Thisbe backed up to her crypt door and faced the golden wall, trying to visualize precisely where the tunnel had been before. Chances were pretty good that someone had filled in the tunnel, because she hadn’t heard any hollow spots. But the wall had already been compromised in that place once before, so perhaps it would be easier to break through it again. It helped that Thisbe’s magic had improved. But it was too bad that Florence’s team hadn’t finished making obliterate spells before Thisbe had left—it seemed like they could be useful here. Though if Thisbe had possession of one of those, she might have to save it for the Revinir.

Staying far away for better aim, which is how Thisbe’s natural magic worked best, she concentrated on the spot that seemed right. She raised her hand and pointed at it. Then she unleashed a long stream of fiery sparks. The impact was loud, making quite a metallic din. In the closed space, the spell produced a lot of smoke that had little place to go. Thisbe coughed and peered through the smoke, then went again with another round. When a river of gold trickled all the way down the bones, Thisbe stopped and climbed up through the smoky haze to see her progress.

To her delight, a huge section of gold had melted away in the right spot, exposing the tunnel that had been filled in with rocks and bones. Fueled by adrenaline and feeling powerful, Thisbe shook her head and laughed. “You’d think they’d understand who they’re dealing with by now,” she said. Going down the bone mountain halfway, Thisbe stood back and pointed, her sparks slamming into the hodgepodge of filler, sending gravel and sand and bone bits spilling out.

From the other side of the wall, Rohan pounded three times, which gave Thisbe assurance that all must be well over there. Thisbe sent off another round of sparks to break the tunnel contents loose. Climbing back up, she grabbed the end of a giant bone that was sticking out and tugged at it with all her might, working it back and forth. Finally it broke loose and sent her tumbling down the mountain with a bunch of silt flowing out after her. Once more she climbed to the tunnel, her muscles burning from all the exertion. Taking a short break to catch her breath, she stared into the tunnel to assess the remaining stuff plugging the hole.

A few minutes later she was back at it again, firing into the space. The explosion shook the walls and made the bones around her rattle. Fearful of being heard, Thisbe waited a while and tried to wave the smoke away, certain that someone would come to see what was making the racket. But no one did. Thisbe was determined to get through this thing. Tonight.