Tales from Dargo Island: The Complete Trilogy (27 page)

Josh didn’t
know what he was looking at when he entered the cavern. There were green and
purple crystals everywhere, reminding him of some crazy garden. But the most
remarkable thing was the green light set between a stalactite and stalagmite.
He could swear he saw a woman’s silhouette in that light.

“That’s
Rapatha,” Aneela told him. She stared at his face, a sad expression on hers.
Josh knew she uncomfortable with the idea of him taking over her husband’s
body.

How are you
doing?
Josh asked Rhys.

I’m fine.
Don’t worry about me.

“Rhys says he’s
fine,” Josh told Aneela, and was relieved to see her relax a little.

Dargo made his
way through the crystal garden. Josh shivered at the sight; Dargo moved like a
zombie from a horror movie. “Rapatha? Is that truly you?”

“Yes, Dargo.”
The pleasant feminine voice echoed throughout the cavern.

“Remarkable.”
Dargo turned to Victor and the hexl. “May I ask to be lifted up to her?”

“You may,”
Victor replied in a gruff voice. He clearly didn’t like the idea of helping the
man who killed Champagne, who tried to destroy the rest of the world.

“Victor,
please,” Aneela said quietly.

Victor looked
down at her from atop the hexl’s neck. Finally, he steered the giant weed with
the flowery face toward Dargo, where the zombie climbed aboard. The hexl lifted
up to the shining light of Rapatha.

“You really didn’t
want to be a nature demon, did you?” Dargo asked with a laugh. “You went to
great lengths to hide yourself.”

“I didn’t know
I would be turned into an island. I didn’t know I would be turned into
anything. I just thought I would be hidden from my family. And from Rockne.”

“Well, mission
accomplished.” Dargo laughed again.

Josh watched
the scene from below. As much as he hated Dargo, watching the conversation made
him feel better than he had in a while. At least someone was happy.

“We must heal
you,” Dargo told Rapatha. “Is there any way to do so?”

“Not that I’m
aware of,” she replied.

Josh suddenly
remembered where he’d heard of Rapatha before. The conversation with the dead
nature demons slowly came back to him. One of them had mentioned a daughter named
Rapatha, hadn’t it?

With that
memory came another, but he couldn’t quite remember exactly what he’d been
told. He put it out of his mind for now.

“Wait!” Rapatha
said suddenly. “I gave some of my essence to the one who did this to me. His
name is Wesonger, and he’s an incubus.”

That caught
Josh’s attention. He listened intently.

“In exchange
for his help, I gave him my life force and he kept it in a jar. Maybe that will
help.”

“Where is this
Wesonger fellow?” Dargo asked.

“In a town
called Lacey. It was the last safe haven for creatures that wanted no part in
the war between wizards and nature demons. It was so long ago, though, I don’t
know if it even exists anymore.”

“It’s worth a
shot, I think. Do you remember how to get there?”

“Not from here,
no.” Rapatha said nothing for a moment. Then she said, “But Rockne may know.”

There were a
few noticeable gasps. Josh looked around and saw Aneela and a few of her guards
looking uneasy.

“Rockne is
still buried in his grave,” Rapatha said. “Only a few people were brought back
after I was wounded. I had no control over who was chosen. I cannot bring him
back to ask unless some of the energy leaked out is returned.”

“Can’t the
energy that is returned heal you?” Aneela asked.

“Only a little,
but, to put it in terms Josh may appreciate, it would be like putting a bandage
on a shark bite.”

Josh laughed.
“Do you know me?” he asked.

“I’ve watched
your exploits since you first came here. You seem interesting.”

“So the only
true course of action would be to get your essence from Wesonger and return it
to you,” Aneela said.

“I truly
believe so.”

“Then that is
what we shall do. Even if it means bringing Rockne back.” Aneela didn’t sound
at all pleased with this plan.

“How do we
bring him back, though?” Josh asked.

“I can return
your energy to you,” Dargo said from Josh’s true lips.

The cavern grew
quiet once again. Josh was impressed with the offer. Dargo was willing to
return to the grave in order to help Rapatha.

