, The Shield making her bounce up and over me. It surprised me more than it hurt her, and for some strange reason we all started laughing. Even stinky, frowning Tanaka finally broke a smile as he did his best to wipe the sludge off of his clothes.

  Still giggling for no particular reason, I slowly stood and took in my surroundings.

  We were in an enormous cavern, carved out of brown stone, very different from the black material of the Finger and slide. The cavern went in all directions for hundreds and hundreds of feet, in some places even extending so far that I couldn't see where it ended. The ceiling of the cavern was at least a few hundred feet above us as well. It was just plain huge.

  Then I noticed the source of the red glow.

  Dotted here and there throughout the floor of the cave were pools of hot, simmering lava. As if brought on by the sight, I realized how incredibly hot it was in that place. A slight draft was flowing through the air, and it was very warm. I touched my face and pulled away a hand wet with sweat.

  I remembered the stupid story I used to tell my friends about how my grandpa had died in a volcano, one of the worst stories ever concocted by a dad trying to explain a death to his kid. Well, who would've thought it would come back to haunt me?

  I was smack dab in the middle of a bona fide volcano. I couldn't help but wonder when the last time was that this thing erupted.

  Then I saw the book.

  About a hundred feet from the bottom of the slide, next to the closest cave wall, was a tall block of stone, the top of it slanted downward slightly to the side facing us. On that stone rested a large, closed book. I couldn't make out many details, but I had no doubt that it had to be the book. The Book. An eerie feeling came over me, realizing that my dad had once been in this place, and had looked at that very book.

  I stepped toward it.

  “Wait!”

  Rayna's voice boomed in the vast cave, echoing off the walls like someone introducing a speaker at a school assembly. I looked back at her.

  “Before you do this, you may want to take a minute and get yourself under control. You will only have one shot at this, and you must not fail.”

  “One shot?” I asked, puzzled. “What do you mean, one shot? What am I taking a shot at?”

  “Have you already forgotten the riddle?” Miyoko answered for Rayna.

  “The riddle? Oh yeah, the one about the fire and ice. No, I hadn't forgotten, I guess. I just didn't really understand what it would mean or what I would have to do about it.” I paused and took a deep breath. “I guess I haven't really thought about anything except finding the book up until now. What am I supposed to do? I thought I would read the book and somehow I would then have the Second Gift.”

  “Surely, you have learned by now that the Givers do not work that way,” Rayna replied. “To them, everything is a test. One must prove themselves worthy before they receive their reward. Why in the world do you think your dad had to come to Japan to get a key that opens a door way back in Georgia? Nothing in this battle will ever be easy. You must pass certain tests to prove that you are the one who will bear the Gifts in the battle against the Stompers.”

  “I guess I figured I'd already proven myself. Plus, isn't it true that now that I've received the First Gift, no one else can receive the others?”

  “Yes,” Rayna said, “but that doesn't change anything. Just because you have passed one test, and have been set on this path, does not mean that your need for growth has lessened. If anything, that need has only grown more urgent. You have a lot to learn, and a lot to receive before you will be able to defeat the Stompers. Remember, you have no idea or concept of what the Stompers really are. It's not like you're going to battle a bunch of monsters or robots or aliens. The Stompers are something quite different.”

  “Why can't someone just tell me what they are, then?”

  Miyoko replied this time. “Two reasons. One, none of us truly even know that much about them. Only the Givers do. And two, that is also part of your growth process. You will not be able to defeat them unless you have come to understand them for yourself.”

  Filled with frustration, I just couldn't understand. I felt so blind to the purpose of everything, I wondered how in the world I could keep going. I felt that hopeless feeling coming back, and I wanted to cry and give up. But something, deep inside of me, stood firm, and I snapped myself out of it.

  “Okay, what do I need to do?”

  This time, Tanaka wanted to answer. He walked up to me, and whipped out his usual smile.

  “Jimmy-san, you must go to the book. We brought you here, we told you the riddle. That is all we can do.” He grabbed my hand into both of his, and then continued, “We are your deepest friends. We are here for you. You will come back. Go, now.”

