by Jerry Hart
Victor tried to lead Champagne back to her house. Champagne may be nearly as old as Astrid and me, but she was fairly spry. She ran to her open front door, but not before the birds got to them. Victor and Champagne disappeared in a cloud of red feathers.
I wanted to run out there and help my friends, but I knew I would be too slow, too late. Before I could even make my way toward the front door, the birds lifted into the air and shot out of the Village.
Champagne and Victor were lying on the ground. They weren’t moving.
Shae, Astrid and I crossed the street. Victor was the first to move. He sat up and looked around. Then he helped Champagne. They stood up before we even got to them. I saw them covered in blood.
“Well, this is bad,” Champagne said, looking at the peck marks on her hands.
“Bad indeed,” Victor added, wiping the blood on his face. He only managed to smear it. His beard was nearly as long as Nalke’s.
“The hot tub!” I shouted. We helped our injured friends to the magical hot tub in our backyard. It was supposed to heal all wounds; that was the way Rockne designed it, anyway, and it managed to heal me a couple of times.
Shae turned it on as Champagne and Victor climbed in. Blue bubbles formed inside as our neighbors dunked their heads under the surface. When they came back up, they looked exactly the same.
“It’s not working,” Shae said, horrified. “Why isn’t the tub working?”
“A lot of Rockne’s inventions are quitting,” Astrid replied. “The cars, and now the tub.”
“We have to get to the palace,” Shae said. “Maybe they’ve discovered something new.”
We hopped into Victor’s jeep, which comfortably fit all of us, and drove out of the Village. We rode along a cliff-side freeway, seeing the red birds flying over the sea. They were flying away from the island, toward the Edge of the World.
“Do you think they could fly to Dallas from here?” I asked no one in particular.
“It’s possible,” Shae said. She was the only other person who’d been to the mainland.
We watched, horrified, as the birds flew farther away. Suddenly, the water shot up from the sea in a giant wave that stopped the birds mid-flight. They split off in different directions, heading back toward the island.
“Looks like Nalke’s watching over us,” Shae said with a smile.
The wave chased the birds toward us and then became a still wall of water, just in case the birds tried to escape again. Instead, the birds flew in the direction we were going. They looked like they were heading toward the palace.
Chapter 8: Another Island
As soon as we passed under the stone arch that led into Dargo Plaza, we knew things were bad. The birds shot through the shopping district like a strong wind. The islanders unfortunate enough to be outdoors screamed as they were assaulted. The palace soldiers shot at the birds and threw nets, but they only managed to stop a couple. I couldn’t tell how many until Shae parked in a lot down the street. We stayed in the jeep.
“Looks like they got two of the birds,” Astrid said from the front seat.
“How are you feeling?” I asked Victor and Champagne. They sat next to me in the back seat.
“I’m fine, Sugar Pumpkin,” Champagne replied. The wrinkles in her skin looked even deeper than usual, her face paler.
“Dwarves are very tolerant of disease,” Victor said. He looked healthier than Champagne, at least.
“My species can hold its own as well,” she said with a grin.
“Your species can read and affect emotions,” I couldn’t help saying. “Can that help you in some way?”
“No, but I can read my own emotions right now. I’m very angry.”
I laughed, and then coughed. I used to cough after a laugh if I’d just done a lot of cardio. That was back when I was “young,” though. Laughing now seemed to hurt all the time.
The birds left the plaza and headed toward the palace. Shae pulled out of the lot and followed. The soldiers were also in pursuit.
“I feel so helpless,” I said as we pulled up outside the palace gate. The birds circled above.
“The guards are handling the situation just fine,” Astrid said, looking back at me.
“So many people are getting infected, though.”
“We have a week to find a cure, Josh. Everything will be fine.”
She reached back and I took her hand. I looked at Victor and Champagne and smiled as best as I could.
“We’ll be fine,” Victor said.
We heard more shots fired from the palace courtyard, though we couldn’t see the soldiers because of the gate. We did see some of the birds drop from the sky, however. Only five remained, and they flew away from the palace. I lost track of them a few seconds later.
We got out of the jeep and entered the palace gate. Aneela and her soldiers stood in the courtyard, looking down at the birds they’d killed. She looked up at us as we approached.
“We’ve gotten half of them,” she told us proudly.
“Victor and Champagne were infected,” I told her. Her face changed with this news.
“We may be able to find a cure,” Aneela said. “Something has happened.”
“What?”
“Follow me.”
She led us behind the palace, toward a cliff that overlooked the sea. I came here once with Aneela, before I was cursed, and she’d nearly fallen off this cliff. I barely caught her in time. The last time I was here, there was nothing but sea that stretched on forever.
Now there was a landmass.
“Where did that come from?” I asked. The shock was noticeable.
“It appeared this morning,” Aneela said. “Commander Rhys noticed it first. We have no idea where it came from.”
The mass was small, about as big as our neighborhood. Basically, it was a tiny island. It was covered with tropical trees, with sand lining the edge.
