CHAPTER THIRTEEN

ESCAPE FROM KI

MARCO RACED BY me in a blur.

By the edge of the woods, Cass flailed against an enormous assailant. In the moon’s dull light, all I could see were shadows, a changing mass of flesh and limbs.

I ran as fast as I could. But as I got closer I realized what Cass was battling. It wasn’t an animal or a human.

It was a monster. And it was dead.

The thing was rolling with him, its bones all akimbo in the moonlight. Marco was pulling Cass away, but Cass’s arm was in the rubbery grip of a dripping band of sinew.

I was too panicked to gag. Before I could reach them, the sinew recoiled with a thwap. Marco hurtled backward, tumbling head over heels with Cass down the sloping beach.

At the bottom, Cass rolled to his feet. “Never again!” he shrieked. “I will never, ever let you talk me into something like this again!”

With that he bolted toward the jungle.

“Where are you going?” Aly called out from the beach.

“I’m covered with guts!” Cass shouted. “I tripped over that stupid thing.”

“So you’re going into the woods?” Aly said. “The jungle flies are drooling, Cass. They can’t wait to see you. Now get in the water and wash up!”

I turned to look at Cass’s attacker. It stretched across the sand like the prow of some organic ship, its ribs curved upward toward the moon.

“Thar she blows,” Marco muttered.

It was a whale, maybe ten or twelve feet long. It had been washed up, maybe a day or two ago, and apparently attacked by predators. Cass hadn’t seen it in the darkness and had just stumbled into it. As I eyed the huge carcass, the first few droplets of rain thudded softly onto the body.

A whale this size meant we were near an ocean—this was no bay or inlet. I wasn’t sure what that meant for our escape. I guess I was hoping for something a little less vast.

“Ow,” came Aly’s voice.

Marco and I turned to see her stumbling in the sand. She was arm in arm with Cass, heading toward the water. “‘Sup?” Marco said.

“Just…stepped on a shell,” Aly replied. “Carry on.”

“Come on, brother Jackie. Let’s get the boat,” Marco said.

I followed him toward the dock. The rain was picking up, along with a sudden wind, and I thought I could hear a distant rumble. Marco was untying a wide, flat-bottomed boat. It was about twenty feet long or so, with wooden sides, two sets of oars in oarlocks, and two seats. “There’s no motor on this thing,” he said. “The darn thing is a rowboat. I’ll get in first.”

“We can’t escape across an ocean in that!” I said. “You saw the size of that whale. What if its father is out there looking for it? What if there are sharks? It’s also raining. And dark. And there’s thunder.”

“Okay, so it’ll be a little cozy.” Marco jumped in and grabbed a pair of oars. “Are you with me?”

I took a deep breath. I was not going to face Bhegad and Torquin by myself. Reluctantly I stepped in after him. Sitting down, I took hold of the other pair of oars. “I hope you know what you’re doing,” I said, fitting them into the locks.

Marco gestured out toward Cass. “We’re traveling with a human gyroscope, dude. He’ll guide us by the moon. Or the molecules in the water. Or the trail of fish poop. Whatever. In about an hour and a half, the sun rises. By that time we’ll be far away and we’ll see where we’re going. Ready? Let’s go.”

We pushed off toward Cass and Aly. The boat rocked on a sudden wave that broke over the side, nearly soaking me.

Rowing with Marco was a great way to feel useless. His strokes nearly lifted the boat out of the water. As his oars struck the surface, the wind spat the splashing water into my face. I could barely keep pace. We reached the other two quickly and managed to get them aboard without capsizing. Marco had brought a blanket and some extra clothes in his pack, which he gave to Aly and Cass. Cass sat next to Aly in a seat at the stern, where Marco and I could see them. Aly was shivering and Cass put his arm around her. “Where to, Christopher Columbus?” Marco asked.

Cass peered upward, into the rain. “No chance of s-s-seeing any stars tonight. We’re going to have to use d-dead reckoning. Row like crazy and keep parallel to the shore. We’re traveling northwest, with the c-current. By daybreak we should be one or two miles away. Then we can s-s-stop.”

“You okay, Aly?” Marco asked.

“As well as can be expected, having to stare at you,” she replied.

Marco’s SUV-sized back loomed toward me and away, toward and away. He was pulling harder than before, the boat practically lurching out of the water. I winced with each stroke, afraid he’d break the oars and shoot straight backward.

“Can you do that a little smoother?” Aly asked. “I’m getting sick.”

“You can ease up a little, Marco!” I called against the wind. “I’m rowing, too!”

“Have to…pull hard…to get over…these swells…” Marco grunted. “It’s calmer…farther out.”

Aly leaned over the side of the boat and threw up. I pulled until the skin on my palms hurt. A bright stroke of lightning rent the air. For a moment the scene in front of me was bathed in a ghostly greenish white. Marco’s arm muscles were a ropy tangle as he pulled.

“Something’s wrong with Aly!” Cass shouted. She was convulsing in his arms now.

“Seasickness!” Marco shouted. “She’ll be better in a minute!”

Now I was rising nearly vertically. Cass screamed, his voice now below my feet. I held tight as the boat slapped back down, wrenching my stomach like a roller coaster.

“It’s getting worse, not better!” Cass’s cry was cut off by a crack of thunder.

“That was about ten seconds between the light and the noise!” I shouted. “We’re two miles from lightning!”

“Where’s land?” Cass cried out, holding tight to Aly, who now appeared to be unconscious.

“Got to…get farther out…” Marco grunted.

“I can’t navigate without a shore, Marco!” Cass said. “Sea is different from land!”

Marco dug in extra hard. “You’re the genius—figure it out! I have to get the boat out of this—”

A black curtain rose up to the starboard side, as if the sky itself had been swallowed up in the storm. Marco lifted one of the oars and rowed with the other, trying to change the boat’s position. “Hang on!” he yelled. “Get low and hold on to the boat!”

I let go of my oars and grabbed tight on both sides. I could see Aly sinking to the floor. And then she and Cass were sliding…colliding with Marco…

Marco lost control of his oars. They swung away from him, flailing against the side of the boat. His hand was bleeding. He lunged forward, trying desperately to grab them again.

The wave lifted us upward like a roller-coaster car. We paused at the top, nearly sideways, suspended for a brief moment…

And we flipped silently into the sea.