by Brandon Mull
My garden is protected within my caverns, but not behind any doors, Remulon explained. None of my trophies are indoors.
“Right,” Kendra said. “Fairies only fall if kept indoors overnight. Remulon, will you loan us the nova song? That’s all we need.”
She is my most prized possession. Yours is a doomed errand from which none will return. To lend her would be to lose her.
“You’re underestimating me,” Kendra said. “I’ll bring her back.”
Impossible! Remulon exclaimed. You would not make it past the sea dragon. If you did, you and anyone you bring would be overwhelmed by the undead. You will perish, paralyzed in the dark.
“I can speak in the presence of dragons,” Kendra said.
You fail to understand. Even uninvited dragons would be paralyzed by the power and darkness of the Under Realm. Orogoro himself would fall. No potion or trinket would make a difference.
“I’ll find a way,” Kendra said.
Your reckless optimism is instructive, Remulon expressed. If you are baiting me for some sort of trap, I sincerely applaud you. I am convinced this is exactly what it looks like.
“What do you mean?” Kendra asked.
Do you know who I am? Remulon asked.
“Kind of,” Kendra said.
The demons of the deep are underappreciated by airbreathers, Remulon grumbled. But even on the surface my name is renowned. I have never been captured. I have never been bested. I am feared by the most formidable of my kind. Each of my tentacles has different abilities.
“You sound very impressive,” Kendra said.
You came here unprepared. I believe you have a desperate need, and you visited me armed only with a mark from a demon and a vague hope I might help.
“We’re willing to bargain,” Kendra said.
How Gorgrog fell to you is incomprehensible. You have played this all wrong. What could you possibly offer me that would be more attractive than simply keeping you?
“Try me,” Kendra said. “What do you want?”
Remulon fell silent. A few of his tentacles stretched and curled. How much do your companions matter to you?
“Very much,” Kendra said.
Unconditionally bind yourself to me as my servant with an irrevocable oath. Fall on your knees and pledge to do my bidding for the rest of your days, and I will let you free your companions through your service, one by one.
Kendra stared at the octopus in disbelief. “No way!”
You solicited an offer, Remulon conveyed. You wish to reject the opportunity I present? Under the circumstances, it is very generous. I will not make another offer.
“You haven’t captured us yet,” Kendra said.
Remulon laughed again.
“Is he threatening to capture us?” Hako asked.
You are about to make the nova song my second most valued possession. The fairykind human who destroyed Gorgrog is an incomparable trophy. If your comrades posed a threat, I might consider slaying some of them. It will be a more pleasant novelty to keep all of you.
“He wants us,” Kendra said, opening the small pouch on her waist and reaching for the unicorn horn.
With a yell, Hako flung the loyal harpoon at Remulon. It streaked through the water with supernatural speed, right on target, until a black tentacle lashed out, caught the harpoon, and snapped it like a toothpick.
“That was quick,” Warren said in despair.
That tentacle is so quick I could kill you all before you understood what happened, Remulon conveyed. I could kill you in so many ways, but this tentacle will put you to sleep.
Kendra pulled out Bracken’s first horn, accidentally dropping the sack of gales to the seafloor. Remulon raised a tentacle, showing the rows of white suckers on the underside. Dozens of dartlike spines fired from around the suckers, whizzing through the water toward Kendra and her friends. One pricked Kendra in the shoulder; another pierced her thigh.
She staggered, immediately drowsy. The unicorn horn fell from her hand, landing on the sack of gales. She pulled the slender spine from her thigh and stared at it blurrily. It was approximately the length of her hand.
Turning, Kendra regarded her companions. Warren had dropped his sword and sunk to his knees. Hako was already flat on his back, and Tanu was sprawled nearby. Knox had fallen right by the tunnel through the razor coral. Vanessa swayed, took a few steps sideways, and collapsed.
Kendra hit the ground before she realized she was falling. As consciousness slipped away, she felt large suckers puckering against her skin.
