"Yeah, I'm not so concerned about you, Curly!" Anvard grinned widely, but he kind of meant it. They laughed through the scary possibility that they were trapped inside the tunnel to the coaster station.

"How are we going to get out of here?" Corinth asked.

"The same way we intended. We're not trapped, we're...."

"We know, inconvenienced," Corinth and Lindle spoke together, like twins.

Anvard rolled his eyes and gingerly walked over to the pile of rubble that nearly buried him alive a moment ago. "Aufero In Salium Terra." He waved the hand holding his llave across the stones and one by one, they displaced themselves. The salts of the earth repositioned themselves, revealing a tight, but pa.s.sable pa.s.sage.

Lindle was quite amazed by the sight. He wasn't so used to meeting fourteen-year-olds that knew so many spells in Maledictus. "Do you only wield in the cursed language?

Anvard didn't bother to turn to him. The path was clearing, but he felt like he'd need a bigger opening to fit his own stocky shoulders through. He focused on that, but answered the question no less. "If I hadn't cast that Annihilate we wouldn't be in here. We'd be on the coaster. Probably half way into the nice comfy trap we're willingly making our way to. That's English, ain't it?"

Lindle looked at the gray stone ceiling of the tunnel. "Oh yeah, you're right. But still, you're an amazing wielder!" He seemed genuinely excited about Anvard's talent. "Maybe you can teach..."

"Look!" he said abruptly, derailing Lindle from his train of thought. Andy wasn't in the mood for selfish thinking. He figured Corinth had the aisle stocked to capacity with this obsessively selfish quest of his. "Let's just do what we're doing. Try to stay alive, and work the rest out later." He turned to them both once he realized he couldn't bend the rocks any further. "You guys don't seem to be taking this very serious. But it is! That door was put there to lock us in. I've been up here before. I've gone farther north than either of you. Granted, it was on a hiking trip with my family, but I still went." He pointed a finger of certainty at them, letting them know that he knew more than they did. "I've seen things up here that would blow your little minds. That's why I believe in dreams and a lot of the myths. But this isn't some summer hike across the fertile mountainsides. We have no guide. We don't even know where we're going. And now we have a guarantee that someone or something is watching us. Luring us to it." He was tired of trying to hold everything together since he met Corinth. He had his own insecurities and problems to deal with. But somehow, Corinth always came first. "You just have to be more aware of your surroundings. We have no choice in the matter now. We go forward, but with an imbued sense of caution."

Corinth looked back to Lindle, when Anvard turned back to the narrow tunnel he created. Corinth eked out of his throat as quietly as possible to Lindle, "what's'imbued' mean?" Lindle just shrugged and they both followed Andy through the marginal opening toward the platform of the coaster station.

They twisted their bodies to the side. With their backs and hands against either wall, they took one step at a time, pushing their way through left over debris, while dust from above fell onto their heads. This made them all feel rather claustrophobic. Anvard had a good sense of it, but now he surely knew how Vonczech felt during the Levanta.r.s.e game. It was tight. Almost too tight for the leading man to fit through. Anvard found himself stuck between a rock and a very hard place. His muscles started to tighten, and he started to freak out. Panting the way Oliveto did when Corinth didn't give him enough water. The big boy hyperventilated in front of them. He couldn't breathe, his throat started closing up as he clenched his own neck with one hand.

"Spirant Facilis," Lindle whispered from behind Corinth. He wanted Anvard to be able to breathe easy, but his clever spell didn't work, as he wasn't very good at wielding in the cursed language.

"My G.o.d, I can't .... I can't! My chest!" He started twisting back and forth trying to move back in the direction they just came from.

"Anvard, wait!" Corinth shouted. But Anvard pushed so hard that his foot and shoulder both shifted out of their fixed position between the walls that pressed against all of their backs and chest.

He slammed into Corinth when he lost what little balance he had. Their heads knocked against one another's like coconuts. But there was no room to fall down. There was more s.p.a.ce back the way they came, but still not enough for Anvard to get pa.s.s, unless he cleared the way somehow. He was in full panic mode now. He tried to climb over a leaning Corinth as he drifted in and out, with unfocused vision. Anvard's bolt like head was no soft tool, so the force overwhelmed Corinth. Anvard, too, could barely see, he was so overwhelmed by the onslaught of fear creeping through his mind. Corinth's small body seemed to shimmy its way down to the floor of the man made crevice they huddled in. He laid there on the floor as Anvard literally stepped on him, trying to pa.s.s in a panic.

