By the time Valerie and Cyrus made it to the glade a few miles outside of Silva, Steven and Willa had already set up the dynamite and were ready to blow a hole into Plymouth.

"Ready?" Valerie asked Steven. Steven nodded. "Then light the fuse."

Steven snapped his fingers and a flame appeared. But before she could ponder exactly what Steven's power was, the little flame raced along the cable to the dynamite, which exploded and sent a mist of dirt and rocks everywhere.

Willa jogged over to the hole in the ground.

"It's here, right where the map said!" she exclaimed, tugging at a rusty wheel on the outside of an ancient door beneath the ground.

"It must have been buried when the residents of Plymouth, the Groundlings, decided to cut off ties with the world above. Reminds me a little of Messina," Steven said. "We tried to cut off contact by being on an island."

"Do the Groundlings refuse to use magic, as well?" Cyrus asked.

"The opposite," Willa said. "They are a people who revere magic as a religion."

"Then hopefully, they won't want it to be polluted by the Fractus," Valerie said.

She used her strength to twist the wheel, and the door creaked open. She pulled it wide enough that she and Cyrus could fit through.

"Let's go," she said, and she and Cyrus stepped into the darkness.

"We'll make sure no one follows you in," Willa's voice floated behind them.

Inside, it was completely dark until Valerie felt magic hum from Cyrus. Light spilled from his hands, illuminating a cavern that was studded with gemstones of many different colors.

"Beautiful," Valerie whispered.

Cyrus touched a red gem, and the light from his hands made it glow. Then the light spread, jumping from stone to stone. Now the cavern was filled with multi-colored lights of blue, green, red, and purple. The muted light reminded Valerie of sunlight pouring through stained glass.

"Not a bad trick," Cyrus said with his old, cocky grin. "Not one that every lightweaver would be able to manage, I might add."

"No one but you would dream up such a unique use of your power, even if they could manage the magic," Valerie said, and Cyrus's grin widened. "Now let's get moving before your head grows too big to fit inside here."

Cyrus gave her a playful shove, and Valerie flashed him a surprised smile. It was like old times, until Cyrus's grin vanished.

"It can never be like it was," he said, as if he could read her mind, and then he began jogging down the hall.

For a long time, they walked, not speaking, and Valerie began to worry that they'd taken a wrong turn, or that the maps that Willa had given them were outdated.

But finally, they heard the distant murmur of voices, echoes of people talking or shouting.

"Over here," Cyrus said, waving her over.

Valerie went to his side and saw that he'd found an opening in the wall the size of a window. She peeked through it and saw a city spread below them. There were homes carved out of the bedrock, magnificent stone structures that were elaborately detailed with columns, pillars, winding staircases, and soaring arches.

Despite being underground, the city wasn't dark. Orbs of light were suspended throughout the city in nooks and crannies. They hummed with power, and Valerie suspected they were powered by magic. Blankets of green moss gave the impression of well-trimmed lawns, and instead of real flowers, elaborate blooms cut from gemstones decorated windowsills and gave life to the little parks that dotted the city.

The people were short and pale, but not out-of-the-ordinary. Certainly, in a diverse city like Arden, they wouldn't be out of place, but even on Earth, they could pass for human, as long as they hid their hair, which shone in jewel tones that could never be achieved with human hair dye.

"The Fractus must be close by," Cyrus said. "Everyone's scared."

Valerie had been dazzled by the beauty of the underground city, but now that she examined the people, she saw how quickly they moved through the streets, glancing around as if they were expecting to be jumped.

Her eyes scanned the city, and she saw that there was a river running through the middle. She remembered from her earlier visits to the city that there were beautiful streams in Plymouth that children had splashed in.

But now, the turquoise waters were muddied, and farther upstream, the water was black.

"There," Valerie said, pointing to a group of about a hundred tents. They were set up next to where the stream disappeared into a cave in the bedrock. The water that poured out of the opening was like ink.

"We have to get closer," Cyrus said. "I won't be able to tell anything about the water down here, where it's completely diluted."

Valerie nodded and scanned her map.

"There should be stairs cut into the wall around here where we can descend, but once we're on the ground, we'll have to try to blend in," she said.

"Maybe the Groundlings will assume we're Fractus, and vice versa," Cyrus said hopefully.

Valerie found a rough ladder carved into the wall, and she began descending, testing each groove before putting her weight on it. She reached the ground and looked around to see if anyone has spotted their descent, but they were in shadow. There were no orbs of light to give away their entry into the city.

"I think we should move fast," Valerie said. "Let's not give anyone time to ask questions."

With unspoken agreement, they followed the stream. Cyrus occasionally dipped a finger in. The farther they went, the more Valerie noticed a deep humming that rattled her core.

"That hum is coming from the river, isn't it?" she asked Cyrus.

"Yep. It reminds me of the magic in Reaper's black weapons, but slipperier, somehow," he said.

Before Valerie could ask him what he meant, they passed a house and almost ran into a boy and girl playing with different colored gemstones, tossing them on the ground in some kind of game. They both froze when they saw Cyrus and Valerie.

"Sorry," the little girl said, her pale face turning even paler. "Please let us go. We won't leave our house again."

"It's okay. We won't hurt you. We're not with them," Valerie said, gesturing downstream to the tents.

"We're the good guys," Cyrus added, and both kids grinned when he raised his eyebrows dramatically.

"Then can you help everyone they've taken?" the little boy asked.

