by D. A. Nelson
Aldiss scampered in front, followed by Bertie, who kept Mephista’s wand firmly fixed on the flame-haired sorceress, while Shona and Morag held up Montgomery. Morag could feel him wince and twist as spasms of pain shot through his body.
After they had walked for half an hour, Aldiss waved them to a stop where the trees petered out into blackness.
“Wait! I can smell the sea,” he said.
“Is this really where we’ve to meet Kyle?” Bertie rasped at Shona.
Shona placed a claw firmly around Mephista’s waist to stop her from trying to escape, and craned her neck to look around. The witch folded her arms and rolled her eyes. It was dark and it was hard to see anything in front of them.
“I can’t be sure if this is the right spot,” the dragon said. “It feels different.”
A thin, eerie call came from somewhere in the woods behind them. It was closer now than before, and when Morag looked back between the trees she saw the tiny flickers of flaming torches a few miles away and felt sure she heard the sharp yelps of hunting dogs, slavering at the scent of their prey.
She looked at Montgomery. His eyes were closed and his lips tightly drawn but he was still breathing.
“It’ll have to do,” she said, guiding the stricken wizard through the undergrowth in the direction of the cliffs. “Come on, let’s go. We’ll find a way down to the shore.”
With the others following, Morag led Montgomery into the damp undergrowth. Ferns, long grasses and trees sought to stop her, but although she was exhausted and cold, Morag was determined. Ignoring the heaviness of her legs, which were shaking with tiredness, she pushed on through the wet grass until the ground fell away from her and she stumbled onto a high ledge, about ten meters above the sea. In the dull moonlight, she could just see the spiky waves smack against the foot of the cliff, throwing up wild froth and freezing spray.
As the others followed, Morag felt herself being pushed forward and it was all she could do to stop herself from toppling into the icy black waters below. She looked along the cliff side, searching out across the horizon, but saw nothing but a dark, troubled sea under a black sky.
“What if something’s happened to Kyle?” Morag wondered out loud.
“Now, now, we mustn’t worry about him,” hushed Bertie. “He won’t let us down.”
The Girallons” hunting horn cut through the air again, closer this time, keener than before. Although she was still gripped by Shona, Mephista looked as if she had already won. “If I were you I’d worry about yourselves,” she said with a smirk.
“Look! There he is!” cried Aldiss, pointing.
A little way out, bobbing gently in the water, was the sanctuary of the Sea Kelpie.
Morag cried out with joy, but was cut short by Shona. “He’s too far out,” she said. “There’s no way to get to him.”
Montgomery gasped. “Give me Henry and the tooth.…”
He was hugging his body tightly, and, to Morag’s horror, his face now looked even older than it had in the clearing. Deep lines ridged his forehead and encased his eyes. His cheeks were hollow, and wrinkles had begun to appear under his chin.
“What are you going to do?” the girl asked, handing over the medallion and the tooth. Henry gleamed in what little moonlight there was and seemed to be smiling, as if he knew what was coming next.
“Watch,” replied the wizard.
Montgomery whispered to Henry, who seemed to nod, although Morag could not work out how. He closed his tiny eyes and started a long low chant that gradually grew in intensity. Some minutes had passed when suddenly the tooth began to glow brightly. Montgomery placed the tooth on the ground and an arc of light blazed across the waves to the boat. Montgomery took a breath before speaking.
“It’s a bridge. Who’ll be first to walk over it?” he gasped. “It’s quite safe for you all.”
“What about you?” Morag asked. She could sense that he meant to stay behind.
“I’ll follow,” he said. “Someone has to stay with the tooth. Go … please.…”
The Girallon horn sounded again—their scent had clearly been picked up—and Morag felt the earth tremor as the burly creatures thundered toward them. She looked back at her friend again.
“Now, Morag!” Montgomery hissed.
The girl hesitated no more. As soon as she stepped into the light she was pulled across the ledge, as if on a moving walkway in the human world. There was no sound, only bright light surrounding her. She wasn’t even sure if her friends were following, but she trusted Montgomery. Seconds later, she found herself stepping down onto the deck of the fishing boat and looking into the startled face of Kyle.
