Chapter 23

The lava chamber's red glow cast strange shadows as Felix and I explored our prison. My burns were healing slowly – too slowly – and each step sent pain shooting through my body. "Easy," Felix steadied me as I stumbled. "Your body's fighting the bat's magic as much as the burns." "I'm fine." But I leaned into his support anyway. "There has to be a way out." We'd been searching for hours, mapping the chamber's boundaries. The ceiling, where we'd fallen through, was now solid rock – the lava had cooled and sealed our entrance. The walls were seamless obsidian, formed by centuries of volcanic activity. "I could try ghost-walking us out," Felix suggested, not for the first time. "You said that would tear us apart at the molecular level." "Only probably." His attempt at humor fell flat. "The rock here... it's not natural. It's infused with the same magic that powered the bat's horns. It blocks dimensional shifting." I slid down against a wall, exhausted. "So we're trapped." "For now