The vivid lights of the roots dimmed to a glow-worm glimmer as he traveled along the chute, and now that the burning brightness was gone, he could pick out the details of his surroundings. The roots that cocooned him still pulsed with light, but if he focused on individual strands, Buzz could see that they also pulsed with names, written in the tiniest neon script. He whooshed past hundreds, thousands, millions, and billions of names.
Onward he flew, until the chute leveled out and the roots began to curl around him and pull at his clothes, slowing him to an almost complete stop. He had to crawl through the last few feet of the twisted root chute on his hands and knees.
He emerged onto a narrow jetty, which jutted out into a river that curved like a crooked smile. Uncle Mark, Theo, and Mary stood waiting for him, their outlines stark against a sky that was the color of crushed apricots.
“Come on, slowpoke,” Theo bellowed. Annoyance was etched all over his face.
Buzz got to his feet and saw that the soupy water of the river was bubbling and burbling. As the water lapped at the edge of the jetty, he thought he saw something shadowy swirling in the wash.
The air in this new land was as thick and sticky as marmalade, and he was sweating after only his first few steps along the jetty. There it is again. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a fleeting glimpse of a shadowlike creature that glided beneath the surface of the swampy water. More shadows joined it. They seemed to be gathering eagerly around the jetty.
“We’re not going for a swim, are we?” he asked, as he joined his companions. “Because we have company, and they don’t look friendly.”
Mary was looking at the creatures as well, her face thoughtful and even a little sad.
“They look pretty harmless, actually,” she insisted. “Not made of much. Just silt and mist. But they seem so . . .”
“Creepy.” Theo finished her sentence.
“No, that’s not what I was going to say.” Mary gave him a withering look. “Melancholic.”
He looked at her blankly.
“They look sad,” Mary explained.
“No swimming for us, Buzz. We have a ride.” Uncle Mark pointed farther down the jetty to a small boat that was tethered at the end—it would just about hold all of them. Its hull was as shiny as a beetle’s back, and as they got closer Buzz realized that the hull was actually made out of some kind of gemstone. Black onyx, perhaps. Its two sails shone as if they had a fine dusting of diamonds and sapphires over them.
“Great, we have a boat made out of jewels,” Theo said, as they continued to get closer. “Will it even float?”
“We’ll find out,” Buzz replied. “The boat has to be here for a reason.”
“‘We’ll find out.’” Theo mimicked, throwing up his hands. “Why, that just fills me with confidence. Freaky, do you even know how to work that thing? I know I don’t.”
Mary stopped and planted her hands on her hips. “Firstly, don’t call him Freaky. It’s not nice, and we’re all on the same team now. Secondly, you wanted to come on this quest, remember? Thirdly—and I hate to break it to you, champ—but being on a quest sometimes means figuring things out as we go along.” She nodded her head over to the boat. “That goes for sailing that thing.”
Buzz had never sailed before but felt his mind race as he sought the information he needed. Here it is, he thought in relief. Everything I need to know about sailing a boat. “Don’t worry. I think I know how to sail it. Get in.”
Mary winked at him and clambered onboard.
Theo got in as well, while Uncle Mark and Buzz untethered the boat from the jetty.
“Since when can you sail?” Uncle Mark asked. “Can’t imagine your dad taught you.”
“You’d be right. He didn’t.” Buzz didn’t feel like saying any more than that.
Stepping into the boat, Buzz positioned himself at the back next to the tiller and the spare oar. The others sat in front of him.
They had to wait for it, but eventually a gust of warm air caught the sails, and the boat drifted through the quagmire. Buzz steered them toward the bend in the river, and before too long the jetty was out of sight.
But not the shadowy creatures.
They circled the boat, gliding in and out of its path, the keel of the boat sometimes passing right through them and splitting them in two.
As the boat came around the bend of the marshy river, an enormous castle reared up into view. It was hewn out of the same impossibly shiny black stone as the boat, but the structure did not have a single window or door that Buzz could see. The castle floated in the middle of the marsh, rising up like a black iceberg.
“That’s where we go,” Mary said. “I’m sure of it.”
“But how do we get in?” Theo questioned.
Mary shot him a glance.
Theo shook his head, ruefully. “Oh, right, that’s it. We’ll figure it out.”
They circumnavigated the castle slowly but could see no way in—only the vicious shininess of the black stone that reflected the orange sky back at them. Buzz’s eyes ached from the glare.
Then he saw it. A narrow strip of mottled stone jutting out from the base of the castle. A docking station. No, correction, he thought. A very narrow docking station. It would just about hold all of them if they stood shoulder to shoulder. Above it he could see the edge of a large iron wheel and some script etched into the stone wall that was written in a language he didn’t recognize.
