He hit the ground on his shoulder, rolled again, and came up in a crouch. His pack had ripped open, spilling something gold and glittering onto the crystal ground.
The bakaliss reared up to strike again . . . then stopped. It glared down at the crown. Gulph saw the circlet of gold reflected in the monster’s soulless eyes.
“So now we’re even, Lady Redina!” he shouted. “I know what you really are—and you know who I really am!”
The bakaliss screeched. Steaming spittle dripped from its mouth and splattered around the spot where Gulph lay.
A small hand grabbed his. “Gulph! This way, quickly!”
It was Pip, pushing her way through the forest of the bakaliss’s quills. She looked terrified.
“No, Pip! Go back!” he told her. “Get to safety!”
She shook her head. “You’ll need this.”
Pip was pushing something into his hand. A crystal sword.
He grinned at her. As she scrambled away, he struck at the nearest segment of the giant serpent. The bakaliss avoided his blow with ease. He lashed out again, only to find the belly of the beast descending toward him. He held his sword straight up—maybe the vile thing would impale itself!
The bakaliss’s tail smashed into his shins. His legs flew from under him and he crashed onto his chest. All the air exploded from his lungs. Gasping, he rolled over to see a pair of enormous crimson jaws descending toward him.
From somewhere far away he heard Kalia shriek, “Gulph!” and then the monster’s huge teeth were on him, under him, gathering him up and lifting him off the ground. He tried to wriggle free, but the jaws of the bakaliss had closed around him like a vise. He tried to wield his sword, but both his arms were clamped to his side. He tried to scream, but the bakaliss’s jaws were crushing his chest.
It’s going to bite me in half!
But it didn’t. Holding Gulph high in the air, the bakaliss paused. For a brief moment all was still. Gulph dangled in its jaws. Above him hung the rich purple canopy of the cavern roof, alive with its starlike gems.
Then the view rotated, and Gulph found himself staring down at the horrified, upturned faces of Kalia and Ossilius, of Pip and Noddy and the rest of the Tangletree Players.
Still holding Gulph aloft, the bakaliss slithered out of the garden. The twin racks of gigantic teeth continued to hold him tight, but they didn’t bite down. He heard the scrape and rattle of scale and quill as he was carried at high speed. Ahead lay a rippling silver sheet: the Celestial Lake. It expanded until it filled Gulph’s vision.
It’s going to drown me!
Without hesitation, the bakaliss plunged into the lake. There was no time for Gulph to take a breath. Water crashed into his mouth, up his nose, into his eyes and ears. He screamed into the cold silver liquid, his cries transforming into a tortured stream of bubbles.
The deeper they went, the more the pressure mounted in Gulph’s ears. Water streamed past his face. He fought against the cage of teeth, but they held fast. His lungs tightened, began to throb.
I can’t hold out much longer. I’ve got to take a breath.
If he did, it would be his last.
Just when Gulph thought his lungs would burst, the bakaliss made a gut-wrenching turn before erupting from the lake once more. Opening his mouth, Gulph dragged hot, stale air into his aching lungs.
Blinking furiously, he saw that they’d emerged not into open air, but into a huge cave filled with rippling green light. Behind them was the flooded tunnel they’d just come through. Ahead, a series of ancient stone steps climbed to a large platform covered with broken skeletons. Skulls grinned at him from amid piles of bones.
Human skulls.
This is where it feeds!
On the tail of that horrifying thought came another.
This is where the bakaliss will eat the king!
Surrounding the platform entirely with its scaly coils, the bakaliss threw Gulph onto the topmost step. His fall was broken by a heap of bones, which scattered like pebbles down the stone staircase.
Sprawled on the step, Gulph saw that the walls of the cave were studded with gems. Emeralds, like the green jewel hanging against his chest on its chain of gold. They filled the cavern with a rich green glow. He scrambled up and saw something else—on the platform were three thrones with high backs and ornate arms. One looked as if it were made of emerald, the next ruby, and the third gold.
