The members of the Pandora Society greeted their new members warmly after official induction, and even Blake Vanguard shook their hands and congratulated them. Raven observed a sense of relief at their acceptance, as if the decision to incorporate them involved a true matter of life or death, as they stated.

  “Master Cooley,” Valentine said. “Can you show us the resources of the Pandora Society that you claimed to possess?”

  Their professor smiled kindly. “So soon? It’s past midnight. Would you not prefer to be shown everything in the morning?”

  “No,” Raven and Valentine replied in unison.

  Cooley held up his hands. “Very well. I shall give you the full tour, as promised.”

  He said final goodbyes to the other members of the society as they made preparations to leave. Piper patted Raven on the back with a wink, and enthusiastically shook Valentine’s hand.

  In the commotion of the goodbyes, Raven couldn’t help but notice Harmony Skybow was staring at him, eyes curiously wide behind her golden mask. When he returned her gaze, she approached. Now that they were standing, her height proved imposing. But instead of speaking, she slowly let down her mask.

  He was too shocked to respond to the sudden action. She was lovely. Fair skin, a small nose, and a gentle smile. Two gray marks adorned her cheeks, one on each side. They resembled human eyes, surrounded by streaking rays. She did not say anything. Instead, she reached around Raven and pulled him into an embrace.

  Normally, Raven would have rejected such contact, full of suspicion and warning, but there was something about this woman’s touch that lulled his instincts. The warmth of her embrace soothed his spirit immediately, and he found himself hugging her back and placing his head on her chest. Such incredible tenderness and feeling seeped deep into him, like coming home.

  “Your color is radiant,” she said, finally letting him go.

  Raven blinked rapidly, returning to his senses. She smiled. Replacing her mask, she turned and left the now nearly empty room.

  “What was that about?” Valentine asked in shock as Master Cooley watched on.

  “I… don’t know,” Raven struggled to reply. He strangely already missed the embrace.

  “I’ve never seen Harmony do that before,” Cooley said.

  “Who is she?”

  “Harmony and her sister have been members of our society long before I joined. Together with Piper, they laid the groundwork.”

  Raven stood in silence, attempting to understand what just occurred. Finally, he turned to Valentine and Master Cooley. “A question for a different day. There is work to do.”

  Master Cooley nodded, donning his hat and grimacing. “Follow me.”

  What at first appeared to be a small, unassuming antique store proved to be the mere entrance to a vast underground cavern. Cooley led his students down a stairway hidden beneath a false floor panel in the back of the faux shop. Stone steps drove deep underground, pockmarked by perhaps centuries of dripping water. Master Cooley led the way by the light of a primitive fire torch, something Raven had only ever read about in fiction stories. A true contrast to a world dependent on pandora to light the way.

  Uniform sculptures resembling clear blue icicles formed handrails, sparkling in the light. The slick steps soon gave way to a drier passage. It became quite cramped. In fact, Raven was sure it was shrinking. But in short time, the hall expanded to a wide space guarded by massive red doors. Pictures of masks gilded the entrance, mirroring those donned by Sarratica and Harmony.

  “Something is here,” Rue said.

  Master Cooley used his torch to light four others mounted on the stone walls. In the new light, an astonishing specter was revealed. A massive black blob of substance covering the mantle of the door oozed down to the ground, accompanied by sickening squishes. The mass rose up, forming a sleek panther with golden eyes.

  “What is that?” Valentine shouted in alarm.

  “Do not be frightened,” Master Cooley said. “This is one of our many safeguards. A Devilank. One of the old-world sentinels.”

  The plasma-like cat shifted toward Raven, its footfalls sloshing along the way. Raven remained calm but held Rue ready to react to any threat. The creature sniffed him heavily. “There is a destiny about this one,” it whispered darkly as it padded around him. “It smells of… danger.”

  “They are new members,” Cooley replied.

  “The children do not bare the insignia, Finitum.”

  “I was getting to that!” Master Cooley reached into his suit pocket and produced two rings identical to the one we wore. He reached out so the strange cat ghoul could smell them. “Harmony gave them to me this evening,” Cooley continued.

  The globular apparition seemed placated. The panther shape melted back into a mass of ooze and faded into the stone floor, disappearing.

  “A little warning would have been nice,” Valentine finally said, shuddering. “I’m guessing that’s how you got your nickname.”

  “Yes, I apologize,” Cooley replied. “It’s been several years since I brought down a new member to our society.” He handed Raven and Valentine each a ring. “The doors to our vault can only be opened by two members. One will never be enough. The rings are the keys.”

