When Corvan opened his eyes, Kate was resting peacefully at his side, the touch of a smile on her lips and the tiara sparkling in her hair. Corvan brushed his fingertips along her cheek, relieved to feel the warmth of her skin. How long could a person's body live in this suspended state?

Saray entered the room and spoke quietly. "The time has come for you to leave, but don't you worry about Kate. I will do my best to keep her body nourished and her spirit strong. I believe I can use the medallion you are leaving behind and visit with her whenever the old man is away from the chamber." She gestured toward the kitchen. "Come along. You also need to take some nourishment before you leave. I've made special drink for you."

Corvan's stomach growled at the anticipation of another of Saray's banana flavored milkshakes. Easing himself off the low table, he entered the kitchen and found Gavyn sitting on a cushion in the corner, petting a furry creature that hung over his shoulder like an extremely long beanbag.

Saray looked to Corvan. "Gavyn may not speak to us, but the animals certainly understand him. I've been trying for the longest time to entice that churrip to come inside my house and keep the mice at bay." Brightening the lumien hanging over the counter, she handed Corvan a cup.

The odor of lemons wafted out and Corvan took a small sip. This time the sour flavor completely overwhelmed the banana, if there was any there at all, but Saray was watching him intently. "I know, I know," he said with a grimace, "it's good for me." He quickly gulped it down and put the cup down before Saray could make sure he drank it all. At least the liquid was quicker than eating the raw fruit.

"My special juice will give you extra strength during the long hike through the labyrinth back to your home." She pointed to a small, wrapped packet on the counter next to a skin full of liquid. "That's the sweeter drink you enjoy and some dried fruit. Take those with you just in case. Jokten got lost once in the tunnels and almost died of dehydration before he found his way back home."

Corvan looked at her in alarm, and she touched his hand. "Not to worry. You've been to the surface before, so you should be just fine."

"But I only came down that way, remember? When Kate and I left we went out through the crack in the garden wall and through the long water channel. What if I can't find the labyrinth entry going upward? If Jokten got lost after all his exploring, it could easily happen to me as well."

"I don't think that's true," Saray said. She gave him a firm look and nodded over to where Gavyn was sitting perfectly still, intently listening to them. "As I recall from what Jokten told me, the way to the surface is straightforward. The time he got lost, he was searching for a passage going down. He was trying to find a way from Molakar back to the Kholm so he could spy on TaKalian. I was glad he gave up on that quest after he got lost."

Corvan nodded and let the tension release from his shoulders.

"As soon as you are set," Saray said. "I will send you out to the other side of the wall."

Gavyn laid the limp creature on the cushion and jumped to his feet. It curled into a tight furry ball and rolled off to bump against the base of the counter as the boy pulled out his skeleton key and began assembling it. Saray crouched down in front of him and stopped his busy hands, cupping them in her own. "No, Gavyn. You can't go with him. Corvan must make this journey by himself."

The boy's face fell, and Saray shot a glance at Corvan that told him not to even think about arguing with her, then turned back to Gavyn. "I will need you here with me while Corvan is away. You can help me work in the gardens, and we will gather fruit to feed Kate."

Gavyn's eyes brightened, and he looked to Corvan for permission.

"I agree with Saray, but I am so glad you found me when you did. Without you, I would never have found my father, or my way here, but now I must go on alone."

Gavyn's eyes widened, his mouth dropped open, then he searched frantically inside his tunic. Pulling out a flattened roll of parchment, he tried unsuccessfully to squish it back into a tube shape, then held it up to Corvan with an apologetic shrug.

Corvan unrolled the paper on top of the counter. His father rarely wrote anything down, but this was clearly his printing. The message had been carefully etched in charcoal, but now most of the words were smudged and almost impossible to read. At the end of the first line, he could make out the words "rescue me." Another long blotch, then "black box -- your mother -- the truck." The next line was only a line of charcoal dust in a deep crease but the line after that was clear. "It's a note from my father," he said, pointing to the readable sentence. "He says, 'To make this end, we must go back to where it all began.'"

Saray tapped the overhead lumien bulb until the brilliant light made Corvan wince, then held the parchment in front of it. "I thought so," she said. "The first line says, 'Do not try to rescue me.' Then he says to bring the black box, but I don't recognize this work, 'truck'. Is that what the scepter is in?" She touched the lumien and the light settled back to its normal glow.

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"It must be where he hid the box, likely behind the seat. He was going to give me the box on my fifteenth birthday, but then I left home to follow Kate down here. When I returned and it appeared he died in the mine collapse, the box went missing, and I didn't want to ask my mother about it. I didn't think it would help me rescue my father and Kate."

Saray carefully rolled up the parchment and set it on the counter. "I'm afraid the final line has been erased by the creases in the paper."

"He is likely telling me to keep my mother away from her grandfather in Dubok Kholm. He would never want to put her in danger."

