Things were bad. No one even asked me what had just happened past the door.

  The cavern was indeed shaking, enough to make us sway back and forth, stumbling into each other. Spouts of lava spewed and burst forth from cracks and fissures, like some kind of special effects show at a studio amusement park. There was no time to dilly dally, unless we wanted a nice bit of lava burn to take care of for the next few days.

  As one, we sprinted for the shaft of the Finger, ignoring the fact that the slide now started a good forty feet above us. As we arrived below it, a massive jolt of quaking erupted through the entire structure, knocking us over. The sickening sound of grinding rock filled the air. The whole place seemed ready to collapse in on itself.

  Rayna, her green leather reflecting the red glow of the cavern with a sickish hue, looked up toward the dangling slide and back at me, then threw her arms out for balance.

  “We're finished!” she yelled. “There is no other way out. This is it!”

  Thoughts thundered through my head, competing with the fear and shock of it all. The Shield was not the answer this time, even if I could have made myself sneeze. There was a new Gift, untested but hiding powers that were ready to reveal themselves. I could feel it.

  “Hold on!” I yelled.

  The Ice was so unlike The Shield, which required no real effort on my part. The Shield protected me, no matter what. The Ice took instruction and thought. The sensation of it still resonated throughout me—its power was there, waiting to be unleashed. It was one of the strangest things I'd ever felt.

  Not sure of myself, yet realizing the predicament of the moment, I looked toward the slide. Reaching my hand upward, I released The Ice, pushing it with my mind toward the sky.

  Swirling tornadoes of mist drew in from all directions, forming a wavering white beam of powdery air, shooting upward. It quickly turned into Ice, a thick, frosty rod shooting from my hand to the slide. A block of ice also formed around my hand and forearm, completely encasing them, connecting me to the beam of ice that now went from my arm to the jagged-edged bottom of the slide.

  Concentrating, conjuring images of what I wanted, I forced them into the power of The Ice—the beam expanding, splitting, thickening. Everything was a rush of excitement and energy through my body. It was like drinking cold water after hours and hours in the baking sun.

  Soon, without fully understanding how, above us stood a large ladder of ice. With a thought and a brief blast of mist and crackling ice, I removed my arm. The ladder hung there, solid. I had imagined it completely freezing itself to the slide way up above, and evidently it had granted my wish.

  Shocked beyond words, but frantic in the circumstances, everyone began to climb with urgency. Not once did the frigid ladder quiver or crack—it was as strong as steel. Soon we arrived at the very bottom of the black slide, panting with fear and exertion. Below us, lava was pouring into the cave bottom. Cracks were forming on the sides of the shaft, sending shivers of fright through us all. Everything shook. Still, despite the heat, and despite the quaking, the Ice stayed firm.

  “Okay,” said Rayna, who had been first in the climb, “just do exactly as me, and you will soon find yourself at the top.”

  She scrambled from the ladder of ice onto the slide, and twisted around until her back was against the black stone, her head pointing up, her feet toward us, pushing against the Ice for leverage. She folded her arms across her chest, then spoke a word that sounded like Japanese.

  “Ikimasho.”

  With a burst of speed that almost made me fall back in surprise, Rayna shot up the slide just as quickly as when we had come down. It looked for all the world like a video of our trip down, played in reverse.

  Tanaka actually started giggling.

  “What you think, Jimmy-san? Your little ice trick was so-so compared to that, neh?”

  Bewildered, I watched, no less surprised, as Tanaka followed Rayna, saying the same word and shooting up the slide in reverse, defying all laws of gravity.

  “Your turn.” Miyoko said softly into my ear, giving me a nudge.

  I climbed from the ice onto the slide, and shifted onto my back.

  “What was that word again?”

  “Ikimasho.”

  Trying my best to imitate the accent, I yelled the word, thinking that would increase the chances of it actually working.

  “Ikimasho!”

