The wind screamed in Frank’s ears. It was a loud, rushing noise that drowned out all other sounds. He was falling. Around him, the upside-down library was breaking apart. Large chunks of white plaster, heavy wooden chairs, and thousands of books fell through the darkness with him. Glowing drops of golden sap rained down like angry yellow stars. Frank could not see the bottom. There was only absolute, pitch-black darkness below. He reached his hands out blindly, trying to grab something, anything, to stop his fall. But his hands only caught the empty air. He had no magic speed. He had no flying ability. He had no super strength to survive a bad landing. His System powers were completely turned off. One hundred percent of his magic was focused on the mental firewall, keeping the Root out of his brain. If he hit a solid stone floor right now, his body would break into a hundred pieces. He would die instantly. "Elara!" Frank tried to yell, but the rushing wind pushed the words back dow

This new creature was a "Root-Hound." It was a construct made entirely of razor-sharp bone and golden light. It had no skin. It had no flesh. It was a giant, wolf-like skeleton. Its bones were smooth, white, and perfectly formed. Where its heart and organs should be, there was only a blazing, twisting ball of pure golden fire. The golden light burned inside the ribcage, shining out between the bones and illuminating the dark maze. The Root-Hound’s head was a massive wolf skull. It had no eyes, only empty sockets that spilled bright golden flames. Its teeth were long, jagged shards of sharp bone. The Root-Hound took a step forward. Its bone claws scraped against the petrified roots. It lowered its skull, staring at Frank and Elara with its empty, burning eye sockets. Then, two more golden lights appeared in the shadows behind it. Two more Root-Hounds stepped forward. They were identical. Three skeletons of bone and fire, hunting together. "They don't have flesh," Elara whispered, h

The dark maze of petrified roots was quiet again. The three Root-Hounds were dead. But the cost was too high. "Frank! Frank, please stay with me!" Elara cried out. She grabbed Frank by the shoulders of his torn shirt. He was completely limp. His head rolled back. His eyes were open, but they were staring blindly at the dark ceiling. He was bleeding to death. The pool of bright red blood under him was spreading fast, soaking into the gray dust of the ancient stone. Elara knew they could not stay out in the open. The smell of fresh blood was strong. It smelled like raw copper and fear. If there were more monsters in the labyrinth, the smell would lead them straight here in minutes. She looked around wildly in the very faint blue light coming from Frank's flickering eyes. A few feet away, there was a small, sunken crater. It looked like a deep bowl carved into the petrified roots. Thick, jagged stone walls surrounded it on three sides. It was highly defensible. It was a good place to

Elara looked around the empty, dark crater. "There is no one here, Frank! It is just the Root trying to mess with your mind!""They are right," Frank continued, shaking his head slowly. The tears washed the dirt from his cheeks. "I deserve this. I deserve to lose my arm. I deserve to die down here in the dark. I am the reason they are suffering. I opened the bottle. I took the power. I wanted to be special, and I ruined everything."The ghosts in Frank’s vision stepped closer. They reached out with hands made of wood, stone, and iron. They were reaching for him, ready to pull him down into the dark forever. "Let me die, Elara," Frank begged. He closed his eyes. He stopped fighting the golden light. He was surrendering. "I am too tired. Let me pay for what I did. Just run."Elara stared at him. She looked at this boy. This skinny, broken boy who had once shared his last biscuit with a strange glowing creature. He had faced gods. He had fought monsters. He had protected her when he did

The sudden, massive pressure on the shattered nerves woke Frank up. His eyes snapped open. He sucked in a massive, ragged breath of air through his nose. The pain was back. It was a crushing, suffocating weight. It felt like his arm was trapped under a falling mountain. He screamed into the wood again. Tears and sweat poured down his pale face. He tried to pull his arm away, driven by pure animal panic. "Hold still!" Elara shouted. She threw her entire body weight over his chest, pinning him down to the stone floor. "I am almost done! Hold still, Frank!"She tied the second knot. Frank thrashed wildly under her weight. He shook his head from side to side. The iron taste of his own blood filled his mouth as his gums bled from biting the wood too hard. Elara grabbed the final strip of cloth. She wrapped it around his wrist, securing the splint completely. She pulled it with all of her remaining strength. She tied the final knot so hard that the cloth ripped slightly. The final sur