Lintang and the Brightest Star

by Tamara Moss

  About the Book

  A prophecy has been spoken. A monster has awoken.

  As the conquering hold of the United Regions continues to spread, time is running out for Lintang, Captain Shafira and the crew of the Winda to find allies in their quest for peace.

  But when they arrive in war-torn Kaneko Brown, the local rebels are too scared to help. The Vierzans have summoned a category ten mythie that devours the star of anyone who dares stand against them.

  Worse, the mythie has been prophesied to mean the end of Captain Shafira.

  Lintang must find a way to stop the most dangerous mythie in the guidebook … or she’ll lose her beloved captain forever.

  Contents

  Cover

  About the Book

  Title Page

  Dedication

  The Gnome in the Temple

  Unexpected

  Traitor

  Fish Wraps

  Battleground

  Goodbye

  Enemies in the Forest

  The First Fallen

  Lost

  Unhappy Reunion

  Magic Remains

  Fallen Fruit

  War-Torn

  Nuliata

  Circus Acts

  Qourees

  Monster

  Captain’s Choice

  Caught

  Waterlogged

  Into Jafir

  The Mistake

  Queen of the Seas

  King of the Earth

  The Countdown Begins

  Challenge

  Running Sand

  The Swamp

  The Outcast

  The Fight

  Wandering Bird

  An Impossible Choice

  Help

  Unlikely Ally

  Up the Mountain

  Spy

  Duel

  Yamini’s Truth

  Battle on the Mountainside

  Child of Nyasamdra

  Ten Days from Grief

  The Final Obstacle

  The Governor Returns

  The Greatest Sacrifice

  Descendant

  Captain’s Second

  Impossibly Home

  Summit

  Repercussions

  A New Legend

  Dear Mother

  Acknowledgements

  About the Author

  Lintang and the Pirate Queen

  Lintang and the Forbidden Island

  Imprint

  Read more at Penguin Books Australia

  To Emma and Jen

  THE MYTHIE GUIDEBOOK ENTRY #44: Gnome (Common)

  The gnome is a humanoid earth mythie about three times as high as an adult ankle. It is a plump, earth-coloured creature with skin as tough as rock. It wears traditional clothing according to its region, and most often appears in the form of a grumpy old man or woman.

  Diet: Any human food, though in the wild they eat mushrooms and root vegetables.

  Habitat: Burrows beside lanes and paths, worldwide.

  Frequency: Common.

  Behaviour: Gnomes are not of high intelligence and are considered petty and mean. Common tactics include attempting to trip travellers to steal their food.

  Eradication: Gnomes can be caught using simple animal traps. It is best to crush gnomes with heavy slabs to kill them, as blades often break on their hard hides.

  Did you know? Gnomes are the only mythie with almost exactly the same description and behaviour in every country (for the exception, turn to Entry #45: Gnome (Nara)).

  Danger level: 1

  At first, the hole in the corner of the temple had only been big enough for spiders. Just a small crack, nothing to bother with.

  It had grown through the seasons. Over time, the surrounding stone crumbled or was knocked away by visiting animals. Millipedes scurried through. Mice stored food. A pugem possum got stuck and had to be pulled out by the priests. One memorable year, a pair of fruit doves made a nest in the hole and three baby birds cheeped for the entire Blessing of the Burbleberries.

  Now the hole was big enough to fit a particularly determined crawling baby … or hide an intruding mythie.

  Lintang dropped to her hands and knees and peered into the darkness. The stone was cool beneath her palms. It was a nice change – usually there was no escaping the muggy heat during the growing season.

  ‘Careful,’ Bayani whispered from behind her.

  Lintang waved to show she’d heard. She leaned right up to the hole. Her vision was adjusting. Something moved inside. When she inhaled, the air tasted of dust and smoke from the wooden torches.

  Her new shisea was getting dirty. Mother would have a fit when she realised she’d have to wash all the layers of the wraparound dress when the laundry had only been done the day before yesterday.

