Author's note- sorry again for the previous delay its been pointed out it means lots of back reading to catch up with the story so I've written a brief 'recap' on the story if that helps!

'Previously on The Light'- DG ran away from her life in the palace as it was stifling her. Cain found her and brought her back because of a mystery illness called the 'Turning Malady' which is killing many people in Central City. After returning to the Palace Dg and Cain finally have to talk about a kiss they shared before DG ran away. But then Cain sets off after some renegade long coats who have seriously injured Jeb. DG, of course, follows. They are on the trail of the long coats and their magician who are causing the Malady. In the last chapter DG was captured by the two magicians.

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Chapter Eighteen: A Dark Place

DG had to double check that she had actually opened her eyes before accepting the fact that she could not see anything. Nothing at all. That, she thought feeling sick, meant that she hadn't dreamed the events of the last... Few hours? Maybe more. Panic was fluttering in her chest like an anxious bird. But she quashed it. Right now she had to keep thinking clearly.

What would Cain do? DG thought to herself whilst taking a deep breath. The breath caught half way as a sharp pain exploded into her world.

'Broken rib.' She hissed through gritted teeth.

'Okay Kid think. Where are you?' She muttered to herself. Wherever she was it was dark she knew that much. DG also knew that she was lying on her side, wrists shackled behind her back. Wriggling around as much as she could DG reached out to find the edges of her prison. They were not far away. After a few moments of more wriggling DG was able to ascertain that she was in a wooden (splinters to prove it) box about six feet across and three feet wide. Like a coffin.

Trying incredibly hard to ignore that thought DG tried her magic. It wasn't there. There was the horrible numb feeling she had had before. That meant she was still wearing the magic proof shackles. She tried to speak and found her voice only slightly raspy, that was good. Plus other than the broken rib she felt quite strong, nothing else broken at least. Kicking the box, which she tried in earnest for a while, had no affect though. If she concentrated she could raise the lid up by a fraction of an inch and let in fresher air and blindingly dull light.

So. The princess thought again. What would Cain do? In fact what was Cain doing? Looking for her- she hoped. Why, she thought angrily hadn't he told her about the plan. It had been so clever. So sensible. And if she had known about it, it would maybe have not gone wrong so desperately. DG kicked the box again in anger.

But she knew even if Cain had told her the plan the second magician still would have been a surprise. A stupid surprise. They had been so foolish to assume only one magician was involved. It was almost arrogant to think that they were chasing down a rogue mad man. There could have been ten. Magic was not so uncommon. DG let a few tears escape as she berated herself for spending too much time in Central City. Too much time in the Palace: where she, her sister and mother were the only people using magic. It made them narrow-minded. Self concerned too. Their days had been spent learning about their own abilities not about what other people could do. Might do... Had done. It had made them forget that the witch wasn't the only other person with magic in the OZ and that had almost gotten several of them killed.

Kicking out again DG felt her rib scream its protest and let her body go limp rolling slightly she starred up and thought more about Cain. Was he okay? The idea of the fire and that he might not be okay made bile rise in DG's throat alarmingly quickly. But she had to keep focused on him being alive. Being well. Otherwise she'd loose it and freak out inside this stupid box. If those- jerks had hurt him or her friends she'd... She missed him. DG missed Cain almost to the point of a getting a nosebleed. She desperately wanted to see him ripping the lid of this damn box off. Rescuing her again.

Lying in her wooden prison DG let her mind convince itself that Wyatt Cain, Glitch, the men from Halliford Keep, Cook and Day were all fine. That they had made it out of the fire unharmed and were at that moment on their way to save her.

Cain was fine. And if he was fine he must have had a reason to keep her out of the loop. And it better be flipping amazing.

(###)

'Will he eat?' Seb Cook asked in a hushed tone. It was dark and the stars of the OZ sparkled overhead. The group had ridden well into the night chasing the brothers who had captured DG. They were a rag tag group now. Cook himself had a broken arm held to his chest a rudimentary sling. Day had a burn to his cheek and the Advisor, who Cook was speaking to now, had a black eye and numerous other undisclosed bruised and cuts.

