Fort tried to turn around to see who it was behind him, but he couldn’t move, frozen in place by whatever force was moving him along. Was this another dream? Or was it more like what he’d seen when Sierra was asleep, her memories coming to life around him?

Any thought of what was happening was thrown from his mind when Fort saw what was up ahead. A huge pit opened wide before him, circled every ten to twenty feet down with buildings made from crystal, with gold and silver roofs. Lightning shone off of everything as it crackled through the tubes that now led into the city, and his mouth dropped open at the sheer beauty of it all.

Here and there he could see movement, something that looked vaguely like people, but he couldn’t see what they were from this distance, especially with just the lightning to see by. There were no other lights in the city, though something seemed to glow in the center of the pit, rising up from the middle of the circles of buildings. It almost looked like a statue made of diamond, but all Fort could see was the very top, and he couldn’t tell what it was supposed to be.

And then a roar shook the cavern, and somehow the city in the pit morphed into a darkened abyss, just as large, but less deep. Even in this strange place, he recognized that roar, he knew that roar by heart. He’d heard it first on the National Mall, and then again below the Oppenheimer School, as well as in far too many nightmares.

One of the monsters roared again in the darkness below him, and huge red eyes opened, staring up at him. Fort heard the sound of claws digging into rock just seconds before the red eyes came straight for him, flying far too fast to avoid.

Fort screamed in terror, knowing there was nothing he could do. The last time he’d faced one of these creatures, he had his magic, his advanced Healing spells that caused pain, but now he was completely defenseless, with no magic except for one teleportation spell. And if he cast that, he’d lose the book of Summoning forever. But if he didn’t, and this thing ate him—

Massive jaws opened wide and swallowed him whole, the creature’s teeth slamming shut behind him. Only now, they weren’t teeth, but instead had morphed into stone stalactites, closing off the entrance to a tunnel Fort now found himself in.

Some light shone in from behind those stone teeth, illuminating the sides of the tunnel, if only barely. A hot wind came from the other end of the tunnel, and Fort felt himself drawn in that direction, floating again against his will.

He could hear something happening down at the other end of the tunnel. There were voices, one that sounded human, and the other…