Dolphin's Grace

by Maggie Marks

  He laughed and stuck the emerald in his pocket, as if he’d just discovered the secret to happiness. Then he left the furnace room whistling.

  As Mason watched his brother go, his stomach sank. If Asher was on the hunt for more treasure, there would be no stopping him.

  * * *

  The next morning, as Mason stacked prismarine blocks in a third ring around the conduit, Asher swam with the dolphins.

  And played.

  And swam.

  And played some more.

  Mason tried to ignore the circus going on overhead, partly because he didn’t want to scare the dolphins away again—and partly because he was mad at Asher. Why do I have to build a more powerful conduit all by myself? he grumbled. This was Asher’s idea in the first place. He should help me!

  But Luna wasn’t even helping anymore. She had gone fishing for lunch, taking her fishing pole and a bucket and heading toward a patch of sea grass on the far end of the coral reef.

  When she finally came back, her bucket heavy with fish, Asher swam to greet her.

  Sure, thought Mason. Now he thinks he can get a free lunch.

  Then he remembered: Asher would never eat raw fish. He’d only recently learned to eat cooked fish, mostly because a boy can’t live on dried kelp alone. So why was Asher taking a raw codfish out of the bucket?

  As he swam back toward the pod with the fish, Mason realized Asher was going to feed the dolphins! But would they eat the fish he offered?

  Asher waved the floppy codfish in the water until the pod swam closer. Then one dolphin—the unnamed one with the long snout—darted forward and snatched the fish right out of his hand.

  Squeaky chided her hungry pod mate with a few chirps, and Simon bumped against the dolphin as if to say, Don’t be so greedy!

  When Luna offered Asher more fish, he took four—enough to feed the rest of the pod. And soon they were circling around him, eager for more.

  Luna emptied her bucket, giving Asher the last fat fish. This one he offered only to Simon.

  Smart, Mason thought. If there was one dolphin whose trust Asher needed to win, it was the leader of the pod.

  Simon ate the fish and instantly darted away. But why? Mason’s heart thudded in his ears. Did I somehow scare them away again? he wondered.

  Asher watched in confusion too as the whole pod began to swim away. Then Simon circled back around, as if to say, Follow us!

  Asher didn’t waste a second. He took off after the pod so quickly that Mason could tell his brother had received another boost of Dolphin’s Grace.

  Then Mason realized something else: If the dolphins were leading Asher to buried treasure, how far would he have to swim? How far could he swim? Asher wouldn’t be able to breathe past the safety of the conduit; not for very long, anyway.

  As he disappeared around a rocky outcropping, Mason started to panic. If Asher thought the dolphins were leading him to treasure, he’d never turn around. He would swim straight into danger!

  Mason pushed off from the ocean floor and swam, kicking furiously. He had to catch up with his brother.

  In the light of the conduit, he saw Asher swimming ahead through the underwater ruins of the village. Faster than fast, he wound around the crumbly castle walls.

  Mason took long, strong strokes, trying to build some speed of his own. But the world was growing dimmer now. With every stroke, he was moving away from the conduit. Soon, he wouldn’t be able to see anything. Or breathe.

  Panic gripped his chest. He swam through the window of a sandstone wall and kicked off from the structure, yearning for more speed.

  Asher, stop! he wanted to cry.

  But now he couldn’t see his brother at all.

  CHAPTER 4

  Mason scanned the shadowy ruins of the underwater village, desperate to spot some sign of Asher. Stalks of kelp swayed in the current, catching Mason’s eye. He spun around to get a better look at … the tentacles of a squid dangling near a tree of coral. But where was Asher?

  The answer came in a flurry of bubbles.

  Someone swam back toward Mason from the darkness beyond the conduit. Asher!

  He didn’t stop to say hello. He burst past, as if still under the spell of the Dolphin’s Grace. Except this time, he wasn’t trying to keep up with the dolphins. The pod was nowhere in sight.

  He must be out of breath, Mason realized. He’s trying to get back to the conduit! Mason’s own lungs burned. He kicked hard to follow his brother back toward the light.

  When they reached the safety of the conduit, Asher kept going. He swam to the dirt mound that hid the entrance to their house and sped through the first door, nearly closing it on Mason.

