Death's Academy (23 page)

“You enjoyed being a hero too much,” I say with a scowl.

He lets out a long sigh. “Not just that. They threatened … If I told what really happened, I would be
thrown out of the order … my whole family would be thrown out. We would no longer be halos.”

“What? Why all of you?”

“That type of deception would stain the entire family. Halos have very strict rules about that kind of thing. It would affect Brilliance and Brilliance’s children … I just couldn’t do it. I’ve been living with this bad choice my whole life.”

“So have I.”

He nods and rolls himself onto his back. He pushes himself into a sitting position.

“You led them to the Scythe of Grim too. You helped them get it,” I say.

“I had to. They had proof that I staged the
Queen Suzanne
. They were going to send it to the networks, and it would have been broadcast all over. So I helped them, but I always planned to get it back. I’ve been secretly coming here for years learning all the ways to get in and out without being noticed. I was going to return the Scythe.”

“How do I know if I let you go, you won’t leave me and Mal behind?”

“I won’t. I promise,” he says.

“Your
word
isn’t the most reassuring thing,” I say.

He bites his lip. “I swear on my daughter. I will get us all out alive and back home.”

I weigh what he has said for a moment. “You’ll tell the truth? About everything?”

He looks down at his feet and nods. I spring forward and untie the bonds around his wrists and ankles.

“We’ve got to hurry. The other one will be back
with more guards any second. Follow me,” he says and sprints out of the room.

I lug the heavy Scythe over my shoulder and trail after Lightcrest. We creep through the rest of the building and pop out through a back door.

“Didn’t we come the other way?” I say. “The Ferris wheel is back that way.”

“Yes, we did, but the mouth of an underground river is this way. We can use its current to take us back to the other side of the city. You can swim, right?”

I nod. “There aren’t any of those glowing fish in the river, are there?”

“No, but it is fast moving. If we miss the spot where we need to get out …”

“Yes?” I say, feeling like I am about to wet myself.

“We’ll be swept over a waterfall into the depths of the earth.”

“Where does the river end?” I ask, even more alarmed.

“The ocean. Now come on.”

Now for all of you shorties out there, I want to make it clear that the ocean is a good thousand miles from here. So it goes without saying that I am a bit nervous about this underground river idea.

We move quickly and silently through a neighborhood. The sound of gurgling water grows. We reach a wide hole. Ten feet down the water rushes by and disappears underneath the cavern floor.

“You didn’t tell me we were going to be in the water and in the dark!” I say.

“What about ‘underground river’ didn’t you understand?” Lightcrest asks.

I hold out the Scythe in front of me. “This thing is going to drown me. I can’t keep myself and it afloat!”

Suddenly a siren pierces the air and all of the lights on the Ferris wheel turn red and start flashing.

“That’s the alarm! The whole city is going to be looking for us,” Lightcrest says and holds out his hand. “Give it to me. I’ll carry it.”

I jerk it back tight against my body.

“I’m not going to keep it,” he says in exasperation. “I’ll just hold it until we get out of the river.”

I hand it over to him.

He takes the Scythe and tucks it under his arm. “Follow my lead. It will be pitch black for about a minute, and then you’ll see a bright light. When you see the light, you’ll see the exit. There are boulders along the side. You’ll be able to grab one and pull yourself out.”

Just behind us, the sound of unicorn hooves on the jelly-bean cobblestones grows louder.

“Let’s go,” he says and leaps from the edge of the hole. He dives into the water and is swept away under the cavern floor.

I take a deep breath and jump in after him. I plunge into the water and kick with all my might. My head shoots out, and I let out an operatic scream. It’s freezing!

In a split second, the light evaporates and I’m engulfed in utter darkness. I bob up and down, doing my best to keep my head above water. The river is moving much faster than it appeared from above.

Soon, a light grows ahead of me. It starts out as a distant pinprick but magnifies like a spotlight into the black. The shapes of boulders appear, and I tread toward them. I catch hold of one of them, but my hands slip off the slimy moss. I flail and reach out for another one. My hand slides across it, and I dip below the water. I scream, but only bubbles come out.

I burst out of the water spluttering and yelling. I reach for the last boulder before I am swept into the underground abyss. My hand catches it. I pull with all my might.

