Arada held the loaded crossbow firmly in her hands.

  Any moment now, an enemy could appear, she kept reminding herself. Stay alert!

  Before they set off, Aplin had given her the crossbow and quiver, followed by a quick crash course on crossbow shooting. He'd said he wanted to focus on navigating their route. Besides, he already had his wooden staff, and he thought it was better to spread out their weapons.

  She approached the end of the narrow street. Whatever Aplin's herbs had done to her wound, walking was manageable again, though she could still feel the injury.

  Arada watched as Aplin peeked around yet another corner of the narrow alley.

  He gave a thumbs-up to signal it was safe, gesturing for Irgos and Arada to follow.

  Aplin had woken them up not even an hour earlier. Apparently, he'd stood guard all night, choosing the right moment to leave. Early in the morning, a few hours before sunrise. "That's when the human mind is at its dullest," he'd said. "It will work in our advantage against Culex and his horde."

  "But that affects us too," she'd countered.

  "True. But since you've both slept for practically a whole day, we'll be more rested than Culex."

  Arada had noticed that this was more of a hope than a fact. Especially since nobody really knew exactly how Culex's methods worked.

  Still, it wasn't a bad idea on Aplin's part. The moment he woke her and her brother, she'd wanted to stay lying down. But she quickly realized they couldn't stay here, now that Aplin's st friend—now under Culex's control—had certainly betrayed him. Once they left the bunker behind and had traversed the entire sewer, she felt much more awake.

  The alley came to an end, opening onto what looked like a wide road. Arada could smell water—river water. They couldn't be far now.

  Aplin peeked around the corner. At his signal, they slipped like shadows out of the alley.

  They were now on a wide road. Unlike most streets in Ebrotown, only one side of this street was lined with buildings, the side they had just come from. On the opposite side was only a low stone wall marking the edge of the road. Beyond that, there seemed to be nothing, until she looked closer and saw the night sky reflected on the river's surface. It was only now that she heard its swift current murmuring softly in the eerie stillness of the night.

  "We're here," Aplin whispered, gesturing toward the river. "The Ebros. The elephant of Ebrotown."

  Irgos and Arada exchanged a gnce. She could see the same question in her brother's eyes.

  What's an elephant?

  But now wasn't the time to debate details.

  "Ten kilometers wide, and the only thing between us and the mainnd of Catsroes," he said, turning to the right and pointing off into the distance. "Look, there's the bridge already."

  Indeed. A few hundred meters away, a strange structure extended over the vast river.

  This must be the bridge Culex had rebuilt, to carry his foul practices into the rest of the nd.

  "But don't celebrate too soon," Aplin warned them. "There's a good chance Culex has set up another trap, like he did for you. We need to stay sharp."

  Aplin walked alongside the stately houses, peering into nearly every window, on guard for any unpleasant surprises.

  "Will you check the other side?" he asked, gesturing across the road.

  Irgos immediately crossed, with Arada following.

  Check what other side? There's nothing here to—

  But as soon as Irgos looked over the edge of the wall, she understood.

  The entire road was built on some kind of unnatural elevation. The stone wall was meant to protect them from the drop-off. For beyond that, the city abruptly ended in a steep cliff, with a jumble of rocks forming a quay where the waters of the Ebros crashed against it with graceful spshes.

  But there was no one down below either. Irgos looked over at an expectant Aplin and shook his head. So far, so good.

  They continued down the long, wide road, with the city of Ebrotown on one side and the river—their final obstacle—on the other. Every so often, Aplin checked inside a house while the other two kept an eye on the drop and occasionally gnced back just to be safe.

  It was a relief to see the bridge coming closer, and after a while, the road split to the left. Where a stone structure briefly continued the path, there was an abrupt boundary. Long wooden posts, driven deep into the water, held the entire structure together with thick ropes. On top y thousands of neatly arranged pnks, forming a walkway over the water.

  And all of this is Culex's work?

