Myth

by Terri Todosey

  Think, think, Saltus, I repeated the name over in my mind. I can see the word in my head, but where did I see it?

  “Oh wait, I remember! Saltus was one of the places on the globe back at the school, and that’s where I saw Demoror Ari too.”

  “What do you mean - globe?” asked Emily.

  “You know, like a round map,” I said.

  “You’re saying the ice castle was on a world globe?” scoffed Emily.

  “Well, it wasn’t really a WORLD globe,” I said. “But it was old and there was a place called Montis too I think, or something like that.”

  “Yes, yes, Montis is big mountain close to Lockhart,” replied Yeri, who then drew a triangle next to the three vertical lines.

  “Never heard of Montis,” said Justin. “You sure you’re not talking about Kings Peak?”

  Kings Peak was the highest mountain south of Lockhart, known for its lookout trail and incredible view. I had never climbed it, because my parents thought that the high elevations were too dangerous for my heart condition, but it was well known by many.

  “I do not know dis King Peak you speak of, but we will be passing near mountain on route to Lockhart.”

  “How far away from home could we possibly be?” sighed Emily.

  “If we hasten pace, we should reach mountains in seven suns and den...”

  “Seven suns?” I cringed. “Is there no shorter route?”

  “It bit shorter through Saltus, but too many nasty tings in dere. It best we go around it and den only five more suns through mountains and you should reach Lockhart.”

  “That’s nearly two weeks!” I shuttered. “How bad can Saltus be?”

  “Very, very bad. Dose who go in, no come back. Dis is fate of my family and I not want dis fate for you. No!” he insisted, scratching out the three lines he had drawn. “We carry on through Lily Palus, and take route around Saltus to Montis.” He drew a line from the shell to the triangle, going well around the three scratched-out vertical lines.

  “But my feet hurt!” whined Emily.

  “And we don’t have enough food!” said Justin.

  “Is true! It not easy. Is dis den where we turn back?” asked Yeri.

  We all looked back to the sandy cliffs behind us. I couldn’t comprehend how we had ended up so far away from home. Even the thought of home seemed far away as I stood facing a landscape that was undeniably foreign; unlike anything I had ever seen.

  “Come on guys,” said Justin. “What’s another week or two when we’ve slept a month?”

  He was right. We had to get home, whether it took us a week or a month. We had to keep going and Yeri was our only guide, so if he said we had to go the long way around Saltus, then we were going the long way around Saltus.

  I picked Yeri up and as we stepped off the sandy ledge, the wet smelly ground immediately seeped into our sneakers.

  “Ugh!” I sighed, feeling the squishy muck between my toes.

  Hopping over some slimy rocks and broken shells, I could see that Yeri who was used to the dry desert, seemed grateful to be riding back on my shoulder.

  “You have to admit, this place has a creepy element to it,” I said touching one of the stems that reached down from its lily pad. It was as though every step led us closer to the bottom of what once had been an ocean floor and knowing that I had never taken swimming lessons, I asked, “How long has this place been without water?”

  “I have not been to dese parts for very, very long time,” said Yeri. “I was not expecting dis nasty mess, but I tink it may have something to do with Syreni curse.”

  “Syreni?”

  “Yes. Syreni. Dey are water creature.”

  “You mean fish?”

  “Aye-yi-yi! I know very, very little of dese parts, and you ask many question for being in hurry. Come! We journey by sun and maybe if we get going, we be done wit dis nasty bog before dark.”

  His answer didn’t comfort me and I stood hesitantly, looking skyward at the sun that filtered through the large lily pads far above.

  “You’re not afraid are you?” asked Justin.

  “You know I don’t swim,” I said coldly.

  “You never took lessons?” asked Emily, seemingly amused by my lack of abilities.

  “Nope,” I said straightly. “I’ve got a heart condition and two overprotective parents who are determined to keep me alive as long as they can.” Ironically, here in this strange land I was trying to do just that and wished that I were more prepared for such obstacles.

