Starlighter by Bryan Davis

dark? Tibber thinks not. They will eat you for breakfast, be sure of that.” He pointed at Jason’s nose. “You need the old geezer. Yes, you do.”
    “Old geezer or not…” Jason pulled him along as he strode toward the back stairways. “If you want to help us,” he whispered sharply, “you’ll have to cooperate. We can’t have you dancing and singing while we’re trying to escape.”
    Elyssa followed close behind. “I could make a gag, if that would help.”
    “It might.” When Jason reached the stairway, he looked back at her. “Ready to douse the flame?”
    “We’ll use it while we can. If I see extane sparks, I’ll extinguish it.”
    As they descended the stairs, Tibalt sang out, “Ratty tails and ratty heads, and little ratty noses, watch your feet, or we’ll step on your ratty little toeses.”
    When they reached the bottom, they met a bare wall, black and wet. A dark corridor led to the left and to the right. Jason inhaled deeply through his nose. Nothing except the perpetual mildew and the aroma of two dungeon dwellers. Of course, since extane was odorless, they wouldn’t detect it by sense of smell.
    “Which way?” Jason asked.
    “To the right,” Tibalt crooned. “Always to the right. Beware of the left.”
    Still behind them, Elyssa spoke up. “If that’s true, then the maze should be easy.”
    Tibalt lifted a gnarled finger. “There is one rule that is greater than ‘Beware of the left.’”
    “What’s that?” Jason asked.
    Tibalt pointed at a large gray ball of fur in the hall to the right. “Trust the rats.”

Six
    T he rat scurried into the darkness. “Stay close!” Tibalt called out. The old man crouched low and shuffled away.
    Jason gestured for Elyssa to join him, and they walked abreast. Still holding the torch, Elyssa waved it from side to side. Green sparks popped at the edges of the flame, growing louder and more numerous with every step.
    “I can feel the extane on my hands,” she said.
    Jason rubbed his thumb and finger together. “It’s kind of oily, isn’t it?”
    “Yes, it’s oily, but I feel its signature. Every element has a fingerprint of sorts, and I can sense it on my skin.”
    He lowered his voice to a whisper. “Then you really are a Diviner.”
    “You say that like it’s a bad thing.”
    “No, not at all.” He glanced at Tibalt, who stooped so low his nose nearly touched the stone floor. “Well, I mean, I don’t think it’s the result of a demon seed, but it’s not something you’d want everyone to know, especially the priests.”
    “Trust me. I am well aware of the dangers.” She smacked the torch against the wall, killing the fire. “Okay, now it’s up to the rats.”
    Ahead, Tibalt made a chittering sound, as if speaking in a ratty language. It sounded ridiculous, but the noise was easy to follow as he led them through various twists and turns, never pausing for a decision.
    Jason opened his shirt again, exposing the finger embedded under his skin. Its glow was dim, painting the air around it a muted yellow, but it provided enough light to illuminate Elyssa’s wide eyes.
    “You have a key!” she whispered.
    He looked down at it. “A key? Tibalt called it a litmus finger, a pointer to truth, or something like that.”
    “I’ve never heard it called a litmus finger. I just know that it’s part of the history of the Underground Gateway. Ever since I heard Adrian talking to you about the legends, I’ve been researching it. After I was hired as a laundry maid in the castle, I was able to snoop around and learn a lot. I noticed that every one of Prescott’s shirts had a patch of soft velvet sewn in where the material would touch the skin over his heart. I thought it must have been to prevent irritation, so I—”
    “The key to the gateway is filled with pure light,” Tibalt said in singsong. “It guides you by day and glows in the night. A man who digests it from under his skin can unlock the gateway and venture