Tales from Dargo Island: The Complete Trilogy

by Jerry Hart

  What if Nalke did need Astrid in order to regain his power?

  As we got closer to the cloud-castle, I saw dark things running toward us. They stood out in front of the white clouds. I saw at least twenty of them. Shae, Champagne, Victor, Estevan and I started running, and I knew it wasn’t because we wanted to. The islanders gave a battle cry and started running after us.

  Rockne was making us confront the creatures!

  I wasn’t too worried about myself, but I was afraid for my friends. They didn’t have the power to leach someone’s life like I did. If they died, they would be gone forever.

  I tried to fight Rockne’s power over me, but his will was too strong. Nalke’s army was thirty feet away, I guessed. In seconds we would collide. The creatures looked like gorillas.

  I was the first one to go down. The creature collided with me, and I definitely felt it. It bit my neck, which I also felt. I saw giant bat wings on its back and I guessed it was a vampire. The islanders ran past me.

  No one was helping me.

  I was getting weaker by the second.

  And then I grew stronger just as fast.

  The vampire let go of my neck and collapsed next to me, gasping. It was dying. I jumped to my feet, fully restored. And I was in control of my own body. I hadn’t noticed at first but I had told myself to stand up.

  I looked around and saw the vampires giving the Dargons a run for their money. Nearly a dozen islanders were lying dead on the cloud-ground. None of them were my friends.

  I ran after the two armies, which were moving toward the castle. One person ran up the stairs and into the keep’s entrance, and I could tell from the shiny suit it was Rockne. I tried to run after him, but another vampire grabbed me by the neck and threw me over the edge.

  I started to fall but stopped a few seconds later. I floated in midair for a moment and then floated back up. The vampire who tried to kill me stared in shock before suddenly catching on fire. It fell over the edge just as I took its place on the firm cloud.

  Rockne stood a few feet away, his right arm raised in front of him.

  He saved me.

  Before I could move toward him, he turned and ran up into the keep again. I didn’t know if he was aware I’d regained control of my body, but it didn’t seem to matter. I wouldn’t be able to catch up with him before he found Nalke.

  I tried to move around the battle, but there were so many fighting bodies in my way. So many Dargons died in front of my eyes. Rockne’s potion must have enhanced our ability to fight, because I saw Champagne and Shae taking out a couple of vampires each. I never would have guessed Champagne could move that fast. Victor swung his axe like nobody’s business, cutting down vampires left and right.

  A couple of vampires ganged up on Aneela, and I was about to help her, but Shae appeared out of nowhere and killed them. I ran up to my friends.

  “Shae, my potion wore off. We have to stop Rockne from killing Nalke.”

  She showed no sign of understanding me, though I knew she did. She went back to fighting the vampires. Aneela, on the other hand, looked worried.

  “What are you talking about?” she asked me.

  “Rockne’s behind everything. Nalke is innocent. Rockne tricked you into helping him, and now he’s inside the castle. We have to stop him.”

  She only thought about this for a second before nodding. “Let’s go.”

  We raced up the cloud-stairs and entered the keep.

  Chapter 27: Sibling Rivalry

  I’d suspected the inside of the keep would also be made of clouds, and was surprised by what I saw. The place looked like it was made of stone. The outside must have been an illusion, so no one could see it from the ground. I looked around, trying to find Rockne, or even Nalke. I didn’t know what I would do when I found them, seeing as I was no match for Rockne, but I had to try.

  Aneela was right behind me. We stopped at an intersection in a hallway. There were four ways to go: forward, left, right, and back the way we’d come. The forward, left and right ways ended in a red door.

  “Which way did he go?” Aneela asked.

  “I don’t know.”

  I looked to the right again and noticed the door was slightly open. It was barely noticeable from here, but I could see it blowing slightly in a wind. “That way!” I yelled, running down the hall. Aneela was on my heels.

  Before we could go through the door, something behind us growled. We turned around and saw a large wolf at the end of the hall.

  A werewolf!

