mouthed, “Sorry!”
Pocket whispered, “I know what we saw.”
That night the air was so cold that Hoku could almost feel the chill through his thick Kampii skin. Pocket shivered under a blanket and poked at the fire with a stick. Not much in the wet forest would burn, but they kept their blazes small just to be safe. Traveling for weeks through a dense forest was bad enough; if the trees caught on fire, they’d have nowhere to run.
Hoku scanned the treetops, letting his dark vision show him animals scurrying from their nests and bats swooping at insects. He saw a raccoon climb up a tree and his heart ached for Zorro. He pictured the little guy following Liu the Dome Mek around HydroTek, growing fat on apples and doing tricks for scruffles.
The owls were talkative tonight, calling to one another from the treetops.
“What do you think they’re saying?” Pocket asked, inching closer to the fire.
“I think they’re flirting,” Hoku said. “Bragging about their feathers, or how fast they can catch a mouse.”
Pocket laughed. “I always imagine they’re talking philosophy. Meaning of life, and stuff like that.”
“Owls with a lot on their minds,” Hoku said.
A branch rustled, and then another one. Hoku scanned the area, but couldn’t find the source. He’d never had that problem with his dark vision before.
“I don’t like this,” he said. He pushed himself slowly to his feet. “Aluna, wake up.”
“What?” Pocket asked. “Oh. You’re talking to the fish.”
“She’s not a fish, she’s a —”
And then the trees came alive. A dozen Human-shaped figures dropped out of the sky and landed around camp without making a sound.
Hoku blinked. His eyes thought they were trees, kept tricking him into thinking they weren’t people at all. He caught glimpses of rough, bark-like skin and long, gangly limbs dotted with tufts of leaves. He thought they were wearing strange capes at first, but the voluminous material hanging from their arms seemed connected to their flesh.
One of the invaders hooted to the others and made a motion with its hand. Hoku and Pocket hadn’t been listening to owls at all. They’d been listening to battle plans.
S OMEONE SCREAMED. Aluna bolted awake, her hands already reaching for weapons.
“Wake up!” Pocket yelled again. “The trees are attacking!”
But it wasn’t trees. Strange people darted through camp, thin Humans moving fast as eels but making no sound. They swarmed over the Upgraders’ camp in misshapen clusters, grabbing, yanking, clawing. The kludge was completely overrun.
Except . . . no one was attacking her or Calli.
“Who are they?” Calli asked. “Oh, no. Hoku!”
Aluna scanned the battle until she found Hoku.
There.
Struggling against an attacker determined to pull him to the ground with a choking wire. She snapped off her wrist bindings and used her arms to drag herself toward him, fast as a seal on dry land.
“They’ve got Dash, too!” Calli cried. “I’ll help him. You save Hoku.”
Calli’s wings unfurled with a snap, and for a moment, it seemed as if everyone in the clearing stopped to look at them.
Aluna felt a tug on her tail. She turned and kicked one of the Humans away. It let go without a fight. What was going on? Aluna started toward Hoku again, but one of the creatures now knelt in front of her, less than a meter away, blocking her way to Hoku.
The skin on its face seemed rough and craggy, like the bark of a tree. Twigs and leaves jutted from its wild hair. Without her dark vision, she may not have been able to pick out the creature from the forest behind it, even this close.
Aluna shifted her weight to her arms and swept her tail around to knock the Human off balance. It hopped up and over her tail as if it were playing a game.
“Wait,” the creature said, holding out its hand. “We come to rescue you. You and she, the winged one. We will take you to the fluttering heights! We will save you.” Its voice came out
Pocket whispered, “I know what we saw.”
That night the air was so cold that Hoku could almost feel the chill through his thick Kampii skin. Pocket shivered under a blanket and poked at the fire with a stick. Not much in the wet forest would burn, but they kept their blazes small just to be safe. Traveling for weeks through a dense forest was bad enough; if the trees caught on fire, they’d have nowhere to run.
Hoku scanned the treetops, letting his dark vision show him animals scurrying from their nests and bats swooping at insects. He saw a raccoon climb up a tree and his heart ached for Zorro. He pictured the little guy following Liu the Dome Mek around HydroTek, growing fat on apples and doing tricks for scruffles.
The owls were talkative tonight, calling to one another from the treetops.
“What do you think they’re saying?” Pocket asked, inching closer to the fire.
“I think they’re flirting,” Hoku said. “Bragging about their feathers, or how fast they can catch a mouse.”
Pocket laughed. “I always imagine they’re talking philosophy. Meaning of life, and stuff like that.”
“Owls with a lot on their minds,” Hoku said.
A branch rustled, and then another one. Hoku scanned the area, but couldn’t find the source. He’d never had that problem with his dark vision before.
“I don’t like this,” he said. He pushed himself slowly to his feet. “Aluna, wake up.”
“What?” Pocket asked. “Oh. You’re talking to the fish.”
“She’s not a fish, she’s a —”
And then the trees came alive. A dozen Human-shaped figures dropped out of the sky and landed around camp without making a sound.
Hoku blinked. His eyes thought they were trees, kept tricking him into thinking they weren’t people at all. He caught glimpses of rough, bark-like skin and long, gangly limbs dotted with tufts of leaves. He thought they were wearing strange capes at first, but the voluminous material hanging from their arms seemed connected to their flesh.
One of the invaders hooted to the others and made a motion with its hand. Hoku and Pocket hadn’t been listening to owls at all. They’d been listening to battle plans.
S OMEONE SCREAMED. Aluna bolted awake, her hands already reaching for weapons.
“Wake up!” Pocket yelled again. “The trees are attacking!”
But it wasn’t trees. Strange people darted through camp, thin Humans moving fast as eels but making no sound. They swarmed over the Upgraders’ camp in misshapen clusters, grabbing, yanking, clawing. The kludge was completely overrun.
Except . . . no one was attacking her or Calli.
“Who are they?” Calli asked. “Oh, no. Hoku!”
Aluna scanned the battle until she found Hoku.
There.
Struggling against an attacker determined to pull him to the ground with a choking wire. She snapped off her wrist bindings and used her arms to drag herself toward him, fast as a seal on dry land.
“They’ve got Dash, too!” Calli cried. “I’ll help him. You save Hoku.”
Calli’s wings unfurled with a snap, and for a moment, it seemed as if everyone in the clearing stopped to look at them.
Aluna felt a tug on her tail. She turned and kicked one of the Humans away. It let go without a fight. What was going on? Aluna started toward Hoku again, but one of the creatures now knelt in front of her, less than a meter away, blocking her way to Hoku.
The skin on its face seemed rough and craggy, like the bark of a tree. Twigs and leaves jutted from its wild hair. Without her dark vision, she may not have been able to pick out the creature from the forest behind it, even this close.
Aluna shifted her weight to her arms and swept her tail around to knock the Human off balance. It hopped up and over her tail as if it were playing a game.
“Wait,” the creature said, holding out its hand. “We come to rescue you. You and she, the winged one. We will take you to the fluttering heights! We will save you.” Its voice came out
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