Legacy (The Biodome Chronicles) Read Online Free PDF

her mind continuing their debate as she tarried beneath the stone archway leading into the main living quarters.
    Oaklee examined her brother as he leaned against the wooden entry door, head turned toward their parent’s empty bedroom with a look that made her still. The muscles in his jaw were visibly tense, and arms toned from years of hard labor folded rigidly across his chest. In all her fifteen years, she had never witnessed her brother appear so distressed. His nature always radiated a steadfast calm even in the most stressful of situations.
    Leaf’s green eyes, appearing pale in the silvered light and shadows, moved in her direction as she wrapped her braid into a coil at the base of her neck, tying it off with a piece of mohair yarn. She ignored his inquisitive look and peeked into their sister’s room. The soft sounds of restful breathing greeted her ears, and Laurel’s long braid poked out of the blanket securely tucked beneath her chin.
    Satisfied, Oaklee continued toward her brother who opened the wooden entry door as she approached. With a slight bow Leaf walked onto the deck and glanced in every direction, slowing his motion as a breeze fluttered against his cloak. Her hands rested on either side of the door frame, and her eyes widened with growing trepidation as she listened to the rustling leaves of the temperate forest whisper their warnings.
    No words needed to be spoken. Oaklee knew that venturing out in the night was against the edict from The Elements, which only heightened her fear. Her feet anchored to the wooden floor as her mind contemplated the risks of a public trial to explain their late-night activity. But her brother’s confession tugged at her heart and pulled her forward. He would never request that she take such a risk unless it was dire.
    Last year, a young man and woman from the village, both seventeen years of age, were caught dipping their toes into the creek during the dead of night. They stood trial before the community, and then married as demanded by the young woman’s father. Following the trial, Oaklee’s father warned both her and Leaf never to sneak out at night, as the young couple was fortunate that banishment was not issued. “Trust is paramount inside our forming world,” her father had stressed. “If we cannot depend on our community, then we have lost the heart and soul behind rebuilding what has been lost to the Outside world.” She had not fully understood what he had meant, but had responded dutifully. “Yes, father.”
    Breath formed in ghost-like vapors as Oaklee crossed her home’s threshold and closed the door. The gentle bio-breeze made the hood of her cloak ripple across her face, her view of the landscape narrowing and expanding with each flutter.
    Dread viciously knotted each nerve and taunted her need for predictability. Secrets proved to have that powerful effect. She still sought emotional relief from the last revelation. How does one ever return to normal after the loss of a parent, let alone both parents? Would Leaf’s secret add to her distress?
    The cool air sharpened her mind, and Oaklee began contemplating how Leaf could hold onto a secret for nine years, then trust her with the gravity of what he had seen and experienced. He could have asked anyone, including Coal, who was more like a relation than a dear friend. Oaklee wished to ask her brother why he did not approach The Elements with this secret, but held back as they neared the staircase that would place them within view of anyone.
    Barefoot, she and Leaf quickly and lightly descended the wooden staircase from their second-story stone-and-cob apartment home. The Tudor-style building rose further above them with each step toward the biodome floor, and the white walls with timber frames and stone-capped entries and windows glowed in the reflected moonlight. Oaklee was convinced that her heartbeat must surely be loud enough to alert someone in the pre-dawn stillness of their