No option for starting another fire had come along yet, and a stumble over the chasm edge would plunge her back into the river. She kept track of her steps, trying to gauge how far she’d gone. After a few minutes, she thought she must be close to the island’s center. Glint, she kept telling herself. You have to find a glint. And then, at last, she saw it—ahead in the near distance. It appeared suddenly, as if perhaps she’d tripped some kind of sensor. At first, she could only see a thin glimmering vertical line of no particular color, just light. But as she got closer, the glow told her what it was: a sword about three feet long, made of some kind of crystal. At first it seemed to be hanging in mid-air, but then she saw that it was mounted on a stone wall—thrust point down through the heavy iron hasp of a door, like a bolt to hold it shut. Theodora had said that there were only two doors, one to enter and one to exit. Going through it was the only hope of escape. Artemis edged forward still more warily.
