Tales from Dargo Island: The Complete Trilogy (24 page)

Josh floated
past Astrid, laughing. She rolled her eyes and laughed with him. He’d fashioned
a pair of shorts from a puff of clouds, and it looked like a diaper. They were
taking a scenic route back to her father’s cloud palace, though Astrid chose to
walk.

“Walk with me,”
she said, though she knew it wouldn’t do any good.

“Why walk when
you can float?” he asked, circling her. She taught him how to do it, and he
picked it up very quickly. Flying was the first thing her father taught her.

She hoped Nalke
could figure out what happened to Josh. Before Josh sacrificed himself to
destroy Dargonius, Nalke had said he didn’t know what would happen to Josh if
he died. Astrid had only recognized what Josh had become because he’d been
reborn from the clouds.

Nalke had told
her about that process when he recounted how he, in turn, became a nature
demon. You had to die to be reborn. It wasn’t a pleasant thought, and she
feared having to do the same thing if it ever became her turn to take her
father’s place.

As they grew
closer to the palace, Astrid grew uneasy. The palace, as well as the cloud on
which it resided, was a darker gray. The clouds around it were lighter, but
this one looked…sick. Astrid flew away, leaving Josh behind.

“Dad?” she
called after opening the grand door. She stood in a hall that branched in
different directions.

From the
outside, and from far away, the castle looked like a giant, puffy cloud.
Inside, however, it looked like a regular castle made of brick and stone. On
most days, she had to search for her father, but today he stood at the end of
the hall, directly in front of her. He wore a long blue-and-gray robe, with a
light-blue beard that reached down to his stomach. He looked like what you would
expect a wizard to look like, which was appropriate since he used to be one.

Today, he
looked like a
sick
wizard.

“Astrid,” he
managed to say just before he collapsed.

She ran up to
him, Josh right behind her. She helped Nalke sit up a little before saying,
“What’s happening?”

Nalke looked
wide-eyed at Josh. “Am I seeing a ghost before me?”

“No, sir,” Josh
said, attempting to be formal, Astrid figured. “Well, maybe. Astrid thinks I
came back as a nature demon.”

“Oh, dear,”
Nalke said. “I think she’s right. That would explain my current state.”

“What do you
mean?” Astrid asked.

“Help me to the
tower.”

Josh and Astrid
helped him up, and Astrid teleported them all to the tower. The room was small
and round, with tiny square holes cut into the walls to act as windows. Wind
blew through with a whistle.

In the center
of the room was a pedestal holding a large brown book. Nalke stumbled up to it
and flipped through the pages.

“What is that?”
Josh asked.

“Think of it as
a nature-demon handbook. I’ve gone through it at least once since taking over
as nature demon after my father’s death, but I sometimes forget things. I
believe there is a clause in here about two nature demons existing at the same
time.”

Astrid helped
him stand; she’d never seen her father so weak before, though she’d only met
him a year ago. “What about the original nature demons?” she asked. “Before you
guys took over. Weren’t they all nature demons at the same time?”

“Only by name.
Only one had gone through the rebirth and ruled as king while the others waited
their turns. But something happened to their bloodline that caused them to
start dying out. Those in waiting were unable to survive the rebirth, leaving
the king alone and dying as well.

“That’s when
they ‘outsourced’ the position, so to speak. They sought out other creatures to
which they could pass on their own magic. As far as I can tell, whatever
afflicted them doesn’t affect me.”

“And then I
came along and screwed everything up,” Josh said, looking at the floor.

Nalke weakly
patted him on the shoulder. “It’s not your fault; it’s mine. If I hadn’t cursed
Astrid’s mother while she was pregnant with our daughter, you wouldn’t have
heroically taken it upon yourself to try and lift the curse, thereby taking on
some of my magic. It’s all on me, my boy, not you.”

Josh grinned.
“Thanks.”

“Well, what do
we do to fix this?” Astrid asked, breaking up the bonding moment. “I feel like
we’re wasting time talking.”

Nalke looked at
her. “It warms my heart to know you’re worried about me, but I’m certain we can
find a way to reverse what’s happening.”

