Dolphin's Grace

by Maggie Marks

  As he burst out of the crevice into an open ravine, the light below broke his concentration. It was so bright! Is it a conduit? he wondered.

  No. The light was orange and flickering. Lava! A checkerboard of magma blocks and black obsidian stretched out at the base of the ravine, spotted with tufts of sea grass.

  Mason caught sight of a stream of bubbles floating downward. Down, down, down … just like the bubble column he and Asher took every time they returned to their underwater village from the rowboat above.

  But this bubble column was wider than theirs—much wider. And stronger.

  As Mason drifted near the column, the force began to tug at him, dragging him down. But toward what? A sea of lava? Hot magma blocks? A dangerous maze of underwater caves?

  No! Mason thrashed his limbs, trying to fight the suction. A memory flickered through his mind of another bubble column, the one that nearly sank Uncle Bart’s ship during a storm. Mason remembered the moment the ship had tilted sideways—the horror in Uncle Bart’s face as he slid across the deck and right over the rail. And I never saw him again, thought Mason.

  Fear shot through his body. He swam furiously, trying to fight his way out of the column. But for every upward stroke, the column pulled him down farther. He felt as if his body might split in two.

  Help! he wanted to cry. Where was Luna? Where were the dolphins?

  He caught sight of Slugger darting past the bubble column—the dolphin that was still recovering from the gash of a drowned’s trident.

  Mason suddenly remembered the weapon at his side. He couldn’t battle a bubble column the way he could battle a drowned, but the enchanted weapon might help him escape.

  Mason threw the trident as hard as he could, hoping to break free from the force of the magma block at the base of the bubbles. The trident soared sideways, and Mason felt his body yanked along for the ride.

  Thanks to the Riptide enchantment, he flew out of the bubbles and up toward the water’s surface. When he got there, Mason nearly cried out with relief.

  As the trident slowed, he did too. He reached for his weapon and then searched for Luna. Had she gone down with the column? Was she in trouble?

  There she was! She swam toward him, relief etched across her face. Together they veered around the bubble column, searching for the dolphins.

  The pod was still circling the bubble column. They darted back toward Mason and Luna, squeaking and squealing, and then forward again, toward the bubbles.

  Stay away from the column! Mason wanted to holler. It’s not safe! So why did the dolphins keep leading them in that direction?

  Happy circled back and nudged Luna, as if to say, Follow me. But this time, the dolphin carved a wide arc around the bubbles, toward a rocky ledge. When Luna swam toward the ledge, Mason gratefully followed.

  A ledge meant that for at least one blissful moment, he wouldn’t have to swim. He could rest. He reached out for the ledge and pulled himself upward, stretching out flat on the sheet of rock. He scooched over only far enough for Luna to sit beside him.

  Through the water above, Mason could see that the sun was sinking. They’d been swimming all afternoon. But where were they?

  He glanced over the ledge to check for the dolphins. The pod swam back and forth just below the rocky outcropping, as if pacing a long narrow room.

  They’re waiting for us, Mason realized. But will we ever get to Asher? Are they leading us to him or … to somewhere else?

  He felt a stab of panic. What if they’d trusted the dolphins to take them to Asher, but the dolphins were leading them to different buried treasure? Away from Asher?

  Mason sat up so fast, his backpack caught on a sharp stone. He didn’t hear the rip of the fabric, but he felt it. And he watched in frustration as items floated out.

  The sea pickle he’d brought to use as a torch toppled off the ledge into the water.

  Then the compass—the one that would help Mason and Luna get home if they got separated from the dolphins—spilled out, too. Mason reached for it, but it slipped through his fingers.

  Down below, Slugger was already batting at the sea pickle with his snout. He knocked it toward Squeaky, as if starting a game of catch.

  Stop! Mason wanted to holler. Give me back my things!

  But Slugger had gotten a hold of the compass now, too, and was swimming away with it as if it were buried treasure.

  Come back! Mason shook his fist. Then he slumped back against the rock, feeling a wave of defeat.

  The dolphins hadn’t led them to Asher—not yet. And now they were stealing his things. I’ve been trying to get the dolphins to trust me, he realized, but I’m not even sure I trust them!

