When they were all standing around the arrow—but keeping their distance from the edge of the mountain—Tom reached out to grab the paper. His brow furrowed in confusion as he read.
“What does it say?” Declan asked.
Tom held the paper out so they could all lean in and read it.
Time to swim. Don’t forget your raft.
And sweet dreams.
“What does that—”
The rest of Alex’s sentence was drowned out as the ground rumbled beneath them and an entire portion of it corroded under their feet, dissolving away into nothing…
… And they plummeted down into the ravine far, far below.
ky voi ce.
Fifteen
Their screams filled the air as they fell faster and faster. Alex knew none of them would survive the fall, even if they managed to avoid hitting the rocks in the river below. They were too high for the impact not to kill them.
She closed her eyes and waited for the inevitable, but when her torso was suddenly yanked upwards, she shrieked and opened them again, and was astonished by what she was seeing.
Her classmates’ backpacks had each released a parachute, and those parachutes were easing them safely to the ground.
Alex let out an incredulous laugh, and she heard some of the others joining her.
“Everyone okay?” Declan yelled over the sound of the wind and the churning water below.
Alex couldn’t hear everyone’s responses clearly, but it looked like they were all fine. Pipsqueak in particular seemed to be having a grand old time.
As they sailed closer to the water below, Alex began to worry about what would come next.
“Declan!” she yelled. She had to call out twice more before he heard her.
“Yeah?” he yelled back.
“The raft! You have to inflate the raft!”
He couldn’t hear her over the noise, so she tried to mime it out for him. Her attempt failed miserably, so she spelled out the word R-A-F-T in the air. After a few repeats, his eyes widened with realisation and he looked at the crashing rapids below them.
Since his backpack was acting as a parachute, Alex could see he was struggling to reach around and get the raft out. By his third attempt, she was nervously watching the river come closer and closer. When she was low enough to feel the spray on her face, she heard Declan’s victorious exclamation, but that was all she knew before her parachute unattached itself and she fell the remaining distance into the icy mountain river.
Submerged, Alex was tossed and turned as the current dragged her along, unable to draw breath as she was churned through the rapids. Just when she began to fear losing consciousness from oxygen deprivation, something yanked hard on her pack, and she was pulled roughly out of the water and over the side of the inflated raft. After coughing the river out of her lungs and inhaling some much needed air she was able to see that all her waterlogged classmates were already in the vessel, grasping onto the rope-handled sides.
“Can somebody please tell me what this nightmare has to do with Stealth and Subterfuge?” she asked through chattering teeth.
No one could answer her. They all held on for dear life as the raft moved them swiftly along the rapids.
After about half an hour of mind-numbing bumps and repeated body-soaking splashes, the river calmed and they slowed to a more comfortable pace.
“Everyone alive?” Tom asked, uttering the first words any of them had spoken since Alex’s outburst upon entering the raft.
Once they’d all acknowledged they were okay—relatively speaking—they decided to make the most of their situation and eat some dinner. The sun was disappearing behind the mountains surrounding them and very soon they would have no light left. That thought alone caused Alex to shiver, and the chill left over from the icy water didn’t help her lack of warmth. She was really cold.
“Here, Alex,” Kaiden said, and when she turned his way, he blew some kind of glittery, gold dust into her face.
She sneezed twice before wrinkling her nose at him. “Why did you…?”
Alex paused mid-question when she felt the most pleasantly warm feeling rush around her body. An instant later, every part of her—including her hair, clothes and backpack—was completely dry.
Her mouth dropped open and Kaiden grinned at her. “My turn.”
He handed her a small metal tin filled with glittering dust that she recognised from her medical kit. She looked around and saw that everyone was using the powder in the same way, so she dropped some of it into her hand and, after hesitating only a moment, blew it into Kaiden’s face.
He closed his eyes as the warmth enveloped him, and just like Alex, a moment later he was dry.
“What is this stuff?” she asked, her voice full of wonder.
“Quick-Dry,” Kaiden answered. “You’ve never used it before?”
“Never,” Alex admitted as she handed the container back to him.
“That’s weird,” Kaiden said, but he left it at that, much to Alex’s relief.
The group ate their meagre dinner of camping rations in silence as they drifted along the river. By the time they’d finished eating there was almost no light left.
“How are we supposed to see the next arrow?” Skyla asked.
“I think we’ve had all the instructions we’re going to get for the day,” Declan said. “Hunter’s last note had ‘sweet dreams’ at the end. I’m guessing we’re supposed to sleep here.”
“As in, here?” Skyla gestured around them. “But we’re floating. What if I sleepwalk? I’ll end up in the river!”
They all stared at her, until Tom asked what they were all wondering. “Do you sleepwalk often?”
Skyla tilted her head in puzzlement. “Should I?”
Alex had to stifle a laugh at the baffled look on Skyla’s face.
“Well, no, hopefully you shouldn’t,” Tom said, looking around for help from the others.
“Then of course I don’t,” Skyla said. “Honestly, the questions you people ask!”
“But, you’re the one who said—” Tom began, but Alex interrupted his frustrated words.
