Book Five: Chapter 97

“This one tried to pinch me!” She dropped it on the sand and chased the crab in circles, laughing as the frightened crustacean scurried away into the water. As she continued her dance, he realized that a beam of golden light surrounded her, sending the darkness away. He craved that light, and everything it meant to him.

His arms felt wet. When he held them up, he saw that the dark lines had become even shorter now, and vanished around his elbows. There were no more Nirumbi on the beach.

With a laugh of his own, he joined her. The two of them played together in the surf as a patch of darkness peeled away up above, revealing a blue sky behind it.

***

It was almost two in the morning when Eulalie felt movement in her web and her eyes popped open.

She was hovering in a woven web over Murray’s breakfast nook. Down below, a pair of rats were watching the monitors with strict instructions to wake her if they saw anything. Whoever had disturbed her web had some