Clara pursed her lips and shut her eyes. Millions of sand particles squeezed through her hair, slipping into her clothes and pricking her skin. She stopped resisting as the tentacles dug into her ankles, eliciting pain.

When they released her, she fell flat on a small dune. She opened her eyes. Dirt clung to her eyelashes. A sneeze exploded out of her mouth. Clara scrubbed her face, coughing as a pall of dust enveloped her. She shook her clothes, feeling itchy.

Stay calm, Clara. Survive and you’ll have a nice, warm bath.

She was inside another tunnel. Crystal shards twinkled from the ceiling. The walls were lined with thrumming flesh, tentacles webbing out in a grisly decoration. They moved, closing in on her. There was a doorway a few feet ahead. Dusting her hands, Clara ran to it. The walls moved, wet slime brushing over her shoulders. She swallowed, pushing the wave of bile down her throat.

The opening led her to a dead end. Clara stared up. High above her was a ledge. She couldn’t reach it. The tunnel was narrowing faster than she had anticipated. Forced to press her back on the living wall, she felt trails of panic encompass her. She wanted to get out of the tunnel, to be safe at home—not at Amarant but with her father, Josephine and Timothy.

What do I do? What do I do? What do I do?

She pressed her palms on the wall, trying to push it back but the effort was futile. She felt suffocated, the stench of blood making her retch. Her heart pounded, her ribcage aching. Clara tried to jump up, nails digging into the flesh. A sliver of rationality helped her see reason. She was stuck but she wasn’t helpless.

Breathing heavy, Clara called out to her power. A crystal platform materialized below her feet. It grew up by a few inches before it was crushed by the pressure from the walls.

Come on. You can do this!

She conjured another platform, making it grow into a column. It elevated her upwards, the ledge drawing near to her grasp. She felt the overwhelming pressure from the walls but she compelled her own magic to combat it, strengthening the bonds between the crystals. The column met with the ledge. Clara stepped off of the column, landing on hard ground. Releasing her magic, she heard the distinctive sound of walls meeting and crystal shattering.

A wall cracked, collapsing into bits of small stones. It revealed an opening. Exiting the tunnel, she examined the next room. Shimmery dust swirled in the air. Debris littered the floor, broken pieces of rocks standing at odd positions. One was balanced between two chunks of stones, another tipped towards a wall and third one looked like it could topple at any moment. Splotches of red glowed in the dark. She neared them.

The dead eyes of corpses met her own. They were creatures with rounded bellies and long tails. Forked tongues splayed out of their lipless mouths and spindly arms lay mangled. What could have killed these creatures? She spotted holes on their bodies. Gunshot wounds.

“Rai! Are you there? Rai?”

Her voice echoed in the vast cavern. A rock fell. She caught the glow of something floating from her peripheral view. When she turned, Mecha collided with her forehead. It squeaked, its cries getting louder each time.

“What are you doing here, Mecha? Where is Tamer? What about Rai?” she asked.

Mecha hovered over the wreckage and gave a low squeal. Clara glanced at the layer of broken rock below it. A smaller block held the rock in place so that the slab slanted. A black shoe peeked out of the crook. That was Tamer’s boot!

She rushed to the wreckage. “Tamer! Are you okay?”

He didn’t respond. She didn’t want to push out the rock, afraid that it would lose balance and squash him. Grabbing his ankles, she slowly pulled him out of the safe crook, wincing when she noticed the scrapes and bruises on his arms and face. Mecha floated over his chest.

“Tamer?” she called, tapping her hand on his cheek.

He tossed his head to the side. Gold eyes stared at her, dazed and unfocused.  

“Can you move?” she asked, worried that he might be more injured than he looked.

He blinked. Recognition registered on his face. He tried to lift his hands and succeeded. Sitting up, he said, “I’m fine.”

“I’m glad you’re okay,” she replied.

Tamer tucked an index finger below her chin, lifting her face up. “How about you?”

Warm tingles ran down her chin to her neck. “I’m all right.”

He withdrew his hand. "Where’s Rai?”

Clara wasn’t sure what to say. She hadn’t seen Rai. When she remained silent, he stood up. Tamer searched through the wreckage, pulling out rocks, throwing away the dead creatures and calling his companion.

“What are those creatures?” she asked, pointing at them.

“Juhrars. They attacked us when Rai was getting the seal,” he replied, wiping his brow with the back of his hand.

“You found it?”

“Yes, Rai has it. I pushed him aside when stalactites fell on us,” he said. “He has to be somewhere here.”

