by Chris Ward
He turned around, but no other shapes appeared out of the mist, and he was so close to the edge now, he could see nothing but spray and rocks. He only knew the way to the boat, because there were only two directions—forward and back.
‘Who’s missing?’
A hand fell on his shoulder. It was Fat Adam. His hair was soaked to his scalp, and the front of his T-shirt was flecked with blood. ‘Snout. Cuttlefur threw him off the dinghy.’
Wilhelm sighed. ‘We can’t help him now. Get back to the boat. Come on, let’s go.’
He followed Adam back to where the speedboat waited and helped the fat boy over the side. Then he climbed in next to Jim Green.
‘Let’s go,’ he said. ‘Back to Dragon Rock. We can drop them off there, then come back and look for Snout.’
Jim started to turn the boat around.
‘Look!’
Several pupils pointed at the sky. At first, Wilhelm thought he was witnessing the dynamic birth of a third sun, until he realised—
‘It’s the dragon!’
A grey lump hung from one claw. The boat. Miranda and Benjamin were supposed to be on it.
‘Back to Dragon Rock,’ he shouted, jumping over the side and into the water. ‘Go, Jim!’
The speedboat started to turn. Wilhelm stared at the group of shivering pupils crouched inside, wondering what seemed wrong, when a massive crash came from behind. As the fireball that was the dragon had smashed into the water and the boat it held now leaned precariously over the edge of the world, he realised what he hadn’t noticed before.
Cuttlefur was no longer in the boat.
47
Battle
Benjamin opened his eyes to find himself lying in shallow water. Hard rocks at his back prevented him from moving in a strong current that rushed past his chest.
He coughed and sat up. From somewhere to his right came the heat of flames, and he turned his head toward a roaring inferno caught among jagged rocks sticking up out of the water.
Shenlong. The great paper dragon was gone, consumed by flames.
He turned away. Where was Miranda?
To his left, on the rocks, lay the crushed and battered remains of the skiff, its top deck folded inwards, its hull broken apart. He stared at it as memories of what had happened flooded back, then he climbed to his feet and staggered through the flowing water, calling out Miranda’s name.
He reached the skiff and leaned over the side, the railings where she had been trapped bent and broken. Only a single lock of hair caught on a crack in the wood showed she had been there.
‘No!’ he screamed, turning toward the edge of the world. The swirling mists ignored him, the thunderous fall of the water his only answer. He fell to his knees, his head in his hands.
He had stopped the dragon but had failed Miranda. She was gone, and only now did he realise how foolish he had been to try to leave Endinfinium.
‘I’m sorry,’ he whispered as water rushed past his knees.
‘Benjamin!’
The voice had called out as though in a dream. Benjamin lifted his head as it came again, movements sluggish and lethargic. His whole body ached. Perhaps he had died in the fire, too, and he only needed to close his eyes and let his body slip over the edge of the world into oblivion.
‘Benjamin, over here!’
It was real. She was real. Miranda was alive.
She stepped out from behind a needle of rock, hair slicked to her head like blood. ‘Come and see this!’
He stumbled to his feet. ‘Is that really you?’
‘Of course it’s me!’
As he reached her, she pulled him into a tight hug. ‘Quick, come see what I found over here.’
He waded after her while Miranda pointed at something bloated and bulky caught in another crag. At first he thought it was one of the paper dragons, because it was disintegrating. The colours, though, were too dull and bland, and as a sudden surge of water turned it sideways, he saw a pale human face.
‘It’s Barnacle,’ he gasped. ‘What’s happening to him?’
‘It’s not Barnacle.’ Miranda nudged the lump with her foot so that a large piece broke off and flowed over the edge of the world. ‘It’s Godfrey.’
Benjamin stared. From out of the dissolving ruins of Alan Barnacle’s face stared Benjamin’s arch-nemesis. He looked in parts exhausted, angry, and defeated.
‘Surprise,’ he said. ‘Push me over and be done with it.’
Benjamin shook his head. ‘No chance. You think you’re getting off so easily? Was this a setup from the beginning?’
Godfrey glared. ‘You have no idea what’s coming for you, do you, Forrest?’
‘What do you mean?’
