When the tumbled hand rolled toward her and then perched on its fingertips so that it could tap on the barrier, Sunny shivered.

“Free agent weak frightened magic,” the voice said. “Shatters like glass.” With these words, there was the sound of glass breaking and falling to the marble floor. “What more do you have?”

Sunny had been practicing on her own and incorporating lessons Sugar Cream had taught her over the months. She calmed, forcing herself to look at the ancient pile of human bones that were engulfed in flames but not burning at all.

“Your entire body must relax, feel it drop. Then imagine your spirit dropping,” Sugar Cream had said. “Think of Anyanwu. You are her and she is you. Remember your initiation? When you were pulled into the ground? Feel that. But feel it as if Anyanwu is pulling from your body.” Before Sunny gave it a try, Sugar Cream had reminded her to make sure she was lying down.

Now Sunny was already on the floor. She rested her head back, keeping an eye on the bones. Relax, relax, relax, she thought. Breathe. She flared her nostrils, inhaling deeply through her nose. It took all she had, but she calmed herself. She would be okay. She might not have had too many real moments of terror in her thirteen years, but in her past life, she had. She couldn’t remember them clearly, but she could feel those memories. Right on the tip of her mind. And she’d still gone on. Even if she died in this basement, she would go on in spirit. She relaxed more with the comfort of this remote knowledge. She relaxed. She dropped. She felt it physically, but it was much more than that.

“Oh, now it gets interesting,” the voice said. “Welcome.”

The marble floor was cool. It was a pure stone. An old, old stone. Maybe it had been in the earth longer than the Obi Library had existed. Maybe the basement was carved from what was already in the ground. It was so solid. Sunny got up. She flew, passing through the bookcases as if they were clouds. She was nothing but yellow mist. She knew there would be other things here, and she hoped she didn’t run into them. But she couldn’t afford to look around. She had to get away. And she couldn’t stay partially in the wilderness for long. Not yet. Before she knew what she was doing or how quickly she’d traveled across the large room, she smashed into a wall.

They were made of the same marble. She could not pass through them, even if she dropped into the wilderness. How was this possible? What kind of stone is this? she wondered as she crumpled to the ground. Scraaaape. One by one, the bones dragged and tumbled toward her.

“Do you think this place is only your world?” the voice said. “It is physical and wilderness. It is a full place. You can’t escape.”