“Light,” I say, and after the initial flash of my Spoken word, a bluish glow emanates around us, as if we’re carrying high-powered glow sticks deep into the bowels of the earth. It’s different from the floating orb I summoned back in the catacombs, affording us considerably more light. A smile touches my lips at how handy my Creator ability can be—at least when I remember to use it.

“That’s much better,” Cami says, and I can hear the relief in her voice.

Down, down, down we travel, an unending journey of rusted rungs and steadily worsening air. As Arryn promised, there are narrow ledges where we stop every so often, shaking out our strained limbs as we wait for Cami to heal us—and me to heal Cami. I can’t imagine how Arryn managed this in the past using her own strength without any kind of supernatural aid. And this is only the trip down. The journey back up is going to be excruciating.

I contemplate whether I can hover us all the rest of the way, or create some kind of slide, but without knowing how far away the ground is, I can see that ending in disaster. I’m already nervous enough about reentering Lengard—I don’t need to worry about breaking any of our necks in the process.

It feels like—and probably is—hours before we finally reach the bottom. Arryn withdraws a crumbled protein bar from her coat and breaks it into three, sharing the small offering with Cami and me. She didn’t wipe her hands first, so it tastes like metal and dirt, but after the strain of our journey, I’m ravenous enough that I don’t care.

Once I’m done, my stomach is rumbling more than ever. I ignore Arryn’s earlier warning about wasted energy and risk Speaking three bottles of water into being, along with three sandwiches and a bunch of bananas for us to share. Unfortunately, I didn’t give much thought to the sandwiches when I envisioned them, so they turn up as just lettuce and bread. I take a resolute bite of mine, acting as if it’s exactly what I wanted, if only to save face. Cami and Arryn don’t comment, though I see a smirk playing around Arryn’s mouth as she looks between her two slices of bread, and Cami grins as she sets hers aside in favor of a banana.

“Should we be worried about eating this?” Cami asks, but she doesn’t stop chewing. “Is it even real food? Does it have any nutritional value?”

Her concern is valid. I’m still not sure where the things I create come from. All I can do is shrug and finish the rest of my lettuce-bread before washing it down with half of my water. If nothing else, my stomach is full now, and that’s enough for me.