A Curse of Gold

by Annie Sullivan

  “But—” Phipps says.

  “Just go,” I say to Triton, pulling myself up as much as I can.

  Triton’s lips thin. He gives me one long look, then his pegasus vaults into the air, disappearing as the island moves onward.

  I refuse to watch his path.

  Instead, I focus on the island. I hadn’t even realized you couldn’t tell the island is moving once you set foot on it. The sky doesn’t speed by. The wind doesn’t howl. There are just some early morning clouds lazing by.

  There’s something eerie about the beach, though. It takes me a few moments to place why. There are no seagulls calling out, and the waves don’t wash upon the shore, sending seashells clinking upward with each crash. The waves simply rest against the edge of the island without moving.

  “We should get going,” I say. “We need to be off the island as fast as we can.” I limp back toward the trees, wincing with each step. If I can just make it to them, I can lean against a trunk. Maybe the others won’t notice the way my feet drag and my body sways unevenly.

  Blood rushes in my ears so loudly I can’t hear if the others are following or not. My chest feels extremely tight, as if my clothes have shrunk down into a snakeskin I can’t shed, making it hard to get any breath in.

  Above the canopy, a large volcano looms in the distance. If I can barely make it to the trees, I don’t know how I’m going to make it all the way there, but I keep putting one foot in front of the other until Phipps’s voice calls me back.

  “What about the pegasi?” he says.

  I slowly turn to face him. “We’ll have to leave them here. We can’t risk Dionysus seeing us coming.” Although I have a sinking suspicion he already knows we’re here, that there’s nothing on his island he doesn’t know about. Besides, I imagine as soon as the pegasi try to take off toward the volcano, they’ll have to fight to keep up with the island again and so never be fast enough to fly us all the way to another part farther in.

  Royce steps to my side. “Should we take everyone with us or leave some men here with the pegasi?”

  I turn to answer him, but his face has gone white.

  He pulls me toward him, twisting me toward the sunlight. “Kora, something’s wrong with your neck.”

  Hettie moves forward to look. “Is it dirt?”

  Royce rubs at it.

  “Maybe she touched something when she landed in the jungle?” Rhat comes up. “We have some poisonous plants back on my home island. If you show me where you landed, I can take a look.”

  I push away from Royce and the crowd. “I’m fine.”

  The trees sway in and out of focus as I swing toward them. I wheeze as I fight to get closer. I just have to make it there.

  The jungle hazes and blurs again.

  I don’t even realize I’m falling until my knees grind into the sand.

  Royce is there in a second, kneeling in front of me. “Kora, your veins are turning green.”

  I take a deep breath. “I know.”

  “You know?” Hettie repeats, crouching down next to me.

  I guess I knew I’d have to tell them at some point. At least we’re already on Jipper.

  “I—I was bitten on the gorgon’s island.”

  “What?” Royce asks. Confusion plays across his face. His eyes meet mine. They look even more blue with the ocean at his back.

  “I knew if I told you that you’d want to go after the cure.” I drop my gaze. “And I couldn’t abandon Lagonia like that.”

  Some sort of emotion plays across Royce’s face. He shakes his head back and forth.

  “I’m so sorry,” I whisper. It’s the only thing I can say.

  “There’s got to be something we can do,” he says, his voice cracking.

  I shake my head. “We go after Dionysus. That’s all we can do.”

  Tears prick at the corners of his eyes.

  “Please,” I say. “You said you’d always trust me. Trust that I’m doing what I have to in order to save my people, to be the leader they need.”

  “You’re already the leader they need,” he says, his voice breaking. “You’re the one willing to fight for them. To protect them. But, Kora, not this. Don’t ask this of me.” He blinks the tears away and closes his eyes. He looks like he’s fighting something within himself.

  Hettie rises on her knees, a determined look on her face. “Rhat and I will go after Triton. We’ll make him take us to find Panacea.”

  “Even if you could locate him,” I say, “you won’t find Panacea in time.”

  “There’s got to be something.” Her lips quiver slightly as she fights the motion.

  Rhat moves toward Hettie and puts his hand on her shoulder.