“What if he’s—”

“No, he’s alive. Keep looking.”

Nodding, Clara rummaged through the debris. She found a steelgun buried by the dead creatures. The glow of their bodies was fading. Rai’s rifle was wedged between two rocks. There was no way she could pull it out. Aside from its weight, it was stuck.

“I found him!” Tamer said, rolling a boulder out of his way.

He knelt over Rai’s unconscious form, wiping off dirt from his face. Clara was surprised to see him. Rai looked different—he appeared to be larger and wilder. His hands and feet were more hairy, his talons longer. She gawped at Rai’s pointed ears and flattened nose. A purple orb was nestled between his arm and hip, yellow letters casting light in the dark cavern.

“What happened to him?” she asked.

“He shifted to one of his true forms,” Tamer said, gripping his companion’s shoulders. When Rai didn’t wake, Tamer shook him harder. “Wake up, brother.”

Rai’s eyelids fluttered open. He took in a deep breath, blenching when Clara patted his right leg.

“Sorry,” she said.

“You broke your leg,” Tamer said to him.

Rai nodded.

“Are you hurt anywhere else?” he asked.

“Just my damn leg. Where the hell is Eryx when you need him?” Rai closed his eyes, his bronze skin rippling. Clara watched in amazement as his face transformed to its usual structure and his body returned to its normal size.

“Have you seen my rifle?” Rai asked. “Help me up. I need it.”

Tamer grunted. “You should be more worried about your leg.” He continued speaking in Shimian tongue. She couldn’t understand him but whatever he had said made Rai smile.

Men, she thought, shaking her head. Pointing at the rocks where she had seen the rifle, she said, “It’s over there.”

They helped Rai stand, being careful enough to avoid injuring his broken leg. The wall behind them crunched. Clara looked over her shoulder. Eryx walked out of an opening, an irritated expression on his face.

“What do you think you’re doing? Put him down, now!” he snapped.

Rai flashed him a wicked smile. “You’re late, old man. Maybe I should buy you a cane.”

Eryx disregarded him. After they had settled Rai down, the Zamari conjured a cerulean sphere. It surrounded Rai, healing him of his wounds. Tamer picked up the seal, freezing his movements the moment his fingers touched the orb. They all looked at him, anticipation charging up the air.

“I see it again. In the town of Nazim, below Hans and Buns pub, is an ancient coliseum. That’s where the seal is,” Tamer said.

“A coliseum in Nazim?” Rai asked, a puzzled look crinkling his face.

“How do we reach it? Surely, we can’t drill the ground in front of everyone,” Eryx said, putting pressure on Rai’s leg with the tip of his hands.

“The pub has an underground chamber. If we sneak inside it, we’ll find a way into the coliseum,” Tamer replied.

He summoned Mecha, feeding him the purple orb. Just like before, the mechanical bug ate it, the seal disappearing into a plane that no creature could walk into.

Clara sat down on a flat rock, balancing her elbows on her laps. Another seal had been saved. They had to find two more. She opted to remain hopeful that they would save the others before the enemy destroyed them.

She lowered her head when she heard something from a distance. Shutting out the men’s voices and Mecha’s burps, Clara listened to the sound of fizzing liquid, the thump of tentacles and the blowing of a cold draft. She willed her senses to listen further, to widen the distance. She heard Enki’s soft breathing, the scurrying steps of a small animal, the splashing of the waves across the beach and voices—many voices.

“The others are here!” she said.

For a moment, the men looked at her with crumpled eyebrows and narrowed eyes. Then understanding set in. Tamer stood up so fast that she couldn’t follow his movements. He clasped her hand with his, pulling her up.

“We’re leaving,” he said. “Mecha, get in my pocket.”

With his leg healed, Rai stood up and went after his rifle. He wrenched it out with relative ease. Frowning, he said, “I can’t find my shoes.”

“Forget the shoes. Let’s go,” Eryx said.

“Which path was yours, Rai?” Tamer asked. “We don’t have much time left.”

She found out why he had inquired about Rai’s tunnel. It was free from any obstacles. They raced across the platform, dragging Enki with them. Eryx took off the net that had petrified the man, leaving only his mouth gagged.

As they headed for the exit, a nagging feeling washed over Clara. Past the circular opening, in the frothing waves of the sea, was a ship swathed in black smoke. Tattered sails fluttered in the wind and tall masts stood rigid. It looked menacing, like a ghost ship.

A black projectile careened from the ship, a missile meant for destruction. It whistled through the air, heading for the cove.