Kai points down the slope, toward the forest in the distance. I’m relieved to see he’s not pointing to the volcanoes.

  “That way,” Kai replies. “Once we’re in the shelter of the trees, we can talk more. Remember everyone, stay very close to me. Walk where I walk, and nowhere else. And especially, stay away from the gray rocks.”

  “Why?” Sneak asks. “What’s so special about the gray ones?”

  In answer, Kai pulls his bow from his shoulder and moves silently across to the nearest dark stone, a thick, oblong boulder that stands slightly more than waist high. He jabs the rock with the end of his bow and then leaps quickly backward.

  The stone immediately surges forward two or three feet, moving almost as fast as Kai. How it manages to move without visible legs I have no idea, but it does. At the same time, great gaping jaws open in the center and then snap shut with a resounding crack. Flesh and bone would stand no chance if they were caught in that maw—they would be pulverized to jelly in an instant.

  “Yikes!” Sneak exclaims, taking an involuntary step back even though he’s well out of reach.

  “Rock troll,” Kai explains. “Its mobility is extremely limited, but if you venture too near…” He leaves the rest unsaid. There’s really no need to say anything more, not after we saw how fast the thing moved. We all get the picture.

  Sneak is still staring at the now immobile stone. “You could have just told me,” he says to Kai.

  Kai grins. “I thought a demonstration might be more effective—for everyone. Not everything in my world is what it appears to be.”

  I take note of the serious expressions on my friends’ faces. Kai’s demonstration was definitely effective, for sure. I vow to myself to be extra careful, and I’m certain everyone else is doing the same. I’m pretty sure even Sneak has gotten the message, and he’s not always easy to get through to.

  Sneak is now glancing around nervously, his eyes moving from one to another of the dozen or so gray rocks within easy view.

  “Are they all rock trolls?” he asks. “All the gray ones, I mean?”

  Kai shakes his head. “No. Most are just ordinary stones. It’s very difficult to tell which are which, though. Best not to take any chances.”

  “Note to self,” Sneak says, smiling now. “Avoid all gray rocks.”

  “Now that you’ve all seen the kind of dangers we might face,” Kai says, “it’s time to go.” He turns to my dad. “We’ll travel in double file. Leah should stay close to me—she’ll be safest there. Then the rest of the Miracles. You and your men can protect our rear. Remember, everyone follows directly behind where Leah and I walk.”

  I struggle to suppress a smile. I get to walk with Kai! This might be almost as good as it was back in California, before the rest of the company caught up with us, before Kai started spending most of his time scouting. A selfish part of me hopes our new journey will be a long one.

  I push the thought down. With all the dangers in this world, the shorter distance we have to go, the better. Still, there’s no reason I can’t try to enjoy whatever time I’m going to have with him.

  LEESA

  CHAPTER 15

  THERE WAS NOTHING Leesa and Rave could do about their diminished powers, so they set back out on their trek along the magical path. Always ready and alert, Rave’s keen senses were now extra aware and heightened. He was still supernaturally strong and fast, and with his fire remaining hot inside him, he hoped if it became necessary he could still use it in the way he slew vampires—by using the fire from his mouth. He wasn’t sure if that would work against the kinds of monsters that seemed to dwell in this place, however.

  For her part, Leesa had never felt quite so anxious. In all the adventures she had survived in the past, Rave had always been beside her at full strength. Usually Dominic had also been there, and she had her own magic to rely on as well, even though her magical abilities were much weaker back in those early days. Now, in what was probably the most dangerous place she had ever found herself short of the Necromancer’s magic table, her magic seemed pretty much useless, and Rave’s power had been lessened as well. It was not a comforting combination at all.

  She wished she had a weapon of some sort—even a sharp stick to use as a spear would be better than nothing—but a quick scan of what little bit of forest floor she could see revealed no fallen branches. In fact, now that she was paying attention, she realized she could see no loose debris of any kind as they walked—no dead leaves, no broken twigs, nothing. It was as if nothing in these woods ever broke or died, or if it did, it somehow disappeared so as not to mar the pristine beauty of the place.

  She thought about asking Rave to snap off a branch for her, but somehow it seemed wrong to damage anything in this magical place. She shoved the idea aside. Besides, she didn’t think a sharp stick would be much use against any of the creatures that dwelt in this world.

  As they trudged along, Leesa’s mouth began to grow dry. She hadn’t had anything to drink since before they left the house to practice magic this morning—had that really been this same day? It seemed like so much longer ago. Her wizard magic usually made her less affected by hunger or thirst than an ordinary human, but with her magic weakened, she was beginning to feel her thirst.

  She hadn’t seen one trace of water anywhere in this place—not a stream, a spring, or even a puddle. Back on the barren plain she could understand the lack of water, but something had to be feeding the lush growth surrounding them.

  “I’m thirsty,” she said aloud without really thinking. After all, it wasn’t as if Rave could do anything about it.

  “If I had any water, it would be yours,” Rave replied.

  Leesa stopped and rose up onto her toes to kiss him on the cheek. “I know.”

