Teeka’s mother took a deep breath as she put her key away, then turned to Corvan, a forced smile on her face. "He needs to find our daughter. Lately she is more prone to getting into trouble and obviously has not learned her lesson if she is going into public areas and silencing her punishment chime." Giving her head a shake, she brushed past him, returned to her workbench, and searched through the racks of vials arranged along the wall. "Teeka’s father tells me you have identified a problem with our plan to eliminate the Rakash from the cavern of Katay Alba,” she said over her shoulder. “You are concerned that my potion might only make them stronger. I appreciate your powers of scientific observation and your willingness to ask the difficult questions.” Picking out a vial of clear liquid, she turned around and held it out to him. " I will require your assistance with a test on the young Rakash we captured after you rescued our daughter. Would you mind carrying this for me? I am not as steady on my feet after long days in my lab, and it only takes a drip for the burning to begin. You must be very careful with it."

  Corvan reluctantly accepted the vial and followed her into the hallway, walking as smoothly as he could. The fluid sloshed about in the open tube. The scent reached his nostrils along with an instantaneous urge to take a drink. How stupid was that? Her potion would kill him, yet he still had a desire to risk a taste. He wanted to look away from the vial but had no choice but to watch the fluid to keep it from spilling on his hand.

  The woman stopped, unlocked another door, and held up a blue key. "My daughter, the girl you rescued, stole this key. She was chased back to the door by a murderous young Rakash but fortunately for her, he fell into one of the old pits." She opened the door into darkness. Reaching inside her cloak, she brought out a small orb and shook it until swirling pinpoints of light appeared, like a snow globe full of tiny stars. "Stay close behind me, the Rakash rarely travel alone but they also have young ones who foolishly seek adventure in the wrong places and break our laws." She held the light lower. "Make sure you watch your step so you do not fall in."

  Corvan looked past the glowing vial. The floor they were heading onto was a honeycomb of octagonal pits with narrow ridges between them. Some were partially full of scummy water. The woman worked her way out on one of the ridges, leaving Corvan to concentrate on his feet in the shifting shadows from her globe, while at the same time making sure the liquid did not spill on his fingers. Thankfully, she stopped just a few pits ahead and held the light aloft for him to see better.

  Corvan picked his way to where she was standing and looked down.

  The Rakash boy that Corvan had chased away at the river was huddled at the bottom of the pit. His head came up and his nostrils flared.

  "Yes," the woman said softly, "you can smell it, can't you?"

  Sightless eyes looked up at them. A bony shoulder was smeared with dried blood and his arm hung limply at his side. A soft sound escaped blue lips, like a kitten crying for its milk and Corvan's jaw clenched. That could easily be him down there: another stupid kid who thought he was strong enough to handle the addictive power of the seeds. He looked away and found the woman watching him intently.

  "You must remember that this is the Rakash who tried to murder our children. Do not pity him. If you were to fall in, he would quickly tear you to pieces. Even before he came here, he was already under a sentence of slow death, addicted to the elixir, and that blame rests with the gatehouse master, not you or I." Her lighted globe moved closer to Corvan. "Hold this for a moment. I have a cord we can use for the test."

  Corvan took the snow-globe light and stared at the tiny stars. Up close, it was like looking into a star-studded night sky at home. He would give anything to be safely back home with his parents and far away from this brutal place. If only he could find his father and Kate, they could leave and never return.

  "Steady now," the woman said, as she tied a thin cord around the neck of the vial, then took the vial of poison from his hand.

  Corvan didn’t look at the boy below. Even though the Rakash had hurt or killed those boys and was trying to kidnap Teeka, he couldn't hate someone who made the same mistake and given in to the temptation of the lumien seeds. Surely, if these people worked at it, they could find a way to help the ones that fell. In that moment, Corvan realized he couldn’t even hate the Rakash leader for abducting his father and bringing him here. The mutated man was being manipulated by others for their own selfish ends. It was a greater crueltywhen you had a weakness and other people would use it to control you. The Rakash leader was not an evil person. He helped Corvan escape the gatehouse and had demonstrated that his love for Leena was still strong.

  Corvan shook himself free of his thoughts, he needed to stop this woman. There had to be another way — but she was already lowering the vial on the cord toward the grasping fingers below. She stopped with it just out of reach.

  "According to the laws of Katay Set, I will warn you only once." The Rakash boy did not indicate he had heard her, his eager face fixed on the vial of light spinning in slow circles just overhead. "If you wish to live, and seek the assistance of our people, you must now inform me of your decision,” the woman intoned. “If you decide to drink from this vial then. . ."

  The young Rakash sprang, snatching the vial, then gulping back the fluid, its blue tongue searching inside for every last drop. Growling the Rakash smashed the empty vial on the ground and then leapt straight at them, reaching the lip of the pit at Corvan’s feet before he fell back with a bone-crunching crash. The woman retreated in shock. The Rakash was gathering himself for another leap but then dropped down, rocking back and forth on his haunches.

  Corvan turned away from the pit, his stomach churning and his eyes filling with tears. No matter what a person had done, no one deserved to die like that.

  A case of theft: this story is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation.

  The woman moved quickly in next to him, held up her globe to light the way and pointed toward the door. Corvan eased forward, wiping tears from his eyes so he could see clearly and not fall into one of the pits. He had to swallow hard to keep from throwing up and it wasn’t just the stench from the pull pits.

