Master of the Phantom Isle

by Brandon Mull

  Seth glanced at the crack in the ground. “Maybe I’ll die in hot lava.”

  “Save the dramatics,” Ronodin said. “Bring the Everbloom to me. We’ll give it to the Underking. Remember that I plan for all contingencies. Don’t fight the inevitable.”

  “I hear you,” Seth said. “I just climb in?”

  “Chimney down using both sides,” Ronodin said. He handed Seth a glowing holly wand. “The descent isn’t too far. You’ll meet Dezia at the bottom. She will guide you to the bloom. Tread carefully—Baga Loa is not a typical volcano. A cave system like this one would never form in the natural world. You may cross paths with some unusual creatures.”

  Nodding, Seth rubbed most of the remaining ointment onto his clothes and satchel. Then he squirmed down into the crack and started descending. Footholds abounded, and he reached the ground without much trouble. So far he noticed neither heat nor any glow of lava.

  Dezia startled him when she came out of a wall, gauzy wrappings fluttering. “I will guide you to the Everbloom,” she said with little expression. Seth saw accusation in her eyes.

  She turned and started gliding forward. Seth followed, feeling awkward. “Sorry about the token,” he said.

  The phantom made no indication of having heard him.

  “How are you?” Calvin asked.

  “Truthfully?” Seth replied. “Shaken up.”

  “Ronodin was trying to make you ashamed,” Calvin said.

  “I might deserve to be ashamed,” Seth said. “I’ve hurt people I should have protected. With or without my memories, there may be no way back to my old life.”

  “There never is,” Calvin said. “We’re always moving forward. All you have is the present. Here we are. Just think about your next step. Forget your past for now. Start today. Get your next step right.”

  “It sounds pretty,” Seth said. “I’m not sure it fits what I’ve done.”

  “Kendra and the others know your memories were stripped,” Calvin said. “They just want you home safe.”

  Seth stopped walking. “Phantom, you can wait for me, or you can let me tell the Sphinx how you left me behind.”

  The phantom halted.

  “Calvin, don’t you get it?” Seth said. “If what you say is true, if Kendra and the good guys would forgive me, it almost makes it worse. I know what I did, Calvin. I may have been manipulated, but I wasn’t forced. If I was a traitor, if I caused destruction by releasing evil, if I got people killed and made a sanctuary fall, I have to live with that. I’m not sure how I can.”

  “You’ve been in an impossible situation, Seth,” Calvin said. “You’re trying to figure out who you are. I see it. And you’ll make it. But not if you give up.”

  Seth heaved a sigh. “I might want to give up, but I won’t. I worry, though: what if everything I do just causes more harm?”

  “Everyone causes harm,” Calvin said. “Sometimes we hurt others, and sometimes we hurt ourselves. If you’ve caused a problem, you learn and do better. You become smarter for next time. And you undo what harm you can.”

  “What about the Everbloom?” Seth asked. “What should I do?”

  “We’ve come this far,” Calvin said. “Let’s have a look.”

  Seth folded his arms and stared at the ground. What else was he supposed to do? Sit down and mope until Ronodin came looking for him? “Go ahead, phantom,” he said.

  Dezia drifted forward again.

  “Besides, you might be right,” Calvin said. “We may burn up in hot lava before we get there.”

  Seth followed the phantom through the labyrinthine cave. After a number of turns, Seth wasn’t sure if he could find his way back. The air started to get hotter. In one room, steam wafted up from little fissures in the floor. In another, a bubbling pool of hot water in one corner saturated the room with a steamy, eggy odor.

  Some passages narrowed so much, Seth had to turn sideways. Some wider chambers had room to spare, with stalagmites four or five times his height. The light from his wand did not always reach the ceiling, and it was hard to tell if some of the shadowy side passages went a long distance or ended after a few feet.

  “Be extra quiet here,” the phantom whispered.

