Warding Song

Upon returning, Eleyna retrieved her belongings from that fancy room. To her relief, everything was there, including the locket. If she’d lost it again …

“Miss Brigitte?” Eleyna jumped and spun on her heel. A maid was standing in the doorway. “Beg your pardon, Miss. My name’s Frances; Sir Lever asked me to show you to your room,” she explained. “If you’d like to follow me?”

“Oh. Yes,” she nodded. Frances led her to the front hall, up a curving marble staircase, along the corridor and up a smaller spiral staircase. They were in one of those towers, she realised. At the top, Frances pushed the door open for her and Eleyna stepped through into a beautiful circular bedroom.

It had a plush cream carpet, and alabaster walls decorated with golden vines and pink flowers; a four-poster bed with curtains, a wardrobe, and a mirror placed above a chest of drawers, with a padded bench in front of it. A pair of intricately filigreed windows stood on either side of the room; one overlooking the front lawn and the ocean beyond, another overlooking the garden.

Frances showed her how to open the windows. Eleyna could just see Acora past the outcrop from here. That was comforting. “Would you like me to run you a bath, Miss?” inquired Frances. At her puzzled glance, the maid led her to an alcove near the bed, and down steps Eleyna hadn’t realised were there.

The steps led to a bathroom, lit by candles set in blue chalcedony sconces. Merely gazing at them relaxed and cheered her; they were mildly charged, and thin enough that the candlelight shone through, bathing the room in a blue light.

Her gaze was drawn to a bath large enough to lie down in. Frances turned on the taps. Water gushed out. “We can have your clothes washed, if you’d like.”

Glancing at her stained shirt, she replied: “I don’t have anything else to wear.”

“You can borrow clothes from the wardrobe; they belong to Sir Lever’s granddaughter,” explained Frances. Whilst she filled the bath, Eleyna looked through the wardrobe. After pushing aside several frilly gowns, she found a light blue shift dress with a scalloped hem. It was about the right size, and after a bit of rummaging in the drawers, she found fresh underclothes too.

Eleyna carried the garments into the bathroom. The bath was full, with a heap of frothy bubbles floating on top. Frances hung a towel on the rail behind it. “Just leave your clothes on the steps, Miss, and I’ll take them to the laundry room,” she instructed, before leaving Eleyna to undress and climb in the tub.

She sighed in relief, submerging herself in hot water. She’d once made do with a spluttering lukewarm shower, or none at all; this was luxury. Eleyna reclined, closed her eyes and let all of her worries be gently washed away.

After her bath, Eleyna dressed and went in search of Anton. He was in the front hall, and looked up when she came downstairs. “Ah, there you are! How do you like the room?” he inquired, smiling. “That dress suits you, by the way.”

“Thanks. Your granddaughter won’t mind me wearing her clothes, will she?”

“Oh, yes, it’s fine. You may keep the dress, if you like. I can always buy her another.”

Eleyna blinked, and looked down at her outfit. “I can just … have it? For free?”

Anton replied, “By all means. Is something amiss?”

“No, it’s just … I’ve never had new clothes before.” She looked up at him. “Thank you.”

“You’re welcome, my dear girl. Now, we have a little time before dinner is served, so I thought perhaps you’d like a tour of my collection,” he suggested, pushing open one of two large double doors beside him.

Curious, she followed him into a massive room that took up most of the ground floor. It was filled with glass cases, in which stood the artefacts he had collected. Towards the back of the room, Eleyna thought she noticed bones.

There were unfamiliar outfits hung on mannequins. “These are the traditional clothes and armour of various native tribes from the archipelago and the western mainland,” Anton explained. He let her wander amongst them, peering through the glass. There were two mannequins inside one case; the first wore a loincloth, the other a chest wrap and skirt, both made of woven fibres.

Another case had mannequins with skirts made of dried grass. It didn’t look comfortable. One mannequin wore a diamond-patterned shirt made of padded linen. It was a type of armour, he said, although she doubted it was effective armour. The mannequin wore a helmet decorated to look a bit like a dragon.

Eleyna came across a mannequin wearing long purple robes, its‘face’ covered with a golden mask. “I recognise that. The pirates stole it, didn’t they?”

“Yes, and smashed the case whilst they were at it. But this is truly fascinating. These were worn by the priests of a religious cult known as the House of Splendor. They lived in Nyro, and believed gold was a manifestation of their god of fortune, and wore these masks to honour him. The purple likely represents prosperity or prestige, as purple dye is rare and difficult to obtain.”

The mask gave her the creeps. “What happened to them?” Eleyna wondered.

