Cyrus LongBones and the Curse of the Sea Zombie

RESCUE

CYRUS SAT AT THE EDGE of the sinkhole, his mind racing with worry and dread. What do I do? Niels could be drowning down there, and I can’t help him. Then he remembered the boat.

Cyrus raced towards the eastern bend of the Ring Road and plunged into Hekswood Forest. Once over the Dead Fence, he sprinted in the direction of Edward’s tree.

“Edward, I need your help,” he said, as he arrived panting, looking up into the tree’s branches.

Several long legs emerged out of a knot in the trunk.

“What’s going on?” the spider asked, climbing free of the hole.

“It’s Niels, come on.”

Cyrus plucked Edward from the tree and dashed towards the waterfall. Along the way, he told the spider everything, from the OddFoot journal to the loss of his brother.

“We’ll find him,” Edward said, “I promise.”

As they reached the fall, they found the South River all but dried up, leaving the usually hidden cave entrance illuminated and exposed.

“The cave-in’s destroyed the water supply,” Cyrus gasped.

With Edward on his shoulder, he ran into the cave, past the boat and down towards the shore of the underground lake. Only it was no longer underground. Where there had once been a dimly lit shore that kissed the edge of black, watery nothingness, there was now a huge sun-lit lake, full of the broken remains of Virkelot Village.

“Holy Sea Zombie,” Edward whispered, “It’s worse than I imagined…”

Far off in the middle of the lake, villagers screamed for help and paddled in circles. Some tried to climb the dome-like walls of the fossilized prison, but none had found the lone route of escape. They were too far away from the cave’s shore, and the relatively small opening was lost in the vast bowl of sky-high rock.

“We don’t have time for them,” Cyrus said, “We have to find Niels.”

He collected the lantern from the ledge and mounted it to the boat’s bow, then dragged the craft to the water’s edge. Once aboard, they paddled out into the lake. Edward sprang from Cyrus’ shoulder and found his way to the top of the mast. Cyrus began to steer towards the center of the reservoir, pushing past floating trees, swimming pigs, bubbling chests and bobbing apples. The air tasted of wet animals and ripped lumber.

“Niels!” he called out.

Instead, several other stranded and helpless villagers replied. Cyrus saw them clinging to trees and pigs, or sitting on top of floating outhouses or barns. Some appeared to have broken legs and arms, others nasty cuts and bruises.

“Have you seen my brother?” Cyrus called to them, “Have you seen Niels?”

They all replied no.

“Please, help,” several called back.

Cyrus pointed to the cave opening on the distant shore.

“Head for that cavern. It leads to a way out.”

“Cyrus,” Edward whispered, “some of them are hurt. We have to help.”

Cyrus felt torn in two. He wanted to help, but Niels came first.

“They wouldn’t help us,” he finally replied, steeling his emotions, “And now Niels is trapped down here, maybe drowning, or worse.”

“What about your stepmom?” Edward asked.

Cyrus felt the bloody welt stamped into his ribs. Llysa had been on his mind as well. Secretly he hoped that she would never be found, that she had succumbed to some cold, dark end. He prayed that he would never have to see her again…

He and Edward began to paddle past bobbing hedges and around floating sheds and buggies, calling out for Niels and searching the village’s drifting remains. They poked around floating trees and picked through bales of hay.

“Cyrus,” a weak voice cried out, “help, I can’t swim.”

“Over there,” Edward said, pointing to someone floating amongst a heap of brambles.

“Sarah?” Cyrus called back.

It was Sarah Heiler, the girl that had always been nice to him. She was clinging to a wooden barrel. The barrel kept rolling in the water, making it hard for her to grasp.

“Cyrus hel-”

Sarah slipped under the water, then reemerged, gasping for air and clawing at the barrel.

Cough, hack.

“Help!”

Cyrus felt something in his chest leap. He could not let Sarah drown.

“I’m coming,” he said, paddling towards her as she splashed amongst the floating thickets.

“Cyrus!”

Again, Sarah sunk below the surface.

Cyrus began to panic. What was he supposed to do? She bobbed up a second time, splashing and choking down water.

“Hurry!” Edward said.

Cyrus struggled the boat through the fringe of thick brambles.

“Cyru-”

Sarah slipped from the barrel and sunk below the icy chill a third time. Cyrus finally cleared the debris and pushed towards the center.

“Sarah?”

He watched the glassy surface.

“Sarah!”

He peered into the murk, searching for her struggling form.

“She’s drowning,” Edward said.

“What do I do?” Cyrus asked, his voice shrill.

“Jump in after her,” Edward demanded.

Cyrus looked up at the spider, terrified. Then, not giving himself a chance to hesitate, he dived into the lake. The cold bit at his flesh, stabbing through his ribs and into his lungs. He opened his eyes. A brownish green atmosphere surrounded him, thick and dark. He kicked forward, towards where he had last seen Sarah. The lake water tasted of fall rain. Cyrus came up for breath.

“Sarah,” he gasped, flicking water from his blond mop, “where is she?”

“She hasn’t come back up,” Edward said.

Cyrus sucked in a lung full of air and plunged below. His clothes were heavy and hard to swim in, and he could only see a few feet before him. Sarah was drowning. He could not fail her. He had to try harder. He kicked and pulled with all his strength in a descending circle, doing his best to search beneath where last he had seen her. The first several feet were green and hazy, but below that, the lake became as black as oil. Cyrus grew confused. Was he swimming in the right place? He turned back around and kicked deeper into the murk. The water grew colder the further down he swam. His lungs started to strain. He paused in the deep and peered about, looking up, down, left and right. She could be three feet in front of him, and he would never see her. The strain in his chest grew unbearable. He tried to swim further. His body fought back, panicky and desperate for air. It was hopeless. He couldn’t help anyone. Not Niels, not Sarah, not even himself. He abandoned his search and retreated to the surface. He could feel something icy shift in his belly. Then a deep shame crawled up from his guts and wrapped its cold tendrils around his pounding heart.