Death's Academy

by Bast, Michael

  All of a sudden, he drops, swallowed up by the earth. I gasp and race to the place where he disappeared. A manhole covering has been pushed aside and a ladder leads down into the darkness. I drop to my knees and stick my head underground.

  A series of long tunnels snake their way in all different directions. I catch sight of Lightcrest’s white shirt moving swiftly down the center tunnel.

  “Where’s he’s going?”

  I drop down and splash deep into what I hope is water. I make a beeline after him. He almost loses me twice, and if it wasn’t for his gleaming white shirt and flowing blond hair, I’m pretty sure I would be lost. We must be getting closer to the Ferris wheel because the carnival music is getting louder and louder.

  Lightcrest cuts down another tunnel and disappears. I race forward, skid around the corner, and see his left foot vanish up a ladder. I wait a moment at the base of the ladder and then climb after him. I inch my head up, my eyes breaking the plane of the street.

  The exit from the sewer is tucked up against a looming gingerbread wall. Eaves made of icing shadow where I’m hiding. I poke my head out a bit farther. The spinning and blinking lights on the Ferris wheel immediately catch my attention. We must have gone underneath it and popped out on the other side. It’s monstrous. The steel bolts holding the spokes together are the size of bus tires. It takes all of my willpower to shake the hypnotic trance the massive wheel has placed me in.

  “Get a grip!” I mutter to myself and peel my eyes away. “Where has that halo jerk gone to?”

  Clop, clop, clop!

  I duck below the street and hide. The staccato of the fast-moving unicorn fades away. I rise back up out of my hiding space. I realize that I’m at the edge of a courtyard. The jelly-bean cobblestone has been replaced with orange-and-white candy corn. The Ferris wheel walls in one end of the courtyard and a horseshoe-shaped building closes in on the other sides.

  The horseshoe-building stands over a hundred feet at its highest point. The roof peaks and valleys like a mountain range. The top of each ridge is adorned with swirling green-and-white lollipops. Cherry-red licorice lines each gable. The front is shingled by purple rock candy cut in squares. The centerpiece of this cathedral of sweets is an ominous circular door that peers out like a single staring eye. The door is barely cracked, the iron ring attached to its side still swaying where it had been pulled open.

  I sit there slack-jawed for several minutes until I mutter something that if heard by my mom or probably any of my teachers would have gotten me a red bottom. Lightcrest is nowhere to be seen, but it doesn’t take much imagination to guess where he’s gone. He’s crept through the front door.

  Why did I volunteer to go on this crazy expedition? I could have been home, watching some shorty TV or riding around on the Hound-ariot. Instead, I’m about to walk right into what is probably the unicorn capitol building. This is great …

  I climb the rest of the way up the ladder and make a dash for the door. I squeeze through the narrow opening and pop through. There are two swooping staircases with red velvet carpet running down the center of each one. A chandelier hangs like a diamond shaped uvula between the two staircases. Marble pillars line the lobby.

  Clank! A door is slammed shut. Clop, clop, clop!

  I dive behind one of the pillars and wait until the pair of unicorns cross the lobby and climb one of the staircases. I move from pillar to pillar and am about to take my chances up the staircase when I hear muffled laughter followed by a whinny. It is coming from behind the staircases.

  I hear it again. I follow the noise and creep through the gap between the two staircases. There’s a door tucked up behind the staircase. I press my ear up against it. Two voices … it’s Lightcrest and Raindrop.

  Twenty-four

  I lean against the door, and it cracks open. I suck my stomach in and squeeze through the opening. A short hallway leads to a larger room. I drop onto my knees and crawl to the very edge of the hallway. The voices are near. I peek my head around the corner into the room.

  It’s a skinny room with shiny green-and-white tiles. The walls are painted all the colors of the rainbow like an eager kindergarten class had been set free to decorate how they pleased. A monstrous chandelier filled with fist-sized Christmas lights dangles above.

  Lightcrest is sandwiched between two burly unicorns. Each one has him by the arm. His feet dangle about an inch above the ground. Raindrop is pacing back and forth in front of them with a satisfied smirk. I do a double take and rub my eyes. Behind Raindrop, lying on a marble slab four feet above the ground, is the Scythe.

