Sepron the Sea Serpent (3 page)

F
IRE AND
W
ATER

T
OM GLANCED AROUND DESPERATELY.
T
HEY
needed a water bucket—something to put out the fire. Then, he spotted his shield leaning against a stone cottage. He ran and grabbed it as the flames continued to rage and threaten the last of the tar.

Using his shield as protection, Tom creeped toward the fire. The heat was incredible. Hot resin spat angrily as flames licked the shield. It was all Tom could do to keep the shield in place. The fire was out of control. As Tom got closer, he had to turn his face away from the unbearable heat.

“Quick!” yelled Matt. “Get him some water!”

Calum rushed to the water’s edge, filled a bucket
with seawater, and raced back toward Tom. The fire was still raging, but the shield protected them from the worst of the heat and flames.

Tom held the shield in place as Calum poured water on the base of the fire. A cloud of steam rose over them, but the fire barely died down.

“We need more water!” Tom yelled.

Calum nodded. He ran back to the sea and filled his bucket. But as he hurried to pour it on the fire, a flame jumped around the edge of Tom’s shield and scorched Calum’s hand.

“Owww!”
He dropped the bucket and screamed in pain. It was a bad burn, but they still needed more water, and Calum was losing precious seconds. Wrapping his shirt around his hand, Calum dumped the rest of the water over the flames, and rushed to get more.

By the time Calum returned, the fire was finally showing signs of weakening. He poured the final bucket of water on the smouldering coals. It had
taken three trips, but they had controlled the blaze.

Tom lowered his shield and surveyed the damage. The tar was still bubbling and boiling from the heat, and most of it was still there.

“We were lucky,” Tom said. “It could’ve been much worse. How’s your hand?”

Calum winced, but tried to hide it. “I think it will be okay,” he said. “It hurts, but it’s not too bad.”

Tom looked around. The earth was scorched and steaming all around him. He realized how lucky they were — if the fire had raged for even a few moments longer, the tar would’ve been destroyed and then … it wasn’t worth thinking about.

Tom examined his shield. It had been pressed right up against the heat and flames, and there wasn’t even a scorch mark on its rough surface. Aduro was right. The dragon scale really was protection against fire!

Looking over his shoulder, Tom saw Calum staring thoughtfully at the shield. Tom’s stomach tightened. What would he say if the fisherman’s son questioned him? Calum looked back at him. Tom met his gaze steadily, but didn’t try to explain.

“Let’s get this pot down,” Calum said, giving Tom a knowing look. “Then Elenna can finish the repairs.”

Tom helped Calum carry the pot of tar over to the boat. As Elenna finished sealing the leak, Tom wondered if Matt would be willing to lend it to them. After all, it was the village’s only boat. But Elenna was right; there was no other way to reach Sepron.

He walked over to where Matt was examining Elenna’s repairs. “Matt …” he began.

The fisherman looked up. “Yes, what is it?”

“May we borrow your boat for a while? We’ll take good care of it.”

Matt straightened up. “This is the only seaworthy vessel we have left. We need it if we’re going to catch anything to eat.”

“We’d have to leave Silver and Storm here with you,” Elenna said, coming to stand beside Tom. “And you can be sure we’d never do that if we weren’t coming back.”

Matt shook his head. “I’m not calling you thieves. But anything could happen. There could be an accident or a storm. And the sea serpent is still out there. You could be drowned, and we’d never see you or our boat again.”

“But —” Tom protested.

“I’m sorry. The answer is no.”

He turned away to help Calum bandage his burned hand. Tom stared after him in frustration.

Elenna tugged at his arm and pretended to draw in the sand as she whispered, “If they won’t lend us the boat, we’ll just have to borrow it without their permission.”

Tom stared at her. “What? We can’t do that!”

“But we’ll bring it back. Tom, you know that there’ll be more floods and destruction if we don’t do something about Sepron. These people will starve. We’ll be taking the boat for their own good.”

Tom nodded slowly, looking out across the sea. “All right.” Out there — somewhere — was Sepron. Tom knew he didn’t have a choice. Risk angering Matt and his family? Or risk watching the whole western kingdom be devastated by Malvel’s evil spell? Tom’s chest heaved as he thought about his aunt and uncle back home, the hope they had placed in him. This was his destiny. The evening sun was going down, setting the water aglow in shades of red and orange.

“We’ll take the boat and row out at dawn,” Tom said.

O
N WITH THE
Q
UEST

T
OM AND
E
LENNA SLEPT ROLLED UP IN BLANKETS
on the floor of one of the cottages that had escaped the flood. Some of the villagers were crowded in there with them. Tom was careful to choose a spot near the door, so he and Elenna could sneak out without waking anyone.

Tom woke to feel Elenna shaking him by the shoulder.

“Come on!” she whispered. “It’s time.”

Faint gray light was leaking through the shuttered windows of the cottage. Tom rose to his feet, careful not to break the early morning quiet,
and edged open the door. He and Elenna crept outside.

The sky was growing light above the trees on the ridge. Tom could make out the dark shape of Storm grazing farther up the hill. Silver came bounding out of the trees and sniffed at Elenna’s hand. “Shh, boy,” she whispered. Looking around, Tom saw that the water had gone down a little bit in the night. More of the village was visible now, and Tom and Elenna could see the terrible damage Sepron had caused.

Many of the cottages were reduced to heaps of stone. Others were caked with mud from the floodwaters. The boat was where they had left it, but now they would have to carry it to the water’s edge.

They both stooped down and gripped the upturned boat at its bow and stern.

“Hey! What do you think you’re doing?” Tom
and Elenna froze as a shout came from the cottage they had just left.