“This mask was recovered from an abandoned village. Judging by the skeletons found there, a disease may have wiped out all but a few survivors.”

The mention of skeletons reminded her of the bones she’d glimpsed further in. Eleyna saw a stuffed cockatrice, its iridescent feathered wings permanently splayed, its snake-like tail curled around the stand.

Further along was a feather encased in glass, that looked as if it was made of gold. She paused to admire it, wondering how much it was worth, and peered at the label beneath the glass, which read ‘Alicanto feather’.

Stranger still was the claw mounted on a nearby stand. It was labelled “Chupacabra claw’; she supposed that was another kind of dragon.

Eleyna stumbled to a halt when she saw a small draconic skeleton arranged on another stand. The label read “Fire Agate – juvenile.”

She shuddered. All she could see was a smaller, more vulnerable Acora; and how strange it was, to see a dragon nearer her size! Quickly, she cast about for a distraction, and noticed one straight away; the enormous rib mounted on the far wall. The label read ‘leviathan bone’. “Anton? Is this a dragon’s rib?” she inquired.

He strolled over. “It’s possible that a leviathan is a kind of sea dragon. Or it may be a large species of whale. Nobody has ever seen one alive, you see; only found the occasional bone washed ashore during storms. Either way it’s impressive, isn’t it?” he remarked. Eleyna nodded, gazing at the enormous rib.

Mr Carrow called Anton. He left her to explore the collection alone. Eleyna wandered idly amongst the cases and stands, until her gaze was drawn to the right-hand wall. The glass cases had been removed; there was a rope cordoning the area off. All that remained were wooden pedestals, which held various healing crystals and other gemstones in every hue of the rainbow.

They were carved into statuettes. A citrine King, carnelian Judge, amethyst Knight … she recognised the Celestial Triarchy, but the rest were unfamiliar.

As she admired the gemstones, Eleyna’s gaze was drawn to a nondescript metal door. Curious, she made her way towards it, ducking under the rope barrier without a second thought. The door was locked, but Eleyna noticed a closed hatch set into the metal, just above her head. She stood on tiptoes and slid the hatch open, craning her neck to peer through the square of glass.

The room beyond was small. For a moment it looked like there was nothing inside … then she caught a glimpse of a pedestal topped with a glass case, no different to the ones in this room, and held within was a single jet-black crystal.

A black crystal? She had never heard of such a thing, much less seen one. It had been carved like the statuettes, but was rough and unfinished. She could make out the shape of a figure on a chair; those protrusions on top might be a crown, its face was skull-like, and in its hand could be a sceptre, or a sword.

Despite the lack of detail, Eleyna recognised the figure immediately. It was the Skeleton King she had hallucinated. Her hand reached for the doorknob …

“No!” Anton exclaimed, startling her. She saw him striding towards her as quickly as his bad leg would allow. “Come away from there at once, girl,” he ordered. Eleyna hastily retreated, flinching when Anton slammed the window hatch shut once more, his mild-mannered demeanour gone. Yet he didn’t appear to be angry; at least, not at her. Rather, if anything he looked scared.

A moment later he sighed, and pulled out a handkerchief to mop his brow. “I’m terribly sorry, but this particular item in my collection is strictly off-limits.”

Her curiosity piqued, Eleyna inquired: “Is that really a black crystal?”

“Shh!” Anton hissed, looking over his shoulder. “Please, you mustn’t speak of it. I need you to promise me that you’ll forget about this door, nor tell anyone of what you saw inside. It needs to be another of our little secrets, Eleyna. Can you do that?” he asked her, laying a hand on her shoulder.

She remembered the alarm on his face when he had caught her spying through the hatch, and nodded slowly. “I promise not to tell anyone else.”

“Splendid. Now then, I think that’s more than enough excitement for one day. Come, dinner is ready,” he declared, guiding her away from the metal door. The further away she walked, the less Eleyna had to resist the urge to look back. Even so, it was hard not to wonder about what she had seen …

The dining room had a cream gold marble floor, and a glittering chandelier above the mahogany table. Eleyna merely stared, mouth watering, at the meal laid out before them. Roasted cuts of sirloin pork, a bowl of mashed sweet potatoes, leafy salad, even little balls of honeydew melon. She filled her silver plate with slices of tender meat and a generous helping of everything else.

“I was looking at your crystal statues and I recognised the Celestial Triarchy, but not the other ones. One label said it was ‘The Queen’. Queen of where?”

Chuckling, Anton replied: “It’s fascinating, actually; historical records show that the gods of the Celestial Triarchy were once part of a larger pantheon, worshipped before the Empire began to grow. The other statues are of gods and goddesses in that pantheon; including the Queen, to match the King.”

