Fort glanced around, finding row upon row of staffs, more bows, a lot of bandages and amulets on chains, but no hammers.

There were a few items covered with cloth on the tables in the room, too small for Fort to have bothered with before. But at this point, he was running out of options. None of the covered stuff looked big enough to break a rock, but magic wasn’t really about size.

The first item he uncovered was some kind of metal sculpture, almost like a small turtle. That for sure wasn’t it, so Fort kept moving, finding a large black key next, then a pin of tiny wings, like pilots would sometimes give out on airplanes, and finally…

Finally, a tiny silver hammer lying on top of a pillow. It couldn’t have been more than three inches long.

Fort peered in close and found a note attached to it with a small piece of string, almost like a gift tag on a present.

The Earthshatterer, the note said. Work in progress. Don’t touch! EXTREMELY dangerous!

Really? This was the Earthshatterer? He picked it up in his hands, and nothing happened, no glow like when he’d grabbed the staff and bow earlier. Maybe it wasn’t done yet, like the note said.

But as of right now, he had no other options. He might as well try it; if he went back to the cavern and the hammer didn’t do anything, he wouldn’t be any worse off than he was now.

Of course, if the hammer did too much, it might collapse the whole cavern, sending a few tons of rock down to bury him beneath the old Oppenheimer School.

But Cyrus said he’d bring his father back alone. If the cavern collapsed, his dad wasn’t going to get back through. So it must be safe… ish.

Either way, better to put himself in danger than his friends. Like Gabriel said, protect the ones you love, no matter the cost.

But that didn’t mean he shouldn’t be prepared. Fort grabbed the hammer and created another teleportation circle, this time back to the room with the dragon skeletons, where he’d hidden the Summoning book. Now that he’d cast Restore Dimensional Portal, the words had reappeared on the page.

He wouldn’t need it again, he hoped. But better safe than sorry, especially if he did end up taking the entire cavern down with him. If he cut off this portal, there was still the one below the National Mall in Washington, D.C., and he’d need the spell again to try there, if the unthinkable happened.