Island of Graves by Lisa McMann
You saw the . . . ship on the other side.
Now only bones and graves remain,
And books to tell the stories of their deaths.
I came from storm to storm and landed here,
My sailboat sinking, body torn apart.
I made it to the waterfall
Before they found me and took me to their lair.
Now I live here in this ancient tree.
I steal away for food when they stampede.
Sometimes I change the bone sign on the beach,
But only if they stampede to the north.
Can you please let me know if you can hear me?
Just sing back; don’t speak or yell.
Try to imitate the lilt of my voice
And they will stay asleep . . . I hope.
Alex looked at Sky. “I can’t sing,” Alex said. “I’m terrible at it. Can you?”
Sky almost laughed. “You’re the creative one,” she said. “And my voice is scratchy from the thorns. I don’t . . . I mean . . .”
Spike spoke softly. “You are both silly to argue about this right now, I think.”
Alex nodded. “You’re right, Spike.”
Sky scowled. “Okay, I’ll do it. You’ll probably just scare them all.” She’d sung once before with Meghan, who had said she had a warm tone or something—Sky couldn’t remember. Meghan was just being nice. Sky took a deep breath and let it out, trying to think of what to sing so that it wouldn’t sound completely stupid.
We can hear you—there are two of us.
We will help you escape.
How . . .
Sky panicked, trying to think of what to say, then kept going.
How can we rescue you?
We don’t want to die.
“Good job,” whispered Alex. “Beautiful. You should sing more.”
“Thanks,” Sky said. It didn’t sound half bad.
They waited. There was a long silence. Sky pictured the girl in the tree and wondered what it was like for her to finally hear an answer. Tears sprang to her eyes as she thought about how she’d feel in the same situation.
Finally the song began again.
I am crying tears of joy and thanks.
I’ve been stringing vines for months to make a rope.
I need two days or maybe three to finish.
Then I’ll run for the cliff and rappel down.
That way you can stay safe in your boat.
Is there any way you’ll wait for me?
I know it is a lot for me to ask—
I am desperate on this Island of Graves.
Alex and Sky looked at one another. “Two or three days?” whispered Alex. “We don’t have that kind of time.”
Sky’s face was grim. “We need to save her, but we’ll have to figure out some other way. We’ve got to find Aaron.”
“Can you ask her if he’s here?” Alex suggested.
“Yes, I was planning on it. What else?”
“Ask if there’s another way for her to escape, like now, tonight.”
“Got it.”
Sky gathered her thoughts, and then began to sing:
Is there any other way to rescue you tonight?
We’re on a desperate search for someone else
And have no time to lose.
His name is Aaron. . . . Is he there with you?”
They waited, and a few minutes later, the sorrowful reply came.
There is no other way to leave tonight.
Gorillas sleep on the ground below my feet.
I must finish my rope, then wait for daylight,
And sneak away when they are on the hunt.
I have seen no humans anywhere;
No one has landed since I arrived.
I have the highest viewpoint of the island.
I assure you, sadly, Aaron is not here.
Alex and Sky exchanged a glance. The girl paused, then continued in a sad couplet.
I understand your urgency.
Perhaps one day you can come back for me.
Sky put her hand to her forehead, squeezing her eyes shut, and sighed. “There’s got to be something else we can do,” she whispered.
“There is,” Alex said. “Since Aaron isn’t here, he’s got to be on the Island of Shipwrecks. We’ll collect him and come back for this girl on our return.”
“Brilliant,” Sky said. “They should make you head mage or something.”
“Knock it off,” Alex warned. “You sound like you’ve been cavorting with Clive, my wise-guy blackboard.”
Sky elbowed Alex in the side and thought about what to sing. “Be quiet now. I’m thinking.” Soon she began again.
Our journey takes us one more island to the east.
When we are finished there, we will return.
A week or less, I guarantee.
Do not lose hope. . . . Just finish your rope.
The girl responded shortly.
My gratefulness to you is bigger than the sea.
Beware the hurricane’s dangerous grasp.
Though often now I wish that I were there.
Give my best to Ishibashi-san.
Alex’s lips parted in surprise.
“Did you hear that?” Sky whispered excitedly. “She must be the girl that Ishibashi told us about. The one who escaped.”
“And she ended up here.” Alex shook his head. “Boy, has she had a string of bad luck.”
“She’s been working on that rope for months—did you catch that?” Sky gazed up at the island with respect. “And I think Ishibashi talked about the girl leaving his island last year. We barely survived a day here, and we didn’t even step foot on it.”
“Impressive,” Alex agreed. “She must be terribly lonely. It’s amazing she hasn’t given up or gone crazy by now.” Then he scratched his head. “I wonder which island she’s from.”
“The Island of Fire, maybe,” Sky said. “It’s the only option, isn’t it?”
Alex thought about it. “Not Warbler, since she’s singing. Not Legends or Shipwrecks, since we met everyone there. And Pan said no human has ever been on that seventh island. Unless she’s from Quill.”
Sky shrugged, thinking about the other chunk of land on Lani’s map and the dead passengers in the air vessel that had crashed in the sea near Artimé. “Or somewhere we haven’t discovered yet.”
