The Journey to Dragon Island

by Claire Fayers

  “They are called teradons,” the woman said. “You speak Apcaron, then.” A cutlass hung at her side—Cassie’s cutlass, Brine thought, recognizing it. Cassie was not going to be happy about that when she woke up.

  “What’s Apcaron?” asked Brine. “Who are you?”

  The woman’s single eye narrowed to a slit. “I don’t know how you do things where you come from, but you are our prisoners. You will answer questions, and you will refrain from asking any more. Is that clear?”

  Brine nodded, her mouth dry.

  The woman smiled again, the scars creasing on her face. “Good. My name is Marapi, ruler of Apcaron Island. You can start by telling me who you are, what you’re doing here, and why we shouldn’t kill you.”

  * * *

  “How do you know she’s not leading us into a trap?” whispered Tom.

  Peter watched Stella chop her way through a patch of foliage. “Why would she lead us into a trap?”

  “It’s what they do on forgotten islands like this. I’ve read about them—my mother was the Assistant Keeper of Geography, remember. They’re all full of people who appear friendly and then try to stuff you into a cooking pot.”

  Bill and Rob both nodded in agreement. “A cooking pot as big as a house,” added Bill. “With flames so hot you’d roast your eyes just by looking.”

  Peter sighed.

  Stella looked back. “If I wanted to eat anyone, I wouldn’t choose you. You’re too dirty and covered in ink.”

  Peter pushed on after her. “You mentioned someone called Marapi. Who is he?”

  Stella slowed. “Marapi isn’t a he. She’s my father’s sister.” She slashed through a branch, scowling. “My father, Cerro, is the leader of Apcaron Island, but Marapi is older than him, so she thinks she ought to be in charge. She’s always causing him trouble. Then, last year, a dinosaur attacked her and she nearly died. She said it proved the island isn’t safe, and that if Cerro can’t protect us, he isn’t fit to lead. She persuaded the people to build a big wall around the village to keep the dinosaurs out, and she doesn’t let anyone leave now unless it’s in one of her hunting parties. Which I’m not in.”

  “So what are you doing out here?” asked Tom, ducking under a branch.

  “Nothing. Just getting away for a while.”

  Peter slowed. “Why doesn’t your father do something? If he’s the leader, can’t he just tell her to stop?”

  “Not anymore.” Stella struck a branch, making it swing back hard into Peter’s face. “Marapi’s got him locked up. I have a brother—his name’s Ren and he’s only six years old. Marapi gave him to Orion’s Keep. She said she did it to keep him safe, because Cerro wasn’t looking after him properly. But everyone knows she swapped him for spellstones.”

  “Spellstones?” Peter asked.

  “Yes, you know—magic. I think Marapi expected Cerro to argue about it for a while and then give up. Instead, we tried to rescue him. Only it went wrong. We escaped. But we didn’t get Ren, and Cerro was hurt—both his legs broken. Marapi accused him of putting the village in danger—we need the magicians’ spellstones. She’s kept Cerro locked up since. And now people are starting to say he won’t walk again anyway, so Marapi should just take over.”

  Peter’s gaze drifted up. He couldn’t see the castle through the patchwork of branches overhead, but he could feel it: cold and heavy. He slid his hand into his pocket and felt the piece of starshell there. The warmth of magic against his fingers steadied him. “How many magicians are in Orion’s Keep?” he asked.

  “Magi, you mean. Three—there are three of them.”

  Three didn’t sound too bad. Three magicians against a whole ship of pirates. It depended how powerful the magicians were, of course, but if they were using a lot of their magic to keep the castle airborne, they might not have much to spare for fighting. “We can help,” said Peter.

  Stella laughed. “You couldn’t even stay out of sinksand.”

  “You haven’t met Cassie yet,” said Rob. “Cassie’s good at rescuing people. And we’re going to go to the castle anyway, so we might as well do some rescuing while we’re there. Where is this village of yours?”

  Stella pointed through the trees. “We’re nearly there.”

