D. MacHale - Black Water

“Jump off!” Spader ordered.

Too late. The boulders hit the ground in front of them, causing Courtney’s zenzen to rear up. Courtney wasn’t ready for that, and she tumbled off the animal, hitting the ground, tank first. The hard tank dug into her back, making her squeal with pain. Spader jumped off to help her scramble away from the tumbling boulders.

The tangs continued pushing heavy stones down on them, but that wasn’t the worst problem. Courtney’s zenzen was out of control. It kept rearing up in the narrow space, whinnying and stomping in fear as the boulders crashed down in front of it. Courtney and Spader were in way more danger of being stomped by the frantic zenzen than hit by a boulder. The animal reared up, twisted its body, and came down facing Spader and Courtney.

“Get up!” Spader yelled, and pulled Courtney to her feet. The zenzen charged, desperate to escape from the avalanche. Spader pushed Courtney roughly to the side. They flattened themselves against the rock wall, bracing to be slammed by the rampaging zenzen. The animal brushed by them and ran straight into Spader’s zenzen! Both animals wrestled and whinnied. Spader’s zenzen went up on its back legs, using its front legs to defend itself. Spader and Courtney were trapped between two huge boxing animals on one side, and an avalanche of boulders on the other.

Courtney’s zenzen would not be denied. It fought through Spader’s zenzen, knocking the poor animal onto its back, and galloped back toward the entrance of the crevice. Spader’s zenzen kicked frantically at the air. It finally rolled over onto its feet, with its head pointed toward the entrance. Once the animal realized it was back in control, it took off, leaving Spader and Courtney alone in the crevice… with more boulders thundering down on them. Dust was everywhere, making it hard to see.

“We have to move!” Spader shouted over the roar of falling rocks. Courtney nodded. She had her wits back. She and Spader backed off, away from the danger zone, out of harm’s way. Moments later it was over. The thunderous, grinding sound stopped. Spader and Courtney, bruised and cut, stood still, waiting for the thick cloud of dust to settle.

“It was a trap,” Courtney said, coughing. “They were waiting to drop those rocks on us!”

“No worries,” Spader announced. “They missed.”

The dust settled, revealing a sight that was hard for even Spader to put a positive spin on.

“Yeah, they missed all right,” Courtney said in a shaky voice. “But I don’t think they were trying to hit us.”

So many boulders had fallen, the crevice was completely sealed off. There was no way Courtney and Spader could follow the others. Black Water had been cut off from the rest of Eelong.

“Now what do we do?” Courtney asked.

That’s when they heard one more sound. It was as if one more boulder had fallen. But this one was behind them.

“Uh-oh,” Courtney said. “Are they gonna try to trap us in-“

Courtney and Spader slowly turned around to see that it wasn’t a boulder that had fallen. It was a tang. It stood with its teeth bared, blocking the way out.

Gunny pulled his zenzen to a stop, still inside the crevice. Boon and Mark stopped right behind him.

“It was the t-tangs!” Mark gasped. “If I hadn’t looked up…” He let the thought trail. They all knew what would have happened. It would have been ugly. They all looked back into the crevice, expecting Spader and Courtney to ride up.

Gunny jumped down from his zenzen and said, “Wait here.” He squeezed past Boon’s zenzen and jogged back the way they had come. It didn’t take long for him to arrive at the dead end that had been created by the avalanche. He knew there was no getting past, so he hurried back to the others.

“Wh-Where are they?” Mark asked.

“The crevice is sealed off,” Gunny answered.

Mark’s panic was rising. “A-Are they okay?” he squealed. “Courtney’s zenzen wouldn’t move! She could have been-“

“I don’t know what happened, Mark,” Gunny said firmly. “I think there’s a good chance they’re okay, but stuck on the other side.”

“You know what that means?” Boon said nervously.

“Yes,” Gunny said as he remounted his zenzen. “It means we’re down to only one tank of the antidote and it’s not doing any good out here. Let’s go!”

Gunny gave his zenzen a kick and trotted toward the crater of waterfalls.

Boon looked back to Mark and said, “Guard that tank with your life.”

Mark was faced with a frightening truth. The future of Eelong and quite possibly of Halla, was strapped to his back. His stomach did a flip.

Bobby and Kasha quickly gained altitude as they flew out of Leeandra. Bobby had a flashback to the last time he was in the air. It was with the pilot Jinx Olsen on First Earth, in her rickety Coast Guard seaplane. He was happy that the gig was actually a lot more comfortable than his last flying experience. The rotors overhead whirred, but it was a pleasant sound, like a fan. It was nothing like bouncing under the seaplane engine of 1937 Earth. He and Jinx had to scream at each other to be heard over that monster. By comparison, the gig was like hovering along in a skilift gondola. He saw that as Kasha moved the joystick, all five rotors moved slightly. The positioning of the rotors is what steered the gig. In all, it was a very pleasant experience…except for the fact they were in pursuit of another gig that held enough poison to destroy a territory.

Bobby hadn’t said much since they took off. He wanted Kasha to concentrate on flying. But now that they were under way, things needed to be said.

“You remember the route to Black Water?” Bobby asked.

“No problem,” Kasha answered.

Bobby nodded. He really didn’t want to ask the next question.

“What are we going to do when we catch up?”

Kasha made a few adjustments and checked over the side to see if they were on course. Bobby wasn’t sure if she was busy, or didn’t have an answer. Or didn’t want to give the answer she had.

“You did your job, Pendragon,” Kasha finally said. “What do you mean?” Bobby asked.

D. J. MacHale

Black Water

“I mean you convinced me. It took a while, but I get it. I know we have to stop Saint Dane.”

“That’s good. So…how do we do it?”

Kasha cleared her throat. While still looking ahead she said, “I’m going to catch that gig and crash it. The poison will do whatever damage it does to the jungle, but at least it won’t be used on Black Water.”

Bobby nodded. “Okay, good plan. But…how? This gig doesn’t have any weapons, does it?”

“Let me ask you something, Pendragon,” Kasha said, avoiding the question. “How important is this? I mean, if the worst happens and Saint Dane destroys Eelong, what does that mean for the rest of Halla?”

Bobby shrugged. “I don’t exactly know. I think Saint Dane got more powerful after wrecking Veelox. I can only imagine that he’d get stronger still if he won on Eelong, and it would be that much harder to stop him.”

“And if he isn’t stopped? I mean, if he gets what he wants and takes control of Halla. What does that mean?”

“I’ve asked myself that question a million times,” Bobby said. “I’ve only heard bits and pieces, so I don’t even come close to understanding it all, but I believe there’s a more powerful force at work in Halla. It’s a positive force. I think it’s what makes things right. Don’t ask me what I mean by that, because I’m not sure myself. But I think that’s what the war with Saint Dane is all about. I believe he’s trying to destroy whatever it is that makes things right. It’s way bigger than the problems of any one territory. I think if Saint Dane takes control, there will be no more order. I’m not even sure what that means, but it won’t be good.”