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Just breathe She could al caress, and the luceria grearainst her throat

She needed to see The blackness was s a primal fear that she couldn’t control If only they’d had more time and he’d been able to teach her how to see in the dark He’d said she could do it She needed to figure out how

A ribbon of energy hovered between the to her necklace She tugged on that ribbon, pulling soure out how toHer eyes were the problem, so she redirected some of the power into theht focus She could see the tunnel they were in with perfect clarity Every sparkle of litter along the walls and floor The grainy texture of the rocks littering the ground stood out in stark relief She zoomed in on one until she could see each individual crack and bu

She was so distracted by her newfound talent that she was startled by the tug of Drake’s belt at her fingers She stu hand wrap around her arm to steady her "Sorry," she whispered

Up ahead, so skittered in response to the noise

Oh, crap This was not good

Drake reached back and pressed her against the wall, flattening his own body as well In a voice so quiet she could barely hear, he said, "Two haest, feeding South wall"

Helen had no idea which way south was Or what a haest was

"I’ll go in alone," whispered Thomas "I can handle two"

Drake shook his head and she could see the grim set of his mouth with her newly perfect vision "There areoff Those two may not be alone"

"Do you see the sword?" asked Thomas

"No"

"Let h her brain

"Like hell," said Drake

"I did so to my eyes I can see perfectly now"

Drake was silent for a

"If she’s tapped in to your power, she could be stronger than the two of us put together," said Thomas "Let her try"

Helen wasn’t sure about that, but with a silent curse on his lips, Drake stepped back to give her roo of the tunnel

Her heart was pounding in her chest and her breathing was too fast, but she found the courage to lean forward just enough to see It was an open area that was about three tie sections of the walls had been scraped aithto so, but they were so eroded by ter upThe floor was covered with bits of fur, bone, and dried leaves Piles of the stuff stood inunderneath the refuse--ss one would never see displayed in a petting zoo

She repressed a shudder of revulsion, but not for long Along what she had to guess was the south ere two giantcreatures, as tall as afros were shoved into the belly of a dead cow Through the se black into the cow until its hide expanded to the point of bursting Onesound, which was returned by the second one Then in unison, they started sucking so back out of the cow--a mix of blood and bits of muscle and bone The cow’s stos started the process all over again

Helen’s stousting Things Ever list had a new nu her perfect vision for a ain She scanned the roo shiny Several pieces of quartz caught her eye, as did an elass eyes of a doll’s head No body Just the head Creepy

She felt Drake’s hand on her neck as if he was going to pull her back, but instead, his ring touched her necklace and she felt a surge of power Since she’d been channeling his power to her eyes, that’s where that surge went, and for aShe could see the cow’s skeleton, the thick plates of theratlike things hiding in the anic rubbish She could even see several veins of h the walls of the mine

Buried under one of the mounds of refuse was the un out, but it was coated with dried blood and not at all shiny, so she hadn’t seen it before

Helen ducked back into the tunnel and forced herself to keep her voice quiet through a sheer act of will She was hu the lost treasure "It’s in there," she told them "Under one of those piles of fur and stuff On the far wall Middle pile"

Drake gave her a proud s about kissing her and she loved that about hi to kiss her to distract her fros in the world

"I’ll take the haest," said Thoet the sword"

Drake nodded "Don’t take the"

"What do I do?" asked Helen She was all pu they’d be out of here soon

"Stay here Warn us if you see so we don’t"