  She shakes it off and jumps to her feet. “Dionysus can fix this. He has powers. We’ll make him fix this.”

  The rest of the men stand stoically around us, eyes downcast.

  There’s no way Dionysus is going to cure me out of the kindness of his heart. But that small hope might be enough to keep her going for now.

  “We got that no-good Triton to help us. We’ll find a way to convince Dionysus.” Her voice rises with every word, as if the energy she puts into it will be enough to make it come true.

  “She’s right,” Royce says. “This isn’t over yet. Leave the pegasi here. We all go after Dionysus.” He lifts me delicately to my feet.

  Then, he pulls me close, whispering into my ear. “I trust you—but I love you more. And I’m not losing you, no matter what.” He leans back, meeting my gaze with a nod, solidifying his promise.

  Then, before I can reply, he leads me toward the trees—toward where Dionysus waits.

  CHAPTER 24

  The jungle is dark and quiet. Big, leafy ferns sag off the trees, waving their fronds at us, beckoning us farther in. Vines tangle overhead while tree roots intertwine under a carpet of decaying leaves. Strange half-moons of fungus grow in patches on the sides of trees, competing with the various white mushrooms that live in lines between thick green patches of moss.

  The air feels moist, as though it’s recently rained, and heat clings to me. Sweat slides down my skin and soaks through my shirt, competing with the poison-fed fever inside.

  Ahead of me, Hettie’s hair is matted to her neck as she moves forward to cut through the lush foliage. Only Rhat seems unaffected by the heat, but even he seems wary of the forest around us. He keeps casting glances deep into the jungle, where shadows jump around every time the breeze shakes the trees.

  Triton said Dionysus had won things from many of the gods, and some of those catures live on this island. I have no idea what we might encounter. Or if I’ll even have the strength to face any we do come across.

  Royce keeps his hand under my arm and around my back so I remain upright. My feet persist in dragging behind me, barely able to keep moving. And I continue having to stop to catch my breath.

  Royce rests me against a tree near a stream after I ask him to stop for a moment.

  I let my head fall back against the trunk. My shirt clings to my back. My throat feels like an inferno.

  “I’ll get you some water,” Royce says.

  But before he can move, something rustles in the jungle.

  I freeze.

  “What was that?” Hettie whispers.

  The sound of swords being drawn from their sheaths breaks the silence around us as the men prepare for whatever may be coming.

  The leaves shake again.

  No one breathes.

  Out of the bushes shoots a bright purple bird. It’s akin to the peacocks my father keeps in his garden with its tail of dark purple feathers dragging through the dirt behind it.

  The bird lets out a few caws before hopping harmlessly into the undergrowth.

  I sag into the tree in relief. Several ants crawl down the bark in a curving line before disappearing beneath the leaves.

  “Hey,” Phipps calls. “You should see this stream.”

  I straighten and stagger toward the water like the
rest of the crew, drawn by the excitement in Phipps’s voice.

  A small stream not wider than an arm’s length runs off into the jungle, water gurgling quietly.

  Phipps dips his hand into the current. When his hand emerges, he’s holding clear rocks. No, not rocks.

  Diamonds.

  I move closer, pain lacing each step, and stare into the clear water. Instead of stones and rocks clogging the bottom of the stream, diamonds line it. They tumble through the water, gathering in pockets and reflecting the sunlight.

  Phipps scoops up handfuls and shoves them into anything he can find that can double as a pouch. “We’re rich,” he cries. “Lenny, come over here. I need your pockets.”

  I’d always heard rumors of the clearest, purest water being found on Jipper, but treasures like these are what drew men to the Temptresses. And that had been a trap.

  “I don’t like this,” I say.

  I scan the forest, but I don’t see anything in the shadows.

  The water in front of Phipps shimmers. An icy, diamond hand shoots out, grabbing Phipps’s wrist. He screams as his skin slowly freezes over, taking on the same transparent hue as whatever it is that holds him. The sheen creeps slowly up his arm. He pulls backward, causing the creature to rise out of the water. At first, I think it’s a Temptress, but as the water drains away, a hard shell remains. Her skin looks solid and comes together at jagged points, just like the diamonds in the stream.

