Reunited by Colleen Houck

Author:Colleen Houck
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Random House Children's Books
Published: 2017-08-08T04:00:00+00:00

“Lily! I mean, Wasret. Wait!” Ahmose cried out. He even reached out to try to snatch me from the air, but I’d already fallen too far. The man standing beside the well gave a frustrated cry and then soon followed after me. His large body blocked out the little light that filtered down from the diminishing opening above.

The shaft of the well was wet with damp, and the air grew cooler the farther we descended. The stones smelled of life and death, growth and decay. It seemed fitting for such a place. Ahmose was able to control the speed at which his body dropped as well as I, so he didn’t hit me on our way down but stayed just above. A silvery, pale gleam lit up the stones on either side of me, and when I glanced up, I smiled, seeing Ahmose glowing brightly in the dark.

When the yawning pit I sensed beneath us opened, the two of us dropped lightly to the floor of a vast underground cavern, our feet hitting stone. Ahmose’s light filled the space as if he were a lightning bug trapped in a clay water jug. When I asked if he was injured at all, his negative reply echoed, bouncing off rock and scurrying down dark passageways. Each no seemed to warn us not to proceed any farther.

He asked if he should draw down the power of the moon to illuminate the cavern to ease my passing. I glanced around. The small opening we had passed through cast a weak beam of light, but with my catlike eyes, it was as clear as moonlight on an open plain. I told him to preserve his energy. Saving Lily’s body had weakened him severely.

Scanning the surface of the dome, I saw other pinpricks of illumination. Each one shone down on us, brightening the Well of Souls. Without my power, I might have mistaken them for holes in the dome that let in light from above. But with my senses I knew each beam was the remnant of a soul, a dying light too forgone, with no hope of moving on.

The spider had been right about this island being a place for the lost and the broken. The Well of Souls was full of beings that flickered in and out of my vision. Ahmose sensed something otherworldly, but he didn’t have my power to name them. When I did, they flared into view. I knew what they were and, more important, what they’d been. I saw no reason to cause Ahmose unrest by describing the scene in full detail, so I let him enjoy the pretty lights and kept my knowledge to myself. If he asked, I’d tell him. Otherwise, it might be a more pleasant journey for him if he didn’t know the sorrow of the place.

I could smell the cool dankness of the Cosmic River as it worked, beating against the well. Over time it had caused small breaches. Little pools of the black water had collected here and there in hollowed-out, stony places.

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