He found the
page he was looking for and read the words. They were written in weird,
swirling shapes Astrid couldn’t understand. “You’re going to have to teach me
how to read this one day,” she said.

“Noted,” her
father replied, though he didn’t appear to like what he read. “Oh, dear, it
appears I was correct about one thing: There can only be one ruling nature
demon at a time, but that seems to only be a formality. It has nothing to do
with my illness.”

“What does?”
Astrid asked.

Nalke looked at
Josh. “Even in death, Mr. Debelko, you have the ability to leach life.”

Somehow, Aneela
convinced Rhys and her men to follow the meteor’s path through the ice even
farther. Victor came along, leaving the hexl in the giants’ kingdom. The meteor
had shot through at such an angle that it created a tunnel that was fairly easy
to walk through, though the group practically walked
down
it. Soon, the
ice became warm purple crystals.

After walking
for nearly five minutes, the group found itself in a large cavern made entirely
of purple and green crystals. What remained of the meteor lay before Aneela,
though it looked like it exploded upon impact, sending shards in all
directions. One such shard stuck out of a large green source of light that
rested between a humungous stalactite and stalagmite at the center of the
cavern.

“What in the
world is that?” Rhys asked in awe.

Aneela made her
way toward the green light, following paths in the crystal garden that
separated them.

“Help me,” a
female voice said.

“I’m coming,”
Aneela replied. When she finally reached the light, she didn’t know what to do.
The light was so high up she couldn’t hope to reach it from the ground.

The cavern
trembled, raining a few crystals from the ceiling.

“I need help,”
the voice said, clearly in pain.

“How do we help
you?” Aneela asked.

“Who is that?”
Rhys asked her.

“The heart of
the island,” Victor replied. “Just like Champagne said.”

“We have to
pull that shard from the light,” Aneela said.

Rhys looked up.
“Only a giant could hope to reach that high, let alone have the strength to
pull the shard free. But they’re all gone from this island.”

“There has to
be another way,” Aneela said, helpless. And then an idea came to her. “We need
the hexl.”

“I’m on it,”
Victor said. He returned to the icy kingdom above to retrieve the hexl. “Gang
way!” he shouted from the tunnel as he rode the giant weed down.

Rhys pulled
Aneela out of the way as the hexl shot out of the tunnel and slithered through
the crystal garden. Victor rode it like he would a horse, with a rope attached
to the pink-and-orange petals that acted as the hexl’s head. When they reached
the stalagmite, he reared back, causing the hexl to straighten upward toward
the green light. Something that looked like a tongue shot out of the stamen and
attached itself to the shard. Victor pulled on the reins and the hexl pulled
the shard out of the light.

The cavern
shook violently, raining more crystals upon the group. Victor just managed to
escape becoming impaled by one as he rode the hexl away from the light and
toward Aneela.

“Will you be
requiring anything more, Your Highness?” Victor asked sarcastically, twirling a
finger through his pointy red mustache.

“No, Victor.
Thank you.”

“Thank you,
Aneela,” the voice said, though it still sounded like it was in pain.

“Who are you?”
she asked the voice.

“My name is
Rapatha. I am the heart and soul of the island.”

Josh’s world
spun before him. He had so much thrown at him in such short amount of time that
he couldn’t make sense of it. He didn’t even know if any of this was real.
Maybe he was still dead, or still being possessed by Dargo. Maybe this was all
a dream.

Nalke still
read from his handbook, but he didn’t learn anything new. Astrid stood by her
father’s side, helping him to stay on his feet. Nalke visibly shook as he tried
to stand on his own. No matter what form Josh appeared in, he still hurt those
around him.

“If I go away,”
he said to Nalke, “will that stop the leaching?”

“I doubt it. It
has nothing to do with proximity. The mere fact you exist as a nature demon is
what’s draining my energy.”

“There has to
be a way to change me back or…unmake me.”

Nalke looked
thoughtful as he turned around. “Away? You just gave me an idea. There is a way
to speak with the past nature demons. They may know something that will help.”

“How do we do
that?” Astrid asked, sounding hopeful.

“They are
gathered in a nexus far from here.”

“Let’s go,” she
said next, her excitement apparent in her eyes. “They have to know what’s going
on. Are they ghosts or something?”

