by Brandon Mull
“If he had, maybe he wouldn’t have stayed chained up for so long,” Ronodin said. “En garde, Bracken.”
Ronodin raised his horn, and in a swirling cloud of dark vapors, a transformation took place. In his place stood a powerful stallion, dark grey, with a fiery mane and tail. The orange horn glowed as if superheated. The dark unicorn immediately charged.
“He has learned to take his old shape,” Bracken said, raising his horn. In a burst of light, Bracken was no longer a man, but a pure white unicorn. Muscles clenched as he bounded forward to meet Ronodin’s charge.
Horns lowered, the two unicorns converged as if jousting. Their horns clashed with a blazing flash, and the unicorns brushed past each other.
Kendra raced around to the far side of Bracken’s cage, keeping it between herself and Ronodin. The dark unicorn showed no special interest in her, instead wheeling about to charge Bracken again. The white unicorn was doing the same.
Kendra tried to think of a way to help, but for the moment it seemed like staying out of the way might be the best idea. The unicorns galloped at each other again, their horns clashing brilliantly. After one pass, Bracked crashed against a tall, rusty cage, toppling it. After another, Ronodin glanced off a stone column and nearly fell.
As the fight progressed, they charged less and got in closer. Kendra soon realized the unicorns were using their horns less like lances and more like swords. Along with thrusting, they also slashed and parried. Both were giving as much attention to defending against the opponent’s horn as to attacking.
The horns flashed each time they connected, highlighting the surreal landscape of cages with dazzling strobes. The unicorns circled in close, horns crossing and deflecting as each tried to gouge the other. Both unicorns reared, front hooves flailing, and Kendra saw a wound open on Bracken’s shoulder, spilling silver blood. A new gash on Ronodin’s neck bled reddish gold.
Yield, Ronodin commanded. This is my day.
You’re flagging, Bracken replied. Not accustomed to this form, are you?
You haven’t taken this shape in ages, Ronodin taunted.
You tarnished yourself, Bracken accused, lashing out with a strike that Ronodin deflected. Your horns are abominations.
Ronodin dove at Bracken with a lunging counterstrike. Yours are for show. They are the ornaments of mindless conformity.
They crossed horns, directly testing their strength. Neither unicorn moved to break the deadlock. Muscles straining, hooves shuffling, each strained to overpower the other.
You’re weak, Ronodin mocked.
Your coloring is absurd, Bracken countered. Gray and orange?
Not as original as pearly white.
You look like a logo for a band.
I could do this all day.
How about you push me over?
Kendra started sneaking toward Bracken from behind the cage. The horns quivered with the pressure of mutual exertion. She knew they could break the pose at any moment, so she rushed forward and rested a hand against Bracken’s side and pushed all the energy she could muster into him.
The light of her crown intensified, Bracken’s hair glowed, and his horn glared a blinding white. With a loud crack, the deadlock broke as Ronodin’s horn snapped off.
Back to human form, Ronodin stumbled and fell onto his side. Bracken touched his horn to the fallen one, and it turned an unblemished white.
“You’ll pay for that,” Ronodin muttered, upending a vial into his mouth.
Breaking contact with Kendra, Bracken bounded toward his cousin, but Ronodin flew away in a flurry of black feathers. He had become an enormous raven. Without a backward glance, Ronodin flapped out of sight.
Lowering his head, Bracken shed his horn and resumed human shape. Blood stained his shirt at the shoulder.
“You’re hurt,” Kendra said.
“It’s nothing,” Bracken replied. “I heal fast, and nothing gets infected. If I’m alive, I’ll be fine.”
“What happened with his horn?”
Bracken put an arm around Kendra. “You happened. That boost of energy you provided let me rip it from him. The horn really was flawed. Once it was severed from him, I was able to purify it.”
Kendra looked at the white horn on the ground. “His third horn is healed.”
“As if it was never corrupted,” Bracken said.
