I'm ALIVE! LOL. I live in Canada, near the rocky mountains where it snows quite a bit. About a week and a half ago I slipped getting out of my stupid truck. The result? I put my back out, tore a muscle in my shoulder and buggered up my wrist. Thank goodness for physiotherapy! Anyway, I know this chapter is a touch overdue, but I needed a few extra days to mend. I promise the next one is coming sooner than later. I'm starting it tonight and hope to have it to you this weekend (or earlier). Happy reading!

"I'm gonna catch me a promotion." The guard whipped his arm and let loose a fire lasso.

Wren! Jaxon screamed inside my head. Shit is about to get real. Move it!

I rolled out of the flames way and knocked Rygar to the ground when I ran into him. The flaming lasso whipped the wall, blackening a spot just above our heads.

"Giving me a bigger target?" The guard pulled back his hand, and the flames receded. "I thought you were tactically trained. Guess I'm misinformed."

He waved his hand in a circular motion and ring of yellow-green flames spun in front of him growing larger by the second. He flicked his wrist, and a rope of flames shot directly at us.

I grabbed Rygar's hand and yanked him onto the Astral plane with me. The fiery line flew past where we'd just been and marked the floor with a black sooty ring.

The guard's head darted from side to side as if he was trying to assess where we had gone. He let out a frustrated guttural sound, flicked his hand and recoiled the flames.

"Gerald!" he called to the other guard. "There's been a breach, sound the alarm!"

"Sound the alarm?" Gerald said as he rounded the corner.

His mouth dropped open when saw the scorch marks on wall and floor. Gerald looked over to his partner for an explanation.

"I'm not getting in trouble for another one of your false alarms."

The guard pointed to the painting. "That girl is here."

Gerald's eyes went wide, then he turned and ran back out to the main foyer. A moment later a bell clanged throughout the Keep.

Rygar grabbed my other arm and helped me to my feet. Without looking back, we bolted to catch up to Nebula and Robin. Rygar's icy fingers wrapped around mine. We couldn't stay much longer on this plane, or we'd both be popsicles.

The bell continued to sound behind us as we skidded around the corner. Nebula and Robin stood at the end of the hallway waiting for us. They were already back on the physical plane trying to warm up, rubbing their arms.

"So much for the element of surprise," Robin said, now holding his ears. The tip of his nose was pink like he'd been outside in the cold a little too long.

Stay alert, that guard is still behind you.

I kept running but could hear the guard fire blasting the empty hallway behind us.

Almost there. The passage to the dungeon is straight ahead.

What? I was staring at a dead end without a door. Jaxon, that's a wall.

No one knows this way in except the royal circle. Pull the torch toward you, and it should open.

I let go of Rygar's hand and tried to focus on remaining on my feet as I dropped back onto the physical plane. I kept my legs running forward until I realized time slowed for a split second before re-entry. In that brief moment, I tripped over my own feet and slid to a stop, with my face pressed up against Robin's boot.

I jumped to my feet, reached for the torch light and somehow managed to pull the stupid thing right off the wall.

Jax?

"There you are," the guard said as he turned the corner.

Hold the torch in front of you and imagine a wall of flames between you and that guard. Jax was doing something with his hands.

We're going to do this together. When the guard pulls his hand back, chuck the torch at the ground somewhere in front of him.

The guard cocked his arm back.

I took a deep breath and released the torch into the air. It tumbled end over end until it clattered to the ground still lit. It landed in the exact spot I hoped it would.

"Ha! You missed, girly."

"I don't think so," I said under my breath.

Jax moved his fingers through mine, and my arms shot toward the roof with my fingers spread wide forming a square. When my hands overlapped at the bottom of the formation, a thermal energy trickled through my fingers. I pulled back my hands making two closed fists on top of each other. Then with a hard shove forward, Jaxon released my fingers in the direction of the guard.

A loud crack of thunder boomed down the hallway. The guard winced and covered his ears just before a wall of flames erupted between us.