“I doubt it just grew overnight,” Aneela said. “It must have been there all along and was hidden from us somehow.”
“Maybe the birds have something to do with it,” I guessed.
“The birds escaped a week ago, at least,” Astrid said. “The island showed up this morning.”
“What happened between then and now?” Aneela asked.
It only took my old brain a second to figure it out. “I took that crystal from Dargonius’s chamber last night.”
“That must be it,” Aneela said, turning to her palace. “I’m going with some soldiers to check out the island. Care to join?”
Astrid and I said yes. I was a little afraid of what we might find there, but at the same time I was excited. My pain lessened. Shae went with Victor and Champagne to the palace’s sick ward to treat their wounds. Shae told her daughter to be careful and kissed her on the cheek.
Aneela grabbed the crystal from a secure display case she kept in an unused chamber, and then we were on boats half an hour later. We headed toward the mysterious island.
Chapter 9: Tomb
We took two boats to the new island, both filled with six people each. Aneela, Astrid and I rode in the first boat, which was rowed into the inlet between two high rock walls. When we reached land, a couple of the soldiers got out and pulled the boat the rest of the way.
After that, we had no idea what to do.
We didn’t have to wait long, though. The remaining birds showed up. We were all wearing our protective suits and helmets, but I was still scared. The birds circled over us and then flew farther inland. We followed.
The island was mostly one big hill in the center. We walked up the hill (a few soldiers had to help me), through shoulder-high grass that had large black beetles. When we got to the top, a large, dark-gray statue greeted us. It looked like a large door, twenty feet tall. There was no knob, and I wasn’t sure what was holding it up. The birds flew high above it.
“I think this is the place,” I said.
“What do we do now?” Astrid asked.
Aneela walked to the
other side of the door. “There’s nothing behind it.” She studied the ground from where the thing stuck out. “I think this goes deep underground, whatever it is.”
The ground was sand a little darker than the shore. I kicked some up with my foot and regretted it. The smell that came up was awful. “Smells like sewage.”
Aneela looked at me for a second before going back to the door. Her soldiers got closer to her, keeping their eyes on the birds. “There’s got to be a way to open this,” she said, frustrated.
I suddenly remembered the crystal. I told Aneela, and she nodded to one of the soldiers. He’d been carrying it in a protective case. He set the case down and pulled out the crystal, carrying it to his queen.
Aneela walked up to the door, the crystal in her hands. Something appeared in the rock to the right of her. It was some kind of indention, about the size of the crystal itself. Aneela looked back at us one more time before placing the crystal inside.
The ground trembled, kicking up more dark sand. The smell got much worse. The whole island felt like it was having an earthquake. Aneela backed away from the door just as an opening appeared from the bottom and worked its way up. The crystal was still there, in the indention next to this opening.
Beyond the opening was total darkness. I walked up to it and saw a single step just inside. “I think there’s a staircase here.”
None of us had flashlights, so Aneela stepped forward, into the darkness. She took the first step, and then carefully placed her foot into the black. Her foot touched something, because she smiled at me and said, “You’re right.”
A soldier started to reach for the crystal to take with us, I assumed, but Aneela stopped him. “The door might close if you do that. Leave a few soldiers here to watch over it until we return, Commander.”
“Yes, My Queen.” He ordered two soldiers to stay outside while he and the other six went with us.
* * *
As soon as we entered, torches lit up the walls on both sides of the stairs. We saw bottomless pits on either side of us, and that the wide staircase led down quite a ways before ending at a large wooden door. The commander was in front of us, leading the way. Two soldiers walked behind him and in front of Aneela, with one next to her and two behind us. Despite all this protection, I still didn’t feel safe.
After a minute of careful walking we reached the bottom. The commander studied the door, looking for some way to open it. “Perhaps we need the crystal again?” he guessed.
“No, Commander Rhys,” Aneela said, walking up next to him. “Look at these markings on the door. They’re ancient Dargonian.”
I hadn’t noticed the markings until she mentioned them. They were dark red slashes and symbols. “Can you read that?” I asked her.
“Just barely. I learned in school when I was a little girl. Ever since Rockne came, he managed to ease us away from our way of life, our traditions.” She lightly touched the markings, whispering to herself. Finally, she said, “‘Release me to undo the Dark Dream.’” As soon as she said the words, they disappeared from the door.
Before anyone could say anything, the door popped open, scaring us all. Commander Rhys pushed it open the rest of the way. Inside was a large, circular room lit by more torches. In the center of the room was a small, round pool filled with black water.
In the center of the pool was a clear cylinder at least eight feet tall.
And inside the cylinder was a skeleton, hunched against the glass.
Chapter 10: The Dark Dream
“Oh my Goddess,” Aneela said, staring at the cylinder. “It’s Dargonius.”
I stepped closer to the pool, my knees killing me. “How do you know?”
“See the ring on the skeleton’s finger?” she asked.
I tried to see it but was too far away—my eyesight was getting worse. I tried to get closer but Aneela stopped me from stepping into the pool.
