Talons of Power

by Tui T. Sutherland

  But the words were forming in his head, unbidden, and he realized he was going to try. If it was impossible, it wouldn’t work, and he’d be in the same current as before.

  If it did work … Whirlpool would be happy, Anemone would be even more special, Queen Coral would be ecstatic … and Turtle would be safe.

  I enchant my sister Anemone to become an animus dragon, too.

  Anemone, become an animus dragon.

  I enchant you to have talons of power.

  “Turtle!” Whirlpool barked in his ear. Turtle jerked back, catching his tail painfully on a giant conch shell.

  “Sorry,” Turtle said. “What?”

  “It’s your turn.” Whirlpool nodded at the coconut, and then at the two dragons beside him. “Pike and Octopus are waiting.”

  “Oh, yes.” Turtle fumbled his coconut out in front of him and took a deep breath. He heard the other two mumbling along as he spoke to it. “Coconut, float into the air and then return to my claws.”

  Was the coconut trembling, or was that his own fear traveling through his arms? Did it feel lighter in his talons, as if it was about to lift off?

  Oh, please, Anemone, use your magic, Turtle wished desperately.

  A piercing shriek suddenly cut the air, making half the dragonets jump and drop their coconuts.

  It was Moray, one talon outstretched to point at Anemone — and the coconut that was slowly drifting up into the air over her head.

  Whirlpool turned to stare, and Turtle took the moment to grip his coconut forcefully once more. Stop moving, you hairy idiot. I enchant you to be a normal coconut! A coconut that would never float anywhere, by all the whales!

  The coconut seemed to nestle closer, warm and heavy and still in his claws.

  “I was right!” Queen Coral cried. “Anemone! You’re an animus! You really are!”

  No one looked more surprised than Anemone, who stared up at the coconut in awe. With the sun shining behind it, it seemed to be glowing, and so did all the pinkish-white and pale blue scales all over Anemone.

  “I’m magic,” she whispered.

  “The test is over!” Coral called. “Whirlpool, we’ve found our animus! Look!”

  “But shouldn’t we —” Whirlpool gestured faintly at the remaining dragonets, then shrugged. “Quite right, Your Majesty. All of you are dismissed!”

  Turtle exhaled softly.

  He couldn’t believe it. It worked. He’d turned his sister into an animus dragon.

  So now he was safe. His magic was his own. He could keep being quiet, ordinary Turtle on the outside.

  But had he done the right thing? What if he had ruined Anemone’s life by protecting himself?

  He hesitated at the edge of the water, watching his sister. She certainly looked pretty happy. Queen Coral threw her wings around Anemone as her council crowded closer, murmuring excitedly.

  Would the queen have reacted the same way to finding out he was an animus? Would he suddenly be the one she loved, the center of attention all the time?

  Would he have ended up with a harness like Anemone’s?

  He shook a crab off one of his talons. Remember, that’s exactly what I don’t want, he told himself.

  This would have been Anemone’s life anyway. Really, it wouldn’t be any different; she’d still be special and beloved. She’d probably adore having animus powers.

  What about her soul? a part of him whispered.

  He pushed away the guilt. Probably a myth, he told himself. Someone will make sure she’s careful with her magic, he told himself. She’ll be fine, he told himself.

  Turtle slipped into the water quietly, unnoticed by anyone, and swam away, leaving barely a ripple on the surface of the ocean.

  Turtle thought of Kinkajou, of Qibli and Winter, of Peril, as he flew and swam, flew and swam without stopping. He wished he had his friends with him. Peril would be able to stop Anemone, either with her firescales or her blunt honesty. Qibli would have some brilliant plan, or Winter would be able to fight her.

  Not him. He had no plan, no fighting skills, no firescales.

  I could try honesty. I’ve never given Anemone the truth before.

  I’m not sure she’d be very grateful for it.

  The current took him north to a river, which turned out to be Winding Tail River, snaking through the mountains. Whenever it was too shallow to swim, he flew; when the night unleashed brutal gusting winds, he swam.

