I'm A Big Bad Tiger

Goblin Wharf

We finally stand face-to-face with the grey fog that circles the island and marks the edge of Nowhere. We couldn't see through the mist it was that thick. It entails a walk of faith to see what's on the other side.

"Who goes first?" Jay asks.

"Not me." Evie steps back.

"Nor me." Says Carlos.

"Duh, as if any of you would." Mal sniffs.

"Mal? After you?" Jay asks.

Mal bit her lip. "Yeah, I'll go first, cowards." She squares her shoulders. I groan and push past her. "Shayla?"

"You're taking too long, pussies." I roll my eyes. "You coming, Mal?" Mal follows me. It's like walking through cold rain. We soon reach the other side.

"It's fine! Get over here!" Mal calls to the others. Jay comes first, then Evie and finally Carlos with his stupid box thing.

"Whoa." Carlos says. We are standing literally at the water's edge. One more step and we would've been goners. Alligator's live in the waters and, yeah, they're not exactly your Mad Madam Mim funny alligators.

"Holy Lucifer, What the heck are we suppose to do now?" Mal asks.

"I don't know, but this thing won't shut up." Carlos says referring to his box. It was beeping wildly now.

"Then break it." I take the box.

"We need it to find the Dragons Eye sceptre." Carlos takes it back. He steps towards the water and it beeps faster. "It's over there! It has to be!"

"Well, I forgot my swimming trunks and I don't really enjoy being eaten by reptiles, so it's all on you guys." Jay backs away from the water.

"It can't be in the water." Mal yanks a map from her pocket. She gasps. We gather around her. "Look! There's more!" We see a fortress on its own island. It's called the Isle of the Doomed.

"Well, that's cheery." Carlos says, making me snigger.

"And just how are we suppose to get over there?" Evie asks. Mal points to a spot labelled Goblin Wharf.

"We'll hitch a ride from one of our friendly neighbourhood goblins to row us over, of course." Mal pushes past us and she starts walking down the beach towards the docks where the goblins unload the Auradon barges.

"There's no such thing as a friendly goblin." Carlos sighs and follows Mal with the rest of us. We quickly arrive at the busy port- mostly because the alligators have tried snapping at us so we've had to run to the dock. The wharf is bustling with activity. Goblins push their way past us, emptying cargo from the big Auradon ships that are allowed in and out of the magic dome. They place the rotting and rotten to the core goods onto the splintering wooden boardwalk and jumping on and off each other's makeshift rafts and boats. They hoot and holler in their language, tossing bags of stuff onto teetering rickshaws.

"We'll need to pay for passage. They're not going to take us over there for free." Mal says looking at us. We all empty our pockets and Jay tries to talk to the goblins. He is weirdly good at it. I'll have to ask him about it later. He comes back to us.

"They'll take us over." Jay smiles. I give him a high-five.

"Nice!" I say.

"Come on." Jay takes us to a goblin who takes us to a boat. It creaks and and groans as we board it.

"If I die, you still can't have any of my stuff." Jay says to Mal.

"We'll be fine." Evie says on her own benefit. Don't ask how I know that tone. The goblin sniggers and starts the motor. The boats sets off to the fog. I stand up from my seat and I cheer as the wind blows my hair back.

"This is awesome!" I cheer again.

"Shayla, you're going to fall." Jay yanks on my arm. Aw, he cares about me. Wait, what?

"Funny how different things look from far away, huh?" Evie says. I look back at the others to see Mal and Evie looking back at the Isle. That's something you don't see everyday.

"Yeah, sure, whatever." Mal turns to Evie. The engine stops and Mal scrambles out of the boat. We all follow her. The goblin quickly speeds off. The fog lifts a bit as we make our way through the brush. We stand in front of a gate which is covered with bristly thorns. A large and black castle stands on a mountaintop, beyond the gate, against the black sky. I look back at the thorns to see deadly poisonous spiders on the thorns. Great, just great. The others stand paralysed. Mal looks frustrated while Jay gives Mal and Evie a silver dagger and Carlos some insect-repellent spray. He hauls himself a red-handled machete.

"You carry an axe in your pocket?" Asks Carlos.

"Who doesn't? When you steal enough things from all over the place, I find that you always arrive prepared." Jay looks at me. "Sorry, Shayla, I haven't got anything for you."

"Whatever. I have my claws." I smile at him. We both blush...wait...
Me and Jay lead the others with him hacking a path and me watching his back. The others desperately walk through the forest with me following them. As we go along, Carlos starts laughing.

"Don't you think you're taking the whole mad-scientist thing a little too literally?" Jay asks him. I snigger.

"I'm not crazy." Carlos reassured us. We find the path that leads to the castle. Plain old dirt and rock is such a beautiful sight.

"Oh, how I've missed dirt and rock." I smile and then it starts to rain.