Typhoon & Tempest

Chapter Twenty

Lily walked next to her grandmother, glimpsing glowworms hiding in the shadows above them. She waited for Nerida to continue the story but she was hypnotised by the small river trickling at the end of the cathedral cave. Lily saw a large boulder fractured down the middle near the river mouth leading out, one side on either bank.

"Almost two weeks ago," Nerida suddenly spoke, "a massive surge of water snapped the boulder in two, and the water drained out. The Sky's Cathedral opened up again and the river returned to normal."

Lily frowned. "This cave can hold tonnes and tonnes of water - where does the river lead?"

A shadow of a smile crinkled Nerida's face. "The system leads down to Trawalla, right near Nova High actually. I found the cave exit when I was a kid - it made a great slide."

Lily snapped her head to the river in shock. "This...this leads near Nova High?"

"Yes," Nerida waved a hand to the cathedral before them, subtly checking her watch. "I haven't been to Trawalla in eight years so I don't know what the lack of water did, but now the Sky's Cathedral can open to the public again - Cody was overjoyed when I told her."

Lily swallowed her realisation, something holding her tongue. She remembered the day before her kidnapping when she had Witch Agriculture with Jack, and Mrs Khan explaining why one half of the field was barren and the other green with life. She'd mentioned a cave system in the north, in the mountain range Lily stood within now, and the blockage from a storm years ago.

Lily remembered feeling a weight lift in her stomach that same afternoon, almost two weeks ago.

"How'd you know the cave was empty," Lily asked instead. "Especially if no one could enter if it was flooded?"

Nerida sharply looked to Lily. "I used my eyes."

Lily clenched her jaw, struggling to hold her words back. Some instinct was pulling her out the cave like she was a boulder in a river with a current screaming at her to move.

"Come little Lily," Nerida said, stepping over the rickety fence. "Let's explore the cathedral."

Lily didn't move, watching her nimble grandmother move to the other side, and with the barricade between them the lock on her voice evaporated. "Why are we really here?" She asked.

"What are you talking about? I'm showing you the cathedral-"

Lily tuned her out when a breeze brushed her ankles. She looked back the way they'd come, seeing the rocks shift at the wind that had followed them. Only a powerful gust would reach them this far below the earth. Lily slowly walked to the entrance of the Sky's Cathedral.

"-and how the boulder has moved from the river, Lily where are you going? Don't turn your back on me, I'm your grandmother-"

"No." Lily held up a hand, halting her grandmother's speech. "You're hiding from me, you're lying to me. Something's wrong and you're not telling me anything."

She heard Nerida scramble back over the fence but Lily was already racing out the cave. She knew it wasn't smart to run in such a tight environment, she could easily injure herself, but that current of instinct pulled her faster when she met the resistance of the wild wind the closer she came to the surface.

"Lily!" Nerida yelled behind her. "Lily, wait! You can't go back yet!"

Lily ignored her as light sliced through her vision. The cave opening gleamed ahead of her and Lily rushed to the entrance, skidding to a halt when the gale ripped into her dress, chilling her bones. She looked over Tyrill in horror as a new dome of vines stood by the bonfire where smoke rose and was lost in the wind.