Corinth slowly came back to reality after the strike of their two heads, but somehow with a new focus he never experienced before. His world seemed to slow down and become very poignant. But he wouldn't let the regret of dragging the two of them with him into this mess keep him from accomplishing his mystified goal. He just knew it in his head. He couldn't put it into words that the others could understand, but there was something waiting for him out there in the Angora Mountains. Something that had been waiting longer than Walker roamed the earth. He knew this was bigger than he was, and couldn't simply be ignored. He wanted Anvard, at the very least, to be able to understand the sensation incessantly dominating his thoughts since he was reunited with his parents. He'd been feeling like he was chasing an elusive idea from the beginning of it all.

He grabbed Anvard's pa.s.sing leg, and opened his mind to him. Time stopped for a moment between them. Lindle was trying his absolute best to back away, but the sight of a charging Anvard scared him so-that he got jammed up in the limited s.p.a.ce around him. While Lindle fought to regain control over his movement, the other two felt each other in a way they never could have if Corinth weren't a budding psychic himself, and now an increasingly profound fraction of the entire Nexus.

Anvard's veins popped out from beneath his skin. They coursed with his blood flowing faster than ever before. His petrified face was frozen in shock. He welled up with tears in his widened, bloodshot eyes. Those tears rolled down the center of his face into his broadly opened mouth. In an instance, he felt every emotion Corinth ever experienced. Every lonely thought. Every fleeting urge. They were all now a part of his mind as well. He realized that Corinth always felt like he was trapped between a rock and a hard place. Not just in day-to-day living, but in his very own mind too. There was no escape for him. He had to go forward with this plan. Anvard could feel it the way Corinth felt it. He knew now, and understood why Corinth couldn't explain it before. The knowledge soothed him. It calmed him to the point that he ceased all frantic activity, and just let the tears stream.

Anvard blasted the rocks with an Annihilate, while using a Vis Aura to protect himself and the others from debris. He didn't want to try fitting through again. They finally reached the open mouth of the coaster station, but things weren't exactly looking up for them. The coaster looked old and out of order. Lindle inspected it as Corinth and Andy sat on a railing of the platform that separated them from the tracks. It looked like they were in a train station. A very dusty, dingy train station. The coaster wasn't exactly a train, but it worked like one. One difference being that it was openly exposed to the outside. Not always, but more times than not. They noticed all the railcars were exposed, no hoods in sight. They wanted to take a single cart, but they were all connected to one another. They looked around for tools, but found nothing. They'd have to take the whole darn row, if they even still wanted to get across.

Anvard hoisted himself onto the top red bar. Corinth looked up at him from the middle bar leaning forward. "I'm sorry I almost trampled you," Andy twisted his lips slightly into a grin, but he was really embarra.s.sed by his behavior. He was supposed to be the rock of this group.

"It wasn't that bad," Cory tried to sound friendly. "I remember feeling like I couldn't breathe either when I fell down in the auditorium. It's not a fun feeling."

Anvard wanted to agree, but his pride took him in a different direction. "Yeah, but if I'm not able to protect you then..." he paused, because he didn't want to think of the possibilities.

"You'd be surprised how I react under pressure. I'm not a baby. I'm small, a little more scarred, but overall I have a lot of courage too." Corinth realized how surreal he sounded while touching his chest like that's exactly where the courage existed inside of him. "Well ... it's somewhere down in there," he said, trying to clear up his explanation.

Anvard knew that to be the truth. He felt a glimpse of that stark courage Corinth possessed when he touched his leg, but really his soul. He felt it, true, but -Anvard couldn't possibly imagine on his own how much depth there was to this feeble boy's soul. Corinth had a deft way of dealing with emotion. That's why he is the one the Nexus connected with over all others.

