Maya and the Return of the Godlings by Rena Barron

Author:Rena Barron
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780358106234
Publisher: HMH Books
Published: 2021-09-21T00:00:00+00:00

EIGHTEEN

We get a makeover

I was ducking in and out of shadows when a blast knocked me off my feet. I hit the ground and rolled, my body slamming into rocks and grass that poked like needles. I held on to the staff and whirled around to fight off my attacker. But there was no one. The blast had come from the darkbringer camp, where half the tents were on fire. I stared at the rising flames in shock. Darkbringers were shouting commands to each other and running across the field. None of them saw me lying there in the shadows, too shaken to move.

“Maya,” Eli called. “We’re over here.”

I climbed to my feet and ran. My friends had crouched behind a tree that was as black as the night itself. White particles floated in the air around its branches like glow-in-the-dark gnats.

I leaned on the staff to catch my breath. “Are you both okay?”

“I could do without the lump on my head, but otherwise, yes,” Frankie answered, standing up to her full height.

“What happened back there?” Eli asked, his eyes wide. “Did you set the camp on fire?”

“Of course not!” I said, offended. “I freed the darkbringer, then I left.” I wondered if the boy had set the fire.

We couldn’t stay here with the camp burning and darkbringers everywhere. I gathered the three maps that we’d taken from the commander’s tent. I was going to call up some light so I could see better, but the map with the palace started to glow.

“That isn’t weird at all,” Eli said, looking over my shoulder. “A secret castle with a neon sign that basically says, Come die here.”

It was too convenient, especially since the darkbringer boy had said that the palace was hard to find. I pointed to the cluster of buildings sitting smack in the middle of our path. “It’s our only good lead, but first, we have to get through this city.”

Frankie came over to look at the map, her flashlight bouncing through the tall grass around the swamp. “Is there a way to go around it?”

I traced the edge of the city, which took up most of the page. According to the label on the map, Zdorra was the name of the city. “Not without losing a lot of time,” I said. “The city is massive.”

Frankie pointed at a string of islands that curved below the Crystal Palace. “That’s the Florida Keys in our world. That patch of dark spots to the west of us must be the Everglades.”

“So, you’re telling me that the Crystal Palace is a retirement home?” Eli laughed.

I frowned, looking up from the map. “What makes you think that?”

“It’s in Florida!” Eli said, like he was stating the obvious. “People go to Florida to retire.”

“People go to Florida on vacation, too,” Frankie countered.

“It doesn’t matter,” I said. “We need to head south.”

We trekked around patches of mud, alert to every growl and rustle in the shadows. Pesky weeds kept crawling up our pant legs until Frankie and Eli found sticks to beat them back.

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