Isle of the Dead

1 – The Chase

Doom strolled through the great doorway of the palace in Del, and casually scanned the northern sky. He saw the messenger bird the guards had reported, but his stern, scarred face showed no sign of eagerness, fear or hope.

Many people were standing talking on the stairs that led down to the palace lawn and the road beyond. There was much to talk about. For weeks there had been rumours of strange happenings in the east—of dragons flying the skies and crops beginning to thrive.

Now the same tales had begun coming in from the north.

But none of the people on the stairs approached Doom to ask him if the rumours were true. None of them did more than glance nervously at the silent figure by the palace doors. Doom was a legend among them, but they feared him.

With all their hearts they wished their young king would return from his tour around the kingdom. Times were hard, and they missed Lief sorely.

The bird swooped down and dropped its message into Doom’s hands. To the disappointment of the people turning to look, Doom moved inside at once. Whatever the message was, he plainly did not intend to share it.

Alone in the palace dining room, Doom tore open the message with a feverish haste that would have very much surprised those who thought he had no feelings.

The note was not signed, but the familiar writing told Doom that Lief, at least, was safe. A tiny piece of brown wood had been folded within the paper. Doom picked it up and smelled it.

‘Boolong cone,’ he muttered, raising his eyebrows. ‘So—he is on Dread Mountain. And the others?’

He glanced at the sketch at the top of the note, then read each sentence from back to front, leaving out all words that had anything to do with fish.

All well in north. His heart gave a great thud. This could only mean that against all odds the Sister of the North had been destroyed, and that Lief, Barda and Jasmine were all safe.

Old friend will bring more news. Gla-Thon of the Dread Gnomes, perhaps. There was no-one else Doom could think of who might have helped the companions in the north.

We are moving west. So they had found the third fragment of the map of Doran the Dragonlover. They knew the location of the Sister of the West!

White city tonight. At this, Doom leaped to his feet. Tora! Lief, Barda and Jasmine would be in the marble city of magic this very night! No doubt they were going to ask the Torans to speed them to their new goal. A message sent now would reach them just in time.

Hastily he scribbled a note, then strode into the hallway and turned in the direction of the guarded area where the messenger birds were kept.

As he reached the library he remembered with a stab of irritation that old Josef the librarian wished desperately to write to Lief. His nagging had nearly driven Doom mad over the past weeks.

The library door was open. Inside, Josef’s assistant Paff was arranging books on shelves, looking even more harried than usual.

‘Where is Josef?’ Doom demanded.

Paff jumped, and her pink-rimmed eyes widened. ‘He—is in the kitchen,’ she said breathlessly. ‘He did not eat at midday because—’

‘Run to him at once, if you please,’ Doom broke in impatiently. ‘A bird is leaving with a message for Lief very soon. This is Josef’s chance to send a note, if he makes haste. Take paper and a pen for him.’

‘Josef always carries a pen and a notebook with him,’ Paff said, then waited, her mouth hanging slightly open.

‘Go then!’ Doom thundered.

Paff dropped the books she was holding, shot past him like a startled rabbit and ran in the direction of the kitchen.

Doom moved on, his face like thunder. In truth, he was annoyed with himself for losing his temper with someone as defenceless as Paff. But the people he passed drew back fearfully, and wished all the more that their beloved Lief would come home.

While Doom was striding through the palace and Josef was dropping his soup spoon and frantically searching for his little notebook, Lief was flying towards Tora in the pouch of a Kin.

A few days before, he, Barda and Jasmine had been astounded when three of the fabled flying creatures had arrived in Shadowgate to carry them to rest and safety in Dread Mountain.

The Kin were Ailsa, Bruna and young Prin. Prin had grown very much since the companions last saw her and was now almost as large as Ailsa.

‘But—how did you know where we were?’ Lief had gasped, when the first joyous greetings were over.

‘Dreaming Water!’ Prin said proudly. ‘Every night for weeks I have drunk the Water and thought of you, so I could visit you in my dreams.’

‘We have all been so afraid for you,’ sighed Bruna. ‘The Dread Gnomes too—especially your good friend Gla-Thon. She wanted to speed to your aid, when you first arrived in Shadowgate, but the old leader Fa-Glin forbade it. He said that if you had wanted Gla-Thon’s help, you would have asked for it.’

Stunned, Lief exchanged glances with Barda and Jasmine. So their whereabouts had not been secret at all—on Dread Mountain, at least!

‘Let us fly!’ Prin squeaked. ‘Everyone is wild to see you. The Gnomes are trying to make a welcome feast. But how can they make a feast when they have no food but a few old berries and stalks?’

‘They should learn to eat Boolong cones, as we do,’ said Bruna. ‘There are very many of those.’

