Happenstance Found (Books of Umber #1) (3 page)

Umber puckered his lips and scratched his chin. “Huh. Should’ve brought the bigger bottle after all.”

“What’s that smell?” said Sophie. She pulled the collar of her shirt up to cover her mouth. Hap caught the scent as well. It was sharp and disagreeable.

“Wasn’t me,” said Oates. “Is it the worm?”

Umber’s nose wrinkled. “That’s sulfur, I believe. Not what you want to sniff when you’re at the foot of an irritable volcano. I think we ought to get out of Alzumar, very soon. We’ll have to find a way around the worm.” He headed for the rear archway, and the others followed. As Umber approached the threshold he took a final look back at the worm. Its eye hovered, watching them, but its head did not move.

“Interesting,” Umber said. “You’d think it would come around after us—” His eyes widened as if a thought had come to him, and he turned and dropped to the floor just as something whipped into the room through the threshold, slicing the air over his head with a
whoosh
. It was the narrow tail of the worm. Umber scrambled back as the barbed tip lashed at him. “Oh dear,” he said. “That could do some damage.”

The tail slithered into the room, driving them toward the gaping jaws at the other door. Oates growled and stepped in front of Umber, jabbing at the tail with his spear. “Do something, Umber!” he shouted.

“Yes,” Umber said, rubbing the back of his neck. “Think, Umber! The trouble is, it can see us. Didn’t expect that.” Sophie readied an arrow, and she turned to point it at the dangling eye.

“Hold on, Sophie,” Umber said. “Really, an arrow in the eyeball? Perhaps we don’t need to be so cruel.” He kneeled and pushed together a small pile of dirt. He lifted the pile in cupped hands, stepped toward the worm, and slung the dirt at its eye, coating the watery globe with grit. The beast let out an earsplitting howl and shook its head. The eye-stalk shrank back and the halves of the shell clapped shut over it.

Umber put a finger to his lips and gestured for the others to follow. As the tail stabbed blindly around the room, he edged around it and slipped through the narrow space between the tail and the threshold. Sophie followed, and Hap went next, prodded by Oates.

They moved with their backs pressed against the wall of the building they’d departed. Hap saw the body of the worm stretch down the narrow road and disappear around the corner. He looked at Umber, wondering where this reckless man would lead them next.

A louder, stronger tremor shook the entombed city. Hap felt the ground vibrate under his feet. Chunks of rock fell all around. At his back, the wall grumbled. Already, this quake had outlasted the others, and he had the feeling it wasn’t going to end.

The legs of the worm churned, scrabbling in unison against the stone. As the end of the worm slid by, the group ducked under its waving tail. Hap couldn’t tell if the worm was frightened by the tremor or on its way to hunt them down.

Umber didn’t hesitate. He smiled brightly, waved for them to follow, and ran after the monster.

CHAPTER
3

The barbed tail swept before them as
they ran past black alleys and doorways, turning left and right through the buried maze. Umber suddenly broke off from the pursuit of the tail. “Run for it!” he shouted. Hap saw that they’d found the main tunnel again. The rectangle of daylight was ahead, closer than before. He risked a look behind him, and it felt like a fist had tightened around his heart. The head of the worm shot out from a side street and turned in pursuit.

“Faster!” shouted Umber. Hap’s legs churned, and before he knew what he’d done, he was ahead of all of them. He looked back and saw their nostrils flaring and their cheeks puffing, and he wondered why they couldn’t keep up. It wasn’t from lack of effort; Sophie ran like a deer, and Oates charged like a bull. Umber was the worst runner by far. His knees rose awkwardly high, and his arms flailed. Sophie went by him easily, but Oates refused to pass Umber. The big man tightened his grip on his spear and looked over his shoulder, ready to fight. The worm was only a few strides back, and gaining.

