Xander and the Lost Island of Monsters (13 page)

“Is that it?” I grab the comic from him and look at the back. “That's the whole thing? There's nothing in there about how to fight the oni. He just
vanquishes
them. What does that even mean?”

“It means he beat them,” Peyton explains patiently. “Also, he threw at least one off a cliff.”

“I know that.” I feel like throwing the comic book into the ocean. “But how? Does he cut off its head? I can't believe I drew such a useless thing. Some imagination I have.” I blow out a frustrated breath.

I remember how Obāchan said that nobody knew how being half-Irish affected a Momotaro's power. Maybe all I can do is draw comics. Maybe in this new, half-Irish Momotaro story, Momotaro is really the sidekick. Maybe the pheasant gets to be the hero this time and I'm just along for the ride.

My stomach clenches. And now the water's getting choppier, thumping the ship up and down. Suddenly all those croissants I porked down don't seem like they were the best idea. I bend in half, trying to quell what I know is coming. “Unnngh,” I croak. Also not very herolike.

Peyton's hand grips my arm. “Dude. You're the color of Mountain Dew. You better get to the railing.”

I try to get up, but the deck's too wobbly. Or maybe my legs are too wobbly. “I don't think I can.”

Peyton helps me to my feet. “Come on, I'll take you.”

Leaning on Peyton's solid mass, which seems a lot more solid than it did yesterday, I manage to make my way to the side of the ship. I grip the wood until my knuckles turn white.

“You want me to get one of those salted plums?” Peyton pats my back. I manage to nod. He heads below deck. “Just let it hurl if you have to, dude,” he calls back. “You'll feel better.”

“'Kay,” I murmur. My forehead's clammy. Ohhhh. Why am I such a pig? I lean over the railing. Inu whines and paws at my leg, looking up at me with his big brown eyes. I pat his head. “I know, Inu. Don't worry.” I stare at the water, listening to the steady
chop chop chop
of the waves striking the ship and taking deep breaths in and out.

Then I hear something else. Something underneath us.

Swishing. Swimming.

I crane my neck, looking for the source of the sound. Are we going through a bed of seaweed?

For a moment there's just murky water. The ship continues sailing.

I hear the sound again. A creature is down there.

And then, way below us, I spot a light.

A glow, as if someone left on an aquarium bulb way beneath the now calm surface.

I stare. I can see a forest of red-and-white coral spread over the ocean floor, the light coming from somewhere within. Arms of coral stick up, making it look like a fortress, almost, or a palace. Someplace the Little Mermaid would live.

The ship scrapes over a finger of coral and slows. Somewhere very close I can also still hear the creature moving—a whale? It sounds like it could be that huge. I tense, wondering what I should do. Run below deck? Fight—and with what? Is this the first monster?

A shadowy form glides above the light, and I blink.

It's a long sea snake, with green and gold scales on its back, long whiskers on its doglike snout, long golden claws—

Claws? Wait. That's not a snake. That's a dragon. I may never have seen a dragon in real life, but Dad has shown me enough pictures of Japanese dragons that I know one when I see one.

My nausea is completely forgotten as I watch the undulating, powerful form of the sea dragon weave through the coral stacks.

He rolls on his back and shows me his shiny red-and-gold belly, his claws spread out to the sides, sort of like Inu when he was lying on the deck. But this thing is huge, bigger than an orca, bigger even than the fifty-foot-long humpbacks I saw on a whale watch once. I can't even see the end of its curling tail.

I shiver. It is a beautiful and terrible sight.

His golden eyes dart up just then and lock onto mine. I gasp.

I expect to be afraid, like I was in my dream with the beast-man, but I'm not. I feel like I'm waiting for something. Not something bad. Like after I've taken a spelling test when I know I've gotten all of the answers right, and I'm waiting for it to be handed back with
100%
written on top.

I hear something that reminds me of bubbles in a swimming pool. Kids, talking underwater. Are they words? If they are, I can't understand them.

The dragon bows his head ever so slightly and closes his eyes.

Without thinking, I bow back, my eyes closed, too. A sense of calm enfolds me. The sun reappears, hot on my skin, and the cold wind dissipates.

When I open my eyes again, the dragon and his palace have disappeared.

The ship changes direction slightly. Inu runs to the prow and barks. I run up there and look at what he's barking at.

Land. To the right (Is that starboard? I can't remember), a mountain peak looms. A big, dark triangle emerging from the ocean. “Land ho, Peyton!” I yell. “Or whatever you're supposed to say.”

Inu barks twice sharply, staring down at the water.

The dragon again? I peer over the railing.