  The woman spoke from behind him and Corvan could hear the regret in her voice. "I’ve never seen one that young. The gatekeeper must be getting desperate to increase the size of the Rakash army.” She paused. “I wish he had been strong enough to resist.” As they arrived at the door, she gave a heavy sigh. “There is no hope for those who have consumed the light of a lumien. They can never stop and eventually the Cor well be completely dark, and everyone will have perished. Taking a tough stance is the only chance we have to survive as a people. The poison is the only option and one we know for certain will work."

  "What do you mean 'you know for certain?’” Corvan asked, stopping in front of the door, and looking at her. “Did you already know for certain he would die if he took it? Then why did you say this was a test?"

  Her light pushed closer to his face, and Corvan blinked against the bright points of light. "This test was about you,” she said. “I needed to be certain that you would have the conviction to take it to them and not be tempted to use it yourself." Her face darkened as she glanced back. "That one was convicted by our council of a crime against Teeka and the missing boy. He freely made his choice, so justice has been served." Unlocking the exterior door, she yanked it open and marched down the hall ahead of him toward the laboratory.

  Corvan stared at the woman’s back as he followed. He would not be a part of her revenge on the Rakash. It wouldn’t work anyway. “When the first one to get his portion of the elixir dies, the rest will not drink it and your plan will fail," he muttered.

  She turned to him at the laboratory door, then pulled out the red key. “Our laws may be unyielding, but we do not believe in extending the suffering of those who choose to die. The potion is designed to make them sleep first. When you mix one vial into the pool, the poison will be diluted. All will drink it together because it will take much longer to begin to work but yes, eventually, they will all fall asleep and perish."

  As the woman unlocked the door, Corvan’s thoughts swirled about like the lights in the glow globe. He was not going to be a part of this woman's plans, but he needed the man’s help to find his inside the library. Once his father was free, they could find Kate and Gavyn and leave the Cor for good. She would have to find someone else to carry out her terrible plan, but he hoped Teeka would refuse to do it. She seemed to have a tender heart.

  The woman led him through the laboratory and back to the main hall. The man was standing alone at the map table, studying one of the parchments. He looked up with a question on his face as they drew near, then came around the table to meet them.

  “You were correct about him,” the woman said, pointing to Corvan. “He has what it will take so I agree to let this one execute my plan. We have delayed long enough, and the gatehouse continues to send new recruits.” She nodded over her shoulder and gritted her teeth. “That one was far too young. It’s time to put an end to this situation, not only for the sake of our people but and also the boys of Anamir.”

  “First he needs to rest and be refreshed.” The man said. The woman nodded and he gestured to Corvan. “Come with me, I have a place prepared for you.”

  Corvan shook his head. “I need to find a young boy who was down here trying to help my father. His name is Gavyn and he does not speak."

  The man was about to speak but the woman stepped between them. "Our scouts found a boy like that out in the ruined city but he was seriously injured. Sometimes the younger Rakash will chase other creatures and kill them with rocks." She paused. "We tried to nurse Gavyn back to health, but he had lost too much blood. He died shortly before you arrived. As I have already told you, the Rakash have no mercy and must be eliminated."

  Corvan knees buckled and he leaned heavily against the table. How could Gavyn be dead? He had just seen the small boy in the vision from the broken mirror glass.

  "I can see that you were very close to him." The man said softly. He took Corvan by the arm and helped him through the main hall. "Come have something to eat and a rest. You must regain your strength if we are to save your father from the Rakash before something terrible happens to him as well."

  Corvan followed along. The man was right. He needed to stay focused on rescuing his father. He would have time to think about Gavyn once they were all out of the Cor.

  The man led him across the floor and up a set of steep stairs. At the end of a narrow hallway was a small room where a clay jar and a plate of biscuits sat on the floor next to a sleeping mat.

  "I will come back for you when it is time to leave,” the man said.

  "What about my lizard guide? I will need him along with me."

  The man shook his head. "That is not a good idea. Your watcher is quickly fading back to his original state and the special potion they received to heighten their awareness no longer exists. Our council has stated that to be good thing for their kind are not a part of the natural order. To preserve our race, we must trust only those of our own kind. It would be best if he stayed here with the older guide you saw in the library when you to go to rescue your father."

  Corvan sat on the mat and the man walked off down the hall. There wasn’t a door on the room, so he was not being held against his will. He could go out and look for Tsarek on his own, but he knew the man was not lying. Tsarek was not doing well and was growing weaker. He had tried to regain his strength from the fluid in the Rakash cells but that had affected him strangely. The man was probably right. It might be better to leave Tsarek behind with his old mentor.

  The plate of thin biscuits was close at hand but was too tired to eat. He sniffed the jar, then touched a finger to the liquid and tasted a thick syrupy concoction made from lumien fruit. He could sense its energy but with all the experimenting these people were doing, he decided not to drink it. He couldn’t risk some new type of medicine or potion.

  Laying down, Corvan tried to fall asleep, but his thoughts kept returning to Gavyn. The boy was the closest thing to a brother that he had ever known. Was he going to lose his entire family to the Cor?

  When he finally dozed off it was only to enter a nightmare world where he was searching for his father amidst rows of dead bodies. Each time he turned one over he would first see the face of his father, then it would change to the Rakash boy from the pit. One of the dead Rakash boys grabbed Corvan by the shoulders and would not let go.

  Corvan tried to wrench himself free, but the Rakash refused to give up. Fingernails dug into him, and a voice began to beg, "Wake up Corvan. Please wake up."

  Corvan eyes fluttered open to find Tsarek kneeling beside him and shaking his shoulders.

  "I have found Gavyn," Tsarek said.