by Brandon Mull
“Not over long distances,” Tanu said.
“I hope Newel and Grady are all right,” Kendra said.
“I wish they could have occupied the triclops a little longer,” Vanessa said.
“We suspected Mombatu would be a threat today,” Tanu said. “At least we didn’t have to deal with him until we reached the sacred pool.”
Kendra plodded forward, wondering how long this forced marathon would last. Tanu left to retrieve Warren. When they returned, Warren was leaning on the big potion master, looking pale and depleted. Mombatu continued to tirelessly trample through the jungle, roaring and growling. There seemed to be no end to his energy.
Vanessa went to distract the monster, and a short time later Hako caught up with the group. “We’re getting close,” Hako reported. “Mombatu is learning our tricks. Pausing more. Listening more. Hesitating before attacking the most obvious target. He isn’t used to tracking small, evasive prey. He’s more at home going head-to-head with dragons.”
“Any bright ideas?” Warren asked.
“Let’s hope we can string him along a little while longer,” Hako said.
“Look out!” Vanessa yelled urgently from a distance.
Kendra heard the triclops plowing toward them.
“He didn’t follow Vanessa,” Hako said. “He heard us. I’ll try to redirect him.” He pointed ahead. “Hurry that way. About five hundred yards.”
Warren and Tanu broke into a full run, and Kendra followed. Hako raced off on a course to intercept Mombatu. The fairies zoomed up to Kendra and reported that Mombatu was coming.
“Slow him down,” she said.
The fairies zipped away. Hako was shouting. Vanessa heckled Mombatu from farther away, but the triclops did not change course.
A moment later the triclops shouldered aside a tree a little taller than himself and rumbled into view, eyes glaring, body lathered with foamy sweat. Bellowing in triumph, he charged.
“Split up,” Tanu ordered, tossing Kendra a small flask.
She bobbled it but managed to hold on. “Another one?”
“Last one,” Tanu said. “Insurance if he gets too close. It should work again—might wipe you out a little more than last time. Vanessa just took her second.”
Warren swerved left, Tanu cut to the right, and Kendra continued straight. She could run five hundred yards at high speed, couldn’t she? Hadn’t she run at least that far last time? Tanu had trusted her with the last potion. Shouldn’t she help the others?
Kendra uncapped the flask and guzzled the fizzy contents. The world slowed down around her. Holding his club high, Mombatu pounded his blocky chest with his free hand as he ran. His lips peeled back, revealing blocky teeth designed for mashing.
Glaring at Tanu, the triclops turned his way.
Kendra unslung her bow, pulled the string back, and muttered, “Two hundred.”
As she released the string, a swarm of arrows streaked toward the triclops. With shockingly quick reflexes, Mombatu covered his eyes with his free arm before the arrows arrived. They stuck better to his wooden club than to his thick hide, but the message was received. Mombatu flung his club at Kendra so hard that, even perceiving it at reduced speed, she barely managed to duck in time.
With a guttural grunt, Mombatu gave chase.
The race was on.
Kendra dashed ahead with everything she had. The exhaustion hadn’t set in yet, and she added to her lead. A glance back showed the triclops running hard, arms and legs pumping, humps of muscle clenching and releasing, strings of saliva unfurling from his mouth.
Kendra focused on the route ahead. She couldn’t waste time by tripping or getting caught in a thicket. She crashed through a stand of bamboo, poles rattling behind her. When she emerged from the bamboo, the exhaustion started. Muscling onward, she knew she had a little more time before she reached her limit again.
Scanning ahead for the Monkey Maze or the beach, Kendra saw no landmark to hint at the location of the border. She would just have to keep going until the border stopped the triclops. Or killed him. Or whatever was going to happen.
Her breathing sped up and her lungs ached. The fire in her legs made her cry out. Her heart felt like it would burst. But her pace still resembled a sprint.
Behind her, the stand of bamboo seemed to explode as Mombatu reached it. He wasn’t brushing it aside—he was blasting straight through. Glancing back, she saw that the triclops had gained on her. She didn’t intend to run slower, but it hurt so much, and the thick vegetation was grasping at her.
Her legs were becoming unreliable. Her vision was blurring.
And then the effects of the potion ended.
Kendra stumbled forward, trying to maintain enough desperation to keep moving, willing herself not to pass out. She lumbered drunkenly ahead, the ground seeming to tilt back and forth beneath her feet.
Where were those smelling salts?
She heard Mombatu gaining quickly, roaring exultantly.
She reached a clearing. Up ahead, in the distance beyond the clearing, she saw some platforms in the trees.
“Send help,” she mumbled incoherently, tottering out into the field.
Kendra didn’t remember falling, but she noticed when she hit the ground, landing on her side. Woozy, gasping, she pushed up onto her hands and knees and crawled forward. She had to keep moving.
Her arms gave out and she twisted onto her side, looking back as the colossal triclops stormed into the clearing. Raising his balled fists high, Mombatu closed in.
Before he reached her, with a dazzling flash, Mombatu split into three smaller creatures.
