Moon Flowers (Book 1 of the Flower Trilogy) #Wattys2016 #Featured

CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE -- HALIA (Edited)

HALIA'S POV

Wotan, astound by the sudden turn of events, rose up from the floor on which Phi had thrown him, and whirled around to our people in a rage.

"Take them back to their room!" he ordered to his slaves.

I ran to Tönx and grabbed his arm just as the thralls captured the others, and dragged him into the room where Domovoy was waiting.

"Shouldn't we try to help everyone else?" Tönx asked.

I shook my head. No time.

"We can do nothing for them now," I said. Tönx frowned. He would know everything soon enough.

"You dug up a way out," I said to Domovoy, clapping my hands together as we entered the hole in the wall and crawled in farther and farther, Tönx muttering behind me.

"I did," Domovoy replied. "I worked on this last night. I couldn't sleep."

"Despite your nervous bladder." I chuckled before turning to Tönx. "This is Domovoy, a house spirit," I explained in a serious voice. "He dug this tunnel to get in and out of Phi's room, but it used to go only from the room to outside of the main house."

"Did you see Phi's eyes?" Tönx asked. "They were red."

"I saw," I replied. Can we change the subject please? I turned to Domovoy. "Can we even go out? With the shield . . ."

"I got that covered. Don't worry," Domovoy said. "But we have to hurry. It won't be long before the guards follow us out."

I crept my way as fast as I could in the dark. Our only source of light was the candle Domovoy had taken out from his pouch. I followed the light, without knowing where we were going. I trusted the hairy little man, and as long as I was moving away from the guards I had no reason not to believe him.

The ceiling of the cave began to crumble around us. The guards. They were trying to dig their way in, while others were approaching.

"We are almost at the end of the tunnel," I told Tönx, seeing the fading light of the sunset, so that he would crawl faster. I felt a breath of fresh air.

"I am still wondering how we will get out," I cried, out of breath. "The protective shield will kill us if we go through it."

Domovoy didn't reply. Instead, he took something out of his pouch. It was a hand. A severed hand.

"Is that Siegfried's hand?" I asked, in horror.

Tönx screamed, and then clasped his hand over his mouth.

"It is now a hand of glory," Domovoy replied. "I picked it off the battle field and pickled it to use later."

A hand of glory. I remembered Grannie's stories and I knew Tönx did too. The disembodied hand of a magical king that can then be used to open any door and help the bearer go through any shield.

"Well, I think now would be a good time to use it," I said.

Securing the hand in his own, Domovoy crossed over to the other side. Outside the fortress. Into the surrounding forest. He threw the hand back at me and I followed. I threw the gruesome hand back at Tönx and he appeared in the forest as well.

"You've had the hand this whole time?" I asked Domovoy. "We could have escaped before Phi went through the ceremony!" I felt my anger rising.

"I only finished digging the tunnel during the ceremony," he replied. "And to be honest I was not sure the hand was going to work at all."