The Dragon in the Sea (16 page)

Jesse laughed uneasily. “That’s what you think. That one was a fake. This is the real deal.”

The egg flared up like a live coal and Marino pulled back, along with the other five Red Eyes.

Marino turned on Jesse. “The master will be furious. This is
your
doing!” he said.

“Well, that is true,” Jesse said modestly. With one hand behind his back, he signaled to Coral to flee while he distracted the Red Eyes. “It
was
my idea, if I do say so myself. Where I come from, they call me the Man with the Plan.”

All six Red Eyes with tridents gathered around Jesse, glaring.

“Hey, fellas, nice to see you again,” Jesse said. “Really. I missed you. I’d be happy to tell you the story of the egg, if you’d care to listen. Far up in the northwestern territories, two dragons lived in a cave halfway up the side of a mountain—”

“No more listening to White Eyes,” Marino said.

Jesse couldn’t see past the wall of Red Eyes, but he hoped that Coral had made off with the egg. “Oh, come on, guys!” Jesse said. “Can’t we
please discuss this like civilized—”

“No more discussions with White Eyes,” Marino growled. “White Eyes lie!”

“Yeah, well, what can I tell you? White Eyes tell white lies,” Jesse babbled.

“It ends now,” said Marino, reaching out to touch Jesse’s arm, just as the other five also laid hands on him.

C
HAPTER
T
WELVE
SOUNDING THE
BOATSWAIN’S PIPE

Jesse squeezed his eyes shut and waited to be turned into a Red Eyes. How would it feel when it happened? Would his brain suddenly turn to sludge? Would his muscles go limp or start to bulge like the
Red Eyes who were touching him? Would his eyes burn? But nothing like any of that happened.

He eased his eyes open, one at a time, and looked. The six Red Eyes dropped their hands and stared at them. The green tinge was draining from their fingers, their arms, their torsos, and their faces, and finally, the redness cleared from their eyes. They shook their heads, their braids swinging, as they turned and stared at each other in wonder.

“You’re White Eyes!” Jesse said.

The mermen dropped their tridents, raised their hands above their heads, and bowed low to Jesse.

“Bodacious move, brody!” Coral darted out from behind a clump of coral.

“I thought you’d gotten away,” Jesse said.

“I started to,” said Coral, “but I couldn’t leave you high and dry.”

“I think it’s more like low and wet,” said Jesse. “But thanks anyway. I guess.”

“O most powerful Mermage!” said Marino. “You are our master now!”

Jesse smiled. “No, I’m not,” he said. “And I’m not a Mermage. It’s the magical dragon ichor on my skin that saved you. Honest.” Jesse held out his arms and showed the mermen the white spots
where their fingers had touched him and the ichor had come off on them.

“We have been under the Mermage’s power for so long,” said Marino, his flat voice now carrying a lively lilt. “You have no idea what torture it is to serve a master you despise.”

“Then why did you do it?” Jesse asked.

“The Mermage worms his way into our brains. He makes us do his bidding. Do you think Rock and I
wanted
to steal on board
The Golden Dragon
and take the egg? But Maldew put the thought into our heads until we had no choice but to obey his will. Now we are our own selves again, thanks to you, and we are forever in your debt,” said Marino. “What can we do to repay you?”

Jesse and Coral exchanged a look, their faces lighting up. They knew just the thing!

Back in the Inner Circle, Daisy was trying to keep calm in the face of the Mermage’s rage. “The real Thunder Egg is back on board
The Golden Dragon
, safe and sound, and about to hatch,” she informed him.

“You stand there and tell me this and expect me to let you live another moment of your paltry White-Eyed existence?” Maldew said in a rumbling burble.

“I do,” said Daisy. “You see, I had this big fight with the other two White Eyes. They wanted to escape and take the egg back to the ship. But I wanted to stay and save my dragon, Emerald. The fact is, I want to save her so badly that I am willing to trade you the hatchling for Emerald.”

“Tell me more and be quick about it, White Eyes,” the Mermage burbled.

“If you let Emerald go,” Daisy said, doling out her words with care, “I will take you to where the egg is about to hatch. If you witness the hatching, you will become the dragon’s Keeper.”

