Lillibeth Tripp's Arc

Chapter 2 of 9

Lillibeth left before dawn the next day. Her suit glowed green and violet against the dark sky. Too bright. She had not flown a mile before she saw the warning. A tall pole rose from the ridge, its red lights spinning inside a metal cage. Below it, sharp metal quills jutted from the dirt in a tight spiral — the leftover marker of something that hunted here. She landed fast behind a rock. Her glow would pull predators down on her like moths in reverse. She pulled the bundle from her pack — a dark cloak veiled in stone-dust and dim crystal chips she had grabbed from the vault keeper's scrap pile. She wrapped it tight around the suit. The light dimmed to almost nothing. A small rustle made her freeze. From under the rock crept a pink baby rabbit with tiny feathered wings. It blinked up at her, unafraid. Lillibeth lowered her knife. The little creature hopped onto her boot and stayed there. She tested the cloak with a short hop into the air. The glow stayed muffled. The rabbit beat its small wings and rose beside her, matching her pace. Together they cleared the warning pole's red circle without a single shadow diving from above. Lillibeth flew on into the dim sky, cloaked and quiet, the winged rabbit at her shoulder. The ambush sky was behind her now. She was not alone anymore.