Corvan cowered behind a boulder, watching as the buraks circled each other, celebrating their successful hunt with deep grunts and ear-splitting shrieks. Finally, they both moved out of the cavern and into the gloom, their sounds fading away until the darkened cave was silent once again.

  Putting his back against the rock, Corvan lowered himself to the ground, the throbbing pain in his shoulder overwhelmed by the intense ache in his heart. In the short time he had known Tsarek, they had become more than just traveling companions. A sob shook his body, sending fresh pains across his shoulder and chest.

  A cool breeze swept past from up the slope where they had entered the cavern. The enormity of his situation sank in. He was far below the surface of the earth. No one knew where he had gone, so no one would ever come looking for him. Ever. For the first time in his life, Corvan was truly on his own. He couldn’t go back through the hole where Tsarek broke his collarbone or return home through the labyrinth. Not that he wanted to go back right away. He needed to go after Kate, but how could he find her without Tsarek’s help?

  Tsarek has said Kate didn't have long to live and that she was in great danger. If he was to rescue her, he had to set aside his fears and keep moving deeper into the Cor. His only hope was to locate the pointed roof of the temple. That must have been what Tsarek meant when he pointed his arms over his head. Tsarek knew he was about to be captured and was giving Corvan one last instruction. No, two, for the paws over the mouth had been telling Corvan to stay quiet, so at least he could escape from the buraks. He nodded to himself, then instantly stopped as all the muscles in his neck constricted around the broken bone. Tsarek had sacrificed his life to save him, now it was up to him to follow the instructions he was given.

  The slow breeze from up the slope was quickly pulling the heat from his sweat-drenched clothes. He shivered, renewing the pain in his broken shoulder. If he didn't put something dry on and start moving, hypothermia would set in and that would be far worse that the pain.

  Moving slowly to not aggravate his injured shoulder, he managed to pull his pack close with his foot. Tsarek had retrieved his pack with his dry t-shirts from the tight crawlspace up the slope, but the cloak must still be up there. At least he still had the slipper shoes to keep his feet warm and dry and putting on two dry t-shirts would help.

  The leather straps that had held the top flap of the pack in place were cut in two. Why would Tsarek have done that, when it would have been easier to just undo the buckles? It took only a second for him to realize that opening buckles with long claws would have been too difficult for the lizard. Tsarek had likely tried first and that would explain what had taken so long for him to return. The reason he cut the straps was so he could stuff the cloak and the krypin rope inside. Pushing the top flap aside, his suspicions were confirmed.

  With his good arm he worked to carefully slipped the cloak over his shoulders, then lifted the hood into position. Immediately he stopped shivering, his body relaxed and the pain in his upper body eased.

  With the crude sling supporting his broken arm under the cloak, Corvan was able to get back to his feet. He peered over the boulder to the cavern floor below. The faint patches of purple light were spreading farther out around the lower cavern and lighting what appeared to be the only exit. Tsarek had said something about the Cor having a day and night cycle where the light grew stronger and then receded. The brighter light confirmed that he had found a way past the labyrinth and was now in the outer caverns of the Cor, the place where buraks roamed to keep people from escaping, or getting in.

  Dragging the heavy pack down the scree slope by one of its straps, he entered the clearing where Tsarek had been captured and set it down next to a low, flat stone. The way out was in the same direction the huge creatures had headed. He would need to lighten his load, or he would make too much noise pulling the pack along the ground. Sitting on the stone, Corvan spread the top of the pack wide, then pulled out green rope and the t-shirts he had wrapped around the fireworks and set them aside. Tsarek’s crystal was next, and he set it on its side on top of the shirts, recalling Tsarek’s wishes about not breaking it off again. Not that it would matter anymore.

  The familiar scent of the campfire smoke embedded in the canvas of the pack, along with the appetizing smell of beef jerky swirled about him. His stomach growled. In this timeless world, there was no way of knowing when he’d last eaten last.

  Chewing on a piece of the jerky, he dug into the main compartment of the pack and pulled out the tin cans. The soggy labels had fallen off, but it in the end it didn’t matter—he had left the can opener at home. If Kate hadn’t stolen Tsarek's Swiss Army knife he could have used the opener, but he had nothing on hand to get a tin open. Picking out a familiar rectangular tin, he studied the picture of the Spam printed on the metal. The tinned ham wasn’t his favorite, but at least it had an attached key to twist it open. He flipped it over—the key had broken off. A careful search along the seams at the bottom of the pack came up empty handed and only served to make his head pound.