  He placed his fist against one of the pictural masks on the giant doors. Valentine donned her new ring and copied his action on the other mask. When her ring touched the surface of the door, a loud click echoed down the chamber hall. Master Cooley and Valentine stepped back as the double doors parted with a riotous creak.

  Sparkling light flooded the doorway. The cavern opened wide, grand in height and depth. Millions of clear blue stalactites and stalagmites, perfectly formed in every way, shaped rolling waves deep into the cave. The ocean of beautiful thorns shimmered in radiance worthy of kings.

  “What is this place?” Valentine asked in awe, turning in circles as they walked inside.

  “Our secret sanctuary, the Sea of Ennenteley,” Master Cooley replied, just as in awe. “Yes. It never gets old.”

  While Master Cooley and Valentine marveled, Raven scanned his closer surroundings. The sparkling stalagmites formed the entries of winding pathways in various places. For many of them, he could spy the destinations, as the paths rose, or the stalagmites were short enough. Some paths led to what appeared to be subcavernous rooms. Others ended more abruptly, wide clearings with pedestals featuring foreign items. Were they treasures? Weapons? He had a million questions about this place, but only one was important right now.

  “You said the Pandora Society possessed resources relating to genealogies,” he said, causing Valentine and Master Cooley to turn their attention.

  “That’s right. But don’t you want to look around some more? There is so much wonder to behold here. It’s not very often I get to show it off.”

  “Time is of the essence. We need all possible information the Society holds on the Shrale family. Specifically, the line of Valius Shrale.”

  He sighed. “Very well. Follow me.”

  Raven and Valentine were led down one of the narrow offshoot paths through the forest of crystalline spires. The glassy surfaces reflected a thousand versions of themselves as they meandered down the path and into another cave. The short hallway led to a wide room full of dusty bookshelves. Each were loaded with books, scrolls, old candles, and glass lamps, all covered in mossy spiderwebs.

  Cooley lit nearby lamps while Valentine cleared off a nearby table. She found some blank parchment and old inkwells with feather pens and set up shop while Raven perused the old titles. Many were titled in written languages with which Raven was not familiar.

  “Do you really keep comparatively current genealogical information in this place?” he asked Master Cooley, who was rifling through some scrolls nearby. “Seems this room hasn’t been visited in ages.”

  “You will find most of the chambers resemble what you see here. While the Pandora Society accumulates relics, texts and other valuable stores, they become just that: stored objects. You could say we have lost our way a little. We don’t know how to effectively use it. Of course, the sheer breadth of what Sarratica, Harmony and Piper have assembled can be overwhelming. There are hundreds of other chambers just like this one. Did you ever see such a collection of written words?”

  Unauthorized reproduction: this story has been taken without approval. Report sightings.

  Raven and Valentine glanced at each other.

  “As for current genealogies,” Master Cooley continued. “No, we don’t generally gather things that can be found at City Hall. However…” He grunted as he picked up a large stack of unraveled scrolls and lugged them to the table. “In the case of persons of interest, I make the effort. And very few are of higher interest than the great hero of our city.”

  Cooley splayed relevant documents over the entire table. Raven immediately keyed in on a family tree, pulling it free from the stack. “Yes! Yes!” he exclaimed.

  “That’s it,” Cooley said. “This family tree starts with the Shrale patriarch, Edward, going back to their exodus from Reyk Provote.”

  “The Shrales were one of the old families displaced during the Turntide Wars?” Valentine asked in surprise.

  “The Shrale lineage is Roespeyan, but Edward Shrale lived in Provote during those times. As I understand it, his family left along with the other peoples evicted during those dark times.”

  “Here is Valius,” Raven said, pointing to a small box near the bottom of the tree. His expression fell. “Oh no…”

  Branching from Valius were ten separate offshoots. And from those ten branches, many more reached down to the end of the scroll.

  “Valius had ten children!” Valentine exclaimed, aghast. “And look at all the grandchildren! The Shrales bred like rabbits.”

  Raven slumped in his seat. The Shrale family tree under Valius was enormous. How would they determine which son he might have given the lost pages to?

  Valentine was not deterred. “Master Cooley, what else does the Society have on Valius Shrale and his children? Anything biographical? We need any and all information.”

  “I’ll get to work right away. Without prying too much, is there anything I should be looking for?”

  “We want to know who his favorite was,” Raven said, smiling ruefully.

  Their teacher left them to retrieve what else he could find. Valentine sifted through all the material, leaning in with interest. Raven remained sitting in rumination.

