The Prophecy of Atlantis

on the side of the cliff, but she could barely see it from this distance.

  “Is it that dark spot way up there?”

  “Yep!” Spike turned and started swimming up.

  “Wait a minute, where are you going?”

  “You said you were in a hurry to meet the king,” Spike said.

  “I don’t like the way that cave looks. It’s dark and small.”

  “You seemed pretty happy in one when I met you.”

  “That was a guest cave in the middle of Starshadow. This cave looks like the cell Titan put me in.” Lilliana shivered at the memory of the utter darkness and rancid stench. Lance was still trapped in a cave with no space to turn around and no friend to turn to. She swallowed. If only there was someone else who could do this.

  Spike stopped his upward swim and looked at Lilliana. “I know the sharks were mean to you, and I’m sorry I wasn’t there, but we’re not done yet. I’ll stay with you until we get to the other side. I won’t leave you. You're my best friend.” Spike looked at Lilliana with his big eyes and sweet face, and then he started swimming up towards the cave.

  Sometimes that little fish knew what was in her heart. She pulled hard with her hands and swam towards the darkness of the cave.

  Outside the cave, Spike stopped and turned to Lilliana.

  “Um, you gotta do what I do when we go in there, OK?”

  “Are there urchins in there?”

  “Nope. No urchins. Stay behind me and don’t touch bottom. Don’t touch the walls or the top, but really don’t touch the bottom. OK?”

  “But why – “ Lilliana was cut off as Spike swam to the opening and went in.

  Lilliana looked for a moment at the dark tunnel. It was big enough for a girl, but too small for a horse. It would be hard not to touch the edges, but nothing on this journey had been easy. She pulled a breath past her gills and went forward.

  “Spike?”

  Lilliana could hear small clicking sounds in response. It sounded like shells on the beach washed together in the waves.

  “Spike, are you there?”

  More clicking.

  “Shhhhhh,” Spike said. “Follow the current.”

  The clicks responded lightly.

  Lilliana felt the water move across her face. The water flowed from one end of the tunnel to the other, just like a creek. It felt cool, but it wasn’t fresh. There was a strange metallic taste to the water; like bad eggs and rotted leaves left in a tin pot. There was no way to keep the taste out of her gills. Lilliana strained to see ahead, but the cave was darker on the inside than it looked on the outside. Even the darkest ocean night had shadows in the distance, but this was just black. Memories of Titan rose before her and she closed her eyes. She had just escaped one pit to end up in another just as dark. Her heart started to race and she licked her lips. How long was this tunnel?

  “Are we almost there?” Lilliana asked lightly.

  Loud clicks came from somewhere below her feet. This time the sound was bigger and lower. Like the clatter of a sword on the marble floor of the ballroom. It felt like it was much farther away too. How deep was this cave?

  “Sh!” Spike’s response was fast and short. More loud clicks clamored from the floor, but died down quickly.

  There was something down there. Whatever it was, Spike didn’t want to wake it up, and he didn’t want to tell Lilliana about it. Don’t touch the floor, she reminded herself.

  Lilliana moved forward again, hitting her forehead on one of Spike’s barbs.

  “Ouch!” she moved up to touch the sore on her head and drifted into the ceiling. Immediately it came to life with a spot of light as big as a boulder. Glow worms! Lilliana grinned at Spike.

  “What’s so bad about glow worms?”

  Spike turned to look at her. His eyes were huge and all the color had drained out of his scales making him look pale. The clicking sound grew around all sides of them. Lilliana looked down.

  “What are those? Spiders can’t live in the sea!”

  Twenty feet below them were giant red-orange spiders moving like an ocean of their own. Each spider had eight thin legs that were as long as Lilliana’s and in front of their fanged mouths were sharp pincers. Their beady eyes were perched on top of crusty heads and hundreds of them turned to look at the intruders, clicking their claws on each other’s backs when there was no more space on the ground. Some reached their long arms towards them.

  “They’re not spiders, they’re spider crabs! Swim!” Spike yelled.

  “Which way?” Lilliana screamed. She was confused. The spider crabs were everywhere. Which way should she go?

  “Follow. Me.” Spike said clearly.