Kendra blinked her eyes and shook her head. Surely she was hallucinating. Was she seeing triple? The world was seesawing, and she was imagining the triclops had divided into smaller components.
She couldn’t blink it away. The three beings remained separate. They gathered around her, looming over her, perhaps ten feet tall.
Kendra closed her eyes.
“Are you all right?” a calm, deep voice asked.
“Tired,” Kendra said. “I took a speed potion.”
“You’re safe now,” said another voice, deep and melodious. “At least safe from us.”
“I just need a minute,” Kendra said, unsure if she could remain conscious. “Who is talking? Did you really just split into three?”
“Within areas protected by the watchers, we are the guardians of the Sunset Pearl,” a third voice said, less deep than the other two, but perhaps the richest.
Kendra tried to sit up, but she slumped back down.
“Let yourself recover,” the first voice said.
“I’m going to sleep well tonight,” Kendra said, her mind cloudy. “I got all my wiggles out.”
She heard footsteps coming nearer, accompanied by ragged panting. Somebody dropped down beside her, and she smelled Tanu’s salts.
“Yikes!” she exclaimed, sitting up, eyes watering.
“I assume you’re peaceful?” Tanu checked with the guardians.
“We mean you no harm,” the third voice answered.
After rubbing her eyes clear, Kendra looked up. These three hulking humanoids had light gray bodies. Leaner than Mombatu, they had more defined muscles. Each was bald except for a long ponytail, and none of them had eyes—just a big blank forehead above the nose.
“You must be Himalayan cyclopses,” Tanu said.
“Correct,” the second voice said.
“Your only eye is a third eye,” Kendra said, remembering a conversation with Eve.
“We see you with the eyes of our minds,” the third voice said.
“I’m Kendra. This is Tanu.”
“I am Baroi,” the third voice said.
“Hobar,” the second voice said.
“Tal,” the first voice said.
Kendra stood up, still tired but recovering. Tanu rose as well. Warren caught up to them.
“I thought I had seen everything,” Warren said.
“Himalayan cyclopses,” Kendra explained.
“Who merge into a triclops,” Warren said. “You boys almost killed us.”
“Our memories of our other form are a blur of rage,” Tal said calmly. “We apologize for any harm done. That vicious state is a defense mechanism for the sanctuary. In times of peace, we are peaceful. When the protections go down, we merge into a form more appropriate for war.”
“It was the design from the beginning,” Hobar said.
Despite the imposing size of the cyclopses, their polite demeanor and soothing voices set Kendra at ease. “You were the guardians of the pearl.”
They nodded.
Kendra considered them. “If you walk away from this protected area, you will combine into the triclops again.”
“We will not deliberately do so,” Baroi said.
Kendra waved a hand experimentally. “Do you see me doing that?”
“I not only see you waving,” Tal said, “I saw you were going to do it.”
“I can see you stopping,” Hobar said.
“You see into the future?” Kendra asked.
“The true eye of the mind has fewer limits than a sensory organ,” Baroi said. “We see in all directions. We see some things far off, across space or even time.”
“Not all,” Hobar added. “Not nearly all.”
“But we see much,” Tal said. “That which is nearby tends to be easiest to discern.”
“Do you see the pearl?” Kendra asked.
“We don’t see it,” Baroi said. “But we can feel that it passed into the Under Realm.”
“That’s where my brother has been held,” Kendra said. “And my . . . friend.”
“Do not be shy about how much you care for your friend,” Hobar said.
“Can you help me get there?” Kendra asked.
“We cannot go beyond the boundaries of this protected region without uniting into the Enforcer,” Tal said. “We certainly cannot go to the Under Realm.”
“The Under Realm is near and far,” Hobar said. “The entrance shifts.”
“To go there you must find the Phantom Isle,” Baroi said. “No small task.”
“The Underking is there?” Kendra asked.
“Ruling over a domain outside of this world,” Tal said. “The island is the gateway.”
“The Phantom Isle appears and disappears,” Hobar said. “The location is ever changing.”
Vanessa and Hako approached. Vanessa looked thrashed.
“I guess these guys no longer want to eat us,” Warren said. “They’re bonding with Kendra.”
“She radiates light,” Baroi said. “Perhaps she can retrieve the Sunset Pearl.”
“But you don’t know where to find the Phantom Isle,” Kendra said.
“We do not know,” Tal said.
“The isle can be located,” Hobar said.
“You must recover the fool’s treasure,” Baroi said.
“At Desperation Beach?” Hako asked.
“Sounds like a lousy place to vacation,” Warren murmured.
“Obtaining the fool’s treasure might be harder than finding the Phantom Isle,” Hako said.
“Not harder,” Baroi said. “Necessary. The treasure begins the journey to the Phantom Isle.”
“You must complete the journey, Kendra,” Tal said.
“We foresee it,” Hobar declared.
“Will I succeed?” Kendra asked.
They remained silent, heads bowed.
“Unknowable,” Baroi said finally.
“Is that the consensus?” Warren asked.
“What one of us sees, all of us see,” Tal said.
“With rare exceptions,” Hobar said.
