During a time when troubling signs hint that an otherworldly menace is hunting for the unusual crystal on her necklace, Madison discovers a strange stairpath portal in the cavern that seems to spiral down into the earth below her home. It's this stairpath that will take Madison, her little brother, and her best friend, into a world of wonder deep inside the earth.

When she descends the Krybosian Stairpath, a mystery from her family’s past begins to unravel. She soon realizes her arrival in the interior world of Krybos is no accident. Madison discovers that she’s been pulled into a sinister plot to destroy the most beautiful place she has ever seen.

The Krybosian Stairpath puts forth the notion that just because you don't understand something, it doesn't mean there must be magic behind it. Knowledge and perspective can make all the difference.

EXCERPT

“Look at it,” Onyx insisted. “Haven't you seen a spiral staircase like that before? I know I have, and I’ve only visited here a few times.”

The look on Mica's face revealed he had made the connection between this mysterious staircase and the one he climbed everyday to Grandpa's attic. Both staircases were made of a highly polished dark wood. Both handrails were intricately carved with strange vines and unusual creatures. Even the treads were the same, carved to resemble half-moon shaped lichens that grow on the sides of trees deep in the forest.

“But that staircase doesn't go up,” Mica pointed out.

“Sure it does,” Onyx said. “Just because it doesn't go up from here doesn't mean it can't go up from somewhere else. The question is from where does it go up?”

Digby began his descent down the newly found staircase. Mica noticed his familiar furry tail as it curved down the stairwell and out of sight.

“Galloping gopher grapes!” Mica screamed. “D-i-i-i-g—b-y-y-y!”

“We have to go get him,” Madison said.

“Okay—but you first,” Mica cautioned. “I'll be right behind you. I think.”

Onyx stepped forward and began the descent. Very little, if anything, scared her. Her thirst for knowledge and the excitement of discovery drove her. Once, she was grounded for a whole month because she’d climbed down by herself into a new cave she'd come across in her native Peru. Her parents had been pleased with her discovery, but furious that Onyx didn't use the buddy system. She could have gotten into huge trouble, with no hope of getting help. Onyx rationalized since she had buddies on this trip, she was good to go!