Lief, Barda and Jasmine had said no more. But during the next few days, while they rested in the caverns of the Gnomes, and the famous green moss from the Dread Mountain stream healed Lief’s wounds, they had talked and wondered a great deal.

Somehow the Shadow Lord had always known where they were in the north. They had not been able to understand why. Perhaps they now had their answer.

Trust only old friends…

So Doom had said in his last message. And the Dread Gnomes were old friends, just as the Kin were. But were all the Gnomes of the same mind? Or was there one whose loyalty lay in the Shadowlands?

It would only take one…

They told only Gla-Thon of their fears.

‘Much as I wish to, I cannot swear there is no traitor among us,’ she said soberly. ‘There can be one bad berry in any bunch, however sweet it seems.’

And so it was that the companions smilingly put their fingers to their lips when any question about their future travels was asked of them in the caverns of the Gnomes.

So it was that they sent no message to Del until Gla-Thon could arrange for a bird to fly in secret, the day they left Dread Mountain.

So it was that they asked the Kin to give them all that remained of the Dreaming Water, knowing that the gentle creatures could refuse them nothing.

And so it was that they asked Ailsa, Bruna and Prin to carry them away, but did not tell them where they were to go until they were high in the air, and no-one else could hear.

Careful and suspicious people themselves, the Gnomes accepted without complaint the companions’ desire for secrecy. Fa-Glin also supplied all manner of goods to help them on their way—including a soft leather bag filled with gold pieces, which Jasmine had tucked securely in one of her many pockets.

‘It is nothing,’ Fa-Glin had sighed when they thanked him. ‘Gold and jewels we have in plenty. If only we could eat them!’

Now the Kin were flying towards Tora, skimming over the low hills that rolled beyond the mountains. The light was slowly dimming and the wind was blowing across their path, but Lief, Barda and Jasmine were all sure they would reach their goal by nightfall.

Then suddenly Kree, who was flying beside them, wheeled and screeched. And behind them they heard a distant, furious roar.

They turned their heads and saw a large green shape streaking towards them from the mountains.

Lief felt a thrill of fear. The emerald dragon had joined him to destroy the Sister of the North, but he knew that it felt no friendship towards him. And by the sound of its roars, it was very angry.

Filli squealed and bolted into hiding beneath Jasmine’s collar. Bruna and Ailsa screamed, and their wingbeats faltered. But Prin put down her head and made an abrupt right turn.

‘Prin, come back!’ Ailsa shrieked after her. ‘You are going the wrong way! You are flying towards the coast!’

‘Do you wish to be eaten?’ cried Prin. ‘That is a dragon, Ailsa! A dragon! We can never outfly it unless we use the wind.’

‘If we can cross the border into amethyst country, it will not be able to follow!’ Lief shouted. ‘Do your best!’

With the wind at their backs, the Kin made good speed. The hills beneath them gave way to flat, barren land, and soon they could see the glittering sea ahead. But every moment the dragon was gaining on them.

We must have crossed the border long ago, Lief thought in dismay. But it has not stopped—if anything, it is flying faster!

And suddenly Kree was crying a warning and the beast was above them, bearing down on them, forcing them to the ground.

Sobbing with fright, the Kin thudded to land. Lief, Barda and Jasmine rolled from their pouches, and at once were pinned down by the wind of the dragon’s mighty wingbeats.

Then, abruptly, they could move again, and the pounding of the waves and the cries of sea birds were the only sounds they could hear.

Shakily they crawled to their feet. The dragon was crouching beside them, huge and menacing. Its green eyes blazed with anger. The spines on its back were like quivering spears.

‘Do you dare to steal the emerald away yet again from its territory, and mine, young king?’ it hissed.

Lief felt Barda and Jasmine move behind him, and knew that they were reaching for their weapons, poised to defend him. But his hands remained on the Belt of Deltora. He knew he must show no sign of weakness.

‘I must take it, dragon of the emerald,’ he said. ‘It is part of the Belt that unites us all. And I must wear the Belt to the Isle of the Dead, in the land of the diamond, to find and destroy the Sister of the West.’

‘What do I care for the Sister of the West?’ hissed the dragon. ‘The evil in my land is gone, and that is all that matters.’

Lief took a deep breath. ‘The man you called Dragonfriend—the man known to us as Doran the Dragonlover—did not agree with you,’ he said.

The dragon did not blink. But at the mention of Doran’s name a stillness had settled over it. Lief knew that he had its attention.

‘Doran thought as I do about our land,’ he went on firmly. ‘Your territory is all that matters to you, perhaps. But for Doran, the whole of Deltora was important.’

He took a deep breath and met the dragon’s eyes unflinchingly.

‘Doran lost his life because he tried to find the Four Sisters, and foil the Shadow Lord’s plans,’ he said. ‘Now we are risking our lives to finish the work he began. You must not hinder us. You must let us go!’