frozen embrace. I push below the root, my nails rasping underneath. Something
clicks, and the root snaps open. I jump and pull my hand away, watching, as a
cylindrical object sprouts out of the root in small bursts, sending splinters
of wood flying into the air.
“We still
don’t know what Tahari was looking for!” Wes is saying out of frustration as I
walk back to the clearing.
“Could it
be this?” I say, extending my open palm to show them what I’ve just found.
Chapter Five
Athel
Day Number: 1,584
Event: Akaela found a cylinder that dates
back to Astraca
Number of Mayakes left: 430
Goal for today: Find out the purpose of
the cylinder.
We all hide inside the stables and
shut the doors. The building is hot and laden with the smell of hay and manure.
Blades of light push through the wooden slats and draw jagged lines on the
dusty floor. Taeh pokes her head out of her stall, waiting to be taken out, but
all she gets is a quick pat on the nose before we settle in a corner by the
bales of hay. Akaela takes the object she found in the forest out of her pocket
and wipes dirt and debris off its surface with a rag.
It looks
like a tube, about three inches long and half an inch wide. It’s made of some
kind of blackened metal, maybe steel, but I’m not sure, and it has a number of
tick marks etched on the side, as if for measuring. The Astraca symbol is
carved on one of the two flat ends, the grooves black with grime. It’s tiny,
but you can still see the five keys carved inside the five triangles, their
vertices joined to form a pentagon.
Lukas
picks it up and weighs it in his hand. “Feels light, hollow inside.”
“Open it,”
Akaela says.
There are
little copper bolts screwed along the side and what looks like an iris shutter
on one of the flat ends. But some quick handling reveals no obvious way to pry
it open, not by pushing or tapping, not by pulling or by prodding.
Wes
shrugs. “Maybe that’s what it is. A hollow tube of some sort.”
I put on a
skeptical face. “With no purpose?”
Lukas
documents everything on his data feeder then turns to Akaela and frowns. “How
did you find it?”
Dottie
squints, as though annoyed by the question. “It was hidden in the hollow root
of a tree.”
“Then it
can’t be from 2065,” Wes interjects, “the year of the fire. There wasn’t a
forest back then, and all the trees within the city burned down.”
Dottie is
unusually quiet, so I turn to her and ask, “What do you think, Sis? Maybe the
new tree grew around it?”
She wrings
her hands and frowns. “It’s weird. It’s as though I knew it was there and I had
to find it.”
“You went looking
for it even though you didn’t know what it was?” Wes asks.
Akaela
rubs her forehead. “No. It was more like—I remembered it.”
Lukas
stares at her with renewed interest. “You remembered what?”
“The path.
The egg-shaped rock.”
“You’ve
been there before?” I ask.
She shakes
her head and cups her face in her hands. “No. I’ve never been to that part of
the forest, and I’ve never seen this object before. I can’t explain it. I just
knew it was there. Look. It was as though I recognized the path and the trees.
Somehow I remembered. I don’t know how that’s possible, ok?”
We all
fall silent. Taeh snorts from her stall. Dottie shakes her head and gets to her
feet. “I don’t care what you guys think. I’m taking Taeh out to the paddock.”
“No,
wait,” Lukas says, putting away his data feeder. He picks up the cylinder again
and hands it back to my sister. “I want you to look at it very carefully. Does
it look familiar to you?”
Akaela
gives the hollow tube another good look and then returns it. “No,” she says,
shaking her head.
“Why would
it?” I ask. “She just said she’s never seen it before.”
Taeh
stomps her hooves and pushes at the stall gate. Akaela strides over and opens
it. “I’m tired of this. I’m going for a ride.
clicks, and the root snaps open. I jump and pull my hand away, watching, as a
cylindrical object sprouts out of the root in small bursts, sending splinters
of wood flying into the air.
“We still
don’t know what Tahari was looking for!” Wes is saying out of frustration as I
walk back to the clearing.
“Could it
be this?” I say, extending my open palm to show them what I’ve just found.
Chapter Five
Athel
Day Number: 1,584
Event: Akaela found a cylinder that dates
back to Astraca
Number of Mayakes left: 430
Goal for today: Find out the purpose of
the cylinder.
We all hide inside the stables and
shut the doors. The building is hot and laden with the smell of hay and manure.
Blades of light push through the wooden slats and draw jagged lines on the
dusty floor. Taeh pokes her head out of her stall, waiting to be taken out, but
all she gets is a quick pat on the nose before we settle in a corner by the
bales of hay. Akaela takes the object she found in the forest out of her pocket
and wipes dirt and debris off its surface with a rag.
It looks
like a tube, about three inches long and half an inch wide. It’s made of some
kind of blackened metal, maybe steel, but I’m not sure, and it has a number of
tick marks etched on the side, as if for measuring. The Astraca symbol is
carved on one of the two flat ends, the grooves black with grime. It’s tiny,
but you can still see the five keys carved inside the five triangles, their
vertices joined to form a pentagon.
Lukas
picks it up and weighs it in his hand. “Feels light, hollow inside.”
“Open it,”
Akaela says.
There are
little copper bolts screwed along the side and what looks like an iris shutter
on one of the flat ends. But some quick handling reveals no obvious way to pry
it open, not by pushing or tapping, not by pulling or by prodding.
Wes
shrugs. “Maybe that’s what it is. A hollow tube of some sort.”
I put on a
skeptical face. “With no purpose?”
Lukas
documents everything on his data feeder then turns to Akaela and frowns. “How
did you find it?”
Dottie
squints, as though annoyed by the question. “It was hidden in the hollow root
of a tree.”
“Then it
can’t be from 2065,” Wes interjects, “the year of the fire. There wasn’t a
forest back then, and all the trees within the city burned down.”
Dottie is
unusually quiet, so I turn to her and ask, “What do you think, Sis? Maybe the
new tree grew around it?”
She wrings
her hands and frowns. “It’s weird. It’s as though I knew it was there and I had
to find it.”
“You went looking
for it even though you didn’t know what it was?” Wes asks.
Akaela
rubs her forehead. “No. It was more like—I remembered it.”
Lukas
stares at her with renewed interest. “You remembered what?”
“The path.
The egg-shaped rock.”
“You’ve
been there before?” I ask.
She shakes
her head and cups her face in her hands. “No. I’ve never been to that part of
the forest, and I’ve never seen this object before. I can’t explain it. I just
knew it was there. Look. It was as though I recognized the path and the trees.
Somehow I remembered. I don’t know how that’s possible, ok?”
We all
fall silent. Taeh snorts from her stall. Dottie shakes her head and gets to her
feet. “I don’t care what you guys think. I’m taking Taeh out to the paddock.”
“No,
wait,” Lukas says, putting away his data feeder. He picks up the cylinder again
and hands it back to my sister. “I want you to look at it very carefully. Does
it look familiar to you?”
Akaela
gives the hollow tube another good look and then returns it. “No,” she says,
shaking her head.
“Why would
it?” I ask. “She just said she’s never seen it before.”
Taeh
stomps her hooves and pushes at the stall gate. Akaela strides over and opens
it. “I’m tired of this. I’m going for a ride.
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