by Maggie Marks
Instead, he swam to the wall of the cave and then upward. He broke free of the water, and suddenly realized just how high the water had risen. Only a few feet remained between Mason and the top of the cave—and that space was filled with floating mobs. Squishy, sloppy slimes.
Squish, splash, squish, splash, squish … One bounced between the ceiling and the water, bobbling along the water’s surface toward Mason. He swung his arm backward, preparing to throw his trident.
Whack! Pain shot through his arm and shoulder as his trident struck the wall of the cave. He tried to swing again, but his arm had gone numb.
Squish, splash, squish, splash, squish … splat!
Mason shrank backward just as the slime burst into pieces. Then something whizzed through the air—Luna’s trident returning to her hand. She had struck the slime just in time.
Now mini slimes filled the water. A dolphin surfaced, nudging a slime with its snout. Slugger!
Mason lunged for the dolphin’s fin, hoping to pull him away. It’s not a toy! he wanted to cry. The slime will hurt you!
And it did. With a squeal, Slugger retreated from the mini slime and dove down.
But that single squeal alerted the other dolphins. Mason felt them churning through the water below, ready to battle the slimes. But he couldn’t see them. He couldn’t see anything.
And if the water kept rising, he wouldn’t be able to breathe.
I need Luna’s potions! he realized, searching for her. But there were too many bodies in the shadows. A battle was raging, and all Mason could do was try to stay calm and think.
He treaded water, trying to stay afloat. Thud! His forehead suddenly hit the ceiling. The water had risen so high! The cave was almost fully flooded now. Mason tilted his chin upward and sucked in air.
When something thrashed beside him, Mason’s hand tightened on his trident. Then he heard Asher’s voice.
“The dolphins!” Asher said, coughing and sputtering water. “They won’t be able to breathe!”
Huh? Mason couldn’t respond—he was too busy taking breaths of his own. Then he remembered. The dolphins would need to surface soon, too. They need water to survive, but they also need air, Luna had told them.
For just a moment, he wanted to scold Asher. What about us? Mason wanted to say. How can you worry about the dolphins when we’re fighting for our own lives?
But he didn’t. As another dolphin squealed in pain or anger, and another slime burst into pieces, Mason grabbed his brother’s arm. “We have to get out of here,” he said. “We’ll swim out the way we came in. Follow me!”
He took one more breath of air—he was going to need it. Then he dove down, as low as he could go. He hoped Asher would follow, and that Luna and the dolphins would, too.
We’re in this together, Mason thought. All of us.
As he swam past Luna, he grabbed her backpack to get her attention. She swung around so furiously, he feared she’d hit him with her trident. Then he waved his arm. Follow me. Let’s go!
Down, down, down he swam, feeling his way rather than seeing it. The opening they’d made in the gravel had to be here somewhere. And it would lead them out—out to the base of the ravine, where they could swim free.
His hands sorted through sharp stones, searching for the opening. Finally they broke through. He wiggled his fingers in the water beyond. Yes!
But just as he began to swim through, something knocked him backward. A small slime slid past, leaving a slippery trail on Mason’s arm. Then the opening was gone—plugged by a squishy, bloated green block.
No! Mason thought, punching the slime. It punched back. Instantly, Mason sank, feeling too weak to swim or stand.
His lungs burned, begging for air. But Luna and her potions were high above. She was battling for her own life. And Asher? Had he followed? Mason felt too weak to turn. Too weak to even look.
So this is how it’s going to end, he thought as his body slumped against a bed of gravel. Please just let Asher make it out. Please!
Suddenly, a thrust from behind knocked Mason forward, toward the opening in the gravel. He flung his arms out, trying to brace himself so he wouldn’t hit the slime.
But the slime was gone—broken into a thousand mini pieces. Slime balls floated past, too small now to do damage. Too small to block Mason’s path to freedom.
But I’m too weak to swim, he realized. I can’t swim through!
