Sunup to sundown? How was anybody to know when the sun was up or down, here in this warren of caves? Samheed sighed. He looked at the bottom of the note, where there was a makeshift map guiding him to the shipbuilding area.

After a cursory glance around his new living quarters, Samheed stood up. He tugged at the thin chain that connected his thorn necklace to the wire above. It was locked, stuck fast. Finally he started walking, carrying the note with the map, weaving his way through tunnels. Straining his eyes for a glimpse of Lani and hoping she was okay.

When he neared the end of the directions, he squinted. Afternoon sunlight poured in through a hole above his head. He hadn’t seen sunlight in weeks. As he stood there at the base of the stone-carved ladder, basking in the warmth of the sun, taking a moment to enjoy it before starting his new job, a bright ball of fire whizzed past his ear and flew up through the hole, leaving a faint trail of light skating down the passageway behind it.

A Still, Small Voice

When Alex woke up late the next morning, he almost couldn’t remember where he was. He lay in the soft bed surrounded by pillows and

blankets feeling refreshed for the first time in

“Alex,” Clive called from the other room. “Aaaalex!”

Alex cringed. “What?” he shouted back.

“Nothing.”

Alex rolled his eyes and reluctantly climbed out of bed. He

cleaned up and got ready for what would surely be another busy day, and then he went into his living area and stood in front of the blackboard. “What?” he said again. Clive looked away. A tear pressed out from the surface of the blackboard and rolled down his cheek.

Alex’s eyes widened. “Oh no,” he said. “You heard the news?”

Clive gave a curt nod. “Yes. And may I say that when Mr. Today was alive, the blackboards were the first to know everything,” he said, his voice containing a hint of accusation.

“Clive . . . ,” Alex began. Clive wrenched his head in the other direction for dramatic effect. Alex kind of wanted to punch him, but he gathered up as much patience as he could muster. “Look, I’m really sorry. I had a lot of stuff to do yesterday, and I wanted to tell you the whole story so you could deliver it to the others. But it’s a really long story, and there was so much happening—rescuing Ms. Morning, getting the people out of the secret hallway—”

“There’s a secret hallway?” Clive cried out.

Alex sighed, but he couldn’t help saying, “I guess Mr. Today never told you that.”

“Stop! The pain! It’s still so fresh . . .”

Alex gritted his teeth and started loading up his spell components for the day. “Oh, come off it. I’ve really had enough drama for now. I know you’re sad, I know everybody’s sad, and I am too, but I’ve got to go help take the THORNS out of MEGHAN’S NECK now,” he said, punching the words out and slamming components into his pockets as anger built inside him, “because SHE CAN’T SPEAK. I bet nobody mentioned that to you, either. And then I have to figure out how to rescue Samheed and Lani, because they are PRISONERS at a NEARBY ISLAND. What’s that? You didn’t know about that, either? That’s because I’m so busy saving everything and everybody that I didn’t have TWO SECONDS to tell you before the next crisis happened. Okay?” Alex hadn’t felt so unforgiving in a long time.

Clive’s forehead wrinkled in alarm. “Gosh,” he muttered. And then he sank back into the blackboard and disappeared. Alex’s mouth opened briefly, and then he closed it again and shook his head. “Whatever.” He refilled the pockets of his newly cleaned component vest, ordered a breakfast sandwich sent up from the kitchen, and set off with it. As he closed the door behind him, he paused, listening for Clive’s usual parting words, but this time there was nothing to hear. He bit his lip and looked down at the floor, and then shrugged and walked to the balcony, inhaling his sandwich in three bites.

Meghan stood waiting. People buzzed about as usual. It was almost freaky how normal things seemed again.

“Ready?” Alex asked. He licked his fingers and wiped them dry on his pants.

Meghan’s face was verging on light gray. She rolled her shoulders a few times and nodded. Together they descended and walked into the hospital ward. Florence and Octavia were already there, and so were Sean and a team of nurses.

Meghan grabbed her brother’s hand and sat down on the cot as Florence explained the procedure. Octavia and the nurses performed as much medicine magic as they could think of to help her through the pain to come. And then . . .

And then.

Florence picked up an enormous sterilized wire cutter with long handles, and very carefully she clamped it down on a stretch of thorny necklace, not touching Meghan’s skin. She pressed the cutter handles together and there was a loud, swift click as the metal broke.

Everyone breathed. Florence pulled the cutter back and inspected her work. “Doing okay, Meghan?” she asked.

Meghan nodded.

Florence went to a second section and cut through that piece as well. She did a third and a fourth and a fifth, all the way around Meghan’s neck. And then she stepped back. Her part was done.

Meghan offered up a strained grin. Everyone knew that the hard part was still to come. The nurses surrounded Meghan to the point that Alex couldn’t see what they were doing, but perhaps, he thought, it was better that way. His stomach was feeling a bit queasy, and he thought maybe it hadn’t been such a good idea after all to gulp down a big breakfast sandwich ten seconds before coming here.