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"I knohere I’," he said "I’ve been there I can picture it"

"Which means we should be able to land directly there since it’s not in the labyrinth," I said

We didn’t waste any h the darkness

I landed onat the fake azure sky, but the blue canvas was broken up by pine trees stretching high, towering above me

I sat up on a bed of pine needles "Are we in a forest?" I asked

"A forest with a lake," Cole said

I turned around and saw that ere on the edge of a huge clearing that held a giant lake, at least the size of Jenny Lake near Jackson Hole The water was clear and blue; and except for the fact that there wasn’t a single ripple on its surface, it could’ve been a lake anywhere in the Rocky Mountains

I pushed e I breathed in deeply, expecting the sh I felt the needles crunching beneath my feet

"Don’t touch the water," Cole said "You kno the water works here Makes you forget things"

I paused in my tracks and raised my eyebrows "Yeah I’m just surprised you know," I said

I took a step back Jack came up beside me, put his arm around my shoulders, and stared out at the lake

"So Cole," he said "Where is the sickle?"

Cole shielded his eyes, even though there was no sun "In the middle"

"Of the lake?" I said

"Yes In the middle Underwater"

"What?!" I said "How are we supposed to get it? Swihed "No Even if you could swiesting any, or forgetting why you’re there in the first place--it’s far under-water Sothen you would drown"

Jack’s fists clenched

I stepped purposefully between him and Cole "What was your plan, Cole?" I said

"I don’t know I always thought that when I wanted soure it out then"

I grabbed Jack’s fist with both ofattention to Cole any out across the water "There’s a tree out of place," he said

I looked all around us "How can you tell? You knohere each one belongs?"

He smiled and pointed to a spot that was maybe a quarter aze and saw exactly what he was talking about In a sea of pine trees, there was one bushy fruit tree right by the edge of the water

The myth of Tantalus talked about a fruit tree It had to ated a pathway to the fruit tree, keeping us close to the water

"Maybe the sickle will be hidden in the tree," I said

"Yeah," Jack said, turning and shooting rin "Maybe it will be that easy"

Wethe trunk of the tree Looked up in the branches Tried to find anything that looked like a sickle Or a scythe Or a dagger Or a sword

There was nothing

Cole didn’t help search He stood there staring at one of the branches

"Are we boring you, Cole?" I said

"That branch looks different," he said He reached up and pulled on it, but it didn’t budge But he was right; it was different The base of the branch, where it was attached to the trunk of the tree, looked as if it could pivot with the right amount of force "Hercules, you come try it," Cole said

Jack raised an eyebrow

"Cole?" I said "That sounded like the old Cole A little bit"

"Really?" He seeenuinely shocked "Sorry I didn’t realize"

"No, it’s okay," I said "Anything you can re, but I didn’t succeed

Jack went over to the branch and pulled It didn’t budge He tried again until he was hanging with his entire body weight The branch creaked as if it thought abouton it," I said

Cole reached up and added his body weight, and the branch finally gave way That’s when the ground shook And the waves started

TWENTY-THREE

NOW

The Everneath Lake Tantalus

The water retreated at first, revealingin the center of the lake, growing as if the lake itself were sucking in all the water from the perimeter

Once the water had retreated into the lake by at least the length of a football field, the gigantic swell in the center froze for a second

"That’s not good," Jack said "We’ve gotta run"

"Don’t let go!" I said

"Becks It’s afor us"

I looked all around, thinking as fast as I could "Climb to the branch," I said

Jack didn’t waste ti himself over the limb, then reached down and pulled me and then Cole up just as a tidal wave of water rushed onto shore The water rose up and barely skimmed the bottom of the branch before it fell back down

"Was that all we did?" Jack asked "Create a wave?"

"Look!" I said

The water had gone back into the lake, but it began to swirl in a circle, a giant whirlpool centered in thedown

"It’s like a giant toilet flushing," I said

The water level sank enough that a small platform appeared in the center of the lake Well, small from where we sat in the fruit tree

"That’s hoe’re going to get there," I said "Once all the water’s gone, one of us can just walk out"

"I hope it stops sinking soon," Jack said

"Why?" I asked, but then I saw the problee of the platform dropped off on all four sides, rock walls nearly perpendicular to the surface of the water

"Oh," I said "Can you get off and stop it?"

Cole dropped from the branch, and the lever flipped up Immediately, water bubbled up from the center of the platfor a waterfall on all four edges