Island of Graves (23 page)

Alex nodded. He turned the wheel to follow the island's curve, and the sound came again, louder this time.

“Wait—it
is
Spike,” Sky said, sitting up. “Isn't it?”

Charlie nodded emphatically.

“I wonder if she found the floating creature,” Alex said. He increased the boat's speed, and Sky went up to the bow and leaned forward, straining once more to see around the curve.

A moment later she reared back with a shout and tripped over her feet trying to back up. “Stop!” she cried to Alex. “Go back! It's huge!”

Charlie ran into the cabin and shut the door.

Alex slammed the boat into reverse, but not before he caught a glimpse of what was most certainly the floating creature Spike had been talking about.

This was definitely not a duck, nor any other type of bird. Curled up like a snake with four short legs and floating completely on top of the water, the black, shiny creature had a
giant, gaping mouth filled with multiple rows of teeth, a regal plume of scales, like feathers, shooting up from the back of its head, and a thin tail that was so long it appeared to have no end.

It made a strange cry, and fire shot from its mouth. Its tail lifted into the air like a rope lasso, and the creature headed straight for the boat.

A
aah!” Alex shouted, and cursed under his breath as he fumbled with the boat's controls. “It's a dragon!”

“Like the origami fire-breathing kind?”

“Yeah, only a thousand times bigger and alive!”

“Why is it in the water?” Sky asked, frantic, scrambling over to grab the sword Florence had given her.

“Does that matter right now?” Alex asked. The magical boat skimmed backward over the water, and Alex and Sky remained frozen face-forward, unable to take their eyes off the dragon.

The dragon, seeing the boat retreating, closed its mouth and stopped pursuing them. Alex slowed the boat to a stop so they could look at it from a safe distance. “We come in peace!” Sky yelled out.

The dragon's ears twitched.

Sky glanced at Alex. “It heard me,” she said. “Did you see that?”

Alex nodded, not taking his eyes off the creature. “Do you think it understands us?”

“I don't know,” Sky murmured. She called out, “We don't want to hurt anyone. We are looking for someone. A human, like him.” She jutted her thumb at Alex. “Have you seen him?”

The dragon coiled up its extremely long tail. Its short, stocky legs, which ended in wide, webbed feet with three large, hooked claws, paddled the dragon through the water away from them.

“Wait!” Alex studied the creature, and wondered why the thing seemed vaguely familiar when he hadn't ever seen a real dragon before. “Its all coiled up on the water,” he murmured. “A coiled water dragon. Where have we heard of it?”

Sky frowned and shook her head. “I have no idea.”

Alex thought harder. Had Ishibashi mentioned it? “Oh!” he exclaimed after a moment. “It was Talon from the Island of Legends.” He stood up on the captain's seat and hung on to the windshield. “Please wait! We are friends of Talon and Lhasa and Karkinos the crab, many days' journey to the west!” he shouted. “I am Alex, and this is Sky. Our whale is called Spike, and she means no harm!”

At this, the dragon stopped paddling. Alex could see Spike rounding the island, making a wide turn out to sea to keep from threatening the dragon.

When the dragon looked at Spike, the whale swam closer and spoke up. “We are the ones who saved Issie and the squid from the underwater pirate cage,” Spike said. “Our friend Simber the stone cheetah broke the glass.”

The three Artiméans peered anxiously at the dragon, which eyed them one at a time. Finally the dragon lifted its regal head, shaking out a scaly, shimmering mane, and a female voice boomed out over the water. “Approach without fear.”

Alex and Sky dared not look at each other.

Softly Sky said, “If she belongs to the Island of Legends, why is she way over here?”

“Talon said she rules the sea,” Alex whispered, “so maybe
she just floats around. He told me her name, but I don't remember it.”

“I am called Pan,” the dragon said. “I am the ruler of the sea.”

Alex flushed, wondering if she'd heard their whispers.

The dragon went on. “I am grateful to your people for rescuing our creatures.” Slowly she uncoiled, and uncoiled, and uncoiled. Alex, Sky, and Spike all watched in fascination as she spread out to her full, tremendous length, from her oversized head to her streamlined body, stout legs sticking out from the thickest part, all the way down to her spiked, ropelike tail, which began slowly snaking through the water, surrounding Spike and the boat and pulling them toward her fire-breathing, scale-shimmering head.

Alex swallowed hard. Was this a trick? Were they about to get eaten?

The dragon lifted her head to the sky and roared, flames shooting thirty feet into the air.

Sky hopped backward, sword handle gripped tightly in one hand. She stood side by side with Alex, who reached his arm
around her. Both of them shook with fear, and neither one was certain they were going to live through this.

From the cabin, Charlie opened the door and peeked out, saw Alex's and Sky's faces, and closed it again.

Once Pan had drawn them close to her and the island, she pulled her tail in and coiled it up once more, then lifted the coil in the air and began to rotate it. With a roar, she swung her tail up high in the air, where it stretched to a ridiculous length, never stopping until it cleared the crown and hooked on to something up there. The dragon grabbed its tail with its clawed feet and climbed up the sheer rock several yards.

