Flight

Chapter 5: The Release

He was being watched. Max flung his eyes open and glanced around the room. Unnatural darkness met his gaze, and his breath hitched. Why couldn't he see his slavemates? Or the weak sunlight filtering through the gaps in the doorframe?

He tried to speak. Lucy? No sound came out, and yet somehow it still felt like he'd been heard.

Max's chest tightened. He whirled around, though the movement did nothing to alleviate the dark. There it was again. The feeling that he was being watched. Who's there? he called out in silent speech.

It's alright, a voice murmured next to his ear.

Before Max could react, a seed of warmth touched his chest. It slipped through his skin and sank to a dark space inside his gut. Max's heart pounded. He pressed a hand to his chest. Stumbled backward. What did you . . . ?

All thoughts dissolved as a heaviness in his body Max hadn't realized was there disappeared. A ray of light appeared several feet away. He squinted at it and took a step forward.

Max jumped as the quiet, unfamiliar voice from earlier spoke again into his ear: You've been released.

The sliver of light grew rapidly, driving out the dark and encasing all in blinding warmth. Max squeezed his eyes shut.

Go to the Land of Green and Gold.

The light receded and Max crumpled to his knees, disoriented by the sudden shift. He looked up, and he was back in the slave shack. Sunlight squeezed through the doorframe. The other slaves were awake as well, eyes just as wide and confused as his. George stood off to the side leaning against the wall, one hand pressed against his stomach. Mary scooched over to Hannah who was staring into space, mouth agape.

Max quickly found Lucy and pulled her into his lap. "You okay?"

She nodded slowly.

"You guys hear that voice too?" Mary asked.

George nodded stiffly. "It said to go to 'The Land of Green and Gold.' What's that?"

Mary shrugged. "Hannah? Do you know?"

All eyes turned to Hannah. The old slave didn't seem to notice them. Instead, she stared down at her dry, wrinkled hands, eyes wide in wonder.

"Great help she is," George snorted.

Mary narrowed her eyes and replied cooly, "It might help to give her a second to think."

Lucy tugged on Max's sleeve. "It got really dark. Why did it get dark?"

"I don't know." Max gave her a reassuring hug then looked at Hannah and Mary. "What now?"

Hannah shook her head, a wide grin spreading across the old dryad's face. "I think—"

Her words were interrupted as the door flung open, causing everyone to jump. Max hugged Lucy tighter as a familiar figure with piercing green eyes loomed in the doorway, the early morning light casting the man's wiry body in shadows.

"Max. Lucy. Mary. Hannah. Report to the Grand House immediately. The guards outside will accompany you." The taskmaster's green eyes scourged the slaves and his lips pressed tightly together.

Max began to tremble again, and he redirected his gaze to his feet.

"George, I'll be escorting you to the fields." The taskmaster paused to cast another glare at the Elder. "There'll be no breakfast today, unless someone tells me where the runaways are headed."

A bewildered silence met his words. Max caught Mary's gaze, her eyes looking just as confused. Runaways? What's going on?

"Well? Get going!" the taskmaster barked.