We stop while we’re still concealed from above by the thin canopy of the trees. Stretched out before us is the most rugged landscape I have ever seen. It reminds me of pictures of the moon or Mars that I’ve seen in books, only this place looks even rougher and more desolate. The ground appears to be made entirely of dark brown rock—rock that seems to have been broken and tossed about by some kind of giant underground cataclysm. It’s a mass of pillars and slanted slabs of stone. There doesn’t seem to be a level spot anywhere I can see.

  “We’re going to cross THAT?” Sneak asks, echoing my concern as he stares out across the jumbled piles of rock.

  “It won’t be the easiest passage,” Kai acknowledges, “but it will be the safest. This land is crisscrossed by crevices and ravines. We’ll make our way across along the bottom of a couple of them. They’ll shelter us from any view except directly overhead. Raj and I have done it many times before.”

  That Kai and Raj have crossed through here before is not all that comforting. They’re both far more agile and nimble than any of the rest of us.

  “The shadows cast by the walls of the fissures will help conceal us even from things flying overhead,” Raj adds.

  That part’s comforting, at least. Flying creatures are always a worry out in the open, especially in this place.

  Meanwhile, Dad has been studying the terrain from a military viewpoint.

  “Sounds good,” he says, nodding. “But if I’ve learned anything about this world, it’s that few places here are completely safe. Other than the rugged terrain, what are the dangers we might face?”

  “Fewer than you might think,” Kai replies. “The only real threats native to this area are snakes and scorpions.”

  “Snakes I get,” Radar says. “But scorpions? I’ve seen scorpions before. They’re no big deal—a good sturdy boot squishes them flat every time.”

  Kai and Raj exchange smiles. “I’m afraid these scorpions are a bit different from what you might be used to,” Raj says. “They’re quite a bit bigger, for one thing.” He holds his hand up, palm downward, in front of his chest. I hope he’s not indicating the height of the scorpions, but I’m pretty sure he is. “A boot will not squish them, believe me.”

  “Their venom is extremely lethal,” Kai adds. “And their thick shells make them difficult to kill.” He looks at my dad. “Your weapons could probably do the trick, but I can’t promise that for sure.” Kai now glances toward me. “If we run into any, Leah’s fire is our best bet. Besides, anything that hints at the presence of a lava dragon will keep other creatures away for a good bit.”

  I smile. It’s good to finally be counted on for things after being the only Miracle without a Power for so long.

  “I’ll be ready,” I promise.

  “What about the snakes?” Plush asks. Clearly, she’s not a fan of snakes. Neither am I, for that matter.

  “Oh, they’re quite deadly, too,” Kai says. “Fortunately, they’re very sensitive to vibrations in the ground. The footpads of our company will be like thunder to them. They won’t mess with anything capable of creating so much vibration. Any snakes will be long gone before we get close.”

  “That’s good to know,” Plush says. “I hate snakes.”

  “We’ll take a short break here before heading out,” Kai says. “Sit down and grab something to eat. You’ve all got a tough hike ahead of you.”

  Still sheltered somewhat by the trees, we sit down and munch on some energy bars. After the delicious kookiya, my bar seems kind of dry and tasteless, but we’re not eating them as treats. They’re a source of fuel to provide energy, and I’ve learned over the past few weeks they do a pretty good job of that.

  Kai and Raj remain standing at the very edge of the woods, looking out over the landscape we’re soon to cross. They’re conversing in low tones, and I can’t hear what they’re saying to one another. Maybe it’s just brotherly chat—talking about how much they like me and Doc, I hope. I trust Kai enough to know that if they’re discussing anything truly important they’ll tell us before we head out. Not that how much he likes me isn’t important—it’s just not that important to our mission.

  After fifteen minutes or so of rest and a snack, we’re back on our way.