  “But I’m still confused,” Raindrop says. “Explain to me again what you’re doing here?”

  Lightcrest twitches and tries to pull away from the guards. Their claws dig deeper into his arms.

  “I can’t think of any explainable reason why you would have returned. Our business is finished,” Raindrop says and folds his arms. “You got what you wanted those many years ago and we now have what we wanted. As they say, we are even.”

  “Let’s twist him, Raindrop. Let’s twist him like a top!” one of the unicorns gripping Lightcrest’s arm says.

  “No, no. Not yet … We’ll make him squeal soon enough. I have a few more questions for our illustrious guest.” Raindrop steps forward, his snout inches from Lightcrest’s face. “The deal was, we help you with the ocean liner.”

  “The Queen Suzanne,” the other unicorn holding Lightcrest blurts out.

  “Yes, the Queen Suzanne. We help you sink it, allow you to save all of those disgusting human passengers, and then pin the blame on the hoodie.”

  I throw my hand over my mouth to keep me from gasping.

  Raindrop continues. “We make it look like you prevented the greatest unsanctioned crossing of humans ever. We make you look like a hero, make you famous. You owe your life and everything that you are to us. Have I left anything out?”

  Lightcrest’s head droops, his chin pressed against his chest. Raindrop examines him like he’s a slab of meat hanging in front of him. He lets out a snort.

  “Let me venture a guess why you’re here. Let’s see if I can understand why the great Lightcrest Michaels has returned to our city … You mean to be the hero again, don’t you?” Raindrop’s claw flashes forward, gripping Lightcrest by the jaw. He jerks his head up so they’re looking eye to eye. “Don’t you? You were going to steal back the Scythe of Grim. You were going to save the day again. Be the great hero! But you’ve forgotten, you insignificant little halo, that you are not a hero. You’re nothing without us. We made you … And now we’re going to unmake you. Tie him up!”

  The two unicorns pull out long red licorice whips and fasten them around Lightcrest’s wrists and ankles.

  “You!” Raindrop points to one of Lightcrest’s guards. “Let the captain of the guards know we have a prisoner and that I want six more guards in here.”

  “Yes, sir,” the unicorn answers and dashes from the room.

  “Keep him here,” Raindrop says to the other guard.

  Raindrop glances at Lightcrest lying facedown on the stone floor. A wide toothy smile zigzags across his face. “We’ll see what punishment Sundancer wants for him,” he says and leaves Lightcrest and the guard.

  I scurry back behind the wall and shrug the backpack off my shoulders. I throw it open and glance inside. There is one hound retriever left, the can of ice spray, and Brilliance’s skull-sized stone that she asked Mal to carry for her.

  “Think! Think!” I mutter under my breath.

  I peek back around the edge of the wall into the room. Besides the marble slab holding the Scythe, the room is bare. My eyes float up and the chandelier drifts an inch to the left, pushed by a slight breeze. I follow the ropes that keep the chandelier suspended. An idea pops into my head.

  I pull my head back around the corner, and I lift Brilliance’s stone into my hands. I feel its weight and my fingers examine its shape. It weighs and feels remarkably familiar. I grip it with the Lo
u-cow-ski hold and pretend to roll it down the corridor. I nod a couple of times. It could work.

  Suddenly the image of Brilliance booting my roll through the golden hoop pops into my head and doubt pounces on me with the ferocity of a spider monkey, slapping my face and pulling my ears. I gulp and shake my head.

  “You can do this, you can do this,” I whisper. “You can do this …”

  I take a deep breath. “Here goes nothing,” I mutter and jump around the corner into the room. “Hey, zebra butt!”

  The unicorn spins around to face me. He springs forward.

  Clop! Clop! Clop!

  I wait for the precise moment, bow my legs, twist my hips, and fling the stone. It spins and skids across the green-and-white tiles toward one of the walls. The Unicorn lets out a laugh.

  “Terrible aim, kid!” he yells.

