They had to pass the lion on the way out. All of the lights he had were flickering but his big chest was still moving with his breath. He was unconscious but alive and Miriam couldn't see any visible injury on him.

Davis went passed him first, leaning back to catch the girls by the hand and help them over. Davis kept walking after they stepped out of the tower.

Miriam ran a little to catch up with him and opened her mouth to ask him about taking a rest. His hand was over her mouth before she made a single sound. Wide-eyed, he looked swiftly to the right and left, ahead and behind before finally looking at her and releasing her mouth.

"Don't talk. Don't say anything. You won't always be able to tell when we're alone."

Echo walked up and stood behind them, pushing Miriam slightly behind her before slapping him once more.

"What? Why?" he asked, "She needs to learn, doesn't she?"

Echo just glared at him. Davis cocked his mouth sideways, not quite smiling.

"Come on," he said. "There's a tunnel this way that'll lead us out of here. I'll explain things and afterwards, you can give me my light back. That's fair, right?"

It was more than fair, which made her suspicious. Miriam wanted to point out that she and Echo had just saved his life and she didn't think she owed him any more than that. There was something going on here that she didn't understand yet.

Well, Miriam didn't understand any of what was going on, but she didn't trust Davis. True, he had tried to get her away from the lion.

But was he just hoping it would come after me instead? she wondered.

Echo looked at her and shook her head when Davis turned to lead the way to the tunnel, showing that she found him just as suspicious as Miriam did. They walked in silence until they found a crumbled house. Davis walked up to it and started to move the debris away, to reveal a tunnel.

"I came through this way," he told them. "I didn't want anyone to think someone had used it, so I covered it back up. Come on, then, down we go."

Miriam peered down into the darkness but refused to move. He waited a few moments before jumping down into the tunnel. When he stood up there was a gap of about two feet from his head to the bottom of Miriam's shoe. He turned to her and put out his hands to catch her.

Echo moved ahead of Miriam and jumped into the tunnel like she was trying to kick him in the face. They both fell backwards into the dirt. Miriam smirked and jumped down. Davis got up, looking a little shaken. As they walked forward, the only light was the one hanging from Miriam's ear until Echo reached into her backpack and produced a flashlight. Davis whistled when it appeared, impressed, and Miriam had to stop Echo throwing it at his head.

"We'll talk at the graveyard," Davis said. "We'll be able to rest there too."

Resting at a graveyard. Miriam wasn't thrilled at the thought.

The tunnel was so narrow they had to walk in line. Echo walked in front and Davis gave instructions on which turns to take from the rear. Miriam wouldn't have wanted Davis at her back but as she and Echo had the only lights, they walked in front. Miriam kept glancing around to ensure he was still there and not doing anything nefarious.

Every time she did he caught her eye and gave her an innocent look. She didn't buy it for a second. She had a hold on the back of Echo's t-shirt as she walked, wanting to stay close to the other girl.

They arrived at the graveyard, which looked familiar to Miriam. Instead of headstones, there were standing stones. They were a strange colour, too dark to be sandstone and they were as smooth as marble. They had markings on them, crudely carved, of circles, rose buds and broken pillars.

She looked at a rock that was close to her. It had markings as well and letters etched into them. The sand was blown up but none of it landed on the rocks or their flat bases. It was the same place the cat had led Miriam. It was where she and Echo had been attacked and chased by the monster.

Davis saw both her and Echo become uneasy. Miriam watched him as he made a circle with spirals, loops, markings and characters around them. As soon as he was done, she felt reassurance spread through her. She felt safer, although she had no idea why.

"It's a protection charm," he told them. "It'll hide us from most things out here so long as we keep it maintained. The winds are a problem though so we'd best head to the closest town soon. I don't like being this close to that big lump of fur either, even if he was hurt by that fall."

Miriam sat down and noticed that the pillars didn't affect her as they had done earlier. Davis had called the place a graveyard.

Suddenly the markings made sense. These were headstones, and from the variety and amount of markings on each, they were for more than one person. She didn't find the place scary anymore. Just sad.

"So I want to know a few things about you, but I don't want to risk you talking just yet," said Davis. "I have a suspicion but I hope, for both our sakes, that I am wrong. So I'll stick to yes or no questions and you can just answer with a shake or a nod of your head. Is that okay?"

Miriam wasn't sure that she wanted to answer his questions. She would much rather have asked her own but she didn't have much of a choice.

"Are you from this town?"

She shook her head. Echo mimicked her.

"This area?"

Another shake of the head. This time Echo nodded and smiled at Miriam like it was a game they were playing.

"This country?"

Miriam was sure she would have noticed if there was a dessert in the surroundings while studying geography. She shook her head again. Davis whistled like an old-fashioned kettle. He looked her up and down, not overly impressed by what he saw.

"I don't suppose that there's any chance you might be a guide?"

Miriam had once been a tour guide for a school trip for a museum, but she doubted that that was what he meant. She shook her head again. Davis cursed.

"So you're a visitor then? Why now? Do you even know how much of a shit-storm you're going to cause?"

Miriam stayed still, feeling slightly insulted and not knowing which question he wanted her to answer if any.

