Chapter 19
P aige clamped a hand over her open mouth as she hiccuped.
“Shh,” Devon said, taking her hand in his. “It’s okay.”
Paige squashed her features as a bead of sweat rolled down her cheek. “It’s really hot.”
Devon put a hand on her shoulder and squeezed. “I know. They’ll give up soon when they can’t find you.”
Paige blew out a shaky breath as darkness consumed them again. She shifted her eyes up to find a Harpy returning to the village.
“See, they’re going back,” Devon whispered.
She nodded as she shifted her weight to ease the cramps building in her thighs. They waited for what seemed like an eternity after the last Harpy sailed overhead before Devon signaled for her to wait in the cover of the leaves.
He climbed out and swung his gaze around at the skies above them before he waved for her to join him. She pushed through the leaves, with Dewey still clinging to her.
“That was close,” she said with a long sigh as she patted Dewey’s shoulder. “We’re okay, buddy.”
He leaned away from her and patted her cheek with a paw. “You’re so sweaty.”
“Thanks, pal. I’m sorry about that. Must have been all the running.”
“It’s okay, Paige. You can’t help it.”
“Did you get the Heat?” Devon asked, wincing as he wiggled his shoulders.
Paige bobbed her head up and down. “Yeah, it’s in my backpack. And we got this!” She held the golden orb up triumphantly.
“What is it?”
“What is it?” Dewey echoed. “Are you kidding? Ho-ho, boy, are you lucky I knew what it was.”
“It’s some sort of plant that’ll heal your infection,” Paige answered.
“Glowrock. Foolproof healing for that wound you have,” Dewey said. “Let’s put it on now, so you can make it back to my village without passing out. Paige will be a hot mess if she has to drag you.”
“It’ll work that fast?” Paige asked.
“Yep,” Dewey said. “Should be almost instantaneous. Lift up your shirt.”
Paige flicked her eyebrows up as he fluttered off her shoulder. Devon peeled his shirt from his fit physique and twisted his back toward Dewey.
“Ugh, that’s terrible. This should heal it, though. Okay, Paige, crack it open against the tree like an egg, then smear the contents on his back.”
Paige nodded and smacked the orb against the tree. The shell splintered, and she carefully pulled it open. She handed one side to Devon before she poured the thick, honey-like liquid against his wound.
“Okay, give me the other one.”
She repeated the process with the remaining juice from the other half. Smoke rose from the wound as the angry red mark receded.
“Wow, that was fast.”
“Told you,” Dewey said, dusting off his paws. “Fast-acting, and foolproof.”
Devon glanced over his shoulder and flexed his back muscles. “Worked like a charm. I feel great.” He pressed a hand against his forehead, then slid it to his cheek. “Fever’s gone.”
“Don’t know about foolproof,” Paige said as she tossed away the shells.
Dewey landed on her shoulder. “Obviously, it was.”
“Until you turn purple or melt.”
“Glowrock has no adverse side effects,” Dewey said, while Devon donned his shirt for their return trip.
Paige pushed through the foliage toward Dewey’s village. “Are you kidding?”
Dewey shook his head. “No. I said foolproof, and I meant it.”
Paige clicked her tongue and shook her head. “Of course. Devon gets sick and gets cured with some weird honey that instantly makes him better, with no side effects. I get turned purple.”
“Sorry, Paige. Devon just had a simple wound infection. Hardly exciting, and hardly difficult. A little antibiotic ointment would have done the trick, really.”
“You mean to tell me we went all the way back in there when he could have smeared ointment on it and been done? I risked my life for something that could have been cured with the stuff in your mom’s medicine cabinet?”
“I told you it wouldn’t work as quickly. Then we’d have a sick Devon to drag around. That’s useless.”
“Hey, I’m hardly useless.”
“When you keep passing out, you are,” Paige answered as they trekked back. “Let’s just let it go and focus on the next task. The Astral realm. What are we looking at here? Some starry universe? Is it dark? Ethereal? What?”
“None of those things,” Dewey answered.
“What is it then?” Paige asked.
Dewey exchanged a glance with Devon, tapping his lips with his claw. “Uhhh, well…”
“The fact that neither of you is answering makes me nervous. Astral realm sounds…spacey. Like outer space, and we use the stars as a path to walk on.”
“Not exactly,” Dewey answered. “The thing is it’s a place made up of crystal caves. Kind of cool to see since they’re multi-colored. Some very stunning images have been taken of the Astral realm. In fact, did you know they have an entire calendar of pictures–”
“Dewey, as nice as the calendar sounds, I don’t need to know about it. What I do need to know is what you’re leaving out.”
“Leaving out?” he asked.
