Journey to Rainbow Island

by Christie Hsiao

  Satisfied that Minkaro was safe, she carefully climbed the rest of the way up the rope ladder and swung first one leg, then the other over the wooden railing, landing upon the wet, wind-lashed deck. The ship was larger than she had thought: there must have been at least sixteen decks. The mast looked infinite as it jutted into the dark sky. The entire boat was painted gold—the exterior body as well as the interior walls and deck. The gold had faded, and in some areas the paint was dull and peeling. Was Yu-ning on a ghost ship, void of passengers? It seemed that the ship was cast at sea in the middle of nowhere.

  Then, near the bow of the ship, through the wind and rain, she saw a boy who looked to be about sixteen years old. He wore a sailor’s uniform and hat and had moved to the very front of the bow, where he was pulling on a rope with all his might.

  “Where is everyone?” Yu-ning said to the boy as she approached. “It is so empty here. This is like a ghost ship.”

  The boy looked at her and nodded. “You are right, little girl, this is a ship of ghosts. People disappear here,” he murmured.

  “What do you mean, they disappear?” Yu-ning asked.

  “You forget who you are here. You forget where you came from. You disappear. I don’t know,” the boy said, trying to brush her off. He continued, “I don’t have answers for you. I don’t talk to anyone. They are probably shut in their rooms, or hiding somewhere.”

  “Do you work on this boat?” Yu-ning asked.

  “Yes, but there’s no work to do anymore. I used to be a deckhand, but the crew either abandoned ship in the lifeboats, or . . .”

  “Or what?” asked Yu-ning.

  “The darkness came twenty days ago, and ever since, we have been wandering in this storm. All the passengers keep to their cabins. I haven’t seen the captain in days. He’s not on the bridge, so he is probably in the engine room—downstairs.”

  “Yes, I know about the darkness,” Yu-ning said. “Did you see the dark creatures as well—the ones with dark scales and yellow eyes?”

  “Like the ones that nearly ate you when you jumped from the back of the huge pink dolphin?” asked the young man. “That was impressive.” He said this with no emotion.

  “Yes, those creatures. Listen, I need your help,” said Yu-ning, adjusting Lightcaster on her back. “I must get to Farcara—are you heading in that direction?”

  “Farcara Island? No, we are heading for Tunzai, to the imperial capital. At least, that is where we were headed until we lost steam power. The skies turned grey, and they have remained that way ever since.” He said curtly, “I don’t know why I am talking to you. Leave me alone.”

  “There is an unnatural darkness creeping across the sea,” Yu-ning said. “It feeds off of fear—it sensed fear and sadness on this ship, and it took advantage of it. You must fight it. Everyone on the ship must fight the darkness. You saw those terrible creatures that almost killed my friend and me. We need your help!”

  “Yes, of course I saw them—they’ve been swarming around the boat for days,” said the boy. “But still, I don’t know what to do. All I know is, the storm is getting worse, I can’t raise the captain, and much of the crew is gone. Perhaps the captain will listen to you . . .”

  “What is your name?” asked Yu-ning.

  “Jonas.”

  Yu-ning walked over to Jonas and folded her hand into his. He didn’t pull away. She looked at him and nodded. “I’ll go and see what I can find out.” She was about to go search the ship for the captain when she noticed a man and a woman walking up steel stairs onto the long, dark, weathered deck. They walked like ghosts, emotionless and silent. They looked at Jonas and Yu-ning with stoic, frozen expressions. Yu-ning noticed how grey they were. “Why are they grey, Jonas? Their faces and bodies are grey. Look, even their hands are grey. How could that be?”

  Yu-ning saw more and more people walking on the deck now. There were dozens of them. They were all grey like the sky, walking like zombies, without life or purpose. Even as the rain drenched their clothing, they didn’t seem to notice. Yu-ning was very concerned. “How come I don’t feel their spirit? Where is everyone’s light?” Yu-ning said, looking at them.

  “This is how it is now; this is what I’ve been trying to tell you, Yu-ning.”

  “We must get out of this dark storm,” Yu-ning said, shaking her head. “That will wake them up. We must move and change the direction of this ship.”