The throne room of Toronia! But why is it buried down here?
The bakaliss reared over him again with its jaws agape. The sight of it filled Gulph with terror. He shoved all thoughts of thrones and jewels from his mind and summoned the feeling that was now so familiar to him.
Sand! I’m surrounded by hot desert sand and you can’t see me. Do you hear? You can’t see me at all!
Heat seared him. He became the heat. The moist air of the cavern turned dry. A tremor ran through his body, from the crown of his head to the tips of his toes.
He held his breath.
The bakaliss froze. Its head weaved first to the left, then to the right. Gulph finally dared to look down at his body.
His magic had worked. He was invisible.
Towering over him, the bakaliss roared in frustration.
As long as it can’t see me, I still have a chance.
Keeping tight hold of the crystal sword that Pip had handed to him, he summoned all his waning energy and sprinted up the slope toward the three thrones. Bones shattered beneath his feet as he ran. Following the sound, the red-scaled serpent dropped its head to ground level and slithered after him.
Gulph reached the thrones barely a breath before the bakaliss. No sooner had he crawled beneath them than the bakaliss’s tail whipped in and hooked him out again. He fell into a mountain of skulls, which scattered like the playthings of some evil monster’s child. Quickly he scrambled away, knowing their movement would give away his position.
There’s no way out of this place! he thought, desperately casting his eyes around the chamber. All he could see were the gem-covered walls and the single waterlogged tunnel through which they’d entered.
I’ll never be able to swim back. I’d drown before I got even halfway.
He might be invisible. But he was also trapped.
Hot breath scalded his face. The head of the bakaliss floated before him, its enormous jaws split in a cruel and heartless grin. Red scales shimmered in the eerie green light of the underwater cave. The bakaliss sniffed, then swiveled its head until its gaze was locked on the empty space where Gulph was standing.
It can smell me!
The bakaliss reared over him. Above its massive head glittered the jewel-encrusted ceiling, and for a moment Gulph imagined that it was a sky filled with stars.
The prophecy of the three, he thought. The legend of the king. Maybe they both need to come true . . . .
The bakaliss’s jaws opened like the gates of doom, but a strange calm had descended over Gulph.
Taking a deep, deliberate breath, Gulph allowed his magic to drain away until he was standing before the bakaliss, visible and revealed. Sliding the sword through his belt, he held out his hands, palms up.
“All right!” he shouted. “All right! Let’s make the story true! Come for me, Redina, or whatever your name is! Come and eat the king!”
Red coils squirmed into knots. Sharp quills cut through heaps of polished bones. Jaws parted.
Gulph leaped . . . between its teeth.
The jaws of the bakaliss slammed shut . . . behind him.
He landed on something soft and slimy.
Its tongue!
Tucking his arms against his body, Gulph performed a forward roll that sent him tumbling headlong into the squirming tunnel that was the monster’s throat. Wads of moist flesh pulsed against his body as he slid deeper and deeper into its gullet. It was utterly dark. The smell was unspeakable. He was surrounded by echoing gurgling sounds, beneath which he could hear a deep, regular thump.
Something wet slapped hi
s face. He twisted, resisting the urge to throw up. The darkness was dreadful, the sense of being trapped overwhelming.
Just when he thought he could stand it no more, the tube of flesh down which he’d been sliding opened out into a larger cavity. He splashed into a pool of thick, glutinous liquid. Bubbles popped in the darkness, releasing a stench that was ten times as bad as anything he’d experienced so far. Sticky lumps bobbed just below the surface. He didn’t like to think about what they might be. Hard things grated beneath him—more bones, probably.
The thumping sound was coming from right behind his head.
“The bakaliss has eaten the king!” he shouted into the darkness. He wondered if the monster could hear the voice coming from its own stomach. “The legend is fulfilled.”
Thump! Thump! Thump!
He took the sword from his belt and raised it up out of the slimy liquid.
The old tales say that’s where the story ends, he thought. His arm felt strong. His sword felt light. His whole body seemed to thrum with power. But I say the story goes on!
