“Okay,” Skylar said, a bit uncertain, “Just please, don’t freak out.”
Skylar reached up and pushed in a knot in the tree like a button. Her friends gasped as a sound emanated from the tree and the ground beneath it opened up to reveal a tunnel.
As they looked into the tunnel, Skylar let in a deep breath. Why was she so scared? Her people were welcoming and surely would give her friends a place to stay.
But the Dueglesteiners kept finding them. Skylar remembered when Boromir’s blade went through Peter’s friend’s chest.
She could not allow a massacre in her homeland.
The tunnel was a small space, with roots coming out of the ceiling, and the only light from the entrance they came through, and the little niches in the walls, holding lanterns enchanted to burn forever.
They walked through the tunnels for what seemed like hours, until Skylar recognized an exit.
“This is it.”
Skylar closed her eyes for a moment and calmed herself. Everything will be alright.
Then she pulled the lever beside the opening and light poured in. Skylar felt the wind hit her face, smelled the sweet smell of grass, and heard children running around, giggling.
She couldn’t help but smile.
Then they heard a horn in the distance, and Skylar opened her eyes to see 3 boys walking towards them, weapons in hand. 216Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡ3zC2IAmDR9
But as they got closer, Skylar recognized the one in the middle.
“Chris!” She shouted and ran to the 14-year-old boy in the middle, with dark brown hair, golden eyes, and pale skin like hers.
He looked at her for a moment, then the recognition flooded his face. He dropped his weapons and ran to her.
When they met in the middle, she wrapped her arms around him and they came into a hug.
“Skylar,” he gasped, patting her shoulder, “Welcome home.”
Skylar felt tears of joy run down her face as she continued to hug Chris. “I missed you so much.”
His loving embrace then ended as he pulled away from the hug and pushed her away from him a little, hands on her shoulders.
“Where were you?” he demanded.
Skylar could help but laugh a little. “It’s a long story,” she explained.
Chris looked at her and flashed his perfectly white smile. “Good, I like long stories.” but again, concern flooded his face. “But are you okay? Did you get hurt, I-I mean-” he stopped as he looked over her shoulder. “Who’re they?”
Skylar turned to see her friends coming out of the tunnel, where Chris’s friends held their weapons at the ready, looking at her friends in surprise.
Skylar couldn’t believe that in her joy she’d almost forgotten about them.
She ran between her friends and the other Protectors and explained that they were with her, that they were not a threat. Slowly but surely, they lowered their weapons and gave her uneasy looks.
Chris followed her and said to them, especially Luke, “Thank you for keeping Skylar safe. She tends to find trouble.”
“No, trouble finds me,” she said with a smile, and he gave her a lopsided grin.
“But where are my manners?” Chris clapped his hands. “Come, let us find a room for you.”
As Chris showed her friends around the village, she couldn’t help but look at the houses in the trees, the people working and playing and living in peace.
If this were to be disrupted, Skylar wouldn’t know what she’d do.
But for now, she smiled.
She was finally home…
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