Another nudge from behind sent him halfway through the hole. He could see the magma blocks on the other side—the fiery patch of lava and obsidian. It gave him the strength to pull himself forward.
As he broke free to the other side, he glanced up at the sky, searching for the moon. But it was the morning sun that filtered through the water above. Way too high above. I’ll never make it to the water’s surface! Mason thought with a stab of fear.
He couldn’t hold his breath any longer—he knew he couldn’t. But just as he opened his mouth, ready to let the water in, he was lifted from the ocean floor and carried forward.
He glanced down and saw a square gray snout beneath him. Slugger. That was Mason’s last thought before the dolphin tossed him forward into a spray of bubbles.
* * *
Mason opened his eyes. Something was shaking him—hard. Luna’s worried face appeared inches from his own, bubbles floating down all around her. He opened his mouth to speak, but he couldn’t. He was still underwater.
But I can breathe! he realized. Had Luna slipped him some potion?
No. As a dolphin circled past, Mason saw where he was: in the middle of the bubble column, where he could fill his lungs with pure, sweet air.
The magma block below tugged him down, but Luna held him up, keeping him from burning himself on the fiery rocks.
Good old Luna, he thought with a smile. Then he thought of someone else. “Asher!” His brother’s name came out in a flurry of bubbles.
Luna smiled. She gave Mason a thumbs-up and pointed toward Asher, who was chasing a dolphin’s tail. His brother was surrounded by dolphins, and grinning ear to ear.
We made it out, Mason thought. All of us. That realization gave him the strength to swim out of the bubble column. He pointed up, toward the water’s surface.
Luna nodded. She darted back through the bubble column, as if to get one last breath of air. Then she waved at Asher to do the same.
Mason watched in wonder as the dolphins followed Asher in, swimming through the bubbles as if filling their own lungs too. Asher led them in and out as confidently as Simon himself. Then they started streaming upward, like a dolphin parade, soaring up toward the morning sky.
Mason’s legs felt strong, propelling him forward with each kick. But his right arm and shoulder still tingled from his run-in with the cave wall. He wished he could grab hold of a dolphin’s tail and go along for the ride.
Maybe someday, he thought. Maybe someday they’ll trust me enough to let me swim with them, like Asher does. But for now, we just have to get home.
When his head finally popped out of the water, he closed his eyes and turned his face toward the sun. The warmth felt so good!
Then he squinted to see the others. Simon and Happy were putting on a show, leaping high out of the water. And Asher?
There he was, straightening out his helmet. He waved at Mason. “C’mon!” he called.
As Mason took a stroke toward his brother, a jolt of pain ran down his right arm. He flipped onto his back to rest.
“What’s wrong?” asked Asher, swimming up beside him.
“I hurt my shoulder,” said Mason, wincing. “I’m not going to be able to swim very far like this.”
“Luna has potion of healing,” Asher said brightly. “She’ll fix you up—you’ll see.”
But as Mason rolled onto his side, he caught sight of Luna staring off at the horizon. At what?
Then he saw it—Luna’s orange backpack! It had caught a wave and was drifting out to sea, bobbing further away with each passing second.
&nb
sp; That backpack holds her healing potion, Mason realized, with another stab of pain. That backpack holds ALL her potions!
CHAPTER 14
“Why isn’t she swimming after it?” Asher asked. “Go, Luna! Go get your backpack!” He slapped his hand against the water, urging her on.
But Luna had stopped swimming. Her dark head bobbed in the waves as she stared after the lost pack, which sank out of view.
“She must be too tired,” Mason said, feeling the weight of his own weary body pulling him down.
When Asher took off swimming after Luna, Mason tried to follow. He rolled onto his left side and side-stroked, letting his right arm rest. But he couldn’t see above the rolling waves. Am I swimming in circles? he wondered.
Then he heard voices. Asher and Luna were close by.
“We can’t get home without the potions,” said Luna. Her voice sounded thin and tight, as if she were at her breaking point.
“Maybe the dolphins will help us,” said Asher.