Hap looked ahead and saw the opening, so bright with daylight that it stung his unaccustomed eyes. Umber had said that the tyrant worm could not stand the sun. But while Hap knew he’d make it to safety, he wasn’t sure about the others. The worm’s long whiskers reached forward, probing. One brushed Umber’s heel, and the creature’s mouth cracked wide in response. Its jaws would have snapped shut with Umber inside if Oates hadn’t heaved his spear into the worm’s throat. The creature paused to whip its head from side to side, flinging the weapon loose.

They spilled into the searing light of day, where the reek of sulfur was strong and the rumbling soared in pitch, no longer conducted through surrounding rock. They ran away from the dark tunnel opening until Umber wheezed, “Enough! That’s far enough!”

Umber bent at the waist and grabbed his stomach. He managed to laugh and pant at the same time. Sophie threw herself on the ground. Oates turned to make certain the worm hadn’t ventured outside. Then he pointed a thick finger at Umber. “You won’t be happy till you get us killed, will you? I almost wet my trousers! You know what I think, Umber? I think—”

The rumbling grew and the ground quivered. Hap craned his neck to see the steep, headless mountain that loomed over the buried city. It belched black smoke and vomited molten rock out of the cauldron at its peak. An orange river oozed down the mountainside, forking into streams. One of them looked sure to engulf the mouth of the tunnel and the place where they stood.

“I think it’s time to leave these ghostly shores,” Umber said, raising his voice to be heard. Hap looked behind them and saw that the land sloped gradually down until it reached a sparkling sea.

They walked swiftly until they reached a rocky beach where pocked volcanic boulders littered the sand. The sea was serene, with the smallest of waves caressing the shore.

“Would you mind fetching the jolly boat, Oates?” Umber asked.

Oates muttered something and stalked off toward a jumble of rocks. Umber stared back at the mountain, tapping his chin with a fist. “Will you look at that? The lava will cover the entrance and seal off the city again. And the tyrant worm with it, I suppose. Poor thing—I barely had a chance to study it.” His lips formed a pout and he turned to Hap. “And Happenstance, why do you suppose we met you at this precise moment, just before Ignis blew its top? A few minutes later and you’d have been trapped inside, doomed for sure. Do you think that was a coincidence?”

“I guess,” Hap replied.

Mount Ignis rattled and fired a glowing jet of molten rock out of its throat. Umber watched the mouth of the tunnel disappear. “Awfully convenient, if someone wanted to cover his tracks. But who could know when such a thing was going to happen?”

“Let’s go!” Oates shouted over the roar. Hap turned, and his mouth dropped open when he saw the big fellow coming back to the beach balancing a boat over his head with both hands. The boat was long and wide enough for eight people to sit in pairs, but Oates bore it across the sand like a wicker basket.

“He’s that strong, all right,” Umber said, stepping beside Hap. “Put it in the water, Oates!”

“And where else would I put it?” grumbled Oates.

Oates stood behind the boat, ready to shove off, while the others got inside. It was Hap’s turn, but he froze on the sand and stared at the water, wondering why his throat was knotting up inside his neck.

Umber’s hand rested on his shoulder. “Something the matter, Hap?”

Hap’s tongue stuck on the roof of his mouth when he tried to answer. “The water. It scares me.”

Ignis spoke next, with a fiery explosion that made Hap jump. He turned to see chunks of stone spewing out of the volcano’s top. Oates cleared his throat loudly and shoved the boat a foot deeper into the sea.

Umber frowned at Oates before giving Hap an encouraging smile. “You’re not the first person to fear water, Hap, but I think we’d better put some distance between us and the volcano. Would it help if I held your hand?”

A smoldering boulder thumped into the sand nearby. Hap shook his head. “Thank you. I can do it.” With his legs quaking, he stepped into the narrow craft, took a seat on a low bench, and closed his eyes. His other senses told him what happened next: Umber hopped in and sat beside him. Oates grunted and the boat ground across the sand, then bobbed in the shallows. The water behind them sloshed as Oates waded for a stride or two, and then the boat rocked as he jumped into the stern.