“I would
appreciate that, Dargo.”

Dargo turned
and looked down at the others. “I don’t apologize for what I did. I had my
reasons, and if I could do it again, I would. I love Rapatha, and I once helped
her when she was in need. I shall do so again. I do this, not to help you, but
to help her.”

Aneela nodded.
“Thank you, Dargo.”

He turned back
to the glowing green light. “Take what you will of me.” He raised his arms.

Golden light
slowly rose from Josh’s body and disappeared into Rapatha. Josh, from Rhys’s
body, watched in wonder. After a moment, the golden energy vanished and the
body collapsed. Victor barely managed to catch it in time. The hexl lowered to
the ground and Josh was given the horrible sight of his dead body. He turned
away.

“I’ll re-bury
him—uh, I mean you,” Victor said quietly.

Josh simply
nodded, still looking away.

“Rapatha,”
Aneela called up. “Dargo told of a necklace that made you mortal. Do you know
where it is?”

“Yes, I believe
so. Why?”

“Josh needs it.
He is now a nature demon, and he and Astrid are at war with each other, so to
speak. Josh is leaching off her, and she may die if we don’t bind Josh’s power
immediately.”

“I understand.
The necklace is not far. If you journey through the cave behind me, you should
find it.”

Josh looked at
the mentioned cave on the far side of the cavern. It sounded easy enough.

“I should warn
you,” Rapatha said next, “there is a race of creatures that treasure the
necklace, and they may not give it up easily.”

“What kind of
creatures?” Aneela asked. “I know of no race other than the giants that live
belowground.”

“They are
fairies. I encountered them early in my transformation. They are like lice, and
I’ve never liked them.”

“Fine,” Aneela
said with a sigh. “Victor, you dig up Rockne and bring him here. Josh and I
will get the necklace.”

“Sounds like a
plan,” Josh said, nudging Aneela lightly. She smiled, but it didn’t seem
genuine.

“The sooner I
get my husband back, the better,” she said in a tone Josh recognized. It was
the way she’d first spoken to him, a know-it-all, authoritative sort of speech.
It was one of the things Josh liked about her.

*
 
*
 
*

Shae sat on the
floor, holding the baby close to her. Andor paced back and forth, looking like
a crazed animal. He smelled awful, the stench coming from him in hot waves
every time he got close.

Andor looked
down at her and the baby. “I used to have a son. Did you know that? Dargonius’s
plague killed him.”

“I’m sorry to
hear that,” Shae said quietly.

“I bet you
are.” He spit on the floor near her feet. “What’s his name?”

Shae looked up,
confused. “Whose?”

“The little
prince you’re holding. I know that’s Aneela’s baby.”

“His name is
Joshua.”

“Adorable. Ask
me what my son’s name was.”

She didn’t.

“Ask me!” he
yelled, startling her. Joshua started to fuss in her arms.

“What was your
son’s name?”

“Joffey. He was
only six years old.”

A dead silence
filled the dark room. Shae still couldn’t believe he’d found her. They had been
so careful, walking into Champagne’s house and then using the teleporter to get
to this house. The guard assigned to protect her and Joshua had to be dead.

“Where is the
queen?” she heard Andor ask from far away.

“I don’t know,”
she replied.

Andor suddenly
snatched Joshua away from her. Shae jumped to her feet, but he pushed her back
down. When she looked up again, she saw the man holding the baby, making silly
faces at Joshua.

“He’s so cute.
He reminds me of my son.”

He then pulled
a knife from the waistband of his pants and held it to Joshua’s throat. “Where
is the queen?” he asked again with a calmness that frightened Shae nearly as
much as the knife.

Josh and Aneela
walked down the steep tunnel, a guard trailing them. The other guards were
escorting Victor to the graveyard to dig up Rockne. Josh hoped Rockne was awake
now, struggling to escape from his coffin, fearing the suffocating darkness.
Even though he was dead, he might still feel fear.

“Josh,” Aneela
said, stopping him with a touch to his arm. “Is there any way to allow Rhys to
take over for a moment?”