“Hey! What happened …?” he began.
“I’ll tell you later,” she said as Bertie appeared in a flurry of gray feathers behind her. Aldiss leapt down next, followed by a disgruntled Mephista held by Shona. They all stood together on deck, ignoring the piercing cold wind that whipped their hair and feathers around in a frenzy.
“Where’s Montgomery?” Morag asked.
“And why is he taking so long …?” continued Bertie.
Seconds turned into a minute, then another, and finally a shape appeared before them. Montgomery materialized, smiled weakly and then collapsed. The tunnel of light immediately blinked out and Morag ran to him.
Mephista was about to move until she saw Bertie lift her own wand in warning. She raised her hands and stood still.
“I don’t feel so good,” said Montgomery before his eyes closed.
“Help me get him downstairs!” yelled Morag. “Kyle, get us out of here. Girallons are hunting us and we need to get to Marnoch Mor as soon as possible, otherwise Montgomery will … will …”
She couldn’t say the word. She couldn’t believe that he might die. With Aldiss opening doors for them, Shona helped Morag carry the ailing wizard down below. They laid him on a bunk, where Morag pulled a woolen blanket over him. She smoothed his whitened hair from his forehead. “He’ll be all right, won’t he, Shona? Once we get him home? Everything will be fine. Won’t it?”
The dragon said nothing, but laid a consoling claw on the little girl’s shoulder.
Kyle hauled in the anchor and ran to the wheelhouse. He started the engine and plotted a course heading east toward the mainland.
Once she had dried her eyes, Morag went back up on deck and saw the witch looking back to the DarkIsle, gazing at the torch-illuminated outline of the castle. She did not seem to care that Morag was there, just kept on staring at her home.
“My father will be furious with you,” Mephista sneered. “He will be hatching a plan to get me back right now. He’ll come after us, you know.”
In the darkness, Morag’s eyes twitched at the thought of another confrontation, and she was glad the witch could not see her discomfort.
“Your father is not who you think he is,” she said at last.
“Don’t you dare tell me I don’t know my own father,” Mephista said. Through the darkness, Morag sensed the witch was smiling. “It’s only a matter of time before he finds me. And when he does, you’ll wish Tanktop had thrown you to the wolves.”
Morag staggered back and walked up to the wheelhouse, where Kyle was pushing the fishing boat to its limits. It was a small and nimble craft that was capable of a fast rate of knots, but it had its limitations. In the brightness of the lone bulb, Morag saw how serious and determined he was. He managed to smile when she joined him at the wheel.
“Any sign of them coming after us?” the fisherman asked, keeping his eyes glued on the dark sea rising and falling in front of them.
“Not so far, but Mephista says it’s only a matter of time,” Morag told him. Her throat tightened at the prospect of seeing the resurrected warlock again, of looking into those cold dead eyes.
“What does she know?” Kyle smiled. “I bet that without her ladyship everyone in the castle will be celebrating, Morag.”
“Morag?” repeated a disembodied girl’s voice. Morag looked at Kyle in alarm. “
H-hello, Morag? Are you there?”
Kyle’s radio was crackling with static, but they could hear the voice coming through it quite clearly.
“Chelsea? Is that you?” asked Morag.
“Yours truly. I found a radio in the clearing. It’s not like anything we have on Murst, so I guessed one of you guys must have dropped it.”
“I—I wanted to come back for you, Chelsea, honestly. But Montgomery was too sick for me to leave him.”
“It’s okay. I thought you might have to leave in a hurry. Listen, I can’t talk for long. I just had to thank you. There’s chaos here! Mephista and Tanktop are missing, and Kang and Devlish and all the Girallons have left the castle. I’ve freed all the men they took from the village and we’re taking control of the castle. I’m just waiting here for my gran. She’s bringing reinforcements from Dragon’s End. They’re going to have quite a fight when they come back! It’s amazing!”
Morag wanted to cry and laugh at the same time. “You make it sound like fun.”
“Believe me, it’s been a long time since we felt this free! All thanks to you and the Ancient One.”