“Could that influence Ronodin?” Kendra asked.
“He won’t be able to transform into his unicorn shape anymore,” Bracken said. “The horns are connected to our identity, but they do not define who we are. I don’t think I could heal him by purifying his horns any more than he could darken me by corrupting mine.”
“His plan wouldn’t have worked?” Kendra asked.
“It would have weakened me,” Bracken said. “Made me less powerful. But my identity belongs to me. Only I can surrender that.”
Kendra could not help thinking of her brother. “Do you think Ronodin will go to Seth?”
“Maybe,” Bracken said. “If Seth can be of use to him.”
“That potion transformed him into a bird?” Kendra asked.
“That magic was unfamiliar to me,” Bracken said. “But Ronodin deals with many whose company I find distasteful.”
Ezabar approached them, his feet just a little above the ground. “It appears your altercation with Ronodin has ended,” he said.
“Yes,” Bracken said. “I’m tired of marinating in darkness. No matter your strength, it becomes exhausting.”
“It’s draining,” Kendra agreed. “Ezabar, get us out of here.”
When the ghostly manacle fell off with a sound like shattered glass, Seth was seated on a rock in the jungle near the mouth of a cave. “Did you hear that?” Seth asked.
“Hear what?” Calvin replied.
“Like something breaking?”
“No.”
Seth rubbed his wrist. The spectral manacle that had adorned his wrist since he had struck the deal with the Underking was gone.
“I don’t get it,” Seth said. “I didn’t deliver the Everbloom.”
“What happened?” Calvin asked.
“I think I’m free,” Seth said. “The ghost chain attached to my wrist disappeared.”
“Could Dezia have done it?” Calvin asked.
“I don’t think so,” Seth said. “The Underking put it there.”
Following the phantom had allowed Seth to exit the caves without any major problems. As promised, she had taken him to a different opening from the one he had used to enter. After a final expression of gratitude, the phantom had departed.
“Maybe touching the Everbloom weakened it,” Calvin theorized.
“Possibly,” Seth said. “That flower was incredibly powerful. I still feel energized.”
“What now?” Calvin asked.
“That’s the question,” Seth said. “There’s no reason to go back to the Phantom Isle. Eventually Ronodin will catch on that we’re not returning and come looking for us.”
“Do we go find Kendra?” Calvin asked. “I think I can lead us to the tree house.”
“I’m not sure,” Seth said.
“Why not? The tree house is still protected. They can help keep you safe from Ronodin and the Underking.”
“I see why you like the option,” Seth said. “I only really want two things, though. I want some time alone, without people telling me who I’m supposed to be. And I want my memories back.”
“The tree house won’t be good for time alone,” Calvin said.
“And what if Ronodin had a point?” Seth asked. “What if they want me locked up? Even if they try to do it humanely. What if they don’t trust me enough to let me track down Humbuggle?”
“You’re thinking of going there on your own,” Calvin surmised.
“Not completely on my own,” Seth said. “With
my Tiny Hero.”
“I’ll admit we’re a formidable team,” Calvin said.
“I don’t want other people to decide who I am,” Seth said. “I want to decide that for myself.”
“You deserve to know your past,” Calvin said.
“And after I know, I get to choose what comes next.”
“How will we get there?”
“What do you know about leviathans?” Seth asked.
“Not a lot besides they’re humongous,” Calvin said.
“Some people carry snacks in their gear,” Seth said. “I carry humongous leviathans. If Kendra is right, I just put a little statue in the water and say some magic words.”
“You didn’t happen to trade a cow for this statue?” Calvin asked.
“I’m not sure where I got it,” Seth said.
“Let’s say it works,” Calvin said. “We ride it like a horse? Will it obey you? What if it just swims off?”
“We might end up needing a new plan,” Seth admitted, rummaging in his satchel. He pulled out the little statue fashioned out of blue stone. “But why not try this first?”
“It looks like a whale,” Calvin said.
