The Black Shard (17 page)

The serpent's eyes grew wide and through its small scaly nostrils, it sucked in the cave's stale air. "Be very careful how you speak to me, for I could end your pathetic existence in an instant," it said, just before opening its mouth to reveal its sharp fangs.

The bat's lips quivered as it witnessed two large beads of venom drip from the tips of the serpent's fangs. The drops fell to the ground and splashed the bat's tiny feet, and even though its face shriveled with fear, the bat didn't move as much as a muscle. Then without any warning, the serpent snatched the open vial out of the bat's hands and swallowed it whole. A loud belch was released out of the serpent's mouth, and then green smoke seeped out of the corner of its eyes and nostrils. Right afterward, a foul-smelling wind filled the area. Stricken with fear, the bat flew to the rock wall and attached its body to it, flatting itself out like a pancake. The wind began to form into a tornado, and as it whipped around again and again, it quite suddenly sucked up the serpent into its powerful vortex. The serpent blended into the spinning air, blurring into it. Then an abhorrent ghost-like woman emerged from the top of the vortex. Seeing the woman, the bat laughed with great pleasure.

Kristina's heart began to pound and her finicky stomach cramped up again as she viewed
THE KRISTINA,
now looking very tiny, about a quarter of a mile behind her. The small island was about three-quarters of a mile ahead of her. Seventy-five seconds had now passed, and there was still no sign of Werrien.
What if he hit his head on something and drowned?
she thought.
It would be my entire fault—I couldn't live with myself.
She stood up and glanced around the water surrounding the rowboat.
Could it be that he's unconscious and lying on the bottom of the sea?

A minute and a half had now passed, and Kristina decided that there was definitely no more time to waste in analyzing the situation. She jumped into the water and swam around the boat—once, then twice, and still there was no sign of Werrien. Clouds rolled over the sun, and the wind blew the boat a few yards away from her. She decided to swim the opposite way around it. Through the cloud-darkened, wind-rippled sea she went, and as the salty water splashed in her face, she began to feel extremely scared and angry. She reached the back end of the left side of the rowboat and just as she turned to go to the back, an arm reached out and grabbed her, pulling her in toward the back of the boat. She gasped loudly. It was Werrien, and he pulled her in close to him. His heart was pumping fast. "I guess I got you back," he said, half out of breath.

Kristina pushed his arm away from her, and she turned to face him. "You guess you got me back!" she repeated angrily, trying not to cry. "I thought you had drowned!" She made her hand into a fist and tried to punch him, but he caught hold of it before she did.

"Hey! Calm down. I'm really sorry," he said, "but first of all, I'll have you know that I'm far too good of a swimmer to drown that easily. Second, I really wasn't intending on being gone as long as I was."

Kristina looked at him through watery, red eyes. "Gone so long?" she said while treading water. "Where could you have possibly gone in such a short time?"

Werrien smiled cautiously. "How about to the island and back."

"Yeah, right!" Kristina splashed water in his face.

"I'm dead serious."

She gave him an annoyed glare.

"Okay, I used the wrong word. I'm very serious. Is that better?"

"Yes, that's better. Now explain to me how you got to the island and back in probably less than five minutes," Kristina said, starting to calm down.

_"I—"

Werrien didn't finish his sentence, because Kristina suddenly blurted out, "Something just brushed up against my leg!" She tried to pull her knees up, but because she was treading water, she couldn't. "Oh ... my gosh! I think it was a shark!"

Werrien grabbed her arm and turned her around so that her back was facing him. He pulled her close to him and wrapped his arm across her chest. With his other arm he held the back of the boat in place. He could feel her heart thumping at high speed.

"Shh," he said softly, trying to keep her calm. "It's not a shark."

"How do you know?" Something large and dark suddenly whizzed through the water directly under them again. "I just felt it again," Kristina winced, drawing her knees up toward her chest.