“I think you’ll be fine, Skyla. We won’t let you fall into the river, whether you sleepwalk or not.”
“But I don’t sleepwalk,” Skyla said with genuine confusion.
Jordan wasn’t the only one who tried to turn his amusement into a half-convincing cough.
“I’m tired,” Pipsqueak broke in, changing the course of the conversation.
“Pip’s right,” Declan said. “I know it’s early, but we’ve all had an insane day. We should get some shut-eye, especially if tomorrow is anything like today.”
Alex agreed wholeheartedly. The events of the day had successfully spiked her adrenaline enough to keep her exhaustion at bay, but her week of limited sleep was crashing dowThe raft was large enough that they could all comfortably lie down even with its heavily inflated sides. Alex pulled her sleeping bag from her backpack and snuggled inside it, and she had only a few moments of consciousness left to say goodnight before she drifted off to sleep.
“Alex, wake up.”
Something was nudging her but she wasn’t ready to pull herself from her blissful slumber.
“Alex?”
“Maybe if I blow my morning breath in her face she’ll wake up?”
“Didn’t you see how exhausted she was last night, Blink? Just give her a moment.”
“No sweat, bro. Just a suggestion.”
Alex wanted to roll over to stop the annoying voices buzzing in her ears so she could go back to sleep. But they continued talking and her consciousness came slamming back when she remembered where she was. Her eyes snapped open and she sat up with a gasp—which turned into a painful moan when she smacked heads with Jordan.
“Oww!” he cried, flinching backwards and holding a hand to his forehead.
“What are you doing?” Alex asked, massaging her throbbing skull.
“Trying to wake the dead, apparently,” he said. ?
??I have no idea how you slept so well. The rest of us hardly managed a wink.”
Looking around, Alex could see that her classmates didn’t exactly look well rested. But she felt better than she had in a while, that was for sure.
“Why’d you wake me?” she asked, unzipping her sleeping bag and stretching her limbs.
“The river’s ending,” he said, pointing to stagnant body of water not too far ahead. “I thought you might want something to eat before we have to tackle whatever’s next.”
That was thoughtful of him, so she decided not to be annoyed that he’d woken her from the best sleep she’d had all week.
“Thanks, Jordan.”
He smiled and handed over her backpack. She wasn’t hungry, but she knew she’d need her strength for whatever Hunter had in store for them, so she guzzled down an energy bar and a handful of dehydrated fruit, along with a good portion of water. The bottles they’d been given seemed to have some kind of automatic refill as none of them had run out of water. That was convenient, at least in Alex’s opinion.
“What’s the plan?” she asked Jordan as she packed away her gear.
He shrugged. “Same as yesterday. Look for the next arrow, follow the instructions, and hopefully make it home later this arvo.”
She re-zipped her pack. “I can’t wait for this day to be over.”
“Aren’t you enjoying it at least a little bit?”
Jordan looked so excited that Alex didn’t have the heart to bring him down with a reminder of the dangerous situations they’d faced the previous day. “It’s been challenging, but we’re still alive. So, yay for that,” she agreed.
“What are we yaying?” Declan asked, shuffling over to join their conversation.
“Life,” Alex said simply.
“A good yay-point, for sure,” he agreed with a grin.
“You’re chirpy this morning,” Alex observed, noting the happy expression on his face.
“Why shouldn’t I be?” Declan threw his hands behind his head and leaned back against the raft’s side. “The sky is blue, the birds are singing—it’s going to be a beautiful day.”
Alex looked from him to Jordan and back again, her eyes narrowing with suspicion. “Has someone used the relaxant stuff on you?”
Declan chuckled and shook his head, but then his expression turned solemn and he leaned forward to whisper, “If you get a chance, you might want to speak with Pip about what happened yesterday. She’s back to normal now, and I think she’s a little embarrassed about it all.”
Alex looked over her shoulder at Pipsqueak who was sitting on the opposite side of the raft and staring morosely out at the water.
“Will do,” Alex promised.
“All right, guys,” Tom said, capturing everyone’s attention. “We’re not moving much anymore, so I say it’s time for us to search around for the arrow on land.”
They all agreed, and as a team they leaned over the side of the raft and used their hands to paddle until they reached the riverbank and scrambled out one by one.
Leaving the raft behind but taking the rest of their possessions with them, it took half an hour of aimless wandering in the area before they found the next arrow. In that time, Alex was able to pull Pipsqueak aside to speak with her. It turned out that Pip was ashamed of her relaxant-blurred memories from the previous day, but after a few words of encouragement, Alex managed to cheer her up and she returned to her normal self.
“We have a simple task this time,” Tom said, scanning the newest instructions. “It says, ‘Continue south until you reach the village.’”
That seemed easy enough, to Alex’s relief. But that relief turned into whining grumbles when, six hours and fifteen Hunter-laid traps later, they still hadn’t reached the village.
“I’m tired,” Skyla complained when they stopped for lunch.
“We’re all tired,” Pipsqueak grumbled back.
“My feet hurt,” Skyla continued to complain.
No one bothered replying that time.
