CORRUPTED FILE [Lumina Chronicles Past Drafts]

Level Six

[KINDLE'S PoV] 

I knew Faye's human would be a problem. But to honest, this was not one of the potential problems I envisioned.

After hurling everywhere, Blondie started crying (again) and apologizing at rapid speed. She was sitting on the stone floor of the manor roof, with Faye next to her patting her back.

"I knew you felt warm, you must be sick," Faye cooed.

"No no, I'm just... where are we?" Blondie repeated. Her voice trembled almost as much as her hand as she pointed up at the sky. "There are two, right? I'm not just seeing things?"

"Yes, there are two moons," Faye answered gently. Leave it to Faye to pick up not just a human, but a crazy one at that.

"Where are we?" Blondie asked again, louder and more insistent.

"I don't know what you're asking," I sighed. I backed away from the girls and bent down to carefully remove my boots. "Where are we, um... on the roof? In the South Western Territory?"

"The Realm Under Twin Shadows?" Faye tried.

At that, Blondie clamped a hand over her mouth and let out a choked squawking sound. I didn't know whether she was holding back a scream or more vomit.

I took another step back.

"The Realm Under Twin Shadows?" she echoed quietly. "We're in the Shadow Realm. The Shadow Realm?"

I rubbed a hand across the back of my neck and stared at her. "Yes, of course."

"Don't of course me!" She glared up at me with a surprising amount of hostility despite her weepy state. "That is not a question that should be answered with 'of course' as if it's the most obvious thing in the world!"

I tossed my hands up in surrender and back even further away until I was once again at the stone wall surrounding the edge of the roof. I would let Faye handle this, it was her human after all.

"Where are you from, Magpie?" Faye asked gently.

"Not here," Blondie answered. "Definitely not here."

They spoke in quiet whispers while I considered what that meant. Maybe Faye's theory hadn't been so ridiculous after all. But the idea that this girl was somehow not just from another village, but from another world entirely, was impossible to wrap my head around.

"Kindle," Faye called. "Help me get Maggie back down to my workshop."

"No, please." Blondie caught Faye's sleeve. "I want to stay out here for a bit. I need to breathe. I need to... understand..." She breathed a shaky sigh and dropped her head in her hands.

"Okay, well," Faye stood with her hands clasped in front of her. She nervously rocked back on her heels. "I'll go get a mop."

"And I'll, uh, go burn these boots," I muttered, following her down the stairs.

"I'll be right back Magpie!" Faye called before I shut the door to the roof. She glanced at me with a surprisingly smug expression. "I told you she wasn't from here!"

I shook my head as we descended to the corridor. "The only thing that's been proven is that she's sick. You said she was warm, right? And well," I held up my boots.

"But what about her reaction to finding out where we are? Or the moons!" Faye pressed.

"Keep your voice down." I glanced down the hall in both directions. "She's probably just delirious."