by Lisa McMann
To readers, writers, and dreamers
A Hasty Decision
Aaron Stowe, head mage of Artimé, stared hard at Drock as the small group of mages and dragons flew toward the castle Grimere in the land of the dragons. The dark purple dragon was known to be troubled. He was the least reliable by far of all of Pan’s brood. Yet he was the only one making sense right now.
“You must listen to me,” said Drock in a low voice. He dropped back in flight so his face was next to his mother’s flank, near where Aaron and the other humans rode. “You and your party should leave my mother’s back and climb onto mine. I will take you home.” He glanced around at Pan and his siblings. All of them had glazed eyes and were intent on heading toward the Revinir and the castle. “It’s a dragon curse. She’s calling to us with her roar. They’re all being controlled by the Revinir, but I . . . So far I have resisted it. I’m the only one.”
“But—” said Aaron. A moment ago he’d urged Pan to turn around, and she’d ignored him. And . . . this was Drock. If Drock was making sense, did that mean that Aaron might be the confused one? He turned to watch as hundreds of dragons flew toward the castle Grimere, coming from all directions. Drock was right. The Revinir had to be controlling them with her roar. Calling to them, as Drock said. It seemed clear by the way the dragons in their party were all acting, and had been acting lately.
Aaron thought it through again: The Revinir was controlling Pan, the ruler of the sea, and her children. Most of them, at least. Was it possible that Drock could be somehow unaffected? Or . . . could the difficult young dragon be leading them into a trap?
Getting away from hundreds of fire-breathing dragons didn’t seem like a trap.
But switching dragons in midair wasn’t exactly an easy task. At least they weren’t flying over the gorge between the worlds anymore, but a fall to the rocky ground from this height would be just as deadly.
Aaron’s face shone with sweat. His lips were pressed tightly into a gray line. “I don’t know what to do,” he muttered, and turned to Henry. “What do you think?”
“I don’t know either.” Henry was anxious too. He glanced at Sean and Scarlet and two of his children, Ibrahim and Clementi, who rounded out their party. They all seemed uneasy. Uncertain. And they all desperately wanted to find their fellow Artiméans on the rescue team, who were seemingly lost in the land of the dragons, and bring them to safety. They’d been traveling days to do so! Turning back now seemed like a lost opportunity, a waste of precious time. But there was nothing that felt safe about moving forward into this situation.
Sean leaned in. “This doesn’t look promising at all. I know we want to find our loved ones, but we won’t last more than a minute against the Revinir and her new dragon army.”
“I agree,” said Scarlet, then lowered her voice to a whisper. “But how do we know Drock is trustworthy?”
“Hurry!” said Drock, trying to fly steadily close to his mother without knocking into her. Pan seemed not to notice him or what he was attempting to do. She and Ivis and Hux and Yarbeck soared straight and true toward the castle, like all the other dragons. Right into the heart of danger.
Aaron’s blood pounded in his ears. He felt light-headed. Dragons were not something to mess around with. And the six mages, no matter how powerful they might be, wouldn’t have a chance against this mob. He ripped his fingers through his hair, agonizing over the options, then absently checked his pockets, feeling for heart attack spells. He had plenty of them and was prepared to fight. What if the Revinir was holding the rescue team captive? What if they were in that castle somewhere? What if they were so close to them—could they really turn around now? Kaylee was among the ones they sought. What would she think if she knew he’d done that?
Aaron regarded Drock again. The dragon’s eyes were clear. He was the only one engaging with the Artiméans, responding to them. And despite the young dragon’s salty disposition, he was the only one Aaron felt like he could trust in this moment. Instinctively Aaron knew something was wrong here, and it was obvious Pan wasn’t acting like an ally. Their missing loved ones might be nearby, but there was no way this group could take on the army of dragons without being killed. Most of them anyway. Aaron had to be wise in his role. The people of Artimé were counting on him to make good decisions. To bring this rescue team home alive. To be a good, smart leader, even if he didn’t want this job. Besides, he couldn’t stand the thought of Frieda Stubbs and the other dissenters having even more ammunition against him—they’d made his life miserable enough without that.
