by Aisha Saeed
“The icta seed we need for the one-two punch of acidity to disrupt his properties are in a flower in a wooded patch of forest near the town center. Getting into the forest without being spotted might be tricky. The last time I was here, my people were lying in wait, zombified, not far from the pathway. And then there’s the matter of the flume, the other ingredient. It’s probably the most important one but also the most dangerous to procure.”
“But you have it on the island?” Diana said.
“We have one—at least, we did the last time I checked. It’s not far from here,” he said somberly. “It’s a mushroom. It’s the most acidic living fungus in the world. I’ve only ever seen it once, when I was having a lesson with Mr. Broderick. Getting it is tricky and mixing it will be trickier because we have to do it at the very last minute. It loses power rapidly once it meets other chemical properties.”
“But if we manage to get all the ingredients,” Diana asked, “can we destroy him?”
“I think so,” he said. “If we get the timing exactly right, there’s no logical reason why it couldn’t work. The mushroom alone has felled far greater foes in human history.”
“Sublime!” said Sakina. She pumped her fists. “Lead the way.”
Diana bit her lip. She wanted to be as excited as Sakina, but even if Augustus had high hopes for their experiment, it was still an experiment. And it was one that could not fail. Not only did their lives depend on it, but so did the lives of two nations.
“The flume grows beneath a bush across from the lava river. It’s fragile, so it stays tucked under other plant life to keep from disintegrating in the heat.”
“Is there a way over the river?” Sakina asked.
“There’s a rope bridge, but the situation is more complicated. Lava doesn’t flow like a river of water. Hot magma spews and splashes up from time to time. If it hits you, you could suffer severe burns and even die.”
“So we’ll just have to be careful,” Diana said. She tried to keep a brave face. Lingering near a river of fire was the exact opposite of what she’d rather do, and Augustus’s worried expression didn’t make her feel confident, but if they had to extract the flume to destroy the demon, then there was no time for fear to take root.
The trio reversed course and headed toward the other side of the meadow. They moved silently, keeping a petal-filled ear out for the sounds of more guards. Passing a thick grove of banyan trees, they walked toward a waterfall, the water gliding gently down a cliff and splashing into a clear pond below. Augustus edged up to the flowing water and filled his canteen. He closed the lid and glanced up. His expression fell.
“The berries are up there.” He pointed above their heads. “Higher than I anticipated.”
A red plant jutted out of the cliffside twenty feet above them.
“There’s no way for us to climb it, but maybe Mira can grab it for us?” Diana asked.
“She sure can,” Sakina said.
The bird fluttered to the plant. With her beak, she carefully plucked a branch of berries and flew down, depositing it in Sakina’s hand.
“Thanks, Mira.” Augustus placed a few berries in the canteen and shook it.
“Well, that seemed easy enough!” Sakina said with apparent relief.
“Yes. We just have the mushroom and icta seed left,” Diana agreed. They’d crossed off half their list in a matter of moments. After all they went through scaling the first plane of Sáz and hiding from the men with clubs, at least this part seemed simple. “Which way to the flume?”
“Well.” Augustus hesitated. “The next part is…trickier,” he said. “It’s just…well, you’ll see.”
Sakina and Diana followed Augustus around the bend. He stopped.
“There it is.” He lifted his finger and pointed.
Following his gesture, Diana froze.
“Holy moly,” Sakina whispered.
The river of lava. It lay fifty steps away from them, down a clifflike bank, perhaps twenty feet below where they currently stood. From overhead, the orange glow of the lava stream had looked impressive—but now, as they approached it, the river was terrifying. Steam rose from the embankments. Stepping closer to observe the river from above, they watched a reedy branch fall from a nearby tree and into the lava. It caught fire and burned, vanishing in seconds. A narrow wooden bridge tied together with rope swung over the river, leading to a square patch of green, where a flowering bush pressed against a towering granite cliff.
“Looks a little flimsy,” Diana said carefully. The bridge trembled and swayed from the force of the lava flowing below.
“A little?” Sakina raised an eyebrow. “It looks like a barbecue grill.”
“It’s…it’s not the safest,” Augustus said carefully. “We’ve had to replace it more times than I can count. And getting the mushroom is a three-person job: two of us to part the bush and one to carefully extract it, making sure not to touch it directly in any way and not to crush it between your fingers.”
“Luckily there’s three of us,” Diana said.
“Yes, but the square patch of grass is small,” Augustus said nervously. “I’ve never actually crossed the bridge without an adult before.”
“We’ll make it work,” Diana said. “We have to.”
The closer they approached, the louder the river of lava roared and hissed. Angry bubbles burst along the edges of the riverbank. Tentatively, she took a step onto the bridge. The wooden planks trembled violently beneath her feet. The sharp stench from the river made her eyes water. She clutched the thin, taut ropes on either side and took one careful step forward. Then another. The middle of the bridge sagged low. Glancing down, she saw orange fire flowing an arm’s length below her; the heat of the lava lingered inches from her feet. Tightening her grip, she kept her eyes fixed on the patch of land on the other side until at last she felt the cool relief of grass beneath her feet. Augustus followed next. He tiptoed, careful to not let his feet linger over the wide gaps between the planks; his cheeks flushed pink from the heat when he finally reached her.