  “Well, I don’t think you’ll have to worry about swimming in these puddles,” said Emily.

  “It’ll be fun,” said Justin. “Just imagine you’re a fish out of water,” he called as he took off running between the lily roots making funny faces. “See! I’m a clown fish!” he laughed, obviously trying to lighten the mood.

  “And I’m a swordfish,” scolded Emily, while trying to jab him with a stick. “So you’d better stop clowning around!”

  There was comfort in this momentary escape from our trials and concerns, as we joked with each other, making our way through the spotted shadows of the towering lily pads. Our spirits were high and we continued at a steady pace southward, leaving the cliff wall behind us.

  The further we walked, the more rugged the canyon grew. Shells that speckled the sandy floor became good-sized walls of coral with sharp edges that curved left and right and made us feel like we were in a maze.

  “Oh look!” said Emily, pointing to some holes in the sand.

  “What is it?” asked Justin.

  She bent down near the tiny holes. “I’ve seen holes like these before, when my mom and dad took my sister to University and I stayed with my aunt on the East Coast for a week. When the tide went down, we walked out onto the ocean floor to find clams that had buried themselves in the sand. They left little holes just like this one. Watch!” She shoved her hand into the ground and grabbed a handful of sand where the hole was. To our amazement from that handful of sand she produced a clam. Clearly pleased with herself she grinned promising, “If we get enough of these we could make clam chowder.”

  The word chowder rumbled deep inside my empty belly and grumbled up into my head, where the mere thought of it had me craving some.

  “We’d need some cream and potatoes to mix it up with,” said Justin licking his lips.

  “Yeah and a fire to cook it,” reminded Emily. “Doubts we’ll find any dry wood here.”

  I felt my back pocket for the remaining taste buds. Pulling them out, I found nine left.

  “I still have some taste buds,” I said. “We’ll have to ration them until we find food, but judging by the sun I’d say it’s dinner time.”

  “Best idea I’ve heard all day!” said Justin.

  So, while standing in the mud, we shared another meal of fries and gravy washed down with a swig of root beer.

  “Not going to lie,” I admitted, “I’m kind of getting sick of french fries and gravy.”

  “Is reason why it said, do not pick many bud at one time, or soon ting you crave become ting you dislike,” said Yeri. “But is goot we have food to be sick of I tink,” he said while accepting a small nibble from my bud.

  Refreshed, we set out again and tried to find a path through the rugged coral that would lead us directly south to Saltus, but the coral was not cooperating. It thickened into walls that led us one way and then the other, often leading us to dead ends where we’d have to turn back and try a different route.

  It soon became a disheartening likelihood that we’d be spending the night somewhere in the putrid bog rather than on the dry shores of the other side. I was not impressed.

  “How far does this swamp go?”

  “It already go too far,” said Yeri.

  “The sun is going to set soon,” said Emily. “We should find a dry place to
set up camp,”

  “Good luck with that,” I sighed.

  Every rock was covered in soggy vegetation. The coral was too sharp and bumpy to sleep on and the ground was a mucky mess.

  “Maybe I should climb one of these coral walls and see if I can get a better look from up there,” suggested Justin.

  The sky was darkening and knowing how quickly night fell, Emily and I both agreed. Justin scampered up the wall like a gecko and was soon surveying our options for shelter.

  “See anything?” asked Emily.

  “Yeah.” Justin paused with his hands over his forehead, blocking out the little sun that snuck past the lily pads. “The swamp goes on for miles, but I think I see a place that might work.”

  Following the trails with his eyes he mumbled to himself, as though trying to memorize the route in a format of lefts and rights. Then in one big leap, he jumped down. “Follow me.”

