For a moment there was silence, and Nathan thought he had failed. The ladder might not answer to the knife, as it had nothing to do with the Tower of Clarr. But then, after a blurred shimmer in the air before them, the ladder slowly appeared. To everyone’s surprise, it was entirely covered in little pink balloons and white roses.
Nathan clapped his hands. “Oh thank you,” he said. “You came! And how pretty you look.”
“I am celebrating,” said the ladder in a more cheerful voice than usual. “I have heard of the capture of Yaark and am most pleased. Wagster and Brewster, their imperial highnesses, will also be most pleased.”
“Well, they certainly should be,” said Peter. “Wagster had Yaark on top of him all the time.”
“Weren’t on top. Inside,” said John with a shiver.
The ladder was hopping from one strut to another, and all the little balloons bobbed up and down with their different colours catching the sunlight, and the rose petals floating around.
“Stay still,” called Nathan, “I need to climb on.”
“Give us a whoosh,” said Peter.
“Not sure I can,” said the ladder. “I’ve been dancing all morning. I’m getting a bit tired.”
“We only needs to get to Sparkan,” said John. “We ain’t going to the over end o’ the universe, so ‘tis only a little whoosh we needs.”
“Oh, very well, if you ask nicely,” said the ladder, and held itself up straight.
“Please,” said Nathan, John and Peter altogether.
And the ladder spun around once, so they all had to hold on very tightly, and then zoomed upwards. Within minutes, Sparkan was in sight, the great flames from its volcano huge against the blue sky.
Everyone fell off the ladder, which immediately disappeared, and a small cloud of rose petals and balloons floated down. Peter picked up a bright orange balloon. “I might need it later,” he grinned.
Around them the Sky Island was just as Peter had seen it before, but very new to Nathan and John. The fire blasted from the black mountain, the hot lava pools seethed and boiled, the snakes could be seen swimming in the waters of the vast lake, and the sky looked as orange as Peter’s balloon. The ladder had brought them to the rocks on the side of the lake, but Peter pointed to the other side of the mountain. “That’s where everyone lives,” he explained. “The dragons have their caves where the flames don’t go. And then the ground is just grassy and stony, with little creeks and caves and hillocks. That’s where the lava wolves live, and the whooshabouts, and the blue rabbits. So that’s where we should go. But the land goes on to the very edge of the island, and that’s where I climbed down the edge and saw the tunnel into the roots.”
“Well, that’s where we have to go,” said Nathan. “So lead on, and I’ll follow.”
“And I wanna meet dragons and them wolves too,” John said at once.
“Little Seed,” added Nathan. “I’d like to make sure she’s alright and wish her luck. It doesn’t sound as though there’s enough food for them on the island.”
“And I wanna meet them whooshabouts,” said John. “They sound right funny.”
“The dragons are the best,” said Peter.
“Well, we have to remember that we’re here for a very serious reason,” added Nathan. “It’s not just a holiday. We must find the Eternal chain and that’s most important of all. But meeting the creatures of Sparkan is important too, after all we have to make sure they’re all going to be on our side if the war actually happens.”
“And you’ll be the Empole. One day you’ll be the Emperor,” said Peter. “So you need these creatures to know who you are and make friends with them all.”
Looking around at the amazing and dramatic landscape of fire and mountains, lakes and floating rocks, Nathan smiled wide. “I think this place is fascinating,” he said. “And I’d just love to make friends with everyone. But the chain comes first, and I don’t want to fall over the edge.”
Chapter Eight
With his hands pushed firmly into his pockets, Sam walked out onto the grassy hill and looked up into the vast blue sky. Everything was so huge and empty, and it made him feel very, very small. He didn’t mind that feeling, it was quite exciting. It showed him how huge and mysterious the world was. There were a thousand opportunities hidden out there. But was he clever and brave enough to accept one? He so very much wanted to prove himself.
