Tyla leaned on the fencepost in the squids' basin. She had made a crafting table and placed it against the sheer face of the rock, and now she was sitting on it, half-drowsing despite the fact that she could barely control her shivering.
Tyla didn't really know Sky, but how had he gone from not letting people kill her to ready to murder her himself? Either he was less stable than an upturned pyramid, which Tyla wouldn't bet against, or something had messed with his mind. Tyla had a vague feeling that she should recognize that, but she was too exhausted and overwhelmed to process much.
She needed to get back up to the surface and dry, that was for certain. She wouldn't survive down here for very long; soon she'd get hypothermia and die. But she couldn't go ashore; the Sky Army would kill her. Wait. She could dig underwater, right? So… why couldn't she dig a tunnel into her house?
That thought made her eyes snap open. She could! Tyla got a squid to come close to her, to take her up to the surface. She let go early, though. She badly needed air, but it wouldn't be worth it to go above water. She kicked along until she reached the bit of dirt that stuck out into the bay, that marked the hill that she lived in.
Tyla placed a fencepost at the bottom of the water and floated there for a moment, breathing in deeply. Then she pulled out her shovel; it was tunnel time.
Saylor spent a few minutes looking through Tyla's chests, then she pulled out some raw pork chops and some wood and put them in the furnace. Saylor took a bite out of the first pork chop to be done, and that bite nearly fell out of her mouth when one of the floor blocks destroyed itself.
All Saylor could think was that Kris had come to get her, and she gave a squeak as someone poked their head out of the tunnel. Saylor's overworked brain took a few seconds to register that the person didn't have dark hair like Kris. This person had blond curls like…
"Tyla?" Saylor asked in stunned disbelief. Tyla was looking at her with a similar expression. "Saylor?" Soon, both girls were hugging and crying and telling each other their stories. "Whoa." Tyla said, when Saylor had finished telling about Kris. "No wonder you were acting funny…"
"Yeah. And sorry, I kind of looked through your chests…" Saylor said guiltily, but Tyla just shrugged. Then she sniffed. "Is that… pork chops cooking?" "Yeah." Saylor said. Tyla held out her hand. "Gimme."
Light slowly peeked over the horizon and, in several different places, people were sleeping. The Sky Army had returned to camp, exhausted, at about four in the morning, and they were all sound asleep in their tents. Saylor and Tyla were asleep in Tyla's house, at least for now.
"Saylor. Saylor, wake up. You're dreaming, wake up." Tyla hissed, poking Saylor in the ribs. Saylor opened her eyes abruptly. "AA-mmff!" She started to scream, but Tyla clamped a hand over her mouth. A moment later, she took it away, and Saylor sat up, her heart pounding.
"Dreaming about Kris?" Saylor nodded. Tyla sat back on her bed, running her thoughts of the previous day through her head. She was running a hand through her hair when she froze. "Oh, s_. Him?" she said. Saylor stared at her. "Who?"
Tyla swallowed. "You remember how I said that something might be messing with Sky's mind?" Saylor nodded slowly. "Well, do you remember who did it last time?" Saylor's eyes widened. "Him? Her-" She started to say it, but Tyla flinched so badly that she stopped.
The two girls sat there for a few moments, then Saylor asked, in a small voice, "What are we going to do now?" Tyla thought for a few moments, then she said "Let's see. We need to fix Sky's mind, and we need to find a way to permanently get Kris away from you." Saylor nodded. "Those might actually fit together. We fix Sky's mind, and then he helps deal with Kris."
"So…" Saylor asked "How are we going to do that?" Tyla opened her mouth to answer, but just at that moment, a cold voice said from the door; "You two won't be doing anything." Saylor and Tyla turned to see Kris standing in the doorway. She was alone, but that wasn't much comfort. Instead of the Sky Army standard-issue 'budder' sword, Kris had a diamond one, double-edged and wicked sharp.
Saylor screamed, and Tyla grabbed her arm, dragging her into the tunnel she'd made before. Panicking too much to take a deep breath, Saylor blacked out as Tyla pulled her deeper.