Thwip!
My hand slips from the boulder.

I plunge under the water, grasping for anything, a sob erupting in my throat. Suddenly my foot catches against a crystal jutting just out of the surface of the water and I kick. The force pushes me back onto the moss-covered boulder, and I grip it tightly with both hands. Choking and coughing, I pull myself on top of it.

“You all right?” Lightcrest asks.

I glance up and see a momentary flash of disappointment on Lightcrest’s face. Just as quickly, he masks it and extends out his hand. I don’t take it, but pull myself out of the river.

“Let’s go,” he says and hands me the Scythe.

I shoulder it and spring after Lightcrest. My drenched clothes cling to me, freezing me to the bone. My teeth start chattering like maracas in a Spanish flamenco band. We reach the Jolly Rancher wall, and Lightcrest puts his hands together like a stirrup. In one movement, I’m over the wall with the Scythe. He
lands next to me on the other side of the wall, and we crouch onto our knees.

“Down! Get down!” Lightcrest whispers.

Two unicorn guards are sweeping toward us. We crawl behind some protruding crystals and lie flat. They pass by, and we scurry to the next boulder.

Lightcrest waves me forward. “It’s clear.”

We reach the spot where we left Mal and Brilliance, but they’re nowhere to be found.

“Mal! Brilliance!” I say.

Lightcrest gives me a slap on the shoulder. “Shh!”

Twenty yards from us, Mal’s face pops up from behind a boulder.

“There!” I point, and we hurry over to Mal.

Brilliance is still unconscious. Lightcrest scoops her up in his arms and faces us.

“Do you see all of the mechanical gears and wheels over there?” he asks, motioning toward the cavern wall.

The gears and wheels still spin and whir at different speeds and in different directions all the way up to the ceiling. “Those things control everything down here. They’re like a power plant. Below the gears are tubes that connect with the surface. You step on the platforms inside a tube, pull a lever, and it shoots you up and out. It’s the fastest way to get out of the city. We’ve got to move. Stay close.”

We follow Lightcrest to the wall. He checks to make sure the coast is clear and scales the fence with Brilliance. I help Mal over and then climb to the other side myself.

“Follow me,” Lightcrest says.

Dozens of unicorns are scouring the streets looking for us. Lightcrest keeps to cracks between homes and behind walls. Several times we’re nearly spotted, but we’re able to stay out of sight. Near the base of the cavern wall, a candy-cane picket fence stands in between us and the gears up above. The fence has created a small compound. Inside the compound is a guard house and a blue-and-green tower with wide windows at the top.

I peer through a narrow gap between two fence slats and see what Lightcrest was talking about. Carved into the stone below the spinning gears are three arched entries that look very much like elevators.

I glance over at Mal, and we make eye contact. “Are those …?”

“Connected to the holes that I nearly fell into? I think so,” Mal says.

“Shh!” Lightcrest says and hold his hand up to us. “What’s that?”

My eyes flash in every direction looking for unicorns, but there isn’t one to be seen. “I don’t see anyone.”

“Listen,” Lightcrest hisses.

I hold my breath. Faintly, like a distant train, a rumbling grows.

“What is that?” Mal asks.

I look down where my hand is pressed against the cavern floor and small pebbles are trembling.

“Is it an earthquake?” I ask and take a couple of steps toward the approaching sound. Mal creeps up next to me and tugs on my shirt.

“We better get going,” she says.

“There’s a release valve at the top of the guard tower. You’ll know it when you see it. It must be twisted to the left to allow the tubes to work,” Lightcrest says, staring directly at me.

I have a terrible feeling that he means to have me release the valve.

“The tower looks empty. You’ll have plenty of time once you release it to get to your tube, but I would recommend not taking all day,” Lightcrest says.

I swallow. “Okay.”

The rumbling transforms into a roll of thunder that’s heading directly toward us.

“They’re coming,” Mal says, gripping my arm.

I turn to Lightcrest. “What’s going to stop them from following us up the tubes?”

“Nothing … We’ve got to outrun them,” Lightcrest says and turns toward the opening to the compound.