As time went on and they got farther away, Morag began to relax a little and even joined her friends downstairs. Mephista, seemingly unconcerned by the ice-cold sea spray that was drenching her dress and dampening her normally glossy hair, stayed at the railings, keeping a vigil for her father. They let her. She was no threat to them now.
“Squid’s-eye soup, anyone?” Bertie said, sticking his wing into his bag.
Morag shook her head. “No thank you.”
“A Spruggit sandwich? No?”
“Nothing to eat for me, just tea,” the girl said, glancing anxiously over to where Montgomery lay. He had not woken up and she was worried about him. His face was gray and drawn, his hair was falling out as she watched, the lines on his face were deepening and his body was becoming frail and gaunt. He moaned slightly and then was still again.
What are we going to do? Morag fretted. What if he dies before we can get him home?
Suddenly her thoughts were interrupted by a loud cackle from above. It was Mephista. Startled, Morag glanced at her friends and scrambled to her feet. Taking the stairs two at a time, she rushed up and into the open. There, Mephista was dancing from foot to foot, her hands punching the air with delight.
“You! I told you he would come! I told you!” she whooped, excitedly pointing in the direction of Murst, her long white fingers stabbing the air as if she were parrying with the night. She turned on Morag. “Now you’ll be sorry!” she hissed.
Morag squinted to see what the witch had been pointing at. The sky was thick with heavy dark clouds, interspersed with little pockets of the deepest black and the odd star. At first Morag could only see the distant outline of the castle silhouetted against the sky, nothing else. No … wait … what was that in the sky? Something large, something blacker than the night. A large ebony gondola, carried through the sky by hundreds of bats, cut through the clouds and hurtled toward them.
Morag ran to the wheelhouse, where Kyle was singing quietly to himself. “It’s Devlish!” she cried, and without pausing for breath, “He’s heading this way—fast!”
“That’s not good,” Kyle said. “I’ve got the Kelpie going as fast as she can. She can’t go any faster.”
“Is there nothing you can do to make her speed up?” Morag asked, not bothering to keep the desperation from her voice. “There must be something.”
Kyle shook his head. “I’m not the one who can do magic. I’m just a fisherman! Why don’t you ask your friends if they can help?”
Henry, still clutched in Montgomery’s lifeless hand, was the only one to come up with a plan. “Get me out of here,” he mumbled from behind Montgomery’s fingers, “and bring me the tooth.”
It took Morag and Bertie a few minutes to prize him out of Montgomery’s hand. At first, his fingers were too stiff, but after some tugging they managed to open them long enough.
“Now, put me down on the table, place the tooth on top of me and leave me to it,” Henry ordered.
Morag did as she was told; then Henry added: “Run upstairs and keep an eye out for Devlish. This spell may take a few moments and he mustn’t catch up with us before it’s worked.”
As Morag climbed the steps the medallion began to utter unintelligible magic words. She opened the door and immediately heard Mephista shouting on deck.
“I’m here, Father, come and get me!” She jumped up and down and waved.
“Be quiet, woman!” flustered Bertie, holding Mephista’s wand in his trembling wing, “or you’ll leave me with no choice but to use this.”
She looked down at the dodo and scoffed. “You wouldn’t know one end of that wand from the other. You belong in a glass case with all the other extinct beasts.”
“How d-dare you!” Bertie spluttered in outrage.
“Don’t talk to him like that,” cried Aldiss, standing between them with his paws on his hips. “I’ll have you know Bertie is a Trainee Wizard who—”
“And YOU …,” Mephista snarled. “Well, I don’t need a magic wand to deal with vermin.”
She threw her head back and laughed, but now her voice sounded different, almost muffled. Morag, Aldiss and Bertie were silent as they watched a giant bubble swell over and around the Sea Kelpie.
Mephista shrieked and climbed up on the railing to pummel the bubble with her fists. The membrane stretched and squeaked, but did not tear.
“What’s going on?” Morag asked Henry when she went back to the cabin.
“It’s like the shield that covers Marnoch Mor. It should keep us invisible until we get home,” he told her proudly.
“Are you sure about that?”
“Totally. The spell isn’t permanent but it should last long enough.”