He plunged the crystal sword into the bakaliss’s stomach wall. The lining ripped like silk. A flood of sticky juices poured over him. Using both hands, he drew a great slash through the flesh and forced his way through it. Strange blobby things thrust against him. He carved them into pieces and headed toward the thumping sound.
From somewhere that seemed both nearby and very far away, he could hear screaming.
Thump! Thump! Thump!
The sound was almost unbearably loud. He could sense its source in the darkness before him: a hot, vibrating globe hanging like a huge, dark fruit and pumping, pumping, pumping.
Gulph raised his sword, and with a single blow sliced the bakaliss’s heart in two.
Blood boiled out. It was like standing inside a volcano. Head down, Gulph pushed through it, hacking and slashing, hacking and slashing, wanting to scream but not wanting to open his mouth, not wanting to swallow the awful . . .
Hot flesh peeled apart, and suddenly Gulph was breathing clean, cold air again. He slid into the brightness, his sword swinging through empty air. His feet skidded on a raft of bones. Steaming fluid bubbled around him.
He stopped, panting for breath.
Behind him, something huge fell to the ground with a sickening, wet thud. Accompanying the thud was a deep, rumbling crash.
Gulph opened his eyes.
He was standing in a lake of blood. Torn scales jutted from the dark liquid like the hulls of broken boats. Gulph was covered from head to toe in blood and slime.
Slowly he turned around. Behind him rose a mountain of red coils sparkling beneath an aura of purple light. Orange quills sagged like dead branches. A pair of pale eyes seemed to glare at him for a long, long moment before rolling back into their sockets and turning black.
The bakaliss was dead.
Gulph coughed, and the cough started a fit of spluttering. Retching, he staggered free of the trail of blood and gore he’d released from the monster’s guts. To his relief the crown was nestled nearby amid a pile of broken bones, covered in gore but in one piece. He snatched it up.
Then he simply stood for a moment, breathing hard, the crown clasped to his chest.
Feeling steadier, he stowed the crown safely in his backpack and made for the flooded tunnel. At least there he would be able to wash himself clean . . . .
He stopped as something struck him.
The light. It isn’t green anymore.
The cave’s emerald glow was now cut through by beams of purple. They were coming from the other side of the bakaliss’s corpse. Circling around it, stepping between gore and pools of blood, Gulph saw a gigantic crack in the cave wall. The monster must have smashed it open in its death throes.
Through the crack, he could see the familiar twilight of Celestis.
In a daze, Gulph stumbled out of the throne room and onto the shore of the Celestial Lake. Without hesitation, he plunged into the silver water, ducking himself repeatedly under and scrubbing himself and the crown of Toronia clean.
He felt relieved, and wondered if he should feel more. But he was exhausted beyond anything he’d ever experienced. Perhaps the feeling of triumph would come later.
• • •
Crossing the lake seemed to take forever. Gulph swam slowly, not just because his battered body protested against every stroke, but because his thoughts were hopelessly tangled together. If he took his time, perhaps the knots would work themselves out before he reached the other shore.
He remembered his younger years, tagging along with the Tangletree Players as they’d traveled across the realms from one village to the next. He’d been small for his age, a weakling with a bent back who earned his keep by carrying around the money pouch at the end of each performance. The people who put coins in the pouch used to laugh at him.
With Pip’s help, he’d discovered a talent for tumbling and become an acrobat. Audiences still laughed at him, but it was when he did something funny. When he did something amazing, they applauded.
And now . . . now he was a bakaliss slayer; one of the prophecy three; a survivor of prison, war, and a leap from the tower of Castle Tor; a future king who still carried the crown of Toronia on his back.
What would those crowds say about him now?
Around him, Celestis was silent but for the gentle lapping of the water as he swam.
He tipped back his head to gaze at the crystal ceiling. The gems shone like stars.
Applause doesn’t matter, he thought. The only thing that matters is who you are inside, and what you choose to do with your life.