“Don’t touch the water. It may be a trap.”
“Why would Dargonius set a trap if he wanted to be unleashed?” Astrid asked.
“Think about it. Dargonius didn’t put himself in that cylinder. Whoever did may have made it so no one can get to him. The water could be acidic.”
I pulled out my wallet and grabbed a card from a barbershop I used to go to. If I got nine haircuts the tenth would be free. I’d already had my ninth, each number initialed by the barber. “Oh, well,” I said, dropping the card into the black water.
It caught fire and disappeared a second later.
“My Queen,” Commander Rhys said, his expression worried under the yellow and blue paint, “perhaps we should leave this dark place. Dargonius is dead, and therefore, cannot do us any good.”
“That’s just not true, Commander.”
The reply didn’t come from Aneela, or any of us, for that matter. It came from the cylinder.
The skeleton still remained hunched against the glass, but a cyan-colored dust started to swirl above it. The dust formed a figure that looked like a man. “I was beginning to think you’d never arrive,” the figure said.
“You were expecting us, Dargonius?” Aneela asked. She was clearly scared but was trying to hide it.
“Eventually. As soon as I felt the island reappear, I knew my Dark Dream had been unleashed.”
“What is the Dark Dream?” she asked next.
“My plague upon humanity. I was trapped here before I could put my Dream into action and hidden away from the rest of Dargo Island.”
“Who trapped you here?”
“That foul wizard Rockne.”
“Why did he trap you?” I asked.
“He found out what I had planned and wanted to stop me, ‘old man,’ but what he didn’t know was that I am the only one who can stop it once it’s unleashed. Which I’m guessing is what happened.” The figure smiled. At least, I think he did.
“How do you know this?” Aneela asked.
“The crystal is what got you in here, what made the island reappear. One of my servants managed to steal the crystal and flee to the chamber, awaiting the time he could release me. Unfortunately, he got trapped and died there. You couldn’t have possibly gotten the crystal without entering my chamber. The birds were in there, were they not?”
“They were,” Aneela confirmed. “Tell us how to defeat the plague.”
“Let me out.”
Aneela sighed. “I don’t think so.”
“Then I can’t help you.”
“How is it you’re still alive after all this time?”
“I’m a being of supreme magic. Rockne knew this when he imprisoned me. That’s why he went through such great lengths to make sure no one found me.”
“You weren’t that hard to find,” I said.
“Rockne wasn’t as smart as he wanted people to believe.” Dargonius laughed. “He didn’t know the location of my chamber. Otherwise, he would have destroyed my birds. Have they fled the island yet?”
“They tried,” I said. “Rockne’s brother stopped them.”
“Nalke? That blasted creature!” Dargonius was no longer in a good mood.
“We’ve killed half of them already,” Aneela added.
This made Dargonius even angrier. “Not before infecting some of your people,” he said in a menacing voice.
“That’s true, but we have your scrolls. We will find a cure on our own.”
He laughed. “The scrolls were instructions on building the birds. The plague wasn’t created with ingredients found in my chamber. It was created from me, from my essence. The only way to cure it is with me.”
“I will not release you,” Aneela said.
“You will change your mind once enough of your people die.”
“How do you know what happened to your servant?” I asked him, remembering the body we found in there. “You said he died in the chamber. How could you possibly know that if you were trapped here?”
Dargonius looked at me and laughed. “What are you, friend? You look aged but seem…different
.”
“None of your business, friend.”
“What’s to stop you from carrying on with your Dark Dream once we released you?” Astrid asked Dargonius.
He looked at her. “Nothing. But I could spare the people of this island.” He looked at Aneela. “I have no ill will toward your people. I only want revenge upon the people of the known world.”
“Everyone who wronged you has been dead for hundreds of years,” she said.
“Their ancestors still live. Their way of life still exists.”
“I won’t unleash you so you can bring ruin upon the world. We’ll find a way to cure our people; we have plenty of time.”
“Once you realize how foolish you sound,” he said, “you know where to find me. What is your name, sweet darling?”
“Aneela.”
“Are you the queen of this island?”
“Yes.”
“Then let it go down in history that Queen Aneela allowed her people to die when the cure was within her grasp.”
Aneela shook slightly, turned around and left the room. Her soldiers followed. I was the last to leave, but before I closed the door, I turned back to Dargonius.
“I guess Rockne wasn’t as bad as I thought he was, if he felt the need to trap you here.”
“I sense a little of him in you,” Dargonius said. “Why is that?”
I left without replying.
Chapter 11: Less Time than we Thought
We got back to the palace and immediately went to the sick ward. The room was nearly filled with sick Dargons. Champagne walked among the people, soothing them with her power. As soon as she placed her hand on their shoulders, they went from scared to relaxed within seconds.
Champagne, however, looked worse than when I last saw her. Her face was paler, and she needed help from Victor to walk. I walked up to them and asked how they were doing.
“I’m fine, Sugar Cow,” Champagne replied. “I just need to lie down for a while, regain my strength. Any luck on the second island?”