“I don’t know,”
he replied in Rhys’s voice. He still hadn’t gotten used to this arrangement.
“If I could, I would let him take over permanently while I ride in the back,
but every time I try I get sucked back to the front.”

“Can you try
again? Please?”

She whispered
this, and the sound as well as the look on her face nearly broke Josh’s heart.
He nodded and then relaxed, letting his thoughts slip into the background.
Though he didn’t have muscles at the moment, he equated what he felt now to
letting his whole body relax.

He was suddenly
jerked backward, or at least, to the rear of Rhys’s mind.

Now he was
watching a body move without his telling it to. Rhys was in control now.

“I’m here,”
Rhys said to Aneela.

Josh fought
against the urge to retake control. He didn’t even want the control, but it was
like magnets drawing each other together. He was the negative force, and Rhys’s
mind was the positive. Or something like that. Josh wasn’t good with metaphors,
but he used to play with magnets when he was younger. The way they suddenly
snapped together when they got close was undeniable.

“I don’t have
much time,” Rhys said, his voice echoing in Josh’s ears. “Before I go, I want
to tell you I love you and our son. We’ll save Rapatha and live happily ever
after.”

Aneela nodded,
taking his face in her hands. “I know.” She kissed him.

Josh felt
himself blushing. Though she was kissing Rhys, Josh could feel her lips on his
own as well. He felt the love Rhys had for his wife as if the feelings were
Josh’s. He felt bad for invading on their moment, even though he couldn’t help
it.

Josh was
suddenly pulled forward, to the front of Rhys’s mind. Rhys gasped and Josh got
a brief glimpse of horror on Aneela’s face as he regained control of the body.
“Sorry,” he said to Aneela.

Her look of
horror slowly turned into one of resignation. “Let’s get this over with. The
sooner you get out of my husband, the better.”

The trio
continued down the tunnel, which slowly grew colder the farther they walked.

*
 
*
 
*

Victor rode the
lift up to the ice lake in the valley, where a circle of guards formed a ring of
protection. There was a gap in the circle, however.

“Is someone
missing?” he asked the nearest guard.

“We thought we
heard a noise on the trail,” one said, turning his blue-and-yellow face toward
him. “One went to check it out.” He pointed to the lone trail that led into the
valley.

“Is that so?”
Victor asked as he rode the hexl toward the trail. Before he got halfway there,
a figure appeared. His face, too, was painted blue and yellow. “Did you see
anything?” the dwarf asked the returning guard.

“No, sir. It’s
all clear.”

“Good. I’ll be
back soon.”

Victor rode the
hexl up the trail and out of the valley, wondering why the guard hadn’t looked
him in the eye when reporting the good news.

*
 
*
 
*

“We must be
near the ice wall,” Josh said after nearly twenty minutes of walking. He
remembered the large wall on the far side of the giants’ kingdom. He never
thought he’d be able to go near it when he first saw it during the giant
massacre not long ago.

“We are,”
Aneela confirmed.

They continued
down the tunnel, which appeared to have gold dust floating in it. The end of
the tunnel looked tiny, and Josh felt like he was walking down a funnel.

“Is it my
imagination,” he said, “or are we getting smaller?”

“What do you
mean?” Aneela asked.

“I mean, it
feels like we’re getting smaller. At first I thought the tunnel was, but now it
seems to be the same size as we walk on.”

“Well, then,
we’re not getting smaller.”

He chuckled
sarcastically at her snappy remark. “What’s this gold dust, then?”

She waved it
away. “I don’t know, but it doesn’t appear to be harming us, so let’s keep
moving.”

They did, and
before they knew it they reached an opening. What Josh, Aneela and the guard
saw rendered them speechless.

Astrid flew
toward Dallas as it was assaulted with lightning. A giant storm cloud hovered
over the entire city. She saw a few cars explode after being struck, saw people
fleeing the streets for safety. No one would notice her flying above. Even if
they did, Astrid didn’t care. She was still weak from what Josh was
inadvertently doing to her. She feared she wouldn’t be able to calm this storm
in her condition.

But she had to
try.