His medieval life had never been particularly happy except for the friendship of his companions. Now he loved Lashtang and all the beautiful animals. But he knew he had been given such a wonderful adventure and so he should do something good and helpful to show his appreciation. The magic of Lashtang was the best thing he’d ever imagined, but there had been problems. The crocodiles, for instance. But he had always been rescued by his wonderful and faithful friends. Now he wanted to do something good for others.
Walking across the slopes and hills, he suddenly saw Hermes coming towards him. Instead of flying on to the cottage, Hermes came down to see why Sam was walking all alone so far away from the others. Because Sam was so kind to animals, Hermes had a special liking for him. He landed right at his feet.
“My Lord Samuel,” said Hermes, spreading his wings like an embrace, “you are far from home. May I give you a lift back?”
Sam shook his head. “I don’t know where I’m going,” he said, “but I want to keep walking.”
Hermes had been to market, as he liked to do, shopping to stock up for the cottage kitchen and was now carrying a small bag of fruit and vegetables and a packet of sugar, which was hung around his neck. “Have a banana,” he suggested.
But once again Sam shook his head. “I keep getting given everything,” he explained. “My life’s so good and so easy. I have all these wonderful clothes for nothing,” here he spread out his arms, “and gorgeous food. When I was a kid in old London, I’d never even seen a banana, and I was hungry every day. I thought that hungry sick empty feeling was normal. Now it’s all amazing. But I just sit around being given things. I should be helping other people.”
He sat down on the grass and gave a sniff. Wearing the Lashtang fashions, he wore long narrow trousers of deep blue silky material, and a long coat of the same material over the top, with several pockets inside. The coat was open, and underneath he had a shirt in light blue silk. “You do look very grand, my lord,” said Hermes, sitting on the grass beside Sam. “But this is not a great matter, sir, for I do not wear any clothes at all and I find that more comfortable. With feathers and clothes too, I would get far too hot.”
Laughing, Sam agreed. “Clothes don’t really matter,” he said. “I know that. But it’s still nice to dress up and have lovely food. Granny cooks cakes and pies and special dinners. I used to think I was lucky if I got some old black bread and a spoonful of pottage.” Then, reaching out to the banana that Hermes was waving at him, Sam took it without thinking and started to eat. “But I have an idea,,” he admitted. “And perhaps you could help me, though you might not want to.” Looking up, mouth full of banana, Sam saw that Hermes was watching intently, so he explained his plan. “You see, I want to go to Sparkan. Nat’s mum has been so brilliant and trapped Yaark and three other stars in that jar. After all this time, and all the horrible things Yaark did, this is fantastic. But we didn’t know there was more than Yaark, and now we know there are. So have we got them all? Or are there more out there?”
“We do not know, Lord Samuel,” nodded Hermes, giving a little shiver. “It would be very sad to find more now her illustrious highness the empress has captured the monster Yaark. We believe we are safe. But we cannot be sure.”
“Exactly,” said Sam. “And they come from the roots of Sparkan, Nat says there’s a slug that said they told him. So I want to explore those roots and see if there are more stars.”
“But that is most dangerous,” Hermes said with a squawk.
“But I want to do something important,” Sam insisted. “The slug said those Yaark stars came fro
m the meteor years ago and tunnelled into the roots and ground underneath the grass in Sparkan. I’m only little. I could climb in and see if there are any more wicked stars.”
“Oh dear,” moaned Hermes, “I will surely be blamed if you are injured or killed, my lord.” He thought a moment and then sat up more cheerfully. “There is one thing you could do, and I would gladly help, my lord,” he suggested. “We could both go back to the market and buy plenty of good food and take it to the lava wolves on Sparkan. They no longer like to eat the other small animals, but that leaves them very short of food. Soon they may become extinct. You have great love and understanding for animals, Lord Samuel. This would be a task less dangerous and more helpful.”
Sam smiled and finished his banana. “Oh yes,” he said quickly, “I should love to do that, but is there some way I could bring them food that would last a long time?”
Thinking about that, Hermes sat rather sadly and eventually said, “Not unless we came to market every week, my lord.”