"Just stay calm—you'll see why in a few seconds." Werrien leaned his chin down on her shoulder and just as he did so, something almost as long as the rowboat flew up at full force out of the water and into the air a few yards ahead of them. Kristina looked up to see a shiny, light gray dolphin, magnificently flipping in the air. Awestruck, Kristina's eyes trailed its speedy descent back to the water. Then a second before it hit, Werrien quickly put his hand over her eyes to shield them from the large, slapping splash sent directly at their faces. Suddenly, the dolphin ascended again, and this time, with only its upper body out of the water, it began swimming backwards, as if it were putting on a show.

"Come here, Tensor. I'd like you to meet a friend of mine," Werrien called to the dolphin.

With pure excitement flowing through her veins, Kristina turned quickly to look at Werrien and then back at the dolphin. Tensor flipped backwards and disappeared again under the water. Kristina's eyes nervously shifted about the sea's choppy surface as she wondered what would happen next. There was silence for a brief moment, and then it was broken by Tensor's upper body ascending out of the water again, about two feet in front of them. Startled, Kristina leaned her head back on Werrien.

"Hello, Kristina," Tensor said, in a strange, robotic-sounding voice.

"Hello," Kristina said, slightly apprehensive.

"Could I have the honor of taking you for a ride?"

Kristina moved over to be at Werrien's side. "So, I'm guessing that this was how you were able to make it to the island and back so quickly?" she whispered to Werrien.

"It's a lot of fun," Werrien said, grinning like a little boy.

"But is it safe?" Kristina whispered, so Tensor wouldn't hear her.

"I won't go as fast with you as I go with Werrien," Tensor said.

"How did he hear me?" Kristina whispered to Werrien.

"He reads minds," Werrien whispered back. "He has a sixth sense."

"So, I guess there's no need for whispering."

"I guess not," Werrien whispered back.

Tensor dipped his beak in the water, then drew it up again, lightly splashing them, to get their attention.

"Okay, okay! I'll go," Kristina chuckled, and a few seconds later Tensor was at her side.

"Take hold of his fin," Werrien said.

Hesitantly, Kristina gently placed her hands on Tensor's dorsal fin, but it was very slippery and her hands slid off.

"Try it again," Werrien encouraged her. She did so, and as soon as her hands had a grip, Tensor began swimming—slowly at first—in a clockwise circle.

This is fun!
Kristina thought, but right after the thought popped into her mind, Tensor swam deeper and Kristina let go of his fin so she wouldn't be dragged under. "What's he doing?" she asked Werrien.

"I'm not sure."

Kristina felt Tensor softly nudge her leg. Then he swam in between her legs and raised himself up, so that she was sitting on his back.

"What am I supposed to do now?" Kristina asked Werrien.

"I'd say hold on tight," Werrien said airily, and he climbed back into the rowboat.

Kristina took hold of the dolphin's dorsal fin and clenched her legs as tight as she could around its cool, smooth, yet rock-hard body. Tensor gave her a few seconds to get situated and then began swimming at a slow and comfortable speed. He circled the rowboat a few times, and each time he passed by the direction Werrien was facing, Werrien waved to Kristina, making her feel like a little child on a carousel ride being observed by a proud parent.

This is actually quite easy,
Kristina thought. No sooner had she thought this than Tensor picked up his speed again, doubling the size of his circle around the boat. At first Kristina felt a little apprehensive, but after a few times around, her tension eased up. She giggled, and Tensor veered away from the circle and started heading toward Finimus Island. Kristina clutched his fin tighter, and the dolphin sped up even more, causing the warm wind to blow through Kristina's long hair and the sea to whoosh past her thighs. She felt scared yet at the same time secure on top of the powerful dolphin. Then something inside her clicked, and all her fear disappeared. She felt one with the dolphin and from that moment on, whatever speed he wanted to go, she felt she could handle it. Faster and faster, Tensor swam, and within a few minutes, they were very near the shore of Finimus Island. Tensor stopped swimming and only treaded water with his fins, so that Kristina could view the island. She gazed upon it, marveling at its white-sand beach and tall palm trees lightly swaying in the tropical, orchid-scented breeze. Then like a rearing horse, Tensor suddenly lifted his upper body out of the sea. Kristina was familiar with this move from when she rode Taysha the first time she was in Bernovem.