The head mage swallowed hard. Holding on to Pan’s neck, he crawled along the dragon’s back and beckoned to his team to follow. “Let’s go with Drock,” he said. “Back home. Before it’s too late.”
A Tinge of Gray
By the time Fifer and Thisbe Stowe and the others in their party were exploding out of the volcano into the dingy gray light of a strange world, it was far too late to turn back. They burst up and flew wildly in all directions, then slammed hard into the murky water surrounding the volcano.
Fifer hung on to Thisbe for all she was worth, knowing that her sister was currently stuck in the throes of one of the Revinir-roar episodes that rendered her nearly paralyzed. Left alone, Thisbe would certainly drown. Once Fifer could catch her breath and wipe the slime from her face, she called out to Simber.
Simber, who’d stayed in the air upon his emergence into this world, shot over to the twins and plucked them out of the water, then brought them to the edge of the volcano. He went back for Kaylee, Samheed, and Lani while Talon collected Seth and Crow. Some of Fifer’s birds managed to untangle well enough to go after Carina and pull her ashore.
Once everyone had been collected and brought back to the volcano, all of them in varying degrees of pain from the violent expulsion, they sat stunned and dripping dirty water. They tried to clean off, taking in their surroundings as they did so.
Fifer, the acting leader of the team since Alex had died, looked to Simber to see if he wanted to discuss what to do next, but anger was etched in the cheetah statue’s face. Clearly he needed a moment, so Fifer stayed near Thisbe instead and tried to hold in her own frustration about the mistakes that had led them here. Thisbe’s reaction to the Revinir’s call had definitely cost them. Fifer glanced at her sister, who was still knocked out from it.
The iridescent scales that peppered Thisbe’s arms and legs caught the dim light. Fifer saw that the scales lay flat now, but she had seen them stand up before. She took a moment to study them, wondering how they felt, then tentatively ran her forefinger over Thisbe’s forearm. The scales’ edges were sharp, but not enough to cut her. They were admittedly beautiful, like natural jewelry—almost beautiful enough to tempt Fifer into drinking some of the dragon-bone broth, which had caused them to appear. Not that she had access to it, so it wasn’t really an option. Besides, would any human really want to have permanent scales? Did Thisbe hate them? Resent them? Or . . . maybe she loved them. The dragon-bone broth had definitely given Thisbe some otherworldly, mystical powers, though they appeared to be small and as yet undefined. Fifer nibbled on her lip, reluctantly admiring the scales. When Thisbe stirred, Fifer took her hand away and turned again toward Simber, gauging his level of crankiness. He still seemed extra mad.
Eventually Thisbe groaned and sat up, not quite sure what had happened. The look on Fifer’s face made her afraid to ask, but she did anyway. “Where are we? Is Sky here?” Thisbe winced and looked all around, feeling guilty. This was all her fault. The grim silence confirmed that Sky was nowhere to be found in this depressing place.
Once the last of the waves created by the volcano’s emergence ricocheted off the shores of the distant mainland, the lake around them became eerily still. Hordes of i
nsects gathered and buzzed just above the surface. Occasionally a mysterious ripple stirred the water.
On the mainland, a thick layer of mist hovered over a city of ancient ruins. Kaylee clambered partway up the volcano and peered toward it. “No people over there,” she reported. “At least none that I can see from this distance.” But she spotted all sorts of bushes along the shoreline bearing colorful fruit, a stark contrast to the rest of the world. “There’s potential for food if we need it,” she added. “I don’t know about this water, though.” She wrinkled her nose at the dank lake and sniffed her sodden clothes. “We shouldn’t drink it unless we get really desperate, and even then we’ll have to boil it.” There was nothing resembling firewood anywhere on the rocky volcano.
“Maybe there’s a well on land,” Carina said, pointing to the ruins. “Or a freshwater river.”
“We’rrre not going anywherrre,” said Simber in an angry growl. “We’rrre staying herrre all togetherrr until this volcano sinks and takes us with it.”
Fifer glanced nervously at the stone cheetah and stood up. “It’s going to be fine,” she declared with confidence she didn’t feel. And though it felt natural to be in this leadership role, her voice wavered. “It’s just a small setback.”