“Will you carry this for me?” I ask and extend the Scythe to Mal. “Just till we meet back up.”

She takes it from me. “Be careful.”

Mal and Lightcrest run for the stone arches and the tubes, and I for the guard tower. I burst through the door and start climbing the winding staircase. I scale the final set of stairs two at a time and sprint into the room at the top of the tower. I’m not alone.

I skid to a stop inches from a reclined Shetland unicorn. His little feet are up on a desk, his stubby arms crossed on his chest. I gasp and jump backward. He doesn’t move. He has a pair of shorty headphones in his ears and his eyes are closed.

He’s asleep! I glance around. A stack of unicorn magazines litter his desk and a long red licorice whip is wound up hanging on the wall. Where’s that stupid valve? I take a couple of steps around to the other side, and I see a bright green knob that looks like the valve I use to turn on our water hose in the back yard. That’s got to be it. I take a step toward it and make the mistake of looking out the window.

Two dozen rampaging unicorns careen around a street corner and dash toward the compound’s entrance. My eyes flicker over to the tubes. Mal has jumped into one, and Lightcrest and Brilliance in the other. I grab the valve and twist it to the left. There’s a terrible whistle and steam shoots out of the pipes jutting out of the ground near the tubes. Lightcrest and Brilliance disappear first, and then Mal pulls on the lever and she’s shot up the tube and out of sight.

I turn and head for the door when I notice the sleeping Shetland unicorn stir. He jumps from his chair and looks around. He sees me and cocks his head to the side like he doesn’t quite understand what’s going on. I lunge for the licorice whip and rip it from the wall. He leaps toward me just as I crack the whip at him. It lassos around his chest and pins his arms. He trips and loses his balance. He stumbles past me and reaches the edge of the first step in the winding staircase. He catches himself barely and teeters with his hooves at the precipice.

We make eye contact and he realizes what I’m about to do. He lets out a long whimper, and I give
him a soft push with my forefinger. He tumbles backward down the stairs.

Oh, don’t give me that look. You would have done the same thing if you were in my shoes.

I bound down the stairs and through the door. A muscular unicorn with a familiar scar is rushing through the gate. It’s Raindrop. Close behind him is a herd of unicorns frothing at their mouths.

He sees me, lets out an ear-piercing whinny, and gallops toward me. I run with all my might, my legs churning faster than they have ever moved. The last tube is twenty yards away … ten yards … His hooves are pounding right on my heels. I dive into the wide tube opening and reach out my arm. My hand catches the lever and yanks it backward. The platform shakes once and rockets upward.

Raindrop’s furious scream fades behind me as I am propelled upward. The force of the elevator presses me against the floor and I feel like I’m going to be squashed into a puddle. Suddenly the elevator shakes violently and starts to slow down. My body actually levitates off the ground and I hover a few feet above the floor until gravity catches up with me and slams me back to earth.

“Night!”

Mal grabs me by the arm and helps me to my feet. I look around, the world still spinning. My eyes come into focus and I recognize the giant gear that’s spinning just above us against the back wall. The other two holes have been filled with the elevator floors.

“We’ve got to keep moving,” Lightcrest says breathlessly. “They’re going to follow—”

A metal shriek rings out, and the massive gear behind us begins to spin faster and faster. The ground where Mal was standing suddenly drops, and the elevator shoots back down to the unicorn city. I jump from my platform just as it and the other elevator vanish. The gear spins so fast it becomes a blur. I watch it for a second, and then it begins to slow down again. An idea pops into my head.

Lightcrest turns and runs down the pathway between the stalagmites. Mal turns to run, and I catch her by the shoulder.

“Wait!” I say and take the Scythe from her.

She looks at me confused.

“They’ll catch us unless I slow them down. I’ve got an idea,” I say.

“What? How?” Mal protests.

“This gear. It’s the key. I’ve got to jam it or destroy it.”

“With what? They’re going to be here any second!”

“You said the Scythe of Grim holds all of the original Death’s powers right?” I ask.

Mal nods. “That’s what I read.”

The gear stops spinning. The elevators must have reached the bottom. I inch forward and walk the narrow path between the elevator shafts and the back wall. The gear begins to spin again, going faster and faster.