“You doing okay?” He asked, almost as if he could sense my exhaustion.

I wasn’t okay. Not yet. But I was one step closer. “Getting there,” I said as his hand found mine.

Chapter Twenty

Chapter Twenty

As we moved further into the mine, crystals dotted the walls. They weren’t as thick or as dense as they were in the main cave, but they were there. About two-thirds up the tunnel wall, a waving line of them gave off a pure, white light. It wasn’t a totally straight line, since the crystals were more organic than orderly, but they guided us and gave us just enough light to see by.

We followed the lit path through the tunnels long ago carved out by miners, taking countless twists and turns. Time wore on, and my shirt was nearly soaked through. The mines were hot and—even with the pretty crystals—more than a little oppressive. I grew desperate to find the exit to the valley.

After a while, the tunnels started to rise again and my muscles burned as we worked our way back uphill. I took that as a good sign. We had to be getting closer to the temple.

“Do you smell that?” Lucas said as we turned a corner.

All I could smell was dirt, dirt, and more dirt. “No.” But if the wolves could smell emotions, then they had a way better sense of smell than I did. “What do you smell?”

“Fresh air. It was there and then gone.”

“Weird. Where did it come from?”

“I don’t know.”

Gobble giggled from his perch on my shoulder, but I ignored him. He’d been doing that off and on. I couldn’t worry about what was amusing him. I wanted to tell him to go away, but if I got desperate enough, I’d give him whatever bargain he was after.

We turned a corner, and I slammed into Lucas. He’d stopped walking. “What’s wrong?” I asked as I stepped around him. As soon as I had a better view, the problem was clear. There were no more lit crystals. The walls in the next cavern were all dirt and stone. Nothing glowed.

My heart sped as I noticed four tunnels leading off from where we’d stopped. If we kept going and didn’t pick the right one, we’d be in big trouble. There was no telling where they led and we didn’t have the supplies or the time to be stuck down here for days.

Not to mention that the thought of being lost in these mines made it feel like the walls were closing in on me.

“Can you see anything?” Lucas asked.