Tom let go of the boat and straightened up. Calum was racing toward them with a confused look on his face.

Tom ran to meet him. “Calum, please don’t wake the village. We can explain.”

Calum’s face grew dark with anger. “I saw you whispering yesterday and didn’t say anything. I thought you wanted to help us. Now you’re trying to steal our boat.”

“We only want to borrow it,” Elenna protested.

“It’s not called borrowing if you don’t have permission,” Calum said coldly.

Tom hesitated. To his relief, none of the other villagers had been awakened by Calum’s shout. If only he could persuade the boy. But he knew that he couldn’t tell anyone about the Beast Quest without causing a panic.

“I need the boat for something really important,” he began.

Calum no longer looked angry as he gave Tom a thoughtful look. Then he glanced out to sea. “I think I can guess,” he said.

“Guess what?” asked Tom.

“You seem like someone with a mission,” said Calum. “I had the same feeling about a man who passed through our village about a year ago.”

Tom’s heartbeat quickened. Could Calum have seen his father? “Was his name Taladon?” he asked, gripping the boy’s shoulders.

Calum shook his head. “He didn’t say. He just told us he was on a quest.” He paused and went on, “I think you might be on a quest, too.”

Tom was sure that the stranger must have been his father, Taladon. Tom ached to know more. He wanted to ask about every detail of his stay in the village, but there was no time. The sky was growing brighter and soon the villagers would
be getting up. He held the boy’s gaze steadily. Elenna didn’t say a word, though Silver whined softly.

After a moment, Calum gave a brisk nod. “All right. I’ll help you move the boat.”

The three of them lifted the boat and carried it down the hill. They waded across a pebbly beach until the sea was deep enough to launch the boat. Tom and Elenna scrambled aboard. Silver whined and tried to follow.

“No, boy,” Elenna said, ruffling the thick fur around his neck. “You can’t come this time.”

“I’ll look after him,” Calum promised. “And your horse, too.”

He rested his hand on Silver’s head. The wolf looked up at him and let out a yelp good-bye.

“We’ll be back soon,” Tom said reassuringly.

“Wait! I want you to have this,” Calum said, presenting his pearl-handled knife. “You found it, after all,” Calum replied.

“We can’t take this,” Elenna said. “It belongs to your family.”

“Then borrow it,” Calum said, smiling.

“Thanks,” Tom said, passing it to Elenna for safekeeping. We’ll take good care of it.”

Elenna gave Silver a last pat. Then she unlashed the oars and gave one to Tom. They began rowing out to sea. Back on the beach, Tom could still see Calum standing knee-deep in water, with Silver at his side.

Calum raised a hand to wave. “Good luck!” he called.

Tom waved back. Then, looking at Elenna, he muttered, “We’re going to need it.”

D
ISCOVERY ON THE
I
SLAND

R
OWING WAS HARD WORK.
S
WEAT PLASTERED
Tom’s tunic to his body. His hands ached from gripping the oar. Elenna’s hair clung to her face and she snatched a moment to wipe her forehead with her sleeve.

An eerie silence hung around them. The only sounds were the creaking of the boat and their oars dipping into the water. As they rowed toward the island, the sea became choppy and a current seized the boat. It grew harder to make progress.

Tom’s muscles strained as he dug the oars deeper into the restless sea. He squeezed his eyes shut and
tried to concentrate on the task of rowing. He could hear Elenna huffing with effort, too.

Gradually the shape of a rocky islet began to poke through the misty dawn. “There it is,” he told Elenna. “I think that’s where I saw Sepron, just before the flood.”

He looked over his shoulder, peering into the heavy fog. There was no sign of the sea serpent. Tom felt an icy shiver run down his spine as he thought of the great head rising out of the water.

Then Elenna let out a cry. “Tom! The boat’s leaking!”

Tom started. Water was slowly filling the bottom of the boat. It was seeping in around the edges of the repair and began to pool near their feet.

“The tar must have been weakened by the water when we put out the fire,” Elenna said.

“Give me your oar,” Tom said. “I’ll row while you bail. We’ll try to find a place where we can land on the rocks.”

Tom began to row again while Elenna used his shield to bail out the water.

The rocky islet gradually grew closer. But this islet had no beach — only rocky crags rising straight out of the sea.

The water swirled around the rocks as Tom angled the boat around them, struggling to keep it on a steady course.

“Careful, Tom!” Elenna shouted. “The waves could smash this boat to pieces on those rocks!”

Elenna was right. The boat lurched and rocked dangerously. They had to get away from the island. Tom started rowing back out to sea, when he spotted an iron hoop driven into a huge crag.

“Hey!” he called to Elenna. “Look at that!”

Tom saw that a thick, gold chain was fixed to it, leading down into the water. It was draped with seaweed and covered with barnacles, but it still gave off a mysterious golden glow.

Elenna caught her breath. “Do you think it’s enchanted?”

“Only one way to find out!” he said.

Tom carefully navigated the boat back toward the island. He put down the oars and reached for the chain. The golden light felt alive, somehow, as if the chain were buzzing with energy.

“Think the serpent’s got a leash?” Tom asked, smiling warily. He gave the chain a tug. It was surprisingly light for its size.

“No!” cried Elenna. “What if you wake Sepron?”

“It doesn’t feel attached to anything below,” Tom said as he began to pull the chain up.

As he said this, the chain came to the surface. It was broken! The last link was mangled and destroyed. All of a sudden, the churning waves died down and the water was calm again.

“Oh!” cried Elenna.

But Tom wasn’t surprised. “Looks like Sepron is on the loose.”