Lost Kingdom: Broken Crucible Part 2 by Toby Neighbors

Author:Toby Neighbors [Neighbors, Toby]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Mythic Adventure Publishing, LLC
Published: 2020-02-03T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter 22

Matthew woke Peter and Tessa at dawn. Peter thought the nights on Indigo Seven were entirely too short. He was anxious to get back to civilization, but like any normal teenager, he also craved sleep.

“Nothing got in,” Matthew said happily as they squeezed out of the narrow opening to the temple.

“Score one for the Sterlings,” Peter said, trying not to sound too cynical.

He was carrying his duffle, which contained their meager supplies, his Broken Crucible control suit, and the oil lamps from the temple, which added to the weight of the duffle bag considerably. His father carried the pot of oil, and Tessa had her own bag, but Peter was carrying the most weight. He didn’t want to complain, but he wasn’t really happy about the situation, either.

“Wish I had my spear,” Matthew said.

“How’s your knee?” Tessa asked.

“Stiff and sore.”

Peter appreciated what his father had done fighting the dinosaur, but he also felt like his father was hinting that Peter should give him the only spear they had left. Peter liked his spear. It wasn’t much, but it was his, and he had carved it himself. Plus, he felt stronger and less vulnerable when he held the weapon. Giving it to his father might have been the wisest thing to do, but it wasn’t the most comfortable. Peter needed his spear, and his father would just have to find another.

Unfortunately, even though they did see some fallen branches on their hike up the mountain, none were straight. The trees on the mountains had curving branches that grew up in a spiral around their towering trunks. A sapling could have been cut down and stripped of its limbs to make a new spear, but they didn’t see any young trees.

“Dad, don’t you think it’s odd that there aren’t any young trees on this mountain?” Peter asked when they stopped for a break.

The terrain was getting rougher as they climbed. There were only small patches of grass, the trees were farther apart, and the soil was mostly loose rock fragments. Matthew shrugged his shoulders.

“I guess so,” he said. “I hadn’t noticed.”

Peter had noticed. It was as if the world were locked in a time capsule where nothing new grew, and nothing old died. It wasn’t true—Peter knew obviously that time didn’t stop—and he’d seen new trees a few times in the jungle below the mountains. But the lack of new growth on the mountain seemed odd.

“How much farther?” Tessa asked.

“I don’t know,” Matthew admitted. “But we’ll get there eventually.”

Peter knew his father was right, but he also hoped it didn’t take them more than half the day to reach the tree line. He wanted to be back at the temple before dark. They were winding their way upward, following the game trail, but it was still a difficult hike that made him feel weak and exposed. If there were predators watching, the trail was the perfect hunting spot. For all Peter knew, they could be walking right into a trap.

They continued hiking, and to his relief, they reached the tree line just before noon.

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