  Mason pushed through the door behind Asher and then pulled the door shut. They waited for the sponge mat at their feet to absorb the water from the world beyond the door. Then they pushed through the second entrance into the dark, dry foyer of their home.

  Here, finally, Mason could scold Asher for swimming so far away. For chasing the dolphins without making a plan. “How could you—” he began.

  “I lost them!” Asher interrupted. “They were leading me to treasure. I know they were! But I lost them.” He balled his hands into fists.

  Mason sighed. “C’mon,” he said, leading his brother down the long hall that opened into brightness. They had added a second room to the house, this one made of tinted blue glass. From the village outside, the glass was nearly invisible. Fish and squid bumped into the walls sometimes, as if they thought they could swim right through. Here, the light of the conduit shone bright, and Mason instantly felt safer—and calmer.

  He dried off with a towel and tossed one to Asher, too. Then he said, more kindly this time, “You never would have made it to the treasure, Asher. You didn’t have a potion of water breathing, or an enchanted helmet. How were you planning to breathe?”

  Asher’s green eyes widened. He scowled, then shrugged. “That’s beside the point,” he muttered. “I lost the dolphins because they were too fast.”

  Mason cocked his head. “But what about Dolphin’s Grace? I saw how fast you were swimming! Way faster than Luna—and she’s lived down here so long, she’s practically a fish.”

  Asher sighed. “Dolphin’s Grace doesn’t last very long—only like five seconds. So if I’m going to find that treasure, I’m going to need potion of swiftness, and boots enchanted with Depth Strider. I’m going to need …”

  “Luna?” Mason suggested. Their friend Luna was a master potion brewer. Plus, she had found an old anvil in the basement of the crumbly sandstone castle in the village, so now she could enchant armor and weapons, too.

  Asher blew out his breath. “Yep, I’m going to need Luna.”

  No sooner had the words left his mouth than the brothers heard a thump at their front door. Mason’s heart skipped a beat. Not long ago, that thumping sound could have been a drowned, a hostile mob that had threatened to take over the underwater world here at the ocean’s floor.

  The drowned are gone, he reminded himself. Because of the conduit. That’s just Luna coming to check on Asher. Or it was Luna’s pet squid Edward, who sometimes appeared at their window, begging for a piece of raw fish.

  Thump, thump … tha-thump, thump, thump.

  Nope, this was definitely Luna. Mason grinned and jogged down the hall. He opened the inner door to find a very wet Luna standing on the bloated sponge mat.

  “Did Asher come back?” she asked. She was still holding her empty fish bucket. When she noticed Mason’s eyes on it, she gave an embarrassed laugh. “Sorry, I should have left this outside. I was afraid that dolphin—what do you call him, Slugger?—would turn this into his newest toy.” She set down the bucket and hurried down the hall, poking her head into the living room. “Asher!”

  By the time Mason reached them, Asher was already giving Luna a list of what he would need for his next outing with the dolphins. “Potions of water breathing, night vision, and swiftness. Boots enchanted with Depth Strider. Oh, an
d plenty of raw fish for keeping the dolphins happy.”

  Mason shot him a look. “I’m pretty sure you can catch your own fish,” he said.

  Asher shrugged. “Yeah, you’re right. But we’d better hurry.” He swung his head to stare out the glass window. “The pod could be back any minute now!”

  When he sprang out of his chair, Mason held up a hand to stop him. “That treasure isn’t going anywhere,” he reminded his brother. “And I could use your help finding more prismarine blocks before you go.”

  “The treasure might go somewhere, if someone else finds it first,” Asher pointed out. His cheeks flushed at the thought of missing out on that treasure.

  Suddenly, he held up a finger, as if he’d just had a brilliant idea. “Besides, I might find prismarine crystals in that buried treasure chest! And you know what that means?”

  Mason sighed. “No, but I’m pretty sure you’re going to tell me.”

  “You can craft sea lanterns with prismarine crystals,” Asher announced.

  Mason scratched his head. “Yeah, so?”

  Asher gave an exasperated sigh, as if Mason were the dumbest zombie in the pit. “You can use sea lanterns in place of prismarine for the conduit frame, right?”

