Chapter 5: Lies

"You're going to tell me where she is, or pay the price!"

With that, Alyssa furiously etched another one of those symbols in the air, which quickly broke to allow a large, purple dinosaur to stomp onto the field of battle and blare a roar straight into Valdus's ears. Almost effortlessly Valdus smirked and summoned another minotaur to fight for him.

Unlike the leprechaun, the dinosaur fought back furiously, quickly ripping the minotaur apart to shreds. Once the minotaur was obviously disposed of, the purple dinosaur dissolved as well.

And by that time, Valdus was gone.

Alyssa shook furiously, lips quivering in an effort to bite something awful back. The air around her was thick and moist, and in the end, she couldn't hold back a cry of frustration and punched the wall of the mine as hard as she could.

She felt as if her very heart was being ripped apart slowly and painfully. "Angie…" she muttered regretfully. "Angela, where are you?"

The diviner then felt a warm but callused hand land on her shoulder- Jacob. "Don't worry- at least we've got a lead. That's closer than we've gotten the past year or two."

"Yeah- at least she isn't dead," said a bitter voice.

Alyssa's head slowly rose to see Riley hanging her head down. "Sabrina… it's all my fault! If I hadn't invited her to this stupid mine, than she'd be alive!"

Jacob bit his lip and shook his head slowly. "Great, now I've got two overly emotional girls to deal with."

Riley then stood up and whirled around dangerously. "Oh, that's easy to say when you didn't watch your only friend die before your eyes!" She jammed her palm furiously into the pyromancer's chest, shoving him back as hard as she could.

Alyssa ground her teeth in agony- then quickly saw a way to turn all of this to her advantage.

She drew in a deep breath. "Hey… you know, you're a theurgist," she started slowly.

The other girl turned from Jacob and to Alyssa. "Um, yeah… what about it? Whatever that means…"

"Being a theurgist means you're a wizard," Alyssa explained. "A theurgist is a type of wizard- they pretty much heal and buff their comrades a lot."

Riley shoved a large breath out, blowing her bangs upwards. "Oh, so you tell me I'm a wizard and can do a bunch of awesome stuff or whatnot, then tell me all I can do is heal? Thanks!"

"But listen!" she rushed, quickly readying herself for this next part. "Since theurgists can heal, and your friend is dead… if you learn enough spells, then eventually you'll be able to bring your friend back to life."

That did it. Riley's entire body slacked, and her eyes widened to the size of bowling balls. "Wait… Sabrina… alive again?" she spoke slowly, as if mentioning it would take the possibility away again.

Alyssa forced herself from wincing. That was actually a lie- she hadn't heard of any magic that could bring back the dead. But right now, she needed to find Angela, and to do that, she needed the theurgist's help. And convincing the theurgist that she could eventually bring her friend back to life was the best way to get that help.

"Yes," Alyssa lied. "But you need to gain experience. There are many other spells you need to learn if you're to eventually bring your friend back to life. The best way to get that experience is to come with us."

Riley raised her eyebrows, blinking a few times as if to make sure this wasn't all some elaborate dream. There was actually a chance that Sabrina could come back to life. She couldn't believe it… Sabrina, alive again.

But she'd have to leave home. They'd all be worried about her, she couldn't just leave like that…

On the other hand, Sabrina's life was on the line.

The decision was easy after that thought.

Riley nodded avidly. "If it means saving Sabrina… all right, I'll do whatever it takes. I'll come with you! My name's Riley Carlisle, in case you don't know already- now let's go!"

Riley shook with excitement as she sprinted over to Sabrina, then dragged the stone-cold body from under the boulders and propped her against the wall.

She sighed regretfully, still for a moment, drinking in Sabrina- her brown hair, usually clean, but now dirty from being crushed under the boulders. Her white skin, usually rosy, but now pale, hard and stone-cold. Her vivid green eyes, once so full of life, but now hollow and empty, doomed to gaze into nothingness forever.

But Riley would change all of this. Her hair would no longer be dirty, her skin would bloom, and the life would return to her pools of emerald.

"Don't worry, Sabrina," Riley nearly whispered. "You pushed me out of the way at the expense of your life. You saved my life- now it's time for me to repay you."

Riley then stood up and nodded to Alyssa, communicating that she was ready to go. With that, she promptly broke into a run, anxious to get out of the mine.

Jacob spoke once Riley was in earshot. "Alyssa, you do realize that there isn't a spell that can bring back the dead?"

Alyssa's throat constricted as she nodded. "I know. It pains me to manipulate her friend's death against her. But it's like she said- she'd do whatever it took to save her friend, right? Well, I'm going to do whatever it takes to find Angela."