  It raced toward us, black fur shining as it passed the many torches on the walls. It was one of the scariest things I’ve ever seen. Aneela pushed the door open and pulled me into the room. We just managed to shut the door in time before the monster slammed into it. Aneela pushed a bar in place to lock it, but the werewolf was incredibly strong. The door wouldn’t last long.

  “Come on!” she screamed, running up a spiral stone staircase on the other side of the room.

  Just as we started up the steps, the door came crashing open behind us. I could feel the blood gushing from my nose as I tried to stay on my feet. I ran as fast as I could but the werewolf was much faster. I waited for death; I could practically feel the monster’s breath on the back of my neck.

  Aneela and I got to the first landing and ran into the room. I turned to try and fight it off so Aneela could escape, but as soon as the werewolf appeared, a blast of blue energy hit it in the chest. It fell to the ground, unconscious.

  I spun around, expecting to see Rockne.

  Instead, I saw Nalke. His hair was long and white. He looked more like a wizard than his brother. He wore a long blue robe that touched the floor.

  “Rockne’s in the keep,” I said, breathless and wiping my nose. “We have to get you out of here.”

  He shook his head. “I have to face him. He managed to kill nearly my entire army. If I don’t stop him now…”

  Aneela and I looked at each other. “Rockne deceived my people and me,” she said to Nalke. “I want to help you stop him.”

  Nalke nodded. “But first, we must find him.”

  “I’m right here, brother.”

  Rockne stood in the landing, next to the unconscious werewolf, his hands behind his back. He stepped into the room, his eyes on the floor. He looked so calm, so smug. I hated him more than anything at that moment.

  “Hello, brother,” Nalke said to him. “You’ve been very busy. Deceit, murder. After this is over, your list of friends will be greatly diminished.”

  “When this over, I won’t need friends,” Rockne said, though he sounded sad. “I won’t need friends.”

  Aneela and I backed away to a wall. The room got colder by the minute. The brothers stared at each other, twelve feet apart. I didn’t want to be in the same room as these two, but I had to see what happened. If Rockne won, I had to stop him.

  I hadn’t figured out how to stop him, though.

  “Do you really think you deserve the throne?” Nalke asked his brother. “You’re immature and irresponsible—reasons why you were passed over in the first place.”

  Rockne chuckled, looking at the floor. “Though I agree with your assessment, nothing you say will change my mind. I’m not an evil man, just a desperate one.”

  “You are evil!” Aneela shouted behind me. “You killed the giants of Dargo. You forced your friends to fight against their will. They’re probably dying for you, and you don’t even care.”

  “I do care!” Rockne shouted. “I may have lost my friends’ trust today, but I still care for them. The potion I gave them made them stronger, better fighters. They’re more powerful than your people. They’ll be fine.” He looked at me. “I saved Josh from falling to his death earlier. I’m not a monster.”

  “I hate you,” I said before I could stop myself.

  Rockne looked at me.

  “I trusted you, and you betrayed me. You are a monster.”

  “I know, Dr. Debelko, and I’m sorry.”

  �
��Don’t call me that!” I yelled. “You’ve been lying to me since the day we met. We were never friends.”

  He looked hurt. He locked eyes with his brother. “It appears I have nothing left to lose.”

  “Except your life, brother.”

  “You may be more powerful, but I have an army and you don’t.”

  “Your army isn’t in this room.” Nalke grinned.

  Rockne waved his hands and the room suddenly became fuller. Shae, Victor, Champagne and Estevan appeared behind him. They were covered in blood, and I had a feeling none of it belonged to them.

  “They are now,” Rockne said, unnecessarily.

  Nalke looked a little nervous, but he stood his ground. Rockne had said he was powerful in his own realm; maybe he had a few tricks up his sleeve. If so, he needed to pull them out now.

  Suddenly, Rockne’s army jumped toward Nalke. He waved his hand and a mini tornado caught and tossed them across the room. They landed in a heap, and I couldn’t tell if they were still alive.

