After Stellarlune

Chapter Twelve

"Why is no one here?"

Marella was the first to ask the question, but Sophie was sure everyone had been thinking it. The hideout was fully lit with more balefire candles, but no one had tried to stop them from exploring it.

"I don't know," Sophie murmured, as quietly as she could. "But the stone is probably here, so everyone keep your eyes open.

"Should we split up?" Fitz asked after twenty minutes of winding through the dark hallways, and not finding anything. There weren't any doors, or windows, just a maze of dimly lit hallways, and Sophie was starting to get claustrophobic.

"I don't know if that's a good idea," Sophie said. "What if something happens."

"And we don't need to anyway," Keefe added. "Look."

Straight ahead of them, there was a bright light, getting closer as they walked towards it. And as they got to where they could see better, Sophie realized that it was a large room.

"Do you think it's hidden here?" Biana wondered, as they all stared at the huge room. It was empty, except for a couple boxes, but there was something blindingly bright in the middle of the room.

"Actually, do you think that's it?" Biana asked. Sophie nodded slowly. There was something so powerful about the light, that it couldn't be anything else. And she was pretty sure the Neverseen would never have something so bright and pretty in their hideout, unless it was a power source.

"That has to be it," Sophie said. "I don't know what else it would be."

"Do you think we can just walk down there and get it?" Keefe asked. "I mean, it doesn't look like there's anything blocking us."

"We can try, but we'll probably have to get through something," Dex said. "Probably some security, or some illusions."

"It doesn't matter, let's just go," Marella said.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" Edaline asked. "We might be walking into a trap." Sophie glanced at her adoptive mother, wishing she hadn't let her come. Now that they were in the Neverseen hideout, Sophie would rather have a small group, preferably with no one she cared about, but at least not with her parents.

"We have to do it," Biana said. "This could be the end of the war."

"She's right," Grady agreed, squeezing Edaline's hand. "We have to do this."

"So let's go," Maruca said, starting down the metal stairs that led to the bottom of the room, where the bright light seemed to start.

Sophie followed after her, and hoped that they weren't being way too loud. She was pretty sure if she planned a mission to a Neverseen hideout, she would have taken two or three of her friends. Definitely not all of them, plus her parents, and all the bodyguards.

But when they got to the bottom of the stairs, there was no one stopping them. Even when they tiptoed through the light, and saw a small stone that Sophie could probably curl her fingers around.

"Is that it?" Cantiss whispered. No one replied, but Sophie was pretty sure everyone knew the answer.

She stared at the stone, wondering if this could really be it. If it could really end this war, that she had been sure would never end. And she was also scared. What if she had gotten her hopes too high, and this wouldn't help anything. But when Keefe gave her a gentle push, she stepped forward, and gently wrapped her fingers around the stone.

But when she picked it up... it went right through her.

"Okay," Sophie said, when everyone started biting their lips and running their hands through their hair. "So I can't pick it up. Maybe someone else can."