"I'm not so sure. He writes that 'we' must go back to where it all began. Perhaps he knows you will need your mother's help to defeat TaKalian."

Corvan shook his head. "I won't bring her down here. That man you call TaKalian talked about another woman I loved that would suffer. At first, I thought he meant Tyreth, but now I believe he was referring to my mother."

Saray studied his face a moment. "The only way to know for sure is to go home and tell your mother what has happened. She is a wise and capable woman who knows TaKalian better than anyone. She was the only one that stayed behind with him in Dubok Kholm, and they were together a long time before he sent her out. She will know what the best course of action will be."

"But you said her grandfather wanted to hurt her or kill her. What if getting the scepter is just a ruse to bring her to him? Does he need her back with him as part of his plan to take over the Cor?"

For a long moment Saray stood at the counter, staring into the other room. Finally, she handed him the water skin and packet from the counter. "We need to get you on your way. Now you have me wondering if that cunning old man has another trick up his sleeve. He may be looking for a way to lock the chamber or hide it away from the rest of us before he tries to regain control of the Cor."

"Can he do that?"

"I always understood he would need to have all three of the icons back in the chamber to fully close it off, but he is crafty. I will keep an eye on him and see if Kate can ask him some leading questions to get him to reveal his plan, but you need to return here as quickly as possible." She turned to Gavyn. "Now will need your help, Gavyn. You can use your key to let Corvan out of here, and then he will use the key on the long knife to spin Kate back to us after he has said goodbye to her."

Gavyn beamed and trotted into the other room, key in hand. Corvan and Saray followed him. The boy stopped at Kate's feet, rummaged in the small bag tied at his waist and held out an unlit glow globe.

"Thanks Gavyn, that will help me find my way back to the main path up to the labyrinth. Hopefully I won't meet your Burak along the way."

Gavyn only grinned back at him, then moved on to the keyhole.

"You had better crouch down and hold on," Saray said. "As you discovered on your way in, Jokten's spinning table can toss you off."

Corvan knelt by Kate and gripped the edge of the table.

Saray touched his shoulder. "May the path you choose lead you to the truth." She nodded to Gavyn, and the boy twisted his key in the hole. The floor trembled, the walls spun past and Corvan found himself in the darkness of the burak tunnel. He shook the glow globe, and the tiny floating stars came to life, illuminating a fresh sadness on Kate's face. Did she sense that he was leaving her? He held her hand. "Kate, I have to leave you for a while, but I'll come back as soon as I can. Saray says she will come and see you as often as she can." He kissed her forehead then whispered in her ear. "I'm coming back for you, Kate. I promise."

The ground trembled, and Corvan barely got off the table before the platform rumbled around, and an empty stone table spun into the place where Kate had been. Gavyn must be having problems with his skeleton key again.

Corvan studied the empty table. Kate's body was safe for the time being, but both her and his father were running out of time. Leaving the rounded alcove and the collapsed passage behind, he set off down the corridor at a brisk walk. Kate's fate rested on his shoulders, and he was not going to let her down.

Doubt crept into his mind before he was even out of the first passage and back in the small room where the burak left them. How could he possibly pull this off by himself? What if he got lost like Jokten? What if his father or Kate died before he could find his way back? He stared ahead into the gloom. Without Gavyn to pacify the burak, would it attack him? Other than the long key with the hidden knife inside he didn't even have a weapon along. Pulling out the switchblade cylinder he rolled his thumb around until he located the button, just in case.

As he approached the tunnel that led back to Kadir, a new realization hit home. Tsarek had said the doors opened automatically on the way back to the surface but that was only for the lizard. It had been foolish to leave Tsarek behind with Kael. His mother would not have been surprised to see the lizard; obviously she would have seen his kind when she lived in the Cor. Tsarek was not his enemy. He had been loyal and helpful, a good friend. Tsarek had only taken him to Kael because the old watcher had ordered him to do it. The drop of the Lifelight had brought his friend back to life and he was wanted to go with him.

With a heavy heart Corvan stepped out into the wider tunnel and turned up toward the labyrinth. He might have go back and ask Saray for the medallion to open the doors but first he would at least check it out.

Corvan stopped at the intersection that led down to Kadir but immediately turned up toward the labyrinth entry. Just ahead, at the base of the steep section, Kate's white sneakers lay tumbled together at the base of the large rock. He slowed down. The last time he was here the runners were on top of the rock. Had the burak come this way? Something or someone had moved them. He crept cautiously forward.

A shadow behind the sneakers rock and Corvan's legs were savagely kicked out from under him. The light ball went flying, then someone dropped heavily on top of him. Corvan rolled on his back, but the person stayed tight on him before the bite of sharp steel was at his neck.

"Don't - move - or you will die." Jorad's angry voice echoed around him in the darkness.

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