Journey to Rainbow Island (40 page)

A memory flashed through her mind. During an archery lesson given by her instructor, Cristobel, back on Rainbow Island, Cristobel had said, “Clear your mind before you let fly the arrow. Take a cleansing breath, and hold it—and gently let go of the bowstring. Do not
shoot
the arrow, but
release
the arrow—set it free.” Yu-ning narrowed her left eye, aimed the arrow at the dragon, and let fly. As before, the instant the arrow left the string, it flared into a brilliant yellow rod, trailing blinding light as it streaked toward the dragon's head.

Hobaling cried out, just in time for the dragon to swing its head out of the path of the flashing arrow. Yu-ning knew she had now lost the element of surprise, and she frantically fumbled for another arrow. As she lowered it into place, she saw that Hobaling was almost upon her. He had raced across the ledge faster than she could have imagined, and she had little time to react. She let the arrow fly, but it banged harmlessly against the cliff wall in a cloud of sparks. She turned to make her retreat down the passageway, hoping the space would be too narrow for Hobaling to follow.

Wedging her body sideways, she moved away as quickly as she could. She took two steps—and was yanked backward. She lost her footing and fell hard on her tender left shoulder, red-hot pain shooting up her arm and into her body. The warlock pulled her back as she tried to grab hold of the cliff wall. Her hand found a rock hold, and she pulled with all her might, kicking at Hobaling. She scrambled away, crawling deeper into the passage, out of reach of Hobaling's grasping hands. She was free!

But her heart sank as she realized that in the chaos, Lightcaster had slipped out of her hands and was lying on the ground near the entrance to the ledge. Hobaling had seen it too, and was stretching his hand toward it. It was just out of his reach. Yu-ning turned to flee, but paused, looking back at Lightcaster. Making a split-second decision, she lunged for the bow just as Hobaling's bony fingers curled around the wooden frame. She grabbed Lightcaster from the opposite end and pulled. But Hobaling had ferocious strength, and he heaved the bow backward, grabbing Yu-ning's wrist with his free hand.

She was lifted off the ground, pulled through the passage and onto the rock ledge. They both hit the ground hard as Lightcaster fell from Hobaling's hands. Yu-ning scrambled away, lunged for Lightcaster, and pulled it toward her. Hobaling stood and advanced toward her as the obisidigon rose up behind the warlock. Yu-ning saw a swirling circle of fire forming in the dragon's mouth, but the warlock was between them, causing the dragon to hold back. Yu-ning rolled away from the warlock and scrambled toward the tall, fingerlike rock formation.

“Now!” screamed Hobaling at the dragon. Yu-ning made herself small behind the large rock formation just as the fireball exploded against the outer side of the rock, sending flames past her face. She had one last chance, and she knew it. Swiftly she removed another arrow from the quiver and nocked it in place.

“Did you really think you could defeat me?” hissed Hobaling, moving toward the finger rock. “That you could stop me from spreading this darkness? From here, I will spread the darkness to the rest of the world—especially now that I have your precious sacred crystals!”

Yu-ning glanced around the rock, gauging the distance to the dragon. She leaned out from behind the rock, seeing her chance: the dragon lowered his head, the soft spot on the back of its neck momentarily exposed. Everything moved as if in slow motion as Hobaling appeared before her, diving to tackle her just as she readied herself to loose the arrow.

Sensing danger, the obsidigon raised his head high and gave a loud cry. As Hobaling's weight crashed into her, Yu-ning released the bowstring—but the arrow was heading for
the front of the obsidigon's head. As she hit the ground, she looked back as the dragon swatted at the arrow, pushing the light missile off course so that it smashed against the cliff behind the creature.

The obsidigon was above Yu-ning now, preparing to release its fire upon her head. Hobaling, however, rose to his feet close by—too close for the dragon to release its fire. Instead, the obsidigon raised its razor-sharp talon high into the air, ready to bring destruction upon the girl's head.

