Page 146 of Wind Rider

“All ready?” Antreas called back down the line.

“Ready!” the Pack responded.

They began paddling at a normal speed, but as the ruins drew closer Antreas shouted, “We’ll keep this pace, but when I yell‘NOW’I’m goingto speed up and get us out of that Monkey-and-Mouth mess as fast as possible. Keep up with me. Let’s go, Pack!”

The Pack bent their backs to their task, moving forward together as one. Mari was so proud of them. They had truly formed a family unit. Every few strokes Danita would call out a cadence, which Isabel repeated and then Spencer took up as well, so that it seemed as if the boats were shadow-dancing together.

As they drew closer and closer to the massive ruin, Mari felt a terrible crawling over her skin. The current became erratic. Sucking whirlpools suddenly appeared for as far as she could see around them. The temple was of a size like no building she’d ever seen, and it was filled with Monkeys. The ruin itself had cattails and maidenhair ferns covering it—and from the huge roof area grew a forest of willow trees. Among everything—hanging from all over the temple—were Monkeys.

The Golden Man was standing on a boulder-sized ball which rested on top of a pointed spire. Bizarrely, he looked to be in perfect condition. Mari could just make out that he was holding some kind of long flute to his lips. Monkeys perched on the ball and the ledge below it—all of them were staring in the direction of the boats.

“We’ll be speeding up soon,” Antreas shouted. “Get ready. Donotget off track. And don’t stop. Stay with me and keep going no matter what.”

“Davis!” Claudia’s voice was tinged with fear. “It’s Mariah!”

“What? Is she okay?” Davis called back.

Their boat was to Mari’s right, and she was closest to the ballast on which Mariah had made a comfortable nest of woven mats and pelts. Cammy was usually beside her, but for the trip past the ruins he’d joined Rose and the puppies in the boat, and they’d balanced the other ballast with supplies. Just then he had his front paws up on the side of the boat, staring at Mariah and whining softly.

One look at the Shepherd and Mari knew what was happening before Claudia spoke again.

“She’s fine. But she’s in labor!” Claudia said.

“I’m steering closer to the ballast Mariah’s on,” Mari said.

“I will keep paddling,” Dove said, bending to the task.

“And I’ll focus on the water around her,” said Nik.

They moved closer to Mariah’s ballast just in time for Mari to see the Shepherd strain, and then in a liquid rush a puppy was born.

“The first pup is here!” Claudia shouted, wiping tears from her eyes. “Oh, good girl, Mariah! Sweet, strong girl!” Claudia looked around frantically. “Can’t we stop? I need to get out there with her.”

“Okay, everyone—time to paddle like you never have before! Now!” Antreas shouted.

“We can’t stop!” Nik said. “Claudia, tell Mariah to hang on. Comfort her. Reassure her. We’ll get her through this and you can join her as soon as possible.”

Tears streaming down her cheeks, Claudia nodded, and then began talking to her Companion in a calm, soothing voice as she wiped her cheeks with her sleeve.

“Good girl, Mariah. Brave girl. You’re doing wonderfully!”

There was a little coughing sound, and then the beautiful mewing whines of a newborn pup drifted across the water while Cammy barked joyfully.

“What’s happening back there?” Sora shouted from her boat just ahead of them.

“Puppies!” Mari yelled. “Puppies are being born!”

“Oh, bloody beetle balls!” O’Bryan said, picking up his crossbow and loading it. “Mouths—to the left. I just saw a tentacle.”

Drawn by the liquid scents of birth, Monkeys started dropping into the water. Some barked, sounding exactly like Cammy, and others whined and mewed, making a mockery of newborn puppy noises.

From farther up in the double line of boats, Wilkes fired two arrows in quick succession, killing two Monkeys. As their blood began to stain the water, it also started to froth and tentacles reached up, dragging the twitching creatures under the surface.

“Monkeys closing in! To our right!” Davis shouted.

“Got ’em!” Nik fired and skewered two of them with the same arrow. They screamed and convulsed and the water around them began to ripple—much too close to the boat that was carrying Mariah.

Something flashed in Mari’s periphery vision, and she turned her head in time to see a thick white tentacle snake up from below the surface and reach for Mariah’s ballast, wrapping around the Shepherd’s tail, which was extending out over the water.