Sebastian saved his project and pushed back from his desk. He grabbed his jacket and flashlight and headed upstairs. The group had agreed to meet outside his house before heading to the mines, and now they were just waiting for him to finish up his work.

They stood in a small clump outside the door. Maru and Sam were leaning on each other, which was still hard to get used to seeing. Sam had been up to their house a number of times since the day they got back from his uncle Mike's, and it was never to see Sebastian. Sebastian didn't resent them dating, at least not anymore, but it had been a little satisfying to see that Demetrius didn't approve.

Abigail was wearing her wizard's cloak and carrying a sword. No surprise there. The surprise was the tall man beside her with flowing hair. Sebastian was pretty sure he was Elliott, the guy that lived on the beach. But what was he doing here?

Penny stood somewhat apart. She was probably still feeling awkward around Sam, on top of feeling shy around Elliott, who she didn't know.

"Sebby!" Abigail called when he joined them. Sebastian raised his eyebrows at her, nodding his head toward Elliott.

"What, you guys get to bring dates, but I can't?" she said.

Sebastian began to protest, but Elliott beat him to it.

"Pardon me, is this a date, Abigail?" Elliott asked seriously, and oddly innocently.

Abigail laughed. "No, no, I'm just teasing. Don't worry." She patted his arm. "Anyway, you know Sebastian, right?"

Elliott inclined his head and said, "How do you do?"

"Uh, hey," Sebastian responded.

"Marvelous!" Abigail said. "Now our party is well met, let us begin our adventure!" She hoisted her sword in the air and started walking further up the mountain. Elliott stayed close to her side, and Maru and Sam followed right behind, chatting happily. Penny held back and walked beside Sebastian.

"Have you ever been in the mines?" she asked, low enough that no one in front of them could hear.

"Just once, when we were kids. I don't think I got more than twenty feet in." Sebastian smiled at the memory. "We were never in any danger, but I was scared out of my mind."

"Are you scared now?" Penny nudged his side teasingly.

"The only thing I'm scared of is Abigail hurting herself with that sword." He laughed, loud enough that Sam briefly glanced back at them. Sebastian lowered his voice again. "I thought you weren't afraid of the dark."

"The dark? No. But slimes and cave flies?" She shuddered.

The mine entrance was little more than a hole in the mountain held up by some rickety beams. The moonlight couldn't reach more than a few feet inside, making it impossibly dark. They flicked on their flashlights as they entered.

In the distance, Sebastian could just hear the dripping of water as it seeped through the mountain. The busted mine cart and elevator were creepy, but not as scary as he remembered them.

"Here's the ladder!" Abigail called out, and immediately started down.

"We can turn back right now if you want," Sebastian whispered to Penny. She shook her head.

He shone his light at the ladder while she climbed down, then followed. He was glad he'd thought to dress warmly, as the air became noticeably cooler when he reached the bottom. He was the last down, and everyone else was already looking around the cavern. But there wasn't much to see but rocks.

"Should we look for the next ladder down?" Maru suggested. Soon they were all searching, pushing rocks around to find it.

"Here!" Penny called. She shoved a rock aside, resulting in a muddy stain across her green coat. The mud had streaked across her cheek, too, and Sebastian had to hold himself back from wiping it.

"Would you like to do the honors?" Abigail asked, gesturing to the hole in the ground. "You found it."

Penny shook her head emphatically. "Definitely not. After you."

They went down one by one again. And again, there was little to see but rocks.

"Gah!" Sam suddenly shouted, nearly jumping out of his shoes.

"What? What is it?" asked Maru.

"Something touched my foot!"

Abigail approached, sword drawn, and flashlight trained on the ground. They all watched with bated breath as the light swung back and forth.

Then, near Abigail's feet, a little brown head suddenly popped out of the ground. They all shouted, and Abigail dropped her flashlight as she scrambled back. Then she laughed.

"Guys, it's just a duggy. Marlon told me about them. Just stay off the dirt, and they can't reach you." She stepped forward quickly to grab her dropped flashlight, then retreated to the rocks. "Let's find that next ladder."

But just as they started looking, the ground started to tremble.The walls and ceiling shook, and Sebastian felt dust sprinkling onto his head and arms.