  ‘Well? What do you see?’

  Unlike Bayani, Teacher Hixam’s voice was shrill and demanding.

  ‘Teacher Hixam, some quiet, please,’ Elder Wulan said.

  ‘I still don’t know why you think a thirteen-year-old girl is going to succeed where trained vigil failed.’

  Lintang rolled her eyes. It was obvious the ten vigil who had been stationed in Desa had tried everything from The Mythie Guidebook. Wild pig traps were scattered around the temple, a trail of root vegetables led out from the hole and one of the flaming wooden torches had been taken down from its bracket, possibly to attempt smoking the gnome out.

  ‘Lintang is from a long line of storytellers,’ Elder Wulan said. ‘She’s well-versed in the local legends. She’ll come up with something we haven’t thought of yet.’

  Lintang turned to grin at Bayani. It was a sign of how much Elder Wulan hated Teacher Hixam that she was praising Lintang so highly. Elder Wulan was usually the one who told Lintang off the most, after Mother.

  Her best friend grinned back. He had grown over the season and was now a touch taller than her. His hair, which had been past his shoulders when they’d last travelled on the Winda together, was now kept hacked short thanks to his parents. They liked him to be neat and tidy.

  Pelita, Bayani’s foster sister, sat on one of the benches behind them, sucking her own hair and looking bored. Bayani’s parents had given up trying to keep her neat and tidy. Her face was currently covered in dirt, and a sauce stain trailed all the way down her sarong.

  ‘But why hasn’t the Curall worked yet?’ Teacher Hixam demanded.

  ‘The vigil didn’t manage to spray the gnome directly in the face,’ Elder Wulan said. She held up a full vial with a pump at the top. ‘Patience, Teacher Hixam. When Lintang lures it out, we can administer the Curall correctly, and the gnome will be back to its human self.’

  Teacher Hixam huffed. Lintang, who just wanted some quiet, glared at her.

  Teacher Hixam was a pointy woman. She had a pointy nose, pointy ears and pointy eyebrows. Her black hair hung short and pointy. She gave Lintang a pointy look.

  ‘Don’t use that expression on me, young lady. Just because the vigil think you’re different and special doesn’t mean you are. You should be showing respect, considering you’re facing an enquiry for not coming to school.’

  Teacher Hixam had been brought in this season to teach the thirteen- to seventeen-year-olds. She’d been met with plenty of resistance, considering all her supposed students had already graduated. As Islanders, their schooling finished at thirteen so they could learn to take over their parents’ jobs in the village. But since the Twin Islands had joined the United Regions, the Vierzans had insisted that everyone under the age of seventeen go back to school. So far, many had refused. Lintang’s mother wanted her to help with the housekeeping, and Bayani’s parents had him working on the farm. No one was interested in
extra studies on Vierzan language and culture.

  A scrabbling noise drew Lintang’s attention back to the hole. It sounded like the gnome was trying to dig its way through the stone. She could make out a squat shape. She leaned in further.

  An outline – yes, nearly a clear view –

  A knobbly finger darted out and poked her in the eye. She jerked back with a yelp.

  Pelita shrieked in surprise, then laughed and clapped. ‘Well done, Lintang! That was hil-ar-i-ous.’

  Hilarious was Pelita’s new favourite word.

  ‘Are you all right?’ Bayani said.

  Lintang clutched her streaming eye. ‘I hate gnomes.’

  ‘I told you she wouldn’t be able to help,’ Teacher Hixam said smugly.

  Pelita ran over. She squatted next to Lintang. ‘Hellllooooo,’ she said into the hole. ‘Anyone home?’ She rapped her knuckles against the stone wall. ‘I’ve met lots of gnomes before. I used to play with them when I was a pixie. Do you like pixies? I was naughty.’ She threw back her head and cackled. ‘Actually, I still am!’

  Lintang smiled at her as new footsteps echoed across the temple.

  ‘Lintang of Sundriya.’

