Above World (23 page)

“I’ll get Dash,” Hoku said. “Stay here.”

“Hoku, I’m afraid of the water,” Calli yelled, her face stricken with panic. “My wings will get waterlogged!”

“Fly to the trees and hide!” Hoku said. “Your bones are too thin for the deep. You have to fly!”

He submerged and headed for Dash. Aluna paddled after him, coughing and keeping her chin raised as far above the surface of the water as she could manage. The ocean used to be her home. She never realized how dangerous it was . . . and how unwelcoming.

She kept an eye on the Upgraders as she navigated the waves. The first monster insects had reached the water’s edge, but they would not go farther. A distant buzzing noise grew louder and louder as she inched through the water.

Dragonfliers!

Those despicable machines skimmed over the surf, their translucent wings flapping so fast that she couldn’t even see them. What she could see were the twin flamethrowers mounted on each flier.

She scanned the sky for Calli and saw the winged girl heading to the trees.
Good.
Calli had spent her whole life trying to be invisible. That had to count for something now.

The rhinebra bolted from the water, and three of the Upgraders broke off from the group to chase it down. She saw Dash struggling to stay afloat near the shore, each wave buffeting his body. Hoku surfaced between them and then disappeared back under the water.
Swift as a seal,
she urged him.

They were never going to survive. The four of them were separated, wounded, flailing. The Upgraders were fresh, powerful, fast. She was supposed to figure out some brilliant plan that enabled them to defeat the Upgraders, make it to the HydroTek dome, and save the world. Instead, they were going to die alone and afraid, half killed by the ocean that used to be an ally. It was her job to lead them, and she had led them to their death.

Salt water splashed into her face, as if the ocean were slapping her. The cold sting woke her up. This was no time for self-pity — and certainly no time for giving up.

The first dragonflier headed for Dash.

“Watch out!” she yelled.

Dash heard her and ducked under a wave as double gouts of flame shot from the dragonflier. The second dragonflier sped toward her as the first one hovered over Dash’s location. Where was he? He hadn’t resurfaced yet. How long could he hold his breath?

She scanned the waves for Hoku but couldn’t find him. Had he gotten to Dash already? Was he keeping Dash under the water? She wanted to go help, but soon she’d have her own Upgrader to deal with.

A slimy hand wrapped around her left ankle and pulled.

Aluna yelped in surprise and kicked. The thing let go for a second, then grabbed her again. She kicked harder, but whatever was attacking her tightened its grip. Could the Upgraders swim? She smashed the heel of her right foot into the thing holding her.

Another slick, rubbery hand grabbed her free ankle. Aluna gulped air. Her attacker yanked, and she was dragged under the water.

Down, down, down. She slid through the water. Pressure built around her lungs, slowly squeezing them tighter and tighter. She kicked and squirmed harder as her panic grew.

Whatever was pulling her slowed but did not release her ankles. A dark shape appeared in front of her. She recognized its huge black eyes and slick gray skin immediately.

“Deepfell!” she blurted out.

She realized her mistake too late. Down this deep, she’d drown before she could find her way to the surface again for another gulp of air. If the Deepfell didn’t kill her first.

The Deepfell darted its head forward, as if it were going to head butt her. Instead, the flat gray lips of its mouth pressed against hers. When it pulled away, a bubble formed between their mouths. A bubble filled with air.

Aluna breathed.

The Deepfell holding her legs released its grip. She stayed where she was, grateful to have the air, and grateful to be far away from the Upgraders.

Even if that meant temporarily surrendering to the Deepfell.

T
HE DEEPFELL
in front of her — a woman — motioned for her to follow. Aluna worried that the air bubble wobbling around her mouth might burst when she moved, but decided to trust her rescuers. If they’d wanted her dead, they could have stayed safely underwater and watched the Upgraders kill her. Or worse, they could have let her drown in the ocean that used to be her home.

She swam after the Deepfell. The bubble around her face wavered, but remained intact. She could even open and close her mouth without breaking the seal. There wasn’t much air inside, so she swam swiftly.

