Nico desperately hoped that was true, but there was no time to investigate. The noise was getting closer. As they ran into the heart of the woods, Nico lost all sense of where they were. He worried they might accidentally run off a cliff.
They reached a hidden meadow. Nico led Emma and Tyler across as fast as he could, but the creature crashed from the trees a moment later, tossing its head and growling. Too late, Nico realized his mistake—he’d chosen open ground. They were sitting ducks.
Suddenly, Opal appeared at the opposite end of the field, waving her hands wildly. “Over here! Hurry!” Nico, Tyler, and Emma sprinted toward her.
The red rhino roared after them, tearing up the grass.
Then Opal did a crazy thing. She sprinted left, flapping her arms and screaming.
Nico nearly tripped in surprise. He and Tyler stumbled over a slight rise and abruptly felt air beneath their feet. They tumbled headfirst into a creek. A moment later Emma landed on top of them with a painful thud.
“Ugh,” Nico groaned.
“I’m dead,” Tyler wheezed. “You deaded me.”
“Sorry!” Emma whispered.
Sucking wind, Nico watched Opal sprint along the rise shielding the creek from view. He couldn’t see the enraged rhino, but Nico heard it—the creature slammed on the brakes not ten feet from where they crouched. With a roar it turned and shot after Opal, who’d stopped running and was fumbling with something on the ground. Then she started jumping up and down.
The monster charged directly at her.
She stopped jumping and went statue-still.
“Opal, no.” Nico murmured, but the scene was out of his control.
The monster closed. Opal stood firm.
Right when it looked certain she’d be impaled and trampled, the figment disappeared.
Nico shot to his feet. “How did she know?”
A howl rattled his eardrums. Nico flinched, even more confused. Opal was standing right where she had been, hands on her knees as she took deep breaths. She was mumbling something with her eyes closed.
Nico helped Tyler and Emma out of the creek. “Come on!”
They raced over to Opal. She straightened and held up her hands. “Stop!”
Nico stumbled to a halt, throwing his arms out to stop his friends’ momentum.
Then he saw it, and everything made sense.
A narrow trench split the ground. Opal was on the other side of it. The rhino had fallen into the ravine and wasnothappy about it. It bucked furiously, unable to climb out.
Opal gave a shaky grin. “I didn’t want you to fall in, too. That would defeat the purpose.”
Tyler stared at Opal in awe. “How did …?”
Opal kicked a thick wooden board at her feet. “This was lying across the gap. When I got separated from you guys, I ran this direction, and then spotted Nico in the field.” She flapped an aimless hand. “It just kinda came together.”
“I’ll say.” Emma seemed starstruck. “You’re like Lara Croft.”
Opal snorted unsteadily. “I just about wet my pants.”
Nico glanced down at the snarling figment. “Whoseisthis one, anyway? Did someone go through the Darkdeep after Logan and me? Or right before?”
The others shook their heads. Nico felt a moment’s suspicion, but crushed it. They were done turning on each other. He trusted everyone in the group. Especially Opal, who’d just risked her life for them.
But then … where did the figment come from?