  We walked down one path that opened up and linked to another path that doubled back and then through a few more coral alleys. Left, left again and then right, until we finally came to a fair-sized opening that was filled with bright red and purple vegetation, much like pillars of seaweed hedging a path of small shells that lead up to a large rock cave. The cave’s entrance sat a couple of feet up off the muddy ground on a rock shelf and was wide with a large flat rock that overhung it.

  We hopped up on the raised rock and looked inside. A bed of dark green moss covered most of the rock floor, but the cave itself was not much larger than my bedroom at home.

  “It’s dry,” said Justin, running his hands through the thick moss.

  “It’s perfect!” I said, flopping myself down on the soft floor.

  Stretching out I looked up at the ceiling. It was covered with tiny shells, as though someone had painstakingly glued each one to the rock’s surface to create an exquisite mosaic that spread down the walls and around the opening like a swirling vine.

  Rolling to my side I could see out through the mouth of the cave, where the sky now burned with brilliant shades of sunset: red, pink, purple and orange swirled together by wisps of grey cloud. The coolness of the setting sun and the soft snores of Yeri fell like a blanket over me and I closed my eyes and slept.

  Chapter Ten

  The Boy

  “You lost it, so you go look for it!” my brother demanded.

  I had left the TV remote somewhere in the basement. Reluctantly, I rambled down the wooden steps to a dirt floor and pulled the metal chain that hung from a single light bulb.

  ‘That’s weird,’ I thought. ‘Our basement used to have a concrete floor.’

  A dripping sound echoed against the basement walls and a vein of water rolled out from behind a wooden box and followed a thin crevice in the floor all the way to where I stood. It pooled into the dirt impressions my feet had made and slowly seeped into my canvas sneakers.

  Where was the water coming from? Looking up, I realized that I was not in my basement, but in the cellar of the old mansion.

  The water drizzled in faster now from somewhere behind the boxes. ‘Probably a broken pipe,’ I figured. I waded out into the ankle-deep puddle and noticed a small light under the water. It was my cell phone lying on the floor, with its screen surprisingly lit up beneath the water. My music app was open and a song was playing. Reaching down, I picked the phone up to hear beautiful, melodic voices resonating. They filled the cellar with a sad, haunting song. I listened hard, trying to recognize the music, but it didn’t sound familiar; definitely not like anything in my library. The raw voices swelled together in harmony, but I couldn’t make out what they were singing. It might have been another language, or maybe there weren’t any words at all.

  Regardless, it was a beautiful song that was easy to get lost in, until something touched my leg and startled me. I looked down to realize that the water had risen to my thighs and that things in the cellar were floating and bumping into me as they passed. A wooden box holding Justin’s helmet drifted by, followed by the portrait Ms. Littner had been carrying. The doll bobbed past me with her eyes open, staring up at the ceiling as the water continued to rise.

  Feeling anxious from the dark water and objects creeping up on me, I turned around and used the light from my phone to search for the stairs, but they weren’t there. I waded back to where they had been only moments before, but I couldn’t see them anywhere. The water was up over my shoulders now, holding me, rocking me. Then I was under and I couldn’t breathe.

  Panicking my eyes flicked open and I found myself suffocating in dark, heavy water and I couldn’t tell up from down.

  “Justin! Tali!” I heard Emily scream, and I was suddenly awake and gasping for air. Nearly submerged in moonlit water that had somehow flooded the cave, I had exchanged one nightmare for another. Only this one was real.

  ‘The water must have come in like a tide,’ I thought. It was the very thing I had been so worried about. But where could so much water have come from? Something sharp suddenly scratched along my left leg, all the way to my hip.

  “OUCH!” I cried and salt water gushed into my mouth. Coughing it back out, I stretched my legs down, scrambling blindly for something to stand on, but the only thing I felt was jagged coral and the growing current made it impossible to stand. I kicked and stretched upwards, gasping for more air and trying to keep my head above the rugged surf, but I was being sloshed around like a rag doll. A wave crashed over me and filled my nose and mouth with seawater again. Spewing it out, I desperately hollered, “Justin! Emily!”