  Ten children…

  Ten children and a couple hundred heirs. Doubtful all of them remained in Roespeye over the years. Trying to trace down the one person Valius trusted with his precious Star Tome would be a giant undertaking. Even if they were to discover which son Valius gave the pages to, what then? It’s been a hundred years since the day he died. Where would the pages be now, if they still existed?

  “I know what you are thinking,” Valentine said.

  He breathed deep and nodded.

  “I can do it, Raven. I’ll sort through everything.”

  “Our time is too valuable. The challenges are in two months. We need a new scheme.”

  “We can’t stop though, can we? Something could be learned here.”

  “No doubt. But it’s clear what has been gathered is a hodge podge of old and rare documents over the long course of Fallowreyk’s history. Master Cooley might have some insight on where to look, but it would probably take a good year or two to organize all the information the Society has gathered.” He shook his head. “What the Titan wouldn’t give to find this place. He would burn it to ash.”

  “What is our approach then?”

  “Let’s role play. I’m Valius.”

  She smiled. “Okay. You’ve just been struck by Sheeharu’s poison. Somehow you know you are going to die in hours. What is your first thought?”

  “Well, we know that he wanted to preserve his discoveries. His life’s work. He said he couldn’t bear to destroy it.” Raven placed his arms on the desk, visualizing Valius’ mental state. “So, I’m in my workshop, panicking and dying. I decide to scatter my tome. I rip the pages out and cast some sort of magic on them. Could be a pandora, or a seal. Maybe something else. But then I save the two most important pages. What do I do with them?”

  “If you wanted to preserve the knowledge, you’d have to keep them safe. We assumed he would give them to one of his sons. Is there a reason to believe he would give them to someone else? A friend perhaps? In his letter, he said he would cast his wish to the fates.”

  “Wait… the letter.”

  “What about it?”

  Raven stood. “The letter! That’s what we missed. Why did he write that letter in his study?”

  “Uh… I don’t know. It was written to nobody.”

  “No… it was written to the person who would find it!” Raven pulled out the letter and together they read it again.

  And so, I cast my wish to the fates: that one worthy of this knowledge should be the one to find it.

  “So, Valius left the pages for someone to find. Someone he deemed worthy,” Raven said. “And only that person would be able to restore the tome.”

  “Who? Remember, he still didn’t have much time. Mere hours to think of a solution. It probably wasn’t elegant and well-hidden like his study.”

  Raven sat back down. “We’re missing something vital. A starting place.”

  “Then maybe we shouldn’t be looking only for family. Maybe we should be looking for companions or colleagues. A place of safety. Where would he have gone to hide something?”

  “Something only a person reading that letter could find.”

  Valentine clapped her hands. “Yes! Only something we could find.”

  They read the letter again.

  “It could be something lost to time,” Raven said, frowning. “A marker we never knew about. Or a relationship he possessed. I have a hard time believing he buried them or put them somewhere truly hidden.”

  “Why?”

  “Because the rest of his tome is out in the open. Begging someone to figure this out. No, if the pages still exist, they must be available. Hiding in plain sight. As he said in his letter, he left something behind. It’s not the pages we should be looking for.”

  They spent another hour reading through the documents available until Master Cooley returned, lugging an armful of dusty books. He dropped them in a heap on a table. “Well, this is a start,” he said ruefully. “I can keep looking.”

  “Master Cooley, we’re ready for that tour of the Sea of Ennenteley,” Raven said.

  His eyebrows rose. “Really? Already done?”

  “Not quite,” Valentine replied. “Um, you could say we’re taking a break to reorganize our thoughts.”

  “Delightful.” He patted his shirt, as if looking for something he couldn’t find. “Well… follow me!”

  The glittery cavern proved far more vast than Raven had first contemplated. The cave became something of an endless tunnel the deeper they traveled, as no end ever presented itself. Master Cooley explained no one really knew how deep the Sea went, and anybody who had tried to discover the culmination eventually turned back for fear of getting lost.

  Even so, Cooley led them a fair distance into the gullet of the immense cave. The treasures of the society were placed in convenient locations so as not to disrupt any of the natural wonder of the cave. Where openings among the multitude of spikes existed, there treasures were stored. And for the first time, Raven was truly impressed, for the Pandora Society truly did possess some amazing assets. Artifacts, high class materials, priceless antiquities, religious relics, and valuable gems. A single possessor of the items would be wealthier than the Titan. Yet despite the usefulness of the possessions, a vast majority of the items sat in dust, having not been touched in perhaps years. They sat on pedestals or in chests, lost to the annals of the world.