Eleyna asked, “Which god is the black crystal carved into?” His smile faded. “I won’t go near it. It’s just that I didn’t know there were any black crystals.”

He sipped from his glass and didn’t meet her eyes. “It isn’t a crystal; at least, not the sort of crystal you’re thinking of,” he revealed. “Trust me, the less you think of it, the better. Not even I know where it was procured. The man who sold it to me didn’t say where he had found the specimen,” explained Anton.

“I’d be happy to tell you about the old pantheon, however,” he offered. She nodded. “Once there were twelve deities, all worshipped for different things. Like the Herald, god of messengers and travel, or the Almoner, goddess of charity and healing. As the Empire grew, the King, Judge and Knight were worshipped in more capacities, and the other deities were worshipped less.”

“Is the Rogue one of the old deities?”

“Yes and no. The Rogue was worshipped then, as he is now, by criminals, and heretics … he isn’t part of the Celestial Court, as it’s known,” explained Anton. “Most of his origin myths say he tried to overthrow the King and become head god, but failed and was exiled. It’s symbolic of criminal exile from society.”

She asked slowly, “What if the myths are wrong? What if he did take over?”

“Oh, all the myths agree that the Rogue was banished,” he assured her.

The next morning, Anton bid her farewell. “Safe travels, my dear,” he smiled. “I do hope you’ll return someday and share what you’ve discovered with me.”

“I will,” Eleyna nodded, “and thank you, for everything.” He squeezed her hand between both of his. “Are you sure I won’t get you in trouble?” she asked.

“Fear not; as I said, I have connections with the capital’s Imperial Guard.”

Mr Carrow opened the door. “Thank you,” she said politely, stepping through and walking down the path to the gates. The guards pulled them aside, and Eleyna headed towards the outcrop. Acora was pleased to see her. “I missed you. I stayed awake for as long as I could, but I still fell asleep,” she admitted.

“Don’t worry,” Eleyna assured her, hoisting herself onto the cloak that served as a saddle. “I don’t know about you, but I’m ready to go back to Entedines and see our treasure.”Acora purred, spread her wings and leapt into the air.

They rested on Hove Island. Eleyna looked over the edge of the cliff at the beach, with its rock-infested waters. Peering closer, she could make out the incongruous length of a leaning mast and limp, waterlogged sail. “Acora, look,” she called, pointing. “You can still see the boat I shipwrecked here on.”

“I watched you for ages, trying to figure out what you were doing. I thought you were hunting me,” she admitted, lying down on the sun-warmed stone.

Eleyna scoffed. “As if I could do that; and besides, how do you think I felt? When I first realised you were here, I thought you were gonna eat me!”

Acora shrugged. “I wouldn’t eat you, Eleyna. You’d be too bony.”

“Oi!” Eleyna glared, hands on hips. “And to think I made friends with you!”

They both giggled. Acora asked, “What is that black firestone called?” Eleyna had just been taking a swig from her bottle; the water sprayed everywhere.

Coughing, she finally caught her breath enough to ask, “What black firestone?”

“The black firestone you used to set a plant on fire up here, when we first met,”Acora explained. “I tried to use it to breathe fire, but I couldn’t get it to work.”

“Oh, that. It’s called flint, and it’s not a firestone – what we humans call crystals. It’s just a rock. I think it’s got bits of crystal in it, but maybe not enough for you to breathe fire with it,” she suggested. “But hey, once we get some of that treasure, you’ll have all the firestones you could ask for, right?”

“I hope the Great Knower will let me use some of them; most dragons don’t share their hoards,” remarked Acora. “Especially not high-ranking ones.”

“Yeah, well, the Great Knower isn’t like most dragons,” her friend shrugged.

They island-hopped to Atanes. Acora landed where she had once waited for a chance to rescue her friend. Early in the morning, Eleyna took her spyglass and climbed to the top of the hill, peering through it at San Nicolas. Acora joined her and offered, “I’ll keep watch for a while, if you want.” She shook her head.

“I was trying to see if I could see my old home from here,” she admitted.

Acora’s head tilted as she looked at the town. “Was this your nesting place?”

“It’s called San Nicolas. Me and Aunt Cat lived there,” Eleyna pointed, “near the dock. There was a market my friends and I would nick food from, I’d go swimming in the bay … ” she swallowed a lump in her throat. “I miss this place.”

Crooning, Acora remarked, “I miss my home, too. My friends and I would play hide and seek, listen to our parents tell stories … did your aunt tell you stories?”