Nalke sighed.
“They’re spirits, yes. But, honey, you can’t go. Only Josh and I can.”

“Why?”

“Because we’ve
been reborn as nature demons. We’re technically already spirits and can make
the journey.”

“Oh.” She
nodded. “I understand. How long will you be gone?”

“It’s difficult
to say. I’ve only visited them once before. It’s painful to be in their
presence, so we can’t stay for long.”

“Painful?” Josh
asked nervously.

“Yes. It’s an
assault on the senses. Your sight, hearing and sense of touch will be
heightened, so be prepared for that.”

“Will you be
okay going there in your condition?”

“My boy, I’ll
be fine.”

“I guess I’ll
visit Mom while you’re gone,” Astrid said while Josh replaced her as Nalke’s
crutch.

“Astrid,” her
father said over his shoulder, “the transporter may start malfunctioning due to
my weakened state, so you should learn to travel to and from the island
naturally.”

She nodded as
she backed away. Josh knew she had the ability to travel from cloud to cloud
without flying, but traveling to the island would be trickier because it was
hidden with magic. Traveling
from
the island was probably easier,
however.

“Okay,” Josh
said to Nalke as Astrid left, “what do we do now?”

Nalke walked
slowly toward a desk off to the side and retrieved a bottle of silver dust.
“These are the ashes of the last reigning nature demon—my father. After a
nature demon dies for the final time, his or her body is cremated, the ashes
passed to the next nature demon. We can use them to establish a link to the
predecessor, in case we need to speak with him.

“Like I said
earlier, traveling to the nexus in which the nature demons’ spirits reside is
overwhelming, so we can’t stay for long. I’ve only been once, early in my
reign. I did it to speak with Father again; I was scared of the responsibility
thrust upon me and needed reassuring.”

He poured some
of the remaining ashes on the floor in a circle big enough for Josh and him.
Josh joined him within the circle as Nalke studied the empty bottle and sighed.
“After this, I will never be able to speak with my father again. Well, unless I
pass into the nexus to join him.”

“I’m sorry for
what I’m doing to you,” Josh said quietly.

“Think nothing of
it. Again, everything that’s happening is my fault alone. I am the one who’s
sorry. Nature demons reign for a thousand years before passing the rule to
another. My time will come eventually, no matter what.”

“How long have
you reigned?”

Nalke smiled at
him as the silver circle lit up. “A long time.”

And then they
were gone, transported from the tower to a realm far away.

Astrid knew
something was wrong with the transporter after she stepped out of the closet of
her house on Dargo Island. It had taken longer to get from her father’s cloud
to the house, so long in fact that she thought she was stuck. She’d stood in
the windy, bright world between worlds long enough to think, which was a first.
She’d even grown afraid that she would be trapped forever.

As she walked
to the living room, she decided not to use the transporter until her father was
well again.
If
he got well again, that was. Though she’d only known him
for nearly a year, she realized she loved him. She loved Josh as well, and
didn’t blame him for what he was doing to Nalke.

It was night,
and Astrid wondered where the day had gone. It had been day when she found Josh
in the large cloud. She felt like she’d been away for days rather than hours.
“Mom?” she called, but the house seemed empty.

She called the
palace from the wall phone but didn’t get an answer, so she jumped on her horse
Pace and rode up there. She found her mom in the palace courtyard, holding
little Joshua. Mom was staring at something in the sky. Astrid hopped off of
Pace and joined her mother.

“What’s wrong?”
she asked.

Mom looked at
her with a distant look on her face. “See that light in the sky?”

Astrid looked.
“What is that?” The light was small but not too far away. It must’ve been
hovering over the large waterfall that separated Dargo Island from the rest of
the world.

“I think it’s a
helicopter,” Mom said.

“A helicopter?”
Astrid remembered seeing one during one of her trips to Dad’s realm. She’d also
seen a few airplanes—machines that gave regular people the ability to fly. What
a concept. “Has there ever been a helicopter this close before?”

“Never. Even if
one did come this way, it wouldn’t see us. At least, that’s the way it used to
be. I can’t help but feel
that
helicopter can sense us, though.”

“That’s
impossible,” Astrid said nervously. The light did seem to hover, though. “Maybe
the pilot’s being driven back by the magic that hides us.”