At that moment there was a terrible crash, and Yu-ning and Hobaling were knocked sideways. Yu-ning looked up and saw that the obsidigon had been thrown against the rock wall, boulders and loose stones crashing down from above. Hobaling, too, had been knocked against the rocks, and lay still on the ground. Suparna landed in the middle of the fight, with Metatron and Romeo on his back. The dragon recovered, and swiped at Suparna with his tail, knocking him sideways and sending Romeo sprawling across the rocky ground. Romeo's head hit hard against the stones. He lay motionless next to Hobaling.

“Yu-ning, to me!” yelled Metatron, reaching a hand out to the little girl, who was still clutching her bow and a single arrow. The Quiver of Light was empty of its missiles; the remaining arrows had been strewn across the ledge during the battle. She grabbed Metatron's hand, and he pulled her onto Suparna's back. As the great bird took wing, the obsidigon's tail crashed down on the rocks, missing them by inches.

The dragon was pacing, his head swinging between Suparna, suspended above him in the air, and Romeo, who lay unconscious next to Hobaling. Now hovering above the dragon, Suparna was considering his next move. The dragon
drew back and unleashed a molten fireball. Suparna anticipated the flames, however, and dodged the fiery missile. The dragon roared in frustration. Swiveling his jaundiced eyes back to Romeo, the dragon crossed toward the unmoving boy, who lay a dozen feet away.

Suparna and Metatron saw what was happening, but realized they were too far above the scene to reach Romeo in time. Yu-ning froze, realizing that Romeo was about to die. A love she had never known flooded her heart as she stared down at her best friend in the world. She remembered that she still held the last arrow, and her bow. With a fierceness in her heart, she recalled what Balthazar told her in the Tower of Light:
The arc of the bow is like the curve of the rainbow
—
as the arrow of light shoots forth into the world, it tears the darkness, and brings its love with it.

The dragon looked up at her with malice in its eyes. With resolve in her mind, and love in her heart for Romeo, she narrowed her sights, nocked the final arrow, and aimed at the creature that stood directly over Romeo now. The dragon swung his head upward at Yu-ning, a dark gleam in his eye. Yu-ning resisted the urge to loose her arrow—it was not yet time. She waited for the obsidigon to turn its head back toward Romeo, the arrow poised and ready. As the dragon swung its head down and raised a talon above the boy, Yu-ning knew it was time—she loosed the arrow directly toward the back of the obisidigon's neck. The arrow became infused with blinding, swirling yellow light as it raced toward its target.

The arrow stopped in midair just before it reached the dragon's neck. The barren spot on the obsidigon's neck was glowing—a vivid circle of yellow light. The dragon froze, as if unable to move as the arrow floated just an inch from
the creature—just as it had when Joshua had fired the arrow at Snowheart. As the arrow hovered there, the light grew brighter, and flowed toward the exposed circle of light on the creature. The beautiful yellow beam streamed directly toward the barren circle on the dragon's neck and entered into the dragon. The obsidigon slowly rose from the ledge—its massive body floated upward into the air, as the lights from the arrow flowed into the dragon, filling it with clean, pure light.

In a flash, the yellow, swirling display exploded, sending streams of light in every direction. Yu-ning and Metatron had to shield their eyes from the intensity of the explosion. “Look, everyone,” whispered Yu-ning, in deep reverence. The dragon's body had changed—the light had infused it, and the dragon was becoming transparent. Small individual points of light began to form, and these sprouted wings—vivid wings adorned with the seven colors of the rainbow! Thousands of beautiful, multicolored butterflies appeared, still holding the shape of the dragon. The light of the arrow had penetrated the soft spot on the dragon's neck and invaded the hulking creature with the light of love. The anger and malice of the dragon was gone, and in its place thousands of delicate butterflies hovered close together, in the form of the dragon.

“Butterflies, just like during the Great Obsidigon War . . .” marveled Metatron, as he finally understood the old mystery. “That is why, after every battle, waves of butterflies would follow the Darq Renders home.”