‘There’s someone who really wants to see you. But if he can’t see you, I think he’d be happy enough to know you were dead.’ He shifted. The two halves of his false body broke open, and he lifted a bottle out of a pocket in the jacket underneath.
‘What’s that?’
Godfrey smiled. ‘It’s what made Endinfinium. Pure, distilled.’ His grin turned sadistic. ‘Deadly.’
He pulled the bottle cap free and made to fling it forward. With a scream, Miranda leapt in front of him. A blinding flash of light burst between them, then Miranda fell back.
Benjamin caught her in his arms before she plunged into the water. Godfrey had fallen against the rocks, eyes closed.
‘Miranda! Wake up!’
Her eyes opened to slits. ‘Friends?’ she whispered. ‘You saved me … so I….’ Her eyes closed again, and her head lolled to the side. Benjamin shook her, but she had gone limp in his arms.
‘No!’
Her skin felt cold, and when he pressed his fingers against her wrist, there was no pulse. He slapped the side of her face, but she didn’t respond.
Rage filled him. He lifted her in his arms and walked toward Godfrey. His enemy’s eyelids fluttered.
‘You did this,’ he whispered, his heart filling with the heat of his magic. ‘I’ll … I’ll … kill you.’
Godfrey’s arm lifted and he pointed at the edge of the world. Benjamin frowned, wondering what it meant. Then he realised. He glanced down. The water was rising up his legs.
‘Huh?’
‘Benjamin!’
The voice had come out of the fog to his right, and he turned. Something huge and orange loomed out of the gloom.
‘Benjamin! It’s me, um, Snout! Are you all right?’
Benjamin waded a few steps away from the edge, and the reanimated submarine appeared out of the mist. Snout sat on its back, hanging on to a couple of protruding tentacles.
‘The water level’s rising!’ Snout said. ‘The red sun’s drawing the tide!’
‘What are you doing?’
Snout shrugged. ‘It does what I say.’
He climbed down into the water and waded over to Benjamin, where he looked down at Miranda and wiped away what could have been sea spray, but equally a tear.
‘We have to take her back,’ Benjamin said. ‘She deserves better than to stay here.’
‘What about Godfrey?’
Benjamin nodded. ‘I’d happily see him go over the edge, but that’s not what she would have wanted. We take him back, too. It’s up to the teachers to punish him.’
They hauled Miranda up onto the back of the submarine then returned for Godfrey. By the time both were secured, they were gasping for air, and the water had risen to their waists.
‘Benjamin! Where are you?’
He spun around. The cry had come out of the mists back at the world’s edge. Benjamin exchanged a glance with Snout.
‘It’s Wilhelm,’ he said.
‘It certainly sounded like him,’ Snout answered.
‘This way!’ Benjamin shouted. ‘We’re over here!’
The water was getting deeper. Soon the current would be too strong.
‘Go and get him,’ Snout said. ‘The ghoul can’t get through the rocks. Hurry!’
Benjamin waded
through the rocky spines to the world’s edge, shouting Wilhelm’s name, while eddies of water tugged at his ankles, pulling him into deeper pools and crevasses. By the time he heard Wilhelm’s voice again, his knees and shins were bruised and bloodied.
‘I’m over here! I saw the fire!’
Wilhelm appeared as a shadow out of the mist. Benjamin waved, then dropped his hand as Wilhelm’s shadow appeared to split in two.
Cuttlefur stepped out from behind him.
‘Wilhelm!’
Cuttlefur grinned, then clubbed Wilhelm in the side of the face. With a grunt, Wilhelm collapsed into the water. His body rolled like a log, turning in the current, before he dropped over the edge of the world.
‘No!’
‘It’s come to this,’ Cuttlefur said, eyes narrowed, lips drawn back in a snarl. ‘Fight me, Forrest, you little runt!’
With a screaming hiss, the water rose up to wrap around Benjamin’s waist, throwing him against the nearest rocks. He gasped as a jagged edge cut into his skin, feeling the back of his hand ache at the same time. Scowling, he summoned his magic and drew the water out from under Cuttlefur’s feet, leaving hard, reef rock for the other boy to fall onto. Cuttlefur gasped as he cut his hands, then Benjamin sent the water rushing forward to smash Cuttlefur back. When he stood up again, his face was streaked with blood.