"But someone's got to be the rock of the group. You think that guy's going to do it!" He gestured to Lindle, who was tapping on one of the carts, like that would identify whether it was still functioning properly or not. "He can't even figure out where the switches are." He pointed to the switchboard just a few feet from the bars they sat on. It was positioned in front of the carts Lindle knocked on, but he didn't notice. "Somebody has got to be the rock, the stable one, you know?"

"Well, okay, Rocksteady!" Corinth laughed in his face. "You really showed how stable you can be back in the tunnel."

Anvard smirked, but really his pride was in the toilet, and Corinth had no problem flushing him out. Andy felt like Corinth was supposed to be impressed by him, not mocking him. But he figured he deserved it after he nearly broke the boy in two.

"Okay, let's get going!" Anvard clapped his hands together and hopped off the top bar. "Come on in, Curly," he called out to Lindle to stop trying to turn on the machine by strategically banging on it.

The blue-gray carts that sat on the rusted tracks seemed completely inert. But Corinth was determined to make it, despite the obstacles that came already and could possibly stand in their way if they venture forward. Corinth pushed Anvard aside, and took control of the switches he was reluctant to touch. He pushed the most obvious b.u.t.ton first. The big red one that was labeled,"ON". After he pulled his hand back, the line of carts directly in front of the switchboard sprung to life. The static sound of the electromagnetic propulsion systems coming to life shocked all three of them. There seemed to be an electrical field that wasn't quite flowing right, which gave way to Anvard's new wave of reluctance. The lights above the track began flashing red, green, and yellow. There were four tracks. They boarded the second track from the right. Well, at least Corinth and Lindle did.

"Wait!" Anvard called out to them, but they continued to step inside. "The lights! They're still flashing. This thing can't be operable," as the last word left his lips, the lights stopped. On yellow no less.

"See, its fine," Corinth pointed to the screen onboard the fourth cart in the railcar row. "Everything's fine," he said again impatiently.

"It's yellow, Cory!" It wasn't the right time to break that nickname out again. Corinth shot him a steely glare, but Anvard ignored it. "That's a caution light. See, red means no. Green means go. And yellow means slow, or something else that makes more sense ... and also rhymes?" Anvard insisted while scratching the back of his head.

"Okay, Rocksteady, we'll trust you to handle this one the way you did the tunnel situation," Corinth countered sarcastically.

He threw his hands up. "You know what, whatever!" He was beyond frustrated with the roller coaster emotional ride he and Corinth were on. Why not just hop on a real roller coaster while they're at it. One that was likely out of order. At least according to the sign at the gate that they continued to ignore, like it was never there. "Let's just go!" Andy summed up firmly.

He got in and pressed the b.u.t.ton he recalled seeing the guide press all those years ago on his family hiking trip. Meanwhile, static electrical currents slowly kicked in, making the hair on the back of their necks stand tall. Just then, the boys sat down. They positioned themselves on one of three benches against the sidewalls of the cart. Not even the slightest hint of hesitation crept through Corinth or Lindle's minds. They were ready. The automatic bar locks descended from over head. They were all now strapped in and on their way.

The cart slowly crept up the track with soothingly smooth propulsion. The structure had no wheels, so the ride wouldn't be b.u.mpy unless the technology failed them. The row of linked carts hovered just a few inches from the surface of the -flat gla.s.s track with metal stripes defining either edge. Propelled and repulsed by magnetic forces that held it in tight suspension with minimal friction and maximum velocity. The switch-track function operated via the individual cart's resonant traditional engines. Facilitated by the magnetic levitation that garnered resolute torque for slowing and accelerating the coaster's carts. When these forces combined, they provided the dynamic dexterity needed to perform the shifts from one side of the nonlinear track to the other. As it traveled through the mountains, it resembled a spiraling roller-coaster in more ways than a straightforward train.

Anvard didn't trust such advanced technology that already looked like it had endured much wear and tear. When he and his family boarded the coaster years ago, it wasn't so high-tech. It was still attached to the track by way of wheels and motor that moved it forward. The ride was clunky and uncomfortable, yet the carts looked newer and much better kept than tonight. Obviously, the coaster was still in working condition, but still he had a bad feeling about the not so joyous ride they were taking.