“You didn’t want to tell me about the Astral realm. Why? If it’s just beautiful crystal caves, it sounds lovely. Why wouldn’t you want to tell me that?”
“Yeah, I mean, it’s great. Really, really beautiful,” Dewey said, with a shrug. “As long as you don’t run into the Crystal Bears.”
“Or the Crystal Golems,” Devon added.
“Or the Crystal Ogres.”
“Or the Crystal–”
“Okay, okay, I get it,” Paige said, with a swipe of her hand in the air. “There are a lot of monsters.”
“Also, there’s the darkness,” Dewey said.
“Darkness?”
“It’s only light there for about fifteen minutes a day, give or take. Which means it’ll be dark and probably cold when we go. Unless we’re really, really lucky.”
Paige shot him a tight-lipped glance. “Do I look really, really lucky?”
“No, and we know from prior experiences that you’re not. So like I said, it’ll probably be dark.”
Devon pushed away a large leaf, holding it out of Paige’s way. “At least there’s a giant moon to light your way.”
Dewey shook his head and tapped his lips with his claw. “I still don’t know where we’re going to find this realm entrance, though.”
“Maybe it’s inside the cave,” Paige said.
“Do you honestly think I grew up near an Astral realm entrance and never knew it?”
“I mean, obviously you did,” Paige answered as they approached the outskirts of the village. “’Cause it’s here, and you never found it.”
“I think Ronnie’s references are wrong.”
“Let’s hope not for your family’s sake. Now,” she said as they wound through the streets toward his former home, “let’s dump the Harpy Heat, grab a flashlight, and head out to the caves.”
They pushed through the door into his house. Dewey fluttered up the stairs as Paige and Devon headed to the kitchen. “Better see if Mom kept any of my flashlights around. You’ll never lift theirs.”
She tugged the limp fruit from her backpack and tossed it onto the counter above.
“I got two flashlights!” Dewey called as he zipped inside. “Right where I left ’em.”
He grinned as he waved them in the air.
“Okay, let’s head out,” Paige said as she shrugged the pack onto her back again.
Devon held out a hand as they skirted around the massive kitchen island and headed for the front door. “I can take the bag.”
“No,” Paige answered.
He raised his eyebrows as he heaved a sigh and shook his head. “Fine.”
“I don’t need to be saved, Devon. I don’t need you to carry my stuff around. I’m fine.”
“Paige is an independent girlie,” Dewey said as he landed on her shoulder and handed her a flashlight.
“Yeah…wait. Woman.”
Dewey nodded. “Right. Woman.”
They wound through the streets and into the jungle, making the trek to the cave and slipping into the cool, moist air that filled it.
“What does a realm opening look like?”
“Astral realm openings will appear like a rainbow swirl,” Dewey said.
Paige studied the rough, brown cave walls. “Nothing so far.”
“I told you. There is no way there is an Astral realm opening here. There can’t be.”
Dewey fluttered off her shoulder and buzzed down the passage leading to the frozen dragons. “There’s a small antechamber in the back. The elders used it to prepare for the ceremonies.”
He zipped around the forms of unmoving bodies and trained his flashlight on a small opening tucked between two stalactites. Paige trailed behind him as they entered the tiny, round chamber.
She clicked on her flashlight and swept the beam around the space.
“No realm entrance here. See? Told ya.” Dewey shook his head and stuck his paws on his hips. “We’re done. There’s no realm entrance in this cave.”
Paige sighed as she pressed a hand against the cool, rough stone. “That can’t be right.”
“It is. We’re royally scr–” Dewey began when a yelp from Paige interrupted him.
She stumbled forward, expecting to smack into the wall but hitting nothing.
Her light beam bounced wildly as she struggled to regain her balance.
She lost the battle and plunged forward.
Her head struck something far lower than her feet, and she toppled further down into the darkness.
Somersaulting head over heels, hard edges, and rough stone banged, bruised, and scraped her as she continued to barrel toward some unknown ending.
When she finally stopped rolling, she lay in a heap, dazed and smarting all over.
“Paige?” Dewey’s voice called from somewhere above her.
“Ugh,” she moaned as she pushed herself up to sit. Light lit wherever she was, but with her glasses knocked off somewhere during the roll, she couldn’t see a thing. “I’m down here!”
Her voice echoed off the walls as she called up to him. “I fell and lost my glasses.”
“So what else is new?” Dewey asked, this time much closer to her.
She squinted as a light beam shined in her face. “Can you help me find them?”
A second later, the room became clearer. She stared at the squatting form of Devon as he slid her spectacles onto her face.
“Thanks,” she answered as she reached for her flashlight.
“You’re welcome. You okay?”