  Noticing a red glow up ahead, Seth shielded the light of his wand with his hand and stepped carefully. In a neighboring chamber of the cave, Seth saw a blob of dark lava with molten redness glowing through the cracks. Fiery millipedes as long as Seth’s arm skittered around the surface of the lava blob, some of them crawling into or out of the gaps to the red interior. He knew of no living creature that could handle such extreme temperature.

  The air in the cave became increasingly hot and dry as Seth progressed. The stone around him smelled like it was baking. Seth crossed through one room where more than half the floor was a glowing pool of smoldering scarlet lava. He felt certain that without the ointment, his hair and clothes would burst into flame by proximity to such heat, but instead Seth discovered he could bear it. The air he breathed was somehow cooled by the ointment, and the ashy fumes did not clog his lungs.

  Seth caught more glimpses of lava as he continued to follow Dezia. In a vast room where a goopy flow of lava ran down part of one wall and hissing geysers erupted on the far side, the phantom pointed to an arching stone footbridge that led to an island in the middle of a lava lake. The bridge marked the first evidence of masonry Seth had seen since entering the cave.

  “You all right, Calvin?” Seth asked.

  “I never imagined a place like this,” the nipsie replied. “I’m fascinated. Wouldn’t turn away a cool drink, though.”

  Seth walked over the bridge, feeling the heat of the stone through his shoes. In the center of the island, Seth spotted a single flower. He jogged to it and then stared in wonder.

  The flower radiated light, almost like a stained-glass window with the sun behind it. Seth could not believe the complexity of the endless colors in the petals, tiny facets and slivers of every shade he knew and some he doubted he could ever describe. Like nature’s finest kaleidoscope, the vibrant patterns shifted so that if he closed his eyes, he opened them to behold a new masterpiece.

  “It’s a miracle,” Calvin said.

  “It’s beautiful,” Seth said, kneeling down. The golden stem and leaves had a glow like heated metal. The blossom of the Everbloom was no bigger than Seth’s fist, the stem barely a foot tall. Ronodin had done his homework. It would fit easily in the flowerpot Ronodin had prepared.

  “We can’t give this to the Underking,” Seth said.

  “I agree, boss,” Calvin said.

  “Which is a problem,” Seth said, glancing at the ghostly manacle on his wrist. “You gave me smart advice. I can start by making a good choice right now. This flower helps fuel these islands. It’s exquisite. I don’t want to harm it—or the creatures that depend on it. I want to like myself, Calvin. I want to make choices I can live with.”

  “I like you already,” Calvin said. “You’re doing great.”

  “I’m going to do everything I can to protect this flower,” Seth said. “That idea feels good. And maybe doing that will get me killed. But taking the flower to Ronodin might also lead to my death. I’d rather die liking myself than hating myself.”

  “I think the same way,” Calvin said. “And I’ll do everything I can to keep you alive.”

  “To protect the flower, we have to start with the phantom,” Seth said. “Dezia, listen to me, I need to speak with you.”

  The phantom turned. “I have led you to the Everbloom,” she said tightly.

  “I’m sorry I gave away your token,” Seth said. “I made a mistake.”

  The phantom did not answer.

  “I want to fix this,” Seth said. “How can I free you?”

  The phantom stared at him. “I would need a new token. You would have to bind me to the new one and break the
connection with the old.”

  “Can I do that?” Seth asked.

  “As a shadow charmer, you have the power,” Dezia said, a hint of hope in her voice.

  “And then could I throw the new token into the lava?” Seth asked. “Keep my promise?”

  Dezia took a step toward him. “You could, yes. Do you mean it?”

  “Would you still lead us out of here?” Seth asked.

  “Once my token was destroyed, you could no longer obligate me,” Dezia said. “But I pledge to lead you out of these caves if you do this service for me. And I will speak of you with admiration ever after.”

  “What would work as the new token?” Seth asked.

  “I must feel a connection with the object,” Dezia said. “Pluck a leaf from the Everbloom.”