The coaster reached the summit of its incline. At the top of the hump, they looked out over the grounds of the school to the side of their peripheral vision. They saw the pillars and the pixie dust lighting up, and fading away back down there. The school grounds looked pretty close, even though it felt like forever walking from there to the tunnel of the coaster. They weren't nearly as high as Anvard remembered or expected. He looked forward pa.s.sed the control board, and the sight ahead cleared up his confusion. This was only the first of many climbs and descents. They still had to get over the mountains. That's why the coaster was built in the first place. After the smooth ride over the Central Lake, they'd have to ride upward to traverse the dangerous series of craggy peaks. Just beyond those craggy crevices lay the eerie North Lake. They had to travel over that water body as well. Then they could finally relax as they descended to the valleys between the higher mountain ranges that lay even further north of Hyperborean and Aurora Boreal school.

The coaster dropped like a streaking eagle swooping down to collect its unexpected prey from the fields. The buzzing sound radiating from beneath and inside the group of open blue-gray carts sounded volatile, but that didn't seem to bother Anvard. It was the ride that made him feel uneasy. Very queasy in fact, as he grimaced with a pained look on his face. The decent was just as much an event as any other roller-coaster that was built for fun instead of traveling means. The railcar carefully glided off the incline into a straight and even ride, just a low forty yards above the Central Lake. The mist off the water dashed their faces as the force of the speeding coaster whipped it up.

It was a refreshing feeling to Corinth. Gliding from one side of the World of Hyperborean to the other made him feel free. Unbound from the worries he normally and naturally possessed within himself. The silvery moon shined off to the left of them, lighting up Corinth's eyes beyond that of their usual shine. He loved the sight of the full moon. He thought it drifted so gracefully across the night sky. The moon used the shine of the sun to reflect light down to the earth, so that we wouldn't all be completely blinded when our home star wasn't in sight. It reminded him that even the smallest of objects could have a huge impact on the grand stage of life.

Though the Central Lake was the largest, the high-speed coaster zipped over it in mere minutes. The cart geared up to fly back into the sky. Meanwhile, Anvard's stomach hunkered down, trying not to project its insides all over his two companions beside him strapped down beneath the silver bars.

"When is this thing going to end?" Andy shouted from the third seat.

Corinth sat beside him in the center. He shouted over the noisy ride and the swooshing waters below. "I figured a Rocksteady guy like you could handle an itty-bitty coaster ride!"

Anvard's stomach did another back flip. This time in rage over Corinth throwing down that t.i.tle again ... and again.

The track elevated on a steep incline toward the crest of its wave through the night sky. Not so far away from the rigid edges protruding from the mountain ranges. This worried Lindle, and of course, Anvard. Why, he thought? Why would they have built this newer version so close to the rocky bits?

They felt unsafe, but Corinth didn't have a care in the world. Once he embraced the terrifying velocity, he couldn't get enough of the ride at large. He knew an architect couldn't be stupid enough to measure the distance between the track and the mountains wrong. They had to at least do a test run, or something, before turning on the power that juiced up this thing. More so, he was overjoyed that he found no sea monsters near the lake. His dreams had him convinced there'd be some kind of white-fire breathing reptile out here, lying in wait for him. But fortunately, no such thing came about.

The railcar picked up speed as it rounded the top hump, about to evasively traverse the Angora's insides. Anvard didn't like the sight ahead one bit. "Do-mountains-grow?" he sounded like he was choking on a peanut as he spoke.

The other two looked to one another with raised brows. They wouldn't have thought that the boy who took the leap to achieve Thunder would have heights issues. Corinth tried to grab his hand for comfort, but the gear locking in the protective bars from overhead wouldn't budge. They were strapped in there tight.

"Hey, it will be over soon. Just this last run through the mountains it seems, and then we'll be home free." Corinth donned a supportive expression.

"It's the twist. That's what gets me, not how high we are. And we're headed right for the worst part. The mountains seem like they've grow out, not up-p-p-p!"

Once the tail end of the last cart in the row leveled off. The entire thing pulled off! Shooting forward-to Anvard's surprise. The railcar tilted to the left, then to the right. It pushed itself along the designated path, maneuvering between rocky outcrops. To build the coaster ABOVE the peaks of even the smaller mountain ranges would have been impossible. The magnetic track would have been unstable with arches that high off the ground. The only alternative was to make a path THROUGH the openings in mountains.

