by Travis Hall
“Then why can’t anyone tell me why?” Allora said, tears filling her eyes. “Why are we being sheltered from the truth? Why does it scare my mother so much?”
“Maybe because she knows that eventually this entire rebellion rests on our shoulders. Before we came here, my father said that we are meant to take over his legacy when this war starts. Do you know how much pressure that can be on a ten-year-old? I think that your mother wanted to keep the truth from you so that you could have some semblance of a childhood.”
“Who are you? You don’t sound like my kooky best friend right now.”
Katie chuckled. “I have my moments of profoundness,” Katie added, walking over and grabbing the jade cube from the pavement. “By the way, this thing lit up when it flew from your pocket.”
“What?” Allora said excitedly. “It did the same thing when the sphinx attacked us. Tell me exactly what it did.”
“It glowed and then sent a short burst of light toward that way,” Katie said, pointing to the wishing well and looking perplexed. Allora jogged over and scanned the bottom of the old well. Katie joined her.
“Can you do the wind thing again?”
“I can try,” Katie said, closing her eyes as Allora extended her palm with the cube on top.
Katie pulled in the hadrons, feeling the energized molecules changing within her cells and circulating with her atoms as they grew in strength and power. She gently pushed the energy with her palms, opened her eyes, and sent the wind toward the cube. Allora had to grab the cube within her index finger and thumb to keep it from falling. The jade began to glow, sending a beam of green light toward the bottom of the well, where it hit a square, moss-covered indentation in the stone. Allora and Katie hugged each other, excited for what they just found.
“We’ve got to tell the boys,” Allora said.
“I’ll get Dax. You should probably be the one to tell Tanner.”
Allora nodded.
Allora slowly made her way to Tanner’s house, hesitating slightly before rapping on the wooden door. After a minute, Aunt Lizzy opened the door.
“Hi, Allora. Come on in.”
“Is Tanner home?” Allora asked, walking into the living room.
“He’s actually out,” Aunt Lizzy said.
“Where is he? I need to talk to him.”
“Not sure,” she said. Her expression looked worried. “He’s been really moody lately and keeping to himself.”
“Do you know why?”
Aunt Lizzy hesitated. “He’s been asking about his parents a lot lately.”
“Why can’t you just tell him about them?”
“It’s much more complicated than I’d like to go into right now.”
“Funny. That’s exactly what my mom says when I ask about my father. No wonder Tanner is so upset.”
Aunt Lizzy looked perturbed. “This is none of your business, missy.”
“Of course it’s my business!” Allora said, her anger boiling up. “You have no right to keep these things from us!”
“I think that it’s time for you to leave,” Aunt Lizzy said, tearing up and pointing to the door.
Allora glared at Aunt Lizzy and made her way to the front lawn. She turned around to get in the last word.
“I really hope that when Tanner does learn the truth, he doesn’t resent you for the rest of your life.”
“I’ve already prepared for that, Allora. Just promise me that you’ll be there for him, that you won’t shy away from the most difficult of decisions when it comes to Tanner.”
Allora’s furrowed brow released, unsure of what to think by her comment.
“I don’t understand.”
“You will,” she replied.
Aunt Lizzy slowly closed the door, leaving Allora in a state of confusion. After leaving in her mom’s minivan, she drove to the cul-de-sac near her home, parking next to the familiar pathway down to the river. After navigating through the woods, she saw the figure of a boy standing at the edge of the rushing water. Patches of snow covered the rocky shore. She slipped on a rock, causing her foot to splash in a puddle. Tanner spun around quickly upon hearing the sound. His posture released from the fighting stance when he recognized the intruder.
“What are you doing here?”
“I came to talk,” Allora said, shaking off the water from her boot and walking toward the riverbank. Tanner just turned around and ignored her. “I had a nice conversation with your aunt.” Tanner chucked a pebble into the icy water. “Look, I’m sorry, Tanner.”
“For what?”
“Katie told me that you found my note,” Allora said. Tanner grabbed another pebble from the ground and tossed it into the water. “Why didn’t you just tell me that you found it?”
“Because I can’t blame you for something that I too have thought about,” he said, catching Allora off guard. “I’ve thought about leaving this town so many times over the last year.” He picked up another pebble, tossing it in the air and catching it. “Really, the only thing that has kept me here is you.”
Allora stared at him, feeling the pained energy that was flowing out from his body. Tanner caught her eye, turned, and stepped forward. As he got closer, Allora could smell the familiar cologne that wafted from his muscular neck. They inched closer, locking their eyes on each other confidently, without any fear. Tanner extended his right hand, gently placing his fingers in between hers. His icy-cold hands warmed in the embrace as the energy within them began to pulsate with their increased heartbeats. A tingling sensation flowed down their bodies, anticipating the moment that they had been dreaming about for so long. Tanner leaned in slightly, waiting for confirmation. Allora reciprocated, tilting forward. He conspicuously licked his lips as she closed her eyes. She then felt the warmth and gentle strength of his kiss pushing down upon her lips. Their bodies connected as he brushed back her hair, placing the loose strands behind her right ear. She melted completely into his embrace. He ran his finger down her cheek as he kissed her again.