“We’d definitely get style points,” Seth said.
“I’ve never traveled by whale,” Calvin said. “Why not try?”
“Think we can get to a beach without running into Ronodin?” Seth asked. “Or getting eaten by giant mushrooms?”
“Worth a try,” Calvin said.
Seth stood up and followed the path leading away from the cave. It intersected another path, and Seth turned downhill. Before long they reached an overlook above a beach.
“This is the same beach where I arrived with Ronodin,” Seth said.
“Are you sure?” Calvin asked. “I was mostly keeping my head down.”
“I was just here,” Seth said. “See that rock shaped kind of like a mitten? And the palm trees on that little peninsula? I can even still see where the boat was on the sand.”
“No boat?”
“No boat.”
Seth stared up and down the coast and out to sea. The clever boat was nowhere in sight.
“What’s Ronodin up to?” Calvin asked.
“He might have hidden the boat to lure me down to the beach,” Seth said. “Make it look safe. But why would he expect me to go to the beach? If I was escaping with the Everbloom without a boat, I’d take off through the jungle. Maybe he left. But why would he leave without the Everbloom?”
“You freed the phantom from her old token,” Calvin said. “Ronodin might have gotten word and figured you betrayed him.”
“Wouldn’t that make him hunt me down?” Seth asked. “The boat is gone. He might have really left.”
“Maybe there was an emergency,” Calvin guessed.
“I don’t need the beach,” Seth said. “I want the tip of the peninsula.”
“The beach might be too shallow for a humongous whale,” Calvin said.
“We’ll go carefully,” Seth said. “If Ronodin left, he may come back. If we can swing it, I want to be gone before he does.”
With Calvin in his pocket, Seth continued down the trail to the beach. He walked quietly, watching and listening, but saw no sign of trouble. The beach lacked much cover, so once he reached it, Seth ran to the peninsula and out to the tip.
“Still no sign of Ronodin,” Calvin said. “There’s a yellow fairy over by those rocks.”
“I’ll take her over a wild boar,” Seth said. Looking out at the swells, he passed the stone whale back and forth between his hands. “I’m supposed to toss this in the water and say the magic words.” He fished the paper with the words out of his satchel. “Do you think this could possibly work?”
“I think we should find out,” Calvin said.
Seth threw the little stone whale out into the water. Then he read the words.
Water exploded into the air as a gigantic whale expanded into existence. Seth ducked his head as water showered down, then marveled at the size of the beast before him. The water was clearly too shallow, because all but the belly was above it. The titanic creature had to be at least a hundred yards long.
What is your request?
The words, ancient and slow, came into Seth’s mind, surprising him. The leviathan did not seem distressed to be in shallow water. One eye the size of a hula hoop regarded him patiently.
“I can make requests?” Seth asked.
You brought me back. I am yours to command.
Seth laughed uncomfortably. “Do you give rides?”
Where would you care to go?
“New Zealand? As close to the Titan Valley dragon sanctuary as you can get me?”
Making the beach rumble, the leviathan swiveled until its mouth was even with the tip of the peninsula. The mouth opened, and Seth felt like he was staring into a huge, fleshy cave fringed by teeth larger than traffic cones.
“Inside?” Seth asked. “Will I be able to breathe?”
The forward void within me remains full of air. Do not proceed deeper than that.
“Should we go?” Seth murmured to Calvin.
“Isn’t this exactly what you wanted?” Calvin asked.
“I pictured us riding up top,” Seth said. “But I guess this way we won’t fall off.”
“Should we leave a message for Kendra?” Calvin asked.
“Ronodin will find it,” Seth said.
“I suspect Ronodin already knows where you’re going anyway,” Calvin said. “But my friends will be worried. They don’t know where I am. Your sister could come in handy if we need help.”
“Is there a good way to tell her?” Seth asked.
“Let me think.”
Come. I desire deeper water.