"Hold on," Tensor said, his voice vibrating slightly. Without hesitation, Kristina took hold of the dolphin's fin, and he lowered himself back down into the sea. Then he turned and began to head back to the rowboat.

You can go a little faster, if you'd like,
Kristina thought. In a flash, Tensor sped up, and this time he swam double the speed as before. They made it back to the rowboat in about two minutes. Tensor sent a huge spray toward Werrien in the rowboat—he had no way to shield himself from the barn-door size splash. Werrien, of course, got soaked. Tensor brought Kristina right next to the rowboat, and Werrien gave her a hand to get in. Then Tensor lifted his head out of the sea and treaded water with his tail.

"Very funny, Tensor," Werrien said, dripping wet, with an iffy grin on his face.

With his body straight up and down in the water, Tensor began swimming backwards, clapping his flipper fins together and laughing in a strange yet amusing way.

Kristina glanced toward the ship and caught sight of another rowboat coming toward them. "Look!" she said, pointing it out to Werrien.

"Oh, yeah—it's Elzwur and the other girls," Werrien said, unenthusiastically.

"Great," Kristina said dully.
I was hoping it would be only you and me going to the island, but now Hester, Davina, and the old goat, Elzwur, are coming, too. What a complete drag this is going to be,
she thought.

Werrien could tell by the look on her face that she wasn't too thrilled that they were coming as well. "Hey, Tensor?" he called to the dolphin, who was presently in the middle of a flip in the air. Tensor torpedoed head first into the water, this time so cleanly that he left no splash. When he surfaced, Werrien said, "Quit showing off and come here a minute." Tensor descended into the water and resurfaced at the side of the boat. "Do me a favor and tow us to the island."

"At your service, Prince Werrien," Tensor said. As he swam on ahead of the boat, Werrien picked up a rope lying on the floor of the boat and made it into a lasso. Then he whirled it into the air in the direction of the island. As soon as it left Werrien's hand, Tensor went after it, like a dog after a ball, and he caught the noose end around his beak. Then he nudged it down, until it was just below his head, and he began pulling the boat. He went so suddenly that Kristina fell back on her bottom onto the bench.

"Hold on," Werrien said, gripping the side of the boat. Kristina grasped hold of the edge of the boat as well. She thought it felt a lot like when she rode in her family's power boat on the lake, not far from where she lived.

Within a couple of minutes, they were very near the shore of the island again, and when the water became too shallow for Tensor, he released himself from the noose, sending the rowboat to glide on its own, up onto the white-sand beach. Its front end coasted onto the sand while the back end stayed afloat on the incoming wave. Werrien and Kristina jumped out, and then Werrien pulled the boat farther out of the water and onto the dry sand. Then he turned to Kristina and said, "Welcome to Finimus Island."

W
errien took a sack containing some food and supplies out of the boat and swung it over his shoulder. "We're limited for time, so we'd best get a move on," he said to Kristina.

Kristina was excited and more than ready to explore the beautiful island. They began walking east along the white-sand shoreline. Then Werrien took Kristina inland to show her Finimus's lush jungle, where there were many exotic plants and brightly colored orchids, their fragrance so lovely that Kristina had to stop and smell each variety. Werrien made a necklace out of some pink orchids and placed it around her neck. "A little welcome gift for you," he said.

"Thanks," Kristina said, luxuriating in its fragrance.

Tropical birds like cockatiels, parrots, toucans, and parakeets sat in the trees and politely greeted them as they passed by. There were many fruit trees, and the teens went along picking mango, passion fruit, guava, dragon fruit, and other exotic varieties, stuffing as many as they could fit in the sack. When it was full, they continued hiking until they came upon a roaring waterfall, which ran into a deep pool of fresh water.

Werrien brought Kristina to a large flat rock near the edge of the deep pool. "I think this is a good place for us to stop and have lunch," he said, dropping the heavy sack from his shoulder.

Kristina was very hungry and had sore legs from riding Tensor, so she gladly agreed. She sat down on the rock, and Werrien sat down beside her. They were shaded by the abundant jungle surrounding them, and only a few beams of the sun's rays were able to pierce through the dense wilderness.