Their bodies began to fill with the energy around them, and their kiss became even more passionate. Suddenly, Allora’s body pushed the energy into her hands, and Tanner’s shirt caught fire. He felt the heat upon his skin and released from Allora’s lips. She screamed as he turned around, dancing into the shallows of the river. Panic-stricken, Allora pushed him down into the water. The flames were extinguished, but Tanner was completely soaked by the frigid water. He quickly got up out of the river, a shocked expression on his face. Allora bit down on her teeth, squinting, with a guilty smile.
“Sorry,” she said, chuckling at the sight of Tanner standing with arms extended away from his sides, dripping from his soaked clothes.
“Talk about déjà vu,” Tanner said.
“Wait,” Allora said. “You can manipulate water molecules, remember?”
Tanner caught on to what Allora was suggesting, closed his eyes, and focused his attention on his waterlogged clothes. The water droplets began migrating toward his chest, crawling up from his soaked jeans. He pulled the water from his chest, creating a ball within his palms. He opened his eyes to see the circulating ball of water drop and splash at his feet. He ran his hands on his dry clothes, shocked and excited with the results.
“You are a genius!”
“I have my moments,” she said, nudging him with her shoulder.
He wrapped his arm around her shoulder, and she wrapped her arms around his stomach, placing her head against his chest. They walked up to the van and waited in silence, unsure of what to say to each other.
“Um, so, we are going to meet at Katie and Dax’s for a sleepover this weekend,” Allora said, interrupting the awkward silence.
“Any particular reason?” Tanner asked, accepting Allora’s attempt to change the subject.
“We may have found out why my uncle was so interested in this town,” Allora said, explaining in detail about what happened at the school wishing well. She quickly got into her van, rolling down the window while Tanner
stood there.
“Are we going to talk about what just happened?”
“Yeah. I just need some time to think about it. I’m a little overwhelmed at the moment.”
He nodded in understanding.
“If it’s any consolation, I’m glad that it happened,” he said, his smile melting her emotions and causing her hands to melt the steering wheel.
“I am too,” she responded. “Maybe next time I won’t light you on fire first.”
“So, there is going to be a next time?” he responded.
Upon smelling the burning material, she quickly came back to reality, turned the ignition, and sped off in reverse.
“Um, I gotta go,” she said out her window.
He simply waved back and stuck his hands in his pockets as he watched her turn the corner.
chapter
SIXTEEN
Jade Orb
“Should we put one more log on the fire?” Dax said, grabbing a block of wood from a pile next to the brass fire pit in his backyard.
“Yeah, why not?” Tanner responded, putting his palms out toward the dying flames.
Allora pulled her feet up and curled them underneath her cushion, trying to escape the chill of the cold late-February air. She hugged her blanket that she had cocooned herself in while Dax threw on a log and stoked the embers with a fire prod. The fire caught and illuminated the others, and they stared into the orange flames as they all sat in a circle in Katie and Dax’s backyard.
“You know, we haven’t had a sleepover in quite a while,” Katie said, cocooned in a blanket. “I’m surprised that your mother even approved it.”
“Yeah, I’m surprised too,” Allora admitted, warming her hands near the fire. “These last few weeks have been brutal. Mom has only let me go to school and the outer realm.”
“Are you guys sure that you want to sneak out?” Tanner asked.
“Scared of my mom, are you?”
“Everyone is scared of your mom,” Dax said.
“All right, time to come inside,” Maureen yelled from the back porch.
Dax and Tanner put out the fire as the girls went to Katie’s room to prepare for bed.
They placed flashlights, climbing rope, water bottles, food, extra clothing, and other essentials into a backpack. Katie then tossed it out of her window.
After a few hours of sleep, the alarm woke Allora at three in the morning. After changing quickly, the girls snuck out of the window, grabbed their supplies, and scurried across the front lawn. Katie’s eye caught a strange light in the grass, and she slammed Allora’s chest with her forearm, stopping her suddenly.
“What?” Allora whispered.
“I almost forgot about the motion sensors,” Katie said, kneeling down to the ground. With her head against the grass, she could see a faint, grid-like pattern. Memorizing the placement of each sensor beam, she got to her feet and instructed Allora to step in the exact same place. After navigating the lawn, they ran through the woods and jumped into Tanner’s car.
“Took ya long enough,” Dax said as they drove toward the school.
Tanner veered left and parked the car at the edge of the trees so as not to be noticed. Then they walked to the old well next to the parking lot. The crescent moon rested on the tree canopy like a sentry upon the battlements. They all circled around the well and stared down into the black abyss below.
“So who’s first?” Tanner asked.
“I vote Katie,” Dax said.
“What? No way. I went first down the big, black, freaky hole last time, remember?”
“You really didn’t have a choice on that trip,” Dax said.
“Whatever, you sissies,” Allora said, grabbing the climbing rope from Tanner’s backpack and tying it around her waist. “I’ll go first.”