“Wow,” Alex said under his breath.

“I suppose that's one way up,” Sky said.

The dragon, apparently settled while dangling twenty feet above the water, stretched its head down toward its rapt audience. “Tell me,” she said, “how I can help you.”

A
lex explained their plight to the dragon. “We're looking for my brother,” he said. “He looks just like me. His name is Aaron, and he is the former high priest of Quill. Have you seen him? Is he on your island?”

The dragon regarded Alex. “I have not seen him,” she said slowly.

Sky pressed her lips together nervously, then asked, “He's not . . . up there, or anything, is he?”

“No human has ever been,” the dragon boomed.

“Oh, okay,” Alex said, and though his feet felt like they
were cemented in place, he leaned back slightly as if the powerful voice were pushing him.

The dragon regarded Alex for a long moment before speaking once more. “I have seen no one resembling you.”

Alex gulped and nodded, knowing they should just leave, but not quite satisfied enough to do so. “If—if I may ask . . . ,” he began.

“You may,” boomed the dragon.

Alex lifted his chin bravely. “Is there any entrance to the island, or any sort of cave or nook nearby that a human might cling to?”

“There is not,” said the dragon, sounding slightly impatient.

Alex dropped his gaze. “Okay, thank you.” He glanced at Sky, who had carefully put the sword aside, and then he went on. “I . . . we . . . I guess we should go, then. We have to find him.” He looked at the boat's controls, not daring to move. “Is it all right if we . . . go?”

“Yes,” said the dragon. She didn't move.

Alex glanced up at her. “Thank you.” He hesitated. “By the way . . .”

“What is it?”

“Have you seen our friends lately? Talon and Karkinos and Issie? Is Karkinos . . . doing all right?”

“Karkinos is ill,” Pan said, her voice less booming now. “He's growing steadily worse.”

Alex and Sky exchanged pained looks at the news. “I'm so terribly sorry to hear that,” Alex said.

“Me too,” said Sky.

“And me,” said Spike.

“If—if you see them,” Alex said, “will you give them our best? And . . .” He trailed off, knowing there was really nothing else to say. “Thank you,” he added feebly. “Thank you for your help today. It was nice meeting you. We'll continue looking.”

Alex put his hand on the ship's wheel and spun it slowly, turning the boat to the east to continue their journey. “If there's ever anything we can do for you, please come to me,” Alex said over his shoulder. “We are from the island to the west.” He thought for a moment, and clarified. “The southernmost bit of the island, that is. Artimé. Someone else rules the rest of the island. Someone . . . evil.”

Pan nodded wisely, as if she already somehow knew this, but Alex didn't question her.

As they rounded the island, the dragon called out in a terrible voice, “Wait!”

Alex swung the boat around, and they looked back at the dragon. “Yes, Pan?” called Sky. “Can we help you?”

“The stone cheetah who broke through the glass . . . Is it true that he flies?”

Alex turned fully around. “Yes, he flies very well,” he said.

Pan lifted her head. “And was it you who gave him wings?”

Alex shook his head. “No, it wasn't. The mage who came before me created him that way.”

Pan seemed saddened. “I see. And that mage is dead now.” After a moment, the dragon bowed her head, as if indicating they were free to leave.

Alex was surprised she knew so much about Artimé when he knew so little about her, but perhaps Talon had told her everything. And, he supposed, as the ruler of the sea, it was probably her job to know what was going on. Alex studied the dragon, and curiosity got the best of him. “Pan,” he ventured, “are you in need of wings?”

Pan seemed to regret having asked the question. Absently she pulled her body up the wall by her tail, and finally she said, “I do not ask for myself, but for others.”

Alex nodded. “I understand. If I ever figure out how to make something fly, shall I seek you out?”

“Karkinos is more important,” stated the dragon. “You must help him first.”

The request left a knot in Alex's stomach. He didn't have a clue how to fix Karkinos. They hadn't even had a chance to start working on a solution. “I will,” he found himself promising, and he hoped he wouldn't regret it.

“Because of your kindness,” Pan continued, “a word of caution as you journey eastward. Nothing good lies ahead of you. I advise you to turn back now.”

Alex looked down. “Thank you,” he said. “But I'm afraid we must continue.”

Pan nodded. “May safety ride with you, then.”

With that, the ruler of the sea dug her claws into the side of the island, dropped her tail deep into the water, and then curled it up, capturing three large fish quite expertly in its grasp. Then, tail hanging and fish struggling, she lunged her
body upward and scrabbled to the top of the wall, swung her tail up and over the edge, and dropped the fish into the cylinder. Then she perched on the ledge between two points of the crown and watched as Spike swam and Alex guided the boat in the direction of the next island.

Sometime later, when Alex looked back over his shoulder at the seventh mysterious island, the dragon was gone. But there were several thin trails of smoke rising from the top of it.