  She saw Aplin looking around intently. Once he was convinced they were truly alone, he walked toward the part of the road leading to the bridge. He stopped at the edge.

  "We can go down here," he said, pointing to the first pilr where the wooden bridge began. He climbed over the edge and gripped the pole with his feet. Slowly and carefully, Arada and Irgos watched him slide down.

  Wow. And do you think we can do that in one try?

  Below, they saw Aplin nd on the rocks.

  Irgos looked at her. "Our turn."

  "I'll go first," Arada said, as she sat on the edge and turned around. She hooked the crossbow onto her belt and mimicked Aplin's movements. Carefully, she lowered herself a bit and then pressed her arms against the pilr, sliding down cautiously.

  The rough wood scraped against her body, her torso jolting with each movement. If they'd done this a day earlier, her injury wouldn't have allowed it.

  Moments ter, she was standing beside Aplin. She looked up at the structure almost ten meters above them. Irgos was now beginning his descent. His grip was a bit less steady, but he quickly nded beside them.

  "Okay, now onto the next phase," Aplin said, positioning himself directly beneath the wooden bridge. He stepped back until he was at the river's edge. The water spshed over his shoes, but it was shallow enough to stand in.

  "Are your belts secure?"

  Arada and Irgos both nodded. They'd already wrapped the 'magnetic belt,' as Aplin called it, around their waists back in the bunker.

  "I'll go first," he said. "Try to focus on the nding. See if you can brace yourself with your hands and feet, like this."

  He pressed the on-button on his belt. They immediately watched as Aplin's feet lifted off the ground. As he floated upward, he held his hands out, twisting his waist skillfully so that he ended up horizontal, face toward the bridge's underside.

  They heard a wooden thud as Aplin reached the bottom of the bridge. He crouched like an upside-down insect on his hands and knees.

  Irgos and Arada watched in fascination.

  So, this really works?

  Of all Aplin's magical items they'd seen, this beat everything. The smoke bombs and his 'electric' gadgets were nothing compared to the magnetic belt. Even the healing powers of the Sea Goddess couldn't match the magnetic belt.

  They exchanged gnces. Irgos's forehead was beaded with sweat.

  "I admit, I believed him when he expined it," he said. "But still, seeing it with my own eyes..."

  Above, they saw Aplin—upside-down—come to a stop and wave to them. "Your turn," he said with a wide grin. "Don't be afraid; it's not as hard as it looks."

  Maybe not for you.

  Aplin continued reassuring them. "Here at the edge, the charge isn't very strong. You'll float up rather than fall."

  Arada gathered enough courage and took the plunge. "Okay, here I come. Three, two, one..."

  Fixing her gaze upward, she clicked the belt on in one motion. Instantly, she felt an immense pressure from below. She was propelled upward by an invisible force and rose gently.

  But Aplin was right. It wasn't falling but floating. Like vapor or steam. She pushed her hips forward and nded exactly as Aplin had, on her hands and knees. However, the weird bonk coming from her left foot was inevitable.

  Please don't ask questions about that, she thought.

  Luckily Aplin didn't give her foot any attention. "See? No problem at all," he said.

  She pushed off with her hands to stand. It was a very odd feeling. As she straightened her back, she felt all the blood rush to her head. But since the belt was snug around her waist, pressing her whole body toward the bridge, she remained standing on the wooden pnks.

  Aplin's face was as red as a tomato. "I know, it's really strange being upside down," he grinned. "But believe me, you'll get used to it soon enough."

  I hope so too.

  Arada looked down—or up, from her perspective—where an inverted Irgos was staring at her, bewildered.

  "Your turn, brother," she called out to him. "It's not as bad as it seems."

  She watched as Irgos prepared to make the leap. He found a spot on the bridge to nd and braced himself.

  As he activated his belt, he jumped to reduce the distance. That was a mistake. He gained too much speed and hurtled toward the bridge at a frantic pace.