  Everyone turned. A figure was silhouetted in the entrance of the temple. Lintang remembered the first time she had seen Captain Shafira, standing in exactly the same place, illuminated by a flash of lightning.

  It was certainly not Captain Shafira now. This woman was shorter, with a long Vierzan coat of plum purple that reached her boots. Her black hair was cropped like Bayani’s, and her skin, wrinkled in all the frowning places, was as dark as an Islander’s. But as she walked into the shade of the temple, her features turned as pale as Desa’s sand. It was a swift process – swifter than Lintang had ever seen. The gold-white in her hair swallowed the black in three steps. In six steps, paleness bloomed across her dark complexion. Her eyes, brown at first, had faded into cold blue by the time she reached Lintang.

  ‘Of Desa,’ Lintang said, without commenting on the woman’s transformation. She had seen it before, after all, on two different men.

  The woman paused. ‘Beg your pardon?’

  ‘I’m Lintang of Desa.’

  The two regarded each other. Lintang didn’t stand, even though it would’ve been the polite thing to do. Bayani didn’t either. Pelita still gabbled away to the gnome.

  ‘Under the citizen records of the United Regions, you are registered “of Sundriya”, like everyone else in this village,’ the woman said at last.

  ‘But that’s not my name.’

  Elder Wulan shut her eyes, looking mortified. Teacher Hixam was smirking as if she knew how much trouble Lintang was about to be in.

  ‘Do you know who I am?’ the new woman said.

  ‘Governor Jani.’

  ‘Do you know why I’m here?’ Governor Jani said.

  Lintang jerked her head towards the hole in the wall. ‘We’re actually trying to lure out a gnome at the moment, so if you could just wait outside –’

  ‘Lintang,’ Elder Wulan groaned softly.

  ‘I’m here,’ Governor Jani said, ‘because there’s been some resistance from villagers about the Twin Islands joining the UR. People have been trying to make us leave. We’re not going to leave.’

  Lintang’s whole body was strung tight. She felt as though she were facing down a predator mythie, the way Governor Jani was appraising her. She wished she had her sword.

  Governor Jani was nothing like her son, Captain Kona, who was kind and charming and had helped Lintang during her last adventure aboard the Winda. He had been Captain Shafira’s secret ally for many years, even though he was supposed to be helping the Vierzans capture her.

  But Governor Jani didn’t seem like the kind of person to betray the United Regions. She looked more like the kind of person to make the laws rather than break them.

  ‘– and then Spotty ate his hat!’ Pelita, who had finished what must’ve been a funny story, fell over laughing. When she was done, she wiped a tear from her eye. ‘Goats are hil-ar-i-ous.’

  Governor Jani’s gaze roamed from Lintang, to Pelita, to Bayani. Lintang edged forward, trying to shield her friends from view.

  ‘Oh, hello!’

  Lintang turned at Pelita’s cheerful voice to find the gnome creeping out of the hole. But it wasn’t a squat, sarong-wearing gnome like Lintang was used to. This mythie was a tiny woman with flame-red, curly hair and a long green dress.

  A Narian gnome.

  A predator mythie.

  ‘Oh no,’ Bayani said, as the gnome gave a wicked laugh and lunged at Pelita.

  Pelita screamed. Lintang and Bayani raced to help.

  ‘It’s too strong!’ Lintang cried, straining to pull the gnome away as it tried to claw at Pelita’s face with its blade-sharp nails.

  Pelita whacked at it. ‘Take that! And that! Don’t pull my hair!’

  ‘Lintang!’ Elder Wulan tossed the vial of Curall. Lintang caught it, but before she could hit the pump, the gnome jumped off Pelita and ran for the stairs. Lintang and Bayani sprinted after it.

  ‘What’s the guidebook say?’ Lintang said as they climbed the narrow staircase. Bayani knew The Mythie Guidebook entries off by heart.

  ‘Milk!’ said Bayani, panting. ‘They like milk and cheese. Guardians of gemstones and mines. Often live underground. Like to herd cattle. Um … they eat people!’

