The Battle for Sanctuary: The Titan's Legacy: Vol: 2 (Volume 2) by J.J. Thompson

my
allergies, I think.”
    The algae did have a
disgusting smell and Justin tried to breathe through his mouth,
hoping to avoid it. All that did though was leave a foul taste on his
tongue. He swallowed and gagged a bit and kept on doggedly walking.
    A few minutes passed and
Justin was looking ahead as Maria and Dominic circled around a small
mound in front of the group. Suddenly they all heard a shout from
Dominic. Justin immediately took off at a run, followed by the
others.
    He ran around the mound
and skidded to a stop just before he plowed into Maria, who was
standing and staring in amazement. Dominic seemed equally mesmerized
and Justin and the rest of the group looked to see what had them so
spellbound.
    Maybe
a hundred yards away, there was an island. A real island this time.
Several hundred yards across, they could see dense masses of trees
crowding its surface. After the morning they had had, it looked like
a virtual paradise.
    “ Awesome!”
Jason said loudly. “Maybe there's something to eat in there.”
    While several others
agreed, Maria spoke up. “And maybe something in there would
like to eat us,” she cautioned. They looked at her in surprise
and then glanced fearfully at the island.
    “ Look,
I'm not trying to scare anyone,” Maria continued. “But
after those eels, I'm not trusting anything that I see until I'm sure
it's safe.”
    “ So,
you don't think we should go there, Maria?” Julia said,
sounding disappointed.
    “ I
don't think we have much of a choice, guys,” Dominic piped up.
He pointed back in the direction they had just come from. They all
turned and saw a mass of water streaking toward them. “Run!”
    No one hesitated. They
ran flat out; Justin and Maria lagging behind a bit to make sure no
one stumbled or fell. As it had happened earlier, the sound of the
water getting closer pushed them along at top speed and all of them
were up and on to dry land only a few seconds ahead of the flood.
    They watched the water
swiftly fill the lake and waited to catch their breath.
    “ Okay,
can we please stop doing that?” Maria said with a wry grin, a
few minutes later. They each smiled in turn but it was obvious that
everyone agreed with her sentiments.
    Justin quietly took a
deep breath. After the stench of the algae in the formerly dry lake
bed, the smell of growing things on the island was almost
intoxicating. The others were taking deep breaths as well and
grinning broadly.
    “ I
don't know if there's food here,” Aaron said. “But I
could almost eat the smell of this place.” He looked confused
for a minute and then looked at Justin. “If that even makes
sense,” he finished lamely. Justin laughed.
    “ I
know exactly what you mean, Aaron.”
    Maria was looking up at
the trees looming thirty feet or more over their heads. “This
place is amazing,” she said happily and then seemed to catch
herself. “But let's be careful, guys. I think we should walk
the perimeter of the island first before heading in. Just in case.”
    There was a collective
groan from the teens but they all agreed that it was better to be
safe than sorry, so Maria led the way along the edge of the
vegetation.
    Progress was slow. The
trees grew almost to the water and no one wanted to risk falling in.
Justin scanned the surface of the lake, but so far hadn't seen any
sign of the eel cleaning machines. The island was eerily quiet,
except for the sound of water slopping along the narrow shoreline and
the occasional squeak of a rubber sole as one of the group slipped
and had to catch themselves. But that was it. No insects, no wind, no
sounds of life of any kind. He found it a bit oppressive.
    It took the group at
least an hour to travel the circumference of the island. They had
finally spotted a few of the ripples that marked the eels doing their
cleaning duties, but none came close to the island and finally
everyone just began to ignore them. Once they had reached their
starting point, Maria was reassured and