Free Ascension by Sophia Sharp Page B

around.  “I’ll go get Madison.”

Chapter Eight
    ~Madison’s Breakthrough~
     
    Alexander returned with Madison before nightfall.  Laura and Logan dared not touch any of the torrial while they waited, for fear of what they might do, but jammed the door to the vault to make sure it did not close on them. 
    “Where’s Jacob?” Laura asked when she saw Madison coming up the stairs.  The cut on her foot still hurt, but she had learned to ignore the pain.  Well, maybe not ignore, but she could cope with it better.
    “Still recovering in the tent,” Madison said coyly.  “Even though he’s helped us this far, I thought it a bad idea to introduce another Vassiz to the angels after what happened with Rafael.”
    “The angels?  Does that mean the tonic you’ve been working on is ready?”
    “Yes,” Madison said.  “You and Logan will both be able to enter the dream realm again.”
    “That’s unbelievable!” Laura exclaimed.  She got up, biting down the pain, and staggered over to embrace Madison in a hug.  “Everything is finally coming together.”
    “Quite,” Madison said.  “Now, the only thing we have to worry about is finding the angels in the dream realm.”
    “What do you mean?” Logan asked.  “Didn’t they say they were going to meet us at the repository once we found it?”
    “Yes,” Madison said, “but how will they know when that is?”
    “I’m sure they’ve been monitoring it,” Laura said assuredly.  “Or us.  It was their suggestion, after all.  Perhaps they’re able to sense when one of us enters the dream realm.”
    “Let’s hope so,” came Madison’s reply.  She pulled out a vial from her pocket.  “Here’s your ticket there.”  She tossed the vial to Logan, who caught it easily. 
    Logan examined the container, which was maybe half the length of hiss pinky finger and was less than a quarter full.  “There’s enough here for the both of us?”
    “It’s a very delicate balance,” Madison said.  “Very potent, too.  One drop and either of you will be out in minutes.”
    “How do you know this will take us to the dream realm?” Logan asked.  “And not… what happened last time.”
    Last time was the previous time Madison had claimed to have perfected the mixture.  Logan had been the one to try it, then, and ended up passed out for the better part of three days.  When he finally awoke, he had no recollection of what had happened the entire previous week .  Needless to say, he had been unable to enter the dream realm under the concoction’s influence.
    “For one, like I said before, I finally got the pure ingredients I needed,” Madison answered.  “And two, while you all left to find the repository, and I was back in the tent with Jacob, I had time to test it on myself.  It worked.”
    “And you were able to wake up when you wanted to?” Laura asked.  “You were in full control?”
    “That’s right,” Madison said.  “Like I told you, everything’s ready.  It turned out to be great timing, don’t you think?”
    “Absolutely,” Laura agreed.  What were the odds that they would find the repository on the same day that Madison finally perfected the herbal mixture?  It looked like the last three weeks had not been wasted, after all.  If any of them had found the repository earlier, they would not have been able to make use of it before Madison finished her task, anyway.  The rapid succession of successes made Laura more optimistic about the task at hand than she felt in weeks.
    “So show me the vault you found,” Madison said, “and we won’t waste any more time.  We can go into the dream realm immediately.”
    “Of course,” Laura said.  “Alexander, you want to take her there?  After she’s seen it, come back here, and we’ll go meet the angels.”
    Alexander agreed and started leading Madison up the stairs to the highest level.  Just before she left, though, Madison turned around.
    “You should probably