17
Max opened his eyes to darkness and quiet; two things he had come to dislike. He set a ball of light in air and sat up.
The Downs, he thought, looking around. The others were flat on their backs and their eyes were closed. He leaned over and shook Tommy's shoulder.
Tommy slowly opened his eyes. “W-What happened? Where are we?” he mumbled.
“We're in the Downs,” said Max, moving over to the twins. He used both hand and shook them. They came awake with a start. “W-What?” asked Davi. “W-Where?” asked Snoop.
“Downs,” said Max, side-stepping their feet to get to Hodgenock. Unlike the others, Hodgenock jumped to his feet and unsheathed his sword.
“How did we get here?” he asked. “The last thing I remember is standing outside the shack.”
“Zeeback and Bigrot knocked us out with their brea