‘How easily they turned from you,’ Cuttlefur spat. ‘You call them friends? You’ve got none, Forrest. You never did and you never will.’
A club of water rose up from nowhere and smashed into Benjamin’s chest. For a moment, he went under, then he came spluttering back to his feet just inches from where the ocean poured away into mists and steam. He drew on his magic again, mustering the strength to fight. Cuttlefur waited, a grin spreading over his face, hands poised like a fighter making a ring comeback. Benjamin shook his head.
‘What’s the matter, Forrest? Did you use all of your magic setting Shenlong alight?’
‘I’ve got plenty left for you,’ Benjamin shouted, but as he reached for it, he felt only a few brief tingles, like the residue of petrol in an empty tank.
Cuttlefur shook his head. ‘Oh, Forrest. I hoped this would be more of a challenge.’
You saved me.
Benjamin started. At first, he thought the voice had come from Miranda. Then he realised it was in his head as Tianlong’s had been.
A favour deserves a favour, Benjamin Forrest.
Something huge, black, and snakelike rose out of the water behind Cuttlefur’s back. A square head filled with clacking teeth opened and closed, and Benjamin tried not to look at it as it swooped down.
‘Say good—’
Cuttlefur’s words were cut off as Shenlong—the real Shenlong, once trapped inside the body of the giant paper dragon—picked up the boy in his mouth. Thick, wooden teeth held Cuttlefur firm, then, in one fluid motion, Shenlong’s head snapped sideways and flung Cuttlefur out into the abyss.
Benjamin steadied himself against an outcrop. He waited, but Cuttlefur was gone. As soon as relief had flooded in, so did misery. He gritted his teeth, refusing to cry. Both his best friends, dead. As Shenlong swam through the water and lifted him up onto the dragon’s huge square head, Benjamin wanted to scream out in anger, but he had nothing left to give.
‘Benjamin!’
He didn’t even have the energy to shout back to Snout. He lifted a hand to wave, but the mists were too thick. ‘Thank you,’ he whispered to Shenlong, half wishing the Great Dragon had left him to his fate. He tried to wave Shenlong back to Snout’s ghoul-submarine, but instead, the dragon turned back to the edge of the world.
‘No, the other way….’
Shenlong stretched out until his head was far over the edge, his tail wrapping around an outcrop to support him. Benjamin peered down into swirling mists. Would the dragon put him out of his misery after all? Shenlong leaned over the edge, and Benjamin saw black, shiny rock through curtains of falling water.
And there—a face.
Wilhelm stuck out a hand out from the ledge. ‘Grab me!’
Benjamin stared in disbelief. The ledge below the edge of the world barely protruded more than a few inches. Wilhelm looked terrified, but as he leapt out onto Shenlong’s head and climbed up beside Benjamin, he flashed a wild grin.
‘Now that, my friend, was one too many thrill rides.’
Benjamin grabbed Wilhelm in a bear hug, overcome with relief. Wilhelm was alive. And for now, that was all that mattered. He would worry later about how to tell Wilhelm about Miranda.
‘Shenlong,’ he whispered. ‘Let’s go home.’
48
Revival
The teachers were all waiting in a line on the beach. Ms. Ito looked ready to kill Jim Green, who was trying to explain that the boat had gotten into a little trouble. Behind him, Alan Barnacle—the real Alan Barnacle—watched the proceedings with something like disbelief.
Edgar had taken Miranda’s body up into a hut at the top of the beach, and he allowed no visitors. Godfrey had been led away by Professor Eaves, while the rest of the pupils were loaded into Lawrence and taken up to the guesthouse. Benjamin and Wilhelm stood apart as Ms. Ito stumped over.
‘We’ll discuss this in more detail at a later date,’ she said, then she lowered her voice. ‘I’m happy that both of you are all right, but you have to remember the Oath.’
Wilhelm glanced at Benjamin, who was too tired to even roll his eyes. ‘There is no magic,’ they muttered together.
‘Good, good.’
Behind her, Edgar ran out of the hut, waving to them.
‘May we be excused?’ Wilhelm said.
Ms. Ito nodded. ‘It looks like he wants you to hurry,’ she said, turning her head in the possibility of a smile.
