Who did she think she was, taking Gordy’s side and preaching at me?

We stopped to rest. I laid my head down flat on the grimy stone. The next thing I knew I woke to Victoria’s voice.

“We’ve been in darkness so long. I’m beginning to wonder if the City of Light is really out there.”

“We’ve seen it … haven’t we?” I groaned, trying to convince myself.

“I’m not sure if we really did,” Victoria said. “Maybe David was right.”

“The TravelGuide says it’s there,” Shad said. “That is enough.”

“Maybe for you,” Victoria said. “I need to see it to believe it.”

“Have you ceased to believe there’s a sun just because you’ve not seen it recently?” Shad asked.

“Why is the King punishing us?” Victoria replied. “We walked the red road—how did we end up here?”

“Not everything difficult is a punishment, is it?” Shad asked, his voice much less confident than I sensed he wanted it to sound. “And what makes you think we’re not on the road? It was the red road we followed into the cave. We’re still on it. At least … I think we are. Things aren’t always what they appear.”

“This is no road,” Victoria said. “It’s dark and damp and miserable. It’s horrifying. The red road is bright and warm and safe.”

“The road is the road,” Shad said, “and it is not always what we expect or want. We cannot change it. We can only travel it. Or not.”

The ground trembled and we froze. None of us had to comment about the implications of a quake inside a narrow tunnel. After the tremor subsided, we heard a fierce roar right in front of us.

I felt bodies push against me. Gordy peeled out in reverse, his feet in my face. I back-pedaled as quickly as I could, hearing bodies shuffling and scuffling and slamming into each other.

“Move!” “Hurry up.” “It’s coming.” Words were exchanged, panic took over, and cramped chaos reigned. Had this been a soccer stadium it would have been a trampling.

We’d retreated probably sixty feet when Gordy no longer pressed against me. I listened carefully and heard heavy breathing, hoping it was ours.

“What was it?” Victoria cried. “A bear?”

“More like a lion,” Gordy said, huffing and puffing.

“Yes, a lion,” Shad agreed. “But a good lion or a bad one?”

“Why does it matter?” Victoria asked. “Does it feel better to be devoured by one than the other?”

“It may not feel better” Malaiki said. “But it is better. I’d rather be swallowed up by good than evil.”

“And I’d rather not be swallowed up at all,” Victoria said. “It frightens me to think of the King as a lion.”

“What would you prefer?” Shad asked. “To think of him as a lap dog?”