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‘Can we hurry it up a bit?’ Master Tobuk said as Nix walked towards him.
Nix did not reply. He had a chance of passing as the drifter with the black tunic, but his voice was very different.
‘You can’t steal our ship!’ a shout came from below.
‘We’ve paid for a whole day!’
Nix stepped a little closer to the edge and saw the three mayors hurrying down the steps of the hall.
The charm master sighed and cast an angry look at Nix as if it were his fault the mayors had caught him.
‘I’m just borrowing it so that I can find out what is going on,’ he called down to the three angry men. ‘You can take a platform back to your islands. I’ll send the ship back to where it belongs when I return.’
‘We’ll come with you and you can drop us back to our islands,’ Mayor Rossen insisted. The three mayors hurried up the steps without waiting for anyone to agree.
Nix could see a problem as soon as the mayors were on deck. The small shelter would not hold them all! The mayors piled into it as if they too had seen the problem and didn’t want to be the one left outside.
The charm master strode over to join them and filled the last of the remaining available space. He pulled a bar down in place to seal off the shelter without even looking at Nix. It seemed the drifter wasn’t expected to go into the shelter. But where was he supposed to go.
On roof.
MoonDancer’s voice drifted into his head and he shrugged as he climbed up the side of the shelter. It must be safe if the drifter travelled up there. When he reached the roof he realised what the leather straps were for.
‘What’s the hold up?’ Master Tobuk called up through the roof.
Nix, felt a tremor of fear mixed in with the elation at the thought of flying. He fumbled with the straps and found his fingers wouldn’t work as they should.
Won’t need them, Phoenix.
Nix let the straps drop and sat at the edge of the shelter so that he had something to hold onto. He wondered if he had to ask the ship to take off but before he had even finished the thought, the ship began to shake. Nix looked behind him and watched in amazement.
The entire back of the ship was rising and unfolding. After just a few seconds huge golden wings had extended out the sides of the ship. The tail also seemed to come alive. It flicked out to the rear of the ship and swished from side to side.
To Nix, it no longer felt like he was on a golden ship. He was on a real dragon. The ship began moving, but not upwards as Nix had expected. It was gliding towards the edge of the island.
Some of us need help with takeoff sometimes.
MoonDancer sounded distracted and Nix gripped even harder on the roof as the dragon ship reached the edge of the island. It didn’t even slow down, but a sudden downward lurch almost threw him off the roof. Maybe he should have put the straps on after all?
Then they were soaring in an arc around the edge of the island. They began to rise with a warm wind current that Nix could feel. All his fears vanished as he stood up and braced himself against the giant golden head with one hand. He was flying! He felt an urge to spread out his own arms and feel the wind rushing past them but a deep sense of gravity stopped him.
Behind him he felt the great wings thrust down on the air and he turned to see them fold up a little as the ship rose even faster. Up above them a speck of black appeared and grew larger by the second. Soon he could make out the jagged underneath of a large island.
The ship’s wings were beating more than they rose higher. It seemed that the ship was going slower as it rose, as if the effort were tiring. As the edge of the island came into view a huge field of yellow flowers drew Nix’s attention. He had never seen so many sunflowers in one place.
MoonDancer hovered a little before changing direction and heading straight for the yellow flowers. The ship skimmed over the top of the flowers in the field that seemed to go on forever. After several minutes Nix could make out the end of the field where it was lined by a row of tall trees. The ship slowed as it approached the trees.
'I wonder if the drifter would tell me how I can become one too,' Nix muttered to himself as the dragon ship settled to the ground.
It will never happen.
MoonDancer sounded so certain that Nix wondered how the ship could know, but there was a lot more to take his attention at that moment. MoonDancer's great wings were folding up and her tail swung around to re-join to the sides of the ship. Seconds later the ship hovered; looking more like a ship than a dragon again.
Nix looked over the side of the ship and saw they were still in the field of yellow flowers.
'Drifter! Take us closer to the house,' Master Tobuk's voice bellowed from below.
'Get out of my flowers!' An angry shout drew his attention away from the ship and its passengers. At the edge of the field stood a girl dressed in muddy trousers and tunic. A large floppy hat covered most of her face but from what Nix could see, she was very upset.
'MoonDancer, could you take us to the house, please?' Nix whispered so that Master Tobuk would not hear his voice.
The ship began to move forward, mowing down flowers and leaving a path of destruction behind it. The girl was waving her arms at them and yelling but the noise of the plants being cut down was much louder and Nix couldn't hear her.
'Can't you fly over them?' Nix hissed near the head of the ship.
Not without my wings, and I am tired.
Nix wondered how a magical ship could be tired, but he sighed and decided it wasn't worth the effort of asking as they had reached the edge of the flower field. They glided right past the furious girl who was staring after them with dislike.