In the silence that followed, Mason flipped onto his stomach and took a couple of painful strokes to reach his brother.
Then Luna said four words that cut right through the waves. “The dolphins are gone.”
Mason wiped his eyes and followed her gaze. A few fins zig-zagged in the distance, heading out to sea.
“How could they leave us?” Asher asked in a tiny voice.
Mason took a deep breath. “We’ll be okay,” he told his brother. “The dolphins did what you wanted them to do—they led you to treasure, right?”
Asher shook his wet head. “But I didn’t even take all the treasure! I was too busy trying to save the dolphins!” He slapped at the water again.
He’s not mad about the treasure, Mason thought. Not really. For once, Asher seemed to have found something he cared about more than diamonds and emeralds. He’d found some friends—but now he’d lost them.
“C’mon,” Mason said gently. “Let’s get back to shore. We have to rest.”
“And we have to make a plan,” Luna added. “A plan for how in the Overworld we’re going to get home.”
Her words gave Mason a chill. Or maybe it was the cool water and the wet clothes he’d been wearing for what felt like days. The rocky shore, lit by the morning sun, suddenly looked inviting.
“Let’s go,” he said, taking the lead.
With each stroke toward shore, he tried to ignore the pain in his shoulder. But his strokes grew weaker and weaker. Finally, he stopped swimming altogether, trying to catch his breath.
As Luna and Asher passed him by, Mason studied the shoreline. He thought back to the steep climb up the rocky wall. Will I be able to scale the wall again today? With only one good arm?
He searched the coast for another path up. Then he saw it—the most beautiful sight he’d seen in days. The weathered old rowboat sat perched on the jagged rocks.
We can get home! Mason thought with a jolt of hope. We have a boat!
He began swimming again, faster and faster, toward shore.
* * *
The boat had seen better days. The oak hull had faded from brown to gray, and only one paddle remained. Mason grimaced, remembering the silverfish that had scuttled out from underneath it just yesterday. He slid the paddle sideways to make sure no other critters remained.
“Will it float?” Asher asked, kicking the boat with the toe of his sneaker.
“Let’s hope so,” Luna said. She refastened her wet ponytail. “C’mon.”
They loaded in their things, or at least what was left of them: their tridents, pickaxes, and Mason’s backpack. As he tossed the pack onto the seat of the boat, he remembered something. “My compass!” He pulled the tool out and studied it. “Slugger brought this back to me when I thought I’d lost it. Maybe he knew we’d have to get home on our own.”
Mason had hoped the words would make Asher smile—would remind him that the dolphins were looking out for their human friends, even if they weren’t going to stay with them forever.
But Asher just shrugged and leaned toward the boat. “Help me push this old thing,” he said.
Together, they slowly slid the boat off the sharp rocks. “Careful!” Mason said. “We don’t want to damage the bottom of the boat.” If it’s not damaged already. He kept that last thought to himself.
Once the boat was bobbing in the shallow water, Mason held up the compass. Luna was already rowing, heading away from the rocks the way they had come. She took strong strokes, as if she couldn’t wait to get away from the stony shore. Away from the slimes they had battled underground. Away from rockslides and spider jockeys and underground ravines.
I can’t either, Mason thought. But as he hollered directions—“Head southwest! No, that’s east, Asher. Paddle on the other side!”—he noticed the water puddling at his feet.
Please let that be trickling off Asher’s oar, he thought, swallowing hard. He quickly glanced over his shoulder, wondering if there was time to go back to dry land.
Nope. The stony store was just a slim ridge of rock in the distance. We could never swim back that far. At least, I couldn’t … Mason squeezed his injured shoulder.
As the water reached his ankles, his mind scrambled, trying to come up with a solution. Should he tell Luna? Could he alert her to the rising water without freaking out his little brother?
In the split second that passed, Mason got his answer.
“Yikes!” Asher squealed, staring down at his feet.
Too late.
“The boat’s gonna sink!” Asher cried. “What do we do?”