  * * *

  Apcaron. The word was completely new to Brine, yet it sent a spear of cold through her. It made her think of stones and darkness and a feeling of being suffocated. She wished Cassie were awake, but Cassie stood, tied fast to the post, her head dangling, and she didn’t open her eyes. Her bare feet were stained with a mix of dirt and blood.

  Stay calm, Brine instructed herself. They were all still alive, and that meant things could get better.

  Her head thumped. She’d imagined many times over what it would be like to come home, but none of her imaginings had ever been like this. She wriggled her hands behind her until her fingers found a knot in the rope. If she could just work it undone … “My name is Brine Seaborne—or it is now. I was found on the other side of the world, and I can’t remember anything that happened before that, but I think I came from here.”

  A few people around murmured in surprise and a few of them put down their spears, but Marapi shook her head. “Nobody leaves Apcaron.” She gestured at Cassie, Trudi, and Ewan. “Who are these? Your servants?”

  “No, they’re my friends.” Brine struggled in frustration. Why did they have to tie these knots so tightly?

  “Actually,” said Cassie, opening her eyes suddenly, staring straight at Marapi, “I’m her captain. Her angry captain. Poisoning people is cowardly, and if there’s one thing I hate, it’s cowards. And large monsters.” She shifted her feet, leaving red footprints in the sand. “I advise you to let us go before you become very sorry.”

  It was strange how the world could be exactly the same and yet completely different. Brine was still tied to the stake; sweat still dribbled down her face. But Cassie was awake and back in charge and so everything was all right again. She wasn’t sure how it would be yet, but Cassie would think of something.

  Marapi swung Cassie’s cutlass, still staring at Brine. “If you’re traveling with foreigners, you have very bad judgment. I shouldn’t expect a child to know better.” She made the world child sound like an insult.

  Brine struggled harder. “I’m not a child. I’m twelve years old—nearly thirteen—and I’m looking for my family. Somebody must remember me.”

  “Foreigners are inferior,” said Marapi. “And you’re a liar. Once again, who are you and what do you really want here? Or shall I feed you to the teradons?”

  This was like Marfak West all over again, Brine thought, and a sudden surge of rage caught her by surprise. She’d sailed here from the other side of the world, and for what? To be eaten alive by insects, chased by monsters, and now tied up and threatened by a woman who was determined not to believe her.

  “All right,” said Brine, “I’ll tell you who I am.” She pulled herself up straight against the stake, no longer struggling. “I am Brine Seaborne, pulled out of the waves to start my life over again. Once I was a magician’s servant, and now I am the friend of pirates and the rescuer of dragons. And this…” Her voice trembled then steadied. “This is Cassie O’Pia, captain of the pirate ship Onion. She’s the most famous pirate in the world. She defeated the Dreaded Great Sea Beast of the South; she saved the Columba Islands from the plague. She braved the storms of the dead and battled monsters in the ice plains at the top of the world. She defeated the evilest magician on the eight oceans, and she saved the libraries of Barnard’s Reach with their thousands of years of stories.”

  Brine’s voice rose. It almost felt as if someone else was speaking and she was just opening and shutting her mouth in time with the words. Cassie was grinning next to her, and Ewan and Trudi had both opened their eyes and were listening and nodding along to the story. Brine met Marapi’s gaze and smiled. “Cassie O’Pia is stronger than anyone else,” she said, “and braver than anyone else, and it doesn’t matter w
hat trouble we’re in, because she always finds a way out.”

  Marapi raised Cassie’s cutlass and stepped toward her. “Not this time.”

  Maybe she intended to kill them, or maybe she was going to cut them free. Brine never found out, because something huge burst through the village wall and everyone started screaming and running.

  CHAPTER 12

  The key to good planning is preparation. Always find out as much about the enemy as possible. Also, be prepared to find out that they’re not really the enemy.

  (from THOMAS GIRLING’S BOOK OF PIRATING ADVENTURES)

  It took Peter a moment to see that the trees in front weren’t trees—not anymore. They’d been cut and placed together to form a wall that stretched out to either side as far as he could see. He crept close and peered through a gap.

  He saw huts, and a crowd of people standing around four posts. Each post had someone tied to it. He was too far away to see who they were, but he didn’t need to see—he knew it was Brine and the others.