  When Luna shot him a questioning glance, he turned away. But as she slipped over the ledge and began swimming with the dolphins, frustration burned in his chest. Is she going to play with them now, too? he wondered.

  Suddenly, Mason couldn’t stand the thought of being underwater for a moment longer. He pushed away from the ledge and swam up instead of down.

  As his head burst out of the water, he took a gulp of cool air. He glanced at the watery world around him, then froze.

  A beach spread out before him, extending for miles toward a snow-capped mountain range. But this was like no beach Mason had seen before.

  Instead of sand, the shoreline was bathed in rock and gravel. A battered rowboat rested on the rocks, as if it had crashed against them and been abandoned. Just beyond the shore, stone slopes stretched upward toward the majestic mountains and the blue sky above.

  Something nudged Mason from below—a gentle bump to his rear that sent him forward toward the shore. A dolphin’s fin broke the water’s surface. Then Luna’s dark head popped out of the waves. She sucked in her breath, catching sight of the mountains. “Where are we?” she asked, wiping her eyes.

  “I don’t know,” Mason whispered.

  But maybe Asher is here, too, he thought suddenly. And he began to swim.

  CHAPTER 9

  As Mason pulled himself out of the water onto a rock, he felt as if his body weighed a thousand pounds.

  The first thing he did was pick his way across the rocks toward the rowboat. Had Asher been in the boat? Mason searched for clues, but the hull was empty. As he slid the paddle sideways, a silverfish scuttled out and disappeared over the boat’s edge. Mason grimaced and dropped the paddle back down.

  Then he glanced up at the steep shoreline. If Asher is here, he must have made his way up. Mason began to climb, hand over hand. But his foot slipped on the wet rocks, tugging him downward again.

  Was Luna following? He turned to find her.

  Luna sat on a rock below, shading her eyes against the setting sun. “Where are the dolphins?” she asked.

  Mason shrugged. “They can’t follow us here.” For just a moment, he wondered if he and Luna were taking the right path. The dolphins couldn’t have led Asher to buried treasure on this rocky shoreline, could they? He hesitated.

  “There—I see them!” Luna pointed at the trio of fins flitting through the waves just off shore.

  A turquoise head poked out of the water, and Squeaky chattered a greeting. Or was it a goodbye?

  Then something else sailed out of the water. It arced through the air and landed on the rocks with a clatter.

  “What is it?” Luna asked, picking her away across the rocks toward the object.

  Mason already knew what she would find. “My compass!” he cried. “Slugger gave it back.” Maybe because he knows we’ll need it, he thought to himself. Maybe it was a sign—a sign that they were on the right path toward finding Asher.

  As soon as Luna retrieved the compass, Mason began climbing again. Asher was close by—he could feel it! And that gave him the energy to pull with his arms and push off with his legs, to climb the wall that seemed to go straight up. Up, up, up …

  He reached the top just as the sun sank below the horizon. A breeze ruffled his hair as he lifted his head over the rocky edge. Wha
t would he find? Another mountain to climb?

  Mason was relieved to see flat shoreline extending into the shadows ahead—a field of gray gravel and rock. With one last heave, he pulled himself up and then rolled away from the edge.

  “Can I get a hand?” Luna called from below.

  Mason sighed and sat up, leaning down to help his friend. He gripped her hand and pulled until she joined him on the gravel ledge. She held her stomach, trying to catch her breath.

  “Do you think Asher made that climb alone?” she asked, voicing what Mason had been thinking.

  “If he knew there was buried treasure at the top, he’d scale that wall in a flash,” Mason said.

  Luna grinned. “True.” She studied the mountains. “But where’d he go next?”

  Mason cupped his mouth and hollered. “Asher!” His brother’s name bounced off the snow-capped mountaintops and circled right back. Ash-er! Ash-er! Ash-er!

  A sudden gust of wind blew across the gravel beach, spraying tiny stones. Then something else whizzed overhead.

  Mason ducked and sucked in his breath. “Was that a phantom?” he whispered, remembering the winged beasts that had tormented him when he and Asher had been shipwrecked on the beach.

