The Knowledge of the Hidden

Chapter 14

I awake the next morning to the sound of the breakfast bell, my body still heavy with sleep. I roll over, unpeeling my eyes from their lids with great difficulty, and find that the shelter is empty. With a grunt of effort, I pull myself upright and peer through the hanging leaves to see the bright mid-morning sun blazing away. I frown, realizing this is the first time I've slept through the night here.

Even before I left Eximius, I rarely slept until the sound of my alarm. There was always something—a nightmare, most frequently—that roused me before I was ready, leaving me accustomed to far less than the recommended hours of sleep. Though there's no clock to confirm it, I estimate that I must've slept over ten hours, but the heaviness in my bones seems at odds with this conclusion. I drop back down, sleep quickly about to overtake me again, when I feel someone shaking me.

"Lilly. Lilly, come on. Get up."

"Humph," I mumble, blinking my eyes irritably at a determined-looking Josh, who is leaning through the vines, over my spot of rest. "Go away."

Josh sighs, and for a moment I think he'll give up, but then he clambers into the shelter beside me, sitting cross-legged by my head. I cover my face with my arms, mumbling expletives under my breath. He watches me for a moment, then begins to poke my arm repeatedly.

"Get up," he says. I try to move away from him, but he simply scoots closer, continuing his obnoxious prodding. "Now."

"I said, go away," I say sharply, but it doesn't deter him. "Josh, what the Hell?"

"You had your day to mope," Josh says. "And now it's over. Come on. It's time. Get up."

I groan, but roll myself into a sitting position, swatting his hand away. "What's the point?" I sigh, gathering my knees to my chest and burying my head in them. "It's not like I can do anything anyway."

Josh swings his legs around and hops down from the shelter, disappearing behind the hanging leaves. I watch him go, wrinkling my brow in confusion, before I feel myself being tugged out the shelter from the other side.

"Josh!" I cry in indignation, barely able to get my feet under me before I'm stumbling into the bright morning light, steadying myself to keep from falling over. Josh reaches into the shelter and grabs my bag, holding it out to me with a look of expectation.

I glare at him for a moment, weighing my options, before reluctantly taking the bag. Josh smiles like he's won some kind of award.

"Get dressed," he tells me. I give him a long glare. "Please. There's something I want to show you."

I follow Josh past the boundaries of camp, practically running to keep up as he strides confidently toward a goal I cannot see. After several minutes we reach the base of a large tree, and he leans against it, looking out into the distance.

"Want to tell me what this is about?" I ask, glancing around the area for a clue as to what we're doing here. Josh holds up his hand, and at first I think he is telling me to be quiet, but then I realize how his face muscles are all tight and his gaze is fixed somewhere beyond and I know he is attempting magic.

I step back and observe, watching as his face crinkles in concentration, his fingers on his outstretched hand twitching mildly from the exertion. We stand there for several minutes, so long that I'm sure whatever he is attempting has failed, when suddenly a small white envelope flies into view.

I leap backward, my heart racing at the sight, but immediately start laughing as Josh grabs wildly for it, misses, and nearly falls over in an attempt to pick it up. Josh gives me a look, rolling his eyes good naturedly.

"Ha ha, very funny," he says, grabbing the envelope and dusting it off. He walks over to me and holds it out, waiting for me to take it. I eye it suspiciously.