  A man walked by Yu-ning and Jonas. He was looking down at the deck as he walked. Yu-ning noticed how everyone looked down as they walked; yet no one bumped into anything. Yu-ning approached a group of people drifting in one direction. “Hello. Sir? Ma’am? Hello? Do you hear me?” She gently reached out and tried to touch a few people’s sleeves. Yu-ning stepped toward a man as he walked past her; she felt chilled to the bone standing next to him. He didn’t respond and continued walking.

  “They are all ghosts, Jonas,” Yu-ning whispered gravely.

  “It’s no use. I told you not to bother,” Jonas said.

  “Look, Jonas, it’s getting darker. The storm is growing worse, and I think I know what is causing it. The darkness is getting closer to us. We must navigate the ship out of the storm!” Yu-ning said in distress.

  “The captain already has plans,” Jonas said with concern. “He sails this ship toward the clouds. That has been his navigation system for many days. He follows the storm clouds.”

  Yu-ning had an idea. She reached around her neck for the familiar red cord of her crystal heart necklace and pulled the crystal out to show Jonas. It was glowing pink. She cupped it in both hands and looked at the boy. “Place your hands over mine, Jonas.”

  “What? Why?” he asked. But without waiting for an answer, he slowly placed both of his hands over the pink crystal heart. As he did, he felt a tingling sensation move through his hands and up his arms, and shoot down into his heart. He felt as if the light of a thousand stars had exploded inside, shooting their light down to the tips of his toes and up to the top of his head.

  “What is . . . ?” he whispered, closing his eyes as the light continued to bathe him in peace and warmth. As Jonas said this, the light of understanding dawned on him. He opened his eyes, which were now fully alert and locked onto Yu-ning’s. “The captain has kept us in this holding pattern, and we have allowed it to happen. We have allowed the darkness to overtake us!” Jonas shouted, clarity flooding his mind and spirit.

  Yu-ning nodded and hugged him as he removed his hands from hers. The pink heart necklace continued to glow brightly. “We can’t keep on following the dark clouds; we must get out. Where is the captain? I need to tell him to change direction,” Yu-ning said urgently.

  “The captain is downstairs working on the engines,” said Jonas. “But I need to warn you: no one ever goes down to that section of the boat. He has become very dark recently, and he has a violent temper. He keeps the doors locked and bolted, so he will not listen to you.”

  The clouds were producing an alchemical reaction in the sky; it was pure fury. “I must try, Jonas. I need to tell the captain,” Yu-ning said, as she pointed up to the sky. “It looks like three storms are colliding. We need to guide this boat to the light!” Yu-ning said as she started to run down the long deck toward the steel stairs. “Gather as many passengers as you can, Jonas, and tell them we need to sail out of this storm!”

  “All right, I will try!” yelled Jonas.

  “You have a job again,” she said smiling back at him.

  He nodded, encouraged, and flashed her a smile as she disappeared into the stairwell.

  Twenty-Three

  Visitor

  ROMEO AWAKENED IN A DARK PLACE. After a moment of disorientation, his heart sank: he was still in the lair of the obsidigon on Baggul Island. He remembered that a locked, rusty gate and a four-ton dragon stood between him and freedom, and his mood grew as gloomy as the inky blackness of the cave.

  What was that? he thought to himself as he heard scuffling sounds in the distance. For the first time
, the thought occurred to him that he might not be the only living creature in his cavernous prison. Now fully awake, he strained to hear any unusual noises. As he sat listening, he quietly groped in the dark for a large rock. Just in case.

  There it is again! he thought, the same soft scuffling noise—like something moving across the cave floor, low to the ground. The unsettling part was that Romeo felt like whatever was out there was circling him; he heard the sound several times, but from different directions. Was he being hunted?

  The sound was very close now—no more than ten feet away. He got to his feet in case he had to run; he had a general idea where to go to avoid hitting his head again. He stood crouched like a coiled spring, the heavy rock resting in his hand.

  “Romeo, it’s me!” said a deep voice, just a couple of feet in front of him. Completely startled, he shuffled backward several feet and almost fell down.