"They've got our dad and our aunt," the girl explained.

"Got them where?" Valerie asked, searching the tents for any signs of captives.

"They took them into the cave where the river flows from, and we haven't seen them since," the girl said.

"We'll help," Valerie promised, not missing the sharp look Cyrus gave her.

They continued to follow the river.

"I thought we were here strictly to gather information on what the Fractus are up to," Cyrus said. "Judging by how many tents there are, there are too many Fractus to fight, even for you."

Valerie was distracted, squinting as she tried to make out what the activity was at the mouth of the river.

"Of course, intel only. I remember," she said, and then put her finger to her lips.

They'd reached the tent city, and it was mostly abandoned.

"Everyone must be in there," Cyrus said, peering in the cave. "I can check the river water out here, and we'll head out before they're back, if we're lucky."

They hurried to the river, where the water ran the darkest. While Cyrus tested how light reacted to the black Carne staining the water, Valerie moved closer to the cave.

She could make out the sounds of people shouting instructions, and the occasional grunt. Being so far beneath the ground gave her goose bumps if she thought about it too long, and she couldn't imagine how much worse it must be for the people in the cave.

"Val! I'm done!" Cyrus called.

Valerie was peeking in the cave, unable to help herself. That was when she heard a scream of pain. Her reaction then was pure instinct.

She launched herself into the darkness, barely registering Cyrus cursing as he followed her in. He illuminated the darkness, and Valerie saw Fractus everywhere, clearly identifiable by the black weapons they carried. They were standing over a crowd of Groundlings, who were on their hands and knees, scraping a substance off the walls that was dark and sticky, reminding Valerie of blood.

Everyone froze, staring toward the light Cyrus had created, and Valerie took advantage of the pause to start attacking.

The first four Fractus she took down didn't know what had hit them, but after that, weapons were drawn. She unsheathed Pathos in a blaze of light.

"Cyrus, take the Groundlings out of here!" she shouted.

Then she turned back to the Fractus.

"I'm Valerie Diaz. You know who I am. Who wants to drag me back to Reaper as your prisoner?" she taunted.

Her words had the desired effect. The Fractus turned their attention to her, their eyes gleaming in Pathos's light. The Groundlings were quick to take advantage of Valerie's distraction, and they scurried to the exit of the cave, where Cyrus ushered them out.

Valerie gave in to her magic then, and it was a kind of bliss, fighting with pure instinct, moving as fast as she could to deflect attacks. The black weapons of her enemies were a blur of metal, and she couldn't distinguish faces in the dim light.

After a time, part of her brain registered that most, if not all, of the Groundlings had made it out of the cave. She made eye contact with Cyrus.

"Run. I'm right behind you," she lied.

Cyrus left the cave, but instead of following him, Valerie stabbed Pathos into the ground. The entire cave rumbled as Pathos pumped its own magic, intertwined with hers, into the earth.

The shuddering increased, and the exit to the cave became blocked as several boulders broke loose.

Pathos was dimmer after having expended its magic, and Valerie fought her attackers in near darkness. Still, a combination of magic and adrenaline coursed through her full force, and she was a whirlwind of energy. The darkness had the advantage of disorienting her enemies. Valerie wasn't relying on her sense of sight, so her fighting ability wasn't impeded.

The Fractus were tripping over the unconscious bodies of their comrades, but still they kept coming. How many were there? Eventually, even her energy would run out. Before it did, she had to act.

In one swift move, Valerie sheathed Pathos, and the cave became pitch black. She curled into a ball and rolled, and she could hear the Fractus grunting as they bumped into each other, searching for her.

A flash of light in the corner caught her attention. She squinted, and realized that the light formed a message.

This way.

The handwriting was Cyrus's, and Valerie followed the glimmer of light, no more than a speck on the ground. It led her into a side tunnel of the cave. She could tell that she was headed up, away from the Fractus fumbling in the river below.

Finally, she emerged in a cavern that was glowing from light pouring from Cyrus's hands. She expected to see rage on his face, but found only determination and relief.

He was surrounded by the Groundlings they had saved. They were dirty and tired, their jewel-toned hair stained with the Carne they had been scraping from the walls, but alive.

"Listen to me," Valerie said. "The Fractus who have invaded your land do not represent all of the Conjurors in the world above. I lead the Fist, and we will send help to drive the Fractus out of your land."

The Groundlings murmured, absorbing her words.

"Tell your people to look for Conjurors with weapons that have been embedded with light. They will help you. Those wielding the black weapons are the Fractus," Cyrus said.

"Even below, we have heard of you, vivicus," a low voice said. "And you do not disappoint."

The Groundlings had Cyrus and Valerie back in the cavern that led out of Plymouth faster than either of them had anticipated. When they were finally alone, Valerie stole a glance at Cyrus.

"Don't you want to yell at me for not listening to you and getting out of there before we had to fight?"

"No," he said.

"Okay, then don't you want to tell me that we saved a couple dozen Groundlings today, but what was the point, since the Fractus surely have hundreds more working as their slaves, mining Carne somewhere in Plymouth?" Valerie asked.

"No," Cyrus said. He stopped, and so did she. "As a girlfriend, you suck. As leader of the Fist, you did the right thing, and saving those people today was one of the best things I've ever done in my life."

Valerie bit her lip.

"Andeven though I can't be around you right now, as your best friend, I'm proud ofyou for doing what was right."