The Felinites

Chapter 20

Chapter 20

Abby's POV

Bang! Something or someone rather, crashes against the wall again. I cannot help but hope that it's not Dexter. One Felinite against eight Edacions makes for bad odds. Dexter is dangerously outnumbered. I pace as I listen to the loud noises coming from the other side of the wall. What is going on over there?

I push on the wall, but it will not budge. No matter how hard I try, the secret passage refuses to open as easily as it had for Dexter. There has to be a lever, door knob, button, or something.

My foot catches on something in my pacing and I trip. I reach down and pick up the object that had been in the way. As I suspected, it was a rock. I am about to throw it into the dark passage way, when I spot color on it.

There is a series of pictures but I know that it is undoubtedly a message from Dexter. The Felinites native written language seems to be pictures. That is how all of the doors in town are labeled, at least.

I walk over to a torch mounted on a wall to get a closer look. Two crowns is the first picture. The second is of a spaceship. A third shows a cave with the three moons over it. And the last one shows the planet Earth, my home. What could that mean? Two crowns... a spaceship... a cave ... Earth? Earth!

Of course. Dexter had said two days ago that he planned to get me and him to Earth after the wedding. That was before our argument, but he probably still went through with his plans, especially since he seemed so scared of going back to Satera.

Ok, so he wants me to take a spaceship to Earth? How do you fly a spaceship? What does the rest of the message mean? Two crowns and a cave? I stare at the smooth rock, puzzling over it.

Suddenly, the noises outside stop, as Dexter predicted they would. I am too late to help him now and I am stuck in here, unable to warn Princess Cleo. And I'm completely clueless to the meaning of his message.

I give up trying to decipher the message and sink down to a sitting position with my back against the wall. The wall moves, opening up into the hall. I had been pressing on the wrong wall the whole time. I jump up and find three Edacions unconscious on the floor. The other five must have over-powered Dexter.

He had mentioned that they were after him because he saw something he was not supposed to have known about. Trying not to dwell on my worry for him, I rush to Princess Cleo's room. Princess Cleo turns at the sound of my feet slamming on the floor as I run into her room, the rock still clutched in my hand.

"Abby? I thought I told you to get ready for the wedding. It is about to begin," Princess Cleo says. I sigh in relief that she hadn't went to the wedding yet.

"The kingdom is under attack. You cannot go," I tell her.

"What?" she screeches in alarm. "On my wedding day? Who would attack on today of all days?"

"Edacions," I answer.

"No," she whispers in denial, mostly to herself.

"I am not sure what to do now. Maybe we should get you to a safe place," I suggest.

"We need to find Dexter. He will protect me. Why is he not here yet?" she asks.

"He was taken by the Edacions," I tell her hesitantly, not wanting to be the one to break the news to her.

She makes a surprised sound. "Why would they want him? Why would they attack us at all? I was just about to make the Felinites their allies. We are not supposed to be enemies," she rants.

"Dexter told me that at some point, when he was on Satera, he wondered into a room that was off-limits and saw Edacion secrets. As for why they attacked, I do not know. It could be because of the lack of transportation potions," I tell her.