  “Would that empower you too much?” Seth asked.

  “After being plucked, the leaf will lose the potential to greatly empower me,” Dezia said. “But it will possess some inherent power, simplifying your task of transferring the connection.”

  “The leaf will grow back?” Seth asked.

  “The Everbloom is alive,” Dezia said. “It sheds leaves and petals as all plants do.”

  Seth crouched beside the Everbloom. One of the little leaves looked droopier than the others. “Sorry,” Seth told the flower. “This is to protect you.”

  When Seth touched the leaf, his mind suddenly became more alert, his body felt stronger, and he could perceive his power more distinctly. For a moment, his best hopes about himself seemed possible. His hunger and thirst disappeared. With a tug he plucked off the leaf, and the influx of energy ceased, though many of the effects lingered.

  “That will do nicely,” Dezia said. “You know how to access your power?”

  “Yes.”

  “Can you sense me?” Dezia asked.

  “Yes,” Seth said. Since touching the leaf of the Everbloom, Seth felt like his inner vision was clearer than ever. He could mentally sense the phantom in great detail.

  “Can you feel my connection to the crypt?” Dezia asked. “And my connection to the token?”

  Seth searched, studying the phantom with his mind. He closed his eyes and tried, then made another effort with them open. He discerned no connections.

  “I’m sorry,” Seth said.

  “Keep trying,” Dezia said. “Unless you can sense my connections, you can’t break them. You need to establish a link between me and the new token, allow the new token to share my connection to the crypt, and break the bond with my current token, the doll.”

  Seth could not feel any hint of the connections she described. He had a sense of her presence, and that was all.

  He glanced at the Everbloom. Holding the plucked leaf in one hand, Seth reached out with the other and rested a finger against the petals of the flower. Immediately he felt a powerful influx of energy, and his mind sharpened. He fixed his attention on the phantom. The dark umbilicus connecting her to the crypt was obvious, and so was the dark channel of power uniting her to the doll. The channel of power to the doll felt sullied. Somebody was tampering with it.

  “I feel the connections,” Seth said excitedly.

  “Change them,” Dezia said. “Link me to the leaf. I am willing it. Help it to happen. Break the bond with my current token. Be quick about it. If they catch on to what we are doing, they will try to pull me away.”

  Seth searched the power inside of him. The darkness he drew from to quench torches was enlivened by his contact with the Everbloom. Drawing on that power, Seth focused on creating a channel between Dezia and the leaf, but the connection to the current token blocked his effort.

  Seth concentrated on her bond with the doll. He could not sense the location of the doll, only that it was far away. He willed the phantom free of that bond, as he would when attempting to open a lock.

  The bond with the current token resisted, gaining strength and trying to pull Dezia away. The phantom moaned. Forcing all of his effort into breaking the connection, Seth felt energy course through him from the Everbloom.

  The bond with the doll broke. Suddenly it was easy to pour energy into the channel between Dezia and the leaf. When Seth felt that link solidify, he stopped touching the flower.

  The instant his finger broke contact with the petals, Seth slumped forward, his body drenched in sweat. The struggle against the dark forces controlling the phantom had left him depleted. His heart hammered as if he had just run a mile at a brutal pace.

  “Thank you, Seth,” Dezia said. “That was clumsy work, but you are very strong, at least with the help of the Everbloom. Now dispose of the leaf and I vow to lead you out of here.”

  “Can we go out a different way than we came in?” Seth asked. “I’m not sure Ronodin will be glad to see me.”

  “Whatever you wish,” Dezia said. “After a painful betrayal, you have done me an unexpected service.”

  “They have no hold on you now, right?” Seth asked.

  “Correct,” Dezia said.

  “And you won’t help them find the Everbloom?” he checked.

  “Never,” Dezia said. “They abused me.”

  “Do you promise?”

  “I give my vow.”