‘Quickly,’ Edgar said, waving them inside.
Miranda lay on a chalet bed with her head propped up on a dirty pillow. She gave them a weak smile, then closed her eyes again.
‘You’re alive!’ Benjamin cried, pulling Wilhelm into another hug, and the two of them beamed at her, disbelieving.
‘I’m fine,’ Miranda muttered without opening her eyes.
‘What happened?’ Benjamin said.
Edgar lifted up a piece of stone on a string, which had broken in two. ‘This was a dark reanimate charm,’ he said.
‘That’s what Cuttlefur gave her!’ Wilhelm shouted.
‘It blocked her magic and it preyed on her feelings and emotions,’ Edgar said, ‘but when she took the blast from the pure reanimate, this charm stopped it. Cuttlefur’s evil saved her life.’
Benjamin and Wilhelm exchanged glances.
‘Will she be all right?’
Edgar nodded. ‘I think she’ll be back to normal in no time. Now, you two look exhausted. I’d suggest you go up to the guesthouse and try to get a bit of sleep. I’ve heard there will be a great feast tonight to celebrate.’
‘To celebrate what?’
‘The return of the Great Dragon.’ Edgar pointed out into the bay. They both looked at the sleek, black shape of Shenlong circling in the water, with other, more colourful dragons circling around him.
‘He was captured and encased in a body formed of dark reanimate,’ Edgar said. ‘The same that happened to Godfrey.’
‘Who was behind it?’ Benjamin asked.
Edgar lowered his voice. ‘The Dark Man,’ he said. ‘I don’t know why he’s after you, Benjamin, but it seems he’ll do what he must to get to you. It would be a good idea to take great care from now on.’
Benjamin glanced at Wilhelm. ‘I’ll try,’ he said. ‘What’s going to happen to Godfrey?’
‘I think that’s up to the Grand Lord to decide. Ms. Ito and Professor Eaves are keeping a close eye—as well as a magical restraint—on him, but it’s out of our hands now. I’m sure the Grand Lord will want to know what was going on up in the High Mountains, although whether Godfrey will tell him or not is another matter.’
The bed behind them creaked, and all three look
ed around to see Miranda pushing herself up onto her elbows.
‘Where am I?’ she asked, her voice barely more than a croak.
Edgar patted Benjamin and Wilhelm on their backs. ‘I’ll give you three a few moments alone,’ he said, then headed for the door.
They crowded around her bed in an awkward silence while all of them thought about the best thing to say.
‘Sorry!’ ‘I’m sorry, too!’ ‘Yeah, and me!’ all three blurted out, then they started to laugh.
‘That was quite something, eh?’ Wilhelm said. ‘Look, I’m sorry I spied on you. It’s just, you know, he got my back up from the start, waltzing in here with his blue hair and smug smile.’
Miranda shrugged. ‘I should have trusted you. We’ve been friends a long time. It’s just that you’re a bit of a sneak sometimes.’
‘And can’t you see why?’
Miranda smiled. ‘Yeah, I kind of can. Have you caught out Professor Eaves yet?’
Wilhelm shook his head. ‘Operations resume on our return to the school.’
‘I’ll help you.’
Wilhelm lifted a tentative hand, then patted her on the shoulder.
Benjamin looked from one to the other. ‘And I’m sorry I tried to leave,’ he said. ‘I got obsessed with finding a way home. You know, everyone here seems to like being here, except me.’
Miranda watched him. ‘No one can blame you for wanting to leave, Benjamin. What did you find?’
Benjamin sighed. ‘I’m not sure I could explain it in a way it would make any sense. I’ve given up on the idea for the time being, though.’ But even as he said it, he wasn’t really sure he believed it. ‘It would be nice just to have a quiet life for a while, wouldn’t it?’
‘You can say that again,’ Wilhelm said. ‘Not likely, though, is it?’
Benjamin grinned. ‘Probably not.’
A knock came at the door. Edgar peered inside. ‘We’re going to try to move Miranda up to the guesthouse. Do you guys want to help?’
Miranda glared at them. ‘I can manage,’ she said, and both boys stepped out of range as the familiar fire appeared in her eyes.