  After several hours of touring the cave, Master Cooley led them to yet another expanse. Five pedestals sat in a semicircle clearing, bearing yet another accumulation of valuable treasure. He was having a grand time explaining the history of the items, how they had been acquired, and the lengths to which each of the society’s members had gone to keep each out of the hands of the Titan. The only thing he took more pride in was the fact not a single pandora sat among them.

  Valentine gasped when her gaze fell on one of the items.

  “What is it?” Raven asked.

  She stood before the middle pedestal. On the gray pillar sat a strange, sleek black object. The small two-pronged piece resembled a black tuning fork with a very short handle. The material appeared coal-like with a strange luster.

  “Depths of Thine Spirit,” she whispered. She turned to Master Cooley in shock. “Where did you get this?”

  “That is one of our very original treasures stored here by Harmony and Sarratica,” he replied. “It’s strange that you should react in such a way. It’s one of the few things I know nothing about. They told me long ago it was best I didn’t know.”

  “I thought the Depths was a myth,” Raven said. “A Lamgard folly.”

  “It’s no folly,” she replied. She reached out and delicately fingered the dusty surface. “It’s one of Lamgard’s greatest secrets. I can’t believe you have one. So few remain in existence.”

  “Is it an artifact?”

  “No,” she replied breathlessly. “It’s a crafted relic of Rumail! A powerful one. Raven… this could be what we need!”

  “How so?”

  “This is just half of a true Depths of Thine Spirit. Combined with another, they allow the user to speak to spirits!”

  “Spirits,” Cooley repeated disapprovingly. “You mean pandora.”

  She nodded. “But it’s not just a conversation. Within the Depths, you can meet the spirit, face to face. The body is animated within the sphere of its power. But you need two halves. Rumail crafted them in such a way so that no single possessor could wield it. It required cooperation for the good of the homeland.”

  She gave Raven a knowing look, and he understood immediately. They could use this tool to appeal to Valius Shrale. The man thus far refused to communicate with Raven, but perhaps a greater plea could be made looking the man in the eyes.

  “You said we need another half. Do you know where we could get one?”

  “My family has one. Only a Lamgardian can use the Depths. It would have to be me. And it will be risky. I know the method, but I’ve never used it before, and it’s an unstable ritual. My father keeps ours very well protected. He would never let me have it. So, I’ll have to… um, well I’ll have to ‘borrow’ it, if you follow me.”

  “Hold on,” Cooley objected. “This sounds dangerous. I’m not sure what designs you two might have, but I don’t think we can use this.”

  “What are you talking about?” Valentine objected angrily. “Who cares if it’s dangerous? We have to use it! This could be the answer we have been looking for! A key in our plan to finally be rid of the Titan!”

  He stepped back in surprise. “Really? How?”

  She looked at Raven. He marveled at her tremendous courage. “Without going into great detail,” he finally replied, “we possess a pandora who has information vitally important to the success of our scheme. If we were able to extract the information from him… it could be a turning point in our war against the mad ruler.”

  “I don’t know…” Cooley said.

  “Oh, for heaven’s sake,” Valentine grumbled. “Look around, sir! Look at all these tremendous resources gathering dust. We should be using them!”

  He frowned in shame but did not reply.

  She sighed. “I… don’t want to look back, Master Cooley. I don’t want to look back in fear and regret. The Titan… he massacred so much of my family in Lamgard. Dearest Barkley, a man you respected greatly. A wonderful uncle and beloved aunt, and many friends I knew my whole life. He killed them without mercy. And my siblings reside in my own pockets right now as pandora, waiting for the freedom I can’t give them until they serve their so-called purpose. You said Raven and I were invited into the Pandora Society because you all became tired of waiting and doing nothing. Well now is the time to act! Here and now, we can make a decision to take a step forward. To seize this small chance and change the fates of so many. I can do this. Please… let me try.”

  He considered his two students for a moment, mired in silent self-debate. “I suppose I could appeal to the Society,” he finally said. Valentine beamed. “But it’s ultimately up to Sarratica and Harmony,” he finished. “We will need their blessing.”

  “We’ll take that chance,” Raven said. “Valentine, how quickly can you obtain the relic?”

  “I can leave now. I needed to make for home soon anyway to drink from my pool. It won’t be suspicious. Once I have it, I’ll come back straight away on some made-up emergency. If all goes well, I can be back in twelve days.”

  “Let’s return to the surface. I recommend you get some sleep before your departure. Time is of the essence, but there’s no use in killing yourself to save a day on a long journey home and back. Van and I can continue our research on this end until your return.”

  She smiled. “Very well. I will sleep. But I’m still going to find a way to make it back under twelve days.”