She made a face at Willow, trying to tell him something telepathically. He winked and put a hand on my knee. “Look Badge, we all want to save Pyrite, but we need rest and supplies before we even think about breaking into the Deep Dark.”
“But...” I wanted to argue, but there wasn’t much point. Our chances of finding Pyrite were just as low now as they would be in a few hours.
“Well, aren't we a lucky bunch?” said Piranha’s yawning voice from the doorway. They were smiling but their eyes sagged with exhaustion.
Sharp grumbled and closed her eyes. “I’m not sure ‘lucky’ is the word I’d use right now, Pir.”
They smiled and shrugged. “And why not? Willow wanted to go to the Dark, and we were all wanting some adventure. It is the exploration season after all.”
“Maybe now is not the time,” she scolded. “Pyrite could be in very real danger, not to mention the four of us.”
“No, they’re right,” I acknowledged. “We can’t change it, and things will go even worse if we have the wrong attitude.” I took a deep breath and remembered something important. “Did you tell my parents what's happening?”
Sharp and Willow paled.
“What’s wrong?” I asked, stomach turning.
“The gold scroll,” Sharp whispered. “It wasn’t in your bag. We haven’t been able to find it anywhere.”
Willow’s mouth grew small. “I was thinking about it and… do you remember seeing it after we returned from foraging mushrooms?”
“Now that you mention it, no I don’t.”
Pir tapped a fretful rhythm on the doorframe. “Sharp suspects they might have stolen it after coming across our horses. It had Pyrite’s address on it.”
I smacked my forehead. “Oh no. My last message was still inscribed! Damn it through the trees, that must be why they knew who I was.”
“No use feeling guilty,” Piranha whispered. “None of us knew what direction the night would take.”
The night. There were no windows in this room, but what did it matter in a world with no sun? In fact, the lack of windows may have been the best choice for a house like this. I couldn’t imagine it was easy to look outdoors into endless dusk.
“We should all get some rest as soon as possible,” Piranha reached into their satchel, “and eat plenty of Moonlight Fruit, to avoid losing our minds.”
I’d shared meals with my friends many times, but none were as silent as this one. The quiet that accompanies eating drew attention to the crushing exhaustion holding us in its clutches, paired with something sinister lurking in our future. The Moonlight Fruit tasted like paper.
The border to the Deep Dark was not man-made. It was a Divine pressure in the air that couldn’t be seen by the human eye, controlled by whoever the God Tree allowed to have the throne. Even with a guide I’d been afraid to pass through, and now we were doing it with no one.
“We must be close,” Willow breathed. Earlier, when we were raiding Pyrite’s cupboards for some dry fruits and mushrooms, his positive attitude had instilled our group with confidence. Now, as we approached the border, he looked ready to puke.
“Why do you look so sick?” I asked.
“Probably for the same reason you do. Look.” Willow pointed to the canopy, thick with the whitish glow of the Moonlight Fruits, but also with patches of soft, luminous blue. The light of the Wild Fruit made the skin look pale and azure.
“It isn’t just the light, Willow,” said Sharp. “Your face is all scrunched like you’re about to lose your breakfast.”
Piranha turned to reveal a nearly identical expression. “I think we should stop. This is as far as I made it yesterday.” The wildcat scanned my impassive face. “Don’t you feel it too?”
“Feel what? The air pressure?”
“No, the horrible nausea!” they balked, hunched over in discomfort. “What about you Sharp?”
Her serious expression faltered as she clutched her stomach. “Yeah, starting to.”
“I feel fine,” I said, which wasn’t completely true. I was fighting the insatiable urge to run away. “Do you think it’s time to disappear?”
Sharp closed her eyes, searching her mind for any useful knowledge. “We’re probably one hundred feet or so from the true border, given the symptoms. Once we’re shrouded, we’ll move to the goal as quickly as possible so you can avoid passing out. Do you think you can do it?”
“I'm ready,” I lied, holding my arms out. “When I say go, keep pace with me.”
Piranha and Sharp gripped me with rough hands, but Willow ignored my body language. Instead, he intertwined his smooth fingers with my other hand and squeezed it hard. His face was cut with a shadow, and a solemn determination replaced the fear in his eyes, which locked on to mine. I welcomed the shadows, as they hid the burning blush in my cheeks.
“Go!” I shouted.
We ran, shrouded, at a brisk pace across the short, soft grass. The Ghost Trees had little underbrush, except for occasional clusters of mushrooms. The trees on the border didn’t look much different than the Phantom Oaks further behind us, but in the Unseen Dimension, Ghost Trees glowed white.
Sharp gave a signal, but not the signal I was expecting. Instead of stopping us, she pulled us along at a higher speed. “Hurry to the tree straight ahead and hide,” she breathed. “Don’t deactivate until we’re there.”
None of us said a word and dutifully followed her command. Once we were hidden behind the tree, we reappeared, and the color of the trees dulled.
“Did we do it? Are we across the border?” whispered Willow, a hand on the bark of the giant.
Sharp tapped a finger on her lip. In the City, most people learned to speak multiple languages, including one called Silvertongue, that ironically used hand signs instead of voice. She taught us to use it as kids, since it was often useful for our various schemes.
“We’re across,” she signed, tilting her head towards the tree. “Someone behind us. Saw their light.”
“Following?” signed Willow.
