His face set like stone, Barda read aloud the verse printed on the map.
Sisters four with poisoned breath
Bring to the land a long, slow death.
But death comes swiftly if you dare
To find each sister’s hidden lair.
Their songs like secret rivers flow
To hold the peril deep below …
And if at last their voices cease
The land will find a final peace.
‘“Final peace”,’ murmured Zeean. And suddenly the words, which had seemed so hopeful, were chilling.
‘But Deltora is not a tiny island!’ cried Gla-Thon, throwing down Josef’s manuscript. ‘No beast in the centre, however terrible, could destroy this whole land!’
‘You are right, gnome,’ growled Gers. ‘Just let it try to invade the territory of the Jalis!’
‘The Shadow Lord is not known for idle threats,’ said Doom grimly. He swung around to Steven, who had remained silent ever since he saw the map.
‘We must go at once to the City of the Rats,’ he said. ‘The bees and Mellow would be our fastest way. Will you—?’
Steven nodded shortly. His fists were clenched. His golden eyes were flickering brown. ‘Our mother’s orchard lies at the edge of the Plain of the Rats,’ he said in a low voice. ‘Mellow will fly like the wind to defend it.’
I will be faster, king of Deltora. And a full moon is rising.
The voice of the topaz dragon filled Lief’s mind. The topaz grew hot beneath his hands. He felt Barda and Jasmine, close beside him. He turned to Doom.
‘You go with Steven,’ he murmured. ‘Take as many from here as are able, with every weapon you can carry. We will meet you there.’
18 - The Revenge
The dragon flew faster than the wind, its golden scales glittering in the light of the huge, rising moon. The land slipped by beneath it. The first small lights were showing in villages and towns where people sat by their firesides, bathed their children or prepared their frugal meals, in ignorance of what was happening beyond the safety of their walls.
Flattened against the dragon’s neck, Lief, Barda and Jasmine thought of nothing but holding on. The cold became more intense as they moved inland. The freezing wind buffeted them mercilessly.
We are crossing the border into opal territory. I have broken my vow.
The voice of the dragon hissed in Lief’s mind. Defiance and regret were mingled in it, but there was no trace of fear.
If the opal dragon rises, I will explain, Lief replied.
The dragon snorted in grim amusement.
The land below them was flatter now, and more desolate. There were no more villages, no more towns. In the distance, water gleamed.
The bend of Broad River, Lief thought. We are nearly there.
His teeth had begun chattering again. The hair rose on the back of his neck as slowly he became aware of a sound rising beneath the rushing of the wind—a deep, ominous rumbling.
The next moment Jasmine screamed, and the dragon’s scaly hide twitched beneath Lief’s hands.
‘What do you see?’ Lief shouted. ‘Jasmine—?’
And then he saw for himself, and the breath caught in his throat.
Beyond the gleam of the water, something huge was rising—a vast, rounded thing like a hideous reflection of the golden moon.
‘By the heavens, what is it?’ Barda shouted hoarsely.
The dragon growled, deep in its throat. It flew faster, faster. Now the sweeping bend of the river was directly ahead of them. And they could see, enclosed within the bend, the gigantic, poisonous yellow bubble pushing upward through the ruins of the City of the Rats, pushing the damaged buildings aside as if they were children’s building bricks. A few rats were scattering from the ruins, squeaking shrilly as they ran.
Lief stared in terrified fascination as the bubble swelled and grew.
Their songs like secret rivers flow
To hold the peril deep below.
But the Sisters’ song lines flowed through the earth no longer. And like the beast in the tale, like the clown in Barda’s puzzle box, the Shadow Lord’s revenge was rising from its long darkness, for now there was nothing to hold it down.
In a dream of horror Lief saw water beneath him. They were crossing the Broad. And the thing rising from the ruins of the City was still growing, swelling from the earth like a hideous boil.
How close do you wish to—?
The dragon’s voice broke off as there was a thunderous roar from the other end of the plain. Something was hurtling towards them, rainbow colours flashing in the moonlight.
Instantly the dragon plunged earthward in a sickening dive. Lief, Barda and Jasmine shrieked as the ground came rushing up to meet them and they crashed to a stop. Dizzy and faint, their eyes streaming, they struggled to free themselves from the ropes that bound them.
‘Make haste!’ the dragon roared. It clawed at the ropes, cutting them through like threads.
The companions fell to the hard ground and rolled aside. The dragon spread its wings, preparing to take off once more.
‘No!’ shouted Lief. ‘Do not fight! Be still! Stay on the ground!’
‘And let that beast think I fear it? Never!’ snarled the dragon, steam hissing from its terrible jaws.
‘In Doran’s name, I beg you!’ Lief cried desperately.
The dragon growled. But it half-folded its wings and remained still.
The opal dragon was almost upon them. It was gigantic—even larger than the dragon of the emerald. The spines on its neck were fully raised. The beating of its wings was like thunder crashing, and the gale of its wingbeats hammered the ground.
The opal on the Belt was burning with rainbow fire. Lief pressed his fingers upon it, and sent his message with all the force of his being.
Dragon of the opal, do not attack! The topaz dragon is here at my wish.
He gasped as the opal dragon’s blind, vengeful fury flashed through him like a lightning bolt. Summoning his strength, he tried again.
Dragon, you are blinded by your anger. A great evil is rising in your land—afar greater evil than a dragon who has crossed a border. Open your eyes and see it! In Dragonfriend’s name, I beg you!
Again the name of Doran the Dragonlover worked its magic. Lief felt the rainbow dragon hesitate. He felt the battering of the wind on his back ease as the beast wheeled.
He crawled to his knees, looked ahead and groaned aloud.
The bubble had swelled even more. Its hideous bulk now completely covered the ruined city and rose as high as the palace in Del.
Lief stared at it in horrified fascination. At the bottom it was the same poisonous yellow as it had been before. But at the top it was paler—paler, tighter and shinier. As if … as if …
With a ghastly tearing sound the top of the bubble split open. A fountain of vile, dull grey liquid, thick as heavy cream, gushed up into the air.
Lief heard the dragons roar. He heard Barda and Jasmine crying out in revulsion beside him. And he heard something else, he was sure of it—the sound of distant, wicked laughter.
The spouting liquid began flowing to the ground, spreading outward in a thick grey flood.
‘What is it?’ Jasmine shrieked, her eyes wide with horror.
A red-eyed rat, more daring than the others, darted at the grey liquid, perhaps hoping it was something good to eat. The moment the liquid touched it, the rat stiffened and fell, its legs jerking convulsively.