Alara’s eyes focused to where Quenti was pointing, and she shuddered. While the water closest to the rock shelf was calm, it was inky black, giving no indication of what lay hidden beneath its surface.

“I’m sorry, but what?” Alara said.

“Happy you learned how to swim?” Quenti said with a small grin.

“No. I’m really not.”

Lili and Runeo looked no happier than Alara about the news.

“Look,” Quenti said. “It ain’t that far of a swim. Once you go under, the entrance is only a few feet down and the actual tunnel only took about ten seconds to swim through. When you surface, you’re basically in the passage to the Haven.”

Alara looked down at the pool of water. “So we swim through and climb out the other side.” It wasn’t a question. Just her repeating the mission aloud, hoping it would make it just the slightest bit less terrifying. It didn’t work.

“That doesn’t seem horrible,” Lili said, though her confidence seemed to reflect Alara’s own.

“And in case this wasn’t obvious,” Quenti continued, “it’ll be pitch black once you go under. So you’ll want to pay attention and keep your hands in front of you as you go.”

Alara gave a small shudder. “Awesome, swimming underground in the pitch black. Got it.”

“Alara, you should go first,” Runeo said.

“What, why?” Alara’s eyes widened and her face snapped to the airen’s, though he looked back at her without malice.

“You’ll be able to light the cave on the other side once you’re through.”

“He has a point,” Quenti said. “You can help guide the way for the rest of us once you’re there.”

Alara looked between their three faces. She had no argument, but she wished she did. Why couldn’t there be another fire user among the four of them?

Finally, she nodded, removing the flint cuff and ring that she had stolen from the fire mage. She had hoped she wouldn’t have to use it so soon. Carefully, she wrapped them in her bruya clothes and tucked these in her pack, making sure it was as sealed as possible.

Runeo handed her a small roped to tie around her waist.

“Tug it twice when you get to the other side and we’ll follow.”

Alara didn’t answer, but felt the daggers on her waist, making sure they were secure before looking back into the dark waters. She felt like she had just volunteered to jump off the edge of a cliff first.

“You ready?” Quenti said, placing a hand on her shoulders.

No.

“Two feet down, around ten seconds in the tunnel, and then up on the other side. Remember, kick your legs, paddle your hands, and stay smooth.”

“Here goes nothing.” Alara gave a jerky nod before slipping into the water, acting before her common sense could catch up with her actions.

She was happy for the lightweight fabric of the magite attire as her trousers tangled around her legs. Her knuckles grasped the edge of the pool as her feet waded beneath her. She pushed off, testing her legs and arms as she went, trying to remember the feeling of swimming from weeks before. It seemed like another lifetime when she and Quenti had been lying in the river, basking in the sun. If only there’d been more time to practice.

She gave one last look before nodding and ducking her head under.

Once inside the blackness, her eyes became useless. She could tilt her head up and see the vague light of day above her, along with the shifting faces of Lili, Runeo, and Quenti as they leaned over the pool. But toward her mission, there was only darkness.

She propelled forward, legs kicking and arms paddling awkwardly as she tried to feel along the rocky edge, looking for an opening. She felt a cool wave of relief as her hands slipped into an opening in the stone. She pulled herself down deeper, happy to feel the tunnel was at least a few feet wide on all sides. Large enough to slip through.

She pulled herself through, trying not to bump against the jagged stone above her, but it was difficult to steer in the inky blackness of the water. It took only a few seconds for her to lose her sense of direction. She was moving slowly—slower than Quenti likely accounted for—but where was the end of the tunnel? Her lungs burned and her chest was tight with fear. After another second, she realized that despite kicking and paddling, she was no longer moving through the water.

Alara jerked, fingers searching desperately in the darkness for where her pack had gotten snagged. She struggled to unhook the material with numb fingers, but the wool was stiff and she couldn’t see where it had caught.

The burning in her lungs only increased and Alara felt the panic setting in. She whipped around in the water, unsure of what direction she should to go. Blackness now stretched in every direction, unending shadow. The muffled sounds of water churning reached her and she turned to the left, blindly. Then there were fingers alongside hers, unhooking her pack from the rock and pushing her forward.

She paddled ahead and felt her chest aching for air. In an instant, the surrounding water swirled, and she was being pushed through the tunnel. Several seconds later, her head was above water and musty cave air filled her lungs.

She coughed as she dragged herself onto the floor, happy there was room to stretch out.

“I shouldn’t be a swim teacher then, huh?” Quenti’s voice was light, but Alara heard the tinge of worry.

“I thought I did pretty good until I almost drowned,” she said with a choking laugh.

“Ha. How about we get some light in here, so I can see you when you lie?”

Alara rolled onto her stomach, unhooking her arms from her pack. She dug into the bag and gave a small cheer when she felt the flint dry at the center.

She pulled it out, along with the small iron ring, and worked them into a spark, touching her magia to the flash of light. A small flame sprung into the air and lit the surrounding cave.

Alara let out a gasp, “Oh.”

Shadows from the flickering flame jumped onto the walls of the enormous cavern. Above them, the rock stretched up into blackness, the ceiling out of sight, but bright stars danced across every visible surface, a multitude of colorful gems embedded in the stone.