'I doubt it. But take it to him anyway.' Glitch saw the terror appear on the younger man's face and sighed. 'Okay... Just leave it here and I'll take it.' The plate of stew was placed beside him and Seb retreated quickly.

Wyatt Cain. Ambrose thought- still terrifying soldiers without even having to speak.

They had rushed out of the windows in the inn to escape the fire. Falling to the floor below and staggering to collapse a few feet away as the building caught and slowly burnt. They had not escaped unharmed though. One of the men from the Keep had died in the fire and the others after helping the villagers to douse the flames had left to take his body home. Glitch knew they'd be back as soon as they could be. To search for the Princess stealers and the traitorous inn keeper who had vanished. He was glad they had someone as loyal and as sensible as Lord Halliford to deal with all of that because he knew Cain couldn't think about it at the moment.

Glitch wasn't even sure how badly hurt Cain was. Falling a full storey with a gunshot wound and your hat on fire isn't good for anyone. But now he (and his fedora) seemed unscathed. The whole group had lain groaning or in semi-consciousness for a while but Cain had been first on his feet. He had grabbed the horses and waited whilst the men from the Keep yelled their intentions about fire fighting, burials and search parties and then had ridden off. After the magicians. After DG. He hadn't stopped. Not for hours and probably wouldn't have stopped at all if Glitch himself hadn't managed to point out that the horses had to rest otherwise they'd collapse. He'd nodded and guided them to a place to camp. But his actions told them all clearly they were not staying for long.

They'd moved out of the brush land and into the Clear lands. There were farm houses and their lights dotted away across the hills. But the Clear land was wide across the width of the OZ but not deep and nearby was the Reed land. The Reed land would make tracking the princess almost impossible. They had to find her soon.

Cain was in his silent unmoving body, letting all of those thoughts rush through his mind as he sat starring off into the distance. He heard Glitch sit down next to him and felt the warm plate of food being pushed into his lap. He ignored it.

'You have to eat. If you collapse you won't be able to find her.' There was no response. 'It was not your fault. I know you're thinking that you should have saved her. And maybe you're right. But you weren't the only person there Cain. We all were. So we all should have saved her. But we can't just mope around thinking that. We have to do something about it and we are. You are. You're doing your best to save her now. Or you will be if you eat. And sleep.'

There was still no response from the Tin Man but Glitch felt he was getting somewhere anyway and feeling a little like if he didn't speak out he would cry... so he continued.

'I know you're angry and hurt. I know you're in love with her-' He paused here but there had been a flicker in Cain's expression. But after another silent moment he pressed on. 'And I know you're angry at agreeing not to keep her in the loop with the plan. But Day had some good reasons for suggesting it and you said yourself they are good kids who need training and encouragement so we listened to him... He didn't know we had made a... mistake. And if DG had known the plan she still wouldn't have known we had made a... mistake.'

Glitch stood up and turned back to the campsite before finally (and sounding far more like his Royal Adversarial self than he had in annuals) said: 'I refuse to give up on finding DG. She never would give up on me. So I will gladly die if that means she is saved. But I will not be reckless with myself to make up for a plan gone wrong. And if you do love her- then neither should you.'

Glitch didn't bother the Tin Man again until dawn which was just a few short hours later. But when he awoke and got ready to ride again Cain seemed a little rested and the plate of food was empty.

(###)

DG didn't know if she had slept or just laid in the dark starring at the box lid for hours. But there had been voices and a jolting then a rhythmical movement and noise which meant one thing to her- engine. She must be in the back of a truck or something similar. And now she could even see little tiny shafts of light coming in through narrow gaps between pieces of wood, all made loose from her kicking. It wasn't much but DG took pleasure in it.

She was happy to hear engine noise too. Because trucks in the O.Z were slow, and if... when she got out of the box there wasn't anything she felt more comfortable with than an engine. Plus Cain and Glitch were on their way, of course. She told herself sharply. There is hope.

DG gritted her teeth and began to manoeuvre her legs inside the box the beginnings of a plan in her mind. After all she had escaped a stone coffin before- a wooden one couldn't be much harder, right?