Luna whirled around. She stared at Mason with worried eyes.
Mason gave a weak shrug. “I don’t know,” he said. “I think … we’re going to have to swim.”
CHAPTER 15
Luna began paddling backward. “We can’t swim all the way back to shore! We have to paddle as far as we can,” she said.
“I can’t even see shore!” Asher said. “We’re in the middle of nowhere.”
“Just paddle!” Luna barked.
When Asher fell back limply against the seat, Mason grabbed his oar and began shoving water away, moving the boat backward. Every stroke tore at his shoulder, but he kept going. What else could he do?
The water rose to their knees. The boat sat so low now, it felt as if it weighed a thousand pounds. Mason struggled to move the oar through the waves, and then finally sat back.
“I … can’t,” he said. “I have to rest my arm.”
Luna started to protest, but as the boat tipped side to side, water sloshed over its rim. “Then we’ll have to swim,” she whispered. “Without potions.”
In the silence that followed, water drip, drip, dripped over the side. Fear trickled down Mason’s spine, too. How could he protect Asher now?
He glanced at his little brother and was surprised to see a smile spread across Asher’s face. “They’re back!” he pointed.
Mason turned toward the open sea. “Who?” He looked for another boat—hopefully a big one they would all fit into. Instead, he saw something silver streak across the water. Fins!
“They’re coming to help us,” Asher announced, as if he was certain of it. “I knew they’d be back!”
Mason felt a flutter of hope, too.
“But what can they do?” asked Luna. “Dolphin’s Grace isn’t going to get us all the way home.”
Asher’s face fell, but only for a moment. “They’ll help us,” he said again, jutting his jaw forward. “I know they will.”
As Simon soared out of the water, his scarred fin rising toward the sky, the others followed. Squeaky chattered a friendly hello before diving back down.
“They’re rocking the boat!” Luna said, hugging the edge as water lapped in.
Mason felt the water splash into his lap, but he couldn’t tear his eyes away from the water. He’d just spotted something—something orange as a pumpkin—floating below the surface. Then a snout forced the object up, into the morning light.
“Your backpack!” Mason cried, jumping up so fast he nearly toppled out of the waterlogged boat.
Luna whirled around—and yelped with joy. “Yes!” she cried. “Thank you, Slugger!”
She reached over the edge of the boat so far, she lost her paddle. But she caught the strap of her backpack and lugged it into the boat. “Let’s drink the potions right away,” she said. “Because in a few seconds, we—and this boat—are going down.”
She almost seems happy about that, Mason realized. Luna always seemed happiest in the water, as if she were a fish herself—at least when she had her potions.
Then he felt a jolt of happiness, too. If Luna had her potions back, she could heal his shoulder!
“Do you have potion of healing?” he cried, nearly grabbing the pack from her and searching himself.
Luna nodded, but as she pulled out the bottle, her face drooped. She held the bottle upside down—the empty bottle. “I used it all fighting the spider jockeys, remember?”
Mason struggled to recall. “No, you fought them with lingering potion,” he said. “Lingering potion of harming!”
She shook her head. “Potion of harming doesn’t harm undead mobs,” she said. “Potion of healing does.” Her shoulders slumped. “I’m sorry.”
Mason blew out his breath. “Never mind,” he said. “At least we have the other potions.” But his shoulder ached at the thought of swimming all the way home. Even potion of swiftness wasn’t going to take away the pain.
He made sure Asher drank each potion first, and then he took a few sips of his own. All the potions were getting low now—the rainbow of colorful liquids sloshed way below the midway marks on Luna’s bottles. Would there be enough to get them home?
He didn’t have long to wonder. The boat was disappearing beneath him, sucked downward by the weight of the water and the tug of the ocean floor.
“Dive!” Luna cried.
Mason’s dive felt like more of a tumble. Soon, though, he was swimming. And seeing more clearly. And kicking quickly, as potion of swiftness began to take effect.
We have so far to go. Mason remembered the journey they’d made to find Asher. Will I make it?