"Yeah!" Robin pumped a fist in the air. That's what I'm talking about. Happy to have you on the team, Jax."

Nebula cleared her throat. "I hate to intrude on your celebrations, but we're kind of trapped here. You know, behind that wall of flames."

Rygar looked at the smoke filling the small space we were standing in. "I assume Jaxon has another way out?"

One thing at a time. Geez, give a guy a break. That wall is a shield of sorts, but it won't hold very long.

When I turned away from the flames, I stood there looking a stone wall with an ornate arch design on it.

Okay, now pull the other torch, he said stressing the word, other.

I glanced to my left and realized there had been two torches on the wall. That explains a lot. I must have grabbed the wrong one. I reached out and grasped the metal holder and pulled it hard toward me until a soft click sounded.

The stone wall made a grinding noise as it slid sideways revealing a narrow opening. Stale air wafted from the open doorway. Rygar swiped at the cobwebs with his hand, wiped them off on his gardener's uniform. He waved for the rest of us to follow him.

I could hear the guards trying to break through the flaming barrier. Each time they hit it with something, the flames changed to a greenish yellow and made an electrifying crackling sound.

That shield isn't going to hold much longer, especially if they're throwing fire bolts at it. Get moving already.

I stepped through the gap and goosebumps covered my arms with the change in temperature. Too bad, my wrap was still lying in the middle of the hallway. I rubbed my arms and glanced around to see how I might be able to close the entrance.

To the right of opening, there was an unlit torch resting in a holder bolted to the wall. Assuming it closed the same way it opened, I pulled it toward me, and the wall started to close.

Darkness slowly formed around us as the light from the hallway disappeared from view. I lifted the torch from the holder and called forth a flame. The hot flames licked my fingers lighting the torch in seconds.

Rygar lifted the light from my grasp, but before I balk at him for taking it from me, he pointed at my fingers. "You have a built-in lantern. We don't."

Jaxon leaned back against something and dusted his fingertips against the front of his shirt. "Courtesy of you know who."

Yeah, I know who all right. I shook my head and held my hand out in front of me watching the flame's glow reflect off the gazillion stairs that seemed to descend into Tartarus itself.

"That's a lot of stairs." Thank god, I'm not wearing Elena's shoes for this one, I said to myself.

Elena? Kellan's sister? Jaxon voice sounded strained.

Would you get out of my private thoughts?

Kind of hard when I'm in your head—helping you. You either want my help, or you don't. It's really your choice, isn't it?

He was right again. I was getting tired of apologizing to him.

Sorry. I cringed. Just add it to the list of things we need to talk about.

Fine, he answered sounding less than happy about adding another item the laundry list of crap I'd given him for discussion.

Nebula stood on the edge of the first stair, staring at the wall and rubbing her hand against the smooth, black stone. "Obsidian."

Rygar gestured to the chiseled stairs. "Yeah, and lots of it."

I looked at Robin who was standing next to me for an explanation. "Is that a problem?"

Robin shrugged and gave a nod in agreement. "It messes with our ability to connect to the circle."

Nebula glanced over her shoulder over at Robin. "How far down to those go?"

"Far enough." Robin took his first step down the stairs and didn't even bother to look back as he spoke.

The keep's dungeon wasn't put here by accident. Our architect's thought the naturally-occurring obsidian layer might prevent lower-ranking prisoners from accessing their abilities, Jaxon tried to explain.

How high of a rank does someone need to connect to the circle down there?

Honestly? I don't know.

What? I looked at my friends who had already started their descent and wondered how this might affect them. What do you mean you don't know.

The obsidian layer above the holding cells varies in thickness so it depends on your location on whether or not you can connect.

Great, I said without even an attempt to hide my frustration.

Hey, don't get mad at me. It wasn't like I planned the design. You should be okay. It's talents with ranks lower than an eight and a half ranking that can't access their skills. People above that should have some capability, though.