But Morag was not convinced and went back up to be with Bertie and Aldiss to watch for Devlish’s gondola. Once she had found the black dot growing in the sky, gleaming like a dark star, she could not take her eyes off it.
“I’m here!” screamed Mephista.
With her heart in her mouth, Morag watched as the gondola sped toward them out of the night sky. Now she could clearly see the warlock’s red hair flickering like flames from the top of his head. His skull-white face, the contemptuous grimace and his wild staring eyes sent chills down her spine. Beside him, aiming a crossbow, was the four-armed captain of the Girallons, Kang. He was shouting, but from inside the bubble, Morag could only guess at what he was saying.
The cloud of a thousand bats strained at their reins as the warlock forced them to fly faster. Bertie covered his eyes with a wing and Aldiss hid behind Morag’s coat. Morag continued to stare straight ahead but was silently praying that the spell was working.
Mephista shrieked with joy as the dark hull bore down on the Sea Kelpie. But it flew over, soaring past them. Morag let out a long sigh of relief. Henry had been right; Devlish had not seen them and was flying on.
“I don’t know why you’re looking so pleased with yourself,” snapped Mephista. “My father is not only looking for me, he’s looking for you, too. He’ll find us, and when he does you’ll be sorry. And no amount of magic will prevent my father—the greatest warlock who ever lived—from finding me. Mark my words.”
The witch stormed past the girl to the cabin door, but suddenly came to a halt. Something in the sky had caught her attention. A smile of triumph lit Mephista’s face. Looking up, Morag could see that Devlish’s gondola had turned and was rocketing back toward them.
“I told you. He was not fooled by your paltry magic. His is more powerful. He’s coming back,” laughed the witch.
“Kyle, change direction! Devlish is headed straight for us!” Morag shouted.
The fisherman waved from the door of the wheelhouse and the boat shifted to the south.
“Morag!” squealed Aldiss. “Shona! Help, quick!
Spinning round, Morag saw that Mephista had snatched Bertie up by his leg and wa
s holding the flapping dodo at arm’s length.
“The wand!” cried Shona, bounding out of the wheelhouse. But Mephista had plucked it from Bertie’s wing and now held it up above her head.
With a wicked smile, she casually tossed Bertie down the cabin stairs. He crashed to the bottom with a yelp. Squeaking with fright, Aldiss ran to him. Shona clenched her fists and lunged at the witch.
“No closer,” Mephista said coldly. Behind her, the prow of Devlish’s gondola was nearly upon them. “The chase is over, I’m afraid.” She smiled. “And now you belong to me and my father.”
“But that’s just it, Mephista,” Morag began. “That’s not Devlish. Something else has taken over his body.”
“Nonsense!” Mephista pointed the wand, growled a low spell and shot a stream of lightning from the tip to the transparent dome above the boat. “I hate to burst your bubble …,” she cackled.
The dome flickered like a candle going out. But a flash of golden sparks on the deck made Morag jump. A ball of fire smashed the wand from Mephista’s grasp, cutting off the beam of energy. The witch screamed as she fell to her knees. Morag and Shona turned.
A battered dodo stood in the doorway, triumphantly holding up a gold medallion.
“I’m not ready to be put in a glass case just yet, thank you,” Bertie said.
“You idiot bird!” screeched Mephista. “Don’t you see? If you’ve made this boat invisible again that means my father won’t see us and—”
“And that’s too bad!” Aldiss piped up.
“For you. Because—”
“He’ll crash straight into us,” interrupted Shona.
There was a deafening roar and Morag’s ears popped as the deck lurched from under her feet, and feathers, fur, scales, and red hair were thrown together in a bone-jarring rush. Morag was slammed against the railings and thought she heard Kyle yell, “Hold on!” and someone else squawk, “Lifebelts!” and a third little voice in the terrible dark cry, “We’re going under!” as the Sea Kelpie tipped and sank beneath the waves.
18
The next morning, Morag awoke with a splitting headache, slumped against the wall of the wheelhouse. As she prized her eyes open, she focused on a fuzzy but familiar shape. It was bright-eyed and feathery and was smiling in a way that only a dodo could.