Puffy gray clouds shed a haze of rain to the west, and chaotic swells kept the boat rearing and plunging, but Seth was enjoying his time alone on the water. As he considered the solitude, Seth realized he had no memory of spending time on his own. Sure, he had been unchaperoned in the Under Realm before, but even in his room with the door closed, Seth could feel the undead around him and knew the Underking might be watching.
The clever boat maneuvered itself across the choppy water, leaving Seth free to ponder. Part of him wanted to tell the boat to take him to San Diego, but he had a hunch the Underking would override any command to flee. He rubbed at the ghostly manacle on his wrist, fingers passing through it. Was it absurd to think that if he delivered the Everbloom to the Underking, the manacle would come off and he could start living his own life? Was that too much to hope? Would there always be a catch? Another favor owed? More hoops to jump through?
The Sphinx and Ronodin had no intention of ever freeing the phantom Dezia. They would use her and then trap her as tightly as they could. Seth scowled. What would prevent them from doing the same to him?
Ronodin had brought Seth to the Under Realm knowing the Underking would strike a deal that bound him there. They might all be working together against him. Ronodin was teaching him the things he needed to know to serve as a useful tool. The dark unicorn spoke convincingly, but his actions didn’t always add up. If he wanted to free everybody, why bind Dezia? Why lock up Bracken? Why force Seth into a situation in which the Underking could enslave him?
Seth used the dipper to sip fresh water from the sweet bucket. Were liches and wraiths more worthy of freedom than he was? Should liches and wraiths be free to roam where they might encounter innocent people? What about the freedom of their victims?
Seth knew he had dark powers. But did that mean he had to become like Ronodin? Or work for the Underking? The reality was, he didn’t enjoy it, and his concerns about their practices and motives kept growing.
Hopefully the Hidden Sage could help him see more clearly. At minimum, Seth wanted to learn how to retrieve his past. He felt like he would do anything to get his memories back, no matter what they contained. He deserved to know who he had been. How much those memories influenced his future would be up to him to decide.
The tall, steep hills of Omari were rounded at the top, like colossal camel humps. Green with vegetation, they loomed larger as the clever boat neared the island, prompting Seth to wonder how such extreme formations took shape.
Seth approached a beach with pebbly sand and a few boulders. He had asked the clever boat to land him near Mount Dagaro. Gazing up at the many hills towering over the beach, Seth wondered which was his desired destination. If Mount Dagaro was toward the interior of the island, it might be none of the hills he currently saw. Identifying the right one to climb felt daunting.
As the boat eased into the breakers, Seth saw a huge white gorilla lumbering from the jungle onto the beach, muscles rolling in its broad shoulders as it supported its steps with its knuckles. The beast was at least twice the height of a normal gorilla, and it gave Seth a hard stare, baring sharp teeth. Behind the ape, Seth saw at least two other oversized white gorillas partly hidden by vegetation.
“Turn around,” Seth ordered the boat. “We can’t land here.”
The boat halted, then bac
ked away from the shore, angling expertly to avoid capsizing. The gorilla on the beach snarled and slapped its chest. Another hulking gorilla emerged from the foliage to join the first.
The Underking had not warned Seth about gorillas. What other dangers lurked on Omari? Though Seth had enjoyed the solitude in the boat, he now missed Ronodin’s expertise and competence. Seth squeezed the gunwale. Was this why the Underking had let him venture to Omari? Did the Underking expect him to fail?
Bobbing on the swells, Seth tried to collect his thoughts. Those apes had guarded the beach as if they owned it, regarding him with open hostility. Even if he managed to get ashore, it would be foolish to wander a jungle patrolled by giant gorillas. They were way out of his weight class.
What were his options? What could he use to his advantage?
“Circle the island,” Seth said. “Stay near the coast.”
The boat complied.
As they made their way around the island, Seth reached out with his senses. If he could locate any undead, maybe he could gather information. Ideally he could charm some into becoming his bodyguards.