“I’m coming,” Seth said.
“Write it in the sand with a stick,” Calvin said. “At least it gives them a chance.”
Seth picked up a stick and made big block letters where the sand was a little wet:
CALVIN LIVES
TITAN VALLEY
“Better than nothing,” Calvin said.
Come, the leviathan insisted.
“Okay,” Seth returned, stepping into the vast mouth. The whale kept still as Seth walked back through the moist, spongy surface of the throat into a large room with curved walls that moved as the leviathan breathed. The water in the room came up to Seth’s knees. It smelled like a mix of wet blubber and old fish.
In the room there were a pair of battered rowboats, a desk, a table, and several crates and barrels. A squat, ugly creature sat in one of the rowboats. It had greenish skin, an oversized head, pointed ears, and a wide, lipless mouth.
“No!” the creature cried. “Not visitors.”
The leviathan’s mouth closed. A lantern glowed in each rowboat, so the interior of the leviathan did not become dark.
“This is my leviathan,” Seth said.
The creature laughed. “You no own leviathan. I be here when you dead.”
“It’s a hermit troll,” Calvin whispered. “They’re squatters. They move from home to home.”
“I’ve heard of them,” Seth replied. He raised his voice to address the troll. “We’re here until we get to New Zealand. Can we share the leviathan for now?”
The leviathan lurched, and Seth fell to his hands and knees in the slimy water. Everything kept shaking and jerking. He decided to stay down while the leviathan flopped toward deeper water.
Are you at ease? came the leviathan’s voice in his mind.
“I’m okay,” Seth said. “Just talking to a hermit troll.”
“Me no hermit troll. Me fishy king.”
The stores are meant to be shared. Let me know if you need a break on land.
“Those barrels have food?” Seth asked. “Thanks!”
&nbs
p; “Who you talk to?” the hermit troll asked.
“The leviathan.”
“You crazy.”
“The leviathan said we have to share the stores.”
The hermit troll shook his head emphatically. “You get own stores.”
Seth stared. “I’m pretty sure I could have the leviathan spit you out.”
“We share,” the hermit troll replied quickly.
“I’m Seth.”
“Me Hermo.”
“How long have you been in here, Hermo?” Seth asked.
“Big long time.”
“He was probably in stasis while the leviathan was a statue,” Calvin said.
“Who that?” Hermo asked.
“My secret friend,” Seth said. “We might as well be friends too, since we’re sharing this space.”
“No friend unless play game,” Hermo said.
“What games do you like?” Seth asked.
“You know Old Maid?”
“Yeah. Do you have cards?”
“No.”
“Do you have any games?”
“Mancala.” The troll rummaged around in the boat, then held up a board full of divots and stones.
“I don’t know how to play,” Seth said, “but I’ll give it a try.”
“I teach. You learn.”
“Sure.”
“Teacher always win.”
Seth sighed. “I have a feeling this is going to be a long ride.”
Walking along the path to the fairy shrine was different under the light of day, with Bracken at her side. The cyclopses had replaced the Sunset Pearl the night before, which meant this path was perfectly protected all the way to the shrine. And with the Fairy Queen’s son at her side, Kendra didn’t worry about problems at the shrine, either.
“How is your shoulder?” Kendra asked.
Bracken pulled back his loose shirt far enough for her to see the slightly raised scar.
“It’s already a scar?” Kendra asked. “No scab?”
“It will be faint by tomorrow morning,” Bracken said. “Gone by the afternoon.”
The Underking’s boat had left them at Crescent Lagoon yesterday evening, then had departed unmanned. Warren and Knox had complained the most about Kendra going to the Phantom Isle without them, but since she had returned with Bracken and the Sunset Pearl, they were left with little room for chastisement. The cyclopses had thanked her profusely and departed immediately to replace the pearl on the altar. The party at the tree house had lasted long into the night, but Kendra couldn’t stop worrying about the unsolved mystery of Seth.