  They had gone only another ten or twelve steps when they came upon a small spring bubbling up through the ground right next to the path. The way the leaves and branches of the dense brush left the edge of the path and curved around the four-foot wide pool to form a wall behind it made Leesa wonder just how long this spring had been here. She didn’t really care, though. The water looked clean, cool and refreshing.

  “Wow… talk about ask and you shall receive,” Leesa said as she began to bend down to get a drink.

  Rave stopped her by laying a hand upon her shoulder. She twisted her neck around and looked up at him questioningly.

  “Doesn’t it seem a bit odd to you that a spring appears out of nowhere right after you mention being thirsty?” he asked. “Especially since we haven’t seen any water at all up to now?”

  Leesa straightened up. “Of course it does. But everything about this place is strange.”

  Rave was not quite ready to let the matter go. “That water could be dangerous.”

  Leesa smiled. “From what I’ve seen so far, I think that if this forest meant us harm, it would do it in far more effective ways than by offering us poisoned water.”

  “I guess you’re right about that,” Rave conceded. “Let me go first, at least. If there’s anything dangerous in the water, my inner fire can probably neutralize it before it does me any harm.”

  Without waiting for Leesa’s reply, he crouched down beside the spring and scooped a small handful of water to his lips. He tested it with his tongue and then took a small sip.

  “Tastes okay,” he said. He swallowed the rest of it. “Better than okay, actually. Go ahead, have a taste.”

  Leesa squatted alongside him. Cupping her hands together, she lifted a double handful of water to her mouth and took a drink.

  Rave was right, the water did taste delicious. With her thirst as strong as it was, she had expected to treat herself to several helpings, but one mouthful seemed to evaporate her thirst completely. Instead, she scooped up another handful of water and rinsed her face with it. The water felt clean and slippery, almost like she was washing her skin with soap—without any of the smell or taste. She wished she could bottle this stuff, but neither she nor Rave carried a container of any kind. It was no big deal, though. She was pretty sure the refreshing effect would last for quite some time. And if she grew thirsty again, maybe she could just wish up another spring like this one.

  She stood up. The more magic they experienced in this place, the more hopeful she became that something here might have the power to send them back home.

  “That really hit the spot,” she said. “I feel totally refreshed. Let’s get going—I’m more curious than ever now to see where this trail takes us.”

  CHAPTER 16

  LEESA FELT SO REFRESHED and reinvigorated that she almost forgot about the weakening of her magic—almost, but not quite. She still worried about their lack of magical protection, but so far the forest certainly did not seem out to harm them. Now if it would just turn out that it could help them with more than just her thirst, she would be one very happy girl.

  Despite her renewed energy and her optimism about these woods being friendly, she and Rave maintained a careful pace, not taking their safety for granted. They knew something dangerous could appear as abruptly and easily as the spring had.

  They had gone less than a mile from the spring when Rave stopped again.

  “What is it?” Leesa asked quietly.

  “I think I hear birds.”

  Leesa listened hard, but heard nothing. Her hearing was no match for Rave’s.

  “Are you sure?” she asked. Birds would be a hopeful sign, she thought.

  Rave shrugged. “In this place, I can’t be sure of anything until I see it. But it sounds a lot like birds. And from the volume, they don’t seem to be overly large, either.”

  Leesa was glad to hear that. It would be nice to run across a few birds—as long as they weren’t giant man-eating birds of prey. The lushness of the forest made that highly unlikely, but as Rave said, in this place you could never tell.

  Knowing now that something lay ahead, they slowed their pace to an even more cautious speed. It took a little while before Leesa could finally hear what Rave had heard. It definitely sounded like the chirping of a small flock of birds, though it seemed a little more high-pitched than she was used to.

  Along with the new sound came an even more pleasant change in the forest—the dense underbrush finally began to slowly thin. No longer did it form a nearly solid wall lining both sides of the path. Instead, gaps in the leaves began to appear, small and infrequent at first, but growing larger and more common as Leesa and Rave continued onward. Soon, they could actually see some short distance into the forest around them. Leesa welcomed the change from their previously claustrophobic surroundings.

  Even with the increased sightlines, there still wasn’t anything to see except leaves, bushes and trees, but that was okay. It was just nice to be able to see in a direction other than straight ahead.

  The farther they walked, the more open the forest became. Leesa was a little surprised and disappointed that the chirping failed to grow any louder—it seemed as if the birds were staying the same distance ahead of them. That was too bad, because she’d really like to see what kind of birds might live in a place like this. Perhaps they thought she and Rave could be dangerous. She supposed she couldn’t blame them for that—she and Rave were the strange ones here, after all.

  As the foliage continued to grow less dense, Leesa began to catch glimpses of tiny red flashes of light out of the corner of her eye. At least, she thought she did, but whenever she turned to look she saw nothing there. Growing frustrated after the seventh or eighth time, she finally stopped and turned to Rave. His reflexes were much faster than hers and his vision far keener. Maybe he’d been having better luck actually seeing the lights.

  “Are you seeing any flashes of red light on your side?” she asked. “I’ve seen a bunch over here, but they’re always gone before I can get a look.”

  “They’re faeries,” Rave replied matter-of-factly. “Tiny red faeries.”

