Page 98 of The Unseen Hour

Orion held my hand as we turned back in the direction we’d been going before the hedges closed in.

We had no stars to navigate by, but we could watch the directions the lights ran in overhead. They’d gone back to deep purple and blue, but from what we could tell we’d continued in roughly the same direction walking overnight.

I yawned, putting the back of my hand over my face.

“They are pretty, although they’re a bit repetitive,” I observed as we continued down a long opening between the hedges. The leaves were large and had several points apiece. They were lush and green, held together by twisting limbs.

“Look!” Orion pointed, and I saw that ahead of us there was a break in the monotony. A tree.

We ran for it.

I was worried the hedges might block us off from our exit, but they never moved. We made it out of the plants, and just like that, we were back in a forest of familiar trees.

“I’ve never been so happy to see a tree in all my life.” I threw my arms around the nearest one, laughing when my embrace sent a gray squirrel skittering up the trunk.

“Sorry small friend! Just happy to be free of the maze.”

Once we were far enough that we could no longer see the hedges behind us, we felt safe to stop and rest.

“We can take it in shifts. I’ll watch first,” Orion said after I’d gotten settled on our one blanket.

I didn’t have the energy to argue with him, but I made him swear to wake me up when he needed rest as well.

I was exhausted enough that sleep came easily, and I was so deep into it that I wasn’t sure where I even was when I first felt something grabbing at my arm.

After a couple of confused moments I jerked upright, convinced Orion was hauling me up.

Were we being attacked? I felt something else on my leg.

“Ry? What is it? Is something wrong?”

He was walking a perimeter around where we’d stopped, looking out into the trees. He turned back to me.

“Everything’s fine. You can go back to sl⁠—”

His eyes went wide, and something snaked around my face, covering my mouth. I screamed, but my voice was muffled. Looking down, I saw vines trailing across the ground and twisting themselves around my legs and wrists.

“Starlight!” Orion charged over, pulling out his knife and hacking at the vines around my face.

As he did, I was slammed into the ground when the vines around my legs tightened and began to pull.

“Ry!”

Panicked, I twisted and flopped, trying to reach my own knife, but I couldn’t. I gasped in pain as I was dragged over rocks and rough patches. In the distance ahead, I saw the hedges again. The area where we’d exited was no longer a welcome sign of freedom. It looked like a yawning mouth, ready to swallow me up.

“I’m coming!” Orion yelled, running after me as the plants hauled me over the ground at surprising speed.

He threw the knife, and it wedged itself in a thick vine that was wrapped around one of my arms. That bit of vine went slack, and I was able to slide my left arm loose. Small thorns went flying from the vine in Orion’s direction.

I struggled more when I realized the plant was fighting back. It was alive enough not merely to grab me but also to respond to Orion’s attacks.

“Your knife!” Ry yelled, who now had several thorns stuck into his arms and pant leg. I was able to reach it with my left hand; I pulled it out and began hacking at the vines around my leg.

One released, and my left leg slid loose. Orion continued to chase me as I got to work freeing my other arm.

Just as I did so, I was slammed into the ground and felt my chin get knocked into the dirt. It was almost as if the plant knew what I’d done and was offended. I tried to twist around and reach the remaining vine on my leg, but it held firm and was now whipping me side to side.

Unable to focus on the vines themselves, I changed strategies and dug my knife into the dirt.