  Lilliana bumped her head and more of the glow worms lit up. She could see the top of the tunnel stretching off into the distance. She pulled the water with her hands and kicked with her feet. Something sharp grabbed her toes, and she kicked harder.

  Ahead she could see the spider crabs climbing the walls leaving patches of darkness in between the glow worms.

  “What’s happening? What are they doing?”

  “They eat the worms and then the worms turn off again,” Spike huffed.

  “That’s good, right?”

  “Then they’re all around us instead of just on the bottom!”

  As if to illustrate his point Lilliana felt something pull her hair from the side. She swiped at it with her hand and heard a clanking as the crab fell to the ground. In an instant the other crabs covered it and it was gone.

  “Do they eat each other?”

  “They just eat! Now swim!”

  Lilliana streamlined her body and pulled her strokes close to her side. She focused her eyes on Spike and followed his every move. She turned when he did and rose and sank with the same speed as the little fish. Claws seemed to come at her from every angle as the spider crabs climbed up the sides of the cave. Dim ovals on the roof showed places where the glow worms had been attacked and where a killer crab might still lurk. The largest crabs stayed on the bottom looking hopefully towards the top. Occasional falls ended in crab fights and food to the victor.

  Soon the floor seemed to creep toward them, lifting the crabs to almost within reach.

  “They’re getting closer to me Spike! What do I do?”

  “I see the end of the tunnel. It gets small here, so we’ll have to fight our way through!”

  Lilliana gulped and looked ahead. The tunnel grew narrower and she could almost see the exit. Almost. In front of the hole was the biggest spider crab she had seen. Its upper shell was a deep orange and its pincers were as long as she was tall. It clicked its claws together and turned its beady black eyes towards her. Its fangs dripped with pieces of meat as its mouth opened and closed. It spread its legs wide enough to stop a horse and stretched its pincers towards her. Its crusty orange body was covered with white spots that glowed with the leftover worms of previous meals.

  “Follow me,” said Spike. “I’ll distract it.”

  Spike swam over to the crab and puffed himself up halfway.

  “Don’t you want me? Aren’t I tasty?” Spike taunted the big spider.

  The spider crab reached up towards the puffer. Spike flipped and spun in front of the crab, and under its legs. Spike swam just outside the entrance looking at the big crab.

  “Come and get me!”

  The spider crab looked at Spike for a moment, but it was not fooled. It turned its big head towards Lilliana and clicked its pincers together. Words could not have been clearer. This crab wanted dinner and it wanted her.

  Lilliana tried to swim to one side, but the crab grabbed her arm. She felt the pincers dig into her flesh as she pulled her arm free and swam backwards. The other crabs clicked excitedly towards her, hoping for bits of food, for bits of her.

  Lilliana had to come up with a plan. Two more giant crabs were closing in on her and the biggest one in front of the exit was patiently wa
iting for her next move. Lilliana drifted up towards the ceiling.

  “Sorry about this,” she whispered as she gathered a handful of glowworms. Lilliana swam closer to the king crab and threw the worms to the left of its head while she dove to the right. Her hands gripped the rocky exit to the cave and she pushed her head through. Pain shot through her legs as the spider’s pincers grabbed her from inside the cave.

  “Help her out,” she heard Spike say.

  Three small sets of clawed hands pulled on her arms and shoulders. She could feel the vibrations of the scraping crab’s claws through the rocks. Its pincers were tighter now and Lilliana heard clicks and scrapes as it pulled her back into the cave. She started to lose her grip.

  “What is this thing?” one of the otters asked.

  “Keep pulling!” Spike yelled, puffing up to full size.

  The spider crab pinched harder and Lilliana could feel its pincers tearing the flesh on her legs. She screamed and rolled, trying to get out of the monster’s claws. She kicked her feet, but it held on fast.

  “Come on boys! Hurry! Pull her out now!”

  The otters braced their feet on the outside of the wall and pulled on Lilliana’s arms. There were loud clicks and scrapes as the crab lost its footing on the cave and Lilliana fell forward with the creature still clutching her legs. The otters pulled her out several feet and turned to the cave. In front of it was not one, but 3 of the largest spider crabs from the tunnel. The otters gathered around and stared for a moment.

  “Food!” yelled one of them and in moments the water was filled with brown otters tumbling over each other. The sea churned as they