Below the Moon by Alexis Marie Chute

Author:Alexis Marie Chute
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: SparkPress
Published: 2019-12-16T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 21

Archie

I don’t understand … is Arden the one who will save us all?”

“Archie, you crashed into an invisible wall—”

“Laken?”

“Who? No, Archie, it’s me, Lillium. I’m so sorry. I didn’t see the enchantment coming. It is such an obvious thing, now that I think about it. Hiding a stone wall behind the stardust bark of the blue forest, making it reflect the sky and the walls around it. I bet it trips up more intruders than the pit of carakwas!”

“When am I?” Archie shakes his head as if marbles are rolling around in his skull.

Lillium startles. “Uh, you are now, Archie. Only a few breaths have passed.”

“Where’s the sunset?” Archie shuffles to his feet. His head throbs, and he cups his forehead where shooting lasers of ice cut through his mind. There is no lingering rose tint in the sky, no brightness of twilight. “I don’t get it,” Archie says, wincing. “One second I was up there”—he points to Baluurwa and its vine-linked floating hunks of rock—“and now I’m down here …”

Lillium purses her lips and makes a puckering sound. “Not sure what to tell you. You were running. Bam! Ground. And now. That’s it.”

“I spoke with a Steffanus—Laken.”

“Before you came to the Fairy Vineyard?”

“No! Blast it, Lillium. Just now! Although, it was then—many years ago.”

“How about for now we agree to discuss this later and continue on? The Haaz giants still track us. They’ve picked up slingshots, and I do not mean the ones the Bangols hide in their pockets. These shoot boulders. I’ve been watching them fly over the walls of the maze for my last fifty breaths. I’ve charted them—where they rise, not where they fall. That’s how I can tell the pack approaches. The rising place is getting nearer to us, Archie.

“Plus,” Lillium continues, more determinedly, “there is something else we need to worry about.”

“Ugh, my head.” Archie blinks rapidly as he wrestles with his headache. “What else could there possibly be, Lillium?”

She points. Archie turns his gaze toward the treacherous stone walls around them, then beyond. In the distance, past the western entrance to the Bangols maze and fortress, is a massive wave rivaling Baluurwa in height. It is about to swallow the Great Tree poking above the flooded vineyard.

Archie’s hands fall from his head. “Ella,” he says. “Arden, Tessa …”

“All I can hope is that they woke up soon enough.” Lillium’s voice is weak. “And that they saved the Life Ohmi.”

“The wave is not angled in our direction. It’s coming inland from the sea straight west. The mountain will take the brunt of it.”

“Water will still flood this way, Archie. So, as your sprite guide, I sternly advise you to begin running—now!”

Lillium dives into Archie’s pocket as he begins to race, zipping around the invisible wall and deeper into the maze. This time, his steps are unsteady. He sprints with outstretched arms and fingers, which slows his pace considerably. He feels pained, fatigued yet crazed, and his brow scrunches in anticipation of another unexpected collision.

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