“Maybe, when I was little. I don’t remember.” Eleyna sighed. “I used to think she was only taking care of me because my mum asked her to; but the night everything changed, Aunt Cat distracted the guards so I could escape. She didn’t have to do that. If it weren’t for her, I wouldn’t have ended up on Hove Island, and we never would have met. I just wish I could have saved her.”

Acora crooned. “I know how you feel. I wish I could have saved Chirr-See.”

Eleyna hugged her friend. Tears pricked her eyes. “Acora? Promise me that if I start taking you for granted, you’ll tell me what an idiot I’m being, alright?”

Snorting, Acora replied: “Only if you promise to tell me the same.”

“It’s a deal.” Eleyna looked back at the town. “I don’t think anyone’s coming; we would have seen them. Go catch some fish; then we’ll keep going, yeah?”Acora crept away from the hill to spread her wings and leap into the air.

At last, Madines appeared on the horizon. Acora set down on the near side of the mountain and stretched her aching wings. “I just need to rest for a little bit,” she promised, “and then we can fly back to the Great Knower’s lair.”

Eleyna insisted, “You can rest for as long as you like. It’s not as if we’re in a hurry, anyway. I was planning to stay for a while; I need to give this cloak back to Brigitte. You don’t have to fly, but can we walk down there? To her treehouse, I mean. I don’t really feel like climbing around a mountainside.”

“I’ll carry you.”Acora set off in search of the stream. “Why doesn’t your friend live with all those other humans in the nest – I mean, town – on the shore?”

“I think it’s to be mysterious,” said Eleyna. “Or maybe she dislikes the smell.”

“I don’t blame her. What about that grey staring human? He’s creepy.”

“Oh. Er … Sam isn’t a human. He’s a petramort. It’s hard to explain.”

She looked back, eyes narrowed. “You don’t want to tell me, do you?”

“I do! It’s just … look, even I don’t really know how it works; but trust me, Sam’s harmless. He just does whatever Brigitte tells him to do.” They reached the forest’s edge. “I can walk from here, if you want. I just have to follow the river.”

“I don’t want you to walk. It’s a long way, and besides, I can just fly you there.”

“But your wings are tired; and I want to stretch my legs. Acora, I’ll be fine.”

“The last time I let you walk into this forest alone, you were captured,” she retorted, spreading her wings and bracing herself to leap into the air.

Eleyna jumped down and scoffed. “You’re being paranoid. Nobody is out here to capture me. No one followed us; and last time wasn’t my fault! I was only caught because you got spooked and flew off,” she retorted. Acora flinched.

A second later, her words caught up with her. “Oh. Oh no, Acora, I’m sorry,” she said hastily. “I didn’t mean it, honest. It wasn’t your fault, I shouldn’t have said that. I was being stupid, and a bad friend, and I’m really sorry.”

“You were being stupid,” agreed Acora, crouching down. “For what you said, and for wanting to walk. You can ‘stretch your legs’ when we get there, okay?”

Eleyna grinned, and climbed onto her shoulders again. Acora purred, and leapt into the air. She flew over the forest, looking for the colourful tree.

It wasn’t hard to find. Landing in the river wasn’t difficult; the branches were still broken, so she had more room, and reared so that Eleyna could scramble onto the platform. “Thanks, Acora,” she smiled, arms full of the cloak.

“You’re welcome,”Acora chirped. She heard a voice, although the words were incomprehensible. She ignored the humans and lowered her head to drink from the river swirling around her paws. Thirst slaked, Acora lay half in the water and half out, resting her jaw on the broad buttress-root of a nearby tree.

“Eleyna?” She turned to see Brigitte standing behind her.

“Hi, Brigitte. I brought your cloak back,” she greeted. The shaman took it from her. “Thanks for letting me borrow it. Oh, I got the locket back! Eventually,” she sighed. “It wasn’t in the pawnshop, because the guards had confiscated it. So I broke into the guardhouse, and they didn’t have the locket either! They’d sent it to this antiquarian, called Anton Lever. I saw his address and went to his manor, and he told me the locket had been stolen by pirates,” she huffed, rolling her eyes.

Brigitte’s lips twitched in an imperceptible smirk … then she frowned, and inquired: “This man, you spoke to him? I didn’t expect you to take such a risk.”

“Neither did I,” Eleyna said wryly. Then she blushed. “I used your name.”

To her relief, Brigitte looked amused. “How flattering. You spoke of pirates?”

“They knew who I was. People have started calling me ‘The Dragon Pirate’.”

Brigitte inclined her head. “A fitting title.”

