most punishment.
She’d just landed a particularly nice hit on a creature when she caught a flicker of dark movement to her right. She looked to see Paul and Sofia-and their bike-plummeting toward the ground.
She zoomed in that direction without an instant’s hesitation.
~
Sofia’s Windbike sputtered sporadically, humming to life with a jolt for the briefest of moments before dying again. Paul hugged Sofia tightly from behind, probably hoping she’d never bring it up again should they somehow survive.
But Sofia knew they’d be dead in seconds, and wondered what life as a Realitant might’ve been like. She thought she might have liked it.
~
Mothball didn’t have time to think or ponder several options. Only one made sense, and she went for it, quickly stuffing the Barrier Wand through a belt loop with one hand while she steered with the other.
In a nosedive that made her eyes water, she rushed toward Sofia and Paul, who clung to their useless Windbike as it plummeted in a downward spiral. Their present course would smash them against a group of boulders clustered close to the river. Mothball intended to change that course.
At the last second before she caught up with the falling bike, Mothball swerved hard to the right then arrowed back in straight at Sofia and Paul, keeping pace with their rate of descent, knowing she only had one shot. As soon as she made contact, Mothball gunned her own Windbike, pushing the other one at an angle as it fell.
Toward the river.
What had been certain death was now a chance.
If the ruddy water was deep enough.
Tick flew up and over the stone parapet bordering the massive crown of the castle, then skimmed along the loose gravel covering the roof. The two fangen had touched down, folding their wings behind them; Sato was clutched between them, his head hanging low.
When they spotted Tick, the two fangen howled out a piercing cry, seeming to dare Tick to attempt a rescue. From both sides of the castle walls, more of the creatures charged in, hungry to join the fight.
Tick never slowed down.
“Sato!” he screamed. “Duck!”
The boy showed no signs he’d heard or even planned to do as he was told, but Tick knew he had no other choice. He leaned forward, trying to envision in his mind what he was about to do.
“Sato!” he screamed again, only thirty feet away. “Duck-NOW!”
To Tick’s relief, Sato buckled his legs and fell toward the roof, catching his captors by surprise. Though they didn’t let go, both fangen looked down at Sato, their attention diverted for an instant, their heads high enough to serve as a perfect target.
Tick yanked back and to the left on the handlebars, leaning hard to the left as the Windbike spun, slowing as the back end swerved around and slammed into the upper bodies of the two fangen. Tick felt a jolt of pain as one of the creatures bit at his right leg before it toppled over. Both of the horrible creatures let go of Sato, stunned by the sudden impact.
Tick steadied the Windbike and lowered it all the way to the loose rocks of the roof. “Get on!” he yelled. Dozens of fangen were charging right for them.
Sato was bruised and battered, his face still pale with the terror of being captured, but he crawled to the bike and pulled himself onto the seat, Tick helping him the last few inches.
Out of the corners of his eyes, Tick saw a blur of yellowed skin and vicious claws. He felt an icy touch on his elbow. Before anything could take hold, Tick shot the Windbike up and away from the sea of disgusting monsters.
A storm of fangen took flight in pursuit.
~
Paul had absolutely no idea what happened.
His mind had been fading, shutting down into a blissful state of unconsciousness so he didn’t have to feel the excruciating instant of pain when his body smacked into the ground. But everything changed in a sudden rush of intense cold and wetness.
Water engulfed him, filling his lungs as he instinctively sucked in air at the shock of impact. As he felt his feet slam into the river bottom-hard enough to almost break his legs-he sputtered and coughed, his instincts trying to prevent him from taking another breath and killing himself. The next instant, he felt a massive arm grab him around the chest and pull him through the water.
But not up-not toward air.
The arm pulled him to the side, skimming his body along the sandy river bottom.
Paul had one moment to wonder if he was dead before everything grew very dark.
~
Tick shot into the open air away from the castle, his blood freezing at the sight of countless fangen everywhere. The air was full of them, defying gravity as they flew with their pale, weak-looking wings. More crawled and ran across the grounds, an endless army of ants. Not knowing where to go or what to do, Tick frantically searched the sky and the ground for any glimpse of his friends.
A flash of red far below caught his eye. One of the Windbikes, in the river.
And no sign of anyone near it.
His heart sinking faster than he could ever fly, Tick slammed on the handlebars and catapulted toward the ground.
~
After swimming under the thick stone arch from which the slow-moving river exited the Lemon Fortress, Mothball kicked with all of her might toward the surface, dragging both Sofia and Paul in her arms. Desperate for air, she could only imagine how her two little friends were doing, if they still lived.
Her head broke through the surface with a loud splash; she sucked in the most refreshing breath of her life. Even as she did so, she pulled up with her arms, bringing Paul and Sofia’s faces above the water line.
Mothball’s heart almost leaped out of her chest when both of the kids coughed and sputtered for air. With an inexplicable laugh, she dragged them to the side of the river where she helped them climb out and onto a wide stone walkway. Paul fell over, spitting and sucking, spitting and sucking. Sofia seemed better, taking in slow, deep breaths as she looked around, her eyes wide.
They stood next to the river in a long, dark tunnel that delved in one direction for what seemed like eternity, no end in sight. On the other side, the river disappeared under a thick stone wall, flowing outside the castle wall. Next to that stood the huge wooden doors they’d seen from the outside. They were still halfway open and letting in enough light to prevent them from being in complete darkness.
“This is where those creatures came from,” Sofia whispered.
“Best be glad they’re out there, now,” Mothball muttered. She pulled the Barrier Wand out of the huge belt loop where she’d stuck it for safekeeping.
Paul had recovered enough to stand up, his chest still heaving as he fought to catch his breath. “What happened to Tick and Sato?”
As if in answer, they heard Tick shout from outside the doors. “Mothball!”
His Windbike had flown down from somewhere above; he hovered just outside, Sato on the back.
“Wait a minute,” Paul said. “I thought Sato was driving the bike.”
“Quick!” Mothball yelled, ignoring Paul. “Get in ’ere!”
She saw Tick obey immediately, shooting the Windbike through the narrow space between the half-open doors. Even as he did, Mothball grabbed the long ropes hanging on the inside of the huge slabs of wood that served as handles to pull them closed.
“Help me!” she yelled.
As the others moved to her side and pulled with her, Mothball looked outside. Just before the doors slammed shut with a loud boom, she saw the hideous sight of countless fangen charging directly for them.