  Of all the replies Rave could have given her, Leesa had not expected that.

  “Really? Real live faeries?”

  Rave smiled. “Yep, real live faeries, with wings and everything. It’s hard to get a good look at them, though. They seem pretty curious about us, but very, very skittish.”

  Leesa supposed she shouldn’t be surprised by the presence of the faeries. Why wouldn’t a magic forest be home to creatures such as faeries? She just wished she could get a better look at one.

  Even as the thought filled her mind, a quick burst of red light appeared back in the bushes ten or twelve feet behind Rave’s head. By the time she could focus her vision on the spot, though, the light was gone.

  She sighed and resumed walking. As she and Rave moved along the path, she kept twisting her head to the side, hoping to catch a faerie in the act of lighting up, but to no avail. As before, all she managed were brief glimpses out of the corner of her eye. Soon, she gave up trying, figuring the faeries would show themselves to her when they were good and ready, and not before.

  Even though the foliage had been growing steadily less dense, Leesa was still surprised when she and Rave suddenly stepped out of the shadows of the forest onto the edge of a meadow. They instinctively stopped just a step into the open area, not wanting to leave cover completely until they had a chance to survey their new surroundings.

  Whereas the forest floor had by and large been flat—if it had sloped up or down at all it was at such a small angle as to be imperceptible—this new place was different. Low, rolling, grass-covered hills rippled across the landscape, keeping Leesa and Rave from being able to see very far in any direction. The same mushroom-shaped trees that filled the woods dotted the plain, but they were widely spaced here, allowing Leesa to view the full beauty of their thickly leafed green and gold tops and silvery bark. She looked around, but saw no sign of any faeries—they had evidently decided to remain within the forest, or they were hidden amongst the leaves of the isolated trees.

  She turned her eyes upward. It felt good to be out of the woods and in the open air again, even though the sky was filled with the same sickly gray haze she remembered. She scanned the sky for any sign of wyverns or other flying predators. Thankfully, she saw nothing.

  Glancing at Rave, she saw that he was also staring upward, checking the heavens. He appeared to be deep in thought, but at least he didn’t seem to be worried about any danger from above. She turned her head skyward again, and then it struck her.

  The pale glow of the sun still hung high in the sky—it seemed to have barely budged from its position when they entered the forest. They had hiked for what had to be three or four hours, covering many miles, and yet the sun had barely moved. How was that possible?

  Rave turned toward her. “I see you’ve noticed it, too,” he said. “The sun.”

  Leesa nodded. “It doesn’t make sense. How long would you guess we were in the woods?”

  “Almost four hours, give or take.”

  “That’s what I thought, too. Maybe the days are much longer here, and the sun takes longer to move across the sky.”

  Rave shook his head. “That might make sense, except that when we were back on the plain, the sun moved normally.”

  Leesa remembered using the sun’s movement to label the directions in this new place. It hadn’t taken very long at all to learn which way was west—or at least in which direction the sun was crossing the sky.

  “You’re right. Something about the forest must have manipulated time or distance—or both.”

  “I agree. For what purpose, we may never know. But the plus side is that we have more time to continue our search before darkness falls.”

  “Hold on a second,” Leesa said before Rave could begin moving forward. “I want to try another air shield before we venture too far out into the open.”

  Concentrating on the spell as fully as she had ever done, she tried to call up a shield. Nothing happened.

  “No go,” she said resignedly. “Maybe we’re still too close to the forest. I’ll try again in a few minutes. Meanwhile, keep those volkaane senses peeled.”

  They had taken only a few steps away from the woods when a low growl sounded behind them. Rave spun around instantly. Leesa moved a beat slower, but when she turned around she was stunned by what she saw.

  Six giant sabre-toothed cats stood facing them in a tight arc. The beasts were enormous—each one’s head reached as high as Leesa’s shoulders. The pair of wicked looking, tusk-like teeth that curved down from their upper jaws were equally huge. Saliva dripped from the tips as the creatures snarled at their prey.

  The cats’ sleek bodies were covered in smooth golden-brown fur, and Leesa could see the muscles rippling beneath their pelts. They seemed ready to pounce at the slightest move from her or Rave. She felt her heart begin to pound in her chest.

  She didn’t understand how the fearsome beasts could have taken them by surprise like this. No matter how quietly the hunters moved, Rave should have heard them before they got anywhere close. Especially if they had come out of the forest, as it seemed. The underbrush had thinned, yes, but nowhere near enough for creatures so big to move through silently.

  None of that mattered now, though. What mattered was how she and Rave might manage to escape these fearsome predators. Leesa silently tried to cast another air shield, but nothing had changed. Her magic remained too weak to create a shield. She wondered if Rave was quick enough to snatch her up and race away before the cats could spring.

  “Do you think you can grab me and outrun them before they can attack?” she asked him softly.

  At the sound of her voice, the cats growled menacingly

  Rave’s eyes never left the beasts. “I don’t know,” he replied equally quietly as he edged closer to Leesa. She felt his arm slip slowly around behind her lower back. “The way they were able to approach without my knowing troubles me.”

  “Me, too,” Leesa whispered. The cats continued to glower at them through dark, hooded eyes.