Emily Rodda - Sister Of The South

DELTORA QUEST 3 The Sister of the South Emily Rodda

For Reuben Jakeman

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Map

The story so far …

1 Bad Tidings

2 The Dream

3 Del

4 Attack

5 A Sad Reunion

6 Life and Death

7 Old Friends

8 Fearful Discoveries

9 The Yellow Notice

10 Voices of the Dead

11 The Dare

12 Creeping Darkness

13 The Sister of the South

14 The Battle of the Pit

15 The Hidden Enemy.

16 Shocks

17 The Trap

18 The Revenge

19 Dragon Night

20 Full Circle

Copyright

Map

DELTORA QUEST 3

1 Dragon’s Nest

2 Shadowgate

3 Isle of the Dead

4 The Sister of the South

The story so far …

Lief, Barda and Jasmine are on a quest to find and destroy the Four Sisters, evil Shadow Lord creations which have been poisoning Deltora for centuries. They learned of the Four Sisters plot through the Enemy’s crystal, left in the palace in Del after the Belt of Deltora was restored and the Shadow Lord’s tyranny over Deltora ended.

To succeed in his quest, Lief must wake Deltora’s last dragons from their enchanted sleep, for only when the power of a dragon joins the power of a gem in the magic Belt of Deltora can a Sister be destroyed.

Centuries ago, Deltora’s dragons, fierce protectors of their land, were hunted almost to extinction by the Enemy’s seven Ak-Baba. When only one dragon from each gem territory remained, the explorer Doran the Dragonlover persuaded the beasts to sleep in safety until a king, wearing the Belt of Deltora, called them to wake.

Too late, Doran learned of the Shadow Lord’s plan to use the Four Sisters to starve Deltora’s people. Now that the dragons had gone, there was nothing to stop the Enemy from putting the Sisters into place. Doran tried to warn of the danger, but was not believed. Leaving a map showing where he thought the Sisters were, he set out to find proof. But the Enemy wreaked a hideous revenge upon him on the Isle of the Dead, and his map was torn into four parts, and hidden.

Despite terrible dangers, Lief, Barda and Jasmine have managed to find all the fragments of Doran’s map, and to destroy the Sisters of the East, North and West. They have also found Red Han, the lost keeper of the magic Bone Point lighthouse, raising hopes that trading ships loaded with badly-needed food may now sail to Deltora across the western seas.

But the companions cannot rest. To their amazement and horror, the final map fragment has shown that the last Sister, the Sister of the South, is in their home city of Del. This is very bad news. Jasmine’s father, the legendary Resistance leader, Doom, is already struggling to prevent Del’s starving people from sinking into despair. Lief’s mother, Sharn, who might bring the people comfort, is still in Tora, Del’s magic sister city in the west. Messages from Josef, the old palace librarian, are increasingly confused and frantic. And wherever they are, whatever they do, it seems the Shadow Lord’s eyes are upon them.

Now read on …

1 - Bad Tidings

The grave of Doran the Dragonlover contained only his silver flask and a strange, gleaming many-coloured stone. These ancient objects were all that remained of Deltora’s greatest explorer.

The grave was in as wild a place as Doran could have wished—looking over the windswept rock that pointed to the Isle of the Dead, where the Sister of the West had been destroyed.

Lief, Barda and Jasmine stood at the graveside. With them were Ava the fortune-teller and Red Han, the lost keeper of the Bone Point Light. There were also two dragons—Veritas, dragon of the amethyst, and the orphaned baby dragon of the diamond, who was as yet unnamed. And it was these two, Lief thought, whose presence would have pleased Doran the most.

After careful thought, Veritas had scratched the lettering upon the grave marker.

‘It is fitting that we used his true name,’ Veritas said quietly. ‘For dragons, to know a true name is to have power over that name’s owner. But Dragonfriend is at peace. Nothing can harm him now.’

As Lief turned away from the grave, his heart was very full. He knew that the many-coloured stone was Doran’s soul-stone, filled with the great explorer’s memories. When Lief had placed it in its final resting place, his mind had been flooded with pictures.

Wild and beautiful places. Thousands of faces. The secret seas of the underworld. Flying with dragons …

And through it all ran Doran’s voice, whispering in a strange language. Whispering, it seemed, of Veritas.

Veritas hopian forta fortuna fidelis honora joy eu … Veritas hopian forta fortuna fidelis honora joy eu …

No doubt Veritas would know what the words meant, but Lief could not ask. The soul-stone had shown him the secrets of Doran’s heart. He felt he had no right to speak of them.

‘You were always in Doran’s mind, I think,’ he contented himself with saying to the grieving dragon, when it, too, turned from the grave.

‘As he will always be in mine,’ said Veritas. ‘That is why, though I long to return to my own territory, I will stay here for a time. The diamond infant must be taught to know her own land, and the ways of dragons. Dragonfriend would have wished it.’

An hour later, the companions set off along the broad coast road, with Red Han striding eagerly before them, and their horses, Honey, Bella and Swift, trotting no less eagerly behind.

Kree had left hours earlier, carrying a message for Zeean that all was well, that Red Han had been found, and that the companions, and the lighthouse keeper, wished to be sped to Tora.

Plainly the message had been safely delivered, for already the travellers could feel the faint tug of Toran magic. By nightfall they would be in the white city of the west.

There, Red Han would find the help he needed to return to Bone Point, where he longed to be. And there Lief, Barda and Jasmine and the horses would find food, rest, and then safe, quick passage to Del, their final goal.

‘How I long for a hot bath and a comfortable bed!’ Barda exclaimed.

‘It is fresh fruit I long for,’ sighed Jasmine, and Filli, riding on her shoulder, chattered fervent agreement.