  ‘Oh, great.’

  They reached the next level. For generations, priests had lived above the temple, but the Vierzans had made them leave so their ambassadors and important people could move in. The gnome bypassed the rooms and dashed along the stone corridor towards the staircase to the third level. Lintang thought about what Bayani had said as they continued to chase it. Milk. Cheese. Herds. Mines –

  Gemstones!

  She dug into her shisea and pulled out a spherical wooden case on a chain. When she clicked it open, a large orange stone fell out, glinting in the torchlight.

  ‘Hey!’ she yelled before the gnome could climb the next steps. She waved the stone. ‘Want this?’

  The gnome stopped.

  ‘Stay back,’ Lintang whispered to Bayani, then walked carefully towards the gnome, holding the stone in view. She kept the Curall tucked in her free hand. ‘You like it? It’s one of the most precious gems in the world. I got it from the forbidden island, Allay.’

  The gnome stared, as if entranced. Lintang continued to creep forward.

  ‘Pretty, isn’t it? Keep looking. Keeeeep looking.’

  She stretched out her arm until the gemstone was right in front of the gnome’s eyes.

  ‘That’s right. Look at the sparkly stone. Isn’t it juuuust –’

  She sprayed the Curall with a sharp squirt. The gnome spluttered and scowled, crouching to leap at her, its sharp teeth bared, its claws extended.

  ‘No!’ Bayani cried.

  Lintang braced for an attack. The gnome didn’t move. She dared a glance over her shoulder at Bayani. He looked as astonished as she felt. He often made friends with mythies – he’d even freed gnomes from traps before, but they were common gnomes, not predator ones, and they never did what he asked.

  ‘Don’t hurt her,’ he said in a shaky voice.

  The gnome lowered its claws.

  Lintang hugged her sunstone to her chest. ‘Why is it listening to you?’

  Bayani moved to her side. ‘I don’t know.’

  ‘Maybe its human self knows you.’

  After people turned into mythies, sometimes they remembered people they loved. When Lintang had turned into Lanme Vanyan, she hadn’t wanted to hurt Captain Shafira or Bayani, even though she had been a ferocious warrior.

  But Bayani said, ‘No – this is a Narian gnome. I’ve never met anyone from Nara.’

  Lintang peeked at him. ‘Do you think it’s because you’re a –’

  ‘Hold still!’ Governor Jani rushed forward and threw a wild pig trap over the gnome. It snarled and tugged at the wooden bars, but it was
stuck.

  ‘I’ve medicated it,’ Lintang said. ‘It shouldn’t take long to turn human now.’

  Her pulse pounded in her ears. It was lucky Governor Jani hadn’t heard what she’d been about to say. She doubted the Vierzans would appreciate the fact Bayani was a God, even if he had no memories or powers.

  While the governor was busy snapping closed the locks, Lintang tucked her sunstone back into its wooden casing. She didn’t want to have to explain how she got it, because that would mean admitting she’d been travelling with the most wanted person in the United Regions.

  ‘Right,’ said Governor Jani, lifting the trap. ‘Come along. I haven’t finished with you yet.’

  Lintang followed Governor Jani back downstairs with Bayani. When Pelita saw them, her face brightened momentarily before she glared at the gnome in the cage. ‘Naughty old lady!’ The scratch marks across her cheek were bleeding a little.

  ‘You’re safe,’ Elder Wulan said in relief. ‘Did you administer the Curall?’

  ‘Sure did,’ Lintang said, tossing the empty vial back to her. To Teacher Hixam, she said, ‘You’re welcome, by the way.’

  Teacher Hixam narrowed her eyes. ‘You see what I mean, Governor? There’s no respect.’

  ‘That’s going to change.’ Governor Jani thrust the trap at Teacher Hixam. ‘Take this straight to the Mythie Rehabilitation Programme Centre. And you –’ she turned to Elder Wulan ‘– make sure my quarters upstairs have been arranged to my specifications.’