The words, 'should be okay,' didn't sound too promising to me. "Hey guys, Jaxon seems to think we'll be able to access our talents when we get to the bottom, but we might need to move around to get a better connection to the circle."

"Well, that's better than nothing I suppose," Rygar said over his shoulder.

My legs were burning, and we were only half way down the stairs. Jaxon, you seriously need to consider installing an escalator.

Acklemar is a little backward that way. Electric devices are banned here. The council is bent on preserving the traditional way of life for all Acklemarians. That's part of the reason there are Acklemarians on earth.

What—so they can get in their video game time? I smiled knowing that's not what he meant.

Ha, ha. No, so our next generation can study how magic has changed on Earth. There's been a steady decline in the birth rate of people born with magical abilities on Earth for centruries. The council is investigating what might have caused the change. Technology's only one of their areas of interest.

I ran my hand down the wall to steady myself as I walked. My thoughts drifted to Sage and her wanting to study medicine. I'd bet that would be one of the other areas.

I guess a hot shower and chilling in front of the TV after all this is done isn't going to happen.

Oh, the hot shower I think I can help you with. I felt Jaxon grin though our connection like he had other plans to ensure I got a hot shower. But the TV? Yeah, that's something Acklemar doesn't have.

I had no idea what to say to his bold statement about the shower. I licked my lips and lifted my gaze from the steps in front of me to see how far ahead of me the others were. They were already on the landing standing in front of a closed door waiting for me to catch up. Light peeked through the doorframe lighting the small space they were standing in.

This is it.

Yup. There should only be two guards on duty. One to the left at the end of the hall and the other a level below. That's where your mom will be.

"Rygar, do you think you can handle the guard at the entrance and meet up with us on the level below?"

He cracked his knuckles and stretched his arms above his head. "You bet. I've been waiting to get some exercise in."

"What? You just climbed down like two miles of stairs," Robin said looking like he doubted Rygar's statement.

Rygar rubbed his hand across his abs. "Just 'cause you're out of shape, doesn't mean the rest of us are."

Robin narrowed his eyes, and he was squeezing his fist so tight his fingers had blanched white.

"Would you two knock it off. You're on the same team." I smacked Rygar with the back of my hand and furrowed my brows when I looked at Robin. "Focus will you? Jaxon says my mom should be in a cell on the lower level."

"Yeah. I know the place," Robin said. "The cells are lined with obsidian, making it next to impossible for people to escape. That's why they keep higher ability prisoners there."

The way he said that made it sound like even if we did find her, we still might not be able to get her out.

"Near impossible, doesn't mean it can't be done." I pulled the Dekarta stone from underneath my shirt and let it dangle from my fingertips. "Someone told me this was impossible to get one of these. But I still have one."

Holy crap. Is that—?

"A Dekarta stone?" Rygar asked still staring at the rock spinning on the chain. "You have a Dekarta stone."

I let out a short laugh. "Yeah, I do. Now, let's see if I can do anything with it."

The door handle made a soft hum when I touched it. No turning back now.

I turned the handle, pulled open the door to see the largest man I'd ever seen blocking the end of hallway. I backed up and bumped into Nebula.

Why is Jeremiah here? But this entrance is never guarded—not ever. Jaxon paused for a moment as if he was thinking of something.

Shit—this isn't good. I could tell Jax was pacing the floor, running his hands through his hair. They know I'm helping you.

Jeremiah took a step forward. His shoulders spanned the entire width of the hallway and deep scar cut across his face like he'd seen more than his fair share of fights. His lips curled and revealed the few remaining blackened teeth he had.

He pointed a thick giant finger at me. "I've been waitin' for you."

My eyes widened when he took another giant step forward and slammed Rygar against the wall. Then he turned his attention to me and lunged for my throat with his other hand.

**Thanks for reading, voting and commenting. A PINCH of pixie dust to all those who do all three! (NEXT chapter out this weekend.)**