The air coming up the stairs was dry and fresh, a refreshing change from the odorous dank of the decaying jungle. An iron door at the bottom of the steps slid open as Jandra approached. The space beyond was brightly lit. "What if there are more guards," Shay asked in a loud whisper. "Is this safe?"
"There were only thirteen riders because I only made thirteen long-wyrms," Jandra answered. "This was their barracks. It's abandoned now."
Shay started to point out she'd said "I" when she meant "Jazz," but held his tongue, not wanting to upset her.
"We killed three yesterday, Bitterwood killed two on the beach, six were killed at the battle of Dead Skunk Hole, and Bitterwood told me he'd killed one at Big Lick. That's twelve. Adam's the only one left. If my math is right, there are still four long-wyrms unaccounted for. Maybe Adam knows where they are."
Shay stepped into the barracks, squinting as he adjusted to the light. The room was long and sparsely furnished with narrow cots. The walls were white brick. There were no windows. The ceiling was made of a translucent material like a large, uniform sheet of paper, glowing warmly. Toward the back of the room was a large desk. Behind it were shelves filled with books. Shay was afraid to approach them, given the recent ill fates of any book he touched.
"Oh look," said Jandra, as she peered over Shay's shoulder. "A map."
Shay gathered it was the island they were currently on, since there was a yellow arrow pointing to a spot that read, "You are here." Jandra placed her fingers on the map. The island got smaller as the area shown by the map expanded. Soon, a vast, perplexing network of white lines against a black background was revealed.
"This is her entire underground empire," said Jandra. "We're underneath what was once called West Virginia. It was absolutely riddled with mines." The image spun around when Jandra twirled her fingers on the image. "Ah. Just as I suspected. We took the long way here. We can make it back to the surface in just a few hours." One of the white lines began to pulse with pale red light.
Shay approached the frame. "A magic map. There are cartographers at the College of Spires who would kill for this."
"If you want to see magic, wait until we dig up the genie."
She walked over to the wall and pressed one of the white bricks. They slid back to reveal a large closet filled with tools. Shay spotted more of the wing disks on a metal shelf. Before he could examine the closet further, Jandra turned around with two shovels in her hand, as well as a small garden trowel.
She tossed a shovel toward Shay and the trowel at Lizard. "Everybody digs," she said.
Jandra led them to a clearing. The ground was blackened by a relatively recent fire. It was cool now, but the air still held the smell of a well-used fireplace. Charcoal crunched beneath Shay's boots as he stepped on what had once been a tree branch. Unlike the slimy ghost forest, the land here was bone dry. Jandra wandered over the ashes, her fingers outstretched.
"Can you feel it?" she whispered.
"Feel what?" asked Shay.
"The buzz in the air. It's a fine mist of nanites. Even without a genie, I can sense it. It feels like sunlight under the skin."
Lizard looked up at the stone sky. "Sun gone," he said, sadly.
"The sooner we get the genie, the sooner we get back to the surface," said Jandra. With a grunt, she thrust her shovel into the black dirt. "Once I have my powers back, we can fly out of here and bask in all the sun we want. Then… then I'll fix everything." She tossed away a spadeful of shiny black dirt. "I'll go back to Dragon Forge and heal Vance's blindness. I'll fix Burke's leg so well he'll be dancing." She plunged the shovel into the ground again.
Shay joined in the digging. Lizard approached and tentatively tossed aside a few scoops of earth with his trowel.
Shay pursed his lips and put his back into the task. Could this device they were digging for really give Jandra the power to heal the blind and the lame? If so… would that matter much in the overall scheme of things?
"I know you mean well," he said, tossing aside dirt. "But… doesn't the world have bigger problems than a few people's eyes or limbs? If this genie makes you as powerful as you say, couldn't you use it to fight dragons? Ragnar wants to drive all the dragons into the sea. Couldn't you actually do that?"
Jandra stopped digging. She bit her lower lip, lost in thought.
"What?" he asked.
"I just wish I could talk to Vendevorex," she said. "He had so much power, but he barely used it. He hinted that he was afraid that the Atlanteans might find him."
"And you're worried they might find you?"
"Not in the least," she said, with a cocky smile. "But… it's easy to sit here and talk about driving the dragons into the sea when we don't have the power to do it. Once I have my power back, though… I hope I'm wise enough to know what to do."
Shay brushed back the hair that was falling down into her eyes. He said, "The fact that you have thoughts like this is all the proof I need of your wisdom."
"Thank you," she said. She leaned forward. He closed his eyes and met her in a kiss. It was much more pleasant than their aerial lip smash.
She pulled back and gave him a wicked smile. Shay smiled back. "Would you like to take a break?"
She put a hand on her hip and rolled her eyes. "First work, then fun. Keep digging."
Three hours later and six feet down, Shay's hands were blistered, his back was on fire, and sweat rained from his body with every thrust of the shovel. He'd removed his shirt and peeled his long-johns down, bunching them up at his belt. The deeper he dug, the harder the earth was packed. The hole was also becoming hotter.
Lizard had long since tuckered out. The little dragon lay next to the hole, his chin draped over the edge, looking down. Lizard was roughly at eye level whenever Shay tried to straighten up.
"I promise I'll make you feel better once this is done," said Jandra, who was sitting at the edge of the pit, her legs dangling. "Vendevorex had me study anatomy. I know what muscles to rub."
"If you're trying to motivate me, I appreciate it," he said. He stopped to wipe the sweat from his eyes. "But, honestly, I think I'm done for the day. I'm a scribe, not a ditch digger. If you need someone to sit at a desk and write for eight hours straight, I'm your man."
"You're my man anyway," said Jandra. "I like watching you dig. Your muscles are really bulging."
She handed him the canteen. He tilted it up and let it pour into his mouth and down his chest in a bracing gush. He glanced at his shoulders and biceps. They did look particularly chiseled after his efforts.
"Ten more minutes," she said, staring at him hungrily.
He swallowed another gulp of cool water. "For you, my love, I'll make it eleven."
He plunged his shovel toward the black earth, driving it with all his strength. The shovel blade barely scratched the soil. It felt like he'd hit bedrock.
"Ow," he said, pulling his hand away from the shovel. The abrupt halt had pushed a splinter into his palm.
He looked up, hoping for a sympathetic word from Jandra. Instead, her eyes were focused on the spot where he was standing.
"Out of the pit," she said, tossing off her coat.
"Do you think…?"
"I think there's not enough room for both of us in there," she said, holding out her hand. "Climb out."
She practically yanked him out of the hole. Before he could brush the dirt off himself, she'd grabbed Lizard's trowel and leapt into the pit. She knelt on the black dirt, her fingers tracing the outline of something he couldn't see.
"The sword," she said. "I can feel the heat."
Dirt flew up over her back as she hacked at the ground with the trowel. "Vendevorex and I wore our genies as helmets, but Jazz kept hers beneath her skin. It served as her heart. Bitterwood left Gabriel's flaming sword piercing her heart but it never melted, even when the rest of her body crumbled to ash. We buried her heart with the sword still in it."