Corvan had just pushed the passage door back into place when a narrow beam of light shot through the crack along its edge. Gavyn tried to drag Corvan away from the light and down the stairs, but Corvan shook his hand loose and put his eye to the gap. Jorad had returned and was covering Kate's body with bands of black cloth. Gavyn crowded in below Corvan and pressed his ear to the door.

After Jorad finished covering Kate from head to toe, he called out the front door. Two men entered the tomb. One unfolded a crude stretcher on the ground, then helped his companion lift Kate onto it.

"We will take her through the broken side of the city," Jorad said. "We must hide her from the rebel leader. We have reports that he wants to take her body back to their city."

"You said that more than once," one of the men growled. He glared at Jorad, and the torchlight caught the ragged edge of a scar that raked down his forehead and over his nose. "What you haven't said is where we're taking her."

"We are taking her where no one would think of looking for her."

"Quit talking in riddles." The scar twisted as the man scowled. "How far do we need to carry her?" The man bent down, grasped the handles of the litter and began to lift. "Maybe what you're paying isn't enough to cover the job."

"To the portal door," Jorad stated.

The handles dropped to the floor and Corvan winced at the thud of Kate's body against the stone.

"That's a steep climb, and I didn't sign up to cross the water."

"Then I will double your pay." Jorad said.

Scar face glaced at his silent companion, who nodded his agreement. "Half now and we're not going past that door. I've no desire to see a burak up close."

"You won't have to," Jorad said. He pulled out a pouch and put it into the man's outstretched hand. "They don't come near the door, but if you want the rest of your pay, you need to put her inside the door. I've just finished my rites and can't touch a dead body."

The man grunted. "All right, but just past the door, then we leave. Now let's get moving, I want to get this over with before the light."

The men lifted Kate off the ground. "Good thing there's not much to 'er," the other man quipped as they headed out the front door. Jorad paused inside the crypt to check a knife strapped to his forearm, then exited and pulled the door shut.

Gavyn pushed the passage door open, trotted over to the front door and eased it partly open. He peered out, then disappeared into the night. Corvan had to move quickly to see where the boy had gone.

Up ahead, the men carrying Kate were entering the main part of the cemetery. All they had to do was look back and they would see Gavyn following behind them, but the boy did not seem concerned. He walked nonchalantly along and Corvan couldn't do anything but chase after him as quietly as possible. Together the strange procession circled the dead tree and headed to the main gates leading from the City of the Dead. At that point, the litter bearers and Jorad headed straight into Kadir, but Gavyn veered off into a narrow alley between a line of smaller crypts and put on a burst of speed. Corvan slowed and looked toward Jorad and the men. Where was Gavyn going? Did the boy even understand he needed to rescue her?

Gavyn stopped and looked back, nodding furiously and motioning for Corvan to follow along. The boy waited until he caught up, squeezed Corvan's hand and then took off again. Corvan had to run flat out to keep him in sight as the small shadow tore along between the crypts.

Corvan's side began to ache; his breath came in gasps, but still the boy ran on toward the far side of the crypts. He disappeared around a corner, and by the time Corvan arrived, he was nowhere in sight. Muttering to himself, Corvan was standing on his tiptoes, searching above the tops of the crypts, when a sharp yank on his foot sent him sprawling to the ground. Gavyn was grinning at him out of a hole beneath a low crypt. The boy's face vanished. Dropping to all fours, Corvan followed him into the hole, through a tight tunnel, then finally popped up outside the cemetery walls.

Gavyn pointed ahead to the high wall of the cavern and the serpentine path that led up to the portal door and Corvan finally understood. The boy was running in order to get to the door ahead of Jorad and the litter bearers. He got to his feet only to have his knees give out. Stumbling against the cemetery wall, Corvan his hands on his thighs and bent over. His stomach rolled as his legs shook uncontrollably. He was too tired to keep going like this. He's had little rest and nothing to eat since Kael's library.

Gavyn's hand appeared under his nose, fingers glowing pink from light trapped inside. When he opened his hand, the light of a small lumien leapt from his palm. He took it from Gavyn and held it close. Its vibrant pink skin felt fuzzy, like a fresh-picked peach. "Did you grow this one in your garden room? It looks different that the rest."

Gavyn nodded and mimed eating it, making loud smacking sounds with his lips. Corvan took a small bite, and a spicy nectar trickled down his throat and made him cough. Immediately the ache in his side dulled and his legs stopped shaking. This was no ordinary lumien, it was much more potent. He took another bite, rolled the lumien's tangy strands around in his mouth and swallowed. Juice was dripping off the fruit in his hand and Gavyn caught the drops on the tips of his fingers, licked them off, then lifting his fingertips into the air like a thankful prayer.