  Seth nodded. “The flower is safer if I leave it here.”

  “What if Ronodin or the Sphinx get a new phantom to help them?” Calvin asked.

  “They need the ointment to come in here,” Seth said. “And they needed me to recruit the phantom. Neither of them can charm the undead.”

  “It would be a serious risk to remove the Everbloom,” Calvin said. “I bet it could destabilize the volcano.”

  The phantom laughed darkly. “Any fool could see that much.”

  Seth shook his head. “Why am I not surprised they didn’t warn me?”

  “Ronodin is usually so helpful,” Calvin said.

  Seth walked over to the edge of the island, above the rich red lava. Even with the help of the ointment, the proximity made it almost unbearably hot. He could look at the lava directly for only a couple of seconds at a time.

  “Is this as good a place as any to drop the token?” Seth asked.

  “Yes,” Dezia replied.

  Seth released the leaf and watched it seesaw down onto the lava. A brief flame flared up, and it was gone.

  “Thank you, Seth,” Dezia said. “Follow me.”

  Seth gently patted the pocket with Calvin in it. “Ready to get out of here?”

  “So soon?” Calvin asked. “I thought a sleepover could be fun. Another time, maybe. We can go . . . as long as you do the walking.”

  There are foul beings in the mist,” Mizarine warned. “I’ll try to lead you around them.”

  Kendra glimpsed the fog-shrouded figures as she followed the nova song over and around decaying fortifications. She had taken the crown out of the sack and held it in her hand. She wondered if she should put it on. She decided she would if any of the zombies in the fog got too near.

  “Is there a darkest place in the Under Realm?” Kendra whispered.

  “Yes,” Mizarine answered.

  “Will you stay with me until we get there?” Kendra asked.

  “I’ll try,” Mizarine said. “You may want to hold my chain. The pull of the darkness gets stronger as we get closer.”

  Kendra took hold of the chain. She heard waves crashing against the rocks below. Off to one side, a peg-legged zombie in a long coat limped into view.

  “Run,” Mizarine said.

  Kendra came as close as she could to running, trying to stay mindful of where she placed her feet on the uneven rocks. The nova song led her to the brink of a cliff above the sea. Kendra discovered stairs slanting diagonally down the face of the cliff, ending at a stone platform about halfway down to the turbulent water. A ladder descended from the platform to the surf below, and another
set of stairs climbed to the clifftop in the opposite direction.

  A glance back revealed several zombies in pursuit. More climbed the ladder from the sea, and others rushed down the stairs from the opposite side of the clifftop, trying to beat Kendra to the platform.

  “Hurry,” the nova song urged.

  Kendra raced down the stone stairs two at a time. The steps were damp from the mist, but there was no time for caution. “The entrance is at the platform?” she asked.

  “Yes,” the nova song said.

  Out of control, Kendra stumbled as she reached the platform several steps ahead of the oncoming zombies, but she managed to stay on her feet by catching herself against the cliff. At the rear of the platform yawned a large doorway framed in stone with no door. The dimness beyond was a shade most would see as black. With sea zombies on the stairs behind her, clambering up from the water and rapidly descending the opposite steps, Kendra had no time to hesitate.

  Kendra followed Mizarine through the doorway, and the fairy began to sing. The high, trilling notes were calming and ethereal, music to inspire contemplation. As she sang, the fairy began to glow brighter, throwing light all over the wide hall extending from the doorway. The hall continued for a long way, with many passages branching off.

  Glancing back, Kendra found the sea zombies congregating at the entrance, but none crossed the threshold. Mizarine kept tugging Kendra forward.

  Wraiths began to emerge from side passages, moving smoothly and silently, bringing a supernatural chill. A revenant, blindfolded and gagged, shuffled toward them from farther down the hall. The temperature plunged. Kendra rubbed the goosebumps on her arms. The wraiths stalked toward her. Another revenant hobbled into view, body partially decomposed, arms bound to her sides.