“I suppose I am,” the kender replied. “But it’s really great to see you anyway.” He stepped forward to embrace her, but she hacked away.
“What is that smell?” she asked, crinkling her pretty nose.
“Smell?” Trip said.
The sea elf groaned. “It’s the cloak. It smells like fish left in the sun for a week.”
Trip lifted the ragged hem of the cloak and sniffed it. “Does it?” he said. “I hadn’t really noticed. This is genuine sea serpent, you know.” He lowered his voice and added, “It’s very magical.”
Ula huffed skeptically. “So, how did you get here, minnow?”
“Let’s discuss it over lunch,” Trip replied. “I’m starved. I’ll even pay. I picked up a few coins on my way here.”
By the end of the meal, Ula had wheedled out most of the story of how Trip obtained his cloak and how he got to Aurialastican.
“I’ve been trying,” Trip finished, “to find someone to take me to Darthalla. It isn’t a popular destination, though, and finding someone has been trickier than I thought it would be.”
“I doubt many kender charter ships,” Ula said. “So you escaped from Berann, Lord Kell, and the Order of Brass, made your way here by hitching a ride on a passing ship, and even arranged to hire a boat? I must admit, I’m impressed.”
Trip beamed at her. “Thanks, Ula. Or should I call you ‘Landwalker?’ ”
Ula fingered the pommel of a gem-studded knife hanging from the intricate golden chain at her waist. “Only my enemies call me ‘Landwalker’.”
“Ula it is, then,” Trip replied.
“About this ship you’ve hired…” she said.
“Well,” Trip said, “perhaps hired isn’t quite the right word. It was going to drop some supplies at Darthalla, they agreed to take me along-for an exorbitant fee, I might add. The captain might not have taken me at all. But he changed his mind when I mentioned Mik’s name. I guess he’s an old friend of Mik’s or something.”
“Really?” Ula asked.
“A burly, red-headed guy,” Trip replied. “Said his name was Jerick. Funny thing is, Mik once told me he was dead.”
Chapter Twenty-Nine
Origins
Caught in the center of the whirlpool, Mik spun faster and faster. The walls of the library had disappeared completely. A roaring sound, like storm-driven surf, filled his ears.
He felt himself surrounded by water, and then thrust into the open air. Waves crashed all around and thunder-heads collided overhead. The squall moved away quickly, as though pushed from the sky by a titanic invisible hand.
Sunlight streamed over the aquamarine ocean, reflecting from the whitecaps and filling the air with dazzling color. Mik soared over the waves as the Dragon Isles rose majestically from the sea.
He saw it alclass="underline" the glorious history, the glory of the isles. He saw the thousand metallic dragons, swarming over the islands, changing the shape and nature of the land. He saw the first people arrive and, with the help of the dragons, settlements became towns, and towns became cities.
Temples sprang up, treasure flowed into the temples, and the towns, and the cities, and the Dragon Isles became wealthy.
To protect the isles, a mighty enchantment was raised: the Veil. A special treasure-filled temple was built for the spell at the top of a volcano in a remote corner of the archipelago. A great, bejewled key in four pieces was made to seal the pact-one piece for each of the elements: diamond for earth, emerald for water, opal for air, and ruby for fire. The dragons set a monstrous blue-white diamond at the upper temple’s summit-above a hoard of treasure-to commemorate the deed.
The spell set the isles apart from the world-only those who knew its secret, dragons and favored mortals, could pass its defenses.
Outside the Veil, storm clouds gathered-but within, glittering dragons still filled the skies. Over time the four keys to the Temple of the Sky were scattered to the comers of the realm, and the Temple itself was hidden from outsiders.
Now, in his vision, Mik saw a key, transformed into a shining, golden gem, approach him before the floating chair, hovering in front of him and regarding Mik like a baleful yellow eye.
“I seek the third key,” Mik said, fighting hard to hold his voice steady.
The gemstone flashed and sparkled, and within it Mik saw an image of the third piece of ancient jewelry: the opal key. It looked similar to the other two: twisting, asymmetrical golden lines, with the blue stone set in the center. Its shape, though, was not quite the same as that of either the diamond or the emerald key.
“Seek the key within,” a voice in his head intoned.
A burning sensation welled up within Mik’s breast. An image flashed within his mind. A satisfied feeling spread out from the center of his body toward the end of his limbs. Mik fought down the sensation and concentrated instead on the gem.
He reached out, and his fingers passed through the golden orb’s surface. Fire sprang up around his arms; his hair burst into flame. The image in his mind spurred him on-the glittering shape of a huge blue-white diamond. He reached farther, farther, and at last touched the key.
Mik seized the gold and opal artifact in his fingers, just as the skin sloughed off his arm. He held it tight, even as his flesh turned to ash, revealing the white bone beneath.
The next instant, the gem grew very heavy. It pulled him from the chair and he plunged through the sky toward a volcanic island far below.
In his head he heard the voices of his friends and former shipmates, begging him to save himself-begging him to let go. Trip, old Poul, Marlian, Pamak, Ula, and many others-some alive, others dead-all beseeched him to give up the deadly artifact.
Mik refused. He clung tight, even as he plunged into the fires of the volcano and his bones turned to charcoal.
“I will not give up!” he thought.
Then suddenly he found himself sitting back in the golden chair.
The yellow gemstone eye hovered before him, staring into his soul. “Beware!” said the voice in his head. “The path you walk is perilous! Know yourself and you will know the consequences of your actions.”
The world spun again. Lightning flashed through Mik’s body. He struggled to breathe.
The mosaic floor of the viewing room rushed up to meet him. He smashed his head against the tiles and lights flashed inside his skull.
Instantly, Shimmer appeared at his side and helped him to sit.
“Are you all right?” the knight asked. “What happened? Did you learn anything? Did you see anything?”
Mik blinked, trying to fight down the aches in his muscles and the fire in his head. The opal artifact in his hand shone brightly. He took a deep breath, but things didn’t become much clearer. “How long was I up there?”
“Only a few moments. What did you see?”
“I saw the isles,” Mik gasped, his voice dry. “I saw them form from the sea. I saw the dragons claim the isles as their own. 1 saw the creation of the Veil.”
Shimmer nodded grimly.
“A temple was at the center of it-a temple filled with diamonds.”
“Our destination,” Shimmer said, offering him a skin of water.
Mik drank. “Yes. I have some idea where it is, now.” He stood and stretched, a faint smile parting his lips. “… Which I will share at the appropriate time.”
Shimmer nodded. “I’m sure that Ula will be glad to hear it.” He gave Mik a hand up.
“Let’s find her,” the sailor said.
Shimmer nodded again, and they left, winding back down the way they’d come. When they reached the city, they had little trouble locating Ula and Trip, who had never quite made it to the ship the kender was bragging about. Ula had, however, extricated their diminutive companion from a close call with the local authorities.
Mik was both surprised and glad to see Trip in Aurialastican. The kender and the sea elf were happy to discover that Mik had obtained the opal key.