  I smirk. “Wait for it.”

  The stone hits the wall and ricochets up into air. The unicorn skids to a stop with his mouth open and watches the stone soar through the air. The stone hits the bolt that holds the chandelier aloft. The rope snaps and the chandelier tilts and swings. The stone rebounds toward the opposite wall, floating lazily.

  “Come on! Come on!” I say.

  It hits the other bolt and the final rope snaps. The chandelier quivers and drops. The unicorn lets out a squeal and crouches to leap away. He’s too slow, and the chandelier lands on top of him, encircling him. His arms are pinned to his sides, and the weight of the chandelier causes him to flop onto his backside. He struggles against it in vain.

  I was hoping that the chandelier was going to just knock the unicorn out, but trapping him like this makes me look, in my mind at least, pretty amazing.

  I saunter toward him, a smile plastered on my face. “How’s that for aim, horse-boy?”

  The unicorn gives me a dirty look. “I’m going to kill you.”

  “Oh yeah? How are you going to do that? You couldn’t even lift your arm high enough to scratch your nose if you wanted. How ya gonna kill me?” I say and lean up against one of the walls, very satisfied.

  He grunts and struggles to free himself, but he can’t budge. “Help! Help!” he screams.

  Crap! I didn’t plan on him calling for help. He’s going to wake up the entire city! I run back to Mal’s backpack, grab the hound retriever, aim it at the unicorn, and fire. The suction cup streaks through the air and smacks him firmly over the snout, completely covering his mouth. He lets out a whimper.

  “Mmhh! Mmhh!” he grunts.

  “What was that?” I hold my hand to my ear. “Sorry, I don’t speak donkey,” I say with a grin.

  I rush past the unicorn, jump over Lightcrest, and scoop up the Scythe.

  “Help me!” Lightcrest pleads.

  I glare at him. “Why should I?”

  “You’re just going to leave me?” he asks.

  “Just like I’m sure you would have done to us,” I say and start to walk past him.

  “I wasn’t going to leave you two, I swear!” he says and struggles against his bonds.

  “You’re the reason my dad was blamed for the Queen Suzanne. You’re the reason for everything!” I say.

  He licks his lips and nods. “I know how to get us out of here,” he says.

  I stare at him for a moment.

  He lays his forehead onto the floor. “I’m sorry. I really am. I didn’t pick your dad out; it just happened to be him. Many times I meant to say something, but …”

  “You enjoyed being a hero too much,” I say with a scowl.

  He lets out a long sigh. “Not just that. They threatened … If I told what really happened, I would be thrown out of the order … my whole family would be thrown out. We would no longer be halos.”

  “What? Why all of you?”

  “That type of deception would stain the entire family. Halos have very strict rules about that kind of thing. It would affect Brilliance and Brilliance’s children … I just couldn’t do it. I’ve been living with this bad choice my whole life.”

  “So have I.”

  He nods and rolls himself onto his back. He pushes himself into a sitting position.

  “You led them to the Scythe of Grim too. You helped them get it,” I say.

  “I had to. They had proof that I staged the Queen Suzanne. They were going to send it to the networks, and it would have been broadcast all over. So I helped them, but I always planned to get it back. I’ve been secretly coming here for years learning all the ways to get in and out without being noticed. I was going to return the Scythe.”

  “How do I know if I let you go, you won’t leave me and Mal behind?”

  “I won’t. I promise,” he says.

  “Your word isn’t the most reassuring thing,” I say.

  He bites his lip. “I swear on my daughter. I will get us all out alive and back home.”

  I weigh what he has said for a moment. “You’ll tell the truth? About everything?”

  He looks down at his feet and nods. I spring forward and untie the bonds around his wrists and ankles.

  “We’ve got to hurry. The other one will be back with more guards any second. Follow me,” he says and sprints out of the room.

  I lug the heavy Scythe over my shoulder and trail after Lightcrest. We creep through the rest of the building and pop out through a back door.

  “Didn’t we come the other way?” I say. “The Ferris wheel is back that way.”

  “Yes, we did, but the mouth of an underground river is this way. We can use its current to take us back to the other side of the city. You can swim, right?”