  Tanaka let go of my hand, and gestured toward the stone altar and the book. I looked around at everyone else, saw their supportive eyes and willful expressions, and built up my resolve. It was time to do some reading. I turned and began walking toward the stone pillar.

  I had just taken my third step when Hood went insane.

  I would never make it to the book.

  I heard footsteps pounding the pavement behind me, and I turned around just in time to see Hood jump into the air in front of me and sail over my head. I jerked around toward the book in time to see him land. Dazed at his leaping abilities, I froze, looking at him. He turned and slowly walked up to me until he was inches from my face. I took a step back, uncomfortable with his strange behavior.

  Hood reached into the deep folds of his robe, and pulled out a clenched fist of something that he kept hidden. He slowly raised his hand until it was right in front of my face. Every instinct of my body told me to run, that Hood had gone nuts and that he was going to hurt me. But my trust in him proved greater, and I stood my ground.

  Then everything happened in a maddened rush.

  Hood flipped his hand open, and a swarm of flying dust filled the air around me. The Shield kicked into gear, repelling the dust outward like a big bubble, but it had been too late. My trust in Hood overcame the protective power of The Shield. Just enough of the strange dust flew into my nose, and I let out a huge sneeze.

  From somewhere above us, the Sounding Rod swooped down until it was just a few feet above me. That familiar cone formed, and then its soundless cry blasted into the air, its vibration felt in my bones despite the lack of sound.

  Just like that, The Shield was gone.

  Confused, I stared at Hood, wondering what had overcome him, and why he would want my protection to disappear. A great tremor of fear boiled up inside me. Something was terribly wrong.

  A chuckling sneer suddenly filled the air around us. After a brief moment of confusion, I realized the sound was coming from Hood. Miyoko, Rayna, and Tanaka came closer, all of us staring at our hooded companion with disbelief. None of us had ever heard any kind of sound come from underneath that hood before.

  Then, calmly, Hood reached up with his hands and slid the hood over his head. It fell over and settled onto his back.

  Even as the sound of Miyoko's screams filled the cavern, I could only stand frozen, staring with unbelieving eyes at the person who stood before me.

  With a wicked sneer and frightful eyes that were deep black, he stared back, and the nightmares of past days invaded my mind.

  It was him.

  Custer Bleak, the leader of the Union of Knights, the leader of the Shadow Ka on our world.

  The one man on the planet who completely terrified me.

  Raspy.

  The first person able to speak was Rayna.

  “What have you done with the Hooded One?” she screamed at Raspy.

  “He is tied to a tree, as if it really matters,” he replied in that distinct voice, like a man with a frog in his throat, sending chills through my whole body. “As you know, I could not kill him, but his scaly, weak body could do nothing to stop me from tying him up. However, that is a matter which should be far down on your list of things to worry about.”

  Raspy took a step closer to me, his black eyes riveted on mine the entire time. I looked into his voided eyes, wondering what was happening. His eyes had not been like that the last time I saw him, during that intense hurricane of destruction in the Blackness.

  He sensed my question.

  “Jimmy, my boy,” he said, tipping his head to one side and smiling without humor, “what strange things you have seen in the last few weeks. You must continue to think that you've seen it all, yet more and more comes at you. Believe me when I say, I feel sorry for you. I feel sorry for every person on this tired and sad world of yours. I feel excitement for the day when the Stompers will relieve you from this drudgery of an existence.” He rubbed his ancient, gnarled hands together. “For the day they free your minds forever.”

  As usual, I had no idea what Raspy was talking about. I could only stare at those eyes, and could think of nothing to say. My insides hurt with anguish.

  “We are morphing, Jimmy. We are evolving. Your blocking of the Black Curtain was brave, my boy, but in the end, a waste. There are enough of us to reach the next stage. We will soon be ready. But you, I'm afraid, are a nuisance that we still need to dispose of, just as any king would want the last rat banished from his castle.

  “How strange, isn't it, about your Shield? So powerful, so dominating, so very scary. But you yourself keep making it go away. It's a shame to have to witness such sad irony, all because of that special gift you gave Mayor Duck so long ago.”