The Wishing Tree - Book Two [Completed]

Revelations - Part 7

I turn at the sound of Mason's voice and try to hide my smile. When I look back to the boys, their weapons are drawn again.

      "We don't want your help." The boy in charge gives Mason a meaningful look.

      Mason leans up against a boulder, nonchalance written all over him. "We don't want yours either, but we'll both get a piece of the prize if we work together. We can get the heart without anyone at your colony knowing it's gone. There will be no shame in us helping you to drag it back. You might even be the first two in your colony to return unscathed."

      The two boys drop their shoulders and the tension goes out of them. "You don't intend to trick us out of the carcass?"

      "We don't want the body. We just need the heart," Mason says.

"Why don't you just kill it?" The dominant one addresses Mason.

"Can't," Mason says, but he doesn't elaborate.

      They look at one another, clearly uneasy and then nod. They continue to eye Mason warily.

"We have a plan already. Do you?" The boy in charge asks.

      Mason grins and pushes off the boulder with his shoulder to an upright position. "I've done this before, boys. Of course, I have a plan."

      We all sit on the ground and Mason produces a stick to start drawing all the roles and scenarios. I have to admit that his tactical knowledge is a bit astounding and overwhelming. Although he seemed uncertain earlier, his confidence has returned tenfold.

      "Any way you look at it, the quillore dies, and we all get to keep our limbs," He smiles. "And skin."

      I look over his various drawings again, trying to remember what I do when, depending on the reaction of the quillore, the boys, and Mason.

      "We'll sleep in shifts until the light is right." The young boy in charge looks at all of us in the circle. "The girl sleeps first and watches last."

      "I have a name." I'm not sure I like being called a girl, especially by two boys who appear to be much younger than me. I know we look relatively similar physically, even if I don't like it.

      "We're not exchanging tokens of friendship. We're working together out of necessity," the boy says gruffly.

      "I just thought that in the heat of battle, 'hey you' might be a little confusing." I shoot the boy a sideways glance, knowing that I have a valid point. Mason and I were using our names throughout the tactical discussion, but Mason simply labeled the boys with the numbers one and two.

      He frowns and points to his brother. "He's Riven and I'm Rocco."

      "Twins?"

      The boys look confused and Rocco starts to speak. Mason clears his throat and turns to me. "Can I speak to you for a moment, Hannah? Over there?"

      He grabs my arm and pulls me down to where we were hiding from them before. "Please stop talking," he says.

      A flash of irritation rises up in me. I open my mouth to speak but he puts his finger on my lips. I slap his hand away.

      "What?" I ask exasperated.

      "I realize that you don't know these things, which is why it is important that you don't speak. People will figure out that there is something not quite right with you." He sighs. "People aren't born here, not in the conventional sense. There are a few portals and souls emerge from the portals as fully formed babies. If someone wants a baby, it's picked up and usually becomes part of a colony. If no one wants the baby, it'll be eaten by some predator and comes back again later."