Three symbols bathed in golden light peeled off the staff. Each symbol whispered the name of the celestial it represented: a hammer for Ogun, a lightning bolt for Shangó, and a feather for Principal Ollie. The symbols went three separate ways.

“Should we split up and follow them?” Zeran asked.

“No, I don’t think so,” I replied, getting a bad feeling. “We don’t know what’s in here with the celestials, and we have a better chance if we stay together. We can follow one symbol at a time.”

“But which one first?” Frankie wondered aloud.

The others waited for me to pick. I’d seen all three of the celestial fight. They could hold their own. Principal Ollie single-handedly protected the seventh and eighth graders at the Field Museum when the Lord of Shadows sent his minions to possess Sue the Dinosaur. Ogun and Shangó had handled the darkbringer who could multiply himself while Papa was busy fixing a stubborn tear in the veil.

I looked at the golden symbols hovering a few feet away. They each pulsed, but the feather, which represented Principal Ollie, pulsed the fastest. There was something frantic about it that reminded me of a racing heartbeat. Did that mean they were in the most trouble?

I bit my lip and made the call. “Principal Ollie.”

No one questioned me as we set off to follow the feather. We kept pushing back vines that crawled across our feet and ankles and shadows that hissed at the edges of our vision like venomous snakes. Another howl rang out. One that was very close—too close.

Winston’s eyes went wide. “Was that General?”

General was always with Ogun, so he had to be in the library too.

“That sounds like a Tazar,” Zeran said, looking around with his prods ready.

“A what?” Winston asked. It wasn’t my imagination that his voice had gone hoarse.

Zeran thought a moment, then he answered, “It’s like a really big dog.”

“That’s an understatement,” I said as we moved deeper into the library. General was a really big dog. Tazars were huge. Instead of fur, scales covered their bodies, and they had a row of sharp spikes across their backs. Frankie, Eli, and I had almost run into them when we were searching for my father’s soul.

If the library was a wound between our world and the Dark, then anything—or anyone—could cross over. It reminded me of a gaping sore that oozed pus. Gross, I know, but it was the most accurate way to describe it. The other celestials were powerful, but only a guardian had the magic to fix the veil. Maybe I could heal this, too. I had to try, even if Pearl and Diamond didn’t think I could.