Free The Familiars: Secrets of the Crown by Adam Jay Epstein, Andrew Jacobson

had risked life and limb for the same treasure they were seeking and had ended up just as dead. Aldwyn nicked his paw on an unexpectedly sharp fragment from a small mammal’s skull. He decided to ignore the pain; there was no time to stop and lick his wound. He quickly caught up to Skylar and Gilbert at the foot of the stairs. The single beam of light that penetrated the gloom from some hole far above was the only thing keeping them from being in total blackness. They began their climb down into the darkness, only able to see five steps ahead of them and five steps behind.
    “Nice work with those arrows, by the way,” said Skylar to Aldwyn.
    “Thanks,” he replied, somewhat reticently.
    “What is it?” asked Skylar, who must have sensed the doubt in Aldwyn’s voice.
    “It’s hard to describe, but stopping those arrows was like trying to catch wind in my teeth. I still don’t feel like I have any real control over my powers. You and Gilbert were trained since birth to use your natural gifts,” explained Aldwyn as the familiars continued descending the stairs. “But I’ve had to figure this all out on my own.”
    “Guys, sorry to be interrupting, but does it seem like this staircase is going on for ever?” asked Gilbert.
    Aldwyn and Skylar had been too busy talking to notice, but Gilbert was right – they had circled down flight after flight after flight, but the steps appeared to have no end.
    “They have to end at some point,” said Skylar.
    The next hundred steps down didn’t help to prove her point. They seemed no closer than they were before.
    “These must be the stairs with no bottom,” said Aldwyn. “Remember the second verse? Between the root of all roots, Where every fear sinks away, Are stairs with no bottom… ”
    “… Unless eyes find sun’s ray ,” Skylar completed the verse. “Maybe we have to follow the ray of the sun.”
    “Up again?” groaned Gilbert. “We really need to start thinking about these clues in advance from now on. My extra toes are giving me blisters.”
    The familiars reversed their course and began ascending the staircase. They took the steps two at time, racing upwards. Higher, higher, higher. Until they were back where they had started!
    “Well, it sounded like a good idea,” said Aldwyn.
    “At least sharp, pointy things aren’t flying at us,” said Gilbert brightly.
    “ Are stairs with no bottom, Unless eyes find sun’s ray ,” said Skylar to herself, repeating the verse in the nursery rhyme again.
    Aldwyn thought to himself how none of these clues were what they first seemed. Barking dogs that turned out to be giant trees, quickmud that was actually a secret passageway. How else could this riddle be interpreted?
    “What if we tried walking down the steps backwards, while our eyes looked up, finding the sun’s rays?” asked Aldwyn.
    Nobody had any better idea, so the three familiars began to cautiously descend the staircase backwards. Skylar, unable to fly in reverse, hopped from step to step, keeping her beak held high in the air. Aldwyn kept his eyes fixed on the tiny pinhole of light that seemed to be miles above them.
    After a dozen stairs, Aldwyn fell on his bum. His feet felt for more steps behind him, but there was only flat ground. They had reached the bottom. Another puzzle solved!
    “Hey, we’re getting pretty good at this,” said Aldwyn.
    The trio found themselves in a kind of antechamber to an ornately decorated hall. Roots twisted through the ceiling, creating a latticework of delicate wood. Silver leaf was embedded into the walls, accenting the already elaborately drawn glyphs that covered them. Aldwyn had a hunch that they were getting closer to the Tree Temple’s inner sanctum. As they stepped into the hall, Gilbert stopped by a patch of moss growing from a crack in the ground. His tongue plucked a mouthful of albino ants from the furry lichen.
    “Really?” asked Skylar. “You have to do that now?”
    “I skipped breakfast,”