“Last but not least,” Sakina announced. “I think I’ll be the one to—”
Her eyes widened as she pitched forward, her boot caught in the gap between two planks.
“Sakina! No!” Diana cried out.
Sakina tried catching her balance but stumbled. The gaps between each step of the bridge were wide—wide enough for her to fall through entirely, if her leg shifted to just the right angle. Diana rushed toward her as she teetered precariously, but Sakina grabbed the edge of the bridge just in time to steady herself. Carefully, straining, she stood up and pulled her foot out of the gap. With both hands grasping the rope railing on either side of the bridge, Sakina carefully walked over to join the others.
“What was that?” Diana murmured. Then she saw: Sakina had tripped over a loose board. A rope connecting the planks had come undone.
“That was close,” Sakina said shakily once she hopped onto the shore. “Thought I was about to actually get cooked.”
Diana watched the rope tensely. It had slipped from where it had lain on the bridge and now swung inches from the bubbling lava below. Goose bumps trailed her arms. They needed to act fast.
“Where can we safely store the mushroom once we get it?” Diana asked.
“I have space in my bag.” Augustus opened a small compartment. “Sakina, maybe you can help me part the bush, and then Diana can carefully remove the flume and place it inside this pocket.”
Carefully, Sakina and Augustus parted the bush. Diana scanned the ground. The flume was tucked in the center—cream-colored, the size of a marble.
“Take your time. It looks harmless, but it’s one of the most dangerous living organisms in the world,” Augustus said. “Make sure it doesn’t touch any part of your body. It’ll burn straight through flesh.”
“Perfect.” Augustus opened his pocket as wide as he could. “Don’t let it brush against the edge. There you go,” he said as Diana delicately placed it inside. He buttoned it closed.
“Great!” said Sakina. “One last ingredient to go now. We should have a good strategy for slipping into the woods once we’re up at the top plane.”
“We can discuss that after we’ve crossed the bridge,” Diana said quickly. “There’s no telling—”
“No—” Augustus gasped.
The rope from the plank Sakina had tripped on dangled dangerously close to the lava below. It flickered above the orange river, moments from catching fire.
“We have to go! Now!” Diana said.
But before any of them could take a step, the rope grazed the river below. In seconds, red flames spiraled up the rope. The three of them watched, horror-struck, as the entire bridge was quickly consumed in an angry blaze. The fire roared, growing ten feet above them, the intense heat fanning against their faces. Plank by plank, each step of the bridge crumbled to ash, until the entire structure disappeared, enveloped by the orange lava below.
They stared in silence at the gaping river before them.
“This can’t be happening,” Sakina said with a trembling voice. She pressed her back against the smooth granite cliff behind her.
“There has to be another way across,” Diana said.
“It’s…it’s impossible,” Augustus said. “There’s no way across a river this wide.”
“Well, if we can’t cross it, at least no one else can, either,” Sakina said.
“The demon is made of vapor,” Diana said. “He doesn’t need to walk. He can float over to us. And we don’t have all the ingredients we need to destroy him.”
“So it’s over,” Augustus said quietly.
No, Diana wanted to say. It’s not over. We still have a chance. We’ll figure a way out of this.
But once she glanced at the river—the granite cliff stretching hundreds of feet above them to the third plane—her words of encouragement faded on her tongue.
Because Augustus was right.
There was no way out.
So it was over?
Had the demon truly won?
They stared at the gaping river of fire before them. Mira fluttered over and perched on Sakina’s shoulder.
Diana’s chest hurt. This couldn’t be over. They had to do something.
But what? They were trapped. If they couldn’t find a way to get over the lava river, they couldn’t save Themyscira and Sáz. There was no guarantee they would even make it out alive.
“Now’s the time to say ‘I told you so,’ ” Sakina said with a wavering voice.
“What are you talking about?” Diana asked.
“This is all my fault,” Sakina said. Her eyes brimmed with tears. Her maroon tunic was battered by their journey; the bottom of it was dusty and ripped along the edge. “I can’t believe my clumsiness started the fire. I should’ve stayed back, like you said.”
“It’s my fault,” Augustus said. “I’m the one who brought you both here. This was an impossible mission from the start.”
“This is not either of your fault,” Diana told them firmly. “We’ve been a great team. We wouldn’t even have known for sure this was a demon in the first place without you,” Diana told Sakina. “And Augustus is making the potion to destroy him. We won’t give up. We can’t.”
“I don’t see a way out of it,” Sakina said.
“Me either,” said Augustus. “There’s no way to cross the river.”
“Maybe we shouldn’t look at the river.” Diana studied the cliff. “Maybe we try to scale this thing. Is there any way to get up to the next plane from here?”
“You’d have as good a chance at flying over it than climbing it without a vine or rope,” Augustus said. “We rappel down the cliffsides here with vines sometimes, but even with a vine it’s tricky to get up. The cliff is too smooth.”
