Lyn slept while the monkey nestled in her arms.

  Reynard rotated his stiff neck and yawned. He'd been on guard since Timothy arrived on Crescent. There would be no sleep for him; regretfully so, because Lilith needed to be informed and consulted.

  He looked out over the vast and twinkling darkness. The Crystal Caverns under Moondial had been carved out over millennia, long after the fires beneath Crescent died, back when Inari first rose out of the ocean. Rowan was just a child back then, scared to leave her home and start over.

  Reynard had extinguished his firelight while Lyn slept to conserve energy. The light would draw unnecessary attention to themselves. Strange things live in dark places. Already, they had seen acid lizards, cave birds, and insects the size of Lyn's head. Still stranger things lurk in the blackest pits. They wouldn't be safe until they reached Sanctuary. At the speed of an 8-year-old, the entrance was several hours away. Time to wake Lyn.

  Reynard gently shook the little princess. Once she was roused and nourished (with Apple's assistance), Reynard told Lyn to take out the crystal gem she was given earlier and summon an orb of light, like she did before. It took her several attempts, and much of the stored mana was lost into the air, but eventually, Lyn succeeded in channeling the mana into magelight.

  "For now," Apple interpreted Reynard's instructions, "focus on keeping the orb aloft and steady while we climb the caverns. I will lead. You follow close behind."

  And so it was. They were far below sea level. The rest of their trek would be a steep climb. Reynard kept a steady pace. Meanwhile, all around them, crystal formations sparkled in the darkness, hues of green, blue, purple, and silver, twinkling reflections of Lyn's magelight.

  They continued like that for a long time: Reynard led them along the safest route while Lyn silently focused. Apple hung from Lyn's back, arms around her shoulders. But Lyn's young mind often drifted, with her magelight drifting and dissipating. More than once, Lyn lost grip of the thought, and the light almost scattered.

  "Captain Reynard," the monkey shouted as she jumped onto Reynard's back. "Lyn has a question," she said quieter now, close to Reynard's ear. "She wants to know why she can cast magic, and if Morgan and Rafael can, too?"

  Apple interpreted from Reynard's shoulder. He didn't stop or turn around as he spoke.

  "When Adam and Eve ate the forbidden fruit, it cursed them. Original Sin had several consequences. One was random genetic mutations. You see, Adam and Eve were perfect, but they failed God's test; so evidently, perfection was overrated. With mutations came flaws, and as flaws built up over generations, fewer and fewer humans were born with magical abilities.

  "When Adam figured this out, he gathered all the known magic users to the capital, declared them his 'purest' children, and gave them land to steward. Now Adam manages their bloodlines like pure breed hounds.

  "Your mother came from a family Adam had 'cultivated' for centuries to maximize magical potential. So you probably inherited your powers from her. As to your second question, I don't know if Morgan or Rafael inherited any abilities. I've never witnessed them demonstrating magical affinity."

  By now, Lyn's magelight was greatly diminished. Much of the mana had dissipated into the surrounding environment in the form of heat. Still, for her age and experience, that any collected mana remained was remarkable. But the effort was clearly exacting a toll. Lyn was shuffling her feet and stumbling. Her determination was impressive and earned a smile from Reynard, but the girl needed a rest.

  Reynard summoned a light of his own, a fiery orange sphere, and instructed Lyn to put her light away.

  "The gate isn't far now," he said, and Apple translated. "Let's take a break to eat and drink."

  They all crouched around Reynard's firelight like a campfire. Reynard gave Lyn extra rations. While she ate, Reynard continued her education.

  "It's time you learned... the truth about me and where we're going," he said, to Lyn's alert reaction. She directed Apple to sit on Reynard's knee to better interpret.

  "When Adam first claimed the islands, we didn't know what he was capable of. We knew he'd waged a genocidal war on magical creatures for centuries. But these islands are so far from the mainland, no one here knew he could blow up a volcano, reduce an entire island to a boiling vortex of steam and magma.

  "I survived because I was here on a diplomatic mission to meet our ancient neighbors, the cthulians. Adam had been waging war on them for centuries. We hadn't seen or heard from them in many years.

  "Where we're going is a sacred place to them. I knew they would come. And as they told me what Adam had done to them, what he was capable of... he destroyed Inari and killed everyone on it. The cave shuddered from the force of it."

  Lyn had stopped eating and looked close to tears, wide-eyed. 'You're firefox!' she signed, and as Apple said it, the air around Reynard blurred, and his features changed. His ears disappeared beneath copper-red fur, and two pointed ears grew atop a feminine head. His armor evaporated, revealing a beautiful creature covered in copper fur. Her tail was alive and luxurious, with a white tip. At the tip of each delicate finger was an orange claw. With green eyes, pupils diamond-shaped by firelight. Their clothes were emerald-green, mere silken figments of modesty for Lyn's sake.

  "That's right," they said. "I'm the last firefox. My name is Rowan."