After a few beats, Alara shook herself and pulled the rope tied around her waist twice. A minute later, Runeo and Lili popped up from the pool.

Quenti and Runeo helped dry their supplies and clothes, while Alara slipped the flint cuff back onto her wrist, feeling the weight against her skin. It was lighter than the gold cuff that adorned her other wrist and slightly less comfortable.

The passage from the cavern was obvious. A thin crack in the wall—the only doorway out. Alara felt a shiver of familiarity as they ducked through the opening and into the black tunnel beyond. The ceiling ran just above Runeo’s head, and the walls were too narrow for Alara to stretch out her arms. A sense of calm settled over her at the feeling of being surrounded by soil and stone once more.

“Is now a bad time to share that I’m claustrophobic?” Lili said, her voice trembling and her eyes darting between the walls.

“Just take deep breaths, and pretend you’re in a very… dark forest,” Quenti said.

Lili shook her head. “I don’t think that’s going to help.”

The tunnel wound as they moved forward and Alara lost track of their direction, assuming they were going south, deeper into the mountain. She wondered where the passage could lead. She’d been wandering the Haven since she was young, and she’d never found this route before.

Nearly an hour later, Quenti stopped without warning. Alara heard a small yelp as Lili ran into Runeo.

“Are we there?” Alara asked.

Quenti cursed.

“What?”

“There’s a split. I don’t remember seeing a split when I was leaving.”

“Did we make a wrong turn?” Lili asked.

“A wrong turn where? There’s been only one tunnel this entire way.”

Alara looked ahead to see the tunnel fork in two separate directions, with nothing to distinguish the two options. “That’s probably because the tunnels just converged on your way out.”

“That doesn’t do me much good right now.”

Alara bit her lip. “I guess we just choose one. These belong to the network, so either way, they both lead to somewhere friendly. Probably.”

Quenti nodded. “Right it is,” she said with no confidence.

They walked for a while longer, the darkness draining away any sense of progress. Alara grew lost in her own thoughts, her mind back in the forest with Ardo. She had seen the tunic under his leather vest—it had been green like the main councilguards—not the black it had been last time she had seen him.

He had been demoted.

Her heart gave a sharp thump as she remembered the look on his face when he hesitated to shoot Quenti, just moments before she had taken Alara over the cliff with her.

She pushed away that thought, only to have another intrude. Ardo’s eyes on her, dark with confusion and betrayal.

For as hard as she fought to return home, what would be left for her now? Would Ardo forgive her? The flame she held above them swayed with each spike of fear and dread that danced through her body, though she didn’t have the energy to care.

Alara bumped into Lili as the group came to a clumsy stop again.

“Another split?” Alara asked.

“A wall,” Quenti said, her voice glum.

Lili let out a sound—something between a groan and a cry. She closed her eyes and take a deep breath.

Happy to have her thoughts dragged from Ardo, she placed a hand on Lili’s shoulder. “Move behind me and keep your eyes trained on the open space of the tunnel. Don’t look at the walls.”

Lili nodded and did as she said. Alara moved around her and pushed past Runeo, who was scowling at the obstacle that stood in their path.

“We went the wrong way.” Quenti looked defeated as she stared at the stone.

“It doesn’t make sense. Why have a tunnel to a dead end?” Alara brought her flame closer and examined the edges, trying to find some sign of a crack or a door. The stone was smooth, perfectly melded with the rest of the tunnel. She pressed her hand to the stone. It felt warm to her touch.

She looked closer, her fingers tracing a small ridge in the center. As the flame hovered near, the ridge in the stone glowed as the outline of a condor appeared. It seemed almost familiar, but Alara couldn’t quite place it.

“What is that?” Quenti was leaning over Alara’s shoulder, looking at the symbol.

“I’m not sure.” Alara said. She moved the flame away, and the glow disappeared. “Step back a second.”

No one moved. In fact, the group inched closer as their eyes focused on the image in front of her. “I said…” Alara pushed her palm into Quenti’s chest with a nudge, “… step back.”

As the footsteps shuffled behind her, she brought the flame back toward the carving. Again, the edges of the bird appeared to glow, a light coming from within the stone. Alara took a deep breath and pressed the flame against the stone with her palm. She felt the heat of her fire sink into the cool surface and then a shudder of movement.

The entire wall shifted, and a gap appeared to the left. A doorway. Alara turned back to the others. Her flame had gone out, but a trickle of light came from the newly opened doorway, and she could see their faces bathed in shadows.

“You first,” Runeo said with a smirk, whispering the words.

Alara stepped forward, feeling the others follow. They were in a stone room. This time, clearly man-made, and the floor made of flattened dirt and hay. A sharp light descended from above them, accenting the darkness from which they emerged.

Alara looked up, trying to understand what she was seeing. Slats of light stretched from the wood planks above them as figures moved in and out of view. And then she heard voices—one very familiar voice.

Alara looked around again at the straw that scattered the ground and breathed in the smell of manure. Her eyes widened, and she couldn’t stop the grin that stretched across her face.

They were under Adelmo’s stables. She was home.