“Maybe,” said Alex. The idea seemed crazy. But it would certainly explain a few things.
When they were sure the girl was done communicating with them, they saw no reason to stay any longer. Alex commanded the boat to head to a spot a mile from the Island of Shipwrecks so they could figure out exactly how they were going to get to shore without dying in the process.
» » « «
Meanwhile in Quill, Gondoleery was making some changes. She commanded Governor Strang to draft Wanteds into the Quillitary and begin training them. She visited the university to seek out eager students who were desperate to advance in Quill and appointed them to her newly formed high priest protection squad. And by now she’d figured out that Sully was the weak link in her driving staff who had given help to the enemy.
She killed him with an ice spear to the heart.
Return to the Island of Shipwrecks
The boat was still speeding toward the easternmost island in the chain when Alex and Sky awoke early the next morning. Spike swam with the boat as usual, sometimes a little ahead of it, sometimes a little behind. And Charlie stayed in the cabin, preferring the safety of it whenever the boat was going fast.
True to Henry’s word, the salve had helped Sky’s wounds considerably overnight, and she was moving about much more comfortably by morning.
“Six hours to go before we get there,” Sky said, looking through the shelf of books for a new title. “Unfortunately that means we’re going to miss the hour of calm, which worries me a bit. I know Ms. Morning said the boat could make it through anything, but she hasn’t seen this hurricane.” She pulled out a book, looked at
Alex liked that Sky had never questioned him about Aaron being alive—she just believed him. “I have no idea. But if he’s truly there and not still on some ship somewhere, I’m sure the scientists are helping him.” He frowned. “Those poor guys. They probably had no idea what kind of horrible person they were getting stuck with.”
“They’ve probably had a fair share of horrible visitors.” Sky laughed, and then she grew thoughtful. “Hey, I just remembered something. Didn’t Ishibashi tell us that sometimes the pirates dragged their enemies to the Island of Shipwrecks and set them adrift in the storm?”
“Now that you say that, it sounds familiar,” Alex mused. “I’d forgotten about it. That must be what happened with Aaron.”
“So he’s got to be there!” Sky said.
Alex imagined Aaron in a little fishing boat caught in the hurricane. “I can’t believe he made it through that alive. I’m glad it wasn’t me against that storm alone. But I feel guilty, because it should have been.”
“If Aaron is as bad as you say, you can cut the guilt. He got what he deserved.” She knitted her brows, her finger hovering over the spine of one of Alex’s books. “Hmm.” She slid it out and sat down to read.
“Yeah. Poor Ishibashi.” Alex pulled out a book too, but he had trouble getting into reading today. His mind was more preoccupied with the girl on the previous island. The Island of Graves, she’d called it. It was very mysterious. And the old abandoned ship, which could have carried hundreds of people. They were all likely devoured by saber-toothed gorillas, leaving nothing but their bones and some graves. What was their story?
Sky paged through her book with the utmost attention. She was so enraptured by it that when Alex pointed out the massive circle of clouds in the direction of the Island of Shipwrecks, she didn’t hear him.
Alex studied her, a smile playing on his lips. “Sky,” he said.
“What?” she replied, tearing her eyes away from the book.
“I was commenting on the clouds,” he said.
Sky glanced eastward. “Yep,” she said. “Those are clouds all right.” She glanced at the map on the dashboard and went back to her book.
“What book is that?” Alex asked.
“Element-ary,” she mumbled.
“The spell book? Since when did you care about spells?”
“Since we’re heading into a hurricane by choice,” Sky said, not looking up. “I saw you had the book with you, and I figured if Lani can rid an entire island of ice, what’s stopping you from ending the hurricane?”
Alex blinked. The thought had never occurred to him. “What a brilliant idea. Is there a section on hurricanes?” He crossed the width of the boat and sat next to Sky. “Can I read over your shoulder?”
“If you’re quiet,” Sky said. “We’ll be there in five hours, so cut the chatter, will you?”
“Sorry,” Alex said. He leaned over Sky’s shoulder as she paged through the book, skipping over the ice and snow sections, which Lani had used. Occasionally she went back to a page she’d bookmarked about rain and pondered it, then continued.
“This is really something,” said Alex, “you know? I can’t believe you thought of it. I can’t believe I didn’t think of it.”
“Quiet,” Sky said, and tapped the book.
Alex obeyed.
They remained like that until their backs and necks cramped from intense studying. By the time they paged to the end of the book, Sky had marked four sections, but none of them were what she’d been looking for. She straightened up and turned to Alex.
“Well,” she said, “there’s no hurricane section. Not even a mention of a hurricane anywhere.”
Alex deflated. “It figures. I guess that idea was too good to be true.”
Sky tapped her chin, thinking for a long moment. “I’m not so sure about that. I mean, obviously I don’t know much about magic or how spells work, but it seems to me that you can break a hurricane down into wind, rain, thunder, and lightning, right? It makes sense if you just think a little differently.” She handed the spell book to Alex. “I’ve marked those four spells for you.”
Alex took it and looked at the sections Sky had marked. “Put them all together, you’re saying?”