To save the juice, Corvan put the last of the lumien into his mouth. As he sucked the fruit off the seed, the tip of the seed touched his tongue. Every fiber of his being instantly engaged with a desire for the power contained inside the seed. He closed his eyes and deliberately pushed the seed into the side of his mouth. Whatever this new seed was, the gatekeeper's treatments were not able to combat this craving. But this was no time to fall back into dependence on the lumien power. His teeth gripped the seed as he worked it forward in his mouth. He desperately wanted to crack it open.

At a touch on his cheek, he opened his eyes and found a deep concern across Gavyn's face. The boy opened his hand under Corvan's mouth, and he waited until Corvan spit the seed out. The boy's smile returned as he placed the seed into the pouch at his waist. Grabbing Corvan's sticky hand, he pulled him to his feet and took off running again.

With the lumien fruit in his belly, there was no problem keeping up with Gavyn and soon they were past the city wall, over the bridge, then climbing the steep switchbacks up the side of the cavern. Gavyn kept glancing down toward the city before suddenly dropping into the rocky groove of the pathway. Corvan did the same, joining Gavyn at the lip of the rock wall that ran along the path. Far below, Jorad and his men were making their way across the bridge.

Gavyn waited until the men entered the first leg of the winding path and then got to his feet and trotted ahead, hugging the inside of the path so they could not be seen from below. They rapidly ascended the remaining switchbacks, racing around the last corner to the ledge outside the portal door.

Corvan's heart dropped. There was nowhere to hide while they waited for Jorad to arrive and open the door. Grabbing Gavyn's shoulder, he waved his hand around the ledge. The boy's eyes widened, then he put a finger to his cheek as if deep in thought, made a grand "ah ha" gesture in the air, then pulled a bundle of short sticks from within his tunic. Corvan looked at him blankly. Gavyn grinned back, then fit the sticks together until he was holding a tube with various notches in its surface. He held it up for Corvan.

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"What is it?" Corvan whispered, worried that his voice would carry over the edge to the men below.

Gavyn beckoned for him to follow and ran to the portal door. Inserting his tube made of sticks into the keyhole and began to twist it back and forth while he slid the pieces in and out.

"A key?"

The boy nodded and went back to his work.

"Can it open any door?"

Gavyn nodded once, paused, then shook his head. He slid one section of the key in farther and twisted. Nothing happened so he moved a few others and tried again. Now he was concentrating hard, his forehead wrinkled and sweaty.

"We don't have much time." Corvan whispered.

Gavyn shot him a irritated glance and Corvan crossed back to the pathway to check the path. The men were approaching the final switchback. He ran back to the door.

Gavyn's hands were shaking as he manipulated the sticks.

Corvan turned to the trail and heard Jorad's voice beyond the corner, "Don't stop now. We're almost there." Three clicks sounded behind him. He whirled about. The door hung open and Gavyn was standing with his key held overhead in victory. Corvan ran at him, grabbed his arm, and pulled Gavyn past the door, kicking it shut behind them. The three bolts shot home and Corvan winced at the sound.

The two of them stood hand in hand, staring at the keyhole and listening until it winked and went dark. This time it was Gavyn who moved first, dragging him up the incline by the light of the purple moss. Diving in behind the first of the large boulders along the path, they peered as the door was thrown wide, silhouetting the figures of the three men and the stretcher against the blue lumien light.

"Just inside and no farther," said the scar-faced man.

"You need to put her down by the wall," Jorad said. "I can't shut the door with the body in the way."

The men slowly entered the tunnel, the whites of their eyes glistening as they stared up into the darkness where Corvan and Gavyn were hiding.

An elbow dug into Corvan's side. Gavyn had picked up two rocks was showing Corvan to bang them together and make a noise as he mimed a large animal stomping on the ground. Corvan felt around his feet but only came up with one rock. At least he could screech like a burak, he knew that sound well enough. He straightened and looked over the rock. The men were far enough inside to be clear of the door and Jorad had backed away to pull it closed and lock them in. At that moment Corvan let out his best burak screech and began to scrape his rock along the boulder. Gavyn beat his rocks together and grunted. The two men dropped the stretcher and ran, tripping over each other and knocking Jorad to the ground as they tore out the door.

The priest scrambled to his feet and Corvan screeched again. Jorad stared toward their hiding place with a puzzled expression on his face. Obviously Corvan's burak screech was not real enough. Jorad must have heard one up close before.

Corvan was about to try again when a guttural growl filled the tunnel. This time Jorad jumped back and yanked the door shut, plunging the tunnel into darkness.

"That was amazing, Gavyn," Corvan said as he turned to look at the boy, but Gavyn's eyes were as big as saucers. He shoved Corvan forward as the screech of a real burak blasted down from behind them.

Corvan tore back down the incline, but Gavyn raced past him, fumbling frantically with his sticks. Corvan caught up to him at the door and whirled about. He stared up the slope until his eyes watered, but nothing moved. Other than the clicking and twisting of Gavyn's key, the tunnel was silent.

Three loud clicks were followed by Gavyn's sigh of relief. Gavyn slid the key out of the hole, but three more clicks echoed in the tunnel. The door had locked again.