  Rockne angrily shot fire from his hands toward his brother. The fire hit an invisible force field; Nalke didn’t even blink. He did, however, lift a hand, causing Rockne to shoot backward, onto the landing.

  “You can’t defeat me in my own home,” he told Rockne.

  Rockne spit blood on the floor. “It’s my home too,” he whispered, standing up again.

  “It used to be your home, before you became a petulant child. You forced Father to banish you from this place. You could have stayed here, with me, and perhaps gained the throne later on. But, no, you had to have a tantrum and cause so much death and destruction.”

  “Shut up!”

  Nalke looked at the pile of Rockne’s army to the side. “I lost a lot of my power when I threw that curse at Shae. Most of who I am lies within my daughter. I can’t get it back, as long as Astrid lives.”

  I didn’t like the sound of that. “You’re not going to kill her!”

  He looked at me with a disgusted expression. “Of course not. Though I don’t know her well, I love her with all my heart.”

  “Before this fight is over,” Rockne said, raising his hands again, “you’ll be ready to kill your daughter to get your power back.”

  He shot more fire from his fingers, and this time Nalke looked to be straining against the power. This went on for a couple of minutes, and I actually feared for Nalke’s life. He dropped to his knees.

  Rockne laughed. I could barely hear it over the roar of the flames, but I saw his face. He had the most disturbing smile I’d ever seen.

  “We have to do something!” Aneela yelled at me.

  I nodded to her. I’d already come up with an idea, but I was scared to go through with it. But I had to. If Rockne defeated Nalke, everything would change for the worst. Rockne didn’t have his brother’s discipline. He would cause earthquakes and hurricanes just for the fun of it. He would use the elements to kill his enemies, or just people he didn’t like.

  He couldn’t gain the throne. I couldn’t let him.

  I ran toward the fire. I saw Rockne’s face just before I leaped into the flames, the fear in his eyes. In that instant, he knew what I was going to do. Before he could extinguish the fire, I jumped into it.

  The pain was the worst I’d ever felt. I guess that goes without saying, but still.

  I don’t know how long I was in the fire, but when it finally stopped I dropped to the stone floor. My skin and lungs were raw. I was dying.

  And then I wasn’t.

  I heard a gasp, and then I felt a little less pain. I was leaching off of Rockne.

  I regained enough strength to lift my head. I saw him on his knees, his face pale. He dropped to his side, gasping. “I’m sorry, Dr. Debelko,” he said to me. And then he fell to the floor. Rockne was dead.

  I looked at my arms. The skin was completely burned away, and I saw my muscles and bones. It was too much for me. I passed out.

  Chapter 28: Dargo in Chaos

  I kept slipping in and out of consciousness, but whenever I was awake, I heard a deafening roar. It sounded like a hurricane. I saw large waves every now and then, and felt water splash on my face. I had no idea where I was or what was going on, but it didn’t seem good.

  “We’re almost to the hot tub,” a familiar voice said. Was that Shae?

  I felt like I was being carried, and it hurt being jostled around so much, but I kept blacking out. Blacking out was awesome.

  When I woke up again, I saw Rockne’s house. I closed my eyes again.

  When I opened them, I was being lowered into a hot tub. The bubbling blue water looked so pretty. My head went under the surface, and I closed my eyes again.

  More pain.

  My whole body was burning. I suddenly remembered jumping into Rockne’s fire. Why did I do that? Why would I do something that would cause this much pain?

  After some time the pain went away. My skin went from burning to itching, and then numb. I opened my eyes underwater and saw that my arms were pink. I had a vague memory of them being red. No, not just red. I had seen the insides of my arms because the skin had been burned away.

  I lunged out of the tub, gasping. The first person I saw was Champagne. She had tears in her eyes. Next to her were Victor, Astrid, Shae, Aneela and Estevan.

  And, oh man, what was going on around us?

  I saw giant waves crashing down on the mountains far away. There was water in the yard, and the wind blew so hard I had to brace myself in the tub.