“Yes, exactly,” said Sky. “Make a new, huge spell from the four that already exist. Is that a stupid idea?”
Alex began reading over the sections carefully. “I don’t know,” he murmured. “It seems pretty smart, actually. . . .” He wondered if it was possible. Sure, Alex had successfully made new components and instilled them with magic many times in the past, but this was entirely different. He’d need to create an enormous removal spell, like the dissipate spell but on a majorly heightened level. And it was a task that would require a chant that didn’t already exist. Alex hadn’t had much practice writing that kind of magic. He’d always used Mr. Today’s journals and notes in the past, like with the Triad spells. Now he’d be the mage doing the experimenting. He’d be the one scribbling the notes in the margins . . . all for the sake of one day helping the next mage of Artimé.
The responsibility felt daunting. “It would take a lot of work to get it right,” said Alex.
“If anybody can do it, it’s you,” Sky said softly.
But doubt kept creeping in. “Don’t you think Mr. Today would have tried this since he was friends with Ishibashi?” He paged through the book, and then checked inside the front and back covers for additional notes, which Mr. Today had often scribbled in books after attempting to alter a spell. But there were none. In fact, while old, the book was in pristine condition, unworn, and the binding was still very tight.
“Maybe he didn’t write this book,” Sky said. “I mean, he can’t have written all of the books in the library. There wouldn’t be time to do anything else. So it might be that he just didn’t know about it. Or maybe he looked and discovered there wasn’t a section on hurricanes, so that stopped him—I don’t know.”
Alex turned the book over. “I remember someone saying once that Mr. Today never really did much with weather other than the occasional rain to keep things fresh in Artimé. It wasn’t really his style of magic.”
“Well, there you go,” said Sky. “He probably never thought about it.”
“Maybe,” said Alex. “I’ll see what I can come up with.”
Alex paced the narrow aisle for hours, book in hand, frowning and rereading and puzzling over the individual sections. Was there a way to stop a hurricane if all he had were spells to control bits and pieces of it? It didn’t seem possible that he could put this puzzle together and perform such a grand and complicated thing . . . especially if Mr. Today hadn’t done it. Maybe Sky was right that the old mage simply hadn’t thought of it.
It was worth a try, anyway. As the Island of Shipwrecks grew nearer, Alex sat down with his pencil and notepad and began dissecting each of the four spells Sky had bookmarked, looking to see if there was any repetition or overlap among them. He scribbled things down and crossed things out, hemmed and sighed, then wrote furiously again, pages and pages, not noticing Sky looking on from time to time to see what progress he was making.
By the time the boat pulled to within a mile of the island and slowed to drift outside the hurricane’s grip, Alex had reconfigured the four different elemental spells to reverse their effects and combined them into one all-encompassing spell so he’d have to concentrate very hard only one time. At least he hoped that was what he’d done. Soon he’d know for sure.
As the boat drifted closer and closer to the island, Spike reported a tugging feeling in the waters below like she’d felt before when they approached this island. Alex went over each element of the spell a few more times, looking for mistakes. When he was certain he’d done everything he could, he tried to relax his body and brain for a few moments so he’d be fresh to perform the magic. “How long have we been drifting here?” he asked.
&
He waved her off, too absorbed by the task to eat.
Looking through the wall of the storm, he could barely make out the scientists’ ship on the land, where he’d transported it for them. He was too far away to see any signs of life . . . or signs of Aaron.
Alex’s stomach knotted. He’d been concentrating so hard on the spell that he’d almost forgotten the main reason they’d come. This was it. His brother was most likely here. And Alex wasn’t sure what he was going to say to him. He was ready to fight if he had to. Ready to take Aaron by force or by magic if necessary.
Of course, they had to make it safely to the island first. And despite the boat’s magic and strength, Alex thought putting an end to the hurricane was a safer idea, especially for Charlie, who would sink like a stone if he somehow got tossed overboard. He desperately hoped this melding of ideas would work.
Sky ventured a question. “Did you figure it out?”
Pulled from his thoughts, Alex smiled at her and stretched his tense muscles. “Mostly,” he said. “And if this actually works, you get the prize for being clever and thinking beyond the parameters of magic. But before I try it, I have a question for you. How did Lani perform the spell to remove the ice? I was sort of preoccupied at the moment and didn’t notice.”
“She did this.” Sky stood up and put her hands in the air, fingers outstretched. “It seemed like she was trying to encompass the whole area,” she said. “And then she chanted the words under her breath three times.”
“Got it. Thanks.” Alex rechecked his spell for errors and began muttering. There was a lot he could get wrong in figuring out how to reverse rain, wind, thunder, and lightning. And even more he could mess up by combining all of those reversed spells into one.
Seeing that Alex had sunk back into his thoughts, Sky stayed out of his way and waited patiently. Soon he was nodding, and then he was rising to his feet, book in hand, pencil shoved behind his left ear. He looked out at the storm for a long moment, regarding it as an enemy and trying to find its weaknesses, and then he set his jaw firmly.
“Okay,” he said, glancing at Sky and Charlie, “I’m warning you. This could be awesome, or it could get ugly. You both might want to hide in the cabin until it’s over.”