After a narrow miss going through some trees, they emerged out onto a manicured lawn. It stretched up a slope and towards a magnificent house that glittered with glass and gold. The ship stopped again and sank down to almost touch the ground. Nix had the feeling that this was as close as it was going to take them.
‘This will do, I suppose,’ Master Tobuk snapped as he strode across the deck of the ship – followed by the mayors who didn’t want to be left out. As Nix stepped down the tail he saw the charm master and mayors were already well ahead of him. It didn’t matter for he had no intention of following them any further.
He searched the manicured lawn for a stone. It took a minute to find one and even then it was much smaller than he wanted. He scratched an N on it with his pocket knife, squeezed it tight in his hand for a few seconds then tucked it away in his pocket. This was one memory he wanted to relive!
The girl from the field of flowers was heading his way. She walked at a pace that said she had a lot of anger to use up. He looked over at the group about to enter the house. Maybe he should catch up with them after all? No doubt he had just caused the girl a lot of work repairing the field and she wanted someone to blame.
‘Who gave you permission to come to this island?’ she bellowed before she even reached Nix. Her hat had fallen back and she brushed her dark brown hair out of her face. Her pale cheeks were red and her brown eyes flashed with anger.
‘I just do what I’m told,’ Nix replied in his defence and pointed up to the house.
‘You’re a bit young to be a drifter,’ the girl stated, and narrowed her eyes as she stared at him. She was a little shorter than Nix but about the same age.
SunSeeker leaves.
Nix turned to see what the ship was talking about. Off in the distance Nix saw a second dragon ship. It was heading for the edge of the island at a very fast pace. As he watched, the dragon ship took flight and vanished down over the sides of Chosen Isle.
He turned back to face the girl and saw her expression had changed. She was staring at where the ship had left the island and looked very confused.
‘Where has he gone?’ she said to herself as she brushed past Nix, not seeming interested in him at all now. Nix wasn’t sure if she meant the dragon ship or someone on it, but he decided it would be better not to know. Whatever it was, it looked like he wasn’t the only one in trouble today.
She took several steps towards the house, and then turned back to Nix. ‘Come with me. You still have some explaining to do.’
Nix had assumed she was a servant of some kind, what with her working in the field and covered in mud. However, her voice and manner told a different story.
Nix followed the girl up to the house and through the main gilded doors then along countless echoing hallways. She kept up a swift pace and Nix was pleased when she slowed and came to a stop outside a room with huge doors that rose to the high ceiling.
Nix hung back a little as she thrust open the doors and entered without any hesitation. Inside the room were half a dozen people, four of which he had brought to the Isle. Apart from the charm master and the mayors, there were two others. One was a middle-aged woman, with immaculate hair, nails and clothes. If she hadn’t moved just then Nix would have thought her to be an oversized doll.
The other occupant of the room was an older man. He was standing by a large window that looked out onto the lawn and he was leaning on the window frame for support. He coughed and it sounded as tired as he looked. His thinning grey hair only just covered his wrinkled head and his rheumy green eyes sunk deep into his sagging face. Nix was surprised that the old man had the strength to stand.
‘Father, Drew has taken the ship again’, the girl said, interrupting Master Tobuk who had been speaking to the older man.
Nix’s eyebrow rose a little. This was her father? He looked a little closer and saw that his first impressions hadn’t been quite right. Yes, the man looked old and feeble, but it was more the ageing of one who has been sick or led a hard life.
He looked around at the opulent room and decided that it hadn’t been a hard life that had robbed this man of his youthful looks so soon.
The man turned from the window and lowered himself into a soft armchair. He picked up a parchment from the table next to him and held it up. Nix recognised it as the scroll he had sent by pigeon that morning.
‘This arrived a few hours ago, Melise,’ he said and held the parchment out to his daughter.
Melise looked at the visitors with a hint of mistrust and then strode over to take the parchment. She scanned the words and a glint of excitement lit her eyes as she lowered the parchment.
‘The time has come at last,’ she said, sounding delighted. ‘And Drew has gone off to search for the source of the charms.’
Her father looked pained as he began to reply but a coughing fit robbed him of his speech. He sucked in air as the coughing subsided but looked over at the woman to speak for him.
‘Your brother has run away,’ the woman said in a blunt tone. ‘He did not want to take on the role of the Chosen One.’
Nix could tell that Melise was shocked. Her eyebrows lowered a little as she turned to stare out the window as if expecting her brother to return at any second.
‘He wouldn’t,’ she argued. ‘You must be mistaken, mother. It is what our family has been destined for. We’ve waited over two hundred years, with the title being passed from father to son.’
‘Not everyone shares you passion for conflict, nor your dislike of dragons,’ Melise’s father said as he caught his breath.
‘But he will be the one to defeat the dragons single-handed.’ Melise looked as if she couldn’t believe anyone would be uninspired by such a task.
Nix watched as the short, dark-haired girl paced the room, looking confused and upset. What had surprised him the most was that she had spoken about dragons as if they were real? He wished he could speak up and ask what she had been talking about but he thought it best if he remained at the back of the room. He did not want Master Tobuk to take any notice of him.