"It's going to cave in!" Elliott shouted.

Abby yelled, "Cover your heads!"

Larger debris began to fall. In the darkness, with all of their lights flailing around, Sebastian lost sight of where everyone was. Then he heard a shout near him and the sound of someone falling.

"Maru!" He ran to her and kneeled beside her.

"I'm okay! she shouted. The sound of crumbling rock nearly drowned her out.

He helped her up and they ran to the nearest wall. They crouched, and Sebastian leaned over her and put his arms over his head.

The roar of falling rocks became thunderous. Gravel smacked against Sebastian's back and arms. He had never prayed to Yoba before, but this was a good day to start.

Then the shaking stopped.

Silence followed. It filled his ears, and it was a few seconds before he thought about speaking or moving.

"Are you alright, Mar?" Sebastian lowered his arms. They stung tremendously, and it was probably good that he couldn't see them in the dark.

"I'm alright," she said faintly. "Nothing's broken. You're kneeling on my leg, though."

"Sorry." Sebastian stood and tried to look around, but it was entirely dark. "Hello!" he shouted. "Is everyone alright?"

He didn't hear anything, so he yelled louder. "Sam! Penny! Abby! Can you hear me?"

"I'm here, Seb!" Sam was yelling, but it was faint. "Penny's with me, we're not hurt. Is Maru—"

"I'm alright!" Maru called, brushing herself off.

"Abby! Elliott!" Sebastian yelled, then waited. "Abigail! Elliott!" he called again.

After an agonizing wait, Elliott shouted back, "I'm here, but Abigail's hurt!"

Damn! Sebastian should have put his foot down. They should never have come down here at all.

"Her leg is pinned under—under a rock. I can't move it!" Elliott said.

"Is she awake?" Maru asked. "Is she conscious? Can she speak?"

They waited in painful silence.

Elliott shouted, "Yes! Yes, she can. She didn't hit her head, but her leg is in a lot of pain." Sebastian noticed that Elliott sounded louder than Sam had; closer.

"Is she bleeding?" Maru continued, pressing against the rocks between them and Elliott's voice. "Is she losing blood?"

Another wait.

"No!" Elliott answered. "Some small scrapes, but there's not a lot of blood."

"Oh, thank Yoba," Maru said under her breath. Then she yelled back, "Don't try to move her, or the rock. Just keep her comfortable."

While they talked, Sebastian felt around in the dark for his lost flashlight, and finally found it. It still worked, and he pointed it around. He and Maru were trapped in a narrow gap between the cave walls and a mountain of fallen rocks, separating them from the others. And on one side of their gap, half hidden by rocks, he could see the top of the ladder that they'd come down.

"My phone broke when I fell," Maru said.

Sebastian pulled his own out to check. "No service."

Penny's muffled voice called out, "There's another opening where we are. There are abandoned mine cart tracks, I think we can follow them out."

It was a relief to hear her voice.

"We can almost get to the ladder," Sebastian called back, "And we're closer to Abby and Elliott than you are. We'll start digging a way out, you two go get help! Get Dr. Harvey!"

"Hang in there, Abby!" Sam called. He said nothing more, so Sebastian could only assume that they had left.

"Okay...let's clear the ladder first so that the other's can get in," Sebastian said. They began the long process of heaving rocks out of the way. The hard part wasn't moving them, it was finding somewhere to put them, since they were in such a confined area. But moving them was backbreaking in its own right, and neither Sebastian nor Maru were known for their athletic prowess.

"I can't believe I was saying the mines were no big deal yesterday," Maru said, leaning against the wall and catching her breath.

"They wouldn't have been if they hadn't caved in. What were the odds? People come down here all the time," Sebastian said.

Maru grunted as she struggled with a small boulder. Sebastian joined her, and they heaved it aside. They worked together on a few more before they had to take another break.

"When we get out of this, I'm going to start taking Caroline's aerobics class," Maru said.

"When we get out of this..." Sebastian started. "When we get out of this, I'm going to be a better brother."

"Wha—hey, don't get cheesy on me now."

Sebastian shrugged. "What can I say, I feel cheesy lately."

"Did Penny tell you to say that or something?"

He scoffed lightly. "No, not exactly. Now help me move this."