Seth perceived no dark presences at first. But as they rounded a rocky headland, a new promontory came into view on the far side of a bay. A squat stone lighthouse stood on the point, emanating a familiar dark energy.
“Go to the lighthouse,” Seth directed, scanning the coastline for danger. He didn’t see any gorillas. The dilapidated remains of a dock sagged at one end of the bay, but he saw no buildings besides the lighthouse. A few exotic birds added splashes of color, and he noticed a lone fairy twinkling over some blossoms near the dock.
The boat took a circuitous route to the lighthouse, instinctively avoiding rocks and reefs, many of them lurking just beneath the surface of the water. When the boat came alongside the stony promontory, the lighthouse looked abandoned on the deserted shoreline. But Seth could sense two wraiths inside.
“Wait here,” he told the boat, hopping onto the rocks and climbing up to a grassy area beside the lighthouse. Built of rough stone blocks, a low tower rose from a broad, hexagonal base. Seth wondered how long it had been since the lamp atop the structure had been lit.
He walked up to the heavy wooden door and found it locked. Remembering what Ronodin had taught him, Seth closed his eyes. Drawing upon the darkness inside of him, Seth projected his power at the door and commanded it to open. To his delight, he heard a click. When he tried the door again, it swung inward. The success marked the first time he had used his power to undo a lock.
There was no ignoring the cold presence of the wraiths. “Hello?” Seth called. “Trick or treat. Anybody home?”
After stepping into a dusty room with webby furniture, Seth knew the lighthouse had a basement because he could sense the wraiths down there. They must have heard him enter—he could tell they were in motion, coming up the stairs. The temperature in the room plunged, and Seth felt the hair on his arms standing up.
Intruder, one wraith thought at him venomously.
“I can hear you,” Seth said. “I came to help.”
A door opened from the basement, and the wraiths entered the room. Seth stood firm against their icy malice.
You are young, one communicated.
You are warm, the other expressed.
“Tell me why you’re here,” Seth said.
We keep the lighthouse dark, one conveyed.
Ships crash on the reefs, the other volunteered.
“Seen many ships lately?” Seth asked.
They offered no reply.
“This place is abandoned,” Seth said. “I bet the light stays out with or without your involvement. I’ve been helping wraiths around the islands, and now I need a hand. You know the boundaries are down?”
Yes, one of the wraiths acknowledged.
“I’m doing errands for the Underking,” Seth said. “I need to climb Mount Dagaro. Do you know the way?”
Yes, the other wraith confirmed.
“Who put you here to keep the lighthouse dark?”
Nobody, one wraith expressed.
We found this purpose, the other conveyed.
“Want some variety?” Seth asked. “I need escorts.”
Why should we aid you? one wraith asked.
“I’m a friend to wraiths,” Seth said. “I freed wraiths from a prison at Wyrmroost. I freed wraiths on Timbuli. Someday I’ll help you.”
You pledge to help us? the same wraith asked.
“If you promise to help me get to Mount Dagaro safely,” Seth said. “And then back to my boat. Someday, when you have a need, and I’m around, I’ll help you. Maybe someday you’ll want to get off this island. Maybe get recruited to the Phantom Isle, if that sounds good. Or else just find a really nice graveyard with some comfortable tombs. Until then, I can give you an exciting task, and I’m one of the few living people who can hear you. You’ve probably been cold? Hungry?”
I thirst, the other wraith communicated.
“I bet you thirst,” Seth said. “Can you drive away those big apes? Are they scared of you?”
All animals flee us, one conveyed.
They flee or we bind them, the other expressed.
“That’s what I need,” Seth said. “Some powerful wraiths to keep the gorillas away. How about it? Will you promise to take me safely to Mount Dagaro? And then back to my boat?”
Yes.
Yes.
Seth smiled. “Do you want to start out traveling by boat? Or should we go over land?”
We do not cross the water, one of the wraiths stressed.
