“I’m just saying…”
“Well, don’t,” she commanded, trembling so hard I started to tremble, too.
Brooks zoomed in, flying close enough to the water that the tip of her right wing touched the bubbling surface. She released a warning cry so loud I bet it was heard halfway across the world. I could tell she didn’t know what to do, who to save, how to help all of us. She had to choose.
“Take Ren!” I shouted.
Brooks’s eyes blazed copper. She shook h
er head, screeching as if to say You’re not the boss, Zane! But I could tell she knew that sleeping Ren was the most vulnerable of us all at that moment.
She swept in, gripped Ren by the shoulders, and lifted her away. Brooks’s right wing, the one that had touched the darkness, quivered, and bits of feather fell into the sea.
The water. THE WATER! “Don’t touch—” I began to shout, when two slimy tentacles writhed out of the black ocean like they were looking for something. I launched a wave of fire, and they exploded with a horrific shriek.
Hondo was on his feet now on his turtle, gripping something in his hand, but before I could make out what it was, the fog thickened, instantly blocking all sight and sound. The world went still.
“Hondo!” I shouted. “Brooks!”
There was no answer.
The fog made my eyes burn and pressed on me so heavily I fell to my knees. Alana caught me. I clutched the turtle’s shell with one hand while I tried desperately to swipe the mist away with the other.
My heart pounded. Think. Think. How do you fight a faceless monster that is everywhere?
To my horror, the edge of shell I was holding suddenly broke off in my hand. And just like that, the entire turtle beneath us began to fall apart.
NO!
In half a blink, it disintegrated like soggy paper.
Alana and I slipped into the black ooze.
I had to think fast.
No way was I going to let this sludge be the last thing my friends and I ever saw.
As I treaded the black gunk, wondering why it wasn’t eating me alive, I shouted, “Alana! Adrik! Hondo!” Where were they?!
A terrible chill spread through me as something wrapped itself around my ankles and climbed slowly up my thighs. My storm runner leg vibrated with what felt like a million volts of electricity. Whatever was gripping it let go with a hiss.
YES!
I reached for more fire power, for any ounce of strength I had left, but there was nada, not even a spark. And the more I struggled, the farther the freezing muck pulled me under.
I was shivering uncontrollably. I sucked in huge gulps of air as I struggled to keep my head above the living darkness.
An image of my mom came into my head as the sludge crept up to my chin. She stood on the beach, throwing a stick for Rosie and smiling. The black liquid rose to my mouth. My eyes teared up as reality slammed against my heart and mind.
But right before I was about to take my last breath, a shape beneath my feet rose from the depths, lifting me out of the freezing sea. My legs trembled as I tried to find my balance on top of the moving form.
I drew in a lungful of air and looked around wildly.
“Hondo! Brooks!” I gasped for breath between each name. “Ren!”
The fog was still too thick to see through. Where was everyone? Were they okay?
A familiar heartless laugh filled the air.