After another two hours the forest began to thin and the greenery started to dry out. The rocky dirt beneath their feet turned into sandy dust, and the air became hotter and dryer.
“I can’t believe Hunter would lead us into the Soori Desert,” Pipsqueak said, sounding exhausted. “That’s so irresponsible of him. The desert is dangerous.”
After everything else they’d faced—which, granted, Pip didn’t remember as vividly as the rest of them—Alex didn’t doubt that the desert was exactly like somewhere Hunter might send them. But it turned out they didn’t have to worry about entering the arid wasteland. Because on the outskirts of the forest, just before the woodsy landscape morphed into unending dunes of sand, they found the village.
‘Village’ was such an inadequate term for the intimidating, fortified walls that surrounded the buildings within. Alex and her classmates scaled a tree in order to get a glimpse into the settlement, but even that view wasn’t comforting. The village looked more like some kind of military compound than anything else.
“I have a bad feeling about this,” Alex said as they all balanced in the tree.
“I have the same feeling,” Kaiden muttered in agreement. “And I think it’s about to get worse.”
He pointed at something just above her head and Alex realised she’d been so focused on the village that she’d missed the arrow. She reached up and tore off the paper note.
Enter the command outpost at the top of the garrison
and retrieve the red envelope.
IT IS IN YOUR BEST INTERESTS
TO REMAIN UNSEEN.
When your task is complete, open the envelope for
more instructions and the Bubbledoor to take you to
your next destination.
“At least there’s no riddle,” Jordan commented after she read the instructions out loud.
As one, Alex and her classmates all turned to look at him.
“What?” he asked.
“Did you hear the same words as the rest of us?” Pipsqueak asked, her tone almost hysterical. “We have to break into a military outpost—and the command centre, at that! We’re so going to prison for this.”
“Yo, check out the wicked-looking weapons they’re holding,” Blink said, pointing to one of the guards walking along the top of the wall carrying some kind of silvery object in his hands.
“Standard-issue military Stabiliser,” Kaiden informed the rest of them. “One shot will knock you unconscious for ten minutes; a second shot in that time will kill you.”
Alex looked at him questioningly but he avoided her gaze, along with everyone else’s. She wondered if advanced weapons knowledge was common in Medora, but for some reason, she doubted that was the case.
“What’s our plan of action?” she asked, taking the clearly unwanted attention off him.
“First off, we need to find the outpost Hunter’s note refers to,” Tom said.
“It’s over there,” Kaiden replied, pointing to a part of the wall that rose higher than the rest, almost like a tower.
While his answer seemed the logical choice, Alex wasn’t sure why he seemed so convinced. Apparently Tom was doubtful as well.
“How do you know?” the apprentice asked.
“I’ve been here before,” Kaiden said.
Alex wasn’t the only one gaping at him, but she was the first to get over her shock.
“That sounds like a good enough reason to me,” she said, moving the attention off him again. “Now we just have to figure out how to get over there and back without being seen. Any ideas?”
“I don’t think we all need to go,” Pipsqueak said. “There’s no point in everyone getting caught.”
“Pip’s right,” Tom agreed. “The more of us who try to sneak in, the less stealthy we’ll be.”
“I’ll go,” Kaiden said. “I already know where to look.”
“I’ll go with you,” Declan said.
“No, I’ll go,” Jordan said. “My gift
will get us in and out without being seen.”
When everyone but Alex looked at him in question, he explained how his gift of transcendence could make him and anyone he touched disappear. Their anxious expressions vanished with his words and they were immediately more confident of the mission’s success.
“Did anyone think to bring a ComTCD?” Tom asked.
“I did,” Skyla said as she pulled her sparkly pink Device from her bag and handed it over.
“That’s, um, very pretty,” Tom said, holding the glitter-covered piece of tech precariously between his fingers as if fearing the bedazzlement might be contagious. “Anyone else?”
“Here,” Pipsqueak said, handing over her plain black ComTCD.
“I’ll open a link between us so we can stay in contact,” Tom explained, fiddling with both Devices.
“You won’t be able to see us while I’m using my gift,” Jordan said, securing his and Kaiden’s backpacks to the tree.
“I’m not using the holograph function,” Tom said. “Just the audio setting so we can hear what’s going on around you in case something goes wrong.”
“We’ll be fine,” Jordan said, but he accepted the offered ComTCD and slid it into his pocket.
Kaiden didn’t look as confident as Jordan, and Alex was pretty sure she heard him mumble under his breath, “This isn’t going to work.” But despite his words, he shimmied down the tree, followed closely by Jordan. When they were at the wall, Jordan reached out to grasp Kaiden’s shoulder and both of them disappeared from sight.
“Now we wait,” Declan said. He sounded as miserable as Alex felt at being left behind. If she could have come up with a valid reason for joining them, she would have. But here she was, stuck sitting safely in a tree and waiting anxiously for their return.
Minutes passed and with them came whispered updates through the ComTCD.
“We’re through the gate.”
“We’ve reached the other side of the compound.”
“We’ve found the stairs leading to the command outpost.”
“We’re on the top of the wall.”
“We’ve just entered the command centre.”
“We can see—”