Diana examined the stone wall. It was brighter in color than the ones back in Themyscira—taller by at least a hundred feet, too—and it looked smooth as a sheet of paper.
“There’s got to be some grooves in the stone,” Diana murmured, brushing her hands against the granite. She peered at the trees lining the edge of the cliff. “What’s up there at the top? Looks like a forest.”
“It’s the patch of woods where the icta seed is located. It’s just off the town center where we saw the hypnotized people lined up in rows….The demon is probably still there, too.”
“We have to get up there,” said Diana. “This cliff is the only way.”
“I read a book about a man who scales cliffs with his bare hands,” Sakina said. “Doesn’t even need ropes. He said if you can find your footing, even in the smallest of spots, you can go farther than you think.” She pressed her palms against the cliff and craned her neck upward. “See the bump over here?” She trailed her hand along the granite. “Maybe I can climb a bit and see what else lies ahead.”
Grunting, Sakina pressed down and tried to lift herself up, but her boot slipped. Her arms scraped against the rough rock wall as she skidded back down to the ground.
“Ow.” She rubbed her elbow. “I guess you can’t solve everything by reading.”
Just then Augustus froze, his green eyes wide. “How long has it been since we saw the patrol?” he asked.
“Not sure,” Sakina answered. “Thirty or forty minutes, maybe?”
“If they’re circling the island, it won’t take long for them to get back here.” Augustus chewed his lip. “They’ll find us here in about twenty minutes.”
Diana looked at the stream of hot lava, thinking. “And even though they won’t be able to cross the river…”
“Once they see us trapped here, they’ll tell the demon,” Augustus finished for her.
“And then we’re done,” Sakina said softly.
“No. There has to be a way,” Diana said.
“I’ve lived here my whole life,” Augustus said. “It’s impossible to get up that cliffside without help.”
But nothing is impossible, is it? Diana thought. There was always hope if you knew where to look for it.
She spread her palms against the granite and traced the rock carefully with her fingers. Palm to palm, the grainy texture of this wall was similar to her beloved olive tree back home. Diana knew how to firmly grip the practically invisible grooves along the trunk to shimmy her way to the branches above. The tree was not as tall or as wide as this granite monolith, but maybe Diana could scale it if she channeled the olive tree. Just maybe she could do it.
“Diana,” Sakina warned. “Don’t even think about it. It’s too dangerous.”
“It feels like my favorite tree back home.” Diana gestured to the cliff.
“Seriously? You can’t compare this cliff to a skinny little olive tree! If you lose your footing halfway up…” Sakina’s voice trailed off.
“But what other options do we have?” asked Diana. “I won’t stay here and wait for them to catch us. We have to try. This is our only shot.”
She put her hands on her hips and studied the cliff.
“See that little bump up there?” Diana pointed to a ledge of rock the size of a fingernail, just out of her reach. It was a few inches above the one Sakina had tried to grab. “If I can get ahold of the one Sakina reached for first and then jump and grab ahold of that next one, I can press my feet into the tiny little ridge after it, and from there I can figure out another groove to grip next. I just need a boost to get me to the
first one.”
“Diana, gravity can’t be compromised,” Augustus said carefully. “If you try to climb up and even miss one small groove…and if they hear you…the demon won’t be far from the edge of the cliff.”
“Augustus is right,” said Sakina. “It’s a humongous risk; you could fall to your death. We can’t take that kind of chance.”
“We don’t have time for another strategy,” Diana said urgently. “Let me try this. Help boost me up.”
She inhaled and exhaled deeply and tried her best to still her mind. The cliff loomed high above them, and this task would require complete concentration. There was no room for hesitation or second-guessing.
Sakina shot her a worried look, but both she and Augustus reluctantly laced their hands together and kneeled by the wall. Diana gingerly placed a foot on their palms, then stood. They lifted her—and then she jumped.
The tips of her fingers gripped the tiny jagged edge pushing out from the wall. Clenching it with all her strength, she pulled herself up and scanned for another hold. Her face flushed. It wasn’t easy to support her entire body with her fingertips. Mira fluttered over then and lit the wall with her gaze.
“Thanks, girl,” Diana said with relief.
Scanning the wall, she found the next ledge. It was harder to reach than it had looked from the ground. Contorting her body, Diana placed the toe of one boot onto the ledge and tested her weight until she felt secure, and then she looked up to find something else to grab. The next tiny ledge was higher; Diana stretched her arms as far as she could, but before she could hook her fingers, her hand slipped. Her body slid down. Her knees scraped against the unforgiving rock. She shot a foot out to catch herself and exhaled when she found a toehold. Steadying herself, Diana closed her eyes. Breathe, she reminded herself. Another wrong move would send her tumbling to her death.
Carefully, bit by bit, skimming the cliff with her palms, she found the smallest of grooves and dug her fingertips or the toes of her boots as deep as she could, slowly making her way up.
Her body ached with every passing minute. Sweat dripped down her forehead. The vertical summit of the first plane had felt painful, but it paled in comparison to this. Diana didn’t dare peek down, but looking up, she shivered—it was almost as scary.