Sharpened [ On Hold Indefinitely ]

Chapter Sixteen

The trek to the Dub takes a few hours, just as before. The weeds grab at my ankles and I scurry to keep up with the group. The afternoon light shines dimly through the canopy, and I can hear the distant calls of birds echoing around the forest floor.

"Darky, do you think you will recognize anyone from the Float?" I ask ny friend.

"Probably, but I'm not sure," she responds. Then she turns to me. "Timber, I've been thinking."

"Yes?" I say.

"Why would I have ended up at Wolf if the Maze wasn't finished?" She asks.

I pause to think, but no answer comes to mind. "Maybe......they didn't want you to see that they hadn't finished, and they somehow shipped you away?"

"That's what I thought too," Darky says, nodding.

"What are you talking about?" A voice asks from behind us.

We both swivel around to see Maple standing on the path a few feet away from us. She walks towards us, smiling brightly.

"We were wondering about how Darky ended up in Wolf," I explain.

Maple nods. "They, er, we don't know why," she says.

I bob my head, staring off into the distance. I can see patches of the blue sky through the thick trees.

Suddenly, the forest comes to an end. We have reached the open plain in which the Dub stands.

"Timber, I'll race you!" Darky says next to me. She takes off in the direction of the distant buildings, and I struggle to catch up with her. The large sack I am carrying weighs me down, but after a hundred feet or so, we reach the Dub together.

Waiting for the rest of the group to catch up with us, I rest the bag on the dirt and sit down on it. Darky follows suit, sitting on her smaller sack.

"Timber, Darky," Thunder says when she and the rest reach us. "Your going to ruin the food if you run like that."

"Oh, Thunder," Maple says sighing. "It's okay."

Thunder grunts and whispers something about 'rookies gotta learn' but continued walking past us towards the Capitol. As Maple passes us, she winks.

I smile back.

Darky and I stand up and follow the others to the large, dome-topped building near the center of the collection of buildings. We push open the doors and walk down the hallways. They all are empty, until we reach the largest room.

About nine hundred people are standing around the huge room, talking amongst themselves. When we open the large doors and walk in, the all become silent.

"Thunder Sky!" A voice from the other end of the room shouts. I can't see who it is. "We haven't seen you in a while!"

A small ripple of laughter travels through the full room, but then it returns to silence. I can tell that the person who spoke is making his way through the crowd as people move to the side.

Finally, he steps out and walks up right in front of Thunder. It is a boy that looks around her age. He has dark brown hair, searing green eyes, and a sly smirk pasted across his face.

"Finally decided to return, did you?" He says teasingly. His pale face is only inches from Thunder's.

"We came like you ordered, Spade," Thunder says, spitting his name in his face.

Smirking even more, the boy steps back and takes a good look at the rest of us. He starts walking down the line we have formed, sneering at each of us.

"Lumination Path!" He spits at the blonde-haired boy. Lumination spits on him and for one second, I find myself agreeing with the kid. I already hate this new boy.

"Sage Grass," Spade says, passing the tall boy. Sage ignores him.

"And Maple," the dark-haired boy says as he reaches Maple. He tugs at one of her strawberry-blonde pigtails, cocking his head to the side. Maple punches him in the stomach.

I bite my lip from a smile.

"And who is this?" Spade questions, standing in front of Darky and I. Darky narrows her eyes at him.

"They're the new kids, ones from Wolf," Thunder says. "That's Darky - " she nods to my friend. " - and that's Timber."

Spade nods. "We have some work for them to do here."