  Luna shook her head so hard, her wet ponytail flung sideways. “Not phantoms,” she cried. “Skeletons!”

  Skeletons. The word sounded foreign to Mason. It had been so long since he’d battled mobs on land, mobs other than drowned or guardians. He grabbed his trident, not sure he even knew what to do with it. What good was the Riptide enchantment against skeletons?

  As a spray of arrows flew overhead, Luna grabbed his arm. “Let’s get back down, behind the ledge!” she urged.

  Mason scrambled to follow her, so fast that his foot slipped. He tumbled over the ledge, his backpack strap catching on a jagged point. He hung there for just a moment—until his instincts kicked in, and he grasped the rocks with both hands.

  But grabbing the rocks meant letting go of the trident. It fell to the rocks below with a clatter.

  As the sound rang out, Mason locked eyes with Luna. Fear flickered across her face, then determination. She handed him her trident. “Use this,” she said. “I have potions.”

  Luna’s trident felt heavy and slippery in Mason’s sweaty hand. He struggled to hold it while also gripping the rock.

  “Are they coming?” Luna called over her shoulder as she dug into her backpack.

  Mason swallowed hard and willed himself to extend his neck, just above the highest rock. Yes—the skeletons were definitely coming. Except they weren’t skeletons.

  “Spider jockeys!” Mason cried, unable to tear his eyes away from the spiders crossing the gravel beach. Three of them crawled across the stones, their red eyes glowing in the night. Three furry-legged beasts, with three skeleton riders. And all three jockeys had their bows drawn.

  Thwack, thwack! Two more arrows whizzed over Mason’s head, so close that one tickled his hair.

  “Throw the trident!” said Luna.

  Mason tried. He gripped it tightly and swung his arm back, hoping to get some momentum. But how could he, when he was clinging to the rocks for safety? The trident sailed only a few yards before nose-diving into the ground.

  Mason’s stomach nose-dived, too, until he saw the trident pull itself free and sail back to him—right into his palm. The Loyalty enchantment! I have another chance, he realized. As many as I need.

  So he threw again. This time, the trident struck a spider in the chest. It screeched with rage, shrugged free of the weapon, and charged forward, its eyes blazing red.

  The other spider jockey overtook the first. They were so close now!

  Thwack!

  Mason dodged an arrow but held out his hand, desperate for the trident to return.

  It did, just in time. He threw it again and heard the satisfying grunt of a skeleton. He’d hit a jockey, knocking it right off the spider. But there were two more coming, just a stone’s throw away.

  Or a potion’s throw. Luna readied her bottle and threw. The glass shattered against the rocks.

  Mason couldn’t see the bubbles drifting upward, but he knew it was a lingering potion—a splash potion that would create a toxic cloud, a barrier of bubbles between them and the spider jockeys. And if those hostile mobs dared to pass through it …

  Another spider screeched, and a skeleton hit the ground with a jangle of bones. Mason dared a peek over the rocks and saw only one jockey remained. The spider had come to a stop just beyond the cloud of bubbles. Only its eyes shone through—red beams that locked in on Mason.

  He sucked in his breath and threw the trident with every ounce of strength he could muster.

  The weapon hit its mark. The spider squealed and scuttled backward. Yes! Mason pumped his fist and caught the trident that came sailing back. But something else came, too.

  Thwack!

  As another arrow sailed overhead, a sickening realization washed over Mason.

  The last spider was dead, but the skeleton was not. And it was coming for them.

  CHAPTER 10

  Mason heard the tinkle of bones just beyond the ridge of rock. As he glanced up, he saw the tip of an arrow. The skeleton stood just above the ledge, its bow pointing down.

  Mason stared into the gaping eye sockets of the undead mob—and froze.

  He squeezed his eyes shut and had one last thought: Please let Asher be okay. Then he heard the arrow whizzing through the air.

  And a grunt.

  Mason’s eyes flung open just as the skeleton toppled off the ledge, down to the rocky shore below. He whirled around to see Luna’s satisfied smile. She held a pickaxe—a tiny weapon. But it had been enough to knock the spider off its bony feet.