Metatron raised his staff, and spoke toward the dragon-shaped mass of winged creatures. “Be free, and fly!” The colorful creatures fluttered their wings and took off in every direction. As they flew away in the afternoon light, the only thing that remained of the obsidigon was its skull. Clean,
white, ancient—it was as if all the hatred and malice that Hobaling had poured into his creation had died, replaced by the arc of light extending from Lightcaster—and the love it represented.

Suparna landed on the ledge, and Yu-ning scrambled down to check on Romeo. He lay by himself where he had fallen—Hobaling was nowhere in sight.

There was no movement or sign of life. Tears began to roll down Yu-ning's cheeks as she whispered, “Oh, Romeo.” She knelt down, hugging his still body, weeping quietly. Metatron and Suparna exchanged pained looks as they observed the sad scene, Metatron resting his hand upon the grief-stricken girl's delicate shoulder.

Yu-ning rested her head on Romeo's chest and felt something under his shirt—it was his purple crystal heart necklace, which was void of light. She gently picked up the violet-colored heart in both of her hands and closed her eyes, tears continuing to roll down her cheeks. She gently set the heart down again on Romeo's chest, rose, and walked back into Metatron's waiting arms. She was sobbing now.

“Yu-ning, look,” said Metatron, pointing at Romeo behind her. Yu-ning turned around and was stunned to see the purple crystal heart begin to glow, a soft purple speck of light pulsing from the very center of the crystal. The light was growing stronger! She rushed back to Romeo, who opened his eyes wide and took a deep, sharp breath.

“He's alive, Metatron!” Yu-ning exclaimed.

Romeo's eyes fluttered and opened, and he stared up into his friend's large brown eyes. “What happened? And why are you crying, Yu-ning?” She just laughed, and gave Romeo a big hug.

“Where is the dragon? And what happened to the warlock?” Romeo inquired, a bit wobbly on his feet as Yu-ning and Metatron helped him up.

“The dragon is gone,” said Metatron, leaning on his staff. “The power of Lightcaster has torn the darkness, and broken Hobaling's curse. The obsidigon is no more.”

“You mean, you killed it?” asked Romeo.

“No, not killed. Transformed. Yu-ning's arrow filled it with light, breaking the Darq curse that created it.”

“And what of Hobaling?” Romeo asked.

“He is gone—he slipped away during the battle, I am afraid,” said Metatron, concern etching his brow. “But he cannot run far.” Metatron took a blanket from behind the saddle on Suparna's back and carefully wrapped the obsidigon skull within it. He stowed the grim trophy behind the saddle and urged everyone to climb aboard. “This is indeed a great day, my friends. Quickly, to the Floating Palace to inform the Empress of today's fair tidings!”

Yu-ning was about to climb atop Suparna, but then jumped off his wing. “Where are you going?” asked Romeo.

“I traveled far to find these—they are treasures worth keeping,” said Yu-ning. She retrieved ten arrows and placed them in the Quiver of Light. “All right, let's go!” she said as she scrambled onto Suparna's back.

As Suparna took flight from the ledge high above the Cliffs of Conundrum and turned toward the Floating Imperial Palace, hundreds of tiny, rainbow-colored butterflies gathered around him and the three passengers, joining them in their flight into the clouds. The butterflies fluttered in and out among the riders, as if celebrating with them, brushing delicate wings against their smiling faces.

Y
U-NING AWOKE IN A BEAUTIFUL BED
in a royal-
looking bedroom. Colorful trogons, mot-mots, quetzals, and other bright tropical birds flitted in the trees just outside her window, searching for their morning's breakfast. Their birdsongs were mellifluous, welcoming her to the Floating Palace.

She wandered outside to find Romeo standing on the porch of the room next door. The scene before them was breathtaking: an enchanting sanctuary of temples, gardens, streams, and forest glades. They dressed and were greeted by benevolent imperial ambassadors, attendants, and masters, who were there to give them a tour of the serene grounds. As they prepared to depart, Metatron and Magic joined them. “I have seen these grounds many times, but I never tire of seeing them again!” Metatron smiled as he stood between Romeo and Yu-ning, squeezing the children's shoulders. Magic jumped into Yu-ning's arms, grateful to see his master whole and fit.