  Mason shook his head. “It’s a lot easier to find prismarine blocks than to craft sea lanterns out of prismarine crystals.”

  Asher shrugged. “Well, maybe I like to be creative. And maybe I don’t like lugging heavy blocks all the way here from the ocean monuments where we find them.”

  Mason couldn’t argue with that, as much as he wanted to. His arms were still sore from carrying the last batch of blocks. He blew out his breath. “All right, so you’re going treasure hunting. But you’re not going alone. Let me do a little more work on the conduit tomorrow, and then we’ll go the next day. Deal?”

  Asher stared at the glass ceiling, chewing on that thought. Finally, he held out his hand. “Deal.”

  Luna gave a long, low whistle. “Phew! I’m glad that’s settled. Guess I have some potions to brew.” She turned on her heel to head back home. “Come find me tonight, Asher,” she called over her shoulder. “I’ll have everything ready, okay?”

  But Asher was already gone, rummaging through the supply chests in the furnace room.

  Mason locked eyes with Luna and shrugged. When Asher was on a mission, there was no stopping him.

  So I’m going to have to get ready, too. Ready for another adventure.

  He shrugged off a niggle of worry and followed Asher down the hall.

  * * *

  Mason woke to sunlight filtering through the glass ceiling of his bedroom.

  He stretched, wincing at the soreness of his shoulders and arms. Just one more day of lifting prismarine blocks, he reminded himself. Then he and Asher would be chasing dolphins toward buried treasure. Mason shook his head. What do I let Asher get me into? He rolled out of bed and reached for his khaki pants.

  Squeak, squeak. The sound stopped him in his tracks, his hand freezing midair. What was that? Silverfish?

  He scanned the room, remembering the small critters he and his uncle had found in a cave once while searching for treasure. Uncle Bart was always looking for treasure, just like Asher. But sometimes what he found instead were hostile mobs—or annoying ones, like silverfish.

  Chirp, chirp, squeak. The sound came from the other side of the glass. Mason craned his neck to see beyond the edge of the dirt mound.

  There! A dolphin’s tail disappeared around the mound. Had Squeaky come to pay them a morning visit?

  The noisy dolphin wouldn’t be traveling alone. Mason checked through the glass again, this time looking the other way. Sure enough, the pod was back.

  Happy smiled into the sunlight filtering through the water. Slugger nudged playfully at Simon’s side until Simon pushed him away with his snout. And the dolphin that Asher now called “Hungry”—the one who had gobbled his raw cod in one bite—was nosing around the bottom of the ocean floor, as if looking for breakfast.

  When a swimmer appeared, Hungry darted toward him. Mason recognized Asher’s red hair peeking out from beneath his iron helmet. But what was Asher doing outside this early? And … why was he wearing his helmet? He didn’t need it here—not with the conduit nearby, which gave anyone swimming near it the water breathing effect.

  Mason rubbed his eyes. Then a thought struck. Asher’s wearing his helmet because he’s leaving. He’s going to search for buried treasure—without me!

  Mason rapped on the glass, willing his brother to stop or to at least turn his head. But Asher was too busy feeding Simon a hunk of cod. When Simon took off, calling his pod to follow with a sharp squeal, Asher followed too.

  Mason watched his brother shoot along the coral reef, boosted by Dolphin’s Grace. When the pod swam over a rocky ridge, Asher followed.

  Then he was gone.

  CHAPTER 5

  Mason had never dressed so quickly. By the time he reached the supply chest, he’d managed to get his arms into his turquoise shirt, but the back of the shirt was where the front should be. He scowled and pulled it off again.

  Then he rummaged through the supply chest to see what was missing—what Asher had taken with him. The fishing rod was gone, along with Asher’s pickaxe. Uncle Bart’s iron helmet was missing, the one engraved with the letter B. And the stash of potions that Luna had given the boys was a whole lot smaller now—just a few squat bottles with orange corks and colorful liquid sloshing inside.

  Mason didn’t know whether to be alarmed or relieved. Asher had gone off on his own, but at least he’d taken armor and potions with him, along with a pickaxe that could sort of be used as a weapon.