They caught up to another group of Deepfell, and she recognized a small, pale figure among them.

“Hoku!”

“You’re safe!” he answered in her ear.

She saw Dash behind him. He had an air bubble over his mouth and was being carried by one of the Deepfell. He waved with his good hand and managed a weak smile. His eyes were bloodshot. After looking at her, he squeezed them shut again. Ocean salt wasn’t kind to visitors, especially those without special ocean-ready eyes.

Hoku spoke in an endless quiet stream to Calli. “I hope you have the radio on. We’re okay. We’re going underwater with the Deepfell. But not the evil Deepfell. At least, I don’t think they’re evil. Stay safe. Stay in the trees. Hide. We’ll be fine. You have to take care of yourself. Don’t let the Upgraders find you. I hope this works. I hope you have the radio on.”

The Deepfell escorted them farther up the coast but stayed close to the ocean’s surface, probably to keep Dash’s lungs from collapsing from the pressure. She grew more comfortable with the air bubble, despite its tendency to tickle her nose as it wiggled.

As they swam, they passed cadres of Deepfell camped along the ocean floor or sparring midwater. She’d never seen so many together in one place. She saw one warrior without a right arm and another without a dorsal fin. In fact, she couldn’t spot a single Deepfell without a scar marring its sleek gray skin.

The Deepfell were at war.

Their escorts took them into a cave. They swam through a tunnel that angled up. After a few dozen meters, her head broke the surface of the water. The interior of the cave was as large as the ritual dome back home. They surfaced in a small pool of water, but the rest of the cave contained sand and air, and hundreds of wounded Deepfell.

Aluna’s rescuer turned and touched her lips to Aluna’s air bubble. The Deepfell inhaled and sucked the whole membrane back into her mouth. She swallowed and smiled, then swam away.

The rest of the Deepfell dragged themselves onto land and headed for the back of the cave, walking like seals instead of people. One of them, a male, beckoned to Aluna and she followed, more relieved than she wanted to be about leaving the water. Hoku and Dash joined her.

Much of the sand beneath their feet was stained red, and it took her a moment to realize that it was blood. But it made sense. Blood in the water meant death. Too many predators would be thrilled to find a secret stash of wounded Deepfell. Great White itself could smell blood for miles. According to legend, it had once swum all the way around the earth to eat a dying penguin. The Deepfell took their wounded out of the water for the good of the colony.

At the back of the cave, they found the command center of the Deepfell’s war operation. Battle plans and accounting tallies had been scratched on thin sheets of shale and were stacked in piles around a lone Deepfell. Unlike the others, he reclined on a raised hammock as he reviewed some sort of report etched into a piece of the rock paper. A thin circlet of shells and coral surrounded his hairless gray head. Despite the fact that he was a mortal enemy of her people, he looked noble.

The Deepfell they were following pointed at the man and squeaked, “Preeence Eekikee,” before disappearing into another part of the cave.

The prince looked up when they approached, and Aluna saw a deep scar across his neck, still red around the edges, but mostly healed.

The Deepfell from the beach — the one that she had saved!

Prince Eekikee swung his tail off the hammock and stood on it, tall as a Kampii. She had no idea they could do that. Thick muscles bulged under his shark skin. He could have been the same age as one of her brothers. Now that she thought about it, she’d never seen a Deepfell much older than that. Certainly none as old as her father or the other Elders.

“Come. Here,” the prince said, looking directly at her. The words looked painful for him to speak. He held out his webbed hand. She offered her hand in return, and he dropped a small shell necklace into her palm.

She stared at the familiar jewelry in wonder.

“Your shell,” Hoku said. “Aluna, your breathing shell!”

She nodded dumbly.

The prince placed his hand on his chest and squeaked. Aluna winced. The prince frowned, clearly frustrated. He thumped his chest again, then said, “Eekikee.”

