Emily Rodda - Ilse Of Illusion

‘If I had allowed Penn to show you the whole parchment, would you have helped us?’ the Piper asked, turning his cold little eyes on Lief.

Lief hesitated. ‘We needed the second part of the Pirran Pipe,’ he said finally. ‘We would have entered the dome, even if the truth was known to us.’

‘Perhaps,’ agreed the Piper. ‘But perhaps you would have been so careful in what you said that the dome would have remained closed, and my people would have continued to live in growing darkness. I could not take that risk.’

He sighed. ‘So I am guilty of the first charge you have laid at my feet. But I am not guilty of the others.’

He took some bread from the basket and bit into it. ‘I knew the dome-dwellers would not harm you, for blood may not be spilled inside the dome,’ he said thoughtfully, with his mouth full. ‘And I did not think that you or anyone else would have to face the Arach. I thought the dome would shatter, the light would return to the caverns, and the Arach would flee to the dimness of the caves at once.’

‘But that did not happen,’ said Barda gruffly. ‘Auris kept the spell alive. He held the dome, damaged as it was, in place with all the force of his will. Only his death ended it.’

‘Indeed.’ The Piper shrugged. ‘I had not counted on that. But as soon as we realised what had happened, Penn and I called the guards. Then we entered the dome ourselves, even before the guards arrived, to do what we could to aid you.’

He took another bite of the bread, and glanced at Penn. ‘What use we could have been, I do not know,’ he said, chewing. ‘As I told Penn, we were almost certainly going to our deaths. But she insisted. Fortunately, the man Auris expired in time to save us all.’

Lief shuddered as a vision of Auris’s terrible death rose before his eyes. He glanced at the Piper with dislike, then looked away, repelled by his coldness.

And yet, he thought … for all his seemingly uncaring words, the Piper had entered the dome. Had put his own life at risk.

Lief looked again at the small, wrinkled Auron, who was chewing his bread with every appearance of enjoyment. Whatever he pretended, the Piper was not without feeling. Not without honour or courage. He was just a being who preferred to keep his emotions locked within himself. It was his way of surviving.

‘We never dreamed there would be just one soul left on the island,’ Penn burst out, breaking her silence at last. ‘We knew there would not be a large number, however. The dome-dweller colony could never have thrived. Fewer and fewer children were being born to the tribe, even at the time our ancestors left it.’

The Piper nodded, swallowing. ‘Children are not good at living a lie. Children have too much energy, are too impatient, and ask too many questions,’ he said.

He glanced slyly at Jasmine. ‘Some people, indeed, keep these qualities long past the age of childhood,’ he added. ‘That, I think, is a good thing. But it is not always comfortable for those who love them.’

In the tense silence that followed, he calmly finished eating. Then he brushed the crumbs from his hands, and fumbled in the folds of his robe.

‘Here is the stem of the Pirran Pipe,’ he said, drawing out a small piece of carved wood and handing it casually to Lief. ‘Use it as you will. We would be glad to have it back when you have achieved your aim, but for now we can do without it.’

Lief took the stem of the Pipe in trembling hands. As he touched it, his whole body tingled, and the Pipe’s music rang in his ears. He took the mouthpiece from the inside pocket of his shirt, and screwed the two pieces together.

‘Thank you,’ he managed to say.

The Piper allowed himself a small smile. ‘You are welcome,’ he said. ‘In fact, it is no great sacrifice. After all, we have done without our part of the Pirran Pipe for a very long time. For now, the magic that lives in every Auron, and which has now been returned to us, will be more than enough. Thanks to you, the island is ours once again. What more can we ask?’

The music in Lief’s mind rose and fell, sweet and filled with longing. He looked up at Barda and Jasmine. He saw their eyes fixed on the magical object in his hands, and knew that they too could feel its power.

One more effort … one more adventure, and the Pirran Pipe would be complete.

And then?

And then, thought Lief, we will be ready. Then we can go, for good or ill, to the Shadowlands.

Copyright

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First published in 2002.

This edition published in 2011.

Text and graphics copyright © Emily Rodda, 2002.

Graphics by Bob Ryan.

Cover illustrations copyright © Scholastic Australia, 2002.

Cover illustrations by Marc McBride.

Collectors’ Edition cover design by Nicole Leary.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, storage in an information retrieval system, or otherwise, without the prior written permission of the publisher, unless specifically permitted under the Australian Copyright Act 1968 as amended.

National Library of Australia Cataloguing-in-Publication entry

Rodda, Emily, 1948-.

The isle of illusion.

For children aged 9 and above.

ISBN 978-1-74169-955-5.

1. Fantasy fiction. I. Title. (Series : Deltora quest 2 ; 2).

A823.3

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eISBN: 978-1-921-98965-0