  “I knew we shouldn’t have left the boats,” said Rob, drawing his sword.

  Peter stopped him. “Wait. We can’t just go charging in there.”

  “Why not?”

  “Because…” Peter didn’t know.

  “Because there are hundreds of people in there and we can’t attack them all,” said Tom sensibly. “We need a plan. A plan that doesn’t just involve hitting people.”

  They needed more than a plan, Peter thought. They needed magic. His starshell dug into his leg, making his skin prickle. A bird, or something, screeched overhead, and he looked up to see dark wings.

  “Teradons,” said Stella. “Flying dinosaurs. We use them for hunting.” She watched the creature circling, her hands on her hips. “You’d better wait here, and I’ll go in and talk to Marapi.”

  “Will that do any good?” asked Peter.

  “Probably not, but what else are you going to do?”

  Peter studied the wall. The trees were all set firmly into the ground and tied together with thick ropes. They looked immovable, but if the ropes broke on a section and someone pushed really hard, it might be enough to topple them. An idea started to form. With a bit of luck they could do this without anyone getting hurt, he thought. Without anyone getting hurt much.

  “Marapi accused Cerro of putting the village in danger,” he said. “But she’s taken Cassie prisoner, and she has no idea how dangerous that is. Rob, do you have a spare dagger?”

  “I’m a pirate. Of course I’ve got a spare dagger.”

  “Good. Give it to Tom. We’ll go through the wall. Tom, you’ll need to run to the others and cut them free. Rob and Bill will start fighting, which should gain you a little time. Stella, where is Marapi keeping your father?”

  “There’s only one hut with the door shut,” she said. “Look, Peter, I know you mean well, but really you should let me talk to my aunt.”

  “What, so she can accuse you of helping pirates and lock you up with your father?” A nervous laugh rose in Peter’s chest. He’d wanted to find out what he could do, and it turned out that what he did best was magic. Besides, they had Brine in there, and she’d always come for him when he’d needed help.

  “Give me a few seconds,” he said. “Come after me when you hear people screaming.”

  “Why are people going to scream?” asked Stella.

  Peter put his hand in his pocket. “What does your biggest, scariest dinosaur look like?”

  * * *

  It had been months since he’d used magic. Peter had spent all that time trying to not even think about it. Now, as he held the starshell piece, magic leaped into his hand as if it had always belonged there. Four quick bursts of light, and the ropes holding a section of wall flapped free. Then he took a deep breath and cast the disguise spell.

  Marfak West had taught him how to do it a long time ago. You didn’t draw a spellshape; instead you pictured the thing you wanted to be and you put the image on, like putting on a coat. Thinking of a bigger creature helped, he found, because the details were less fiddly. He pictured an animal like Boswell but minus the wings and with extra spines growing out of its back, and teeth that could bite through a tree. A disguisosaurus, he thought. He heard Stella cry out in surprise as he drew magic out of the starshell, but he didn’t allow himself to react.

  Focus.

  The magic inflated the image around him. Peter stepped inside it, then braced himself and drew a downward arrow in the air. Push.

  The wall gave way in front of him and he ran straight through. The nearest people screamed and scattered when they saw the disguisosaurus. Peter rushed at them. A spear sailed high over his head—of course, they weren’t aiming at him: They were aiming at an imaginary dinosaur twenty times taller than him. He kept the disguise spell around him like a cloak and aimed another push spell at a hut, demolishing half of it with one blow.

  Tom ran past, knife in hand. Bill and Rob were just behind. Stella followed them, an arrow fitted ready to her bow. A group of villagers charged at Tom with spears, but Peter lowered the disguisosaurus’s head and made it roar at them, sending them fleeing. After all the months of holding back, it felt good. He thought of all the times his old master, Tallis Magus, had called him names, all the times Marfak West had laughed at him, every time people had expected the worst from him just because he could use magic, and he channeled all the frustration into the spell.

  He was supposed to find Stella’s father, he remembered. He looked around and saw a hut with the door closed and two men standing outside. They fled as he turned in their direction, and he hit the hut door with a blast of magic that turned it to splinters.

  Then Peter heard a shout and saw that Cassie was free.