It was a treacherous ride, one that freaked them all out. They were locked in stiffly as the cart twisted 360degrees around without slowing the least bit down, from their perspective. Unlike them, a machine didn't need to catch its breath. Or did it? They were seated in a middle cart amongst the row, but it seemed like another cart closer to the front was malfunctioning. The apparatus started to stall, just as they narrowly pa.s.sed by a sharp dangling edge of an eroded outcrop. The terrain was fiercely incongruent. They'd switch from one side to avoid smashing into a dead end. Only to shift back a few moments later because an outcrop dropped too low for the coaster to evade from its current angling.

The machine seemed in order, but then again smoke is never a good sign. A plume of fiery byproduct clouded the areas in between the craggy mountains. The gas clogged all their lungs. They coughed viscerally as the coaster chugged on. The traditional engines gave no more signs of failing, but there was no doubt that something had combusted in at least one of them. Because where there's smoke, there's definitely fire.

Unexpectedly, like a scene from one of Anvard's favorite action movies, the first compartment burst out into flames.

"Ahhhhhhhhhh!!!" they shouted collectively. As they knew it was only a matter of time before the flames reached them.

"Lindle!" Andy yelled, "Lindle! Stop this thing!"

He was closest to the control board to the far left of Anvard. "No!" Corinth shouted. "We might be able to make it!"

"It won't matter-if we burn to a crisp before we get there. We haven't even started over the North Lake yet. The ride's too long!"

The wind force and smoke made it difficult for them to hear or see one another. Usually, tourist enjoyed being that close to the mountains, without the hood over the carts. But tonight it was a complete hindrance. If not a death sentence.

"Undo your straps, Lindle!" Anvard commanded.

In the mildest tone he could un-courageously muster, Lindle spoke out against the plan to unfix himself while on a moving, rocking, 360degree twisting killer train."No," he meekly stated. He had tears in his eyes that neither of the other boys could see, because of the smoke.

"Lindle!!!" Anvard shouted into the air with his head tilted back. He made a snap decision after he realized there would be no farther response from the scared boy closest to the controls. He pushed both green release b.u.t.tons on the side handles of his safety bars.

"Cart currently in motion. Please remain seee-aaat-tteedd." The computerized voice lost communication after Anvard shot an electrified burst at the control panel with his llave gripped in his right hand.

"What are you doing?" Corinth shouted, kicked, and screamed. "We can make it, we'll die here if we don't try!" he cried out in a terrifying pitch.

Anvard looked to him as the safety bar continued ascending from the protective sh.e.l.l it formed over his chest and stomach area to keep him locked in. "Your quest is over, Corinth. This isn't just about your obsessive needs anymore. I have to stop this cart," Anvard was cool, calm, and collected as he spoke. He was ready to do what he believed needed to be done.

"You idiot! You'll fall! We need to get out over the lake! That's our only chance!" Corinth fought the urge to detach himself as well. He knew it was certain suicide.

While Corinth shouted like a maniac from his seat. Anvard drifted into his zone. That athletic zone that he pa.s.sed over to when on a Levanta.r.s.e field. This zone enabled him to focus his mind like a missile locked onto its mark. He hoped that the shot to the control panel would have brought this set of hot wheels to a screeching halt, but it didn't. The coaster sped on, as he lifted himself by pulling on the bars above his head that once kept him strapped in and safe. He held on tight as he pulled himself forward, using the series of overhead bars built into the cart. Ordinarily, on a ride this late, the hood would rest on them, but there was no hood there tonight. Just open air, and the infinite possibility of falling to ones death, if not secured. Which Andy wasn't!

An outcrop ahead hung lower than any of them could tell. The smoke and flames at the very front of the row of carts astronomically obstructed their view. The track called for the railcar to dip and then twist to the side, putting their faces parallel to the infinite drop below. Anvard prayed to every mythical deity he'd ever heard of that he wouldn't fall. He figured the bigger the pot, the better his chances that one would have mercy on his poor soul. Just a wide step or two away from slamming his fist down on the large red b.u.t.ton ... when Corinth shouted out again.