  The windstorm was still going when he had to leave the river sometime the next day; it was hard to tell whether it was morning or afternoon, with the sun swallowed up by clouds, and only a dim gray light filling the sky from horizon to horizon. The landscape below him was equally monotonous; this was the Mud Kingdom, dreary and swampy and bog-riddled.

  He let himself stop for a moment in a grove of mist-shrouded trees, so he could use his healing stone on his exhausted wings. Then he replaced it in his pouch and flew on. He was starving, but he couldn’t stop to eat. He had to catch his sister.

  Another night passed in flying, and the next morning Turtle found himself over the ocean, sunlight sparkling on waves as blue as Tsunami’s scales.

  Gratefully he dove into the warm water and found a current that was going in the direction of the Deep Palace. As it swept him along, he was able to catch a fish hurtling by and eat it in two snaps of his jaws.

  A sense of enormous relief washed over him as he came in sight of the Deep Palace. For one thing, it was home: familiar and comforting in every twist and crevice. For another, it did not look like the site of an ongoing massacre. SeaWings swam peacefully, busily, in and out of the various entrances. Dragonets played around the fins of the soldiers in the gardens. The usual glow of Aquatic conversations danced over the coral and reflected through the palace windows.

  No clouds of blood rising from the palace; no dragons fleeing in panic.

  If Anemone was here, she hadn’t started killing yet.

  What if she isn’t here? he thought, touching down at the main palace entrance. He’d look like kind of an idiot if he’d chased her all the way back home for no reason.

  But then everyone would be safe, and he wouldn’t mind looking like an idiot to make that true.

  One of his older brothers was swimming out of the palace as Turtle approached. Fin blinked in surprise when he saw Turtle.

  I thought you’d gone off to fancy hugging school, he joked with flashing scales.

  I did. I’m just stopping by to say hi, Turtle said. He couldn’t stop himself from adding, And what does that even mean, hugging school?

  Where all the tribes of Pyrrhia will learn to hug out their problems, of course, said Fin, grinning like a comedic barracuda. Who are you here to say hi to? Nobody’s even noticed you’re gone. He laughed and thumped Turtle’s shoulder hard enough to make Turtle spin in the water.

  Oh, thanks very much, Turtle responded, righting himself. Have you seen Anemone today?

  HERE? Fin looked alarmed. She’s supposed to be with you! Do not tell me Pike has lost her. Mother will pop off all his scales one by one.

  No, no, Turtle said. She snuck away from school and I thought she might have come here. But you haven’t seen her?

  Fin shook his head.

  Where’s Mother? Turtle asked. Maybe he should warn her. Although he didn’t want her to kill Anemone on sight, which would be the logical reaction. Could he explain everything that had happened? Darkstalker and everything else?

  In Auklet’s favorite place, Fin said, rolling his eyes and nodding at one of the gardens beyond the palace. As usual. He spread his wings to swim away.

  Fin — Turtle started. His brother turned to look at him. If you do see Anemone in the next day or two … maybe keep your distance. Just in case.

  You’re freaking me out, little brother, Fin said, frowning.

  I’m worried about her soul, Turtle admitted. But I hope I’m wrong.

  Fin blanched, no doubt remembering all the Albatross stories as well. I’ve been meaning
to do a mapping excursion to the Outer Isles, he said. Maybe now would be a good time for that.

  Maybe, Turtle said, adding the sequence of glowing scales that indicated high anxiety. Maybe take our brothers with you.

  All of them? Three moons, Fin flashed, a shadow of a grin reappearing on his face. It’ll be more like an invasion than a scouting trip. The grin vanished again. Thanks, Turtle.

  He swam off at top speed and Turtle headed for Auklet’s garden.

  As he got closer, he realized why this spot was her favorite. Here, a few vents in the ocean floor sent jets of warm bubbles shooting toward the surface. When he was a little dragonet, he’d loved playing in them, too.

  Queen Coral sat beside the bubble sprays, watching her littlest daughter with a smile on her face. She held a slate loosely in her talons, but she wasn’t writing on it. At the end of her harness, Auklet was somersaulting and giggling and pouncing at the bubbles as they shot by.

  Mother, Turtle flashed as he sidled up beside her.

  Oh, hello, she flashed back, glancing at him briefly. She didn’t seem to recognize him as the prince who was supposed to be at Jade Mountain.

