Elemental Unity by Maddy Edwards

Author:Maddy Edwards [Edwards, Maddy]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2019-06-23T22:00:00+00:00

Chapter Seventeen

Once inside, we were in blackness. Only my fire lit the way. All around us I could see piles of boxes, bags, used furniture, and other discarded items. There was even a stack of very old-looking pots and pans that had no doubt lost their usefulness.

“Pixies aren’t clean, are they,” Eighellie said. “Why doesn’t someone come down here and clean all of this up?” she wondered.

“Nasty, lazy creatures,” Keegan suggested.

Eighellie nodded. “I guess so.”

“Where are we going?” I asked.

Eighellie held the map up to her nose and started to look. For a long minute all I could hear was distant laughter and the drip, drip of water somewhere nearby.

“Uh oh,” Eighellie said.

“What now?” I asked.

“These plans don’t match what’s here. I think the layout was changed when they rebuilt the dorm,” she said.

Keegan smacked his forehead. “We’re doomed.”

“Are you serious?” I demanded.

Eighellie looked around frantically. “I thought they were the new plans. I guess the new plans weren’t reviewed by the planning board. Not surprising. The pixies would want to keep their secrets. There’s supposedly a huge store of Glamour somewhere around here. They wouldn’t want a map to lead thieves right to it.”

“We can’t just search for the library randomly,” I told her.

“Maybe there’s a directory in one of the front rooms,” she suggested.

“Who’s going to go find out?” Keegan demanded.

We all stood silently. Eighellie chewed her lip, deep in thought.

“What about sensing wood? Can you do that?” asked Eighellie desperately.

At first the tree sprite didn’t even realize that she was speaking to him.

“What do you mean?” Keegan asked.

“You’re a tree sprite! Your power is with trees, right? They’re wood. Books are always on shelves make of wood. I’m not saying it’s perfect. They probably have a kitchen or a dining hall with wooden tables, but I think it’s our only shot at this point,” she said.

Keegan gave me a look that said everything, without his having to utter a single word.

Eighellie saw it too and braced her hands on her hips. “Don’t you dare! If you want to make a different suggestion, I’m all ears!”

“No, I mean, I’ve never done anything like that, but I’ll give it a try,” said Keegan.

Eighellie’s eyes widened in surprise. Then she said, simply, “Okay.”

Keegan gave one sharp nod and closed his eyes. Instantly, his hands started to glow. He took a few steps forward, then careened a bit sideways. Eighellie and I both reached out to steady him, but he managed to right himself without our help.

We waited.

Sweat broke out on his brow.

I found myself staring down the hallway, which was the only exit from this space besides the one we’d come through. There was no one and nothing coming, but my stomach was still in knots.

Finally, Keegan opened his eyes with a gasp. He staggered against an old table but managed to hold himself upright.

“What did you see?” Eighellie asked.

“The forest. I found the forest. I can sense wood! Eighellie, you’re a bloody genius!” Keegan grabbed up the darkness mage and swung her around in a tight circle.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.