  Like a slingshot, I shot upward, sliding around and around, leaving my stomach behind at the ladder. The world spun, and nausea kicked in almost instantly. Before I could even get a good amount of screaming out, I slid up and across the top part into the arms of Rayna and Tanaka. As soon as they had me safely, Tanaka made no effort to hide his attempt to get as far away from me as possible. The two of us looked at each other and began laughing. There was nothing left for me to throw up anyway.

  Seconds later, Miyoko was up, and we were ready to go.

  A thunderous crack ripped through the air, and the entire Finger lurched with a jolt, knocking us from our feet. Tanaka almost fell right over the edge.

  “Jimmy, do something!” Rayna yelled. “I don't think we have time to climb down, the whole thing is about to crumble to the ground!”

  Panicking, I stumbled to the edge of the Pointing Finger, and peered over at the ground. The Finger was swaying back and forth, like a tree in the wind, sending waves of nausea and fright through my whole body. The whole thing must've cracked right through, way down below us. It was going to topple. Time was short.

  Gripping the very edge of the Pointing Finger, I looked toward the shore, hundreds of feet away. After a deep breath, I threw every ounce of thought and energy into the power of The Ice, shouting with a fury of effort. An explosion of ice ripped through the air, streaking like a shaft of arctic lightning from me to the distant shore of the lake. The misty vapor from the air barely had time to appear before it formed the Ice, and soon, a long, wide sheet of it connected us to land.

  The swaying of the Finger stopped dead. Nothing could have ever prepared me for the power of the Second Gift. The ability to form ice from air was amazing enough. But the chilling thought that it was strong enough to stop such a huge structure from falling was incomprehensible. For the first time in this whole ordeal, I felt like I was not myself, that someone had thrown the old me out the window and replaced it with a new being from the planet Krypton.

  And yet, I was beginning to enjoy it.

  “Come on, let's hurry, before the whole volcano explodes.”

  I started for the other side, ready to climb down the black spikes, when Tanaka suddenly yelled out, “Ganabarrrroooo!” and ran for the ice shaft I'd just created. Without hesitation, he jumped onto it, feet first, and began to slide down to shore. All three of us instinctively reached for him, but it was too late.

  His yells of delight grew quieter as he slid further and further away. But, at last we could just see him safely reach the distant shore, and after a brief tumble, he jumped up and waved his arms like a madman.

  Rayna, Miyoko, and I exchanged looks. Rayna winked at me then took off after Tanaka, sliding down the ice like a deranged, thrill-seeking kid. Then Miyoko went. When the two of them arrived safely, so far below, so far distant, there was no longer any other choice.

  With a curious mix of fear and exhilaration, I crept onto the ice and pushed off. There was nothing scary about it—after the thrilling ride of a lifetime, I arrived safely onto the shore with a few tumbles and laughs.

  But never in my life could I have guessed that one's bottom could get that cold.

  We quickly climbed out of the bowl wherein the lake lay, and hiked as far away as possible before collapsing with fatigue. As we sat there, the questions finally poured out concerning my trip through the door in the cavern, and I did my best to tell everyone what had happened. Needless to say, they were all quite impressed.

  Since we were all so tired we agreed to rest until morning of the next day. I spent the next few hours of daylight practicing my new Gift. I could already tell it would be an invaluable asset, and I wanted to make sure it became second nature to use it. So far, The Ice had come as acts of desperation, my instinct taking over. There was still no real understanding of how it worked.

  For hours on end, I used and practiced The Ice. The tingling sensation in the arms, the wispy whirls of mist and icy spray. I created blocks, beams, and balls of Ice. It took effort and concentration, tiring the mind way more than the body. Without fail, The Ice seemed to have no weight, giving me the ability to do anything I wanted. I shot great beams of Ice into the trees and held them steady, feeling light as a feather. Tanaka threw pinecones into the air and I caught them with shafts of Ice. As it came a little easier, it became more and more fun. There seemed to be no limit to what could be done with the Gift. If my mind could think it, The Ice could do it. It was in every way as amazing as The Shield.

