The Attic (Completed)

Chapter 29

A bullet whizzed past Ian, piercing the eel in the jaw.

Shaking its head left and right, the eel dove back underwater and with a great whip of its tail, shot out of the swamp and hurtled through the air toward Ian—its mouth agape.

Another shot rang out, then another and another. Bullets zipped overhead embedding themselves in a row up the backside of the airborne creature until one hit it right between the eyes. It let out a roar and belly-flopped to the water as Ian dove out of the way.

Within seconds, the lifeless body had sunk out of sight in the murk, bubbles breaking the surface in its wake.

For a moment all was still.

Then the sleek black body bobbed up again and floated on the surface.

Ian half expected to see Hannah to the rescue again as he scanned the swamp for the source of the shots. Instead he found Mike clinging to the trunk of a nearby tree, a gun in hand and weeds tangled about his waist.

"Don't kill me, Ian," he said gruffly, wiping swamp water and mud from his brow with the side of the hand that held the pistol. "I can explain everything—"

"First, give me the gun."

"It's empty," he said, tossing it over anyway.

Ian caught it and checked the cartridge. "All right," he said, catching sight of Lily and Varkis returning through the distant fog, likely drawn by the sound of gunfire. "You'd better have one good explanation for all this. Have you been following us all this time?"

"Yes."

Ian narrowed his eyes.

For some reason Mike had saved his life in direct rebellion of Kurik's orders. It didn't add up. "Let's get out of the swamp," he said, "then we'll talk." He let go of the branch and swam. "Don't try anything either," he said over his shoulder, "or you'll never set foot on dry land again."

After about ten minutes, they reached an isle covered in bronzed willow trees. Varkis and Lily caught up with them as Ian and Mike stood on the shore, peeling weeds and leeches off, and shaking out some of the water clogging their clothes. Mike explained to him about the puppeteer.

Varkis climbed onto shore on all fours and barred his teeth, growling, but Ian raised a hand. "Leave him be. He saved my life."

Lily gave Mike a wary look. "Can we trust him?"

"He was possessed by one of Morack's creatures. It used him like a puppet. But it seems to be gone now." Ian let out a long exhale, relieved beyond measure to have Lily by his side again. "We haven't time to discuss it. It'll be dark soon and I don't want to spend the night in this swamp." He was beginning to doubt Kurik was ahead of them. There'd been no sign of him.

"Are there any more of those eels out there?" Mike asked.

"Don't think so. He's the only one I brought here years back and they can't reproduce without a mate." Ian ran both hands through his wet hair. "Let's get to the Jubaka tree, and then get the heck out of here."

In the center of the tiny island, cloaked by the willows, was a grouping of six trees which formed a perimeter around a clearing. The trunks were transparent and fireworks of all colors exploded continuously within them. The coniferous boughs blotted out the colors from any plane that might fly overhead.

It was like a mini carnival in the middle of a shrouded swamp.

There was no sign that anyone had been here either. No tracks leading up to the trees, no scent of Kurik.