At long last we crawled forward. We sang and talked and even laughed. We took frequent breaks because of the difficulty and lack of oxygen. We passed around two water bottles with senaba and told stories. I took off my saturated shirt and tried to wring it dry. My jeans were sopping wet, and I felt holes in both knees. I was a miserable sight, I was certain, and took some solace in the fact that no one could see me.

Yet I did see something—the walls of the tunnel seemed to glow slightly, a gold hue here and a silver there. I reached up to touch the rock ceiling—yes, there were precious metals hidden in the heart of this mountain, waiting to be mined.

“Look, up ahead,” Malaiki said. “Is that light?”

I couldn’t see it. But then.

“That tiny pinprick? Yeah … I think it is!”

We crawled quickly, and the spot of light now looked the size of a dime. It kept getting bigger and bigger.

Two hours later we emerged from the darkness. I stood up, wobbling, shading my eyes. We embraced, laughing as we covered each other with sweat and grime.

“Look … the city!” Gordy said. Once again, Charis appeared much closer than before.

We found a pond and bathed, then relaxed and ate and drank and celebrated—even though the main dish was a rubbery pasta with no sauce. We set up camp for the night although it was midafternoon. I lay down near the old man.

“Why did the King allow us to go through all that groping in the darkness?” I whispered. “It’s another mystery, isn’t it?”

“Is it? Let me ask you—have you ever heard anyone say he learned his greatest lessons and developed his strongest character in times of ease?”

“I guess not.”

“What did you do in the darkness?” Shad asked.

“At first, I managed, but after a while I despaired. I came to the end of myself. Then when you spoke from the TravelGuide, I could see a little, even in the darkness. I wished I’d studied it more, that I’d been more ready to speak its light into the gloom. I longed for more light, more space, but told myself that even if we died in the tunnel, it wasn’t the worst thing, because we’d end up in Charis anyway. And when we sang … it was beautiful. I felt strength from the King and from all of you.”

Shad’s neck creaked like an old gate as he turned to look at me. He sounded like a man in need of a new body.

“You’ve answered your own question, Nick. Perhaps it’s not such a mystery after all.”

“Wake up,” a creaky voice ordered.

I groaned and fell back asleep until I felt something poking my ribs. I looked up and saw a stick, with Shad on the far end.

My anger woke me.