“Not really. Just because I stole a dinghy, doesn’t make me a pirate. I’ve never even robbed a ship. Acora doesn’t count; I didn’t steal her, I rescued her.”

With an enigmatic smile, Brigitte replied: “Perhaps you’ll find yourself claiming that title sooner than you think, child. After all, piracy is in your blood.”

“Brigitte, did you know there’s such a thing as black crystals?” Eleyna asked curiously. “Anton had one in his collection, but he wouldn’t tell me about it.”

“I’ve heard rumours,” answered Brigitte. “If you’re wondering, I don’t have one. But you trust this man? What if he were to realise who and what you are?”

“He already does,” she admitted, “but he has a reason not to betray me. He thinks my locket is from some kind of mystery cult; I’m his best chance to learn more about it. I’ll show him anything interesting I find, and he won’t tell the Imperials. Besides, if he does try anything, Acora will be there,” she declared.

“He had all these crystals, carved into deities like the King, Judge and Knight. Only he said there used to be twelve of them, a whole pantheon. The black crystal looked like it was carved too, except whoever carved it didn’t finish it.” She recalled the misshapen skeleton king, and shuddered.

“You think it was meant to be carved in the image of one of these old gods?”

“I think so. I just wish I knew which god.”

“I do wonder why you would be so interested in this.”

“After George stabbed me, I had a vision, or dream, or whatever, of a skeletal King … that’s who the black crystal was going to be carved into. I know it is,” she declared. “There was already a statue of the King; this other god must be an – an imposter, or something. I just want to understand who – or what – it was.”

She expected Brigitte to dismiss the whole matter as a hallucination. Instead, the shaman’s gaze became distant … Then she shook her head, advising: “You would do well not to meddle in what you don’t understand. There may well be a good reason that the man didn’t tell you about his black crystal.”

“But that’s just it! I don’t understand, so I need to know more. I don’t suppose you could use your shaman powers to sense who or what it is?”

Chuckling, Brigitte replied: “It doesn’t work like that. I have no answers for you … but I can give you some advice. First, be careful. Spirits, gods … these are not entities Acora can protect you from,” Brigitte cautioned her. “Second, if you wish to know more about this black crystal, you should find out where it came from. Discover its origin, and you may yet discover its secrets.”

“I’ll figure it out,” Eleyna declared, “and I’ll be careful. Both of us will.”

“Good. Oh, before it slips my mind; you do still have the amulet I sold you?”

“Well, given you mislaid the other necklace,” she teased slyly, and laughed at Eleyna’s blush. “Keep it close. You never know when you may need it.”

“I needed it before and it didn’t work. You said the amulet would protect me from evil. It didn’t protect me from getting arrested – or stabbed.”

“And I never told you it would. The amulet protects you from malevolent auras; and even if it did ward off such a vague thing as ‘evil’, it wouldn’t help you evade the law. My charms are made to fend off more … immaterial threats.”

They both shared a moment of contemplation.

“I should be going,” Eleyna decided. “Acora and I should be able to make it to Alalanes before sunset. We’reso close to our goal now; I can feel it.”

“Very well then,” replied Brigitte. “You are always welcome to return here should you wish. Here,” she offered the cloak to Eleyna. “Take it with you. I only asked you to bring it back so I’d know you were alive. I think you need this more than I do,” she claimed, pushing the fabric into Eleyna’s arms.

She looked down at it, then up at her friend, and smiled. “Thank you.”

“Are you sure we’ll be safe here?”Acora asked warily. “What if they attack us?”

“What if who attacks us? You mean the locals? They don’t know we’re here, and they wouldn’t attack even if they did,” she shrugged, dismissive. “Besides, the worst they could do is try to poke you with sharp wooden sticks. Scary.”

“Didn’t you tell me the humans here don’t like you anymore?”

“A lot of people don’t like me anymore.”

“Yes, and other humans who don’t like you want to kill you,” she pointed out. Eleyna opened her mouth, and closed it again. Acora purred smugly.

Eleyna rolled her eyes. “They aren’t going to try and kill me. They aren’t even going to attack. I’d like to see them try,” she sneered. “Trust me, nothing’s going to happen. We’ll rest here tonight, and tomorrow, we’ll get our treasure.”

Whilst Eleyna slept, Acora dozed, unwilling to let her guard down. The crack of gunfire woke her. Her eyes snapped open, and a snarl creased her jaws. She kept one wing over Eleyna and scented the air for their attackers. No humans were upwind of them. More gunshots rang out, and Eleyna stirred at last.

“Huh? Wha… ” she yawned. “What’s going on?” Another distant crack made her flinch and scramble to her feet, grabbing her cutlass as if that would help.

