Emily Rodda: Isle of the Dead

DELTORA QUEST 3

Isle of the Dead

Emily Rodda

For Reuben Jakeman

CONTENTS

Cover

Title Page

Dedication

Map

Deltora Quest 3

The story so far…

1 The Chase

2 Bone Point

3 The Lighthouse

4 A Matter of Honour

5 The Cruel Sea

6 Ghost Ship

7 Fool’s Gold

8 Truth

9 Mutiny

10 Deadly Bargain

11 In the Dunes

12 Surprises

13 Strange Tidings

14 Ava

15 The Scarlet Island

16 Blood and Bone

17 The Isle of the Dead

18 The Sister of the West

19 Vows

20 Old Friends

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 secret quest to find and destroy the Four Sisters, Shadow Lord creations which are poisoning Deltora. To succeed, they must wake Deltora’s last seven dragons, which have been deep in enchanted sleep for centuries. Only when the power of a dragon joins with the power of a gem in the Belt of Deltora can a Sister be destroyed.

Deltora’s dragons, fierce protectors of their land, were hunted almost to extinction by the Shadow Lord’s Ak-Baba. When only one dragon from each gem territory remained, the explorer Doran the Dragonlover persuaded them 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 in 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. He never returned, and his map was marked by the Shadow Lord, torn into four parts and hidden.

The first map fragment led the companions to Dragon’s Nest where, with the ruby dragon, they destroyed the Sister of the East and found a second map part pointing to Shadowgate in the north. Despite the efforts of the evil Laughing Jack, they reached Shadowgate, destroyed the Sister of the North with the emerald dragon, and found the third part of the map.

Now they must move on to seek the Sister of the West on the fearful Isle of the Dead.

Now read on…

1 – The Chase

Doom strolled through the great doorway of the palace in Del, and casually scanned the northern sky. He saw the messenger bird the guards had reported, but his stern, scarred face showed no sign of eagerness, fear or hope.

Many people were standing talking on the stairs that led down to the palace lawn and the road beyond. There was much to talk about. For weeks there had been rumours of strange happenings in the east—of dragons flying the skies and crops beginning to thrive.

Now the same tales had begun coming in from the north.

But none of the people on the stairs approached Doom to ask him if the rumours were true. None of them did more than glance nervously at the silent figure by the palace doors. Doom was a legend among them, but they feared him.

With all their hearts they wished their young king would return from his tour around the kingdom. Times were hard, and they missed Lief sorely.

The bird swooped down and dropped its message into Doom’s hands. To the disappointment of the people turning to look, Doom moved inside at once. Whatever the message was, he plainly did not intend to share it.

Alone in the palace dining room, Doom tore open the message with a feverish haste that would have very much surprised those who thought he had no feelings.

The note was not signed, but the familiar writing told Doom that Lief, at least, was safe. A tiny piece of brown wood had been folded within the paper. Doom picked it up and smelled it.

‘Boolong cone,’ he muttered, raising his eyebrows. ‘So—he is on Dread Mountain. And the others?’

He glanced at the sketch at the top of the note, then read each sentence from back to front, leaving out all words that had anything to do with fish.

All well in north. His heart gave a great thud. This could only mean that against all odds the Sister of the North had been destroyed, and that Lief, Barda and Jasmine were all safe.

Old friend will bring more news. Gla-Thon of the Dread Gnomes, perhaps. There was no-one else Doom could think of who might have helped the companions in the north.

We are moving west. So they had found the third fragment of the map of Doran the Dragonlover. They knew the location of the Sister of the West!

White city tonight. At this, Doom leaped to his feet. Tora! Lief, Barda and Jasmine would be in the marble city of magic this very night! No doubt they were going to ask the Torans to speed them to their new goal. A message sent now would reach them just in time.

Hastily he scribbled a note, then strode into the hallway and turned in the direction of the guarded area where the messenger birds were kept.

As he reached the library he remembered with a stab of irritation that old Josef the librarian wished desperately to write to Lief. His nagging had nearly driven Doom mad over the past weeks.

The library door was open. Inside, Josef’s assistant Paff was arranging books on shelves, looking even more harried than usual.

‘Where is Josef?’ Doom demanded.

Paff jumped, and her pink-rimmed eyes widened. ‘He—is in the kitchen,’ she said breathlessly. ‘He did not eat at midday because—’

‘Run to him at once, if you please,’ Doom broke in impatiently. ‘A bird is leaving with a message for Lief very soon. This is Josef’s chance to send a note, if he makes haste. Take paper and a pen for him.’

‘Josef always carries a pen and a notebook with him,’ Paff said, then waited, her mouth hanging slightly open.

‘Go then!’ Doom thundered.

Paff dropped the books she was holding, shot past him like a startled rabbit and ran in the direction of the kitchen.

Doom moved on, his face like thunder. In truth, he was annoyed with himself for losing his temper with someone as defenceless as Paff. But the people he passed drew back fearfully, and wished all the more that their beloved Lief would come home.

While Doom was striding through the palace and Josef was dropping his soup spoon and frantically searching for his little notebook, Lief was flying towards Tora in the pouch of a Kin.

A few days before, he, Barda and Jasmine had been astounded when three of the fabled flying creatures had arrived in Shadowgate to carry them to rest and safety in Dread Mountain.

The Kin were Ailsa, Bruna and young Prin. Prin had grown very much since the companions last saw her and was now almost as large as Ailsa.