“Aurielle, run!” I shouted. We picked up the pace and veered to the right, away from the large tree above us that was raining down green dust.
After about thirty seconds of sprinting, Aurielle called, “Follow me!” She dove into a thicket of ferns feetfirst and promptly disappeared. I didn’t have time to do anything but pray for luck and follow her.
To my shock, we slid into a smooth, slender hollow in the earth. When my heart rate slowed enough for me to take in our surroundings, I saw that we were covered from above by a perfectly convex ceiling of ferns.
“We made it!” Aurielle gasped. “I was just looking for the right spot to create a thick covering for us. This should protect us fromthe tree walkers, and most people on the ground will run right past us.”
“Good thinking,” I said, still breathing a little too fast. “I think the ferns are shimmying, though. Won’t that give us away?”
“Oh,fronds. Relax, everyone,” Aurielle said, and the ferns stilled.
We lay on our bellies in the hollow for a few minutes, listening to the commotion outside. There were periods of quiet followed by shouts of “Lux dispere” and then usually some level of magical botanist profanity.
We both froze as a quiet but sharp rustle came from overhead, and the ferns began to frantically shake.
“Gahhh!” I shouted as a pair of booted feet came flying into the hollow.
Aurielle screeched, and the ferns rustled closer to us, creeping toward the intruder.
I turned and spotted a swoosh of chestnut-brown hair and a flash of familiar tattoos.
The body wasn’t just anybody.
“Callan!” I gasped.
The tree founder’s descendant had finally made his arrival.
Chapter Thirteen
“You’re here!” I blurted, all chance of vocal eloquence dissolving with my excitement at seeing him.
“Couldn’t have picked a larger hollow, could you?” Callan crouched on his forearms the same way Aurielle and I were and brushed away the ferns that were trying to overtake him.
Aurielle waved them off, and they returned to shielding us.
I smiled so broadly that I could feel it in my cheeks. Callan was here. Finally. “How did you find us?” I asked.
“I was tree walking, hoping to catch sight of you. I had a feeling you’d be with a fern, so I headed for this dense grove. Sure enough, I saw you two dive in here a few minutes ago. I had to wait for an opening, and then I joined you. Nice job on the cover.” He aimed this comment at Aurielle. “I couldn’t see your lantern light from the outside.”
It was then that I noticed the orange lantern that had slid in with him. “You’re on Team Autumn?”
“What? Did you think I’d come in here to ambush you from Team Summer?” Callan’s mouth quirked. “So, what’s the game plan?”
“We were going to hide in here until it thins out then try to sneak up on an opponent or two,” I said.
Callan raised his eyebrows, and the motion was illuminated by his lantern. “Oh, I think we can do better than that.”
“What do you have in mind?” I asked.
“Hollis is captain of the other team, and in the spirit of friendly competition, I’d like to take him out. We can’t have a first-year founder’s descendant thinking he runs the place this year, can we?”
I couldn’t help smiling. Hollis had both Meadow and Callan gunning for him. “Why didn’t you just go straight after him?” I asked. “What do you need us for?”
“Taking down Hollis will be more fun with witnesses.” He winked.
I glanced at Aurielle. “What do you think? Stick with our original plan or follow this madman?”
“Taking down a founder’s descendant sounds like fun to me,” Aurielle said. “But I have a feeling Callan’s plan involves tree walking.”
