Chapter 11
Chapter Eleven
Zohar Reykill twisted and turned on the fading threads that connected him to the portal.
Fractured light sparked around him, splintering against the vast blackness pressing in from all sides.
For the first time in his life, he was actually afraid.
Afraid he wouldn’t make it out of this adventure he had barreled into without thinking.
That he would never see his friends or family again.
It was a sobering thought at the tender age of sixteen. Thinking about his death. It was one he didn’t like. It turned out he really, really didn’t want to die.
No die. No die. No die.
His dragon’s feverish chant pulsed through his mind, a rasping, guttural rhythm vibrating in his bones like a war drum. The pressure in his chest tightened with a vise-like grip, making it hard to breathe.
The scent of ozone filled his nostrils—sharp and acrid, like a storm tearing through a power line. The threads connecting him to the portal fizzled one by one, hissing and snapping like angry snakes.
If he could’ve pushed words past the lump in his throat, he might’ve muttered a curse or two. Instead, he swallowed hard, his heart thundering as he closed his eyes against the vast, silent void ahead. The chilled hush of space pressed down on him, heavy and absolute.
His breath hitched.
Then—
He dropped like a stone.
His stomach plunged as gravity suddenly returned with a vengeance.
He gasped and his eyes flew open in disbelief—just in time to see a brilliant, crystal blue sky flare into existence above him. Wind whipped through his hair, cold and biting. Clouds streaked past in a dizzy blur.
His dragon roared with relief, and Zohar felt the familiar shift roll through him like a wave.
Scales rippled across his skin. He spread his wings and let out a whoop of exhilaration when they flared on an updraft of air.
His elation lasted all of two seconds before he was suddenly sucked down by a spiraling funnel of water that rose from the sea below.
“Come on!” he groaned as the glorious sky vanished. Mist slapped his face. Roaring wind howled in his ears. Spray stung his eyes. He spun in ever increasingly tighter circles.
Wheeeee! This fun! his dragon chirped.
Fun? FUN? It’ll be fun until we get sucked under and drown, you idiot! Neither of us can breathe underwater, Zohar snapped.
Water slammed against his wings as they were dragged up—then down—then sideways. He felt like a grain of rice in a giant blender.
He was getting dizzy. Really dizzy.
Worse, the swirling funnel was narrowing.
And at the bottom… was a hole.
A deep, churning black hole that pulsed like it was breathing.
Please don’t open back into space, he chanted silently. Please don’t open back into space.
I going to be sick, his dragon moaned just as the waterspout’s column broke—and the darkness swallowed them whole.
Upper Archives Room: Isle of the Sea Serpent
“What’cha doing?” Juno asked, his voice echoing in the cavernous underground chamber.
Dolph didn’t answer right away. He was elbow-deep in a toppled stack of ancient tomes, scrolls, and brittle parchment. Dust coated everything, dancing like lazy sparks in the shaft of golden light trickling through the high arched vents.
The archive beneath the upper palace on the Isle of the Sea Serpent wasn’t exactly well-organized. Or well-lit. Or well-anything. The air smelled faintly of sea salt, old paper, and something vaguely sulfuric—like whatever they used to keep the mold at bay had ideas of its own.
Dolph squinted at a half-torn map, muttered something unintelligible, and shoved it aside with a grunt.
He had seen what he was looking for once. Just once. When their dad brought him down here to look for a family crest or some boring relic and he had wandered off.
Now… if he could just remember where…
“Come on. I know it’s got to be here still. Where are you?” he growled, digging deeper.
“I’m right here,” Juno replied cheerfully.
Dolph scowled when Juno bent over and stuck his face directly into his line of sight. “Move,” he ordered.
Juno grinned and plopped down on a crate labeled ‘Unverified Curses—Handle With Care.’ His bare feet kicked back and forth, heels tapping the ancient wood.
“You looking for something?”
Dolph paused, stared at his little brother’s wide-eyed innocence, and shook his head slowly. “What does it look like I’m doing?” he muttered.
