Amber was ahead, frantically paddling for shore.
A dark triangular fin pierced the water between them. It carved a path through the water before lowering again, disappearing below.
Miro's pulse raced and a chill ran down his spine. He didn't know if it was the same shark he'd seen below.
There were probably more.
He'd stopped swimming at the sight of the fin but he now resumed paddling with all his strength. Struggling, he took the hilt of the cutlass in his right hand and let the wrapped vest fall away.
Expecting to feel the lunge of gaping jaws at any instant, Miro saw he'd halved the distance to shore. Amber still splashed ahead of him, and then Miro touched the sandy floor of the lagoon with a foot.
The sword would only be of use if he could take stock of his situation and see. Miro swam further and when he could rest both feet on the bottom, he turned.
At that moment the shark struck.
Its pointed nose bumped into his side but Miro was turning and the gaping jaws missed his skin by inches. The shark kicked its tail, thrashing in a tight circle, and its tail smacked hard into Miro's chest, taking the wind out of him.
Looking back towards the reef, Miro saw the menacing fin of a second shark pierce the water only a dozen paces away. He gathered the sword in two hands, but the shark that had hit him sped away.
Lapping waves pushed Miro slowly and gently towards shore, and he didn't fight the motion, walking backwards and facing the sea.
A sudden swirl of water and the flash of a dark shape beneath the surface told him where a shark was coming at him for another attack. Miro held the tip of the sword beneath the water, and when he saw the gills and jagged teeth, he thrust out.
The sword was sharp, and the shark's rushing momentum took it onto the point. Blood instantly suffused the water with clouds of red.
The wounded shark thrashed and took itself away.
Miro continued to back away, the water now below his ribs, while the blood sent the sharks into a frenzy. He could no longer count them there were so many, some larger, some smaller. They chopped the water up as they twisted and turned, seemingly fighting each other, perhaps feeding on the shark Miro had wounded.
Another came at him and he again fought off the attack with the sword, this time opening up the shark's soft belly as it turned. Blood and guts spilled out from the gaping wound, and Miro quickened his pace, backing away as fast as he could to open up space between himself and the dying creature.
A massive shark, the biggest he'd yet seen, opened its maw wide and took a chunk out of its fellow, kicking with its tail to take a second bite.
The water was now at Miro's waist.
Turning, he left the sharks to their grisly feeding and lunged out of the water, wading forwards and finally pulling himself up onto the sand and gasping.
He wasn't happy until there wasn't any part of him in the water.
Amber was suddenly beside him, and while Miro wheezed, she rolled him over, checking him for wounds. She finally pried the cutlass from his frozen grip and crouched beside him, waiting until Miro regained his breath and sat up.
"We made it," she said. "But now we're truly stranded. If we can't find a way off this island, this is where we'll spend our final days."
19
THIS TIME, when Miro and Amber searched the settlement, it was with a desperation they hadn't felt before.
Like the towns on the other island, it was built near a river, and they both drank greedily when they reached the cool water. Like the other towns, it once had a dock, but little was left but timber piles.
This island had much more of the strange red rock than the island Toro called Valetta. There were fields of it, like red mud but hard to the touch, as if a sticky viscous liquid had spilled down to the shore and been frozen in place.
Most of the island was dominated by the mountain, with the town nestled between the mountain's foot and the shore.
"Miro," Amber called as they searched the buildings. "Come here."
Amber stood near the remains of a dozen houses. When Miro arrived she pointed. "Look. These buildings haven't collapsed with time. It happened all at once. See, the roofs are covered with black grime. Some of the timbers are burned, as if scorched by fire."
Now that Miro looked, he saw almost all the structures had greater or lesser amounts of the substance on their roofs. Several houses had burned down.
A sudden rumbling came from overhead. It was the same sound they'd heard from Valetta, but this time it was louder. Much louder.
"Lord of the Sky." Amber looked up at the mountain. "It's a volcano."
"Of course," Miro said. "That explains why they left. The red rock; it's from lava."
Miro followed Amber's gaze. As they watched, red sparks shot into the sky.
"We need to get out of here," Amber said. She started on a direct path through the trees, heading for shore.
"We need to search," Miro said. "I don't think we're in any immediate danger."
"How do you know that? There's lava everywhere!"