The Tunnels Below by Nadine Wild-Palmer (best short novels of all time .TXT) 📕

held back with all her might, clamping her eyes shut, trying to stay focused on counting. When she did open her eyes again, Cecilia could just about make out the light of the surface, the small rip she had passed through earlier, growing bigger and bigger the closer they got to it. When they emerged she gasped for breath, exhaling deeply afterwards.

Owen and Rory were already hiding along the trees—they must’ve been super fast. Then Adriene and Jestyna came up behind them, keeping most of their bodies submerged until they reached the edge by the blossoming tree. The Black Forest was still and quiet, and Cecilia used the trunk of the tree to pull herself out while Doltha pushed her from behind.

Cecilia and Doltha stayed close behind Rory and Owen, who were leading the way up front and looking out for any dangers. The team of Divers travelled through the forest stealthily, trying not to shake the boughs of the trees or otherwise attract any attention.

Cecilia was panting but travelled as quietly as she could.

As they approached the opening where Cecilia and Luke had first met Jacques d’Or, they heard a noise. The group came upon two members of the Corvus Community and held back, Owen holding his furry hand up as a signal to stop. Cecilia knew who they were right away: Julius and Marvin were sitting counting out buttons, laughing and chatting. They seemed to be guarding a heavy metal door.

“Be careful, Cecilia, there are eyes everywhere. Rory, and Adriene are checking the area, Jestyna will check high up in the shadows first,” said Doltha.

“Why them?”

“Well, Jestyna is feline, so she’s good at climbing trees and scaling walls and has fantastic night vision. As do Rory and Adriene.”

Jestyna got low to the ground and skulked off into the dark. A few moments later there was a screech and a single black feather floated into the clearing. Adriene slipped across the clearing, swiftly removing it from sight.

The three of them worked silently to eliminate the threat posed by the unsuspecting Corvus Community spies dotted around the cavern above the clearing. Rory returned to Doltha and whispered very quietly as if in answer to some silent question: “Fifteen surveillance crows in total. All eyes are out. We should be safe for the time being. We need to get a move on though.”

Doltha nodded to Owen, and they watched as the young pup walked bravely up to Julius and Marvin, who were so engrossed in their game, they didn’t notice him at first.

“Excuse me,” Owen said in the sweetest voice, his huge black eyes already pleading. Julius sprang to his feet, his wings raised instinctively.

“Hold on, Julius. Look at the little thing. He’s so cute and he’s only little, what harm can he do?” Julius relaxed and sat back in his chair.

“Hey, little one,” Marvin said, almost cooing. “What’s wrong, are you lost? What you doing down this way, huh?”

“Yes, I’m lost,” Owen said, innocently nodding his head.

Julius was taken in too. “Aww, he is cute, Marv!”

“Yeah, bless him. I think he’d even melt Helen’s heart, the big ol’ raven-face!”

At that moment Owen began barking and clapping loudly. The rest of the Divers rushed to Marvin and Julius who, being so distracted by Owen, had let their guard down. Adriene and Rory leapt on them, silencing them instantly, and they searched for the key to the door Marvin and Julius were supposed to be guarding. They tied their beaks and wings so they couldn’t speak or move.

“There’s no key!” said Rory, shaking his head.

“What now?” said Doltha, clearly distressed.

Cecilia walked up to the door and turned the handle. It opened, just like that.

Adriene howled with laughter.

“Shhhhh, Adriene! You’ll attract too much attention. Now let’s scram!” said Doltha.

“Nice one, Cecilia,” said Adriene, taking up the lead.

Through the door the tunnel before them was lit with an intense red light, and everyone was silent as they slipped quietly along it. The only sound was the padded footfall of the group running softly through the dust. Adriene the wily wolf-face put his hand up to his ear and they paused as he listened, peering into the dark ahead.

There was a shushing from behind and they fell silent as Rory returned, ushering them to move on.

They travelled along that tunnel for about fifteen minutes at a steady pace, stopping whenever the tunnel turned a corner or went up an incline. At the end, they came to a bright-red NO ENTRY sign. The message was glaringly clear.

“This is it,” said Jestyna. “There’s no turning back now! Move away…” Jestyna flicked her spear out ready to break the door down, when Cecilia interrupted.

“Just a sec. It’s worked for us so far…” she said.

Cecilia turned the handle and the door came open. They all smiled with relief—before they were overcome by the light of a truly dazzling spectacle.

26Electric Heart

It was true, Mr Sparks was a living thing: a ginormous jellyfish. There he was in all his glory, pulsating in a huge tank in the middle of the room. He was housed in a glass dome about the size of the top of St Paul’s Cathedral. Suspended in the tank he was unable to move much, not the way jellyfish normally do, because his tentacles were being used to generate light, feeding through a system of tubes travelling out and away from the tank.

“Wow,” whispered Owen as he gazed at the pulsating form of Mr Sparks. The Divers all gathered to stand alongside Doltha and they stared up into the tank at the magnificent Mr Sparks like a group of young children at the edge of a fairground at night. They were spellbound.

Finally someone spoke. “Come on, guys! We had better get to work before someone finds us. We’ve got no time to lose!”

Doltha approached the tank and pressed her hands up against it and began trying to communicate to Mr Sparks about what was going to happen. Rory told Cecilia and Adriene to position themselves