No. An undulating cloud of silvery white hovers in the water, in front of the ship.

Peyton comes up beside me. “Here's that salted plum. I ate the rice that was around it.”

I take the plum but don't eat it. “Hey, Peyton. Look in the water. What is that?”

“Feeling better, I see.” Peyton leans over next to me. “Can't tell from here.” Peyton hops up onto the railing, his toes clutching it like a perch. He spreads his wings and jumps off.

“What are you doing?” I shout, startled.

“I'm cool,” Peyton shouts back. He glides down next to the water, his wings flapping as if they've always been on his back. It didn't take long for him to get used to those. He jerks his head up at me and climbs the air back up to the deck. “Jellyfish. There are thousands of jellyfish pulling us.”

I look again. Now that I know what they are, I can make sense of their forms. All the jellyfish in the ocean must be assembled here, towing this ship toward the island. “Wow. I wonder if they have anything to do with the dragon.”

“Xander.” Peyton lands next to me, his hands on his hips. He stares hard at my head, above my right ear, then my left. He reaches out and touches the hair. “Man. This trip has been hard on you. You're going gray!”

“W
hat?” I touch my hair. I run down to the bathroom and peer into the small hazy mirror above the sink.

Two long streaks of silver hang at my temples, like someone clipped on a couple pieces of jewelry or something. I clap my hands over them. “Great. Just great.” The thought of Clarissa's reaction when she next sees me makes me blush. Like I don't have enough problems already. Now I have to look like my grandfather, too. And my dad.

Wait a second.

The locks are definitely shiny silver, not plain old gray. Yes. Just like my father's and grandfather's.

Just like a Momotaro.

In the mirror, my reflection's face stretches into a wide grin. I go back up to tell Peyton and Inu.

When the sun is directly overhead, it's about noon. I know that much. We're approaching the land. I expect to see a castle, like in the story, but instead there's just a black mountain. An old volcano, I think—I can see pockmarks in the rock. Lava rocks are razor sharp if you touch them the wrong way, and that's what the whole island is made of. You can't climb it unless you want to bleed a lot.

The chunk of rock juts high into the violet sky, which is now streaked with pink and cobalt blue. Peyton climbs the mast and sits on the crow's nest, his wings flapping every so often to keep him balanced as he examines the mountain.

“See anything?” I yell up to him.

“Just a whole lotta rock,” he yells back.

The ship's heading toward a little cove cut out of the base of the mountain, bordered by a small wedge of dark sand. From there I don't see any way to get off the beach. I hope there is real land, maybe a nice city with warm houses and comfy beds tucked just past this towering black mass. But there's probably just a barrel of demons instead.

Peyton calls down. “There's a little cave. That must be the entrance.”

Inu moves to the prow and makes three short
woof
s.

“Just that way. Maybe.” Peyton points in the direction Inu is barking.

The cave opening is about four and a half feet tall, and maybe three feet across. Small. Where does it lead? I look up and down the boulders, searching for any other crevasse in this peak.

Nope. The cave is the only way into the mountain.

I've never been inside an actual cave. All I know about them is that bats live in them and poop enormous amounts of guano; and if there aren't bats, there are bears or tigers or eyeless transparent centipedes or other grotesque creatures that want a taste of you; and caves have drop-offs and collapses and underground rivers and bottomless lakes; and people get lost in them all the time; and you're supposed to wear a helmet with a flashlight on the front when you go in one.

Yeah, um, I'd rather not go in there.

On a cliff above the cave, something catches my eye. Two spheres, a darker black than the rock, seem to shimmer. Something scarlet flashes in and out of the crags. I hold my breath, waiting for it to reappear.

It's gone.

You imagined it
, I tell myself. The oni from my drawing and my computer game and my dream is just on my mind. I shake my head, hard, to get rid of the red image.

Peyton spirals down from the crow's nest and lands next to me. Inu woofs and runs around him in a happy circle.

“I bet there's a way to sail around the mountain.” My hands tremble, and I stick them under my armpits. I hate being such a coward. “Maybe there's a good spot on the other side. Let's check it out.”

“The ship dropped anchor here,” Peyton points out.

It's true. I hadn't even noticed we'd stopped moving.

“I'll just fly up and take a look,” Peyton continues. “See how big the island is.”

Before I can say anything, he's off, his wings flaring into gliders above the white-capped waves. For a second he looks shaky, dipping too close to the water, but then he flaps harder and manages to soar upward, circling higher and higher until he's above the mountain. I hope he can see what's beyond. Then he swoops back down and heads toward the cave.

Inu barks hard and runs to the prow. He stands there growling, the ruff of his neck standing up and his enormous teeth showing.