“I won’t tell,” I mutter.

“Thank you.” She smiles awkwardly, but it quickly fades. “One last warning. If you escape this Board and our paths cross in the future, we’ll be on different sides. Don’t expect me to ever help you again.”

With that, she turns, raises her face to the sky, extends her arms, then turns into a beautiful, swan-like demon. As I watch, she gracefully rises and glides away, picking up speed, soaring higher and higher, until she’s only a speck against the skyline… then gone.

Dervish arrives some time later. I’m lying in the same spot, still in agony, using magic to make little changes and tweaks. As Dervish fusses over me, I tell him about the attack and my fall, but claim I pulled myself out and patched my body together unassisted. I don’t mention Nadia.

“Can you stand?” Dervish asks, fanning his face, sweating from the heat of the river.

“I don’t think so,” I croak.

“How about levitate?”

I manage a chuckle. “I’m not Beranabus. I can’t fly.”

“Then I’m going to pick you up,” he says. “We need to get away from here. I’ll be as gentle as possible. Ready?”

I nod, gritting my teeth so I don’t cry out too loudly when he touches me. As carefully as he can, Dervish sneaks one arm under my neck, the other beneath my knees, and lifts. It’s not as bad as I thought, but I can’t stop myself from gasping and shutting my newly grown eyelids against the pain.

“Sorry,” Dervish says, then hobbles away from the lava, carrying me like a baby.

Resting behind a hill, sheltered from the heat of the river. I’m still working on my body, using magic to undo the damage and smooth over the cracks. Make sure all my bones are solid. Regrow fingernails and fingerprints. Separate my toes. Try to get my ears the right shape. Let warm energy circulate through my legs, strengthening them, knowing I’ll have to get up soon and walk.

No more faces in the sky. Just a ceiling of yellow light. I asked Dervish about them, but he didn’t see Lord Loss or Beranabus. He’d been wandering like me, but in this zone of light, not darkness. Then he spotted a white, winged demon. Since it seemed to be the only living creature, he followed it until it vanished. Having no better plan, he kept going in the same direction—and found me.

“Where do you think Shark is?” I ask.

Dervish shrugs. “He could be anywhere. I’ve no idea how large this place is.” I tell him my idea, that it’s laid out like a chess board, thirty-two dark areas, thirty-two light zones. Dervish hadn’t thought of that. “I think you’re right,” he says. “But we’ve no way of working out the size of each square.”

“Did you find any water?” I ask. “I’m thirsty.”

“Don’t think about it,” he advises. “You can keep thirst and hunger at bay, like sleep. Your body will do almost anything you tell it here.”

He strokes his spikes of hair, stiff and upright again, a few inches longer than before. He’s putting on a brave front, but I can see he’s terrified. He’s not much older or more experienced than me. He’s never been in a situation like this. He’s acting grown-up, but I bet—like me—he’d give anything to have somebody to turn to for help.

“We need a plan,” I say, wanting to make things a bit easier for Dervish. “We can’t just stagger around, waiting to be attacked. We should have a purpose.”

“Getting the hell out of here would be a good start,” Dervish mutters.

“Yes, but Lord Loss said we could only get out if I found and named the demon thief. First, I think we should find Shark. Then we can try to figure out a way to unearth Cadaver.”

Dervish nods. “That sounds good. But how will we look for Shark? Just pick a direction at random?” I suppose…

“But what if we’re in a square at one end of the Board and he’s in a square at the opposite end?”

“Then it’ll be a long walk.”

Dervish laughs.

“What else can we do?” I ask.

Dervish frowns. “Maybe one of the demons could lead us to him—the hell-child or the winged monster.” He walks around to the other side of the hill to look for them. Returns a minute later, shaking his head.

“There will be others,” I say. “Lord Loss won’t want to watch us walk around in circles for too long. That would be boring. I bet he’ll send lots of demons to attack us.”

“Great.” Dervish doesn’t sound too optimistic.

“I could use the patches of light to find Shark, except there aren’t any here. The Board isn’t like the outside universes. The rules are different.”

Dervish chuckles. “From one universe of insanity to another.”

“Maybe I could…” I stop and dig the marbles out of my pocket, remembering how I used one to create light in the maze of darkness.

“What are those?” Dervish asks.

“Marbles. My brother was playing with them before he was kidnapped.”

“Oh. I was hoping they were some sort of magical globes.”

“Maybe they are… or can be.” I tell him about the maze, how I tried to create light but couldn’t, until I got one of the marbles out.

“But we don’t need light here,” Dervish says.

“Thanks for pointing out the obvious,” I snap. “What I meant was, if I could use a marble as a torch, maybe I could use it as some other instrument. Like a compass or a tracking device?”

Dervish looks sceptical but says, “Well, go on, give it a try.”

I study the orange marbles and again find myself thinking of that night in Sally’s house, Art holding them up over his eyes. Shutting the image out, I focus on thoughts of Shark, asking the marbles to lead me to him. Nothing happens immediately, but then Dervish gasps and leans in closer. The orange swirls at the heart of the marbles have turned mistlike, and through the mist we can see Shark, battling demons, his hands wet with blood.

“Where is he?” Dervish cries.

“I don’t know.” I try to bring the land around Shark into clearer focus but can’t. Abandoning that tactic, I let the pictures of him fade and ask the marbles to guide us to him. They quiver in the palm of my hand, then leap into the air like jumping beans. I cringe away from them. Dervish does too. But when they just hang there, we recover and grin at each other. I get to my feet, Dervish helping me. Pain flares afresh, but I use magic to fight it. Then I focus on the marbles, still hanging in the air above us.

“Shark,” I say quietly, directing my magic towards the marbles. They dart off ahead of me at a furious speed, twin bolts of orange lightning. “Wait!” I shout. They come to a halt, hovering in the air like bees. I glance at Dervish and he claps slowly.

I stumble forward, feet still blistered from the lava, Dervish supporting me. As we come up to the marbles, I again ask them to lead us to Shark. “But slowly,” I add. “Don’t get too far ahead of us.” The marbles bob in the air, as though nodding, then float smoothly over the volcanic landscape, leading us in search of our demon-tormented friend.