Chapter 316: We Can’t Go Back

The ground moved.

At first it was only a faint vibration beneath their feet, and Arthur looked down as dust shifted across the ancient stone floor. Then another tremor hit.

BOOM!

The whole underground chamber shook. Several students stumbled, and Athena turned immediately toward the enormous roots surrounding the ruins. "They’re moving."

Arthur followed her gaze. One of the massive roots buried beneath the ancient road was slowly shifting, and the stone cracked beneath its weight until the entire road split apart.

"Everyone, move!"

The students scattered, and a second later, an enormous golden root burst up through the ruins.

CRASH!

Ancient stone buildings were flung into the air as the root forced its way upward, and Luna stared in shock. "What’s happening?"

Another root tore through the ground, then another, and the entire underground city began to shake as the roots pushed toward the surface.

Arthur watched them carefully. "It’s not attacking us."

Athena looked at him. "Then what’s it doing?"

Arthur watched another root disappear through the ceiling. "Spreading. Now that the barriers are gone, the roots are pushing out into every region again." Another tremendous crack echoed above them, and his expression darkened. "And the corruption is going with them."

A distant Beast screamed, then another, and then dozens. The students exchanged nervous looks, and one of them whispered, "How many Beasts are out there?"

Athena didn’t answer. They could already hear them. The entire Secret Realm was changing.

A section of the ceiling suddenly collapsed, and Arthur raised Dusk, but Athena held up a hand. "Wait."

The rubble fell away, and through the opening, they could see the sky. Purple clouds covered the Everglades, and the World Tree had risen far above the forest canopy, its golden branches stretching across the horizon, but black veins now ran through its trunk, and purple Miasma crawled along its roots. It wasn’t simply growing. It was spreading. A distant forest was torn apart as a gigantic root burst out from beneath it, a river suddenly changed course, and mountains of earth rose out of the ground as the five regions began to merge.

And the five Mirrors were no longer circling the tree. Each one had scattered back toward its own region, hanging in the sky above its land like a distant star, fire over the west, water over the north, earth over the east, darkness over the south, and light over the center.

"The World Tree..." Luna whispered.

Arthur nodded. "It’s reconnecting everything." He watched the Miasma spread along another root. "But it’s infected."

Mithra tightened her grip on Dawn Sovereign. "So the more the tree reconnects the Secret Realm..."

"The farther the corruption spreads," Arthur finished.

No one said anything, and then a voice echoed through the ruins.

"ALL STUDENTS! IF YOU CAN HEAR ME, RESPOND!"

Everyone froze, and Arthur turned toward the sound.

"Professor!" one of the students shouted.

Another voice answered from farther away. "ROLAND! WE HAVE STUDENTS HERE!"

"HOW MANY?"

"MORE THAN TEN!"

"THE EASTERN SECTION IS COLLAPSING!" someone else shouted. "GET THE STUDENTS OUT!"

"We can’t! The passage is blocked!"

"Then find another route!"

The professors were searching for them, and the relief on several faces was immediate.

"We should go back," one student said. "They can protect us."

Arthur stayed silent until one of the students looked at him. "Arthur?"

He finally spoke. "If we go back to them, they’ll stop us."

Everyone stared at him. "Stop us?"

Arthur nodded. "Not because they’re wrong." He looked toward the tunnel the professors’ voices were coming from. "Because they’re professors."

Mithra understood immediately. "They’ll want everyone together."

"And they’ll want to know what happened here," Arthur said.

"They’ll investigate the ruins," Athena added.

"They’ll organize the students, and they’ll probably set up a safe zone before doing anything else," Arthur said.

Sun sighed. "Which is exactly what professors are supposed to do."

"Yes," Arthur said, looking toward the surface. "But we don’t have time." Another tremor shook the chamber. "We don’t know how fast the World Tree is spreading." He tightened his grip on Dusk. "But we know it’s getting worse."

One of the students hesitated. "Then what are we supposed to do?"

Arthur looked at Luna, who had been staring at the Mirrors hanging over their distant regions. She spoke slowly. "Maybe..." Everyone turned to her, and she swallowed. "My grandfather’s records said the Mirrors were connected to the barriers. Whenever one awakened, the land around it changed."

"We’ve already seen that," Arthur said.

"But the barriers are gone now, and the Mirrors are still out there," Luna said, pointing at them. "If they were strong enough to control the barriers..."

Athena’s eyes narrowed. "...then they might still have authority over the regions."

Luna nodded. "Maybe."

Arthur’s eyes lit up. "Then there might be a way to interfere with the World Tree."

Mithra looked at him. "By using the Mirrors?"

"That’s our best lead."

Sun looked at the enormous tree. "’Best lead’ isn’t exactly reassuring."

Arthur smiled. "It doesn’t have to be."

Mithra stepped forward. "We should still use the professors’ help." Arthur looked at her, and she smiled. "I have a plan."

Sun immediately looked suspicious. "Why does that sound dangerous?"

"Because you’re friends with Arthur."

Arthur looked offended. "I don’t think that’s fair."

Sun stared at him. "It’s completely fair."

Mithra laughed. "The other students should go back to the professors," she said, pointing at the tunnel. "They can tell them we went toward the transformed regions."

One student frowned. "Then the professors will follow."

"Exactly," Mithra said. "That gives us a head start while still letting the professors know where we are."

Sun’s expression changed as he thought it over. "Wait." He raised a finger. "Have them wait. Ten minutes. They go to the professors, but they don’t tell them where we went right away." He looked toward the transformed regions. "Ten minutes is enough for us to get ahead, and then the professors can follow once they’ve got the other students safe."

Athena considered it. "That would also keep them from ordering us back right away."

Arthur smiled. "Good idea."

Sun sighed. "I already regret saying it."

Arthur laughed.

One of the students looked uncomfortable. "So you want us to lie to the professors?"

"No," Arthur said.

The student blinked. "Then what?"

"Tell them the truth. Tell them we’re going toward the transformed regions." Arthur paused. "Just wait ten minutes first."

Another student frowned. "They might be angry."

Mithra smiled. "They probably will be."

"Especially Roland," Sun said.

Arthur laughed. "Definitely Roland."

The students looked at each other, and then one of them finally nodded. "Alright."

Another raised his weapon. "We’ll do it."

"Good," Arthur said.

A third student looked at him. "But what if the professors tell us to stay with them?"

Arthur shrugged. "Then stay with them." The student blinked, and Arthur’s expression turned serious as he pointed at the tunnel. "Your job isn’t to follow us. Your job is to make sure the professors know what’s happening."