Mom looked at
her. “Something happened while you were gone. A meteor crashed on the island. I
think it was being tracked, and seeing as it landed on an island that can’t be
seen, the outside world is curious as to what happened to it.”

“A meteor? Was
anyone hurt?”

“Not that we
know.” She looked past her daughter, to a group of horse riders approaching the
palace gate. It was Aneela and a few soldiers.

“Astrid,”
Aneela said as she got off her horse, “welcome back. You missed all the
action.”

“Mom just told
me. Look.” She pointed to the helicopter.

Aneela gasped.
“Another meteor?”

“No. Something
worse: the outside world,” Mom said.

“They can’t see
us, though,” Astrid said. “Right?”

Aneela looked
at them. “I’m not so sure anymore. We just discovered the meteor crashed into
the core of the island. It injured…the heart of the island. It’s a living
spirit.”

Astrid tried to
process this. “The island’s spirit?”

“Yes. It’s an
intelligent being named Rapatha. I spoke with her. Now that she’s injured, her
ability to hide us may be dwindling.”

“Wow,” Mom
said. “What can we do to help her?”

“She said only
a magical being can heal her, but she believes few to none exist anymore.”

“What will
happen if she isn’t healed?” Astrid asked, and then her question was answered a
second later.

The ground
quaked so violently that everyone was nearly knocked off his and her feet. Mom
barely managed to hold onto Joshua. He started to cry, and Aneela took him into
her arms.

“I don’t think
we can afford to let Rapatha die,” Aneela said. “If she does, the whole island
may break apart. And then we all die.”

A soldier ran
up to them. “Queen Aneela, Andor has escaped from his cell.”

She spun
around, her eyes wide. “How?”

“His cell broke
apart during the first quake. He escaped and killed Malax.”

Astrid
remembered the handsome young guard. How could he be dead?

“He may still
be in the palace,” Aneela said. “I want you and a team of soldiers to search
every room.” She looked about nervously. “I think it best to go into hiding
until he is found. I left two soldiers to guard Rapatha until I returned.” She
looked at the helicopter again, which turned around and headed back to the
mainland. “Goddess help us, we are facing more threats than ever before.”

Astrid smiled.
“Well, there is some good news. Josh is back.”

That news had
the desired effect. Mom’s and Aneela’s eyes were wide.

*
 
*
 
*

Andor watched
the man from an alley in Dargo Plaza, between a bookstore and a salon. He was a
mile from the palace, and he saw the queen and a few soldiers trot away on
horses. The man he watched was an old friend. Andor had tried getting this man
to go along with him during his plan to overthrow Aneela and release Dargo from
his prison so that he could undo the plague ravaging the island.

The friend,
Markiza, had backed out at the last minute.

Markiza walked
into a bar across from the bookstore. Andor knew the man owned it and always
locked up at this time. He made his way toward the bar and slipped around to
the back, where he also knew a broken door awaited him. If he knew Markiza, he
knew the man was slow to fix things.

Andor slipped
into the bar from the kitchen, grabbed a knife, and walked up to Markiza.

The chubby bar
owner’s jaw dropped when he saw Andor. “What are you doing here?”

Andor smiled
through his paint-smeared face. “I’ve come to thank you for what you did to
me.”

“I didn’t do
nothin’, Andor. I had nothing to do with your arrest.”

“But you did
abandon me when I needed you the most. When all of our friends and family were
dying around us.”

“You broke the
law and released the man who created the plague in the first place. Your
loyalty lay in the wrong person, Andor. You should’ve trusted Aneela. She
pulled through in the end.”

Andor chuckled
as he approached his “friend.” “And, in the end, so will I.” He lunged at
Markiza and stabbed him in the heart. “For my son,” he whispered.

The blinds had
been pulled on the windows, so no one saw Andor kill the man. He pulled the
knife from the man’s chest, wiped off the blood with the bar owner’s shirt, and
then turned to leave the same way he came in.

Only, when he
got outside, he saw something he didn’t expect to see.

A little boy
stood in the alley next to the bookstore, the same alley Andor had watched from
only moments ago.

“Son?” he
called quietly.