Neverseen (Keeper of the Lost Cities, #4)(142)

Fitz, Biana, and Calla dropped into the mud, coughing the water out of their lungs.

Keefe, Dex, and Sophie landed as close as they could get, sinking up to their knees in the paste-thick muck. Tam set Linh down beside them.

“Wow,” Keefe and Dex said—a “wow” Linh definitely deserved. Somehow she was holding the tidal wave steady, keeping it as a wall between the mountain half of the city and where they stood.

Across the canyon, the ogres stared at the wave with a mix of fear and fury, none daring to cross the bridge and risk getting washed into the river like their brethren.

“You guys okay?” Sophie asked, stumbling through the mud to help Fitz and Biana to their feet.

“I think so.” Biana tore off her soggy Neverseen cloak and flung it away. Her clothes underneath weren’t as muddy, and Fitz and Calla quickly copied her. Sophie did the same. Dex dropkicked his cloak across the soggy plain.

And then Biana asked the question Sophie hadn’t thought to ask: “Where’s Alvar?”

A moment of silence passed—followed by frantic shouting as they fanned out to search.

Sophie explained to a hysterical Biana that she was going to track Alvar’s thoughts, when a deep laugh behind them sent them spinning around.

“Didn’t mean to freak you guys out,” Alvar said as Biana tackled him with a move that seemed more strangle than hug. “I just wanted to see if I’d figured out how to fool Calla’s eyes. Looks like I have.”

“Dude, now was not the time,” Fitz said, and even Keefe nodded in agreement.

“Oh, relax. I also grabbed this!” He kicked at a pile of mud, revealing the silver chest.

He seemed so proud of himself, Sophie didn’t have the heart to tell him the chest was useless. Plus, she knew what was in the chest, and it wasn’t something she wanted the ogres having their hands on.

“Uh—are you guys forgetting that my sister is holding back a tidal wave over here,” Tam yelled, pointing to Linh’s trembling form. “She’s not going to last much longer, so you’d better figure out how to get us out of this place before it crashes.”

Sophie checked the other side of the canyon, where hundreds of ogres paced impatiently. “We’ll never make it back to the tunnel,” she said.

“Gee, you think?” Alvar asked. “But you’re the girl with all the plans. I’m sure you’ll figure out something.”

“What if we let the tidal wave go?” she said. “Would it wash the ogres away?”

“The canyon is too wide,” Linh said, her voice strained. “All it will wash away is the bridge.”

“Then we’d really be trapped,” Alvar said.

“Would we?” Sophie asked, turning to Dex. “I know it’s not a gadget, but what do your Technopath senses say. Could we survive it?”

“Survive what?” Biana asked.

Dex knew. His eyes widened as his brain seemed to work the problem through. He nodded slowly. “Yeah . . . I’m pretty sure we would. Depending on where this river ends up.”

“It’s the same river we used to live by in Wildwood,” Tam said.

“And the flood would be strong enough to break down the gates?” Sophie asked Linh.

Sweat poured down her face as she nodded.

Sophie turned to her friends. “What do you guys think? Linh can’t hold on much longer.”

“Just so I’m clear,” Keefe said. “You’re suggesting we unleash the tidal wave and destroy the bridge while we’re on it, and hope the broken pieces smash through the gates without squishing us and carry us out of Ravagog like a raft?”

“Unfortunately . . . yes,” Sophie said. “I don’t see another option, do you?”

Everyone stared at the bloodthirsty ogres.

“I guess it’s time for you to flood another city,” Sophie told Linh. “And this time, let’s destroy everything while you’re at it.”





SEVENTY-ONE


NEED ME TO help?” Sophie asked Tam as he carried Linh toward the bridge.

“I’ve got her.” But every time he lost his balance, Linh’s concentration would falter and the wave would swell higher.

“Hang on, Linh,” Sophie told her. “You can do this.”

“I can,” Linh said, gritting her teeth so hard they looked ready to crack. “There will be no flood until we’re ready.”

The ogres roared to a frenzy when Sophie’s group reached the bridge. A few even crept to the first fiery arch, hovering near the crater Dex had made, eager to spill the first blood.

“Let’s try to stay in groups through this,” Fitz said. “No one should be alone.”

Keefe hooked his arm through Sophie’s, and Biana took his arm. Fitz stayed with Tam and Linh, helping hold Linh steady as she clung to the edge of the bridge and kept her eyes fixed on the wave. Dex, Calla, and Alvar made a small circle, the two boys each holding Calla with one hand and the silver chest with their other.

“Don’t take any risks to save that thing,” Sophie told them, pointing to the chest. “It’s not worth it.”

“Why not?” Alvar asked.

“Brace yourselves!” Tam shouted before Sophie could answer. “Linh needs to let the water go.”