  Instinctively, Arada positioned herself under the spot where her brother would nd to catch him. When he fell on her, they tumbled backward, rolling over the pnks.

  Aplin rushed over. "Irgos! Are you okay?"

  Irgos groaned. "Let's just say..." he said as he cmbered off Arada. "I'm still in one piece. Whoa." Now standing, he also experienced what it was like to live upside down.

  "Sorry, I should have mentioned that jumping is dangerous," Aplin said. "The speed of the jump just accelerates your fall. And also, avoid getting too close to each other. The belts don't like that."

  Arada quickly stepped away from her brother.

  Thank goodness everything turned out alright.

  "By the way, don't think of it as reversed gravity," Aplin expined further. "The magnetic field of the belt is just slightly stronger than the natural pull of the ground, since we're only at the river's edge. As we move farther onto the bridge, where the river is deeper, the charge will increase. Then you'll really feel the pressure."

  He made a small hop in the air. "Watch." Arada noticed how slowly he descended, at least twice as slow as under normal gravity. "Just pretend we're on the moon."

  "T-the moon?" Irgos stammered. "People have b-been there?"

  "A long time ago, yeah," Aplin said meekly. "Although it's much worse there."

  "But that can't be," protested Arada. "It's way too far."

  Aplin sighed. "That's a long story. I'll expin when we're on the other side."

  He took off his backpack, holding it so it wouldn't fall—or rather, wouldn't fall upward. He took out the brush and the ignerine jar, opening the jar downward so nothing would spill out. Dipping the brush, he then tied it to a cord, connecting the other end to his magnetic belt.

  He closed the ignerine jar and hung it on his backpack.

  "I'll need to dip the brush occasionally," he said, tossing the brush onto the pnks. "That way we can leave a trail all the way to the fin—"

  "Wait," said Irgos. "How come the brush stays on the bridge? Shouldn't it be..." he pointed up to the river above them.

  "Heh," Aplin chuckled. "The brush is magnetically charged too. Just like us, it wants to stay as far from the water as possible. But unfortunately, the rope isn't." He looked somewhat disappointed at the awkward arch connecting his waist to the brush.

  Seriously, Aplin had thought of everything.

  As he urged them forward, the brush slid behind him like a tail, leaving a bck streak of ignerine across the pnks.

  * * *

  The longer they traveled, Arada felt the pressure on her belt increase, feeling more and more like real gravity. Her body reguted her blood flow as usual, and walking became easier, with her body adjusting to the strange position.

  "Look," said Aplin after an hour of silent walking. "These are the hydrohovers I mentioned."

  A little further on, Arada saw something floating above her in the water. As they got closer, she looked up.

  A ptform stood in the middle of the water, with boats drifting around it. These boats were different from the ones she remembered from Overmore, as they were white and had a strange bulging edge, resembling elongated, hollowed acorns.

  "Looks like we won't need your other pn anymore," she said to Aplin. "This bridge is far too deserted for that."

  Aplin shot her a sharp look. "Don't jinx it, Arada," he hissed. "We're only halfway."

  "Why are these things only this far from nd?" asked Irgos, puzzled by the hydrohovers' location. "If they were often used by people in the Old World, why are they so remote?"

  "It's quite misleading," Aplin expined. "Long ago, before the flood, the Ebros was a regur river—ten times narrower than it is now. Only after the flooding did it break its banks."

  "Is that why the bridge had to be rebuilt?" asked her brother. "Because the water destroyed it?"

  "You'd think so, but as you can see, the start of the bridge was much higher than the water level, and it's always been like that. Apparently, from what I've heard from fellow survivors in Ebrotown, something destroyed the bridge about a year after the floods."

  Irgos nodded. "And then Culex rebuilt it?"

  "Exactly. That's the wooden version we're walking on now. And also the version that won't st until sunrise." Aplin chuckled as he applied a fresh coat of ignerine on his brush, satisfied with the bck streak they'd left all the way from Ebrotown.