  Kai immediately leads us down into a narrow rift whose steep walls are more than head high. Loose rocks fill the shadowy bottom, forcing us to tread carefully. One wrong step could result in a badly twisted ankle—or worse. In these tight confines, any danger will almost certainly come at us from in front, so Kai has positioned me directly behind him, where I can quickly bring my fire to bear if we have the misfortune to run into any scorpions. My dad follows so close behind me I can hear his breathing. He may be impressed with my newfound Power, but that doesn’t mean he won’t want to have his rifle ready to protect me if necessary.

  Radar comes next, followed by Jordy, of course. The rest of my friends fill the middle of our line, with Sergeant Moss and then Raj bringing up the rear. The single file formation doesn’t allow for much talking, so we trudge along in silence, the only sound coming from our soft footsteps on the hard ground or the occasional turning over of a loose rock. The tight quarters feel a bit claustrophobic, with the rough, rock walls looming so close beside us and only the thinnest ribbon of gray sky visible above. I don’t know how much it rains in this world, but these narrow fissures seem like they would be a death trap from a flash flood if a downpour did occur. Kai doesn’t seem worried though, so I push those thoughts aside.

  Instead, I find myself looking for scorpions on every ledge and behind every rock, but I soon recognize the foolishness of my concern. If the creatures are as big as Kai and Raj say, they couldn’t conceal themselves in this narrow passage any more than we could. If we’re going to be attacked, it’s pretty clear the scorpions will have to come at us from the front or the back, and I’m confident that with Kai or Raj manning those two spots, we’re safe from any surprises.

  In the first hour, Kai makes three turns into branching ravines. How he knows which of the many crevices that cut through this harsh land to follow, when he can’t see anything but the steep sides of the rifts, I have no idea, but he never hesitates. He obviously knows where he’s going, following markers that are invisible to me.

  The route we’re traversing is seldom flat. Sometimes we descend until the cracked stone walls tower thirty or forty feet above us and shroud us in deep shadows, while other times we climb until the rocky sides are barely higher than our heads. We never fully emerge out into the open, though, which is just fine with me.

  We’re filing along one of the deeper cuts when our first mishap strikes.

  CHAPTER 22

  IT BEGINS WITH A YELP of pain from behind me, and then a thud as one of my friends falls to the ground. I spin around to see Lights crumpled on his side, grasping his ankle with both hands and groaning in pain. Plush quickly crouches over him, her face filled with anguished concern, while the rest of us hurry back to check on him.

  Lights’ ankle is bent at such an impossible angle that I begin to feel queasy in my stomach. There’s no doubt in my mind that his ankle is badly broken, probably from a misstep on one of the loose rocks which have been so difficult to navigate in the dimness.

  Doc pushes her way to Plush’s side.

  “Give me some room,” she says as she kneels next to Lights and reaches for his injured ankle.

  Plush edges a foot or two to the side, but remains close. She reaches out and lays her hand softly on Lights’ shoulder, lending him support.

  As Doc wraps her hands around Lights’ grotesquely twisted ankle, the familiar yellow healing glow leaks out from between her fingers. Even though I’ve seen Doc’s Power at work many times, I still marvel at the way Lights’ foot slowly twists back into a normal position without a single moan or groan from him. The look on his face is one of peaceful contentment rather than pain.

  A minute or so later, Doc eases her hands away from Lights’ leg.

  “That should do it,” she says.

  Lights grins up at her. “Thanks, Doc. It feels good as new.”

  Raj reaches down and helps Lights to his feet. Lights bounces up and down on his injured leg a couple of times, showing us that he’s fine.

  “See, good as new,” he repeats. “Sorry about my clumsy step, everyone. I’ll try to be more careful from here on out.”

  Raj turns to Doc. It’s clear to see he’s impressed with her Power.

  “You are a very handy girl to have around,” he says, smiling.

  “Yes I am,” Doc replies, flashing him her biggest, most beguiling smile, one I’ve only seen her use a very few times. “And don’t you forget it.”

  Raj laughs. “I won’t,” he promises.