  “Who’s there?” yelled Romeo, the deep boom of his voice compensating for the fear in his heart.

  “It’s me,” said the voice, just as Romeo felt something land on his right shoulder.

  “Ah!” he yelped, startled by the feel of something cold on his body. He swiped at the creature with his hand and fell backward, hitting the hard, rock-strewn ground. He scrambled backward on his hands, trying to get away from whatever was stalking him.

  “Romeo, what are you doing? It’s me, Magic!”

  “Magic? You nearly scared me to death! I thought you were a cave shade here to drag me off to the underworld! Why didn’t you announce yourself?”

  “Romeo, my night vision is very good, but I can’t see in pitch darkness like this,” Magic said. “I had to make sure it was you, and I couldn’t be sure without getting close. It is so good to find you, Romeo. We have all been so worried about you!”

  “It’s a relief to see you too, Magic—though you nearly scared me to death,” added Romeo, his heart still pounding like a drum in his chest. “But how did you find me? Who told you I was here?” Romeo was in shock that the little frog could find his way to Baggul Island and discover exactly where on this forsaken rock he was being held.

  Magic explained that he had come with Metatron and Suparna, having heard rumors that Hobaling was here. “We flew for two days straight from Darqendia and arrived here around midnight. Suparna circled the island several times, and just when we were about to give up on finding any signs of Hobaling, I spotted a faint light coming from high on a cliff—it was coming from Hobaling’s grotto. So Suparna landed along the cliffs about a hundred feet above this cave. I was able to climb down from above and find the cave entrance. First I searched Hobaling’s grotto, but I didn’t see any signs of you or the Seven Sacred Crystals. Then I looked on the other side of the cave, and after getting past the sleeping obsidigon, I followed the passage until I came to the locked gate. I knew then that I was probably in the right place.”

  “As great as it is to see you, Magic, it doesn’t change the fact that there is no way out of here. I am stuck.”

  “Have you forgotten the light, Romeo?” Magic asked.

  “What do you mean, Magic? There is no light here.”

  “Do you still have your purple crystal heart? The one Yu-ning gave you that day before you were kidnapped from Rainbow Island?”

  Romeo put his hand against his chest and felt the small, round crystal hanging from its silk thread underneath his shirt. “Well, yes, I still have it.”

  “Then use it, Romeo,” urged Magic.

  Romeo reached into his shirt and pulled out Yu-ning’s purple crystal heart. He had all but forgotten about the crystal since he had been abducted. As he removed it from his shirt, it glowed ever so faintly. This gave him hope, which caused the heart to glow even more.

  “Yes, Romeo, that’s it. Your belief is making the crystal glow!”

  Romeo stood up as the purple crystal illuminated the entire cavern in soft, pulsating purple and lavender light. Romeo smiled at Magic, as if seeing the frog for the very first time.

  “You are full of surprises, you crazy frog . . . I have an idea, Magic; follow me.”

  Romeo walked to the center of the large cavernous chamber, toward the cleft where the stream ran downhill. As they followed the stream deeper into the cave, it began to pick up speed, skipping and bouncing off rocks. The passage here was narrow, and it headed downward at an increasingly sharp angle. As they continued downward, they could hear the sound of rushing water. Not of a stream, but of a river. They picked up their pace as the lights from the purple crystal revealed the path forward.

  “There, Magic, do you see it? The stream disappears down there.” They approached the place where the stream disappeared, and Romeo had to stop abruptly. Just before him was a gaping hole, across which he could not jump. The stream fell into the chasm, and below him, in the darkness, was the unmistakable sound of running water. He held the purple crystal over the chasm, but he could not see to the bottom.

  He picked up a fist-sized rock, dropped it in, and counted out loud—“One pink dolphin, two pink dolphin, three pink dolphin—” until he heard a faint splash. He remembered a lesson from his math instructor: it takes 1.7 seconds to fall 50 feet. Or was it 7.1 seconds to fall 500 feet? He couldn’t remember. In either case, he calculated, the drop was far. Should he risk the jump? Though the water was rushing loudly and sounded deep, how could he know for sure? What if he jumped, only to land in a few shallow feet of water? He certainly wouldn’t get far on a broken leg—or worse.