“I don’t know!”Acora hissed back. “I can hear guns, but nobody is attacking us. The noise is coming from over there,” she added, gesturing in the direction of the village. Eleyna realised what must be happening, and her blood ran cold.

“It’s a raid. The locals, they’re the ones being attacked. Come on,” she urged. “We have to help them. Let’s get a better look.” Eleyna climbed back onto Acora’s shoulders, and her dragon took off, rattling the treetops.

The village wasn’t far away. Acora backwinged and hovered, wary of getting too close. Eleyna pulled out her spyglass and looked through it at the scene unfolding below them. She expected to see pirates rushing towards the village, shooting anyone in their way. Instead, bursts of white smoke were coming from the edge of the forest and from the sides of the huts.

It took her a moment to realise the natives were firing muskets. Where did they get those? Eleyna wondered, but now wasn’t the time. A native warrior fell to a well-aimed shot. “They’re gonna get massacred if we don’t help them,” she feared, looking for the pirates’ ship. It was docked at the end of a stone pier she could have sworn hadn’t been there last time. It also looked familiar …

“Those are the same pirates from before! I need you to get their attention,” Eleyna prompted, holding on tight. Acora dived, roaring at the top of her lungs. It drowned out the noise of the gunshots, or perhaps they had all stopped firing. Eleyna looked down, and saw the pirates staring or pointing up at her.

So far, so good. “Fly over their ship. Act like you’re going to burn it!”

Acora circled above the vessel, breathing fire near the mast. Eleyna could see that it was nowhere near; but from the island it would seem far too close. The pirates out on deck fired muskets at them, so Acora pulled herself up out of range. “Good job,” Eleyna praised breathlessly, and looked back towards the shore. To her relief, the other pirates were fleeing back to their ship.

One of them shook a fist in the air at her and Acora. “Good riddance. I’ll bet they think twice before trying to raid this village again,” she declared. Once the pirates were on their way, Acora landed in front of the village. She braced to leap again a moment later, as the natives aimed muskets at them both.

Chief Haulani spoke to his warriors in Dejerese. They lowered their weapons, holding the long barrels as they would a spear. The warriors wore Imperial armour over their usually bare chests. Haulani addressed Eleyna. “You should not have interfered,” he told her. “We can defend ourselves.”

“I was trying to help,” she protested. “Those pirates ran away because of us! If you don’t want to thank me, you should at least thank Acora.”

He inclined his head to the dragon. “We are grateful for his aid – ”

“Her aid. I, uh, got her gender wrong. Chief Haulani, we were just trying to – ”

“We can’t rely on your dragon. The consequences of your actions will rebound on us. Thanks to George Liddan, we have aid and weapons from the Imperial Navy. He kept his word to us. I suggest that you keep yours, and know when you are not wanted. In return, I will not tell the Imperials of your presence.”

She flinched. “Fine. We’re going. Don’t blame us when the Imperials take over your village, Chief,” she added spitefully, climbing back onto Acora’s shoulders.

“What did he say?”Acora inquired. “You said my name.”

“I told him he should thank you for helping, but they don’t want our help,” replied Eleyna. Looking down at the village, she made out the foundations of a building near the new pier. Men were laying bricks to build a wall, sawing planks for a floor. “It doesn’t matter now. C’mon; let’s go see our treasure.”

When Entedines appeared on the horizon, Acora let out a roar of triumph, and Eleyna cheered. Her enthusiasm was tempered a little by the sight of those shipwrecks; it reminded her of things she’d rather not think about. Acora landed outside the tunnel that led to the Great Knower’s lair. “Are you ready?”

Eleyna shivered with anticipation. She took a deep breath. “You know, after all the time I spent trying to get here, trying to get the locket back … I almost can’t believe this is actually happening. It doesn’t seem real,” she admitted.

“It’s happening,”Acora reassured her. “Eleyna, listen … after we’ve claimed our share of the hoard, I want to fly back home. It’s something I think I need to do.”

Eleyna patted her friend’s neck. “Okay. But first, let’s go and see this hoard,” she declared. Acora entered the tunnel. As they moved towards the inner chamber, she retrieved the locket from her rucksack and gripped it tightly.

The Great Knower was asleep when she and Acora emerged into his cavern. Eleyna looked around. In the corner of her eye, a miniature dragon peeked out from a ledge; but when she looked properly, it was only a golden statuette. There were many of them, she realised, in a row. “Acora, look up there!”

She pointed up at the statuettes. Acora looked. “Oh, those are the Great Knower’s dragon idols. He showed them to me the last time we were here.”