  “We need to get out of here,” Rhat shouts. “She’ll turn us all into diamonds.”

  Hettie and Royce react immediately. Royce brings his sword down on the creature’s wrist. It ricochets off, leaving a chip in the blade. The creature doesn’t flinch. Phipps’s entire right arm is now a giant diamond. His eyes have gone dull, as if with each inch of his body that is consumed, more of his life is sucked out.

  Lenny looks like he wants to tackle the woman, but another sailor holds him back.

  Hettie aims her sword for the creature’s throat, but she has no more success than Royce. The blade doesn’t even chip its skin. Again and again, they hack, and soon, the tips of their sword blades turn clear and hard wherever they crash into the diamond woman’s body.

  The creature doesn’t falter or move away. A glowing smile spreads across her face as the gleam creeps farther up Phipps’s arm. And it’s moving closer and closer to his heart.

  I know what’ll happen if it reaches there. Summoning what strength I can, I lurch ahead, not knowing if my plan will work after what happened with the man who melted through the gold back in the palace. But I have to try.

  I crash into Royce. At first, he tries to shake me off, no doubt thinking I’m another assailant. I spin him around, searching his jacket for gold. I press my palm into a button. Cold power wells up inside me.

  I brush past him, staggering forward. The woman doesn’t care; her eyes haven’t moved from Phipps.

  I move as quickly as I can as my vision threatens to spin again. I jolt forward into her arm. I cry out as a prick of pain shoots through my finger, followed by the familiar depletion of energy as the gold drains from my body. There’s a flash of golden and white light, and then I’m tumbling backward.

  For a few moments, all I can see is swirling light, until the white glow is overtaken by gold. I blink it away. Slowly, the trees above me come into focus. Then, Royce’s concerned face is above mine. His mouth is moving, but I can’t make out what it is he’s saying.

  My head rolls to the side.

  The creature is frozen, encased in gold. Phipps slumps forward. Rhat and Hettie pry Phipps’s wrist loose from the creature’s grip, but his arm remains diamond. The sound of it thudding against the ground is the first noise that crashes through my mind.

  Royce grasps my shoulders, drawing my gaze back to him. “Are you okay? Kora, what’s wrong?” he shouts over and over again.

  There’s a pricking sensation surging through my pointer finger. I bring it close to my face and spot a tiny dewdrop-shaped diamond patch on my skin. I tap my fingernail against it.

  Royce grabs my finger and inspects it. “Can you stand?”

  I nod, and he helps me to my feet, saying, “So that’s what happens when two of Dionysus’s gifted come into contact with each other.”

  “You think that’s what she was?” I ask, trying to draw breath into lungs that feel smaller and smaller with each inhale.

  Royce shrugs. “What else could she be?” He helps me over toward Phipps. “Triton did say he was gathering his creatures for the attack on Lagonia.”

  Rhat helps Phipps stand.

  “It’s not so bad,” Phipps says. He tries to smile but fails.

  “We’ll find a way to fix this.” I have no idea how, but I can’t leave him without hope.

  Lenny pops up beside me, inspecting the arm.

  “No need to fix it,” Phipps says. “I’ve got the world’s greatest diamond arm.” I can’t tell if he’s putting on a brave face for Lenny or if he’s starting to come around to having a jewel limb.

  “Can you keep going?” Rhat asks.

  Phipps nods. He walks forward on his own but topples to the side as the weight of his arm drags him down. Rhat props him up again, letting Phipps lean on him for support.

  Just as he does, another sound echoes through the jungle. The golden creature crackles. Patches of diamond skin break through.

  “She’s coming back,” Hettie calls. “She’s turning the gold coating into diamonds.”

  The entire bottom half of the creature sparkles in the sun. A sound like shattering glass accompanies the return of her entire midsection to diamond skin.

  “Run,” Royce shouts.

  Rhat drags Phipps away from the stream, and Royce wraps his arm around me, yanking me forward.