Juno tilted his head. “Looks like you’re looking for something.”
“I am,” Dolph muttered, brushing his sand-white hair out of his eyes as he pried open a dusty box filled with framed star charts.
“What is it? Maybe I can help.”
Dolph’s shoulders stiffened. “It’s a map.”
“O-o-oh. A map of what?”
He clenched his jaw and slowly turned his head to glare at Juno. “Old portals. I think it might take us to the Loch Ness monster.”
Juno’s eyes widened in awe. “Like the one Mom told us about last night? From Earth?”
Dolph nodded, his expression softening. “Yeah. The one Mom told us about.”
Jenny Ackerly—their new mom—wasn’t from this world. Not originally. Earth was… different. Parallel. Sort of like a reflection of theirs in a broken mirror. Dolph wasn’t sure how it all worked. He just knew he liked her stories. Knights. Dragons. Mermaids. Boys who never grew up.
And the Loch Ness monster.
“So, why do you want a map to a sea monster?” Juno asked, swinging his legs.
Dolph groaned and tugged at his hair. His brother’s questions were like water dripping on a stone—relentless. He finally sighed and dropped beside Juno, kicking at a loose tome with his toe.
“Mom said it might be the last of its kind,” he muttered. “That it could be lonely. I thought if I could find it… maybe I could take it to Aunt Nali. She’d know if there were others. That way… it wouldn’t be alone anymore.”
Silence.
Juno stood and turned to face Dolph, placing a small hand on his knee and giving him a crooked smile.
“You’re a good brother, Dolph,” Juno said, blinking rapidly. “You’re going to make a wonderful Sea King one day.”
“Thanks,” Dolph muttered, embarrassed by his brother’s kind words.
Dolph glanced over Juno’s shoulder—then blinked.
His heart stuttered and his mouth dropped open in surprise. And then he let out a strangled laugh, pushing Juno aside with a startled burst of excitement.
“It's there!” he breathed, pointing across the long, shallow reflection pool that mirrored the glowing sconces lining the wall. “The map! I can’t believe it’s been there this whole time.”
A carved frame, barely visible behind a hanging tapestry, gleamed faintly in the golden light. It pulsed with soft blue sigils that shifted as they stared.
Juno spun to look. “That’s it?”
“That’s it!” Dolph practically bounced on the balls of his feet.
He took two eager steps forward before he jerked to a stop when Juno suddenly grabbed his arm.
“Wait. What’s that?”
The surface of the pool rippled. A single bubble broke the surface. Then another.
A low vibration thrummed through the floor.
Dolph’s heart skipped.
“Dolph? What’s going on? Is it supposed to do that?” Juno asked, taking a step back.
Dolph turned just as the pool exploded upward in a tower of water. Mixed in the water was a dark shape that rocketed downward like a missile.
“Look out!” he yelped, shoving Juno behind him and raising his hand instinctively to shield them from the wave.
The deluge crashed down, soaking the crates and scattering scrolls. Parchment flapped in the air like startled birds. One of the enchanted globes flickered in protest.
Dolph and Juno watched in stunned disbelief as the figure that had been captured in the whirlpool suddenly broke the surface, gasping and sputtering, and then blinked at them, his glowing gold eyes wild with confusion.
Then the creature sputtered and coughed again before he rose from the shallow pool. Dolph and Juno watched with a wary eye as the creature shook from the top of his dark brown head to the tip of his tail.
Juno clutched Dolph’s arm. “What is that?”
Dolph’s eyes narrowed with disappointment. “It looks like a dragon.”
Another cough. Then the creature shimmered into a tall, dark-haired boy, who rasped out, “Ugh. Did someone turn the ocean upside down?”
Juno’s bottom lip protruded out as their “creature” held his arms out and shook them. “Aw, a dragon? We’ve already got loads of dragons. We want a new monster for Nali.”
The boy apologetically grimaced as he looked up at them, water dripping off the tip of his nose.
“Hi. I’m, ah, I’m Zohar. Zohar Reykill,” he croaked. “I, ah, I think I’m lost.”