SEVEN WONDERS_THE CURSE OF THE KING

MY KNEES BUCKLED. I fell to the ground. I didn’t even notice the swarm of
hideous creatures. The ground shook once … twice, and it was hard to stay
upright, even kneeling.

I crawled toward the Heptakiklos, my fingers wrapping themselves around
worms and fur. The light from the rift was spewing upward, as if the sun itself
were emerging. “ALYYYYY!” I screamed again.

“Brother Jack, what are you doing?”
Marco. I could feel his hand on my shoulder, pulling me upward. “She’s
gone,” I said.
“Dude, we have to close the rift!” he said. “Where’s the sword?”
He didn’t know. He had no idea what had just happened.
“Got it!”
That was Cass. Now I could see him racing by. He had the sword in his hand,
a confused, rodentlike creature hanging onto the tip.
He and Marco, together, held the sword over the rift. With a sickening
crrrack, it ripped open another eight or so inches. Maybe a foot. A greenish-
black beast began to rise from below. It was something I’d never seen before, its
head a glob of shifting shapes—eyes morphing into mouths morphing into
gelatinous black pools.
I ran toward them. “Don’t do it!”
“Don’t do what?” Marco said.
“Close the rift!” I reached for the sword, but Marco pushed me away. He
plunged the sword into the beast’s pulsating crown. Its cry was a physical thing,

shaking the ground beneath us. As I scrambled to my feet, the swirling mists
began to gather. They were changing course, sucking back into the hole as if by
a giant vacuum cleaner. The ground began to thrust upward, reversing its
motion. The beast seemed to dissolve but the sword was holding fast.

With a snap, the rock closed around the blade like a fist.
“NO-O-O-O!” I cried out.
The Song was deafening again. The Heptakiklos was no longer oozing light
but nearly blinding me with its brightness. Its faded, ancient edges seemed
brand-new.

I grabbed the sword again, but Marco took my wrist. “What has gotten into
you, Jack?” he pleaded.

“Aly’s gone!” I said. “He took her with him!”
Cass and Marco both went pale. Marco let go of my hand.

I didn’t care if the rift opened. I didn’t care what kind of beast came through.
We could not leave her.

As I gripped the sword, the ground juddered beneath us. My hands slipped
and my legs gave way.

We all hit the floor, Torquin landing with a dusty thump. “Earthquake?” he
mumbled.

I felt hands grabbing my arms. The rebels had surrounded me. Nirvana’s face
was bone white. “Jack, you can’t open that rift again,” she said. “This is not an
earthquake.”

“Then what is it?” Marco said.
A pine tree, dislodged from the top of the volcano, came crashing down
behind us.
“It’s something much worse!” Nirvana said. “Out of here—now—before the
whole thing collapses!”

WHEN WE GOT to the shore, Mom was there. She stood shoulder to shoulder with
Number One. Brother Dimitrios sat by the edge of the jungle along with his
cronies, attended to by Massa health workers.

When Mom saw me, she came running. “We lost Aly …” I said.
I think she already knew. I felt her arm around my shoulder, but I was numb.
A thousand different scenarios raced through my brain. I could have pulled
Aly away from Uhla’ar. I could have used the Loculus of Strength. Plugged up
the rift before he got to it.
“It’s not your fault …” Mom said, as if she were reading my mind.
I looked around. I knew this looked odd. I wasn’t supposed to know Sister
Nancy. Her putting her arm around me was risky. But no one seemed to be
noticing. Their eyes were fixed toward the sea.
The once-narrow beach was now a vast expanse of sand, littered with ancient
driftwood planks and black clumps of seaweed. It extended at least fifty yards to
surf that was now far away. Its waves crashed violently against the shore, but at
that distance it was barely audible. Beyond it, the black sea formed mountains
that undulated, slowly rising and sinking. A small whale flopped helplessly,
trying to return to the sea.
At the edge of the receding surf, battered by the waves, was the tilted frame of
a barnacle-covered ship. Its masts had broken off and its hull had mostly given
way to rot.
But the wood that remained was sturdy and thick, its bow slathered with
seaweed. Except for one section, where the vegetation had been pulled away by

the movement of the rising land.
As I stared at it, I felt my entire body sink.
It’s something much worse, Nirvana had said. Now I saw what she meant.
It had started.
The continent was rising.





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