The Diamond Of Darkhold

Maggs shows Lina the place where her brother found the diamond. Lina is shocked to see a metal-lined room, clearly built by humans. Maggs and Lina camp after walking for an hour. Maggs talks for a long time about how hard it is to be a roamer. She brings up wolves and the greenish star that moves. They squish inside Maggs’s tiny wagon, crammed with junk, for the night. It smells terrible, and Lina fears wolves; she also worries about Doon and how people in Sparks might be angry with their choice to go to Ember. 

Back in Sparks, Kenny, Lizzie, and Torren hope the rain passes so they can still go look for Lina and Doon. Down in Ember, Doon is sleepless, trying to figure out a plan. A potentially dangerous idea comes to him.

Doon waits until the Troggs are sound asleep, then removes his undershirt and uses it to deaden the chain’s clanking. In tiny incremental steps, he leaves the apartment. He debates whether to try to take the diamond; ultimately, he decides to flee and try later to rescue it. He makes his way down to the square. Doon theorizes that Minny wears the key to his ankle cuffs on a string around her neck. This would account for her nervousness and her hand constantly touching her neck. He waits until she is asleep at the fire before using a knife to cut the key free. He unshackles himself and is almost safe in the shadows when she wakes. Panicking to see the cut string on the ground, Minny hollers and bangs pans to alert Trogg.

Doon hides in the shadows of the next-door entryway as the Troggs run out of the house and split up to pursue him. Trogg commands Scawgo to tend the fire. Scawgo gives Doon the diamond and thanks him for returning his treasures. Doon retrieves his pack, which he dropped when the Troggs captured him. He puts the diamond inside and heads for the Pipeworks.

Don uses his prior knowledge of the Pipeworks to accomplish three things. First, he checks on the room used by Ember’s former unethical mayor to horde food. The supply of stashed items is still there. When the lights come on, he goes to the generator room and disconnects the pipe that goes to the rushing river; he mourns Ember’s final breath, but feels it is the right thing to do, as eventually the Troggs will have to leave. 

Last, he plants a lit candle in the Pipeworks and lures the four Troggs inside by making noises in the dark. Once they go in, he locks the door to the Pipeworks behind them. Doon flees across the Outer Regions and up the path. He looks at the diamond briefly once outside, grateful to have it, though he does not know what it is yet.

Lina wakes up and impatiently starts her journey to Sparks. She plans to backtrack, find the stream, and follow it to Sparks. Meanwhile, Kenny, Torren, and Lizzie start toward Ember. Lizzie cannot recall any landmarks, but Kenny brought a collection of red rag pieces and uses them to mark their trail. Torren is excited about having an adventure. Lizzie wonders if Doon might need a girl like her who is “a little more fascinating than Lina” (208). Birds circle in the air in the distance.

When Doon emerges from the crevice, he realizes it is dawn; Lina may not have gotten far since she likely slept while it was dark. He climbs up the hill and yells as loud as he can. Lina hears him and yells back. They make their way toward one another, calling and answering. 

Lina is confronted by three wolves and climbs a rock. Doon arrives, and they try yelling to scare the wolves off. Doon creates a wolf whistle, and Lina throws pebbles but nothing works. The wolves growl and bark, trying to lunge upwards to reach Lina. Finally, Doon runs at them, twisting his ankle, and throws the diamond. It shatters against the rock into countless shards. The wolves trot off.

Doon cannot walk far on his injured ankle. Lina helps him to the steel vault that Maggs showed her. Doon is bereft that the diamond is gone but glad that Lina is safe. He wonders if the purpose of the diamond was to save his friend. They plan to stay the day and night, hoping Doon’s ankle will improve by the next morning. 

Meanwhile, Kenny, Lizzie, and Torren have no luck finding Lina and Doon, but they encounter Maggs after Torren successfully gets her attention. Maggs tells them Doon is “down in that city in that cave” (228) and Lina is looking for him. She convinces them to return to Sparks to get help with their rescue.