“We three are one,” Baroi explained. “Even when separate.”
“Kendra, if you are willing to try, you might succeed,” Tal said.
“And if you fail, others will try, building on what you left behind,” Hobar said.
“Until there are no others willing to try, and darkness consumes the light,” Baroi said.
“We’re going to succeed,” Warren said bracingly.
Kendra looked over her shoulder at Warren, then at Tanu, Vanessa, and Hako. “I’ll do my best,” she said. “But first, I’m really thirsty.”
Seth looked back at the island of Timbuli receding behind the boat and wondered if Kendra had survived the triclops. She had been moving like a blur when she raced out of sight. Seth hoped no harm had come to her—especially because she might actually be his sister. It was annoying that she had left him stuck to the mushroom for so long, but in the end, she had distracted the triclops as if she really cared about him.
The stories Kendra and Bracken had told him combined to form a plausible scenario, except his dark powers didn’t fit with their version very well. What role would his powers have had among people who fought and imprisoned dark creatures? Seth worried he might never sort out the truth about his past. How many different versions would he encounter?
The boat advanced purposefully over the swells, Ronodin at the rudder. Seth took a sip of water from the sweet bucket. The western horizon warmed to gold as the sun sank.
“We’re leaving in a different direction than we came from,” Seth noted.
“Nearly the opposite,” Ronodin said.
“Are we going back to the Under Realm?”
“Yes.”
“By a different route?”
“We’re going directly back to the island we came from.”
“How?”
“Think,” Ronodin said. “If we’re returning to the island by going in the opposite direction . . .”
“The island moves?”
Ronodin gave a small smile. “It’s why they call it the Phantom Isle.”
“Also, a bunch of phantoms live there,” Seth said. “Wraiths, too. I got some information from Dezia.”
“That’s a relief,” Ronodin said, “since you collapsed the crypt and blocked access to her.”
“I didn’t collapse it.”
“Was the cave-in a coincidence?”
“Dezia collapsed the crypt as I was leaving.”
“You learned where to find the Everbloom?”
“Not exactly.”
Ronodin furrowed his brow. “That’s distressing.”
“I’m the one who should be frustrated,” Seth said. “I was the person risking my life! Going to Dezia wasn’t my idea. She only knew the general location.”
“What did you learn?”
“The Everbloom is inside the volcano,” Seth said. “Baga Loa. In a cave. But there are lots of caves. It will be hard to find.”
“Did Dezia share thoughts on how to pinpoint the exact location?”
“She said a firewalker named Savani should know.”
“I suspected she would know,” Ronodin said. “But Savani will not divulge the site.”
“She is the caretaker of this dragon prison?” Seth asked.
“Yes,” Ronodin said. “Seeking the location from her would be a dead end. Why did the phantom help you?”
“I agreed to throw her token into the volcano,” Seth said.
“Interesting,” Ronodin said. “What token?”
“Some doll,” Seth said.
“May I see it?”
Seth took the little doll from his pocket and handed it over. Ronodin released the tiller to examine the primitive doll with both hands. As Seth had suspected, the tiller seemed to manage just fine without Ronodin handling it.
Ronodin brought the doll to his face and smelled it deeply, then held the little figure of wood and woven gr
asses up against the sky, closing one eye to study it closely. “Dezia wants this in the volcano?”
“Yes, Dezia told me throwing the doll in there would allow her greater freedom to roam around on certain nights,” Seth said. “And allow her to find a new lair if the preserve falls.”
Ronodin handed the doll back to Seth with a sigh. “You did well enough.”
“Thanks,” Seth said, a little insulted by the paltry praise. “I wonder if you could have left me stuck to that flesh-eating mushroom for a little longer?”
“I had much to contend with,” Ronodin said. “The triclops arrived, along with Kendra and her friends.”
“At least you came back for me,” Seth said. “I wondered if you would.”
“Don’t ever count on another,” Ronodin said. “We save ourselves or we perish.” He put a hand back on the tiller and raised his voice. “Take us to Bridge Cove.”
The boat turned in a new direction.
“Change of plans?” Seth asked.
“We can work with what you uncovered,” Ronodin said. “But we need an ointment brewed by the Pinaki people.”
“Why?”
“It will render you immune to heat,” Ronodin said.
“Me?”
“I’m not going into the volcano,” Ronodin said.
“Wait, somebody has to go into the volcano?” Seth asked. “Is that even possible? That’s going to take more than the right lotion.”
“You won’t go swimming in lava,” Ronodin said. “But you need to get close enough to accomplish your mission.”
“Where will I throw the token?” Seth asked. “Does it have to be down the main shaft? Or would any pool of lava work?”
“You won’t toss the token into the volcano,” Ronodin said.
“Then why do we need the ointment?” Seth asked.
“So you can go get the Everbloom.”
“I promised Dezia I would throw the token into the volcano,” Seth said. “She’ll haunt me if I don’t.”
“Not if we haunt her first,” Ronodin said. “A token like she gave you shares a connection with her essence. We can exploit that connection.”
“Do you mean we’ll trick her?” Seth asked. “Is that fair?”