Buzz turned the tiller, steering the boat in so he could draw up alongside the stone edge, but all he felt was resistance, as if the boat was sailing through mud. “I can’t get in any closer,” he called out to the others. “I think the current is too strong.”
“It’s not the current.” Uncle Mark pointed over the side of the boat. “Look.”
Buzz peered into the water. The swarm of shadow creatures that had been following them since their departure was now a horde that completely surrounded their boat and held it still. They were stuck.
“What do they want?” Mary asked. “Why are they trying to stop us?”
Their boat began to rock from side to side as if in answer.
“They don’t want to stop us.” Theo stood up in the boat and looked around wildly. “They want to dump us in the water and eat us or something.” Shielding his eyes, he looked at the lip of stone that jutted from the castle. “Come on, if we jump, we’ll be able to make it onto that stone ledge.”
“It’s quite a risk, Theo,” Uncle Mark said. “What if you miss? What if you hit the wall?”
“I’ve got to try.” Theo scrambled backward and prepared to jump.
“Will you sit down?” Mary was holding the sides to keep the boat steady. “You’re making the rocking worse.”
Theo shook his head. “I don’t know what those shadow things want, but I’m not waiting to find out.”
“Theo,” Buzz pleaded, as more water began to slosh over the side of the boat. “Just wait a moment. There might be another way.”
“You guys say you figure things out.” Theo’s eyes were fixed on the stone ledge. “That’s what I’m doing.” He accelerated down the boat, Mary and Uncle Mark just managing to get out of his path as he sped past them. He took a running jump, his arms and legs cycling through the air.
Despite himself, Buzz was impressed. Theo had great momentum.
Buzz frowned. Actually, his momentum is a little too good. He started to call out a warning but it was too late.
Theo crashed into the wall with a yell of pain and slid down onto the ledge. Even from his position on the boat, Buzz could see that Theo’s temple and whole right cheek were grazed and bleeding, and he was only just managing to sit upright. He’s not going to keep his balance for long, Buzz thought. He’s not even fully conscious.
The boat was rocking even more fiercely now, and there was a cracking sound as two holes, one on either side of Mary, were punched in from outside the hull. Water began to well up through the wounds.
“We’re out of options,” Uncle Mark said. “We’re going to have to jump. Just like Theo.”
Mary nodded, her hands a blur as she bailed water out of the vessel. But the river’s invasion could not be stopped, even as she tried to use the old netting in the bottom of the boat to plug the hole between her and Uncle Mark.
“Mary, watch out!” Buzz shouted as a shadow squeezed through a hole and slinked in her direction. The shadow was not solid. Through its body, Buzz could see Uncle Mark, Mary, and even Theo sitting groggily on the castle’s ledge. As if it could feel’s Buzz’s gaze on it, the shadow turned to him and opened its mouth to reveal double rows of white razor teeth. Those teeth could rip and tear, and the shadow was warning Buzz to stay away.
It lunged toward Mary, and Buzz didn’t hesitate. He grabbed for the oar by his side and leaped forward, bringing the paddle down like a club.
The shadow split in two. The pieces of the creature screeched and thrashed, writhing on the ground like fish out of water.
“Go,” Buzz yelled. The shadow pieces were already sliding back toward each other. “Quickly, before it re-forms itself.”
“What about you?” Mary asked.
“I’m right behind you. I promise.”
“Buzz is right.” Uncle Mark was on his feet. “We need to get off this boat before it sinks or is overrun. I’ll go first, Mary, and move Theo along the ledge to make some room for you.”
He turned toward the narrow stone platform and, like Theo, took a running jump off the boat. Unlike Theo, his leap was expertly executed, and he landed nimbly on the ledge. Uncle Mark put an arm around Theo’s shoulders and gently moved him aside. Theo gave a whimper and then slumped against the shiny black wall once again.
“Now you, Mary,” Buzz said. The shadow creature was almost whole again, so Buzz brought his oar down on it once more.
Mary nodded, then tried to mimic Uncle Mark’s pace stride for stride. She bent her legs to leap, but as her feet left the stern of the boat, another shadow creature surged through the hole that Mary had been trying to plug just moments before. She gave a yell of rage as the shadow curled around her ankle; it stretched and strained to slow Mary’s momentum as she flew through the air.
The moment froze.
Then sped up.
Buzz scrambled forward and used the oar on the shadow that was pulling at Mary. It split in two, one part scurrying back through the hole, the other bit still clinging to Mary’s ankle.
She had covered half the distance now but it was impossible to say whether she was going to make it to the ledge.
Please don’t let her fall in the water, Buzz begged, even as he felt something cold and miserable wrap around his ankles.