  Luna blew out her breath. “They’re gone,” she said, wiping the sweat off her forehead. “Now let’s find a safe place to wait out the night, before more mobs show up.”

  As Mason followed her back up over the rocks, he felt light and giddy with relief. But more mobs could spawn at any second, he reminded himself. He kept a tight hold on Luna’s trident while she pulled flint and steel out of her pack. In seconds, she had lit a torch.

  They began to jog across the gravel beach, searching for shelter. But all Mason could see was the bobbing pool of light on the ground ahead of them. The mountains in the distance were cloaked in black.

  He studied that gravel, wondering if it would be soft enough to tunnel into. Maybe we can dig out an underground cave to sleep in, he thought. Maybe we can …

  Something caught his eye on the ground, and he came to a sudden stop. Were those footprints? He squatted and studied the tread of each oblong print. Then his chest flooded with relief. “They’re Asher’s sneakers!” he cried. “This is his trail!”

  Luna crouched beside the prints. “Yes, that must be him!”

  Mason’s heart raced as he ran along the path his brother had left. Judging by the zig-zagging trail, Mason could tell Asher hadn’t known which way to go. The dolphins had led him to this shoreline, but he’d been on his own after that.

  After a few yards, Asher’s trail faded … and disappeared. “What happened?” Mason cried out, dropping to his knees.

  Luna held the torch high, but even in the light, they couldn’t find Asher’s next step. The path was smeared—the gravel scattered in all directions—just beside a triangular rock.

  Mason searched the darkness. “Asher!” he called. But only the echo of his own voice bounced back.

  He shivered as he pushed himself up, leaning on the rock for support. That’s when he saw it—the glint of something silver. “Shine the light!” he said to Luna, waving her toward the rock.

  As soon as the torch lit the ground, Mason’s heart sank. A pickaxe was resting on the ground just beside the rock. Asher’s pickaxe—Mason could tell by the slight chip in the blade.

  His brother would never leave his axe behind. It was the only way to mine for treasure. It was his only weapon!

  Mason gra
bbed the axe and spun in a circle. “Asher!” he cried again. “Where are you?”

  The answer came so suddenly, Mason feared he’d imagined it. “Here!” His brother’s voice sounded muffled.

  “Where?”

  “Here!”

  This time, it sounded as if Asher were right beside them. But where? Mason studied the shadows. As he stepped around the triangular rock, he slipped. His foot gave way, and suddenly he was sinking downward into the gravel.

  He grasped for the rock and caught it with his fingertips. “Luna, help!” he cried.

  She was already there, tugging his arm. She pulled him backward toward more solid ground. As Mason fell onto his rear, he heard Asher cry out again. “Stop! Don’t move!”

  Was the voice coming from the ground below? Had Asher been caught in the rockslide, too? And … fallen?

  Mason carefully brushed the gravel off his scraped-up shins and rolled onto his knees. “Asher, are you down there? Are you trapped?”

  A moment of silence passed. Then Asher’s strained voice filtered up through the rocky ground. “Yes.”

  Mason’s stomach clenched. He watched as Luna crawled closer to the sunken hole and brushed it carefully with her hand. More rocks fell, as if pouring into a bucket.

  “Stop!” Asher cried again. “You’re making it worse!”

  She quickly pulled her hand back. “What’s down there?” she asked. “An abandoned mineshaft? A sea cave?”

  “I don’t know,” came Asher’s response. “A cave, I guess. It’s half full of water.”

  Mason sucked in his breath. “How do we get to him?” he whispered to Luna, pushing himself to his feet. “Can we lower a rope or something?”

  Luna stared back at her pack. “I didn’t bring one. Did you?”

  He shook his head and began to pace. “I told him not to leave the safety of the conduit,” he muttered. “But all he could think about was buried treasure. And look where it got him!”

  Luna stared at the ground. “No wonder the dolphins came for us,” she said. “They must have known he was trapped. But … what happened to the other dolphins?” She leaned toward the ground. “Asher, are Simon and Hungry with you?”