  We crash through the undergrowth until we can no longer hear the fracturing sound of the creature restoring herself.

  Royce collapses against the nearest tree while I lean on my knees, panting for breath. Sweat plasters Royce’s hair to his forehead, and he wipes it away as he shoves off the tree.

  “We need to keep moving. We’re easy targets the longer we stand still,” he says.

  I know he’s right, but my chest just keeps getting tighter and tighter. Every breath I take turns stale the moment it reaches my lungs, hot and unbearable until I have to cough the air out.

  Royce’s eyes keep flicking toward me. “Maybe we should rest a while longer,” he backtracks.

  “No,” I force myself upward, ignoring my vision as it reels again before settling. “You’re right. We have to keep going.”

  Rhat scampers up the nearest tree as if it were easier to climb than the rigging. “Volcano’s that way.” He slips back down and lands soundlessly on fallen palm fronds. “We’re not far. It doesn’t look like the island is very long.”

  I let Royce wrap his arm around me as we continue walking. After a few moments, we both jolt to a stop as the jungle ends and a wide expanse of open land awaits.

  Bright sunlight flares down around us. Golden grasses sway back and forth in the breeze. Several bugs buzz between the yellow-and-white flowers that grow in small clumps around the field.

  “A field doesn’t belong on an island like this,” Rhat says. He squats down to examine the grass.

  “I don’t like it,” Hettie says. “It’s too open.”

  Off to our right, the base of the volcano rises like gnarled tree roots leading up to a wide mountain. There’s no way we can go back around the other way.

  “If it’s the fastest route,” I cough. “We have to take it.”

  Her eyes meet mine before drifting down to my neck, where I can feel the green veins have started creeping up my chin to stain my cheeks.

  She swallows. “Okay.” She keeps her shield on her back but pulls out her sword and ventures into the grass. It sways around her hips. She dips her sword into the tufts of grass, but nothing comes out.

  Slowly, the rest of us make our way into the field. The grass is rougher
than it looks. It whips against my clothes, trying to dig its way in.

  There is a caw above the rustling of the grass.

  “What was that?” Phipps asks, still leaning on Rhat.

  “Just a bird,” Royce says. “Probably like the one we saw before.”

  But the cawing gets louder. And the pitch is different. It’s much higher than before.

  We’ve only gone a few more steps when Phipps lets out a startled cry, and Royce pulls me forward.

  “Please,” a weak female voice says. “Please help me. The birds eat human flesh.”

  Sticking out barely above the grass is the head of a woman. Her blonde hair blends in seamlessly, and her green eyes frantically scan the skies. She’s crouched low, hidden in the grass.

  “Come with us,” Phipps says at the same time Royce tells him to wait.

  Phipps lets go of Rhat and reaches out with his good arm. As soon as he does, the field erupts around us. Dozens of blonde heads shoot out of the grass. All nearly identical.

  A wicked grin spreads across the closest woman’s face. Then her mouth opens and a screeching sound that makes me want to claw off my own ears comes out.

  The woman’s form vaults out of the brush, revealing a squat, fat body covered in feathers. Two broad wings spread wide as she swoops upward before diving straight toward us.

  “Harpies,” Royce cries just as the entire flock takes to the skies.

  CHAPTER 25

  The only thing that saves Phipps from the harpy heading straight for him is his diamond arm. He manages to raise it just in time, protecting his chest from the harpy’s claws.

  The birdwoman screeches away and takes aim for another attack.

  All around the field, harpies launch toward sailors, talons extended. Several careen straight toward Rhat. He knocks one away with a swoop of his sword, but another sinks its claws into his shoulder from behind. Hettie’s there in a second, leaping through the air, sword extended. She crashes into the bird’s torso, ripping it open as she uses her own weight to pull her weapon down.

  I can’t see what happens next because a harpy dives low. Royce rips his sword free and swipes it back and forth to keep the monster at bay. Up close, the face that had appeared so human has more birdlike features. Two lips pucker outward like a tiny beak above a narrow chin. And beady eyes stare out from behind eyelashes that look more like feathers than hair.