Smiling to himself, he struck out once more across the lake. His body still ached terribly, and the muscles in his crooked back were horribly cramped, but for the first time that day—in a long time, in fact—his mind was at peace.
• • •
Exhausted, Gulph crawled out of the shallows onto a wide beach of smooth blue sapphire. He flopped down onto his front, utterly spent.
Movement flickered at the corner of his vision. A figure, darting around the beach, peering into the silver lake as if it were looking for someone.
“Over here!” Gulph managed to shout, his voice wet and rasping.
The figure ran toward him with great loping strides, his head thrown back over his shoulder. Now Gulph recognized him. It was Sidebottom John.
“John!” Gulph called weakly. “John, I . . .”
“It be him!” John yelled delightedly. “Gulph’s a-livin’ and a-breathin’!”
By the time John reached him, the rest of the Tangletree Players were running toward him from all over the beach.
“Oh, Gulph, you were so brave!”
“Just as we was giving up hope of finding you!”
A pair of arms gathered him up. It was Pip.
“Gulph!” she sobbed, her voice joyful despite the tears. “Thank the stars. I thought you were dead!”
“Let go!” Gulph laughed. “I’m filthy!”
“I don’t care! I’m never going to let you go again!”
But she did—reluctantly. Stepping back, she wiped the tears from her face and said, “Can you tell us what happened?”
Gulph took the hand Pip held toward him and got to his feet.
“I can,” he replied. “But . . . I think I need to tell everyone.”
With Pip supporting him on one side, and John on the other, he led them from the beach to the garden where Lady Redina’s true identity had been revealed. Pip helped him clamber up onto the platform where, not long before, Lady Redina had turned into a monster. He stood there, swaying a little. Most of the Celestians had fled when Lady Redina had transformed into the bakaliss, but they were returning now. Before long the garden was full again. As he gazed out over the crowd, it struck Gulph that the Celestians looked different somehow—wide-eyed and full of wonder.
Lady Redina’s magic died with her, Gulph realized. They’ve woken up at last.
Ossilius was there to
o. When Gulph caught his eye, he dropped to one knee. Beside Ossilius stood Kalia, his mother, her scarred face full of love, her eyes bright with tears.
I’m back, Mother, he thought. I’m back and the prophecy still lives.
“The bakaliss is dead!” he cried. “Lady Redina is dead! You’re free! All of you—free!”
The crowd roared.
“Now tell them,” Ossilius called up. “Tell them who you really are.”
“My name is Gulph!” For the first time in his life, Gulph felt as if he were standing up straight. “I was born under the light of the prophecy stars. I am one of three triplets destined to rule Toronia. Today I have brought peace to Celestis. Tomorrow I will bring peace to the whole kingdom!”
Another roar, this one ten times as loud. Now people were pouring into the garden from all directions, curious to see what the commotion was.
Gulph took out the crown from his pack. He held it up for a moment, gold and glittering.
The crowd fell silent.
He raised his arms and settled the crown on his head.
The crowd gasped.
“I have freed Idilliam from the tyranny of Brutan!” Gulph proclaimed. “I have freed Celestis from the tyranny of Lady Redina! Now the rest of the kingdom deserves the same! Will you help me bring freedom to Toronia?”
“Yes!” The roar of the crowd echoed like thunder through the crystal cavern. Gulph saw that Kalia and Pip were weeping. Even Ossilius was wiping at his cheeks. Gulph grinned, and as he waved his hands in triumph, another sound joined the massed voices of the people of Celestis.
It was the sound of applause.
CHAPTER 8
Elodie woke into darkness and silence.
Am I blind? she wondered, holding her hands up in front of her face and seeing nothing at all. Deaf too?
She heard a shriek, faint and very far away. Not deaf, then. She rubbed her eyes. A pale glow fluttered at the edges of her vision, like the wings of a bird.
Or an insect. She shuddered, remembering the swarms of giant bugs that had filled the swamp.
But she was no longer in the swamp, was she?
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