Code Lightfall and the Robot King Read Free

inches.
    â€œHold on,” he whispered. “Hey, stop for a second!”
    But the glowing speck flittered up to chest height and dove a little farther into the tunnel. Code had to creep faster and faster to keep up. Little by little, the creature accelerated until it was a streak of light, zipping up and down and over and around in the darkness.
    â€œWait!” called Code. He walked, then trotted, then sprinted until he could barely breathe. At one point, his lunch money fell from his pants pocket. He could have sworn that he was running on the ceiling, upside down.
    Finally, Code saw a faint light—the tunnel’s end: I must be all the way back to the school bus , he thought with relief. Code wished that he could have shared this with his grandfather. Who would have guessed that there were tunnels running through the mound?
    Code stopped just short of the pale gray light coming in from a jagged crevice in the wall. The little creature fluttered over to him and briefly touched its tiny face to his cheek. Then it landed on his outstretched hand and peeped, flashing a beam of light toward the tunnel exit, as if urging Code to step outside.
    Code paused, hesitant.
    The bee purred and flashed to a bluish color, then quickly turned back to gold. Code was starting to figure out his small companion: blue meant sad and gold meant happy. Cupped in his palm, the mysterious creature was glowing gold and seemed very excited.
    â€œHe needs a name,” said Code, to nobody in particular. “How about I call him Peep?” In response, the tiny creature hopped into the air and wheeled around. It shot Code with a red light beam and lightly pinched his forearm.
    â€œOkay, okay,” said Code, rubbing his arm. “What I meant to say is I think I’ll call her Peep.”
    This seemed to be better.
    Peep blinked a cheerful golden color and darted out of the tunnel. Wiping sweat from his forehead, Code took a deep breath and followed her outside.

2
The Odd Woods
    Code peeked his head out of the crack in the rock wall and did not see a road, a school bus, or a thunderstorm. From the instant knot in his stomach, Code knew that he was definitely, without a doubt, utterly and completely lost. Swallowing, he looked up at the twisting, vine-encrusted trees that towered overhead. He had never seen trees like this at Mek Mound before.
    Peep, a green dot of light, flew a few feet ahead, swooping through the air like a lightning bug on a mission. She was the only familiar sight. Code hesitantly followed her, trudging into the dim forest.
    Something is wrong with this place , he thought. A mournful, hushed feeling filled the woods. Code noticed that the muted shadows of leaves on the forest floor were perfectly still. The trees didn’t sway, not even a little. The leaves didn’t chatter to each other the way they did on Mek Mound. He could hear a breeze whistling through the branches above, but the moss-covered tree limbs still hung motionless, like carved statues.
    It was eerie, but Code was curious. Besides, Peep was happily pouncing from tree to tree. Reassured by the steady drone of Peep’s wings, Code turned his attention to investigating the woods around him.
    Hearing a peculiar criiick, criiick coming from a deep cluster of bushes, Code pushed aside a stiff patch of tall grass and saw a squat brown toad. Carefully, Code scooped up the little creature only to find that it was some kind of clockwork toad, hard and bumpy and heavy, with a winder jutting out of its side. It gave a sharp mechanical kick of its legs and escaped into the bushes.
    Hurrying to catch up with Peep, Code noticed an intricate silver spiderweb hanging from a tree branch. It seemed to hum softly in the shadows, like a sputtering neon sign. A metallic lump with long, splintery legs—the spider, Code realized—hung from a springy wire. As Code passed by, a translucent gnat landed on the web and was barbecued with a zap .
    What