“You’re right. That one was much smaller, but they’re the same.” Lucas touched a nearby crystal and it turned from white to amber. The same color amber as his aura. Interesting, but I wasn’t sure what it meant.

“Do you…” It could be totally sacrilegious to ask this, but… “Do you think it’d be okay for me to take one? Just one of the little ones. I’m pretty sure the white mages somehow stored their magic inside, and—”

“This could be what helps Raphael,” Lucas finished for me.

I smiled, relieved that he understood.

“Sure. Let me see what I can do.”

I nodded. He was much stronger than I was and would have a much easier time getting a crystal free.

Lucas reached for a crystal the thickness of my thumb. If he could break it off, it would be easy enough to carry.

As soon as he touched it, the crystal fell into his palm. He turned to me, mouth hanging open. “I didn’t have to do anything.”

I took the crystal from him. As soon as it was in my palm, its aura changed to ice blue. “Weird.”

“Is it okay?” Lucas asked.

I put it in my pocket—not wanting it getting lost in my purse. “Yes. Thank you. I’m sure it’s great.”

“Which way?”

I looked around the cave. “I don’t know.”

“What does your gut say?”

I laughed. “My gut has no clue.” There was so much white aura here, that I couldn’t see anything beyond it. “Gobble. Do you know the way?”

“Of course I know the way.” He sounded offended that I would even ask.

“And?”

“Oh. You’re asking for a favor. That will cost you, tasty. What will you give me?”

I sighed. Nope. Not there yet.

I spun around, counting five different chambers we could go through. I needed just enough magic to give us a direction. “Eenie. Meenie. Minie. Moe. Show us all the way to go.” All of a sudden, the light in the cavern died.

I sucked in a breath. Was I empty? Finally drained of magic? “I’m sorry. I—” I froze as a line of light appeared in the crystal.

The glow moved in a straight path from us like ancient streetlights, pointing down the third corridor on the left.

Thank God.

I grinned at Lucas. “That way seems good?”

He laughed. “So I see. Let’s go.”

Gobble landed back on my shoulder, and the three of us headed deeper into the mine, following the path that had been left for us.

I was exhausted. Using magic took energy from me. My well was almost totally empty and I needed time to rest and build it up again. I wasn’t sure when I’d have the time.

Having Lucas next to me gave me the energy to keep going, even if all I wanted to do was crash.