  “Tali! Where are you?”

  Turning my head towards the voice, I saw Emily’s head about ten feet away; bobbing up and down in the moonlit waves.

  “I’m... I’m here.” I shouted, choking again.

  “I see you!” said Emily. “Where’s Justin?”

  “I’m behind you!” he hollered. “I’ve got ahold of one of the stems from the lily pads! Swim over to me.”

  “I see you Justin!” said Emily.

  “I can’t see you!” I shouted, hopelessly looking for something to hold on to. “I, I can’t!” I struggled with the relentless waves that continued to toss me around.

  “What happen? Why we so wet?” asked Yeri, who had grabbed a chunk of my hair and climbed up to the top of my head. It was the only place he could go that was still above water. Barely.

  “I... I can’t swim,” I stuttered through my teeth, not wanting to swallow any more water.

  “It seem to me you are swimmink,” he said, bobbing up and down on my head in the waves.

  “Help!” I stammered, knowing my heart was in danger from the stress and lack of meds.

  Then I heard it - breaking through the water’s tide, the call of voices swelled up and echoed past me in that same haunting melody I had heard in my dream. Like the way a loon calls out at night, the solemn and peaceful song seemed to contradict the raging waves.

  “Who’s singing?” I stammered.

  “I’m over here Tali!” Justin called again.

  Turning towards his voice, I saw something in the water flash by me. ‘Justin?’ I thought, but a spray of water hit my face, blinding me and the back of my throat instantly tightened to keep the water out of my lungs.

  I forced my eyes back open, just in time to catch a glimpse of something zip past me again. It was too fast to be Justin, and the vortex it left in its wake spun me completely around.

  “There’s something in the water!” I shrieked.

  “Hold on, I see you!” I heard Justin’s voice behind me.

  As I turned towards him my face was plastered with another wave. It crashed down on me, sending me under. Numb with fatigue, I was running out of energy, but the thought of being in the water with some obscure sea monster had me terrified, and I kicked as hard and fast as I could to the surface. I gasped air into my wet lungs and a spasm of coughs spewed the salty water
out of me.

  “I desert animal, not water rat!” insisted Yeri, as he sneezed out a spray of water. He dangled over my right ear from a knot in my hair. “You must keep afloat!”

  “I’m trying!” I screamed back at him, but it came out weak and raspy. Looking up, I saw the bottoms of the lily pads just a few feet above me now. The water was rising fast.

  “Grab on to one of the stems!” I heard Emily call.

  ‘Help me!’ I begged.

  Suddenly, I felt something else bump into my leg. Frightened, I pulled my leg up and searched the water to see what it had been, but a strong undertow followed and I was swooped away with it.

  Water washed over my face, blurring my vision and filling my nose. I gagged, swallowing more water. My arms and legs burned with exhaustion and my heart strained to keep up with my increasing demand for oxygen. Utterly drained, my legs somehow kicked me mechanically upward, and I emerged once again on the surface, gasping for air.

  “I’ve almost got you,” yelled Justin from the pad above me. He must have climbed up the last few feet and was leaning over the edge with his arm stretched out for me.

  With whatever strength I had left I reached up for his hand, but a low wave swelled towards me. Taking a big breath I sealed my mouth just in time, as it washed over and pushed me under.

  I held my breath and kicked my legs waiting to resurface, but something slammed into me again and a funneling undertow seized hold of me and pulled me down hard and fast. I felt Yeri let go of my hair, as my body was sucked downward, inhaled it seemed, by the sea itself.

  Down I slid to the deep, dark waters below. I was much deeper than the waves had thrown me earlier. The water squeezed painfully around my ears and chest, as though the air inside was screaming to get out.

  Frantic, I looked up at the surface far above, its metallic sheen dancing as the moon’s rays reached down between the lily pads, like death’s fingers opening up to take me.