  Turtle sat down beside her, at a loss for words. Where should he start? Would it be wise to warn her about Anemone? What if his sister wasn’t really planning to challenge her? After all, she should have easily gotten here before he did. So where was she?

  Maybe Darkstalker was right and Anemone was back at the Jade Mountain Academy right now, eating fish and bossing the other SeaWings around.

  If so, he didn’t want to get her in trouble with the queen.

  But if Coral and Auklet were in danger … shouldn’t he warn them? He looked up at the dark ocean overhead, wondering if a soulless Anemone was out there somewhere, circling like a shark.

  Isn’t she perfect? his mother flashed. It took Turtle a moment to realize she was talking about Auklet. The queen nodded at the happy dragonet. I was convinced I was cursed. I thought I’d never get even one living daughter — and now I have three. She caught a wayward bubble in her talons and smiled. And I’m not afraid anymore. That’s the most amazing part. I know the assassin is gone, so I can just … be happy to be with Auklet, instead of being terrified every minute that I’m about to lose her.

  I never told you how sorry I was, Turtle blurted. He clapped his wings shut. This was not at all what he had meant to say.

  For what? the queen asked.

  For the eggs that died, he said miserably. When I was looking for Snapper. When the other guard got sick, and I couldn’t find Snapper anywhere, and Dad was so upset with me.

  That was you? She looked at him more closely and he flinched back. But it wasn’t anger in her eyes, or even disappointment.

  Was it … pity?

  Your father felt terrible about that, she said. Especially once we found out that Snapper had snuck off to the Summer Palace and wasn’t even here. Oh, I made sure her death was a little extra painful for that.

  What? Turtle wasn’t sure he’d followed her Aquatic correctly. Snapper wasn’t — what?

  She was supposed to stay in the Deep Palace in case she was needed, but she left, Queen Coral said. That’s why you couldn’t find her here. Didn’t you know that?

  No, Turtle said. No one ever told me that.

  I thought Gill was going to tell you, Coral mused. Maybe he didn’t get a chance before … She trailed off.

  Turtle’s mind was spinning as if it was caught in a whirlpool. He couldn’t have found Snapper that day. Not in time to help his father, if she was all the way at the Summer Palace.

  It wasn’t his fault. It wasn’t his failure. And his father knew it before he died.

  Maybe he forgave me, Turtle thought, the first hopeful thought he’d had about his father in years.

  Sorry nobody told you, his mother said unexpectedly. You were such a little dragonet, and you tried so hard. And then, even more unexpectedly, she put one wing around his shoulders and pulled him closer.

  Turtle’s heart was definitely going to explode.

  What’s your name again? she asked. Which almost wrecked the moment, except that nothing could do that.

  Turtle, he said. It’s Turtle.

  She smiled down at him. I’ll remember it this time.

  He smiled back. Holy mother of scavengers. She knows who I am. She cares about my feelings.

  And I didn’t even have to be a hero. I’m just me, Turtle. Her dragonet who tried his best.

  He leaned into her and thought about heroes and stories and misunderstandings. He knew he still had to go find Anemone to do something heroic and possibly impossible. He knew Darkstalker was still out there, and he hadn’t yet tried his best to stop him, but he would.

  But for now, for this moment, he let himself just be Turtle, under his mother’s wing, where he’d always wanted to be.

  All too soon, a SeaWing messenger came from the palace looking for Queen Coral. A dragon from the Talons of Peace is here to see you, he reported. News about changes in the Sky Kingdom, he says.

  The queen made a face at Turtle and Auklet. Official business, she said. We have to get back to the palace, Auklet.

  OK! The little dragonet spun through the bubbles one last time and swam over to her mother. Turtle! she cried, recognizing him. Auklet threw her arms around his neck and hugged him tight.

  He hugged her back, thinking, I won’t let anyone hurt you, little sister.

  See you soon, his mother flashed. Turtle watched them swim inside. His heart ached but his wings felt stronger than ever. He was going to find Anemone and stop her, no matter what it took.

  I know the truth now. The coral was trying to take me to Snapper — it only seemed like it didn’t work, because it was trying to get to the Summer Palace.