“How do you know this, White Eyes?” he asked.

“Because I’m not really a dragon doula. What I really am is a Dragon
Keeper
. And I know exactly how it works. Whosoever is in the presence of the hatchling at birth will be its Keeper. The dragon then lives to serve its Keeper. This dragon you see before you is mine. I am her Keeper. But I’m not greedy. I don’t need two dragons. You take the unborn one. I’ll take Emerald. And we’ll call it even.”

Daisy crossed her fingers as she watched the giant sea slug simmer and seethe. Finally, Maldew said, “That’s all very well, White Eyes, but how do I get to the egg? For all my power, I cannot move.”

“No problem. Emerald is a very powerful dragon. Free her from that iron helmet and I will
command her to move you to where the egg is. I swear, on the head of my own beautiful dragon, that I will do this,” she said.

“The dragon serves you, White Eyes? Only think of how well a dragon would serve me!” the Mermage mused to himself. “No more feebleminded Red Eyes at my beck and call. I will have my own personal dragoni” As if fueled by thoughts of all he would do, the Mermage began to puff up.

As the others had done before, the Red Eyes lifted their tridents and plunged them into the sand. They all watched as Maldew expanded to a blimp-sized blowfish again. When it seemed he could get no bigger, with a loud
blat
, he released a torrent of bubbles.

Suddenly, the water was filled with flying metal objects—spearguns and pilings and chains. The Red Eyes hung on fast to their tridents, their tails whipping behind them like wind socks in a high gale. Daisy was blown backward, tumbling head over tail, toward the edge of the clearing. If it hadn’t been for the anchor flipping past her—which she grabbed hold of and which in turn, dug into the ocean floor—she would have been blown clean back into a stinging patch of black coral.

When the bubbles and the debris finally subsided, the pieces of iron had all been blown clear of
Maldew’s vicinity, including the diving helmet.

There was Emmy, still a dragon fish but a
free
dragon fish. The color came rushing back to her pallid scales. When she reached full ruddiness, she transformed back into a big green dragon.

The Red Eyes gasped and cowered.

“Nicely done, Mally-dew-
doo
!” Emmy said saucily.

“Welcome back, Emmy,” said Daisy, letting go of the anchor and swimming to her. “Have you been following what’s been going on?” she asked.

“I read lips,” said Emmy. “Even his ultra-supersonic gross ones.”

“Well, then,” said Daisy, “let’s get Maldew to
The Golden Dragon
in time to witness the hatching. That’s the deal.”

Emmy pulled herself up tall. “Not when you’re dealing with a fat, evil slug it isn’t,” Emmy said with an ornery look in her eye. “I’m not letting this monster anywhere near my baby sibling. I’d sooner get stuck back in that diving helmet for all eternity.”

“White Eyes!” Maldew thundered. “Control your impudent dragon!”

“I’m not impudent,” Emmy said haughtily. “For your information, like the lady said, I have
gumption
.”

“Emmy,” Daisy said, swimming still closer and
meeting Emmy’s stubborn look with a stern one of her own. “Who’s the Keeper here? You or me?”

Emmy hung her head. “You are, Daisy Flower,” she said.

“Then you’re just going to have to trust your Keeper that she has everybody’s—and I mean
everybody’s
—best interests at heart, and go along with
the plan
,” said Daisy.

“There’s a plan?” Emmy snapped out of her sulk.

“Always,” Daisy said.

Emmy nodded slowly, understanding kindling in her eyes. “Aye, aye,” she said, snapping off a smart salute. “Chief Cargo Mate, Emerald of Leandra, reporting for duty. I understand you have a big load that needs transporting, Captain Daisy?”

“The biggest,” Daisy said with a wide grin. “And fast.”

“Hmm,” said Emmy, frowning in thought as she swam around Maldew’s enormous bulk several times. Then she stopped on the long side and hunkered down. Her irises began to spin like a set of brilliant green pinwheels. Her nostrils gave off three peppery pinkish bubbles, which rose up and radiated outward, filling the clearing in the Coral Jungle with a bright, hot, pulsating light.