“Eekikee,” she repeated. Then she pointed to herself and said, “Aluna.” The boys followed her lead. Dash started to say something after “Dashiyn,” but stopped himself. Another mystery to unravel, she thought, but for another time.

Prince Eekikee nodded, then hopped over to a pile of circular objects and grabbed one. He held it out for them to see. It looked like a thick collar made out of some kind of black metal. One side hinged open, but it looked like it could snap closed easily enough. It certainly wasn’t pretty enough to wear, not even for her.

Hoku took the collar and turned it over in his hand. He brought it up to his neck, as if he were going to try it on. Eekikee knocked it out of Hoku’s hand.

“Hey!” Hoku said. He looked at her for support, but she shook her head. The look in Prince Eekikee’s eyes was dark. She reached for her talons.

“It is a slave collar,” Dash said simply. “No one chooses to put one on.”

The prince pointed to the collar, now lying on the sand, and then pointed up. His eyes stayed dark.

“F-F-Fathom,” he said. Then he pointed to the wounded all around them. “Fiiight.”

“Fathom. Fathom is enslaving his people,” Aluna said. “That’s why they’re at war.”

A loud screech echoed through the cave.

The prince listened to the alarm, then squeaked a series of commands to their Deepfell escorts. When they nodded, he dropped to the ground and pulled himself toward the water faster than she’d ever seen a Deepfell move.

“Waaaait,” one of the remaining Deepfell said to her, and pointed to a patch of sand by the cave wall.

A young Deepfell male lugged Hoku’s satchel and an extremely irritated Zorro into the clearing. The raccoon had clamped on to the handle of the bag and refused to be removed. When he saw Hoku, the little thing went crazy. He scampered over to Hoku and covered his face in a frenzy of tiny licks.

“Glad to see you, too, boy,” Hoku said.

The Deepfell brought a small pile of fish that Aluna could have devoured in two flashes, had she not seen the half-starved look on Hoku’s face. Dash nibbled one fish but didn’t go back for a second. If he got hungry enough, he’d eat, she reasoned, and took a fifth for herself. She ate the last one slowly, savoring the delicate crunch of bones in her mouth.

“My books!” Hoku said.

She looked over. He had spread the contents of his bag in a circle around his spot on the sand.

“The water destroyed them,” he said. And then, more quietly, “I can’t even read the inscriptions anymore.”

Aluna knew this wasn’t about the books. “Why did you make Calli fly away?” she asked. “She would have been safer down here with us.”

Hoku opened up each of his books and placed them gently on the sand to dry. “Aviars have thin, light bones in order to fly,” he said. “If we brought her underwater, she’d be safe from the Upgraders, but the pressure from the ocean would snap all of her bones.”

“Oh,” Aluna said. “Good choice, then.”

“The books did not survive, but we did,” Dash said. “You made the correct decision, and you made it quickly in a dangerous situation. It was a victory.”

“They weren’t
your
books,” Hoku said bitterly. He pulled out the water safe and set Zorro to trying combinations. “At least whatever’s inside here is still dry.”

Aluna opened her fist and stared at the breathing necklace she thought she’d lost forever.

She sat cross-legged in the sand and pressed her breathing necklace to her throat. Hoku and Dash watched as she twisted the shell, trying to activate the hidden mechanism that would bring it to life. A moment later, she heard a whir and felt its twin tails burrowing into her neck.

She choked and sputtered. For several horrible seconds, she couldn’t breathe at all. Her eyes and mouth opened wide as she gasped. She needed air. Her hands clawed at the shell. She needed to get it off of her!

Hoku grabbed her wrists and pulled them away from her throat. “It’s okay,” Hoku said. “Let it work!”

He stared into her eyes and she tried to focus on his freckles, tried to make herself count them one by one. The pain! Spots swam across her eyes like a horde of ink-black eels.

And then the bubble of tension growing inside her chest burst, and she could breathe. She sucked in great gulps of air through her mouth and felt the glow of the breathing necklace pulsing at her throat.