  He could either spend another night in the cave, or try to make his way down to the underground river. He and Magic backed away from the chasm and decided to go back to the main chamber to discuss their options. As they did, Romeo held the crystal heart aloft, and noticed that they weren’t alone. There were bones and old clothes scattered about; he had not been the first prisoner to occupy the cave. The others had been less fortunate, though: as he scanned the cave, he saw several skeletons. Many looked ancient, wearing old clothing from the Third Age some 300 years before.

  Immediately he knew what to do. He told Magic to return to Suparna and Metatron: at first light, they were to watch for him along the cliffs, where the rocks met the sea. “I am confident that the river below leads to the ocean. I will find my way down to the river through the chasm, and ride the current to where it leads to the open sea.” Sensing concern on Magic’s face, he added, “Don’t worry, Magic. I am the best swimmer on Rainbow Island—I will be fine.” He wished he were as confident as he sounded.

  Magic and Romeo walked quietly back toward the exit of the cave, stopping at the turn in the passage, just before the rusty gate. They peered around the corner and didn’t see the obsidigon. Magic slipped through the bars and gave a quick wave goodbye as he slinked back down the passage toward the cavern’s opening. Romeo waited for a long time, listening for signs of trouble, but heard none. It seemed that Magic had been able to make his escape. By the looks of the light down the passageway, he guessed that dawn was still an hour away. That would give him just enough time to get ready for his big plunge.

  He moved back to the main chamber of the cave and scrambled from one skeleton to the next, gathering waistcoats, breeches, shirts, and other items of clothing. He made a large pile, then set to work tying the pieces together, end to end, to make his descent rope. He would take his chances in the chasm and hope that the river headed out to the nearby sea and freedom.

  When he had tied together all the garments he could find, he dragged the makeshift rope toward the large hole. He tied one end of the rope around a nearby stalagmite, gathered the rest of the rope, and set it just next to the lip of the chasm. Making sure that his feet were not entangled, he gently pushed the mound of clothing over the edge. It made a quiet whooshing sound as it fell.

  Romeo waited for the splash of water. It never came.

  What now? He sat on the edge of the chasm, his heart racing, hands sweaty, and mouth dry. He took several deep breaths, wiped his hands on his pants, and gripped the
rope tightly.

  “Here goes,” he said. He wrapped his feet around the rope, just as he had been taught in climbing class on the Emerald Cliffs of Rainbow Island. But this wasn’t the Emerald Cliffs, and Romeo wasn’t wearing a safety harness. He turned onto his stomach and edged himself over the side of the chasm, gaining purchase with his feet on an outcropping below. He gently swung himself away from the rocks until he was dangling in the air. He began to descend, slowly but surely. It was easier going than he had imagined, but he was in complete darkness and didn’t want to bump into the jagged walls. He was wary of removing his crystal heart necklace, as he was afraid it would fall off on the way down.

  Hand over hand he descended. Finally, he could feel the large knot he had tied just three feet from the end of the rope, another trick he’d learned in climbing class. The water was louder now, but still a long way off. As he swung there in midair, trying to decide what to do next, his decision was made for him—the friable cloth rope gave out. With an inauspicious snap, Romeo was in free fall and found himself upside down.

  He twisted in midair, trying to right himself so his feet hit the water first. He closed his eyes and waited for impact, not wanting to see what might be awaiting him. Just as he righted himself, his feet hit the water hard, and he was engulfed by cold, fresh water. He braced for the jarring impact of hitting bottom, but his feet found no purchase. Down he went, like a stone, tumbling and turning in the turbulent water. He fought to free himself from the heavy weight of his rope, which had felt so light, but which now encircled his waist, heavy and deadly.

  Try as he might, Romeo could not untangle himself from the billowing clothing that surrounded him. He could tell that his time was almost up, and he gave one last lunge for the surface. His hand punched the surface of the water, and just as he was about to break the surface for a breath of air, the water-laden cloth rope began to drag him down again.