“Well, they should all come to live here, then,” said Sam. “Then they could go to market themselves. But I’d love to go now and help feed them. And – just perhaps – I could have a little try at the island roots.”
“I shall help with the food,” Hermes frowned, “but not the other more perilous tasks, sir, or his illustrious lord Empole will be angry with me.”
“Humph,” said Sam, keeping his thoughts to himself. “So I want you to take me to Sparkan, Hermes. Can you fly that far up?”
“Indeed I can,” the goose replied. “I am not frightened of anything, my good lord, and will stay to help you and then bring you home.”
With a loud thank you, Sam jumped onto Hermes’ back, tucked his legs beneath the wings, flung his arms around his neck, kissed his feathers, and together they flew off back to the market.
The small craft and food market where Hermes usually went shopping was so busy, so noisy and so colourful that Sam had to stand still for a moment, staring around before he could see what was going on. There were at least a hundred stalls spread tightly together over a paved square surrounded by trees. On one side were the stalls selling fruit, vegetables, cakes and meat, while on the other side were all the stalls selling homemade clothes, carved wooden ornaments, bells and whistles, shoes, and many other objects. It was the craft side that looked the most interesting and Sam wished he’d come here more often in the past. But now it was the food side that was important, and with Hermes trotting beside him, Sam bought up cabbages, carrots, apples, and lots and lots of chunks of different sorts of meat. Hermes had to stop him eventually.
“Why?” asked Sam. “Can’t we afford it?”
“Indeed yes,” said Hermes. “But meat becomes heavy, my lord, and if I am to fly as high as Sparkan, I cannot carry the weight of five people.”
Sam nearly stopped to watch a juggler, and again to see the wonderful tricks of a magician who made things seem to disappear. There was also someone working a puppet show, with bright dressed wooden puppets dancing and playing, but he knew he had to hurry so he followed Hermes out onto the grass behind the trees, and climbed again on the goose’s back, clutching all their many parcels.
The flight was a little strange, but Sam thought it wonderful. They flew through the brilliance of the sunbeams, and the damp misty chill of the clouds, when Sam called out, “Don’t go anywhere near Yaark’s cloud – just in case.”
“Never fear, my lord,” Hermes answered. “I am on the opposite side of the island.”
The wind whistled in Sam’s ears, and he could look down and see Lashtang spread out below, seeming so beautiful and varied. He had seen this before when climbing the ladder, but it was more fun to watch while just sitting comfortably instead of climbing. They passed many birds, but as they flew higher, there were only floating wisps of cloud. They were a long time in the air, for Sparkan was so far above, and Sam began to feel very cold. The sunshine was delightful, but the wind was icy. Sam shivered, snuggled up tightly to Hermes’ feathers, and hoped they’d land soon.
Then, almost directly above them was the great looming shadow of Sparkan Island, and it suddenly seemed huge although Sam knew it was quite small. He could see what everyone called the hanging roots underneath, but he quickly realised that most of these were not tree roots at all. They were the strange roots of mountains, rocks, water weed and grasses, all clumped up together in vast packs of earth and mud. A few tree roots dangled down, but most of the island’s base was thick brown curls of earth held together by winding coils of weed and moss. The roots of the mountainous volcano were even stranger and hung down like solid black icicles, some very long.
Hermes swooped past all this and landed gently on the edge of the great serpent lake. Sam rolled off, staggered up, stamped his feet to feel warmth again, and gazed, fascinated, around him. He could see smoke rising from the waters, and realised it was the seething hot vapours from the volcano, but below the surface, he could also see the movement of creatures, and he bent down to look closer.
“Beware, my lord,” Hermes said. “These serpents are poisonous, and many are lethal.”
Sam moved back from the edge, but he still watched. The snakes were of many different colours and sizes, some were plain and others were beautiful. There seemed to be thousands of them. There were also fish and little crabs and other small sea creatures, but they kept away from the snakes. Slabs of rock had fallen from the mountain, and these floated, often bumping into each other. Sometimes the crabs hopped up and sat on these, taking a taxi ride across the water.