  “Rockne’s magic is gone!” Victor shouted over the wind. “The island isn’t exactly in a prime location for this time of year!”

  “Isn’t there something we can do?” I yelled back.

  “I can,” Estevan said in a voice that wasn’t his. It was Nalke’s.

  He turned and walked away, toward the street. I jumped out of the tub and followed. Estevan stood in the middle of the street, waving his arms around. I noticed for the first time the clouds were red. They swirled to Estevan’s movements. And then he pushed his arms outward, and the clouds did the same.

  That stopped the wind and rain, but not the waves, which were roaring toward us.

  Estevan braced himself and held his hands in front of him. Just before the water reached the gatehouse, it stopped. It was like it hit an invisible solid wall. It was an amazing sight. The water rushed around the invisible barrier that circled us, and we were surrounded.

  We stood in the street for at least a minute as the waves died down on the shore and the water washed back into the sea.

  Estevan dropped his arms and turned to me.

  “You need a human host to walk on land,” I remembered.

  “As did my brother. He’d been using that body for decades. I mourn the loss of the poor soul that was lost with him.”

  I felt like I’d been stabbed in the heart. I was the one who killed them. I could never undo that. Though my power saved me, and the world, I wished I’d never been born with it.

  I felt a hand on my shoulder and saw Astrid smiling at me. The potion had worn off.

  “My dear Astrid,” Estevan said, and I had to remind myself it was Nalke speaking.

  “All my life,” she said, “Rockne convinced me you were evil. I could’ve known you all these years.” She shook her head, and for a second I thought she was going to cry. But she didn’t.

  “We still have time to make up for all that was lost,” he said, taking her hand.

  Despite the show we just witnessed with the weather, I was glad Rockne’s magic was gone from this island. If it hadn’t disappeared, Estevan would’ve started melting the way Tack had when Nalke possessed him.

  But there my friend stood, unharmed and happier than I’d seen him, even if it was Nalke’s smile I saw.

  “Is there any way you can get your power back and lift Astrid’s curse?” I asked. “They’re the same thing, aren’t they? That’s why she turns old during the day, right?”

  He nodded. “I could easily extract it from Shae,
since she was the one to which I hurled the curse. But with Astrid, it’s part of her being. She was born with it. I don’t know if I can remove it without killing her.”

  I suddenly thought of how Rockne’s potion had worn off when the vampire attacked me. “Could you extract the curse from me?” I asked Estevan.

  He looked at me through narrow eyes. “Perhaps, but you’re not cursed.”

  I told him what happened earlier, and how I thought I could leach the curse out of Astrid with my power, the way the vampire leached the potion from me.

  Estevan looked worried. “That sounds dangerous. It could kill her.”

  “Not if she’s standing in the hot tub.”

  “I’m willing to try it,” Astrid said, hopeful.

  Estevan looked from her to me, and then he smiled. “I guess it’s worth a shot.”

  Chapter 29: Undoing

  Astrid stepped into the hot tub and I stood directly in front of her. We stared into each other’s eyes, and I could tell she was as nervous as me. We joined hands as Estevan stepped up next to me.

  “Are you ready?” I asked her.

  “Yes.”

  I looked at Estevan. “You?”

  “Yes.”

  “Okay,” I said, taking a deep breath. I’d never leached anyone without coming close to death, but I tried anyway. I had to learn to control my power once and for all. Perhaps I could keep from using it even if I was dying. If it was my time to go, it was my time. I couldn’t continue to take other people’s lives, even by accident.

  “Oh!” Astrid gasped. It had begun.

  “Okay,” I said, trying to comfort her. “It’s okay. I won’t hurt you.”

  Astrid’s eyes grew wide and her face paled. The green in her eyes even lost some color. I hated seeing her this way and worried I wasn’t doing it correctly. My body grew numb and I started gasping as well. I couldn’t breathe.

  “It’s okay,” I managed to say once again. It was one of the most difficult things I’d done. I was so weak. I could barely even stand anymore.