Salamaine's Curse

by V. L. Burgess

  Beside him, Umbrey drew in a sharp, horrified gasp, as Tom finally put the pieces together. The crimson bird. He knew it was familiar. But the last time he’d seen the creature it had been part of a pair. One gleaming white bird and one deep ruby. Both of which had led them to Vivienne.

  Once again, the bird had acted on behalf of its master, drawing them toward the ruthless Vivienne.

  “Excellent,” she breathed. “The Black Book of Pernicus. I hold it at last.” She ran her hands over the worn leather cover. “Marrick is gone. Pernicus is gone. Yet I remain. And now the book is mine. All good things come to those who wait.”

  Umbrey pivoted furiously glaring at Keegan. “Do you have any idea what you’ve done?”

  “I’ve made an alliance,” Keegan replied curtly. “An alliance that will bring the Five Kingdoms back under my control. Permanently.”

  “No,” Umbrey countered. “You have given the book to the one person who will take that power and use it to destroy us all.”

  “How you flatter me.” Vivienne’s lips curved upward in a smile of icy contempt. She turned toward the window and looked outside. A second later, the din of crashing wood echoed through the street, followed by the shouts and screams of voices raised in panic. Vivienne looked at the group and gave an elegant shrug.

  “A shame,” she said. “Your precious barricades must have fallen.” She set the Black Book of Pernicus atop a table and backed away, looking expectantly at Keegan. “The key.”

  The darkness that had marked Keegan’s expression only seconds earlier turned to naked greed, tinged with excitement so great his fingers shook. He removed his key and pressed it against the rough leather cover. The volume trembled, then the pages fluttered open.

  Vivienne released a long, deep breath. She reverently traced her fingers over the pages, then swung around to look at Mudge. “Well, Marrick’s chosen?” she demanded. “What are you waiting for? Do you want to rid your lands of scavengers? The power of Pernicus is here, within these pages.”

  “Yes,” Mudge said. “It is.”

  “Then bring it to life. Release it with that sword of yours.”

  “No!” shouted Umbrey. “Don’t do it, lad!”

  “Silence!” hissed Vivienne.

  The howls and moans of the scavengers drew closer.

  Tom’s breath caught in his throat. Mudge moved toward the book. He glanced around the room and gave a decisive nod. Then, in a movement so fast it was little more than a blur, he lifted his sword and drove it through the spine of the book.

  “No!” Vivienne cried, reaching for the volume. She was too late.

  The Black Book of Pernicus lit up, shooting out rays of brilliant green light. Then it emitted a long, slow hiss and the pages blackened, curling in on themselves as though touched by fire. Within seconds, all that remained was a pile of smoldering ash.

  “No!” roared Keegan, lunging toward Mudge.

  Zaputo caught him and shoved him toward his crewmen.

  “Take him below and chain him up,” ordered Mudge. “The same with his men.”

  Keegan looked at Vivienne. “Kill them!” he roared, his face red with rage. “Kill them all! Every one of them.”

  Vivienne returned his look with one of complete indifference. “You have failed me,” she said, watching as Keegan and his men were dragged to the basement cell.

  Tom heard Keegan’s protests, his shrill threats, then the satisfying clamor of the iron bars rattling shut. Keegan was captive once again.

  The crimson bird perched itself on the windowsill. Vivienne moved to stand just beneath the window. She surveyed them all with an expression of icy calm. “The mapmaker’s sons,” she said. “Enjoy your victory here, for it will not last long. Even as we speak, the passage to Terrum has been opened. You’re too late to stop me.”

  The bird beat its wings and dove into the room, flying straight toward them. Tom ducked, as did everyone else. When he straightened again—only to watch the bird shoot out of the window—Vivienne was gone.

  “What did she mean, ‘the passage is open’?” Tom asked.

  “The Bloody Passage,” Porter answered grimly. “The passage that protects the people of Terrum from northern invaders.”

  “Why? What does she want?” Willa asked.

  “The power that Marrick and Pernicus denied her.”

  “But—”

  “Never mind that now,” Umbrey said. “One battle at a time, lads.” He opened the courtroom door and stepped outside. A moment later he reentered the room, a beaming smile on his scruffy face. “That’s the most beautiful silence I’ve ever heard.”