“We’ll hike, then,” Seth said. “I’ll tell the boat to wait here. Should I give you names?”
If you wish, the other wraith allowed.
“How about lighthouse names?” Seth suggested. “You can be Lampy. And we’ll call you Salty. And if you don’t mind, I like when you speak out loud.”
“As you desire,” Lampy said.
“Great,” Seth said, looking from one expressionless wraith to the other. “Let’s go.”
The hike to Mount Dagaro took more than two hours, and though Seth heard distant rustling on occasion, he saw no animals. The wraiths kept to the shadows when they could. They seemed taxed when crossing areas in direct sunlight, moving through the brightness with slower steps and bowed heads. Seth found their chilling presence both creepy and reassuring. If they kept the apes away and got him to the right mountain, he considered a little creepiness a small price to pay.
Mount Dagaro was one of the many soaring hills he had seen when approaching the island, taller than most. A faint, narrow trail spiraled up the mountain, sometimes steep enough that Seth had to use both hands and feet to climb. The sides of the hill were never quite straight down, but Seth suspected that if he started falling, he would not stop until he hit the bottom. The wraiths continued with him until the scant trail ended at a cave masked by a curtain of roots.
“We can proceed no farther,” Salty said.
“We will await your return,” Lampy said.
“Do you know anything about the Hidden Sage?” Seth asked.
“We cannot see into the cave,” Lampy said.
“Nor can we enter the cave,” Salty said.
Seth took their answers as a no. “Wait here. I’ll be back.”
Seth pushed through draperies of twisty roots that descended from the ceiling of the cave to the floor. It was hard to imagine a helpful sage living inside such a wild, secluded place. The cave looked more like a den for a monster. What if the Underking had sent him to his doom? Seth reminded himself that the Underking wanted the Everbloom. If he wanted Seth dead, why not have a bunch of liches gang up on him back in the Under Realm? There seemed to be no reason for the Underking to sabotage him, and that thought brought some consolation.
Beyond the curtains of roots, the cave opened u
p into a single room. Small, slender stalactites decorated the ceiling, and low stalagmites pointed up from the floor. Water dripped from some of the stalactites into a shallow pool. Seth saw no branching corridors—and no sign of life. He seemed to be alone at a dead end.
He was hoping to find the Hidden Sage. Maybe the sage was more hidden than just residing in an obscure cave on a mountaintop. Could there be a secret passage? Might the sage be invisible?
“I’m looking for the Hidden Sage,” Seth tried. “If you are here, I need help.”
“And why should I aid a shadow charmer who brought wraiths to my threshold?” answered a creaky little voice.
The words came from in front of him, but Seth couldn’t see the speaker. “I brought the wraiths to avoid getting pounded to death by giant apes. Are you invisible?”
“To you I am, apparently,” the voice answered, amused.
“Camouflage?” Seth asked. He took a few steps in the direction of the voice. It seemed to come from down low, so he studied the ground. “I lost my memory. I need advice.”
“The world is in upheaval,” the voice said. “I save my counsel for those who deserve it.”
“Please help him,” answered a tiny voice that made Seth jump. It came from the pocket of his pants.
“What is going on?” Seth asked, looking down.
“Sorry, Seth,” the voice in his pocket apologized. “I can’t stay quiet any longer. Mighty sage, Seth is lost right now, but he is a warrior for good with a noble character.”
Seth saw a tiny head and a pair of arms poking out of his front pocket. They belonged to a handsome young man no bigger than his pinky finger. How long had he been in there? Was he a spy? Why did he sound so cheerful?
Seth reached for the little person in his pocket. The miniature young man crawled willingly onto his palm. “Amazing,” Seth said. “You’re a miniature person.”
“His endorsement carries weight with me,” the creaky voice said.
Seth glanced around. He still hadn’t spotted the sage.
“When I say he’s lost, I mean metaphorically,” the little person said. “He came here on purpose.”