We piled into the boat. It was a good vessel, made of an ultra-light rubber coated with something that made it quite durable. There were even some oars that had inflated when the boat did, and Sukey and I each took one while Zander and M.K. huddled in the bottom, trying to get warm after their dip in the river. I laid my vest out on the side of the boat so that Pucci’s feet wouldn’t puncture the rubber.
We wanted to save whatever was left of Zander’s light, so we switched it off and started down the dark river. It was strange, knowing we were moving but unable to see the sides of the cavern passing by as we went.
The river wound on through the rock and we floated along on the swift current, winding our way through the darkness. The caverns were filled with a mossy green scent that reminded me of frogs and fish.
The river was moving so quickly that Sukey and I didn’t even need to paddle.
“What do you think the Nackleys are doing right now?” I asked them.
“I bet they’re still digging,” M.K. said. “Did you see how many shovels they had?”
“They’re pretty determined,” Zander said. “And now that it’s been in the paper and everything, they probably feel like they have to find it. Leo Nackley would be humiliated if they went home empty-handed.”
“I wonder why BNDL’s so interested, anyway?” Sukey asked after a minute.
“What do you mean? It’s a treasure in gold, who wouldn’t be interested?” M.K. snorted. “Gold’s about the only thing that matters anymore.”
“But maybe there’s something else that BNDL wants to find,” Sukey said. “Something other than the treasure.”
“Like what?” I hadn’t thought about that.
“Well, I was thinking. Why did they establish BNDL in the first place?”
“For the resources,” I said, catching on. “It was after they discovered Gryluminum in Grygia and they realized that there might be all kinds of other resources, metals they could mine, coal, diamonds, agricultural land. All kinds of things.”
“Right. So what if there’s something here that they’re looking for?”
“Like what?” Zander asked. “You couldn’t farm very well down here. It’s too hot. And you’d need wa—” He grinned. “Oh.”
“Exactly,” Sukey said. “I was thinking about what they said about your dad and Munopia. The water. A new source of water in this part of the Southwest. That’s a big deal. There have been all these droughts lately, right? The legend goes that Dan Foley saw the golden treasure in an old mine, right? Well, you need water for a gold mine. Maybe they think that Dan Foley’s treasure will lead them to a river—this river. And then, of course, there’s the gold. I’m sure ANDLC would love to take the gold.”
We were all quiet for a while, just thinking as the boat took us to wherever it was that we were going. After half an hour or so, the current slowed and we seemed to be in a new part of the cavern.
Next to me, Sukey was alert, her eyes focused on the water, and I sensed that she was tensing up even before I became aware of the feeling that someone was watching us. Pucci seemed to sense it, too. He hopped around at the front of the boat, calling into the darkness as though he was hoping someone would answer him, and then flew up to Zander’s shoulder, where he cawed and complained.
“Pucci’s nervous,” Zander said, and as we looked ahead of us into the darkness, we could see that it was now lit up by what seemed like hundreds of tiny lights.
Or eyes.
There was a new smell in this part of the cavern, something musty that reminded me of a nest of rodents.
“What is that?” M.K. asked. “What’s out there?”
We stared up at the pairs of lights shining in the darkness, and as if in answer, one set of eyes seemed to detach from the others and we felt something swoosh through the air over our heads.
“We were wondering what might eat those giant slugs,” Zander said. “I think we may have figured it out.”
“Quick, turn on your light,” I told him. “We’ve got to see what it is.” Zander switched it on, looked up, and in the weak light from his vest, we saw them.
High in the walls of the cavern, on every possible surface, were hundreds of huge nests made of sticks and rocks. And sitting in the nests were giant birds.
They looked a bit like buzzards or vultures, with long necks and bald heads, but they were easily twice the size of any buzzard I’d ever seen. Their beaks looked sharp and their feathers, green and black, gleamed in the darkness. As we stared at them, they realized that we were there. As a group, they stirred, flexing their wings and stretching out of the nests. One launched itself into the air and sailed toward us, making a strange gurgling sound down in its throat.
“What do we do?” Sukey asked. I could barely see her face in the low light, but she sounded really scared.
Zander was now sitting up in the boat and looking around him at the birds. “They must be some kind of vulture,” he said. “But their beaks and heads are more like raptors’. I’ve never seen anything quite like them. Let me see your spyglass.”
“Zander,” I said. “I don’t care if they’re a brand-new species no one’s ever seen before. They’re coming after us.”
“We’ve got to row,” Sukey said. “I think we can get away from them. Come on, Kit. Look up ahead.” I did and saw what she meant. The ceiling of the cavern got gradually lower ahead of us. If we could squeeze beneath it, we might be able to escape the birds.
As though the birds had noticed our distress, others started detaching themselves from the wall and flying slowly toward us.
“Row harder, you two,” Zander called out.
“We’re trying,” Sukey said. “Here, Zander, you take over. I have an idea.” He did as she said.
She crawled to the back of the boat and suddenly a loud shot reverberated through the cavern. “Take that, you freaks!” she yelled.
“What are you doing?” Zander stopped paddling as he looked over his shoulder at her. “Did you just shoot at them?”
“I might be able to scare them off.”
“Are you crazy? The bullet’s liable to ricochet off the rock and kill one of us.”
“Oh, sorry. I guess you’re—help!” I turned around to find one of the birds landing on Sukey’s back. Its wicked beak struck at her hair and head and I swung at it with my oar. Pucci attacked, his metal talons out in front of him and the bird flew off with a strange clucking sound.
“Come on,” I said. “Everyone help us. We’ve got to get out of here.” Zander and I rowed with everything we had and Sukey and M.K. bent over and used their hands to paddle in the water. As I rowed, I felt wings brush my face and I reached up again to swipe at the horrible birds.
Suddenly there was a loud whoosh and I watched as one of the birds transformed into a fireball and plunged into the water, sputtering and flapping its wings until the flames were out.
“M.K.!” I yelled. When I turned around she was holding the flamethrower utility and grinning. “You’re going to set us all on fire!” We were almost to the place where the ceiling of the caverns dropped.
“I don’t think it’s high enough,” I said, trying to figure out how much clearance there was in the dim light. “We’re going to hit the rock.”
“We’ve got to try,” Zander said. “All right, everyone, when I get to three, duck.”
I felt one of the birds grabbing at my back with its talons, trying to pull me up into the air. It almost succeeded. Pucci squawked and knocked the bird away. I felt something wet splatter against my face.
“Damn it. Get away from me!” M.K. shouted and I knew that one of them was attacking her, too. “Damn! I dropped the flamethrower into the water. I have to—”
“No time to look for it,” I called. “We’re almost there. One.”
I waved my arms in the air. The birds were all around me and I felt one get ahold of my hair and try to lift me off the seat.
“Two,” Zander called.
I swung at the bird and felt it detach for a second before trying to get a better grip.
And then we were looking directly at the wall of rock.
“Three!”
We ducked.