  Lyn was dumbstruck, mouth agape. Rowan chuckled. It took Lyn a moment to process everything Apple had interpreted. Then Lyn shook her head violently, stood up, and shouted for herself. "You lied from the start! Does Papa know?" Lyn had never heard anyone's voice before, but she knew the principles, and sometimes Apple helped her practice. Her voice was earnest and upset, her pitch wild and erratic.

  Rowan merely blinked. "Of course, your father knows. He's the one who sent us here, remember? I'm sorry I lied to you, but I had no choice. If anyone else knew, Adam would send assassins to kill me. I'm telling you the truth now."

  That calmed her down. She sat apologetically.

  "Finish your meal. There's more," Rowan remained unmoved.

  Lyn reluctantly ate her rations of smoked meats, nuts, dried cherries, and flat bread.

  "Morgan and Rafael know as well. I've been training them since they were your age. Now, I'm going to train you," Rowan said with the loving voice of a stern and powerful mother. Lyn couldn't hear the tone in Rowan's voice, but she could sense the emotion in Apple's translated delivery. In that moment, something profound and irrevocable happened: Lyn and Rowan were bonded for life.

  "Let's continue your training," Rowan said. "Summon the light from your crystal, and hold it steady in front of you."

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  Lyn did as she was told. Overeager, she accidentally poured some of her quintessence into the orb. Silver. The orb grew in size, and the color silver increased in proportion. Lyn sharply exhaled. She blinked several times and looked unsteady, as if she was suddenly dizzy.

  "Careful," said Rowan. "Imagine the ball is a feather, light in your mind's grasp. Delicate. Don't hold on too tight, or you'll tire. Here," Rowan poured some of their quintessence into Lyn's orb. For a brief moment, Rowan's fire and Lyn's light intermingled like two collapsing stars. Fiery gold swirled into Lyn's light. Her eyes widened with sensation. Her magelight was now a glorious sphere, a mosaic of colors: silver and fiery red, greens, blues, purples, and brown. The crystals around them scattered the lights in a million directions, like living galaxies.

  "Mana is a precious resource, soul mana especially so. Quintessence. The spark that makes you human. Deplete that, and you'll be depressed, exhausted, and vulnerable to all sorts of ailments. Be careful when using quintessence, and be even more careful when absorbing foreign mana.

  "Not all mana is the same, just as no two witches are the same. Everyone has different limitations and can access different mana. So far, you've demonstrated an affinity for lights. Whether that's the extent of your powers, we'll discover in time. For now, let's practice what we know.

  "Try to shape the orb. Move the colors around. Give it some shape. Get creative with it. This is your spell. It can be whatever you want it to be."

  Lyn closed her eyes and furrowed her brows. The orb began to stretch and take shape. Arms, legs, a head, and a tail sprouted out. Lyn was trying to replicate an illusion of Apple. But the proportions were all wrong: limbs uneven, lopsided, and absurd, like a child's drawing, as one might expect from an 8-year-old. The colors swirled brightly and erratically along fake-Apple's body like a glowworm of many colors.

  "That's excellent," Rowan encouraged with a smile and a gentle touch on Lyn's shoulder. "In time and with practice, one day, you'll be able to cast convincing illusions. Let's get going. We're not far now. While we're climbing, let your monkeylight run around. Practice duplicating natural movements. Send the monkey running and jumping. Try to make it look natural."

  The trio continued their ascent. Apple jumped to the ground and chased the illusion of her, giving Lyn a living example to copy. It helped somewhat, but also diverted Lyn's attention, so the illusion's movements were sputtering and unrealistic.

  "Apple doesn't jump that high," Rowan pointed out.

  Lyn smirked and concentrated, and her illusion grew wings. Well, not wings so much as flat diamond shapes. But they were clearly supposed to be wings.

  'Now it's more realistic,' Lyn laughed, and Apple translated, jumping back on Lyn's shoulders while the fake-Apple "flew" overhead, lighting their path. Lyn stumbled a few times, struggling to command the illusion while watching her steps. Her grip on the illusion was tenuous. As her attention wavered, bits of mana slipped away, and the illusion shrank, but Lyn never lost hold of the fake-Apple. Rowan was impressed.

  Before long, they reached the entrance to Sanctuary. Little more than a crack in the wall, and easily overlooked in the labyrinthine crystal caverns, unless you knew it was there.

  "Stand back, and put your light away," Rowan ordered. Lyn did as she was told, and darkness swallowed them again. Rowan peeked into the crack, but it was too dark to see anything. With a wave of a clawed hand, Rowan summoned a ball of fire and crafted it into a tiny fox, sending the tiny scout into the cave.

  Damn. Eight pale bears were sleeping in the cave, and the light woke them up. They started swiping at the fox, but Rowan couldn't waste the mana burning wild animals. The little fox ran around distracting the pale bears.

  Rowan turned to look at Lyn and had an idea.

  'Lyn,' Rowan signed directly, so the pale bears wouldn't hear them. 'You brought your slingshot, right?'