"Anvard! We can't get stuck in here. We'll have nowhere to go!" Anvard pa.s.sed on by Lindle and shot him a dirty look. Lindle -could barely see him, but he felt the tension. "This isn't my obsession it's my brain telling me this," Corinth angrily shouted. "You're killing us-"

The cart was in position now. It shifted down, lifting Anvard off his feet from the sudden decrease in alt.i.tude. Then as it switched over to the other side of the large crevices in between the mountains, it slammed his body against the bars that normally held the hood. If a hood had been there, he'd be relatively safe, but his body now hung out off the sides of the bars. Dangerously dangling outside, waiting to be struck by the next rocky ledge that came by.

He wrapped his arms around the thin black cushioned bars. His grip was entirely too weak. Every time the cart jerked, he nearly let go, dropping to his death from the tilted left side. The cart was rocked back and forth on its trek down the clear track. It had to stay on its side, in order to reduce its width. The pathway was clear as far as the eye could see, but it was entirely too narrow.

"Anvard, hold on!" Corinth did the unthinkable. He detached the bars by pressing the two green b.u.t.tons on either side of his security brace. The barred brace lifted off his chest, allowing more s.p.a.ce for his chest cavity to expand outward. He collected as much air as he could then pushed out for release. He took another deep breath, and then scaled the sides of the cart. It was much easier when Anvard did it, because the cart was upright as he walked across it. But now Corinth slid down the sides of what used to be the floor, now vertically angled as the wall of the machine. He feared that he'd go right over the edges if he didn't create some friction. His sweaty palms were the only thing between sticking inside the cart and tumbling out over the side. When he reached the bottom, he quickly grabbed hold of Anvard's folded arms around the third bar in the row of seven.

"No!" Andy shouted. "Get back into your seat!" Which was quite impossible at this point, but Anvard couldn't think of anything else he wanted more in the world than Corinth's safety.

"Shut up, I'm thinking," Corinth said it with an air of calmness that diffused with the winds and carried over to a completely blinded Anvard. He'd gotten a lot of smoke in his lungs and eyes. The tears and burning sensation kept him from opening up. He didn't want to see what was in front of him anyhow, so it wasn't really that bad.

Corinth may have been developing the courage of a warrior-like man, but he certainly didn't possess the strength of one. He tried pulling Anvard up, but it was no use. The big boy was too heavy for the weak kid. They held onto each other tight, as the coaster dropped slightly. The b.u.mp in the road freaked out Andy, but they were positioned secure enough to withstand it. Physically at least, though the mental toll was starting to become more of a relevant factor.

"It's a good thing you're here," he told Corinth. "Or that would have been it for me." With a foreboding wince, he kissed Corinth's hand attached to his own. Anvard didn't seem very auspicious about the tough odds they were up against.

Anvard stared into Corinth's turquoise eyes like they had reached the end of time together. While they looked at each other, the first cart in line popped off the track, sending a blaze of debris and sparking flames everywhere. A piece a metal from the destroyed cart ever so slightly grazed the loafers on Anvard's hanging legs. It knocked his body further to the side, almost off the bar. Though Corinth was no weight lifter, he did provide him with enough leverage to stay attached to their cart.

"Endure," Andy whispered to himself. Corinth saw Anvard's golden llave light up in his hand when he spoke the simple word. That bit of magik would help their arms to withstand the tugging pressures of the speeding coaster, but for how long?

Corinth looked forward to a revolting mess. The carts began rebelling against the magnetic forces of the track. Individual carts ahead of them lost touch with the rail and simply plowed into the walls of the crevices, falling down to their dooms just over the vertical sides of the gla.s.s track itself. Sending minuscule, but no less flaming shards of material that cut the skin of all three boys. Corinth and Anvard were smart enough to close their eyes, lest they be permanently blinded. But Lindle had completely given up hope. He sat strapped down to his chair wide-eyed, staring out into the hard mountain ranges.