When the light cleared, Daisy expected to see
that Maldew’s massive bulk had moved. But Maldew was right where he had always been, since the time his ooze had first settled into the body of the sea cucumber that fateful day.

“What happened?” Daisy asked Emmy.

“Zero, zilch, nada, zippo,” Emmy said with a perplexed sigh. “Nothing at all happened.”

“You call that dragon magic, White Eyes?” Maldew rumbled scornfully.

“Shut up, Bait Breath,” Emmy said, waving a distracted paw at him. “Let a dragon ponder the problem.”

“Maybe being trapped in iron dampened your powers?” Daisy said. “Maybe if you rest up a bit, your powers will return.”

“Nope,” said Emmy, shaking her head firmly. “That won’t do any good at all. My powers are up to speed. It’s Belleweather. She’s
good
. The spell she put on Maldew is locked in. I can’t unlock it. I’m afraid we’re just going to have to move him the old-fashioned way.”

“You mean carry him?” Daisy asked.

Emmy’s look turned sly. “I mean drag him.”

“
Drag
him?” Daisy echoed.

“Well, I’m a
drag
on, aren’t I? Who drags better than a dragon, I ask you?” Emmy said.

Daisy frowned.

“Buck up, Daisy Flower,” Emmy said. “All we need is a big old sturdy fishing net.” She turned to the Red Eyes. “Don’t just stand there with your muscles bulging. Go find me a fish net big enough to hold your master and make it snappy. We’ve got a date with a dragon egg.”

The squad of Red Eyes swam off into the jungle and returned in no time with a fishing net that was twice as big as Maldew.

“Good work, dudes,” Emmy said. “Now grab the net along the edges and, at my signal, you’re going to swim this sucker under the bulk of your boss. When I lift him, you swim it under him. Got it? Ready? One, two, three, lift!”

With a series of mighty grunts, Emmy lifted just enough of Maldew’s gristly bulk for the two columns of Red Eyes to swim underneath the length of the sea cucumber, spreading the net beneath him. When they made it to the other end, Emmy dropped the last bit of Maldew on top of the net.

“Watch it, Dragon,” Maldew growled.

“Watch yourself,” Emmy said. “I’m sacrificing my baby sibling to you. But nobody ever said I had to like it. Okay now.” She swung around to the Red Eyes. “I want you to round up all the Red Eyes in
the jungle and bring them back here. It’s going to take all of us pulling together to move him all the way to
The Golden Dragon
.”

The Red Eyes again swam off. Almost immediately, they began to gather in the clearing: more Red Eyes than Daisy had ever seen at one time, in one place. It was creepy but it was also a little awesome. Like an army of Egyptian slaves banding together to drag one of those giant blocks that built the great pyramids. The Red Eyes formed a circle around the sea slug, each one holding a part of the fishing net.

“We’ll move him headfirst,” Emmy said, taking up a position at the net by the Mermage’s bubbling mouth.

The Mermage said, “White Eyes, this will never work.”

Daisy, who hovered off to the side, watched as the mob of Red Eyes, led by Emmy, started to drag the net holding Maldew across the seafloor. She gnawed on her lower lip. Maldew might be right. They moved inch by inch. At the rate they were going, it would take forever. By the time they got to
The Golden Dragon
, the baby would not only be hatched, but it would also be as big as a sea cow.

As Daisy fidgeted with the seashell on the fishing line around her neck, her hand grazed the
chain of the boatswain’s pipe. She had forgotten that Jesse had given it to her. Then the thought occurred to her: They were beset by perils, weren’t they? Or, at the very least, they needed help.

She put the pipe to her lips and blew on it with all her might. No sound came out. Nothing happened. Not even the faintest suggestion of bubbles.

Elsewhere in the Coral Jungle at that very moment, Rock and four other newly transformed White Eyes accompanied Coral and the egg, leaving Marino behind with Jesse.

“I hope they make it to the beach before the egg hatches,” Jesse said, staring after them.

“They’ll make it,” Marino said.

“But the Coral Jungle seems to be getting thicker,” Jesse said gloomily.

“The tridents will help,” said Marino. “See?”