D. MacHale - The Soldiers of Halla

“What if he does not return?” Saangi asked.

I hadn’t considered that possibility, but it was starting to look as if we should. Before I could turn my thoughts to Plan B, the dark water started to churn. Something was moving below. It didn’t seem to be a swimmer, either. I felt the stairs shudder slightly. The others did too. We exchanged curious looks.

“I have no idea” was all I could say.

The water continued to churn. The rumbling grew slightly more intense, then stopped. Abruptly. We all looked down into the depths, not sure of what to expect, when Spader appeared. He swam up to us, broke the surface, and let out a loud “Whoooo!” of joy.

“It worked!” he shouted in victory. “Have to admit I wasn’t so sure myself, but it did! It really worked!”

“What did?” I asked.

“It was just as you said, Loor. The tunnel led to a wide-open area, and I was able to surface. No troubles. It isn’t even that far.”

“It does not matter how far it is; we cannot swim,” Loor cautioned.

“That’s the beauty part!” Spader announced. “You don’t have to. You’re going to ride in style.”

”Not following,” I said, getting impatient.

“The trains, mates! They still run. I found the one that was on the track leading back here and figured out how the tricky thing works. That’s what took me so long. Once I got the knack, I chugged the little trolley along the tracks back here. It’s right down there, waiting for passengers.”

Loor, Saangi, and I looked at one another. I don’t think any of us knew how to react. It seemed impossible, yet Spader was there to prove it.

“Nobody has to swim, mates,” he added. “All you have to do is hold your breath and hang on. You can do that, can’t you?”

Loor and Saangi looked to me. I think they wanted me to confirm that Spader wasn’t a nutjob.

“If Spader says it’ll work, it’ll work,” I said with confidence.

“There we go!” he shouted. “All aboard!”

We all dropped our Rokador robes. They would be way too heavy underwater, not to mention the possibility of getting snagged on something. It was better to arrive alive and take our chances on the far side.

We then began the scary process of boarding the underwater train. I figured I could take care of myself, but it would be up to Spader to get Loor and Saangi on board. Loor bravely said that she would go first. I wasn’t surprised. Going first meant she would have to hold her breath longer than her acolyte. As much as I trusted Spader, I was pretty nervous about this stunt. I couldn’t imagine how scared

Loor was. She had to battle a deep-seated fear of water. I’m guessing that it helped her to know that if things got scary, she could travel to another territory. But that wouldn’t make the trip any less terrifying. And Saangi couldn’t travel. There would be no turning back for her.

Spader took charge. “Relax. Don’t fight. I’ll get you there. I’ll take Loor first, get her set, then make it back right quick for Saangi. Pendragon, you follow Saangi and me. The train cars are open. I’ll put Loor behind the engine, then Saangi next. Pendragon you grab onto a car behind Saangi. Can you take my weapon?”

I nodded.

“Good. Then all you have to do is hold on. I’ll make this a snappy-do. No worries.”

Loor continued to stare at the water, psyching herself up. She clutched her wooden stave so hard I saw her knuckles go white. For a second I thought she wouldn’t be able to overcome her fear and bring herself to dive into the dark.

Silly me.

Loor took two deep breaths and said, “Now!”

Spader didn’t waste a second. He took Loor’s hand and the two dropped down underwater. She did as she was told. She relaxed. At least, she relaxed her body. Her mind had to have been in hyperdrive. Spader kicked off from the stairs, pulling the warrior girl down. She trailed behind him, clutching her stave. A moment later they were gone.

I put my hand on Saangi’s arm. “It’s gonna be okay.”

Saangi nodded quickly. I sensed she was just as scared as Loor. She stared down at the water. No more than twenty seconds had gone by when Spader popped his head back up.

“Snappy-do,” he announced. “Next!”

Saangi held out her hand, took his, and dropped below the surface. It was my turn. I had been so worried about Loor and Saangi that I didn’t think too much about how scary it was going to be for me, too. But there was no time to waste working up my nerve. I had to go right away. I held the two wooden staves in my left hand, against my body. I figured I’d need my stronger, right arm for pulling. After two deep breaths, I held the third and dove below. It was cold. That’s what hit me first. It was dark, too. It wasn’t easy to see underwater anyway, but the dark made it nearly impossible. I was really wishing for an air globe from Cloral. Or at least goggles from home. Anything. All I could do was follow the vague shadow of Spader and Saangi as they swam in front of me.

The descent was quick. I had only been swimming for a few seconds when I saw the dark outline of the small train. I remembered it very well. It reminded me of the kind of small train you’d ride in an amusement park. There were three cars behind an engine. It had been used to transport the Rokador through the tunnels and to move equipment. Through the murky water I could see Loor clutching to a handrail in the first car. Spader was moving Saangi into position in the second car. I took my place in the third. Once Saangi was set, Spader took a quick look back to make sure I was with them. I gave him an “okay” sign. That’s what scuba divers did on Second Earth. I assumed it was universal. It must have been, because Spader was satisfied and quickly shot forward for the engine. A second later the train lurched, and we were on our way.

The little train moved quickly, even though it was working against the water that surrounded us. It couldn’t have been better. We were moving. My lungs felt good. I figured we’d be underwater for another thirty seconds or so.

That wasn’t too bad. After about ten seconds I felt certain that we would make it with no trouble. I was wrong.

Without warning the train stopped dead. I looked ahead, wondering what had gone wrong. Had Spader hit the wrong switch and stopped us by accident? Was something in our way? I willed the train to move. Five seconds went by. Ten seconds. The realization hit that if we were able to move, we would have. Something had gone wrong. We were halfway between stops and going nowhere.

This had suddenly turned out to be a very bad idea.

D. J. MacHale

The Soldiers of Halla

Ch a pter 18

My first instinct was to panic.

I kept hoping the little train would start moving again. For some reason that old kid’s book came to mind. “I think I can, I think I can, I think I can.” Well, in this case, the little engine couldn’t. This was no fairy tale.

I felt a hand grab my shoulder. It was Spader. He motioned furiously for me to start swimming, then yanked me forward until I was next to Saangi. His intent was clear. I not only had to swim myself out of this, I was going to have to bring Saangi along with me. He left us and shot forward to go for Loor.

I dropped the two weapons. There was no way I could tow Saangi while holding them. I had to focus and stay calm. Saangi wasn’t a Traveler. She didn’t have the option of leaving the territory. Or being reborn. I had to get her to safety. My old junior lifeguard training kicked in, and I quickly flipped Saangi over and crossed my right arm over her chest and under her armpit. Focusing on saving her was a good thing. It kept my mind off the fact that I had to save myself, too. To her credit, she didn’t panic or fight against me. Within seconds we were moving. But how much farther did we have to go? I figured that Spader knew, which is why he made the choice to go forward instead of back. That meant we were more than halfway there. I didn’t know how long we had been holding our breaths. One minute maybe? That’s a long time, especially when your heart is racing and you’re burning oxygen. It didn’t help that I had to pull Saangi along. It meant I couldn’t go all that fast and had to burn even more oxygen. It wasn’t like we had a choice.