  Silence? Tom darted outside, followed by Willa and Porter. Nothing. No moans, no groans, no unearthly growls. No scavengers. Already the stench of the creatures was beginning to lift.

  They raced back inside. “How did you know?” Willa asked, looking at Mudge. “How did you know destroying the book would destroy the scavengers?”

  Mudge looked at her, surprised. “Tom and Porter showed me.”

  Tom and Porter exchanged astonished glances. “We showed you? When?”

  “Keegan asked you both to use the map to show him the book. You did. When he placed his key on it, the pages opened. That was the only power Keegan had. But the sword …” Mudge thought for a moment, absently tapping the blade among the ashes of the book. “Good or evil. A choice. A balance between the two. I held the choice of whether to release what was in the book, or end it once and for all.”

  “What about The Watch?” said Tom.

  To Tom’s surprise, it wasn’t Mudge who answered, but Zaputo. “If you cut the head from a scorpion, the tail will eventually die as well.”

  “Exactly,” Mudge said, nodding approvingly at Zaputo. “Keegan’s trial will resume. Those who came to his defense, including The Watch, will be captured and punished. And as to Vivienne, we’ll find her … or she’ll find us.”

  “So it’s over then?” Tom said.

  Mudge shook his head. “Not quite.” Turning, he mounted the stairs and seated himself on Keegan’s throne. His gaze locked on Zaputo. “You had terms for Keegan. You wanted no contact between the people of Aquat and the people of Divino. Keegan would not accept those terms. Neither will I.”

  A heavy silence filled the room.

  Zaputo raised his chin. “The people of Aquat will no longer be used to ferry slaves from Divino.”

  “There will be no more slaves from Divino,” Mudge replied. “Those days are past. I give you my word.”

  “The people of Aquat will need to find another way to earn money to buy food.”

  “The people of Divino will need money as well. Money to rebuild the damage the scavengers have done.”

  Silence fell. They seemed to have reached an impasse. Mudge lifted his sword. Its brilliance had returned. He twisted it from side to side, watching as the blade glistened with an ethereal white light. “Keegan said something before I left to search for the book. He said I expected to just wave my magic sword and watch all the problems of the Five Kingdoms disappear. He was right—the sword doesn’t work that way.” He looked at Zaputo, his gaze intent. “Do you know why?”

  Zaputo was silent for a long moment. He regarded Mudge with a look that was part curiosity, part suspicion, as though he feared he was being led into a trap. After a long pause he said, “Why?”

  “The power of this sword was never in the blade. But here, in the hilt.” He ran his fingers over the five shiny black stones embedded in the sword’s grip. “Five kingdoms, united to work together, prosper together, and protect each other.”

  His words sent a chill down Tom’s spine. He heard Porter’s sharp intake of breath, and watched as a small, proud smile curved Willa’s lips.

  Zaputo remained unimpressed. “What are you asking?”

  “The island of Arx. A city as old as time. It was once a busy port, a center for all the kingdoms to come together and trade their goods. It is time to rebuild Arx, to restore it to its former gl
ory. If the people of Aquat and Divino work together, we can accomplish that.”

  Excitement lit Zaputo’s dark eyes as he considered the prospect. When he spoke, however, his words were cautious. “That would be an expensive undertaking.”

  “True.” Mudge nodded solemnly. Then he turned to Tom, Porter, and Willa. “Do you remember when Porter fell into the underground chamber?”

  Tom nodded. He’d never forget it.

  “I had some time to look around as I waited for you to return. As you remember, the landslide disturbed quite a bit of ground. Part of what churned to the surface was this.”

  Mudge held out his hand.

  Gold. A glistening nugget the size of a raisin rested in his palm.

  Mudge’s narrow chest swelled with pride. An expression of boyish glee flitted over his face. “Salamaine never found it, but we did.”

  Umbrey gave a whoop of delight. Willa wrapped her arms around Tom and Porter and squeezed them both. “Yes!”

  “To an alliance between our countries,” Mudge said. He stood and raised his sword, tilting it toward Zaputo. “From this day forward, we work together, prosper together, protect each other.”

  Zaputo studied Mudge in silence. He removed his own sword, an enormous glittering cutlass, from his belt. “You have my allegiance.” He tapped his blade against Mudge’s.