  Mason quickly closed the chest. There was no way he could catch up with his brother now. So what could he do?

  Find Luna, came the answer in his head. She’ll know what to do.

  * * *

  “Aren’t you even the slightest bit worried?” Mason asked again, throwing out his arms.

  Luna chewed her lip. “Sure,” she said. “But Asher is a treasure hunter, so … we’re going to have to let him hunt treasure. And I’ll help you with the conduit. We’ll head to the monument to get more prismarine, and by the time we get back, Asher will be back, too—you’ll see.” She gave him a reassuring smile.

  Mason couldn’t muster one up in return, not until Luna promised to enchant his pickaxe with Efficiency to make mining a whole lot faster and easier.

  Before he knew it, they were leaving the safety of the conduit, just as Asher had. Except instead of swimming, Luna and Mason took the rowboat, hoping to bring back a load of turquoise blocks.

  As he rowed the boat toward the ocean monument, Mason scanned the waves, searching for fins. Would the dolphins come back soon? And would Asher be with them? Mason’s heart thumped hopefully in his chest.

  Soon the boat was gliding over the ocean monument. The sprawling pyramid stretched out below, a huge square building flanked by two long wings. Mason rowed toward the back of the monument, avoiding the front entrance. Guardians lurked there. The hostile fish-like mobs lurked everywhere. But Mason was getting to know the monument now—where prismarine could be mined easily, and where danger was sure to strike.

  “Here?” Luna asked, gesturing toward the water below.

  Mason nodded and threw the anchor over the edge of the boat. Then he reached for his weapon: a trident Luna had enchanted with Riptide. If he threw the weapon, it would propel him forward through the water, which could help him escape hostile mobs. Can it help me get the prismarine blocks up to the rowboat, too? he wondered. It was worth a shot.

  Luna’s own trident was enchanted with loyalty, which meant it came back to her after every throw. She had also packed potions. “Drink up,” she told Mason, handing him the first bottle.

  He swallowed the potions one by one—potion of swiftness, potion of night vision, and potion of water breathing. Only the last one tasted horrible, like pufferfish, slime, and fermented spider eyes all
rolled into one. Mason never asked Luna what was in her potions—he didn’t want to know. He just plugged his nose and forced himself to swallow.

  While he waited for the potions to kick in, he tightened his turtle shell helmet on his head. It would help him breathe underwater a little longer if Luna’s potion of water breathing ran out. As he grabbed his pickaxe, he thought again of Asher.

  What if the dolphins led Asher to a cave that he had to mine his way through? What if it was dark inside, and mobs spawned, and Asher was there all alone?

  When Luna snapped her fingers in front of his face, Mason leaned backward, rocking the boat.

  “What?” he asked. “Why’d you do that?”

  “I asked if you were ready,” said Luna. “Three times. Are the potions starting to work?”

  Mason stared at the water below. The potion of night vision had definitely kicked in. He could see the ocean monument more clearly now—the outline of each prismarine brick and block. Maybe mining would help him forget about Asher for a while. He nodded at Luna, climbed over the edge of the boat, and plunged into the waves.

  The chill of the water gave way to warmth as Mason began to swim, quick as lightning with the potion of swiftness. Is this what Dolphin’s Grace feels like? he wondered.

  As he neared the back of the monument, he noticed every detail of the prismarine—aqua blue blocks flecked with dark green and yellow. He swam toward a window in the wall, just large enough to fit through. After doing a quick check for guardians, he paddled through the window into a long hallway lit by sea lanterns.

  When he saw that Luna had swum into the hall safely behind him, he began to mine. Clink, clink, clink! It took several whacks at the prismarine to force a block out of the wall.

  Again, Mason thought of Asher, wishing his little brother were here to help—wishing he didn’t have to worry about him all the time. With each whack at the wall, Mason grew more worried. And tired. And frustrated.

  Even if Asher were here, he wouldn’t be helping, Mason decided. Asher would be trying to tunnel into the treasure chamber of the monument to get the gold blocks. Or he’d be fighting guardians to collect their drops. Any treasure at all was worth seeking out, as far as Asher was concerned.