  While, playing—er—practicing, something caught my eye in the air above us.

  I noticed the Sounding Rod, hovering a short distance from us. I had grown so accustomed to having it appear and disappear that it was easy to forget about. A thought swept across my mind.

  Concentrating on its position, hovering there in the air, I called upon The Ice, willing it to collect and freeze around the Rod. A burst of mist and swishing air swirled around the Rod, catching it before it could escape. From end to end, it froze solid, with baby icicles coming off it in several places along its length. Then, it fell.

  The Sounding Rod crashed into the ground, and with an icy clank exploded into a million pieces. Its remnants then seemed to shrivel up and evaporate into the air. Within seconds, there was nothing there, not even a trace of ice or water. It was gone.

  I jumped up, suddenly excited.

  “Tanaka,” I screamed, “throw something at me, hit me, do something!”

  He stood up and with a crooked grin came at me. Three feet in front of me, he jumped into the air, swiveling his body around until his flying foot was aimed for my head. He didn't make it far. The Shield kicked in, and Tanaka was flung back around and he fell on his head with a flump of dust.

  We all cheered out loud, like we'd just won the Super Bowl.

  The Sounding Rod was dead.

  Once again, sneeze or no sneeze, I was invincible.

  The next morning, we all knew what still lay ahead for us.

  The search for Hood, and the rescue of my family.

  Rayna pulled from her pack a rumpled, folded photograph. She flattened it out on the ground between us, and then placed her hands, palms down, on the photo's edges. She seemed to go into a deep trance, staring into the picture, almost like she was trying to see through it. It made me think of those computer-made 3-D pictures that took about three hours of intense staring and crossing your eyes before they would turn into some dumb image that made you wonder why in the world you had just spent all that effort and time just to see a picture of a cat with no face.

  Rayna continued her scrutiny of the picture. I finally walked over and looked to see what she was looking for. It was a photograph of the leader of the Bosu Zoku, the man who had taken my family.

  Kenji.

  He was sitting on his bike, looking off into the distance with his eyes of coal. The photo had the date and time imprinted on the bottom right-hand corner. Then, the image shifted. I gasped, and leaned in for a better look.

  There was suddenly a picture of Kenji on a bike, with all his followers behind him, driving down a long freeway surrounded by mountains. Even the date and time imprint had changed.

  “I know where this is,” Rayna said, breaking her staring contest with the picture. “This is the freeway, just over the mountain and down the ravine into the valley. We have until late afternoon three days from now to get there.” She pointed to the time and the date, and I couldn't speak, dumbfounded by her ability to see the future.

  “Where Kenji is, there your family will be,” she said. “That gives us two full days to search for The Hooded One. If we don't find him by then, it will be too late anyway.”

  Rayna stood up, and stuffed the picture back into her pack.

  “Didn't you say that the photo shows you several possibilities for the future?” I asked, worried about the picture I had seen in the mansion with Hood, still hoping that my future was not with certainty destined for that final end.

  “You are right, Jimmy, but I probed and probed, willing it to show me the future of Kenji, and that is all that came out. My ability knows my heart, and it works to my good. It knows I wanted time to find our friend, and it knows we want to find your family. Taking all this into account, it revealed to me the most pertinent information possible. It is difficult to describe to you how it works, but it is a monumental power, one that has uses beyond anything you could conceive.

  “Even though others can see the results of my power, like you did, they cannot manipulate the results like I can. When you look, you will alternate between possible future events. When I look, I see what I need to see. I see what will help me.

  “That is how The Hooded One found you and waited for you in the house by the river. I knew you would be there.

  “Trust me, what I have just told you is true. We have two days to find The Hooded One. Then, your family. Even if we did not need to seek out our now hoodless friend, we would be better served by waiting for three days for the Bosu Zoku to come to the place shown to me.”