  'Of course,' Lyn exclaimed wide-eyed, as if it were madness to think she would have left something so important behind.

  Rowan smiled ruefully. They broke off a small crystal from a nearby stalagmite and funneled some mana into it. Then they handed the mana-charged crystal to Lyn and signed, 'Shoot this at the bears when they come out. It won't hurt them, but it should scare them away.'

  Lyn was breathless for a second but nodded.

  Then Rowan grabbed Lyn's hand and pulled her to hide behind a crystal column, thick and tall like a redwood. Rowan directed the little firefox to come out of the cave, and six pale bears came chasing it.

  Rowan held up an open hand to signify, 'Wait,' until all the bears had exited the gateway cavern. Most of the bears were chasing the little fox, but one bear was sniffing the in their direction. Rowan directed the little fox in front of it, but the pale bear stepped over it, evidently more curious about something else. The seventh bear exited the cave, while Rowan protracted their claws. They really didn't want to exhaust their mana killing a bunch of stupid bears.

  Finally the eighth and final bear came lumbering out, and Rowan dropped the signal. Lyn stood up, aimed, and launched the crystal at the nearest pale bear.

  The shot exploded with heat and light. The bear roared with fury, all his face whiskers singed off. He ran back toward the cave, but Rowan was ready. The little firefox was already at the entrance, and it burst into tall flames, blocking the entrance and terrifying the other bears. The pale bears weren't sure whether to fight or flee, six of the smallest pale bears ran away, but two stubborn bears stayed. The largest bears, they wouldn't concede the home where they had nursed their cubs. Shit.

  Rowan didn't want to kill them. They had no enmity toward pale bears, but they needed to get into that cave.

  "Run to the entrance," Rowan shouted as they stepped out from behind the crystal column. Their entire body spontaneously caught fire, and two fireballs appeared from either palm. This would be over quickly. Apple pulled Lyn toward the entrance, while Rowan charged the pale bears. But the flaming sight of Rowan terrified the last two bears. They caught wise and chased after their young before anyone was hurt. Relieved, Rowan put their fire out and went to the entrance.

  The little fox was back and bouncing underfoot, lighting the cave with dim, flickering flames. Rowan walked to the back of the cave, grasped a heavy stone slab, and pushed. The stone door spun on its ancient hinge, and they all squeezed through. Rowan pushed the door shut behind them and heard Lyn gasped in awe. Apple was dumbstruck.

  The Cthulian Mausoleum, an enormous underground forest. Resting place of the greatest cthulian minds and warriors. A single beam of light shined from a crack in the cave ceiling. The cave itself was massive and exquisitely carved over centuries. Towering rows of coffins on top of coffins lined the walls of the mausoleum. In the center of the cavern was a giant, ancient tree with bright pink and purple flowers whose petals covered the cavern floor like thick snow. Strange birds and animals, neither Lyn nor Apple had ever seen before, watched cautiously but without fear. A creature that resembled a stag with green and black spots came close enough to sniff Lyn's hand before backing away, having determined they were no threat.

  Lyn laughed aloud with joy and wonder at the beauty hidden beneath her island home. But her laugh woke something.

  "Who dares enter this hallowed space?!" A voice rang out. Apple jumped, and Rowan tensed. Lyn froze when she saw their reactions, looking around for the source of their distress. Then they all saw it. Out of the giant tree in the center of the mausoleum stepped a forest sprite.

  It was dark purple with green veins, feminine curves, and horns like a stag. The sound of angry, buzzing bees filled the air. Beautiful and terrifying, the sprite lifted both hands, and vines sprouted violently out of the ground and surrounded the three travelers, binding them in place. Lyn began to cry in fear, but Rowan made the sign for 'calm,' and it somewhat worked to pacify her.

  "Sprigga!" Rowan shouted. "Is this any way to greet old friends?" The tree nymph gasped in surprise, and immediately the vines returned to the ground.

  "Rowan! You're back!" Sprigga ran to greet them, cloven feet giving nimble traction while bounding downhill. Sprigga and Rowan embraced tightly. The sound of buzzing bees changed to a gentle hum that seemed to radiate from Sprigga's chest. "It's been so long, I wasn't sure if you were alive! What are you doing here?"

  "I'm sorry I've been gone so long, my dear. I've been preparing for war. Here, I'd like you to meet two of our newest recruits. This is Lyn and Apple," Rowan gestured toward their two small compatriots.

  Sprigga knelt, crossing both clawed hands across their chest to appear less threatening. Sprigga's anthropomorphized face, with skin like tree bark, rearranged itself into something resembling a smile. Sprigga's massive horns suddenly burst into life. Bright green leaves and blue flowers with flecks of pink blossomed above her. Lyn was instantly captivated and charmed. Delicately, she reached out to touch one of the flowers, as if a creature this magical could only be an illusion. Sprigga's laugh sounded like a horse's whinny, with a voice resembling the sound of wind bristling through leaves.

  "Welcome little ones," Sprigga said, "to Sanctuary."