“It was a huge mistake,” Simber roared. “I should have neverrr let you talk me into it.”
“I suppose the alternative was better?” snapped Fifer. “Splitting up?” She knew the cheetah was right, but she didn’t like admitting it. She felt flush with guilt, even though it wasn’t her fault that Thisbe had stopped guiding them in the middle of everything with absolutely no warning. “We’ll be out of here in no time. It’s . . . it’s just a glitch.”
“Glitch, smitch,” Simber said under his breath. Fifer ignored him.
“I’m sorry, everybody,” Thisbe said, feeling frustrated and downcast. She flexed her aching joints and got slowly to her feet. “I didn’t realize that the Revinir’s roar could affect me outside of Grimere.” Remnants of frightening images still flashed before her eyes and hovered at the edges of her mind. Her heart sank. It was terribly worrisome and depressing knowing that the dragon-woman’s range was so broad. Her roar had traveled all the way into the volcano network that led to other worlds! Would Thisbe ever be able to get away from it? Wouldn’t there be any relief once they made it home?
Fifer’s mouth twitched in frustration. She wanted to lash out, to blame her sister outright so that Simber wouldn’t be so mad at and disappointed in her. But she knew Thisbe couldn’t help what had happened. And lashing out would make Fifer feel even worse in the long run, so she kept quiet and sipped sparingly from her canteen. They didn’t know how long they’d be here before they’d get sucked back down. And then what? Which portal would they try next? How long would this go on before they found their world? This wasn’t nearly as easy as Thisbe had made it out to be.
• • •
Tense hours passed. Gray clouds hung low above them, heavy and stifling. They could scarcely see the mouth of the volcano they’d been thrown from because it was shrouded in mist. A bit of the top of the volcano still smoldered, leaving a growing layer of smoke trapped in the atmosphere to intermingle with the clouds. It was hard to take a deep breath. There was no wind, just the occasional ripple on the water. No one noticed any movement on the mainland.
Simber let go of some of his anger, and eventually he and Fifer talked quietly, trying to come up with a plan. Thisbe brooded by herself, thinking all sorts of troubling thoughts, like the fact that she was the cause of this problem. It was obvious that Fifer was annoyed with her, and Thisbe didn’t blame her. She knew Fifer would soften up eventually, but it didn’t make her feel better. Perhaps because of the depressing setting, Thisbe’s mind strayed to thoughts of Alex’s death. About how she hadn’t been very nice to him the last time she’d seen him. This kind of guilt plagued her whenever she was feeling down, and it wouldn’t leave her mind now.
Seth stayed near Thisbe at first, ready to help if she needed anything. But she didn’t seem to want to talk to him. After a while he went to the water’s edge and peered at the surface. He noticed the occasional ripples and squinted at them, trying to get a better view in the dim light. “I think I saw a fish,” he said, looking over his shoulder to where the others sat. It was never too soon to scope out food options—he’d learned that much over the past many months.
Carina got up and joined her son. “Where?”
Seth pointed to where he’d seen a ripple, but it was gone. “Just wait,” he said. “There will be another one.”
They waited patiently. Carina pulled a long, heavy fishing line out of her rucksack and began to untangle it. “I’m not sure I want to eat a fish that lives in water like this,” she muttered, “but I suppose we can’t be choosy under the circumstances.” She knelt and looked around for anything that resembled a worm to bait her hook.
A movement and a small splash a few feet out caught Seth’s eye. “There,” he said, pointing. “Nice and close. Did you see it? It’s big.”
Circular ripples spread out from the spot where Seth was pointing.
Carina tossed her line toward the area, then wrapped the other end around her arm several times to give her some leverage in case the fish was as big as Seth seemed to think. She held the string slack with both hands and waited.
Seth leaned over the water, looking for the telltale flash of a silvery fish belly.
With a loud surge, a giant, bug-eyed eel rose up, its huge jaws agape. It clamped on to the fishing line and slammed its body into Seth, knocking him off balance on the uneven, rocky ground. The eel squealed and sank, pulling Carina in with it and dragging her under the water. Seth’s feet slipped on the damp rocks, and he fell in after her.