Hap thought he might have to pry his eyelids apart with his fingers, but he willed them open at last. And that was good, because he didn’t have to break his iron grip on the edge of the bench. He sat facing the back of the boat where Oates paddled hard, propelling them away from the raging mountain. Black smoke billowed across the sky.

“How long have you been afraid of water, Happenstance?” asked Umber.

“As long as I can remember,” Hap replied.

Umber chuckled. “Funny, Hap.” The smile faded by half. “Did you mean to be funny? Because you don’t remember anything, do you?”

Hap shook his head. “Not before I woke up. No.” He looked over his shoulder and saw the open sea. The strange nature of his memory struck him again. He couldn’t remember ever being at sea, yet he knew that
sea
was the name for this watery body, and he knew that it swarmed with
fish
, and he knew that he’d taste
salt
if he put a drop in his mouth. Instinct told him that the sea wasn’t always this placid, and that it could heave up lethal, towering waves when its ire was raised. He glanced over the side and wondered how far he’d sink if the boat capsized. The thought made his breath stop, and he dug his nails into the wood of the bench.

“Where are we going?” Hap asked, forcing the words out of his tight throat.

Umber leaned closer. “Back to Kurahaven, Hap. It’s where I live. I honestly don’t know where else I’d bring you. Besides, it’s not as if we’re taking you away from your home. I don’t know where you came from, but it wasn’t this deserted land.”

Hap looked again at the endless expanse of water. “How far is Kurahaven?”

“Far,” Umber said. “In the kingdom of Celador. But don’t worry, Oates won’t paddle us the whole way.” He reached down and lifted a long brass tube with a fat bulb at one end. It ran nearly the length of the boat. Umber lowered the bulbous end into the water, letting the rod slip through his hands until most was submerged. Then he lifted a mallet made of the same metal. “Oates, do you suppose it’s deep enough?”

Oates leaned over and stared into the depths. “Ought to be.”

Umber hammered on the tube with the mallet, playing a song with only one note. It rang like a bell with every strike and still hummed when he was done. Umber whistled as he pulled the tube out of the water and stowed it.

Mount Ignis exploded again. A hundred gray plumes shot skyward as rocky debris peppered the sea.

“Keep paddling, Oates,” Umber said, miming the motion. “No need to cut it close.” Oates grunted and dug deep with the oar, and the boat picked up speed.

Hap was about to ask Umber what the purpose of the tube was, when something off the bow caught his eye. A swell came toward them from the open sea. It was wide and long, like a low hill of water, approaching fast. For the first time since he’d boarded, Hap let go of the bench with one hand. He pointed at the swell. “What
is
that?”

Umber laughed. “Nothing to fear, my boy.”

The swell passed directly under them. Hap’s stomach turned upside down as the boat crested and fell. He watched the bulge in the sea die down, and then the water swirled and bubbled. His eyes widened to the point of pain as he saw the water beside the boat darken—not because it was reflecting the dark volcanic cloud above, but because something enormous rose from the depths below.

A strange craft made of oily black wood, far larger than theirs, shattered the surface of the sea. It was rectangular, with a railing around its top deck and an enclosed hull below. Just as Hap wondered how the vessel could move underwater, the answer emerged in the form of a vast, knobby animal bulk. The craft was mounted on the back of a gargantuan creature with broad, powerful fins at its sides and a wide fluked tail that arched out of the water, flexed high in the air, and eased down. Water poured in sheets off the creature’s speckled sides and was channeled in smooth, arcing jets from the corners of the craft.

Near the head, something bobbed momentarily above the surface. It was an eye, so large that Hap’s hand could not cover it, with deeply etched lines above and below. The eye rolled and stared at the small boat before submerging again. Just in front of the craft, from a hole in the creature’s back, a plume of water shot a hundred feet into the air.