The Oubliette closed in around them, plunging the room into pitch darkness. As soon as the guards were gone, Jenny took the lighter from her pocket and turned it on. In the dim light Laura could see them reflected off the obsidian walls.

“OK, we’re trapped in an unescapable prison. Now would be a good time for a plan. Maybe you could teleport us out?”

Jenny shook her head. She seemed to be staring off into the distance, concentrating on something else. “Well, it doesn’t quite work that way. Shifting within a dimension is a lot harder than shifting between dimensions. I have this sense of what a world is like as a whole in my head, but it’s a lot harder to hold onto it when I’m actually inside it.”

“So can’t you shift into another world and then go back here?”

“Yeah, but it’s kind of tricky. Preparing for a shift takes time and patience, and I can’t do it too often. There’s also differences in the flow of time between worlds. By the time I get back it may be too late. Besides I have a plan…”