  The moment the blades touched, the Sword of Five Kingdoms began to glow. Its blinding white energy shot down Zaputo’s cutlass. Then a sharp metallic rattling sound echoed across the room. For a moment, Tom assumed it was simply the blades touching, but the sound continued even after the two swords pulled apart.

  It took them all a moment to recognize the source of the noise. Zaputo’s necklace. The ornate golden orb suspended from his chain trembled and shook.

  Frowning, Zaputo lifted the orb and touched the trigger, allowing it to snap open. The mana seed fell into his palm. But it was no longer dry and hard. As they watched, the seed grew plump and round. A delicate green shoot sprouted from the center.

  Zaputo’s mouth dropped open. He staggered backward, too overwhelmed to speak.

  Umbrey smiled and turned toward Mudge. “Looks like the power in your blade has returned, majesty.”

  The room erupted in joyful chaos. Tom, Willa, and Porter swarmed Mudge. Zaputo’s crewmen rushed to study the mana seed, touching it in awe. Even Umbrey’s crew, rough as they were, seemed happily shaken by the turn of events.

  As the noise finally died down, Willa caught Tom’s hand and gave it a squeeze. “You’ll stay this time, right?”

  Tom’s gaze moved from Willa, to Porter, to Mudge. Yes. He wanted to stay. He wanted to be a part of whatever happened next. At least until they knew what was happening in Terrum.

  But before he could reply, Umbrey answered for him. “I’m afraid he can’t. Not this time.” He looked at Tom. “Professor Lost was very adamant about that. No dilly-dallying. He said something about his list?”

  The demerits. Tom’s heart sank.

  Umbrey gave his shoulder a sympathetic pat. “You’re going home, lad. We leave with the tide tomorrow morning.”

  CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

  MORTIMER LOST

  Morning came early. As they’d all been too exhausted to look for other arrangements, they’d borrowed blankets and linens normally used for the prisoners and made beds for themselves on the stone floor. Umbrey had warned Tom that they would leave right after first light, but as it had been well past midnight when they’d finally all gone to sleep, Tom had been skeptical of their early departure. He shouldn’t have been. As soon as a soft pink glow touched the horizon, he was awakened by the steady thump of Umbrey’s peg leg striding across the floor.

  “Rise and shine, lad! It’s a glorious day for a sail.” He deposited a stack of clothing—Tom’s Lost Academy uniform, now clean and pressed and ready to wear—at the foot of his bed.

  Tom groaned, but resisted the urge to dive back under the covers. By the time he dressed and made his way downstairs, he found Willa, Porter, and Mudge waiting for him.

  Willa stepped forward immediately and wrapped Tom in a tight hug. Tom hesitantly returned her embrace, feeling more than a little awkward. He wasn’t used to being squeezed by girls. Finally she gave a dramatic sigh and drew back. “Saying goodbye is always the worst.”

  “I’ll miss Tom,” Mudge said, “but I think being chased by a mob of hungry scavengers is worse.”

  Willa laughed and shook her head. “Right,” she said, then leaned forward and pressed a quick kiss on Tom’s cheek. “Come back soon.”

  Tom froze. He could actually feel an idiotic grin forming on his lips, but was completely powerless to remove it. Just as he couldn’t stop the fiery blush from heating his cheeks. Needing something, anything else to focus on, he turned away. Tom found himself staring directly into his brother’s icy blue eyes.

  Tom hesitated, unsure of what to say. Good-bye? See ya later? Nothing seemed appropriate.

  Porter studied him for a moment in silence, then a wry smile curved his lips. “If you’re waiting because you think you’re going to get a good-bye kiss from me, don’t hold your breath.”

  Tom laughed. “Best news I’ve heard all day.”

  Handshakes followed, and more hugs, and finally it was time to go. Zaputo’s men joined them in the courthouse lobby. Apparently they were determined to sail with the first light as well.

  As they all moved toward the door, however, Zaputo abruptly stopped. His dark gaze fixed on Tom’s tee shirt. He jabbed his thick finger against the Lost Academy insignia embroidered on the pocket. “What is this?” he demanded.

  Tom blinked. His gaze shot to Porter, Willa, and Mudge, who looked as confused as he was. “What?”