The volcano roared, spat and boiled. The flames sprang enormous and brilliant into the sky from the depths of the mountain, and dark lava ooze poured from its mouth down towards the lake.
“I hope I don’t have to climb that,” said Sam.
“We should walk to the other side, if we wish to feed the lava wolves,” sighed Hermes.
Sam hopped up, carrying many of the bags of food while Hermes dragged all the others behind him, and they set off across the craggy landscape. At first the ground was hilly and studded with rocks and stones. There were many deep splits in the rocks where water trickled, and Sam was careful in case the snakes had come there too. The grassy slopes were nicer, and Sam was delighted to run and explore. Eventually he stopped for a rest, sat on the grass, and began to call. “Any three-headed dogs out there?” he yelled. “I’ve come to see the lava wolves. I know Little Seed a bit. And I’ve brought food if you want some. I know meat is hard to get on Sparkan. I’m Sam. This is Hermes, but you can’t eat him. Or me. But I’ve come to make friends.”
Nothing moved except the breezes, and the only sound was the thundering explosion of the volcano. Sam waited, wondering whether he should just pile up the food and let the wolves help themselves later on. But he had seen dogs fight, and the biggest might steal everything, so he felt he should stay. Besides, he was getting hungry himself and quite fancied taking one of those apples.
Hermes appeared to have gone to sleep in the sunshine. The winds which had chilled them out in the open air did not arrive here, and the warming brightness made everyone drowsy.
But then, with a rustle and a careful footstep, peeped out the nose of a big dark dog, and then another a little smaller, and finally a third smaller still. Sam stared, smiling, but not daring to move. Gradually the whole animal crawled out from the crack in the rocks, and crept towards the bags of meat still held by Sam. Then, after seeing the first three-headed dog had not been molested by Sam, some others dared to appear. They seemed very shy and not like monsters at all. Their hair was mostly dark, long and shaggy, and some had huge paws with very long claws, but they were gentle, even though they seemed so large, and about twice the size of most dogs. Eventually they all sat in a circle around Sam and Hermes, panting, their tongues hanging out and their tails wagging.
“Hello,” said Sam. “You’re all very handsome.”
This appeared to confuse the wolves. Some nodded their heads while others s
hook theirs. After white a long pause, one very tall skinny wolf, its three heads all bright-eyed, spoke in a human voice but with a gruff throaty edge. “Hello Sam,” it said. “I am Milla and Missa and Miffy. We are all very hungry.”
Starting to tip open the bags, Sam said, “Well, there’s lots of meat here, and fruit and vegetables too, but mostly meat. Please help yourselves. But there’s only twelve of you. Surely there are more on the island. And I already met Little Seed, but she’s not here now. I hope she’s alright.”
Every one of the wolves had started eating. With twelve wolves there were thirty six heads, and everyone was starving. But they ate slowly, savouring every mouthful, and they shared fairly. Once all the meat had gone, and they had licked the ground where the meat had lain, and then licked the bags the meat came in, then they started on the cabbages and apples.
Sitting back and hugging his knees, Sam watched them. Then he said, “I’m sorry there’s no more. I can try and bring some more another day, but it would be so much easier if you came to live on Lashtang where you could buy whatever you want for dinner.”
“We have no money,” sighed Milla.
“And no one would give us a job to make money,” said Miffy, also sighing.. “People hate us and think we’re going to eat them.”
“And they throw stones at us and run away. The shops would close their doors,” said Missa.
“Lashtang is going to change,” Sam said. “Soon it’ll be much kinder. Yaark has been caught and kept in prison. And the wizards will get thrown out so the Empress Octobr will be on the throne, and she likes the lava wolves. The empole was very, very kind to Little Seed. And most of the people down there have had a terrible time, so they’re ready to sympathise with others.”
Missa, Miffy and Milla all stared at Sam with big dark eyes, and so did most of the other wolves. “Did you say you have Yaark in prison?” asked Milla in astonishment. “Can you be sure?”
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