Allora strapped the headlamp around her head, flicked it on, and sat down on the edge of the well while Tanner secured the other line to a tree trunk. Once they double-checked its strength to make sure it was secure, Tanner eased Allora into the well. The interior was covered in moss and smelled of mold. As Allora descended, she noticed that the rock was a different type twenty feet down. It was as if the existing well had been built on top of an older one. She ran her finger down the rock. It was slimy but solid. It took about five minutes, but she finally reached the bottom. It was much deeper down than she had predicted.
“OK, hold it there,” Allora yelled, stopping her descent.
She spun in place, illuminating the bottom with her headlamp.
“See anything?” Katie yelled down.
Allora kept spinning, not noticing anything of interest. The stench of mildew was overwhelming Allora’s senses, and she had to plug her nose. After a few spins, she noticed a patch of moss covering an odd-looking stone. She pulled away the moist, green vegetation and scooped out the dirt that had accumulated in a small, carved-out portion of the rock. It was in the shape of a perfect square. She pulled out the green cube and gently placed the object into the stone.
Nothing happened. She pulled it out and tried different ways of placing the cube into the slot, but nothing worked. Then she decided to give it a little spark. Suddenly the cube glowed green, projecting light from the carved lines on the exterior. The top folded outward and then spun around. The swirling motion started to spread, and soon there was a large circle of spinning material like on the wall in Sas’s cave.
“I think that we’re in business,” Allora said, placing her hand confidently into the liquid cement–like substance.
She then placed her feet on the other side and pushed off, swinging into the liquid wall. After untying the rope from her waist, she waited for the others to come down. Tanner was the last to reach the bottom. Once in, they all slowly walked into the tunnel. The interior material was rock layered with a type of cement that seemed to hold it together. There were a few cracks, but nothing structurally unstable, which was odd since the place had supposedly been there for thousands of years.
“Everyone stay alert,” Tanner said. “I don’t suspect that the individuals who made this place will have made it very easy to find what we’re looking for.”
“What are we looking for?” Dax asked.
“Not sure, but make sure not to touch anything like last time,” Katie added.
“You guys are never going to let that one go, are you?”
From the black void ahead, a muffled echo reverberated down the narrow passageway. The sound was strange, like a teapot boiling in the distance.
“What the hell was that?” Allora whispered.
“A gopher?” Dax said. The others pointed their headlamps at him. “A really big gopher?”
They had no choice but to continue forward into the dark tunnel. Each step was heavy, like they had weights strapped to their feet. The tunnel began to expand, opening into larger chambers filled with carved-out beds in the walls. Within were skeletons draped in ragged, torn garb and covered in dust and dirt. The garments and headdresses suggested that they had been a primitive civilization that had lived thousands of years before.
“This must be an ancient tomb,” Allora said, fascinated by the discovery.
“Ew,” Katie remarked. “I hate dead things.”
“At least these skeletons aren’t walking around trying to kill us,” Dax said.
“Don’t speak so soon,” Tanner said, walking farther into the tomb.
It was pitch black, illuminated only by the four fluorescent headlights that bobbed as the four of them stepped slowly through the cavern. The air smelled of rotten vegetation, dirt, and death. Roots zigzagged down the walls between the tombs, and a slight trickle of water reverberated within the cavern. Dax moved ahead of the group. He stopped suddenly and swung his arms, halting everyone’s progress.
“What?” Katie asked.
“There are no more tombs,” he replied.
“So what?” Katie said, moving underneath her twin brother’s outstretched arm. “Bro, I think that those Baykok made you paranoid.”
Dax shined his headlamp on the wall and noticed an assortment of holes. He suddenly lunged forward and grabbed his sister’s waist, pushing her to the ground. Allora shined her light to the left as a spear shot from the wall. The silver-tipped spear sliced across the cavern, mere inches from Dax and Katie’s falling bodies. Allora’s light caught the edges of another hold at the base of the wall. She sprung forward, creating a hadron burst that shot out and exploded the spear right before it pierced Katie’s back. Dazed from the incident, Katie frantically crawled backward.
“I’m not going that way,” Katie said while sitting on the ground.
“Guess you’ll listen to me next time,” Dax said, inching backward.
“Those may be hadron-infused spear blades,” Tanner said, examining the first spear that had embedded itself in the hard clay wall. He projected his headlamp down the cave and saw numerous holes on the walls. “We can’t just put up our shields and walk through.”
“Well, I don’t want to be skewered,” Katie said, getting up from the ground.
“Tell me about it,” Allora said, remembering the spear that had shot through her back.
“Anyone for shish kebabs later?” Dax joked.
Katie proceeded to slug her brother on the shoulder for the comment.
“Tanner, could you get enough water in the soil to freeze the walls?” Allora asked.
“Worth a shot.”
Tanner moved in front, closed his eyes, and angled his hands forward. For a few minutes, nothing happened as he tried in vain to concentrate. Allora stepped forward, unsure of what she was doing. She placed her hand on the small of his back, closed her eyes, and focused her own hadrons, pushing them into his body. Acting like a super-charged battery, Tanner’s hands began to glow blue, and water started to flow from the ground, walls, and ceiling. The veins in Tanner’s forehead protruded, his muscles were tight, and he shook slightly as the water ran up the walls. The air grew cold, and they began to see their own breath.