Corinth squinted, trying to open his eyes without letting in any of the debris. What he saw sent a jolt to his system. The row of carts sparked with high-octane flames swirling around. If they had chosen a cart closer to the front, they'd already be dead. To Corinth, the wreckage seemed so fortuitous. His dream showed a large dragon flying toward him in the sky, melting his face with its lightning. But Walker and another mysterious force got in the way of this. No Walker and no mysterious forces were around, but the coaster's resemblance to a dragon flying through the sky gave him an idea. In his dream, he always fell from the coaster, and that's what woke him up. The fall.

"Lindle!!!" Corinth summoned every bit of strength he had and forced his words through his vocal cords. Before he closed his eyes back, he noticed the smoke catching a silvery-like light ahead. The fire was the only natural light in the cave. The only other light was that of the artificial lamps fixed to the sides of the cliffs. But he knew this silvery shade of light better than any other. It was moonlight. They were finally exiting the cave-like cracks that formed between the mountain ranges. The coaster made its way through without completely disengaging its connection to the magnetic track. "Lindle, can you hear me?"

He was transfixed by the flames. Nothing was getting through, until a tiny shard of gla.s.s cut his upper eyelid as he was forced to blink from the toxic sting of the fuming gases. He screamed out in terror and tried to grab his eye, but the safety-brace over his body restricted his movement.

Corinth heard his m.u.f.fled screams. "Lindle, you have to listen to me! When we get out over the North Lake ... you have to uproot the track!"

Both Anvard and Lindle took note of that phrase immediately. Does he mean to destroy the track? It didn't have a ring to it. Not at least in their ears. The railcar was edging so close to the exit. Corinth knew this was their only chance, even though he was well aware that the railcars had never righted themselves, so the entire row was now hurtling toward the outer perimeter, still on its side, though the track was realigning from vertical to horizontal. Now, just a series of uneven carts sc.r.a.ping against the even laid track ahead.

Just ahead, another cart flipped off the track as they pa.s.sed through the threshold, back out into the airy skies. Luckily, they cleared the mouth of the crevice first. Otherwise, the cart may have clogged the tighter drawn exit, derailing the remaining carts. It simply fell to the North Lake below. The sight of the falling cart showed Anvard and Lindle just how much they didn't want to have to do that themselves.

"Lindle, listen to me!" Corinth shouted fiercely as the wind hit all of them hard. "If you drop the cart, the lake water can put out the fire!"

"And smash our skulls!" Lindle finally yelled back. He held on tight to his seat. He felt much more secure in a fixed position. "We can ride it out. It's safer!"

"Safer for who, you jerk!" Anvard couldn't control himself in more ways than Lindle knew. His body waved in the air as he desperately clung to the bar, and to Corinth. Who was still halfway inside the tilted cart.

"You'll burn alive before that happens. Look! Look out at the track, Lindle!" Corinth implored.

He unwillingly turned his head, he couldn't help but look now that Corinth brought it to his attention. What he saw froze him in fear. The whole time he hadn't been focused at all on what was happening around him. He was too afraid to look and really see what was out there. But now the truth was clear.

"We've got to get off of this thing!" Lindle shouted hysterically. The remaining portion of the railcar already looked as if it'd tip over the sides of the track and into the lake. This made Lindle want to hear if Corinth had a better escape route than certain death.

"When we reach the center, you have to break the track on both sides. Or else it'll fall to the side, and on top of our heads." Corinth's mind was working much faster than either one of theirs. He could see all angles of the situation, while hanging from the sides of a speeding coaster. But he also had his dream to guide the way. The coaster was always at the center of the North Lake when it suddenly collapsed in his dream.

"Can't we just jump?" Lindle shouted.

Corinth didn't want to do that. He remembered his dream too vividly. He needed this to play out a very specific way to feel comfortable doing it at all."Just work with me here, Lindle!"

"Okay, how do I do that?" Lindle nervously inquired.

Corinth was frustrated with his reluctance to help. "You just break it! With a spell. Use anything, Annihilate, whatever. Just get it done!"

For once since the trouble began, Lindle wasn't being hesitant. "No! I mean how? You said to break both. If I break one then we'll start falling. I can't very well break the other one after that."

Apparently, Corinth hadn't thought this all the way through.

"Use a double spell!" Anvard shouted up to Lindle.