Page 99 of The Sixth Spring

Itori led the way down into the spring. The water pressure grew, but Will’s new lungs felt fine.

And how much oxygen he had! Even as they swam and swam, he felt no need to resurface. His body sipped at the oxygen he’d taken in, using it slowly, almost unhurriedly.

They swam down into small rock caverns barely wide enough for them to fit through. Itori led and Will followed, his head swiveling to take it all in. The water was so dark down this far, but he could still see.

They swam through the twisted caverns of the springs, down deeper than he would’ve ever gone as a human. Even without Itori, he would have known the way, it was all in his head now. The water was no longer a stranger, but a second lover. It caressed his body, held him safe, and showed him the way.

Eventually, they made it through the caves and headed toward the surface.

We will come up behind this, Itori said in his head. He sent with that a mental projection of what was above them–a thick matting of trees and debris that had floated to the top of the water when it rose. It was far off from the edge of the water, and would allow them to see without being seen.

They broke the surface silently, almost without a ripple. There was a tangled mass of green in front of him, and he shifted to find a spot to look through, toward where Mercale used to be.

He almost gasped when he finally saw it. The area hadn’t just flooded, it looked revitalized. It had the same idyllic quality the other lake had, the water a rich, deep blue. There were lily pads and fish already making it their home. The trees that lined the edges of the water even seemed taller, the branches fuller.

It looked like the lake had been here for years, not just a night.

“They’re over there,” Itori whispered. He nodded toward the grocery store.

For a moment Will was just lost in the wonder of the space. Then he focused, turned his senses toward the grocery store.

There was a clog of men on the bank, shouting.

“I don’t care! I’ve put too much money into–”

“Sir, we pulled the last ground survey and–”

“Shut the fuck up! I don’t give a shit about the fucking survey. It’s just water, I don’t understand why you backwater hicks can’t just suck it out!”

“Sir, this is not just a little water–”

More cursing, more belligerence.

“This is sabotage! I know it is! I want you to find out who did it!”

Will ducked his head down into the water to hide a laugh.

Itori bumped his shoulder. “You kept it away from the buildings, good job.”

He had, if only barely. The water had come right up to the parking lot, coiling around the store to join the lake in the back. It did look like sabotage, the way it had avoided the grocery store.

Except such a thing wasn’t possible in one night.

In the other direction, the orange grove had flooded completely. Will had let the water have it, and he hoped Raymond wouldn’t mind. He could feel now how dead the trees were. That no amount of tending would have brought them back. They’d been poisoned.

But now, flooded, those bare trees would become homes for birds and bugs. The water would break down the wood, drag those bodies down into the mud where they would house fish and algae. The land would live again, even if it too had changed.

Men on the bank kept yelling. A cop car pulled up, and Gary got out. The man walked up to the water, gaping at it. There were circles under his eyes like he hadn’t slept, and he was missing the leather jacket, dressed just in his uniform blues that were wrinkled and soiled.

“Are you ready to go?” Itori asked.

Will almost said yes, but then he caught, at a great distance, the sound of snapping gum.

“Just a moment,” he said.

They waited, and seconds later, in the growing crowd, Becky appeared. She was small from this distance, but her blond hair glimmered in the morning light. With his new eyes, he could see her face so clearly.

“Oh my god,” she said, eyes wide as she took it all in. Then she doubled-over and started to laugh hysterically.