Changelings

But now, just a short distance farther, everything had changed.

A hot wind blew out of nowhere, whipping the waves high over his head. He couldn't even see the otters most of the time. Every once in a while the whole ocean would shudder and shake.

Hey, Ronan called out to the sea at large. We should call those deep sea otters now. I don't think we can go -much farther.

No farther at all, River Seal! the closest sea otter said. Ronan couldn't see him through the smoke. Going home now. No deep sea otters today. Then suddenly he saw the crest of a wave bearing three sea otters riding the swell. One was floating on his back and almost sinking from the weight of the clam held to his chest with his front paws. Water is too rough to play, food too hard to get. Wait for better seas and not so much smoke.

Good idea, but my da is out here somewhere. You guys promised to help me. Otters were great playmates but except for Sky himself they didn't seem to be very reliable. Could you just call them, though?

If they are near enough to feel us calling, they'll already know we're here, the clam bearer called back, finally flipping over and releasing his prize before undulating away into the waters.

Yes, hut… How did you argue with otters?

No sense trying. He had come all this way to find Da, and he wasn't about to go back after nothing more than a fishing expedition on the part of his trusty native guides. No way was he calling this off on account of waves.

This was as far as the otters had come with Da anyway, and they said he'd swum out to sea a little farther-toward the large and active volcano, which would mean swimming into thicker smoke at the very least.

He started to let Murel know, then thought better of it. He knew this was the right thing to do if he was going to find Da, but Mum might not allow it. Or Mur might try to come with him. She was now on Marmie's yacht, however that got here. He gathered it was some distance away, so he'd have to wait for her to catch up. The air quality here was terrible, and he could almost breathe water better than he could breathe the air. He didn't think it was going to improve and he didn't know how much longer he could hold out, so if he was going, he'd better go while the getting was good.

He tried drawing a diving breath but kept choking on the air. Swimming Petaybee's clean rivers, he had never had this problem before, but he thought full-time seals probably did sometimes. He wouldn't be such a baby. He'd do what he'd come to do. Finally, he took in what air he could and dived. He wouldn't be able to stay down long, but though the water was churning with mud, ash, and other debris, it was cleaner than the air.

By repeatedly diving and barely surfacing enough for his nose to suck in air before he dived again, he made some progress. He thought he did anyway. Actually, he didn't even know which direction he was going except he thought the smoke and debris were worse, and the water smelled worse and burned at times, not a hot burn so much as an irritating one. He thought surely he must be drawing nearer to the big volcano.

So, good for him. The only problem was, he could hardly see his own flippers, much less another seal or person in all this muck. He'd dive just a little deeper and then he would have to turn around. Mum and Mur would never forgive him if he got himself killed while trying to help Da.

That was such a grim thought that he dived deeper than he intended, and ended by touching the ocean floor-which was quite a bit closer than he'd supposed it might be.

He glided forward, his belly grazing the smooth lava bottom, where already plants were fringing up from the cracks, tickling his fur and flippers.

This was as far down as he could go. No way could he comb the entire ocean floor looking for-well, for what was left of Da. He didn't like to admit it, but Da could not have survived this for many hours, much less days or weeks.

His air was giving out. Little spots sparkled before his eyes, turning into dazzling stars, blinding after so much darkness. Then, to his surprise, his eyes adjusted-not to hallucinatory spots, but to real light, coming from what looked like real windows. In front of him and towering above him were what seemed like buildings, domes, towers-a gateway.

Murel knew her brother was in trouble right after Ke-ola hit the water. Sky felt it too. The sea otters have gone. Your river seal brother is alone.

Usually the twins communicated directly with each other, but Ronan wasn't doing that. Still, Murel felt from the tight constriction of her chest, the heaviness of her limbs, and the stuffiness in her nose that these sensations were Ronan's, not hers.

She found Mum talking to Marmie and tugged at her arm. "Mum, you need to cover for me. I have to change and go to Ronan. He's become separated from the otters and he's not well."

"Not well how?" Mum asked.

Quickly, impatiently, Murel described what she was feeling. Marmie whirled around and began gathering items and thrusting them at her.