Another low growl rumbled off the sides of the tunnel and Corvan whipped around. A shadow loomed on the pathway and the face of a great beast emerged into the glow of the purple moss. It was larger than the one that attacked Tarran, its bulk scraping past the twin pillars in the passage as it stalked toward them.

The beast was close enough now for them to smell its putrid breath and see the mottled colors of the huge eyes. It opened a mouth full of jagged teeth to roar at them, then stopped. The great head rolled to one side, its eyes focusing on Kate lying along the wall.

"Leave her alone," Corvan hollered.

The burak ignored him and lowered its head toward Kate.

Corvan leapt forward and waved his hands over his head. "Go away," he shouted, but the burak moved closer to Kate. Corvan was about to charge the creature when Gavyn grabbed his leg and pulled him back, pointing at the burak's face and tracing lines from his own eyes. Corvan looked closer. Gavyn was right; the creature's eyes were full of tears. It tipped its head back as if to roar, but instead, a heart-rending groan of sorrow fell around them.

Before Corvan could stop him, Gavyn ran directly under the burak's head and reaching up he gave the animal a hug, almost disappearing into the leathery folds around its neck. The burak backed away until Gavyn appeared again, stroking the broad nose and humming. Now the beast and the boy stood face-to-face, Gavyn looking into one large eye while making clicking sounds with his mouth and tongue. The head of the animal bobbed then it turned and ambled up the tunnel.

Gavyn waved Corvan over, then bent down to pick up the front of the litter. Corvan grabbed the poles at Kate's feet. "What are we doing?" his whispered as the burak stopped, looked back over its shoulder, and shuffled past the pillars. Gavyn only pulled on the poles and they followed in its wake.

Corvan watched over Gavyn's head as they caught up with the huge shadow. The boy was carrying the litter with ease. If they could escape the burak, the two of them could carry Kate all the way to the surface. The old man in the chamber claimed he could track Madam Toreg's medallion inside the Cor so maybe his power ended at the limits of the Cor shield. Perhaps, if they could remove Kate's body from the Cor, her spirit might be pulled from the clutches of the old man.

Up ahead, Corvan caught a glimpse of Kate's old runners perched on top of a rock. They were headed in the right direction and his hope rose up just as the burak left the main path and turned into the tunnel that led up to where Corvan and Tsarek first squeezed past the Cor shield. Corvan pushed hard on the poles, trying to drive Gavyn straight ahead toward the labyrinth, but the boy turned to follow the burak. "Gavyn," he whispered. "Go straight. It's the way back to my home." The boy shook his head and trotted around the corner. Corvan pulled back on the poles of the litter, but Gavyn yanked so hard he almost took them out of Corvan's hands.

Corvan fell in behind. Tsarek said the boy could communicate in the language of the animals. There must be a good reason they were following the beast.

Further along, the burak veered off into an even smaller tunnel that the animal could barely squeeze its bulk through. Small rocks tumbled from the walls as it scraped along. Finally, the tunnel opened up and they emerged into a rounded room. The burak moved to one side, its head swaying from them to the other side of the room where an opening, barely wide enough for a person beckoned.

Gavyn nodded to the beast and pulled Corvan past its wide body. As they left it behind and entered the smaller tunnel, he heard the animal gave a long groan, as if to urge them on.

In time the trail grew more narrow, twisting twisted back and forth on itself in a steep downward spiral.

"Where are we going?" Corvan said.

Gavyn plodded on.

"Are we going toward the falls?"

The boy nodded.

Corvan's heart sank. The burak must have sensed that Kate was still alive and it was directing them back to Kadir where they could find some help but that was the wrong direction. They needed to go upward if they were to take Kate out of the Cor and retrieve the scepter.

Gavyn stopped. The tunnel ahead was blocked with by large broken stones. The beast had directed them where it could not go but it was a dead end.

Moving to one side, Gavyn set his end of the litter down on a rectangular block of stone set into alcove in the side of the wall and Corvan followed his lead. The rounded roof was more smooth that the rest of the tunnel, as if someone had carved it out.

Gavyn let out a chirp of delight, pointed to the wall in front of him and tugged out his sticks. In a knob of rock at the base of the wall was a small round hole. As Gavyn assembled his key, Corvan knelt to examine the hole. If this was a keyhole, where was the door? Maybe it had been covered over by the cave in? He was about to check the pile of stone blocks when Gavyn hip-checked him out of the way, inserted his skeleton key into the hole and began manipulating the pieces. Corvan watched his unsuccessful attempts for a few minutes before sitting on the edge of the stone block next to Kate. Her face was deathly grey. He should have taken charge and made Gavyn listen to him instead of following the burak.

The clicking stopped and Gavyn cried out as the floor shuddered beneath their feet, spinning them around and sending Corvan sprawling to the floor.

Rolling over, he looked up into the wide-eyed face of Saray.

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