"This is-"

"-Shush. Do not talk. Don't do it. It really couldn't be any simpler. Just don't use those lips. For words," he added, with a wink.

Echo looked annoyed again. She raised a hand towards Davis. He put his hands up when faced with her.

"Okay, okay I get it. I'll be nice. So, miss...what was your name? Never mind. Don't answer that. Just keep nodding or shaking. Just a few more questions. Did you plan to come here?"

Shake.

"Did you know you were coming here?

Shake.

"Were you brought here?"

Nod. Davis nodded with her, chewing his lower lip as he did so. He punched the sand next to him in frustration.

"Damn him. Sorry, this isn't even your fault. So somehow Kain figured out how to get you here, right?"

She shook her head. Miriam's kidnapper had said his name was Ichabod. His face fell. He chewed his lip some more, his eyebrows knotted. He squeezed his eyes closed.

"You're sure?"

She nodded, wondering why he was getting so upset.

"Then...was it Idra? Someone calling herself Queen?" he asked, looking as though it hurt him to ask the question. When she shook her head he instantly relaxed more and looked relieved. "Someone else?"

Miriam did the easiest thing and pointed to Echo. Davis could turn her back to Ichabod if he knew him.

"Oh. Did she? Well. Wow. I mean, that doesn't normally happen. She must be very attached. I've been going off the assumption that you want to go back. But, I mean, you must have been in some amount of trouble if she got you out of there. Do you want to go back?"

"What? No. I wasn't-"

"Hush! Seriously. Don't talk. How many times am I going to have to say it? You're pretty safe so long as no one can see you. Even I got a shock when you first appeared and I'm about the least dangerous thing in this place."

Miriam highly doubted that, but she nodded. She had no idea what kind of 'trouble' he meant but if Echo had thought to bring her here to be chased by monsters and nearly eaten was saving her from anything back home, she was wrong. Miriam couldn't think of anything so bad.

"So you definitely want to go back?"

Nod.

"Well, in that case, you'll need to go to the palace. Our Queen is the only person around that wasn't born here. She may just blast you for showing up at her door but she's also the only person I can think of who can get you back to where you belong. She won't want you running around, so there's a good chance she'll just let you go. Or imprison you. Or kill you."

Miriam nodded, happy to finally have some kind of plan. He had obviously been expecting her to be frightened by all that talk of a ruthless monarch, but Miriam suspected he was over-exaggerating to scare her.

"Well, eh. I would take you there but...well, I'm kind of in the middle of something. It's important. So I'll just be taking my light back and-"

He held out a hand for the earring. Echo slapped his hand away and folded her arms, glaring at him.

"Oh, that's right. I forgot. You'll have to get a guide first. You'll find one in the travel agency. So my light. Please."

He held out his hand again. Miriam looked at his hand but stayed where she was, not moving to give it back.

"We did say I would explain and you would return the earring."

Miriam leant in close to him and whispered:

"You said that. I said nothing."

Then she mimicked a zip-lock with her fingers over her mouth and said no more. He stared at her disbelievingly.

"Oh come ON! I don't even know how to get there. Your passport should tell you where to go."

Miriam's mind flashed on the glowing blue gem that she had seen on the other sign of the mirror when he said the word passport. The one that had started all this mess. She looked at Echo, who seemed to know what she was thinking and shook her head.

"Gone," said Echo.

"Gone?" asked Davis. "What do you mean 'gone'? Don't tell me you lost it."

Miriam nodded.

"Oh, that's so bad. How are you even supposed to get around without your passport?"

She smiled wickedly at him and he paled. If she let him, he'd take back his little trinket and leave them in the middle of the desert with no idea what direction they were supposed to go. Miriam was no thief, but she wasn't above a bit of blackmail.

"But I can't. I'm not a guide. Look, the palace hidden with all the rebels floating about trying to overthrow the Queen."

Miriam had no idea what he was talking about.

"Like my circle. Like you being invisible. We can't find it without a guide. We just can't."

Miriam's smile faded the smallest fraction.

"But you alone could attract a guide," he said. She could tell he was lying. "You would be much better and faster on your own. And faster is good. Because the way things are going Kain will be sitting on the throne in a few weeks and he hates foreigners."

Miriam didn't even bother trying not to cry. She wailed. Davis and Echo both panicked. Davis tried to hush her as Echo, blaming him for upsetting Miriam, hit him again and again with her bag.

"Stop crying."

"I-I-I ju-just wan-wanna go ho-home."

"-Please stop crying."

"I ju-just wi-wish I could go home."

"Oh, crap."

The red glow from the earring brightened until it hurt Miriam's eyes. Echo was screaming. Davis was standing near her, his eyes replaced with bright red glowing orbs. She closed her eyes but her thin eyelids couldn't stop her from seeing the flash that bolted out of the earring.

The sand she was sitting on went soft and she fell through it as though it were water. Warmth rushed through her and for a second she felt as though she was underwater and she couldn't breathe.

Then, with no warning, everything was cold. She could breathe harsh hard breaths. Miriam's senses could take no more. She passed out.