  “Why do you wear this badge?”

  “That’s …” Tom hesitated, not sure what to say. “That’s the emblem of the Lost Academy. Mortimer Lost—

  “You know Mortimer Lost?”

  Tom froze, too stunned to think. Of all the words he would have expected to come from Salvador Zaputo’s mouth, You know Mortimer Lost? had to be among the most impossible to imagine.

  “Yes,” Tom finally managed. “I know Mortimer Lost. He’s the one who sent me here.”

  Zaputo’s eyes narrowed. “He was your captain before you boarded the Purgatory?”

  “My … my captain?”

  Although the words came out as a question, Tom felt the pieces of a puzzle slide firmly into place. The bells. The constant clanging and clamor of bells at mealtimes, bedtime, and classroom shifts. Lost ran the Academy with the same harsh discipline and efficiency as a captain ran a ship. That much he understood. But the rest? Fighting pirates? Exploring dangerous waters? Absolutely not. And yet … he’d seen the headmaster, battle lazy instructors, overbearing parents, and classroom bullies, never backing down an inch.

  His head spun in confusion. He looked to Umbrey for an answer.

  “Aye, lad. You’re wearing his insignia. That was Mortimer’s flag.”

  “Mortimer’s flag?”

  “Aye. His flag.”

  Zaputo let out a breath as a look of relief came over his face. “Twenty-five years ago, I battled your captain. The Crimson Belle ran aground and my men and I faced certain death. Mortimer Lost chose to spare our lives.” He pressed something into Tom’s hand. “Give him this from me. Tell him Salvador Zaputo has paid his debt.”

  Tom stood near the Purgatory’s bow, watching the waves strike the hull. Umbrey, apparently satisfied the ship was properly under way, came to join him. Tom looked at him. “I’m worried about Terrum.”

  “Worrying won’t help. If there’s something we can do to stop Vivienne, we’ll do it. No sense getting worked up about it until we know what we’re up against.”

  Tom sighed, acknowledging the truth of Umbrey’s words. Then he asked, “Why didn’t you ever tell me?”

  “Tell you what?”

  “About Lost.”

  Umbrey bit into an apple he’d pocketed
before leaving the courthouse. He gave a careless shrug, saying around a mouthful of fruit, “I guess I thought you should be able to figure out some things for yourself.” He glanced over his shoulder at Tom and arched a wiry brow. “You’re surprised, lad?”

  Surprised? More like astounded. His stiff-backed, narrow-minded, rules-loving, grim-faced, strict disciplinarian headmaster, Mortimer Lost, had once sailed a ship? It was almost impossible to imagine.

  “Now there was a captain,” Umbrey continued, leaning forward to rest his elbows on the ship’s rail. A faraway expression came upon him. “Ol’ Morty. Completely fearless. He’d sail anywhere, anytime. Tough on his crew, but he never lost a man under his watch, which is a better record than I can boast.”

  Tom shook his head. “I don’t know what to say.”

  Umbrey smiled. “He’s the one who amassed the information your father needed for his maps, you’ll remember. His scribe. Gathered stories, interrogated native peoples, surveyed the earth and sky. He taught me everything I know about running a ship

  Tom knew Lost and Umbrey had a history, but he never imagined this. He mulled it over. The new knowledge didn’t make him like Lost. Definitely not. All the same, he felt a small seed of grudging respect take root.

  “Never saw a man who loved the sea as much as old Mortimer,” Umbrey continued.

  “If he loved it so much, why’d he leave it?”

  Umbrey looked at him as though the answer should have been perfectly obvious. “Why, to protect you, of course. Keep you out of Keegan’s grasp. When your father found a way to the Other Side, there was no other man trusted to bring you there and keep you safe.”

  Tom’s stomach twisted. He felt as though he’d eaten too much of all the wrong things. Lost had given up a life at sea to protect him. Suddenly all his clever pranks didn’t seem so clever anymore. Climbing the rooftops, silencing the bells, and most recently, dressing Fred up as a pirate and setting him afloat.

  “But why—”

  “That’s enough, lad. You want to know anything else, you can ask him yourself. We’re almost there.” Umbrey tilted his chin forward. The mist they’d been sailing through abruptly parted and Tom recognized the Forbidden Lake.