She flew above
the storm clouds. It was slightly calmer up here, but she could still hear the
thunder below. She tried to calm her mind as she waved her hands around in
circles, the way her father taught her. Nalke had been a good teacher, and
though she missed him terribly, she tried not to think about him at the moment.

She had work to
do.

*
 
*
 
*

Josh, Aneela
and her guard stood on a rock bridge that spanned across a large cavern
overlooking a pool of golden light. It was so blindingly bright that Josh
couldn’t tell what exactly was down there. He guessed it was the fairies, but
he couldn’t guess how many there were.

“It’s
beautiful,” Aneela said quietly.

“I agree,” Josh
said.

A bob of light
lifted from the pool and floated before them. It was man-sized, which Josh
thought was weird. When he thought of fairies, he pictured tiny creatures the
size of a pencil.

“Who are you,
and what are you doing here?” the light asked.

Aneela, who had
placed a hand before her face to block the light, said, “I am Aneela, queen of
this island. I have come to speak with you about an urgent matter.”

The fairy
dimmed slightly, making it easier to see. The fairy was male, with short blond
hair and a very slim body. He looked like a child. His wings flapped so quickly
they were barely visible. “What matter?” he asked.

“This island is
alive and very badly injured. We were told you have in your possession a
necklace that can help a friend of ours.”

The fairy
chuckled. “I don’t see how a necklace can help an island.”

“No.” Aneela
sighed in frustration. “The necklace is for another friend. The island,
however, told us about the necklace. It used to belong to her. Do you have it?”

The fairy
crossed his arms. “Maybe. I don’t see why we should give it to you, though. I
do not know this friend of yours.”

“It’s for me,”
Josh spoke up. “I am a nature demon.”

The fairy
gasped and backed away. “Nature demons cannot walk on land!”

“I know that;
I’m possessing this guy. My other friend is the true nature demon, and I’m
sucking her power away by also being one. I need the necklace to suppress my
power. What’s your name?”

The fairy
relaxed a little. “Charles.”

“Charles,
please help us. Astrid, the nature demon, is my best friend. I don’t want to
hurt her anymore. If she dies, then the whole world might be destroyed by the
weather. Do you want to be responsible for that?”

“Aren’t you a
nature demon, too? If this Astrid dies, can’t you just take over?”

“No. I don’t
know how to control the weather. Please.”

Charles stared
at Josh for what felt like ten seconds before nodding and diving back into the
pool of light. He returned a moment later with something in his hands. “Here,”
he said, handing it to Aneela.

Josh studied
it. The chain was nearly as golden as the pool below, and there was a large
green gem the size of an egg.

“Thank you,”
Josh said.

“What do we do
now?” Aneela asked him.

“I guess I can
leave Rhys.” Josh relaxed once again, closed his eyes and imagined himself
leaning forward. It felt like falling. When he opened his eyes, he was floating
next to Aneela and Rhys.

“May I?” Aneela
asked, lifting the necklace toward him.

Josh tilted his
head forward so she could place it around his neck. He imagined the chain going
through him, as if he were a ghost, but it made contact with his skin.

A second later,
he dropped to the ground with a jarring
thud
.

“Ow,” he said
jokingly.

Aneela and Rhys
laughed. The guard behind them made a choked sound that didn’t sound like a
laugh. Everyone turned to him and saw blood spilling from his mouth. His eyes
were wide open. He dropped to the ground, and the group saw another guard
standing behind him with a knife in his hand.

He tilted his
head upward, so everyone could see his blue-and-yellow face, and said, “Hello,
Queen Aneela. I hear you’ve been looking for me.”

“Indeed I have,
Andor.”

*
 
*
 
*

Astrid gasped
with renewed energy. Something just happened to make her feel better. She
smiled as the elements better responded to her commands.

“Thank you,
Josh,” she said. He must’ve found the necklace. She continued calming the
lightning until all that was left was the sound of panic in the streets. That,
too, settled down.

*
 
*
 
*

“What is this
now?” Andor asked as he stepped toward the edge of the bridge. “A fairy?”