  With that, we head out again in the same order as before, all of us stepping even more carefully now over the rocky floor of the fissure. We’ve seen what just one misstep can do, and even though Doc can heal any injury we might suffer from a careless step, no one wants to experience the pain of a broken ankle or sprained knee. More importantly, none of us wants to be the cause of another delay, no matter how brief.

  Hours pass, dragging by slowly. The journey is a boring one, with nothing to see except the rock walls close beside us and the back of the person in front of us. Not that I mind watching the play of muscles in Kai’s broad back, but even that loses some of its allure after a while. Every now and then the floor of one of the crevices widens as bit and we’re able to walk in pairs. Then the conversation provides a welcome break from the monotony, especially since I get to walk beside Kai. Even though he’s on full alert for any danger in front of us, we’re still able to carry on a casual chat during those brief intervals.

  Finally, Kai motions us to a halt in a spot where the rift has widened to about five or six feet. He doesn’t seem concerned about anything, so I’m pretty sure we’re not stopping because he’s sensed any kind of danger.

  “It will be dark soon,” he tells us. “Night will fall very quickly down here in this crevice, and it will be too dark for any of you to see. We shouldn’t risk a fire or any light, so you all need to get ready for the night now. Raj and I will stand guard all night at either end of the encampment.”

  I’m not sure how he can tell when night will fall from down here in this deep ravine from where he can see only a tiny sliver of sky, but nobody voices any objection. Nor do we question his description of this barren spot on the rocky floor as our “encampment.”

  “How long do we have until it’s dark?” Dad asks.

  “Perhaps fifteen minutes,” Kai replies. “Certainly not much more.”

  “Well, you heard the man,” Dad tells us. “Clear enough space for yourselves to sleep, and then get whatever you need out of your packs before it gets too dark to see anything.”

  We hurriedly begin pushing rocks and pebbles aside with our boots to create smooth places where we can lie down for the night—smooth being a relative term, of course. Once we’ve accomplished that, we get our space-age blankets out of our packs, then begin peeling pieces of kookiya fruit for a quick dinner.

  Kai is certainly right about how quickly night descends upon us. One minute we’re sitting in dim shadow munching on juicy chunks of kookiya, and then suddenly we’re shrouded in total darkness. The blackness is so complete I can’t even see the kookiya I’m trying to eat when it’s right in front of my mouth.

  “Wow, you weren’t kidding, Kai,” Radar says softly, her voice seeming to float out of the darkness. “I can’t see a freaking thing.”

  “Kai, can you and Raj really see in this blackness?” I ask in disbelief.

  “Not too much,” Kai admits. “Very vague outlines…and we can discern movement. But don’t worry, that’s enough for us to keep you safe for the night.”

  Lights could use his Power to illuminate our little camp for us, but in this blackness even the dimmest light would be like a beacon announcing our presence, which is something we definitely don’t want to do. With no other choice, we finish eating in the dark as best we can and then stretch out on the ground to sleep. We’ve had a pretty exhausting day of travel in this rugged land, so despite the discomfort of the hard, uneven ground, it’s not long before I drift off to sleep.

  I’m awakened by a gentle nudge to my side. I look up to see Kai smiling down at me. It’s a very pleasant way to wake up.

  The sun has obviously risen, because the abject blackness of the night has been replaced by the familiar dim shadows. I push myself up to a sitting position and run my fingers through my hair as I take a quick look around. My dad has already folded up his blanket and is stowing it into his pack—I’m betting he was the first one awake. Jordy has woken Radar, and Raj is crouching over Doc, who’s still lying down but is stretching her arms out over her head. The rest of the Miracles are all stirring as well. There’s no way to tell for sure, but I’m guessing it’s probably not very long after dawn.

  “Rise and shine,” Kai says to everyone. “The sooner we’re on our way, the sooner we’ll get to where we’re going.”

  I like the sound of that. “Will we get there today?” I ask hopefully. It seems like so long ago that we left Alcatraz, but in reality it’s only been three days.

  Kai nods. “Barring any unforeseen delays, we should arrive sometime this afternoon, I think.”

