back into it!” she cried. “Any other boy could’ve done it!”
“I was sixteen when I last tried to move that thing,” Myles told her slowly. “I had a friend with me, one of the local lads who was my servant. He’s the blacksmith now, and he was no weakling then. We couldn’t budge it.”
“Well—maybe there was dirt in the gears, and a rain washed it away or something,” she said crossly. She started down the steps. “Aren’t you coming?”
“Don’t be foolish, Alan,” Myles cautioned. “We don’t have a torch. That tunnel could lead anywhere. You won’t get far without light.”
She grinned up at him. “Ah, but you forget. I do have light.” She held up a hand, concentrating on her palm. Sweat formed on her upper lip as she felt the magic uncurl inside her. Something else uncurled in the tunnel, but she ignored it for the heat building on her palm. When she opened her eyes, her hand was glowing with a bright violet shine. “Come on,” she called, trotting off down the passage.
“Alan, I order you to come back here!” Myles shouted.
“I’ll be right back!” she called. She could feel a strangeness around her—no, two strangenesses. One frightened her. It was black and ghostlike, hovering just outside the light shed by her magic. The other called her with a high, singing voice she couldn’t have ignored even if she wanted to. Her nose tickled, and she sneezed several times. The singing filled her mind, drowning out Myles’s voice.
Her light struck something that broke it into a hundred bright fragments. She didn’t notice the darkness closing in behind her as she picked up something that glittered beautifully. It was a crystal, attached to the hilt of a sword. Long and light, the blade was encased in a battered dark sheath. Alanna’s hand trembled as she lifted it.
“Myles!” she shouted. “Guess what I found!”
“Get back here!” he yelled. She looked up, alarmed. There was fear in Myles’s voice. “A storm’s coming up—and if it’s natural, I’m a priest!”
Suddenly the light of Alanna’s magic went completely out. Darkness swirled around her in long tentacles that tightened on her body. She opened her mouth to scream for Myles, and no sound emerged. She fought to breathe and fought to throw her magic into the stifling blackness, but nothing happened. She tried to shove it away with her arms and legs and found the blackness had bound her tight. It was squeezing her ribs, forcing the air from her lungs. Alanna gasped for breath. The darkness filled her mouth and nose. Brilliant lights burst in her head, and she struggled like a crazy person. Nothing affected the darkness. Her struggles got weaker and weaker. She tried to fight even harder, but it was hopeless. She was dying, and she knew it.
For the first time in her life, Alanna stopped fighting. She had used up all her air, all her strength, all her magic. She was weaponless. The darkness was entering her brain, and she was dying. With an inner sigh—almost one of relief—she accepted that fact. As her knees buckled, Alanna took the knowledge of her own death and made it part of her.
The crystal on the sword blazed, its light penetrating the darkness in her brain. Suddenly the fearful grip on her body and mind relaxed. She drew in a lungful of air, shocked to find that she still could. She opened her eyes and closed them, nearly blinded by the blazing crystal.
Somewhere outside Myles was calling for her, his voice nearly drowned out by approaching thunder. Alanna used the crystal’s light to guide her back to the entrance of the tunnel, feeling the blackness in full retreat before her. Still shaky, she scrambled to the surface. As she entered the upper air, the crystal went dark once more.
Alanna glanced at the sky. Black clouds boiled overhead; lightning was already striking a few leagues away. Myles seized her arm and pulled her from the tunnel entrance just as the slab ground over it once more. Alanna stared at it, wondering just what was going on. She had accepted death. Why wasn’t she dead?
“No time to ponder it!” Myles yelled in her ear. “Let’s go!”
They headed for the castle at a run, Myles half carrying a bewildered Alanna. The high wind whipped twigs and branches into their faces, and within moments they were drenched by the sudden onslaught of rain.
Inside the castle, Barony servants steered them to hot baths and dry clothes. Alanna