  Remembering what my uncle Steve used to say about people who tell you how to make a clock when you ask them what time it is, I simply shrugged, and accepted her explanation.

  The next two days were ones of journey, hunger, and long stories. We scaled the mountain and countryside, looking everywhere for Hood, knowing that his chances of survival were ticking away with the clock. Raspy had mentioned him being tied to a tree, so we searched the forests from end to end, birch to pine.

  Often, we split up, determining beforehand where and when to meet again. Tanaka used his skills to find us some deer and rabbit, and we ate lots of meat cooked over a humble fire. I was reminded of the old days (as old as old days can be to a fourteen-year-old) camping with the Boy Scouts. Sitting around the fire, talking and joking, had always been my favorite part of those campouts.

  Now, however, the four of us didn't joke too much, as the weight of our circumstances grew heavy upon our shoulders, but we talked and talked through the night, barely sleeping. Tanaka, Miyoko, and Rayna took turns telling me the history of the Alliance, and how they all came together.

  The Alliance can be traced back for hundreds of years, always secret, always small. Its first member was an Ainu, a people even more ancient than the Japanese, who occupied the same land for thousands of years before people came to conquer and take it from them. They are to Japan what Native Americans are to the United States.

  Slowly, the Ainu people were pushed further and further north as new settlers came to their homelands, until most of them resided in the northernmost island of Hokkaido, where we were now.

  Legend has it that centuries ago, one of these Ainu was hiking in the snowy peaks of the mountains, looking for a boy of the village that was last seen wandering up the slopes. The Ainu man searched and searched, coming up vain. When in desperation he gave up, he started his way back down the icy sides of the mountain.

  A sudden ripping noise, one that I had become very familiar with myself, stopped him short. Below him, a large rent in the air grew wide, engulfing the mountainside. It was blacker than the stormiest night sky, and fear overwhelmed him. In his panic, the Ainu slipped. He slid into the Blackness.

  Rayna did not know for sure whether this was the first time a Random Ripping ever connected our world to the Blackness. If not the first, it surely had to be one of the earliest. The Givers were not involved yet. In fact, at the time they had not even discovered these Rippings, and their path to a world that none of them knew existed. Ours.

  The Ainu man had either incredibly good luck, or incredibly bad luck, depending on how you look at it. The odds of him falling into the Blackness were astronomical, and once he was there, he had some very harrowing experiences. And yet, he survived, making it through months and months on the other side of The Black Curtain.

  He encountered Shadow Ka, but luckily outran them to the iron ring-gates that led to the many worlds the Blackness connected. He visited countless places, able to speak with many of the inhabitants, some human, some not. None of the people or creatures he encountered spoke his language, but somehow he communicated, as one does when in desperate circumstances.

  Throughout his entire ordeal in the Blackness, the Ainu never once met a Giver.

  But he learned and saw things that could never be forgotten.

  He witnessed first hand the aftermath of the Stompers.

  At that time, many worlds had still not succumbed to this path of destruction, were still fighting, however hopeless. The Ainu saw these people, before and after. Forever ingrained into his mind was the complete and unadulterated horror of this enemy.

  The sunless worlds, everywhere gray. The seas of stone beds, the lifeless, yet still living inhabitants of the worlds, lying as if asleep, waiting, waiting, for who knows what, serving some purpose beyond understanding. It was complete despair to see such a thing.

  But the Ainu never actually saw a Stomper, nor had anyone he communicated with. They remained a complete mystery, their secrets enshrouded within the minds of lifeless creatures who could not speak of their past. The only thing of certainty was that the gray devastation had been caused by the Stompers, their way prepared by the Shadow Ka. The hows and whys and whats, no one knew.

  So, the Ainu wandered, and snuck about, and fled danger, and lived off whatever food he could find for nigh on a year. And then, in another display of his eerie luck, good or bad, he happened upon another Random Ripping, this time seeing his very own world waiting on the other side, albeit a place far from his village. He ran through, back to Earth.