  The coral! He could use that to figure out where Anemone was. A thought that really should have occurred to him a couple of days and a very long flight ago.

  He prayed that it would point south, toward Jade Mountain. Maybe it would lead him all the way back to the safety of school.

  The tiny red tree felt fragile and brittle in his talons, as though it might snap at any moment. “Anemone,” he whispered to it. “Where is my sister?”

  It wriggled in his talons, pointing up and away from the Deep Palace, but not south. He let it pull him into one of the swift currents that spiraled out to the islands.

  For a while he swam steadily, and his spirits rose with every wingstroke away from the palace. She wasn’t lurking there, lying in wait for his mother. Whatever Anemone was up to, maybe no one had to die.

  Left! The coral suddenly insisted, tugging him up out of the current and up, up, up to the surface. Turtle had to pinwheel fast with his wings and tail to stay with it. Cascades of green-blue bubbles exploded around him.

  It was leading him to an island. He could see the shape of the land ahead of him, but he didn’t recognize it — not until he popped out of the water and saw the ruins jutting out of the jungle.

  The Island Palace. The place where the animus test had taken place.

  Where he’d cursed his little sister with his own power, so he could stay hidden.

  And there was Anemone, digging a hole in the beach with her claws, muttering furiously to herself. Wet sand covered her webbed talons and plastered her tail so she looked half–MudWing.

  Turtle floundered forward in the surf as the waves tried alternately to toss him onto the sand or to drag him back into their arms. The sun was unexpectedly bright in his eyes. Somehow he’d expected to confront Anemone deep underwater, or in the rain; this idyllic beach scene didn’t fit his idea of an animus showdown.

  “Anemone,” he gasped, staggering onto the beach. The coral practically dragged him forward so it could tap Anemone’s tail.

  His sister whirled around, her face contorted with fury.

  “You BORING LUMP OF KELP!” she yelled at him. “You ruin EVERYTHING! Why can’t you leave me ALONE?!”

  “You’re my sister,” he s
aid. He let his wings rest on the sand and tried to catch his breath as he tucked the coral away. “I’m worried about you.”

  “Are you?” she scoffed. “Or are you worried about what I might do?”

  “Um,” he said. “That too?”

  “Well, you can’t stop me,” she said mockingly, “so there’s really no point in you being here. Go back to your loser friends and your hypnotized girlfriend.”

  “You’re the one who put that spell on her!” Turtle flared. “I didn’t ask you to!”

  “Because you’re a wimp who’s afraid to even try for what he wants,” Anemone said. “But I’m not like you. I’m getting exactly what I want and deserve, and I’m getting it today.” She turned back to her digging.

  “What are you looking for?” Turtle asked.

  “Something Whirlpool said he hid for me here,” she said. “Go away, Turtle.”

  “Anemone,” he said, “I’m afraid Darkstalker’s put a spell on you.”

  She laughed bitterly. “Well, that would be ironic.”

  “I mean, I think he’s enchanted you to kill Mother and maybe Auklet and the rest of our family,” Turtle explained.

  “Oh,” she said and laughed again. “I don’t need to be enchanted to want to do that, big brother. I think anyone who met you all would feel the same way.”

  “But I think this is his vengeance,” Turtle said desperately. “For what Fathom did to him.”

  “Maybe,” Anemone said with a shrug. “But if I do it, I’ll be Queen of the SeaWings, and then he’ll have to respect me — and if that’s what he was hoping for, maybe he’ll be proud of me, too.”

  “How can you not care?” Turtle demanded. “Is it your soul? Maybe he didn’t enchant that necklace to protect it, after all. Maybe you’ve been losing it all along, piece by piece.”

  “That whole idea of the soul is ridiculous,” Anemone snapped. “Good dragons do bad things and bad dragons do good things all the time. Nobody has an entirely good soul to start with. It’s just stupid to think that it’s like a block of stone and my magic is chipping away at it. It doesn’t make sense.” She smashed her tail into the sand, cracking seashells and frightening small crabs in every direction. “Where IS it? If he was lying to me, I swear I’m going to hunt down Whirlpool’s drifting corpse and kill him again.”