I narrowed my eyes. "What do you mean, the likes of us?"
He shrugged. “You know, like, really powerful people.”
Sharp blushed. Piranha smiled ferociously.
I snorted. “Thanks for that, but don't overestimate me.”
“Shh,” Sharp hissed. “People are up ahead. I hear moving and voices. It sounds like… a commotion.”
I pulled them closer. “A commotion? I hope it doesn't have anything to do with us… what should we do?”
“Take advantage of it,” she stated, “and make our way as quickly as we can to the prison chamber. Can you use your power the whole time? If a commotion is happening, we have a distraction.”
“I can do it if we move fast,” I said with false confidence.
At the end of the path, we found a trapdoor entrance. Sharp rested her hand on the latch. “I don't hear anything right outside, so disappear and move once we get in. Don’t get close to any lights we come across. We'll take the shortest route and keep an eye out for empty hallways and places to hide.”
“Understood,” Piranha and I said in unison. Teal saluted.
“Good.” She pushed the entrance open. “Then there's no time to waste.”
One by one we scrambled into the interior of the God Tree’s massive root system. The room on the other side was fully lit by Silver Lights shining white over the gray flesh of the wood. Curving, intricate designs were carved on the high ceiling, asymmetry giving them an organic, lively appearance.
Sharp checked her map-ring for another second before leading us further. Making three people invisible was easier now than the day we hid from Melodia, thanks to Gold’s tests. Teal, Piranha, and I held hands, like children being led by our mother.
The portraits and designs on the wall were saturated and beautiful in the other dimension, but I couldn't let my eyes linger. The first room was empty, but as soon as we turned the corner, I heard the commotion Sharp mentioned earlier. A group of five lights headed for us. We flattened ourselves against the wall lest they sense our presence. I heard a snippet of their conversation.
“Why weren’t they being watched?”
“They were, but the storm—"
The voices faded. Sharp tried to listen more.
“They sound concerned about people leaving the palace…” she relayed. “Something must have happened. Let’s keep moving.”
There was no time to admire the fascinating interior of the palace, all a blur of gold and blue and white. We came across the souls of a few others, shuffling in various directions, but eventually we were alone.
When we reached a point where the corridor split in two different ways, I left the Unseen to catch my breath. The color of the walls shifted from dusky blue to soft brown.
“Go right,” whispered Teal. “That's the way to the prison.”
“Wait a second.” Sharp held a finger to her lips. “Do you hear that? Voices are coming from the room down to the left.”
I pulled to the right. “Then we better hurry so we aren't spotted.”
She shook her head. “Hold on. I’m checking it out.”
“No way!” I protested, whipping my head around, but she was already stomping down the hall with a single blade unholstered. “Gah! Why does she never listen to me?”
We had no choice but to follow. By the time she reached the door, her weapon was already stored away, and her stance was unguarded.
“I'm right!” Her voice buzzed with glee and she pounded a fist on the door. “Open up bug-brain!”
“What are you—?"
My question was answered as Willow Of-the-Mountains leapt through the door and into Sharp's arms.
“There you are!” he exclaimed. “Right when it counted!”
Piranha hooted, stealth temporarily lost, and joined the joyful hug. Light flooded into my body.
“I can't believe it! You broke out all on your own!”
He caught my eye and tackled me in a shameless embrace. “No one can keep me contained, you know that!”
I hugged him tight, trying to say as much as I could without words. He smelled like wood and flowers. “Sorry we didn't get here sooner. I'm the reason this happened to you in the first place. I didn't…”
“Shush,” he shook my shoulders. “Don't worry about it. I'm going to explain everything, but right now I happen to be in a bit of a hurry. Look.”
I was so caught up in the reunion, I didn’t realize we weren’t alone. Six people stood behind him, teenagers like us, all with pitch black hair and dressed in common Wild fashion. The tallest stepped forward. “Are these the friends you were talking about?”
"The very same!” Willow’s feet rose a few inches from the ground. “And if they’re here, so is Ivory Of-the-Topaz. Are the others close?”
Teal cleared his throat. “Yes. Everybody is here but Mercury.”
“Is he…” Willow trailed off. He had seen what happened to Mercury but did not know the result.
“He’ll be fine,” Teal assured him, eyes going fuzzy as he tuned into his brother’s thoughts. “The others are still hiding near the trap door. They know we found you now, so they should be right behind us.” He grinned at his bright-eyed peers. “Good to see you all again!”
