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By the tione I cursed in every language I knew, then grabbed some towels I promised myself I’d tie her up if I had to

I followed Meryem’s wet footprints down the stairs and out of the house They were still clear in the dirt of the path to the dead pond I ran, then I was scared she ht fall into the water The acid water would burn her

The sight of dead animals in the pond stopped her on its shore When she saw ue out I was thinking of a plan of attack when bubbles rose to the surface of the water They popped with the stink of rotten eggs Slowly I approached Meryem As I did, other bubbles burst They ss and !" cried Merye! People alwaysto save your life!" I didn’t want to argue I wanted to think Whatup, as co after them? "Go back to the house Go back and wait! Go!" Bad air went hand in glove with Flare and Carnelian How close to the surface were they? What if they were right behind these bubbles?

"OOOMMMM" The sound made the air quiver "OOOUUUUUUUMMMMM"

Merye serious The boys must have tried to play some trick on him The sound would be even worse to thee bubble popped with a stink that made my throat close I moved away from it I couldn’t letthat you’d better get back to the house now!"

She didn’t make me repeat myself She ran to Oswin’s as fast as she could

"Finish your bath and get dressed!" I yelled after her Then I lay on a dry patch of ground, away from the mud I put my hands flat on the earth and drew froh I had built ically as I was before I had coather I could find ic in ordinary stones--they were the heart of my power They wouldn’t hold as much as ones I had fiddled with, but they could still help

Today I was lucky To ed in that volcano All of theth Rainbow, plain, and black audy sunstone, I drank all of it in, then thanked the rocks In the ground I searched out the heavy, dense granite, dark and stubborn basalt, and the cruel edges of gabbro I spread my net wider for stones filled with holes: scoria and pu of the volcano spirits would pass through lanced at the pond It bubbled like a kettle boiling on the fire "Don’t wait any longer, Evvy," I told ical body fall out of round

There I saw as clearly with ical eyes as I could with my real ones The power of the volcano spirits shone in tiny wisps fro the power back down into the earth

12

The Quartz Trap

It took ic until I ran into Flare and Carnelian When I had noticed those bubbles in the pond, then seen their power under it, I had been afraid they were close to the surface

Both of the I hoped that was a good thing

Where were you? Flare circled an to spin like a top We looked all over the chaht you had left us with everyone old

Why did you go? We know you did We didn’t like it Carnelian stared at me The stone around us softened and dripped down the sides of the crack where we drifted

You alround, I somehohere Mount Grace was I pointed to it I’m not like you You have to see that You nearly killed ainst this roof here, I’ll leave again, I proht to preserve my life

We couldn’t crush anybody here The roof is weak, can’t you tell? There’s more bounce Flare pushed the stone over us with his arh parts of itwaves around him streamed into the thin crack in the stone That was the poisoned air, I knew It would speed to the surface far in advance of hi into the pond Could it widen the crack and open the way for Carnelian and Flare?

I didn’t think Nory would like it if a volcano, or even a slowly leaking lava flow, came up out of Oswin’s pond

Maybe if I help Carnelian rose to put her shoulders against the crack It widened under her pressure More poisoned air rose into it

I felt heat rise below us I looked down At the far end of the crack, where it entered the underground cha on A handful of theet Flare and Carnelian out of here The others h They weren’t as curious as these two I wished I could get Luvo down here with his big noise Luvo could teach theht of the crystals I had seen, the ones whose strength I had borrowed So crystals…