  "Then we'd better hurry," commented Arada, pointing to the horizon behind her. "It's already getting light back there."

  Aplin tossed the brush back on the bridge, and they continued, leaving the strange hydrohovers behind.

  "Do you think Culex wanted the elixir so badly that he insisted on building a permanent passage to this part of the nd to find it?" Irgos asked after a while.

  Aplin shrugged and fell silent. "I can't think of any other reason. He seemed very interested in your stuff. But going so far as to build an entire bridge… That man's just too far gone, alright? Period."

  Arada nodded, recalling how he'd brutalized her father. Anger ignited in her.

  Indeed. And he will pay.

  After a while, Arada felt the magnetic gravity start to lessen. The pressure on her belt eased, and her steps became lighter. They were now close enough to see the opposite side in the form of an inverted shore.

  "One more kilometer," said Aplin. "Then we'll give Culex a wake-up call with a celebratory fire."

  "Hold on," said Irgos, pointing into the distance. "What's that over there?"

  Aplin stretched his neck and covered his mouth with a hand.

  "Shit," he muttered.

  Ahead of them, part of the bridge was missing. Where the pnks should have continued, only the pilrs and ropes remained. A gaping hole greeted them, and the increasingly lighter morning sky casting an ominous tint.

  "That goddamn bastard..." Aplin said in a tone far too aggressive. "He has removed the pnks."

  They walked up to the st few pnks, but it was useless. The bridge ended here. It was a dead end.

  "We can't just let ourselves fall," Aplin said, gesturing to the space below them. "The water would repel us until we're stuck in the air, caught between gravity and magnetism."

  Arada swallowed at the idea. What a horrible way to die.

  "And what if we swim," Irgos suggested. "It's just a short distance."

  "Not an option," replied Aplin. "There are too many toxins in the water. See that green-blue color?" He pointed at the waves above them. "That's cold bloom. A variant of blue-green algae, but far more dangerous."

  Arada recognized the term 'blue-green algae.' In Overmore, it had already caused enough skin irritations when people went swimming too far out in the sea. But she had never heard of 'cold bloom.'

  "We still have to try," said Arada. "It's just a short stretch. Sure, blue-green algae is unpleasant, but it's not the end of the world. We'll recover."

  Aplin shook his head. "Cold bloom is another level, Arada. You don't want to come into contact with it."

  Arada put her hands on her hips. "And why not?"

  Aplin took a step back, scratching his shoulder and suddenly looking very… tense.

  "Guys," he finally said, followed by a long pause. "There's something I haven't told you."

  Arada and Irgos stared at him unblinkingly.

  "Those... jelly monsters... Actually, they're..."

  "Ssh!" Irgos hissed suddenly. "I hear something."

  Everyone froze, straining their ears.

  Indeed, on the other side of the wood, they heard a whole group of footsteps. No, it wasn't walking.

  It was marching.

  With every step, the sound drew closer. It wasn't a small group; that much was clear.

  Arada feared the worst.

  No, not here. NOT HERE.

  The footsteps were now close enough to be seen through the slits. They walked to the edge of the bridge and stopped—right beneath them.

  Aplin signaled the others to remain as still as possible. All three moved to the center beneath the bridge to minimize visibility.

  "What a beautiful morning, right?" sang a vile, familiar voice.

  Arada's stomach churned at the sound of those words. Sweat broke out on the other two boys' foreheads as well.

  "A brilliant pn, no? To remove the st part of our beautiful bridge. Just to see how far you'd get."

  Adrenaline shot through her veins.

  He's talking to us!

  "And now here you all are, nice and cozy together, ripe for the end." Culex let out a harsh, cruel ugh, echoing over the entire river and beyond.

  Aplin couldn't stand it. "You'll never get us, Culex," he yelled, realizing that hiding was futile. "NEVER!"

  Arada couldn't see Culex, but his filthy grin was palpable even from here. "That seems like an incorrect deduction, Aplin. I've already got you, don't I?"

