Part 29 (1/2)

n.o.body said anything. I was sure they all had the same concerns I did.

Finally Loor uttered a soft, insistent, ”Hurry.”

”Hands in the boat,” I commanded. ”Stay low.”

I made a best guess as to where the opening to the sea might be. I was fooling myself. I had no clue. I turned the tiller away from the wall and gunned it. I figured we were either going to get out, or crash trying.

We crashed.

A few seconds after we got up to speed, we hit something. Hard. The bow hit on the right side, and flipped the boat over. We were all dumped into the water. My first thought before getting wet was:Loor can't swim.

I went under with no idea of which way was up. The only clue was the hum of the boat's engine. I kicked my legs and broke the surface, shouting, ”Loor!” My scream came back to me as an odd echo. I quickly realized that I had come up underneath the capsized boat.

”Is anybody here?” I called.

”Saangi,” sputtered the acolyte. She sounded scared. ”Loor cannot swim.”

”I know. Is she under here?”

There was no answer, which meant no.

”I'm going out,” I said, and didn't wait for her to acknowledge. I kept one hand on the boat, ducked underwater, and pulled myself out. When I resurfaced, I heard thras.h.i.+ng in the water.

”Loor!” I yelled.

”Here!” came a welcome voice. There was a slight, fearful quiver in it, though, which for Loor was the same as gut-clenching panic in anybody else. She was floundering. I pushed off into the darkness in the direction of the splas.h.i.+ng. It only took a second to reach her. I wrapped an arm around her chest and flipped her over on her back. She trusted me. She relaxed.

”Alder!” I called out.

”Here!” the knight yelled. ”I am holding the boat with Saangi.”

I kicked toward his voice and reached forward with my free hand. Soon I felt the hard metal skin of the overturned boat. I pulled Loor up to it and made sure she was holding on.

”I am all right,” she said.

There wasn't time to rest or discuss what had happened. ”We've got to swim for it,” I said. ”Which way?” Alder asked.

I tried to figure out where the wall was that we had hit. We didn't want to go that way. I looked around, though I wasn't sure why. It was pitch black. There was nothing to see. As it turned out, I was wrong. Therewa.s.something to see. Hovering just beneath the water, a few yards away from us, was a light. Saangi saw it too.

”What is that?” she asked.

”I don't know,” I said. ”Maybe that's what we hit.”

The little bit of light helped me get my bearings. I let go of the boat and swam toward it. I kept my eyes focused on the strip of light. It seemed to be floating only a few inches beneath the surface. As I got closer I began to sense that this light was part of something much larger. It was so incredibly dark that I couldn't make out any real form, except for right around the light. I got to it and touched it. The light was embedded in something solid, and it was big-much bigger than the light itself. I brought my nose closer to the light to see that it was actually behind what seemed to be a gla.s.s window. The window rose above the water, though the light was still beneath the surface. I put my nose closer to this mysterious window, and came face-to-face with a Ghee warrior! AdeadGhee warrior.

”Ahhh!” I screamed in surprise, and pushed away. ”What is it?” Alder asked.

I had swum quickly back to the boat in a panic. I clung to the side, trying to catch my breath and calm down. It didn't take long for me to realize what I had seen.

”It's a dygo,” I said. ”There's a Ghee inside. I-I think he's dead.”

”It must be one of the dygos that drilled through the ceiling of the cavern,” Alder said. ”The rising water must have pushed it in here.”

n.o.body said anything for a moment. I think we were all trying to process the information. It was Loor who first put our thoughts into words.

”It is our last hope,” she said.

”Can you open it from the outside?” I asked. ”Without flooding it?”

”We will have to try,” Loor said. ”I will need help to get there.”

I instantly swept my arm around Loor and pushed off of the boat, headed for the crippled dygo. Saangi and Alder swam right behind. In seconds the four of us were hanging onto the silver sphere.

”The hatch is on the other side,” Loor said.

We all carefully moved hand over hand around the floating orb until Loor said, ”Stop. The hatch is underwater.”

”We have to spin it,” I said.

It wasn't easy. Though the dygo was floating, it was big and clumsy. It wasn't until Alder went to the far side and pulled down while we pushed up, that the section of the sphere that held the door broke out of the water. Loor ran her hands across the surface, which was no easy thing since the only light we had was the dim glow that came from the window. A few agonizing seconds later I heard the welcome sound of a latch being released and the hatch being raised. She had done it!

”Careful!” I said. ”We don't want to flood it.”

We maneuvered the dygo so the open hatch was directly on top. Alder came up from the back side and pulled the hatch fully open. It instantly hit the rocky ceiling. We only had a few feet to maneuver.

”Saangi first,” Loor said.

Saangi didn't hesitate. She pulled herself up and slipped inside the dygo, head first. Loor slid in next. I was about to enter when Loor said, ”Wait!”

”What's the matter?” I asked.

I was holding on to the edge of the open doorway. My answer came in the form of a cold hand that was laid across mine. It was the hand of the dead Ghee warrior. Loor and Saangi were pus.h.i.+ng him up and out of the dygo.

”There isn't enough room,” Loor said.

”Are you sure?” I asked. I wanted to be respectful.

”He was a Ghee,” Loor said. ”He died in battle. This is how it must be.”

I pulled the body of the fallen warrior up and out of the craft, while Loor and Saangi pushed. It wasn't easy, for all sorts of reasons. He was heavy, and he was dead. I tried not to be too grossed out by the whole thing. I think I was too far gone for that. We finally got the body clear of the hatch. I pushed him away and the fallen warrior floated off into the darkness, never knowing that his sacrifice may have saved our lives.

”Hurry, Pendragon,” Alder said. ”We are nearly out of room.”

Alder was holding the hatch, but he couldn't open it all the way, because we were getting closer to the ceiling as the water rose relentlessly. There was only about a foot-wide opening now. In a few seconds the hatch would be forced practically closed and the opening wouldn't be wide enough for us to get through. I dove for it and went in headfirst, falling into Saangi's lap.

”C'mon!” I shouted back to Alder.

Alder snaked around the hatch, dropped his feet and legs inside, then fell the rest of the way in. No sooner did he fall inside than the hatch was forced closed by the ceiling overhead. Saangi reached up and sealed it tight.

”Done!” she shouted.