  I like the sound of that even better.

  CHAPTER 23

  THE MORNING PASSES much like yesterday—a difficult, boring hike through a series of dim, narrow pathways littered with loose stones which must be stepped on or over very carefully. I keep reminding myself that boring beats most of the alternatives in a place like this, and I make sure to enjoy and appreciate the brief chances I get to walk beside Kai when a crevice widens enough to permit it.

  As before, determining the passage of time is difficult during our almost subterranean journey, but the muscles in my thighs are telling me we’ve walked for several hours so far without a break. That’s okay, though, because every step is bringing us closer to our goal, which Kai has promised we’ll reach sometime later today—barring any delay.

  When Kai stops short just a few moments later, I silently curse myself for thinking about delays. Looking over his shoulder, I see the reason he’s halted.

  The rift we’ve been following for the last half hour is at least twenty feet deep here, and a section of the wall has collapsed, filling the passage almost to the top with an enormous pile of loose rock. The jumbled mass of stone looks much too unstable to try to climb over, and it’s far too large to dig our way past.

  I glance quickly to my right and to my left. The walls of the crevice appear too steep to climb. Our only choice seems to be to turn around and retrace our steps until we find a new passage or a way up and out of this one. I know I didn’t cause this delay by merely thinking about it, but that’s how it feels.

  Dad squeezes past me so he can talk to Kai. My friends have all pushed closer, wanting to see why stopped.

  “It doesn’t look like we can get past that,” Dad says. “Do we need to turn around?”

  Kai is studying the wall of the rift. “Not yet,” he says. “Does one of you still have that rope?”

  Dad nods. “Yeah. Jordy’s got it in his pack.” He follows Kai’s gaze up the rocky wall. “I don’t see anything to hook it onto, though.”

  Kai grins. “Neither do I.”

  He bends his legs and leaps upward. His powerful jump carries him nearly to the top of the wall, and he scrabbles up the remaining few feet so quickly he looks like a squirrel running up the trunk of a tree. He hooks his arms over the top, hanging there still mostly out of sight while he surveys the landscape up above.

  “All clear,” he calls down to us before easily hoisting himself up onto his feet. “Toss me the rope.”

  Jordy reaches into his pack and takes out the blue nylon rope the Marines and my friends used to cross the broken bridge where Kai had saved me from the two-headed cyclops. The rope is coiled, so he holds onto the loose end and tosses the rest up to Kai, who catches it with one hand. Kai keeps enough length to maintain a good grip on and lets the rest fall back down.

  “Up you go, Jordy,” Dad orders. “Watch Kai’s back for him.”

  “Yes, sir,” Jordy replies.

  He slings his rifle over his shoulder and quickly hauls himself up the rope. Kai has nothing to brace himself against, but with his immense strength, he doesn’t need to. He handles Jordy’s weight with no apparent stress.

  “Leah’s next,” Dad says, “then Radar and then I’ll go. The rest of you Miracles follow. Sergeant Moss and Raj will be last. Move quickly, people. We don’t want to be exposed topside any longer than need be.”

  I begin climbing the rope hand over hand, but Kai has other ideas, pulling up the rope and me with it. I reach the top in no time at all. Kai grabs my wrist and hauls me up over the edge, depositing me gently on my feet a step away from the edge. He turns immediately back to the narrow cleft and repeats the process with Radar.

  Now that I’m standing in the middle of it, the landscape seems even more rough and jumbled than it looked from the edge of the woods. I can’t see more than a couple of hundred feet in any direction before my view is blocked by a giant boulder or upturned section of ground. The wisdom of traveling in the rifts is doubly apparent now. Not only do they provide us with good cover, but trying to cross this terrain in anything even resembling a straight line would be impossible. The countless obstacles provide good hiding places for predators, too. I join Jordy in keeping a close eye behind Kai as the rest of my companions take their turns getting hauled out of the fissure.

  In just a few minutes, we’re all gathered on top. Kai coils the rope and loops it over his shoulder.