The Great Knower stirred. His nostrils flared, and one eye cracked open. He rose to his paws and loomed over them. “I presume you were successful. Present the locket to me,” he ordered. Eleyna prised open the locket and held it up to him in her palms. He peered at it closely. “The words are new,” the Great Knower remarked, “but this is the right locket. You are worthy.” He began to turn away from them.

“Wait!” Eleyna called. “Can I look at your idols?”

“That is my personal collection, and off limits to humans … but yes. I have an affinity for the quaint attempts you humans make to depict my kind.” He sounded patronising, but she didn’t dare say that.

Curious, she clambered up Acora’s neck. Acora reared so they both had a better view. There was an alcove carved out of the stone, with idols arranged like sentinels, made of stone, gold, steel, copper and crystal. They depicted dragons as snarling beasts or elegant creatures, or were so stylised that if Eleyna didn’t know they were dragons, she wouldn’t have been able to tell.

“What’s that one made of?”Acora wondered, nudging her snout towards an idol carved of what looked like cream-coloured stone. “It gives me the creeps.”

“That’s because it is made of dragon bone,” Knower replied bluntly. “If it makes you feel better, I have an idol that is made of human bone. I do not care what the idols are made of. Unless they are made out of wood, of course.”

His dismissiveness gave Eleyna the creeps far more than any carving. “If you should come across any dragon idols in your travels, I would like to see them,” he informed her.

“I’ll keep that in mind. Please, may I see the rest of your hoard?”

“You may.” Knower moved with surprising grace through a tunnel behind him. Acora dropped back to all fours and lowered her head for Eleyna to dismount, gesturing for her friend to walk through the tunnel ahead of her. Eleyna tucked the locket away, took a deep breath, and strode after the Great Knower.

Beyond the tunnel lay a massive cavern, shaped like a dome and illuminated by fires. In the centre lay a vast pit, filled to the brim with treasure; gold, silver, crystals in every hue of the rainbow. Eleyna’s jaw dropped to the stone floor.

The Great Knower let out a chuckle. “You humans always make the most ridiculous expressions when you see my hoard,” he remarked. Eleyna shut her mouth, embarrassed and a bit insulted. “There is more to look at in here,” he went on, gesturing with his snout.

She followed his gaze to the walls, noticing the ledge that curved around it. Carved out of the stone were archways flanked by dishes of oil; alcoves leading to other chambers. The ledge was at Knower’s eye level – provided he was lying down. So a human could stand on the ledge and speak to him without craning their neck, but he could still loom over them if he wished.

In a moment she’d investigate what lay beyond those archways, but first she had to know … “All this treasure. I can just … take some? Whenever I want?”

“Yes,” he replied, “but you cannot just take from my hoard. You must also add to it.”

She recalled the sack full of loot that the pirate captain gave her. “Acora, c’mere,” she beckoned. Her friend crouched down; Eleyna retrieved her sack from the tattered net and untied the rope keeping it closed. Gold coins glinted at her from within. She carried it to the edge of the pit and poured the coins in; they bounced off the rest of the treasure, clattering like rain on a window.

In the first chamber lay an altar, surrounded by unlit and half-melted candles in rusted sconces. Alcoves held various idols, a golden mask like the one Anton owned and even, disturbingly, a human skull with a crown. Is that meant to be the skeleton king? She wondered, shuddering. The chamber was meant for worship, but it creeped her out.

She found an armoury and smithy in the second chamber. There were swords of every kind, muskets and pistols – all rusted and coated in dust. It made her skin crawl. “Note to self,” she muttered, “remember to polish my cutlass.”

As she poked around the armoury, Eleyna heard a faint whisper, and jumped. “Who’s there?” she called, hand on the hilt of her sword. No response. She brushed it off; a trick of the wind, no doubt. Except that there was no wind in here … then came another unintelligible whisper.

Eleyna strained her ears, but couldn’t make out anything more. “I’m imagining things,” she told herself. She couldn’t even tell where the noises were coming from. Nevertheless, she quickly moved on.

The third chamber had two caverns; in the first was an empty pantry, in the second a barracks. The mattresses and sheets had been removed, leaving only rusted frames. Between each cot stood a wardrobe. She opened the nearest one, and saw a dead rat. She slammed the door shut, and didn’t look in any of the cupboards.

“Eugh! I must’ve heard the horrid things scuttling about the armoury. That’s probably what the weird noise was,” she realised. When she tried the tap on the sink, the trickle of water was brown with rust.

That only left one archway to explore. Unlike the others, it led to a stone staircase. Eleyna found a metal door at the top. She turned the handle. It swung open.