‘Defeat the dragons?’ one of the mayors asked in the silence that followed. ‘What dragons?’
It seemed Nix was not the only one to be in the dark and he waited for someone to answer.
‘I think it would be best to show them the paintings,’ Melise’s mother suggested. ‘Jaston, don’t let Drew get too far away.’
‘My son may think he has run off to avoid his duty but the ships answer first to me,’ Jaston said, pulling himself up with an effort. Then he turned to look out the window. ‘SunSeeker, bring him home.’
Jaston led the way from the room and they all followed as the Chosen One walked down the main hallway. At the last door, he turned to the right and they entered a room with more windows looking out on the landscape of the large island. In the centre of the room was a long table, set for the evening meal and servants were hurrying back and forth with platters of food.
But it wasn’t the view from the windows, nor the sumptuous feast that drew his attention. Along the back wall of the room were a series of paintings and Jaston was leading them towards the one furthest to the left.
The painting they stopped in front of was very large and stretched from floor to ceiling. Nix stepped back a few paces to be able to see the images all at once. The painting was so well done it looked as if he were viewing a real scene through some magical window.
The picture showed a village market place. Busy with trading and children running about causing trouble. In the distance was a lake so big the far side could not be seen. High in the sky were dozens of dragons in flight. Some of them were golden and others were flecked with white, red and gold. They looked similar to the dragon ship that had brought them here. A few were belching flames and seemed to be diving towards the people below.
Then Nix noticed that some expressions of the people were of terror as they looked up at the advancing dragons.
‘Which island is that,’ Mayor Joran asked as if looking for some clue in the scenery.
‘We have no idea,’ Melise’s mother answered with a shrug. ‘Some parts look familiar but we have never seen an island quite like it.’
Before the mayor could ask more questions, Jaston cleared his throat to get their attention.
‘Back several hundred years ago dragons ruled the skies and they ruled the people as well,’ he paused to let them view the picture further before continuing. ‘Anyone who opposed them was never seen again. We grew fields of sunflowers for them, nurtured acres of fruit trees and lived in fear of their terrible tempers.’
He shuffled sideways and drew them to look at the next painting. This one showed a similar village, but there were no dragons in the sky. However the people still looked worried and fearful.
‘At the height of their powers the dragons could appear in the form of anything or any creature that they wished to,’ Jaston explained. ‘Nobody knew if their neighbours were in fact dragons, looking for those who would speak ill of them.’
Nix looked at the faces, trying to see if he could tell any difference between any of them but if there had been any, the artist had not shown it in his painting.
‘One man was brave enough to take on the entire dragon clan,’ Jaston said and Nix realised that they had all gone onto the third painting. He moved over and saw a picture of a man standing in front of a crowd – holding up one arm in triumph.
‘That is Endrew, my ancestor,’ Melise said, beaming with pride. ‘He was chosen to defeat the dragons.’
‘What is he holding?’ Master Tobuk asked. He leaned forward to squint at the picture and blocked Nix’s view.
‘The dragons’ power came from a single object – the star stone. Endrew used it to defeat them,’ Jaston replied, pulling Master Tobuk back from the painting.
Nix looked closer and tried to see what Endrew was holding but all he could see was a bright glow around the young man’s hand.
‘Without their charms they were no match for Endrew. Six were kept to serve humans in the form of dragon ships.’
The last painting showed six dragon ships hovering behind Endrew.
‘So why are the islands falling now?’ one of the mayors asked.
For the first time, Jaston looked a little concerned as he turned away from the paintings. Everyone except Nix turned and followed. He stared at the paintings, amazed that there was such a history that nobody knew about and that MoonDancer had once been a real dragon.
‘This was foretold by Endrew, but he wasn’t sure it would ever happen,’ Jaston said with a frown.
‘What did the prophecy say?’ one of the mayors asked, goggle-eyed at what he was hearing.
‘When the last star begins to fade,
All charms will be unmade.
All lands will bow to the ones of gold,
For they will rise to their place of old.’
Jaston recited as if it were a rhyme had learned as a child.
‘What does that mean?’ Master Tobuk asked.
‘The last star must be the star stone that Endrew used to defeat the dragons,’ Jaston replied with a nod as if agreeing with his own words. ‘And the dragons will rise to power again when the stone has faded away.’
‘And the chosen one can defeat the dragons?’ Mayor Joran asked.
‘So it is written,’ Melise answered. ‘And there may be more than just six dragon ships that return to dragon form.’
‘History tells us that the dragons were defeated but not how. We don’t know what happened to them,’ Jaston added. ‘They may well all come back.’
‘We will have to find a way to fight them. Our family are direct descendants of Endrew,’ Melise said, standing a little taller. ‘We are charged with that duty.’
‘And that time has come,’ Jaston said with a sigh.