  It had been a long time since he’d seen Cassie fight, and he watched in amazement. She was barefoot, her clothes torn and bloodied, and she raged through the village like a storm. When she grabbed the first villager and hurled him aside, Peter was sure he heard bones break.

  Tom was sawing at Brine’s ropes now. One of the villagers ran at him, but Ewan Hughes suddenly broke free and barreled into him, a knife in each hand. Trudi joined him a moment later, then the villagers closed in around them and Peter couldn’t see Brine and Tom any longer.

  At the same moment, his starshell ran out of magic, the disguisosaurus vanished around him, and he stood in full view.

  People turned to stare. Peter raised a hand and waved awkwardly. “Um, hello.”

  A teradon screamed down at him. Peter threw himself flat, feeling its claws graze the back of his head. He rolled out of the way, looking for Brine, and saw her struggling with a tall one-eyed woman holding a cutlass.

  “That’s Marapi,” Stella said, pulling Peter to his feet. “Come on.”

  But Cassie got there first. She shoved Brine aside and tore the cutlass from Marapi’s hand. “You poisoned my crew!” she yelled. “You stole my weapons. You think your dinosaur monsters are dangerous? Try me on for size!”

  Marapi stumbled back from her. Cassie pushed her over and kicked her, then grabbed her by the hair and smacked her head hard onto the ground.

  Peter winced.

  “There you go,” said Rob, pausing beside him. “Never laugh in the face of Cassie.” He looked around for someone else to fight.

  Peter ran to Brine and helped her up.

  “You used magic,” she said. She blinked dizzily at him then hugged him hard. Peter’s face burned, but before he could speak, a voice cut through the noise.

  “Enough!”

  The single shouted word silenced Cassie’s yelling and the clash of weapons. Everyone paused.

  Peter turned to look at the hut he’d partly demolished. A man hobbled out of it, supporting himself on crutches.

  “Cerro!” cried Stella, and ran to him. He paused to smile at her and then limped across to Marapi.

  “What are you doing?” he demanded. “Are you completely mad?”

  Marapi picked herself up. Blood dripped fr
om her nose and from a cut on her forehead. Her gaze was murderous. “I am protecting the village. Something that you should have been doing.”

  “It’s a bit hard to do anything when your own sister locks you away,” snapped Cerro. “And you call this protecting?”

  Peter suddenly became uncomfortably aware of the broken wall, the smashed huts, and the islanders still gripping weapons fearfully. No wonder Stella wouldn’t look at him. He’d promised to help her, and instead they’d flattened her village.

  “Stella told me about her brother,” he said. “We can get him back. And, um, I’m sorry we attacked you.”

  “Are we supposed to trust the word of a foreign magus now?” said Marapi. “He’s a child; what can he do?”

  He could turn her into a worm for a start, Peter thought, and his stomach twisted queasily at the notion. Although his starshell was empty, he stuffed it back into his pocket quickly.

  Brine squeezed his hand. “Peter’s one of the good ones.”

  “Yes, not evil at all,” added Tom.

  Peter didn’t know whether to hit them or hug them. He compromised with an awkward flap of his arms. “Brine, this is Stella. Her brother’s a prisoner in Orion’s Keep, and we’re going to rescue him.”

  Marapi’s face turned even more thunderous, but Cassie smiled and put her cutlass away. “Someone needs rescuing? Why didn’t you say so?”

  “Because they were too busy tying us up and accusing us of spying.” Trudi glowered.

  “Oh yes, that.” Cassie turned to Cerro. “I’m sure it was all a misunderstanding and we can sit down and sort everything out together.” She kept smiling, but her eyes were narrowed and she never moved her hand far from her cutlass hilt.

  Cerro shifted his grip on his crutches and held out his hand. “Cerro Erebus, and whatever my sister told you, I am the leader of Apcaron Island.”

  “Cassie O’Pia,” said Cassie. “Captain of the pirate ship Onion.”

  A pause. A dark-brown hand met a light-brown one.

  “What happened to Cassie’s feet?” Peter whispered to Brine. Now that the fight was over, his head was starting to ache and he wanted to sit down.