Another Try
Samheed and Lani charged for the shore—they’d seen eels like this one before. “Get back!” Lani shouted to the others. “Move away from the edge!” As Talon came flying over, Samheed dove in and grabbed Seth. He yanked him, sputtering and coughing, to shore. There was no sign of Carina.
“Mom!” Seth cried as he scrambled up the rocks. “Somebody get her!”
“I’m trying!” said Talon, flying over the area and peering anxiously at the water. He’d seen one of his best friends, Lhasa the snow lion from Karkinos, get snatched up by one of these giant deadly eels. Luckily, Kitten had been able to save her fellow feline with one of her lives, or Lhasa would be dead now. As Simber joined him in flight, Talon rose to get a broader look, searching intently for any sign of movement as the surface went still again.
“What can we do?” Kaylee asked, grabbing at her empty sword hilt, momentarily forgetting that she’d lost her sword in the moat around the castle Grimere. She stood back helplessly.
“Simber, do you see anything?” Fifer called.
“Therrre!” growled Simber, and jaws agape, dove without hesitation into the lake. Talon charged after him, staying just above the violent splashing that ensued. The eel’s tail flipped above the water, swatting at Talon. The bronze giant deftly caught the end, sinking his steely fingertips into the flesh. He wrapped his legs around it and flapped his wings wildly to keep from getting pulled down. He hung on with all his might while the eel batted him around, slamming him over and over against the surface of the water.
“He’s whipping him around like a pool noodle!” Kaylee shouted.
Nobody else knew what a pool noodle was, but this was no time for inquiries. Thisbe, Fifer, and Seth edged closer to the water despite the warnings. Seth went from clutching his drenched shirt to clutching his head in disbelief and anguish. “Mom!” he yelled again, though it did nothing to bring her back.
An agonizing minute passed. Where was Simber? Had he been crushed by the giant serpentlike fish? Had Carina been able to get a breath before she’d been pulled under? Was she even still alive and struggling to untangle herself, or had the eel squeezed the life out of her? How long could Talon hang on to the slimy creature’s tail?
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With every violent twist of the eel, Talon wrenched toward the volcano. Soon the Artiméans could tell that Talon was slowly pulling the eel out of the water and closer to them. Samheed watched for a moment, then looked around frantically. Seeing Fifer’s bird hammock spread out, he lunged for it. Grabbing the longest rope, he ripped it loose from the fabric. “Come on, everybody!” he called. Coiling the rope, he bounded partway up the side of the volcano with Lani rolling over the rocks in her magical contraption behind him. Kaylee followed. “Everyone!” Samheed said again. “Up here! Talon, try to come this way!”
Confused, Fifer and the rest followed Samheed up the side of the volcano. Stopping on a large ledge, Samheed partially uncoiled the rope and handed the loose end to Lani. Then he cast a magic carpet spell and climbed on it. He commanded the carpet to move to Talon and uncoiled the rope slowly as he went out over the water.
“What’s he doing?” Fifer demanded once she and the others reached the ledge.
“Everybody grab on!” Lani handed the slack end of the rope to the ones behind her, then locked her wheels and gripped a new spot a short way up it and leaned precipitously over the edge.
“Oh, I see!” said Thisbe. “We’re going to help pull Talon and the eel.”
“Precisely,” said Lani. “Everybody hold tight and plant your feet behind rocks. Get ready to reel them in. Just don’t yank too hard, or we’ll pull Sam off the carpet.”
They stood in a line, positioning themselves behind boulders for support, as Samheed inched closer to Talon.
Talon yanked and strained, moving little by little toward Samheed and the volcano.
“Hurry up,” Seth muttered, his normally pale cheeks red with exertion. He knew his mother could hold her breath for seven minutes, like most of the humans here, but time was ticking. And if she hadn’t had a chance to get a breath before the eel yanked her under, she would be in big trouble by now. Seth’s own breathing was shallow and quick, and he felt an old familiar panic swelling inside his chest. He gripped the rope tighter, his hands beginning to tremble.
