“It’s working,” I say, even though I’m not sure what exactly we’re doing. I’m only sure that it feels right.

When we’ve emptied out the Chest of everything else, I pick up the can of Henri’s ashes. Carefully, I remove the lid and empty it into the light. Each of the ashes briefly sparks as they swirl downward into the well. I wish John could’ve been here to see this.

I turn back to Marina, inclining my head gently towards where Eight’s body rests on the ground. “Should we . . . ?”

Marina shakes her head, looking down at Eight. “I’m not ready yet, Six.”

I take a moment to sweep my gaze over the room, checking to see if anything’s changed. The light from the well is nearly as bright as the sun, but it doesn’t really hurt my eyes anymore. The Loralite veins in the walls pulse with energy. Our Chest is empty and Henri’s ashes have been spread.

“There’s nothing else to do,” I say to Marina. “It’s time.”

“The pendants, Six,” Marina says. “We have to give it the pendants.”

“Hold on,” Adam says, stepping forward for the first time. He’s been watching all this take place with awe, but Marina’s words snap him back. “If you drop those pendants down there, we’ll have no way out of here.”

I’m still holding all of our pendants. I clutch them tightly as I think it over.

“We have to have faith, right?” I say, shrugging my shoulders. “We have to trust that whatever’s down there, whatever the Elders left for us, that it’ll show us a way out.”

Marina nods. “Yes.”

Adam looks at me for a moment, then to the light. Everything he’s seen today must go against his Mogadorian instincts. But he has Garde in him, too.

“All right,” Adam says. “I trust you.”

I hold on to the pendants for a moment longer. I’ve worn an amulet around my neck for most of my life. There were many times that it reminded me who I was, where I was from, and what I was fighting for. It was heartbreaking to lose two pendants and I’ve never felt right without one. It’s as much a part of who I am—who we all are—as the scars on our ankles. But it’s time to let that go.

I drop the three pendants into the well.

The response is immediate and blinding. The light from within the well goes supernova. I shout and shield my eyes, and I’m pretty sure Marina and Adam do the same. There is a whooshing sound from down below, like thousands of wings taking flight, or a miniature tornado touching down beneath the Earth. There is a loud, baritone thump that sends vibrations through my teeth. A few seconds later, the sound repeats.

Thump, thump. Thump, thump.

The rhythm gets faster and stronger. Steadier.

It’s a heartbeat.

I’m not sure how long I’m bathed in that pure blue light, how long I listen to the sonorous heartbeat of Lorien. It could be two minutes or it could be two hours. The experience is hypnotic and comforting. When the light begins to die down and the volume of the heartbeat lowers to a steady thrum in the background, I almost miss it. It’s like waking up from a warm dream that you don’t want to leave.