“Yes,” Aneela
replied, staring at the knife. She held Rhys close to her, wordlessly telling
him to stay away from the man. She kept Josh close to her as well. She didn’t
know if he was vulnerable in his current state, but she didn’t want to find
out.

“I thought
fairies were tiny,” Andor said.

“We are,”
Charles replied. “We cast a spell upon the entrance to shrink intruders to our
size.”

“Told you so,”
Josh whispered to Aneela. She gave him a look that made him look away in shame.

“What do you
want?” Charles asked Andor. “You are not welcome here.”

“I just want
the queen, fairy.” To Aneela, he said, “I’ve had such a difficult time finding
you. You’ll come with my, Queen Aneela, and no one will get hurt.”

“Why on earth
would I go with you? It’s four against one.”

“Three against
one,” Charles said. “I want no part of this. I want all of you to leave.”

“Shut up!”
Andor yelled at Charles. “And to answer your question, Aneela, you’ll come with
me because…I have your son.”

Aneela gasped.
“That’s not possible. He’s well protected.”

Andor laughed.
“I hardly call leaving him with that doctor in that empty house ‘well
protected.’”

Aneela had been
holding out hope that he was bluffing, but he just proved he wasn’t. She looked
at her companions before saying, “All right. I’ll go with you.”

“No!” Rhys
screamed as he lunged at Andor.

But Andor was
quicker than anyone could have anticipated. He stabbed the charging man in the
gut.

Aneela screamed.

Rhys turned to
his wife, grasping his belly. “I’m sorry,” he said quietly before falling into
the golden pool.

“I warned him!”
Andor shouted. “I warned all of you. Now come with me, Aneela, before someone
else dies for you!”

Aneela was
about to do so when the pool of light suddenly erupted upward in a wave. The
fairies spun around the cavern like a tornado. Andor, Josh and Aneela stared in
wonder and fear as a loud buzzing sound filled the large space.

Josh suddenly
kicked the awestruck Andor in the stomach and then pulled Aneela toward the
exit. They left behind a screaming Andor.

*
 
*
 
*

Victor and the
two guards dug into the snow-covered ground with axes and swords, the dwarf
wiping sweat from his brow. How could he be so sweaty when it was cold outside?
The hexl waited patiently by the side of the tombstone, watching.

“Thanks for
your help,” Victor said sarcastically. “Isn’t it in your nature to dig through
the ground?”

The hexl merely
stared at him.

After ten
minutes, the dwarf reached the coffin. Once he opened it, he smiled down.
“Hello, Rockne.”

“Hello,
Victor,” a gruff voice replied.

*
 
*
 
*

Josh and Aneela
made it back to Rapatha’s cavern safely. Josh panted with the effort of
running, grateful he could run in the first place. The necklace was working
like a charm. He looked at Aneela, who was also breathing heavily, but she was
also crying.

“I’m so sorry,”
he said to her.

“He may still
be alive,” she replied. “He fell into the pool of light. Maybe that will heal
him or something. You know, magic.”

Josh nodded. He
didn’t know anything about these fairies, but Aneela’s hope wasn’t too
far-fetched. “We can go back for him,” he offered.

“No. Not now.
Let’s find Victor and Rockne and save Rapatha first. It’s what Rhys would
want.”

“Okay.”

They ran to the
front of Rapatha.

“Are you all
right?” the glowing figure asked them. “I saw a man come through, but he
wouldn’t tell me who he was or what he wanted. I couldn’t stop him.”

“We’re fine,”
Aneela said. “Well, some of us are.” She stopped talking, unable to say more.

“The fairies
took care of that man,” Josh said. “And I have the necklace.” He held it up.

“It’s still as
beautiful as I remember,” Rapatha said. “All you need now is for Rockne to take
you to the incubus to get my life essence back.”

“Have they dug
him up yet?” Aneela asked, sounding more like her old self.

“Yes.”

“We’ll go to
them. I know I said we should meet back here, but in case Andor is still
alive…”

“I understand,”
Rapatha said. “If he still lives, I will try to slow him down.”

“Thank you,
Rapatha.” Aneela and Josh ran up the hole the meteor had left in the crystal.