THE PERFECT TEN (Boxed Set)

harm.”
    The word friends raised something strong within me. A sense of bond I couldn’t assign to the brief relationship I had with Gabby and Tony, but at this point we were in this nightmare together and had to depend on each other. And it wasn’t as though I knew if I had any friends or not.
    Could I accept this unknown guy’s word?
    Did I have a choice at this point? No. “Thank you.”
    He leaned close and added, in a far more menacing tone, “I’ve also given my word to destroy every tek-nah-tee I meet as long as I draw a breath. I swore my life to this vow. Do not test me again.”
    I knew when I was butting my head against a rock wall and nodded to Mount Callan to show my acknowledgement. Angling around, I snagged Gabby and Tony’s attention and called back, “They’re going to make a path. Stay exactly behind the person in front of you.”
    Gabby paled but her eyes sharpened with determination. She swung around, speaking to Tony, then she and Tony faced forward, both giving me tense nods of understanding.
    I hoped I wasn’t leading them to their deaths when I told Callan, “We’re ready.”
    The leader gave me another look of promised retribution then turned his back to me and raised his arms. A spear clutched in one hand and the other hand empty. He spoke in a strange language, murmuring until the fog parted, rolling back to the right and left, leaving a three-foot-wide tunnel. Just enough room to move through while still needing to be careful. Then he strode forward.
    What had Tony just said a few moments ago? Daa-yum .
    I followed, tensing when I felt the cool residue of the fog tingle on my skin, but no burning sensation. Fifty steps ahead the tunnel finally ended at a massive cavern-like space enclosed by the towering fog on all sides, but open overhead. Looking up, the sky reminded me of the striking blue one that had spanned from horizon to horizon back at the Institute, except this one undulated from a deep blue-purple shade to a vibrant red-purple. And that blood-red moon glared down on us.
    I didn’t know anything about the school I’d left, but right now I agreed with Gabby about missing that place.
    At least the school had made more sense than wherever we were now. Once Gabby, Tony and all the warrior children behind me were inside the misty barrier, the path through the fog closed.
    With my group safe for the moment, I turned around and took in the village. Some of the unusual trees and bushes had been cut down, leaving a few trunks high enough to be stools. But those trunks were strange shades, some mustard yellow and others blueish gray. Vines and branches crisscrossed above, stretching from tree to tree and covering an area three times the size of Mr. Suarez’s classroom.
    Young children who stood no taller than my waist moved around inside this area, being watched or herded by others who were closer to thirteen or fourteen years old. Some of them sat around a pile of glowing rocks as if hovered over a campfire, but there were no flames. Others pounded what appeared to be plant fibers into cloth. Two little girls stood facing each other, a small orange gourd hovering in the air between them. It was suspended in air. No strings or levers visible. Another little boy with wild cinnamon hair levitated his body a good foot off the ground. Like the two had done while fighting the croggle.
    They all paused to take note of Callan’s return and us three strangers among them.
    Silence swept around the interior walls of the village that appeared to be made of massive feathers strung on a vine running between trees. The feathers hung vertically side-by-side. All the colors imaginable, but there were more dust-brown feathers with vibrant red or orange streaks than any other.
    I didn’t want to know what kind of bird had a feather as tall and wide as my body.
    Callan handed his spear off to one of his half-sized soldiers, then turned to me. “You. Come with me.”
    “What about my–”
    A spear tip nipped me in the back, hard enough to break skin. Again.
    I hissed at the new wound but followed the leader through a willowy hallway composed of more feathers. I heard multiple footsteps trailing behind, and could only hope Tony and Gabby were being herded to the same place as me.
    I needed them close if the chance to escape presented itself, but I resisted the urge to turn around and earn one more hole in my back. I had enough cuts and bruises for one day, and figured I’d hear something