  I nod. “There aren’t any of those glowing fish in the river, are there?”

  “No, but it is fast moving. If we miss the spot where we need to get out …”

  “Yes?” I say, feeling like I am about to wet myself.

  “We’ll be swept over a waterfall into the depths of the earth.”

  “Where does the river end?” I ask, even more alarmed.

  “The ocean. Now come on.”

  Now for all of you shorties out there, I want to make it clear that the ocean is a good thousand miles from here. So it goes without saying that I am a bit nervous about this underground river idea.

  We move quickly and silently through a neighborhood. The sound of gurgling water grows. We reach a wide hole. Ten feet down the water rushes by and disappears underneath the cavern floor.

  “You didn’t tell me we were going to be in the water and in the dark!” I say.

  “What about ‘underground river’ didn’t you understand?” Lightcrest asks.

  I hold out the Scythe in front of me. “This thing is going to drown me. I can’t keep myself and it afloat!”

  Suddenly a siren pierces the air and all of the lights on the Ferris wheel turn red and start flashing.

  “That’s the alarm! The whole city is going to be looking for us,” Lightcrest says and holds out his hand. “Give it to me. I’ll carry it.”

  I jerk it back tight against my body.

  “I’m not going to keep it,” he says in exasperation. “I’ll just hold it until we get out of the river.”

  I hand it over to him.

  He takes the Scythe and tucks it under his arm. “Follow my lead. It will be pitch black for about a minute, and then you’ll see a bright light. When you see the light, you’ll see the exit. There are boulders along the side. You’ll be able to grab one and pull yourself out.”

  Just behind us, the sound of unicorn hooves on the jelly-bean cobblestones grows louder.

  “Let’s go,” he says and leaps from the edge of the hole. He dives into the water and is swept away under the cavern floor.

  I take a deep breath and jump in after him. I plunge into the water and kick with all my might. My head shoots out, and I let out an operatic scream. It’s freezing!

  In a split second, the light evaporates and I’m engulfed in utter darkness. I bob up and down, doing my best to keep my head above water. The river is moving much faster tha
n it appeared from above.

  Soon, a light grows ahead of me. It starts out as a distant pinprick but magnifies like a spotlight into the black. The shapes of boulders appear, and I tread toward them. I catch hold of one of them, but my hands slip off the slimy moss. I flail and reach out for another one. My hand slides across it, and I dip below the water. I scream, but only bubbles come out.

  I burst out of the water spluttering and yelling. I reach for the last boulder before I am swept into the underground abyss. My hand catches it. I pull with all my might.

  Thwip! My hand slips from the boulder.

  I plunge under the water, grasping for anything, a sob erupting in my throat. Suddenly my foot catches against a crystal jutting just out of the surface of the water and I kick. The force pushes me back onto the moss-covered boulder, and I grip it tightly with both hands. Choking and coughing, I pull myself on top of it.

  “You all right?” Lightcrest asks.

  I glance up and see a momentary flash of disappointment on Lightcrest’s face. Just as quickly, he masks it and extends out his hand. I don’t take it, but pull myself out of the river.

  “Let’s go,” he says and hands me the Scythe.

  I shoulder it and spring after Lightcrest. My drenched clothes cling to me, freezing me to the bone. My teeth start chattering like maracas in a Spanish flamenco band. We reach the Jolly Rancher wall, and Lightcrest puts his hands together like a stirrup. In one movement, I’m over the wall with the Scythe. He lands next to me on the other side of the wall, and we crouch onto our knees.

  “Down! Get down!” Lightcrest whispers.

  Two unicorn guards are sweeping toward us. We crawl behind some protruding crystals and lie flat. They pass by, and we scurry to the next boulder.

  Lightcrest waves me forward. “It’s clear.”

  We reach the spot where we left Mal and Brilliance, but they’re nowhere to be found.

  “Mal! Brilliance!” I say.

  Lightcrest gives me a slap on the shoulder. “Shh!”

  Twenty yards from us, Mal’s face pops up from behind a boulder.