  All three shivered at the way he said Aplin's name, as if he were nothing but a pything.

  "Just admit it," bellowed Culex. "Escaping your fate by denying the ws of nature? How much harder will you make it for yourself? Why don't you just accept the end, Aplin?"

  "I won't die until you're WIPED OF THE EARTH'S FACE!" Aplin sneered at those below.

  "No, Aplin," came a second, softer, female voice from above. "Just give up that life of yours. Join us."

  Aplin's eyes widened in shock.

  "Ri...Riuna..." he stammered.

  "Come join us, Aplin," she said again. Through the slits, two feet walked to the bridge's edge. They heard a body crouch. A moment ter, a head appeared over the edge—a bald head with closed eyes, looking at them but also not.

  Arada's heartbeat raced like crazy. It's her. It's that woman from the square.

  "No," Aplin muttered. "This... This isn't happening... This..." He clutched his curls in both hands, nearly pulling them out.

  "Aplin," she said with a grin. It was beyond creepy. Unnatural.

  "Come to o—"

  Suddenly, she coughed, her hands slipping over the edge of the bridge. Blood trickled from her mouth. They heard her body scraping against the wood, and moments ter, Riuna's cursed body fell backward into the water below. She was swallowed up by the Ebros's current and didn't resurface.

  Culex's voice returned. "This must bring back some memories, wouldn't you agree, my dear Aplin?"

  Arada saw Aplin's eyes glisten. The color had drained from his face, leaving him as pale as a ghost.

  "She told me everything about you," Culex exaggerated. "Your whole history in Ebrotown, your retionship, your cozy little bunker."

  "STOP!" Aplin yelled.

  "We were just there," Culex smacked his lips. "Too bad you'd already left. Otherwise, you could've caught up for a chat."

  Aplin pressed his hands firmly over his ears. "STOP IT!"

  Irgos grabbed Arada's and Aplin's hands. "Don't listen to him," he whispered. "We have to go. Now."

  Irgos broke into a run, pulling his sister along, who, in turn, dragged a shocked Aplin with her. But as Culex said "Not a good idea" from beneath them, she realized it was already too te.

  Out of nowhere, a massive hammer smashed through the pnks right where Irgos stepped. Splinters flew in every direction, and his foot plunged through the gap. For a few seconds, he screamed in terror. Then she saw hands clutching his ankles, dragging him down.

  Aplin and Arada were forced to stop. Trapped by the hole in the bridge and the new threat looming over them.

  "Irgos?" she yelled.

  "If you don't want the poor Irgos to be flung into the air," Culex said, "I'd suggest you hurry and come up here. Or down, in your case."

  Irgos's voice sounded shortly after. "Don't listen to him. Run while you still can."

  Arada and Aplin stood frozen, looking at each other.

  What now?

  "Come on, come on, we don't have all day," Culex said impatiently. "Five, four, three,"

  "Stop. We're coming."

  Out of pure instinct, Arada blurted it out. She refused to abandon her brother.

  "Good choice, Arada," Culex's gleeful voice sounded.

  As she walked to the edge and lowered her legs, her feet were grabbed. She felt herself being pulled up and discreetly turned off her belt. Instantly, the pressure from her belt disappeared, and gravity took over again. Iron hands held her and pulled her up to a standing position.

  At the top of the bridge stood a broadly grinning Culex. Arada looked around.

  They were completely surrounded.

  Both in front and behind, his blind gang encircled them. Next to him, Irgos was held by a few of his henchmen. He was back on both feet, but his belt was still on. They could still send him flying at any moment.

  "The same goes for you, Aplin. Unless you want—"

  But Aplin had already surrendered as well. Next to Arada, four of the blind thugs dragged him up the bridge.

  It was hopeless. The three of them were completely in Culex's grip. Both Aplin and Irgos still had their belts activated. The only reason they hadn't been flung away was the grip of those henchmen.

  Arada sighed.

  It's over.