Against one wall were two bookcases with thick, yellowed tomes. A desk and chair stood at the far wall, and beside them was a bed with the covers and pillow still there. Everything was coated in a layer of dust. It was part study, part bedroom; there was even a wardrobe. When she peeked inside, to her relief it was empty of dead rats. Yet there were still some clothes hanging up.

Hanging on the other wall were portraits of people she didn’t recognise. Eleyna wondered if they were former cult members, or maybe people who had owned the locket before she did. She looked closer at the final portrait. It was of a young woman, with dark brown eyes and a waterfall of ebony hair.

“ … Mum?” she whispered, reaching out to touch the frame. It was like looking at herself; if not for the brown eyes, she’d almost believe it to be a painting of her. “You stayed in here?” The bed was made, clothes still hung in the wardrobe, there was still a book on the desk. Wherever her mother had gone, she’d expected to return here one day. “Why didn’t you come back?”

Eleyna went downstairs. “Um, Great Knower? I found a chamber up there, with books and a bed and paintings of other people who had the locket.”

“You can have it, if you wish. Usually the captains slept in there. The books used to be in the chamber where the altar is, but there was an … incident.”

“Yes, but the paintings,” Eleyna went on. “One of them was of my mother, Nicole Skytte. She left this locket with me when I was a baby. I never got to meet her. Do you know what happened to her? Or where she went?”

Knower peered closely at her. “Of course … you were much smaller when I last saw you,” he remarked. “She gave birth to you here, long ago. She told me she would give her locket to you, and it would find its way back to me in time. It appears she was not mistaken. I last spoke to her … six years ago, I believe. She had decided to go in search of a hoard to rival mine, or so she claimed. A lost city of gold.”

Eleyna couldn’t believe what she heard. She had been born on this island … and her mother had gone searching for a myth! There were loads of stories of lost golden cities in Deloeste, but nobody had ever actually found one. Still … perhaps if she went to the mainland, she’d find out what happened to Nicole. “Thank you for telling me.”

“You’re welcome.” The Great Knower began to turn away.

“Wait!” she called, and he paused. “Earlier, you said the words in my locket are new. What did you mean?”

The Great Knower glanced back at her. “To my treasure,” he replied. “Those words weren’t etched into any of the lockets that have returned to me.”

The words are new … Eleyna opened the locket. Her mother had that phrase etched into the gold; she’d believed it was a clue, and in a way it was, but perhaps it was more than that. A message from her mother. To my treasure.

“Are you alright?” asked Acora, startling Eleyna out of her reminiscing.

“Yeah. I was just thinking.” She smiled. “This is an incredible hoard, huh?”

Acora nodded, purring. “It’s the most amazing hoard I’ve ever seen,” she agreed. “So, now that we’ve found it, what are you going to do?”

“First, we’ll go back to your nesting place and see your family. After that, who knows? We could go anywhere. There are two things I want to do, though.”

“What are they?”

“To learn more about black crystals … and find out what happened to my mother,” she declared, looking down at her locket.

“It’s been a long time,”Acora remarked. “Do you think she’s alive?”

Eleyna stiffened … then she shrugged helplessly. “Knowing my luck? She’s long gone. But if she is out there somewhere, I have to try and find her. Maybe then she’ll tell me … I mean, I understand why she asked Aunt Cat to raise me. I was just a baby. But why not come back sooner?”

Acora crooned, and suggested: “Maybe she was afraid you’d get hurt.”

“I guess … Aunt Cat said my mum was gonna come back for me when I was sixteen. But I’m sixteen now, and if she is looking for me, she won’t find me in San Nicolas. I can’t go and look for her there either; not without every Imperial in town coming after my neck.” She shuddered.

“Well, your mother used to come here, so maybe she’ll come back,”Acora reasoned. “Then you would get to meet her, and so would I.”

Eleyna grinned, reaching up to pet Acora’s snout. “Here’s hoping. I bet she’d be really impressed by you. And me, for taming you.”

“I’m not tame,”Acora said firmly. “I just play along because I like you.”

“If that’s the case, you can forget about me giving you scratches,” Eleyna warned, but she was smiling. “You know, I kept hoping that when we found this treasure, it would be worth everything we went through. I’m glad we found it, but I think meeting you, becoming your friend, the heart bind … all of that is what made the struggle worth it.”

Acora purred. “I’m glad we’re friends as well. Come and fly with me,” she offered. They walked out of the cavern together, and stood gazing out at the horizon. Eleyna climbed onto her shoulders. Acora spread her wings and leapt; warm air filled her wings, lifting her up. They soared, both content, in the space between the ocean and sky.