For a moment, in a trick of the torchlight, it looked as if the creature’s form flickered—then it shot across the chamber, diving and swooping among the raptors. The hunters leaped and snapped, bounding off walls, trying to grab it, all but forgetting about Jake.

Almost like it’s trying to protect me …

A roar burst from the tunnel behind him.

This time the raptors didn’t flee, too caught up in their hunt.

Jake fell away as the head of a dinosaur, as large as a beer keg, shoved into the cavern. A Titanosaurus. But like the raptors here, it was a twisted specimen of the species, stunted enough to allow it to bull through the larger tunnels.

It rolled a black eye toward Jake; but like the raptors, it focused more on the fluttering snake, snapping like a pit bull as the winged dive-bomber shot past its nose.

One of the raptors bounded off that same snout, trying to snatch the flying creature—but it got caught instead. Heavy, sharp teeth snagged a trailing hind leg. The Titanosaurus threw back its massive head and tossed the raptor like a dead chicken against the wall.

Fearing he’d be next, Jake planted his torch in the sandy floor and dropped low. Shrugging the pack off his shoulder, he tugged it open and reached inside. With heart pounding, he grabbed the crystal in sweat-slick fingers. Needing blood to fuel it, he’d been planning on ripping the bandages from his sliced palm—but as soon as his hand closed over the smooth surface, Jake’s body sagged, suddenly ten times heavier.

He almost fell flat on his face in surprise, but he caught himself with his other arm. So it wasn’t just blood that ignited the stone’s properties. He rolled the stone within his damp palm and understood.

Blood was mostly saline, a salt solution. So was sweat.

A whistling squeal drew his attention back to the room.

One of the raptors had caught the flying snake by the tip of its tail. The small creature struggled to get free, its wings frantically fluttering, its body twisting in the air.

The pack closed in on its tiny prey.

The little buzzard had protected him, so Jake had to return the favor.

“Hey!” he hollered. “Try picking on someone your own size!”

Okay, it was lame, but it worked.

All eyes twitched in his direction. The distraction was enough for the winged snake to break free and shoot high.

Taking a lesson from Heka, Jake slammed his crystal into the sand. A rippling wave burst from the stone and washed across the chamber. Where it struck, flesh turned gray and mummified in seconds, drying down to bone. Then even that crumbled to dust.

Within seconds, nothing lived in the room except for Jake and the snake hovering in midair. It zipped back to him, then dove down and flew in a spiral around the green crystal in his hand. It seemed to be fascinated by the sheen … or maybe just by its own reflection in the glassy surface.