Kaylee ❤️'s Arc

Chapter 2 of 2

The stone mouth had sealed behind them. Kaylee stood on the black stair, Morgan's cold hand still gripping her wrist. Below, the dark fell away into nothing. She had her way down. Now she needed a way back up, before the harvest moon rose in five days and buried her love for good. "You said you can't open the way out," Kaylee said. "So tell me who can." Morgan pulled her down the stair. Their boots scraped the rock. "Not me. The road only runs one way for a witch." She stopped at a landing where two passages split. "But someone crossed before you and found a door home. A girl. She's been down here longer than she should be." Kaylee's heart jumped. "Take me to her." They walked until the tunnel opened into a cold hall lit by pale light. A girl sat against the far wall, knees pulled to her chest. She was maybe sixteen, in a jean jacket that didn't belong in the underworld. Brown hair hung past her shoulders. When she saw them, she didn't stand. She just watched, tired and wary. "Ahmya," Morgan said. "I brought you company." "You brought me someone else who's stuck." Ahmya's voice was flat. She looked at Kaylee. "Let me guess. She promised you a way in and left out the rest." "She told me the truth," Kaylee said. "I came for someone I love. I heard you found a door home." Ahmya laughed once, without joy. "I found where a door should be. I never opened it." She got up and led them to a wall of smooth black stone. A ring was carved into it, faint under Kaylee's fingers. "It only opens for a soul the gods release. Otherwise it's just rock. I've pushed it for weeks." Kaylee pressed both palms to the stone. Nothing. Her breath caught. "Then how does anyone leave?" "The festival," Ahmya said. "The gods judge the mortal children who come. If you win their favor, they send you home. It's the only door that opens." She met Kaylee's eyes. "That's how I get out. That's how you get out too. Both of us, or neither." Kaylee's hands slid from the cold stone. There was no witch's trick, no shortcut. The way home ran through the gods themselves, and through a contest she had never heard of until now. Morgan folded her arms. "I got you down. The rest is yours." She turned back toward the split in the tunnels. "Win the crown, Kaylee, or stay. That's the whole map." Kaylee looked at Ahmya, the only other person alive down here. Four days now. Not one door, but a contest to win. She had come to save one soul. To leave, she would have to face the gods and beat every child they judged. "Then show me where the festival is," Kaylee said.