  This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.

  Why was everything going wrong? Irritated, he tossed the can away. The motion made his injured shoulder throb. The Spam bounced off a nearby rock, cracked, then landed in the dirt at his feet, neatly split along the seam.

  Picking it up, he held the tin firmly between his knees and peeled the top back with his good hand. Cold, gritty gelatinous Spam—he’d never tasted anything so good.

  After finishing off the entire tin, he wiped his greasy hand on one of the t-shirts. He decided to put one of the wider round tins back in the pack. It was likely canned fruit, maybe even peaches, and once he found Kate he could open with the Swiss Army knife and share them with her.

  For a while he only stared at Tsarek's musical crystal, trying to recall the song he had played under the Castle Rock. Picking up the tapered crystal he held in in his hand. There would be no more music from Tsarek, and it was too heavy to carry. Setting it between his legs on the flat stone, he sensed it rooting itself. He would leave it here as a memorial to Tsarek and his sacrifice. A few tears fell on the tapered crystal, skidding down its length and leaving a phosphorescent trail behind. More tears followed. Reaching out he touched one of the glowing tracks and a tiny spark leaped out to meet his hand, along with a sound like miniature wind chimes in a summer breeze. Was that the tune Tsarek had played for him?

  As he wrapped his hand around the top of the crystal, the musical sound increased along with an overwhelming weariness. He closed his eyes. "Please help me find a way out of here," he whispered. "I want to find Kate and to my home." At that thought his mind seemed to fill with a bank of dense white fog. Two figures emerged from the mist and walked towards him. It was his mother and father. He called out, but they couldn’t hear him and walked past. Was this another dream like the nightmare monster? He followed along behind them through the murky air and eventually found himself climbing the western trail of the Castle Rock. Just ahead, his parents passed through the western gap between the rocks and when Corvan stepped through, the fog parted to reveal a woman sitting on a black throne, right where the central stone used to be.

  She was dressed in a glowing white dress, her shoulders draped in a blood red cape. A sparkling ring of gems on her head and thick black bands encircled both of her wrists.

  Corvan's parents knelt before the woman, begging her to open the door below her throne, so their son could come home. The woman stood, raised her hands, and pointed in the direction of his home. Lightning arced from the bands on her wrists, and he followed the crackling light as it wrapped around his house, dissolving it into a pool of molten stone that set the fields alight. The fire roared to the south, incinerating every home in its path.

  "No-o-o-o!" The cavern walls echoed with his cry as he forced his eyes open and pulled his hand from the crystal. Was that woman Kate? If he failed to rescue her, would she become some sort of evil queen capable of destroying the entire world?

  A rumbling crash interrupted his thoughts as the rock face where he and Tsarek had just entered, collapsed onto the slope below. The largest slab of rock gained momentum, toppling end over end and sending tremendous shudders through the ground as it roared downward, before grinding to a halt a short distance away. The avalanche would surely bring the buraks back. He needed to get out of there.

  A dense cloud of rock dust rolled around him, as if the cave were trying to bury him alive. The fine dust thrust into his lungs, and he pulled the hood across his face to breathe through its fabric. It worked much better than he thought it would. He could breathe easily. He kept his head low, between his knees, and waited for the dust to clear.

  The dust cloud passed but it was difficult to see through the murky air. Getting to his feet, he pulled out the hammer, pointed the glow down and hoisted the much lighter pack off the ground. As he turned to leave, the circles from the hammer's handle were clearly reflected in a tiny round surface at the base of Tsarek's crystal.

  Setting the pack down, he bent in closer. His tears had flowed down the crystal and collected in a small depression at its base. Touching the shiny surface, he discovered it was as solid as the crystal itself. When he pressed on one edge, a thin circle—like the small round mirror his mother kept in her purse—popped out.

  Holding it close to his face, Corvan traced a finger across the surface and the round glass rippled, turning dark blue with tiny points of light, much like the starry sky over the Castle Rock. A glimmer of hope grew in his heart as he caught his own reflection in the mirror. He was still alive, and Kate was somewhere just ahead of him. If he could find her before anyone else did, then the vision from the crystal could not come to pass. He and Kate would see the stars together again if he could stay focused.

  Taking a deep breath, he slipped the glass into his pocket, picked up the pack by one of its straps and headed toward the exit where the buraks had gone.