Meagan Spooner - Shadowlark

The clockwork dawn is loudest in the old sewers. The sound of the machines pushing the sun across its track in the sky echoes through the tunnels, shaking the ground beneath my feet. Mortar crumbles from the ceiling and falls like snowflakes, surrounding me in a column of white.

Dont worry, I say, reaching out for Tansys hand. This happens every day. Its safe.

She shrinks back from me, standing just beyond arms reach, twisting her hands together. Where do we go?

I turn in place, peering through the flakes of mortar. For a moment Im disoriented, trying to make sense of the route Ive known since childhood. There: a tunnel gapes black through the haze. This way.

Tansy can read the trees and the sky and the breeze, but this is my domain. This is the world I know. My path is certainand where I falter, my brothers ghost leads the way. Its as though Basils just ahead, waiting for me to catch up.

I crawl into the sewer pipe and hear Tansy follow after. Her breathing grows sharp and heavy behind me, the air thick with magic and fear. Shes not used to confined spaces. In the clammy dampness of the sewers, her power shines in my second sight like a beacon, golden and warm despite the tunnels cold.

When we emerge into a junction, Tansy stumbles into the muck on her hands and knees. I reach out to help her to her feet, but she backs away, scrambling up on her own.

Do you hear that? she gasps.

I close my eyes, concentrating. Theres wind blowing somewhere, whistling through the tunnels, and in the distance I can hear the rustling of leaves. But beyond that theres something out of place, a sound that doesnt belong. Pixies? No. Splashing, like footsteps. Kids, then. Rivals, trying to beat us to our destination. Other students come to break into the school.

Come on, lets move faster. I can feel Basils ghost moving further away, slipping out of my senses. Hurry, and we can beat them there.

Wait, Lark. She takes a step toward me, then stops, turning her head, trying to pinpoint the source of the sound. Listen. Theyre dangerous.

I close my eyes again, and this time I can hear their snarling. My foot slips in the muck, splashing loudly, and the snarls change to howls. Theyve heard us. In my mind, I can see their hungry white eyes, their sickly grey skin, their ravenous mouths.

Tansy reaches for her bow, but shes not wearing it. Her hand closes on empty space. What if we run into them in the tunnels? Theres no room to fight in there.

Fight? My stomach twists, sickening. You cant fight them, theyre just children. Theyre just like me.

Thats your problem, Tansy protests. Youre too soft. Too trusting. Theyll take advantage of that. She takes a deep breath, trying to calm herself. Fine. If you wont fight, then we need to run. What about this way? She sticks her head into a pipe leading east.

I know that route. I used it when I was younger. But something halts me, the hairs lifting on the back of my neck. Basil didnt go that way. I cant sense him anymoreand that alone is enough to trigger the alarm bells in my mind. Basil is everywhere down here. Its the only place I know he still exists, the only place where I have more than just a folded paper bird to remember him by.

No, I whisper. No. Not that way.

Lark, we have to go! Now, or theyll find us!

That ways wrong, its too small. Im too old now to pass that way. Around us the snow is hissing into the water, melting against our skin. Tansys hair is a halo of white.

I dont want to die here, underground, so far from the sky. She starts trying to force herself into the pipe, stopped first by her shoulders and then, when she tries to go feet-first, by her hips.

I move away from her, eyes scanning the junction. It looks familiar. Ive been here before, although its different now. Vines have grown through the cracks in the bricks, swarming up the walls, reclaiming these sewers for nature. In the spring it will all be moss and flowers and earth, like there was never a city here at all.

A snowflake lands on my cheek, and I look up. Beyond the swirling white sky I can see a hatch.

We have to go up.

What? Are you insane?

Were underneath the Institute now. We can go there instead of the school. Theyll have the Harvest list there, too we just have to get into the Administrators office.

Tansy pries herself back out of the pipe and comes toward me, peering up through the snow. Well never make it. Theres no ladder. I have no rope. We arent wearing climbing gear . . . Her voice fades into the background, still listing the things wed need to climb up into the white sky.

In the distance, far above us, I can hear a bird singing. My brother speaks to me, as he often does down here in the old sewers, down here where Im closest to him. I ask him, How did you do that?

He smiles. Magic.

Tansy. She stops abruptly, mid-word, turning toward me. I reach out. Take my hand.

She shrinks away, fearful. I cant.

You have to trust me. I take a deep breath. I promise, Ill keep you safe.

The howls have grown to the point where I can no longer hear the birdsong, but I know its still there.

Tansy hesitates a moment longer and then reaches out, her palm meeting mine with a jolt that sends the snow swirling away from us, thrashing against the walls of the sewers.

We rise, and the snow rises with us, up into the sky. The hatch bangs open and we go soaring through it to land on the other side. The snow streams through after us, and it takes us both pushing with all our weight to close the hatch against the storm behind us. It slams shut, the sound echoing through the vastness of the space.

Were standing in the rotunda of the Institute, with its domed sky inlaid with gold and precious stones in a mosaic meant to imitate the world beyond. The sun and moon dance across the interior of the dome in tracks much like the one in the Wall outside.

Tansy is silent now, not looking at me, arms wrapped around herself as she crouches on the marble floor. I cant see the halo of power around her anymorebut theres no time, and I haul her to her feet. She pushes my hands away, but at least shes moving again.

Together we hurry across the floor towards a door on the far side marked Harvest and Resource Administrator and, below that, a plaque bearing the name Gloriette. Even though I know she wont be insideshell be preparing for the Harvest Day ceremonies where she officiatesmy heart still pounds as we approach.

I press my ear to the door, but its made of iron, and I can hear nothing on the other side of it. But even if the other students dont catch up to us, there are pixies everywhere, and we have no time to waste. I twist the handle, take a deep breath, and shove.

We stumble through, and the door bangs shut behind us. Were standing in Dorians house, exactly as it was the day I left the Iron Wood. His bed is neatly made in the corner, the dresser stands covered in curios, and the map still hangs above it. I squint, trying to make out the city where my brother was headed, but the lines and words blur before my eyes, impossible to read.

A flicker of city magic, twisted and unnatural, touches my senses. Pixies.

Come on, Tansywe have to find the list of names for the harvest.