A soft squeak came from Lark, who stared at the wall as though she could see straight through it to where Reed was approaching the Magician.

Bran put a hand on her shoulder. "Lark?"

"Yes?"

"We need to get going. I don't know how much time Reed's going to be able to buy us."

She turned away from the wall and nodded.

"Fyra," said Bran, "can we trust you with the knot of the rope? You'll have to lead."

"Sure," I said.

My voice came out so quiet I wasn't sure he'd heard, but he simply handed me the rope. I wrapped it around us, then made the knot, so that we were all loosely tied together like a bundle of firewood.

"Are you ready?" I asked, looking back to see them.

They weren't there. Neither was the rope.

For a moment my heart seemed to freeze in my chest, sending a bolt of adrenaline through me that was like nothing I'd ever felt before—and then Lark said, "Yes."

I took a deep, calming breath. I began to walk forward. It went against all my instincts. A little voice inside my head began to scream, telling me to run, to hide, to do anything to stop from going in this direction. I ignored it and continued toward the light at the end of the tunnel, where the Magician's tiny figure was visible. Every once in a while, I ran my fingers over the knot to make sure it was still intact.

Reed was much closer to us than he was to the Magician. He strode forward at a slow, steady pace, neither rushing nor lingering.

"So," said the Magician. "Your friends have sent you out to fight me in their stead. That's brave."

Reed tilted his head to one side, and I could imagine his expression—slightly cocky, entirely sure of himself. "Actually, it was my idea."

"Was it? Some friends, then, to let you go through with it."

"I'm the most powerful of them all."

Beside me, Bran scoffed. I shot him a warning glance before remembering that he would not be able to see it.

"So you've come to defeat me? Or to join me?"

"I don't know," said Reed, voice thoughtful. "What are you offering?"

"Revenge."

"So you keep saying. But I can get revenge fine on my own. No, what are you offering that I can't get for myself? What's special about you?"

The Magician chuckled. "Oh, Reed. You're stalling for time. I know you are. What, do you think I'm an idiot?"

We were almost past Reed now, and Lark reached out to gently brush his hand. His eyes searched the air for us. I touched my knot, worried that it had come undone. But then, with a satisfied smile, he continued toward the Magician.

"Maybe you are," he said. "What would I be stalling for? Are you saying there's a way out of the tunnels?"

"Yes."

"Really? Where?"

The Magician spread his arms in a welcoming gesture. "Right this way! You've found it."

"Ah," said Reed, disappointment in his tone. "So there is no other way out."

"Not that I know of."

"You built this place."

"Yes, I did. But that was all so long ago. I barely remember it anymore. Rage and fury burned through me, and I thought it would consume me if I let it stay there, so instead I used it to carve through stone. It worked like a dream."

"Interesting," said Reed.

The way he said it toed the line between sarcasm and honesty, and I wondered what he was trying to do. Did he have a goal in mind? Or was his plan to talk with the Magician until we'd made it past him? How would he even know when we'd made it past him? Too many questions. I began to wish we'd had a longer time to make this plan.

We were almost even with the Magician now, and I slowed the pace to a crawl, lowering my foot as gently as I could onto the slick ground, wincing when I made the slightest of sounds. Hopefully Lark and Bran were doing the same. With a nervous shiver, I gave the knot a gentle squeeze to make sure it was still there.

"So what are your friends doing right now?" the Magician asked. "Cowering in some corner of my tunnels? Don't they know I'll flush them out eventually?"

Reed shrugged.

We passed the Magician. I sighed. I'd been holding my breath as we'd passed, worried that the slightest noise or the smallest breeze would alert him to our presence. I ran my fingers over the knot...

...and froze in horror when it came loose in my hands. Behind us, Reed made a strange noise, then coughed. I frantically tried to re-tie the knot. The Magician was already turning to see what had caught Reed's attention. If I could just get the knot tied again, it wouldn't be a problem. But we were out of time.

"Run!" Reed shouted, and he, too, began to sprint toward the opening, jumping to tackle the Magician, who had already cast several spells. I could hear them clanging off the walls, coming closer and closer to us. We reached the opening of the cave and jumped. Something hit me in the middle of my spine. I arched my back in pain, opened my mouth to scream, but all the breath went out of me as I hit the ground.

"Reed!" shouted Lark, the word strangled and fearful.

I bolted upright, still struggling to breathe, just in time to see the Magician flick his fingers toward the body crumpled at his feet. The body—Reed—sat up and looked at Lark. He reached out a hand toward her.

"Get out of here," he said, so softly it was barely audible.

As we watched, tendrils of soft grey moved quickly across his skin and clothes. He stopped moving, frozen in the act of reaching toward Lark.

"Stone," said the Magician. He began to walk toward us. "A statue. Reed fears being unable to do anything, so I thought a curse that immobilised him would be fitting."

Lark stood and screamed something at him. Or at least, she tried. Nothing came out of her mouth. Not sound, not words—just emptiness. A void.

The Magician laughed. "You, Lark, are afraid of being unable to be kind. And your kindness tends to be shown through your words. I've taken that from you."

She moved suddenly toward him, as if to attack him, but I grabbed her leg. She tumbled to the ground.

"Don't," I wheezed. "We made it out of the tunnel. According to the deal, we're safe." I turned toward the Magician. "Right?"

"I keep my word."

Lark sat up, tears and dirt streaking her face.

I mouthed, "I'm sorry," at her.

She nodded.

"What about me?" I asked. "What did you do to me? What did you take away from me?"

"You'll find out," said the Magician.

"And Bran?" I said, looking to where he lay on the ground, motionless except for his fist, which clenched and unclenched over and over and over again.

The Magician smiled. "Bran. Ah, Bran was a fun one. Bran has always felt different. He prizes being a Blessed, finally having a sense of belonging—having friends. So I took that from him. He doesn't have powers anymore."

Bran's body tensed.

"Can you undo it?" I asked.

"Yes. But I'm not going to."

"And what about me? I want to know what you did. I want to hear you say it."

"Fine," growled the Magician, gleeful cruelty glimmering in his eyes. "You always cheer everyone on. You always push forward, for the sake of your family, for the sake of your friends. At first I thought I'd take away your loyalty. But while that would have certainly changed you, it wouldn't have broken you."

"And?" I breathed, afraid to know. "What did you do?"

"I took away your hope."

"Oh," I said.

The Magician grinned at me. With a flick of his hands, the statue that was Reed rose from the ground, and he followed it back into the depths of the tunnel. A sob tore from my throat. Everything had fallen apart, just like that. Everything was gone.

In the midst of something like this, my hope should have glimmered in the darkness, guiding us on toward victory. I should have stood and helped my friends to their feet. I should have shouted something defiant at the Magician's back.

But the Magician had taken my hope, just like he'd taken everything else.

Instead of standing and moving forward, I stayed where I was, sitting in the dirt, face streaked with tears. Another sob ripped through me. I crumpled to the ground. This was it. This was all. Perhaps, if I was lucky, the earth would open up to swallow me, and that would be the end of it.

Hmm. That's not very good, is it? The Magician is certainly NOT a very good person. Still, I bet if he was given the chance, he'd vote for this chapter. Hint, hint. XD