Kathryn Wilmer and the Lost Isle of Ruin

6: The Voice

My dream was interesting. There was a girl that greatly resembled me. Maybe it was me, but I couldn't tell. She was talking to the Dragonfish! The girl had a heavenly, odd voice, not like mine at all.

I couldn't really get a good look at her, because, after all, this is a dream, and you can't really focus on anything. But I did see that she had blond hair and a smudge of a pink dress. Hmmm.

"I cannot trust you", she said. "But I will do what you say, sir."

"You cannot trust me! Oh, little girl, I never trust anybody. Now, go out there, and do your duties."

No!

I sat straight up, panting. If that girl was me...and I was talking to the Dragonfish...then was he trying to get me to come to the dark side? Was he calling to me?

I tried to get my mind off of that by thinking about Ellen again. Her laugh...her smile...her wonderfully curled hair...

But I just couldn't get my mind off of it! I looked up at the starry night sky. Angelina and I were sleeping under the same blanket. Then I saw that the sky was turning pink and purple. Oh, man! What time was it?

I finally fell asleep again but woke about an hour later. We would start to walk again, although I had no idea where we were going.

Finally, Melody's uncle said, "We are going back to Aroma", he said. "The first thing we need to do is get the king and queen out of the Dragonfish's spell."

So we went back through the meadows and over the rolling hills and waded across a stream. We walked through the tall grass and the thick woods. Finally, we saw the large castle and all its towers. The rooves glimmered in the early morning sunlight. Then there were all the mansions below it.

I walked, in the lead, across a footbridge to Aroma. There were a few little rabbits staring, and a few deer in the meadows. The water below the footbridge was running merrily, running over the rocks and tripping and spilling into little pools.

I nervously walked up the marble stairs to the door. I knocked. A guard opened it. He remembered seeing us last time, so he let us in. We walked to the throne room. The queen was sort of crying, but when she saw me, she stopped. The king was just sitting there. Seriously, what do they do there all day?

"Why were you crying, ma'am?" I asked.

"Oh, no, it's nothing", she sniffed.

"Was it me?" Melody stepped up.

"Oh, well...a little bit", the queen admitted. Then she got up from her throne and came over to us and said, "I think I am not on the Dragonfish's side anymore."

We gave a soft cheer, but the queen hushed us. "But we mustn't tell the king", she said. "He is still on the bad side. I haven't even told him yet." Then she turned back to the king. "I shall have a mother-daughter talk", she said to him. She took Melody's arm harshly and pulled her outside. "And guards, take the rest outside!"

So we followed Melody and her mom outside, the guards escorting us. Then Melody's mom sent the guards away and said to all of us:

"The thing that made me come back to the good side, and I'm glad I did, was your grandmother, Melody and John. I went to visit her, and she said that you, Melody, and you...what's your name?" she asked me.

"Oh, I'm Kathryn."

"Yes. So she said that you and Melody wanted to defeat the Dragonfish, and I thought, 'Well then she'd defeat me!' So I thought, 'There's no point in me staying with the Dragonfish if she's going to destroy him, and he really looks disgusting anyway.' And I'm so proud of you, Melody and John!" Then she hugged them, and she hugged her sister (Melody's aunt) and Melody's uncle, and Andrew and Angelina and Allison and Chloe (although she really didn't know those two well). Then she hugged me.

"So here's the plan. I am going to say something to the king to make him disgusted at the Dragonfish. Then I'll tell him that Melody and John were trying to defeat him, and that should get him out of it."

"Ok", said Andrew. "We'll wait out here."

"Well, I was thinking I'll do it tonight."

"Ok", said Angelina. "Bye, Aunt Cora."

"Bye", said the queen. She walked back inside.

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Later that night, the queen said to the king, "Don't you think the Dragonfish is kind of disgusting?"

"Eh, mot weally", said the king, brushing his teeth in the bathroom.

"Well, I think he is. Slimy claws...gooey mouth..." said the queen, climbing into bed.

"Actwawy, maybe", said the king, spitting the toothpaste. "His face does kind of wook weiwd..."

"Oh, and while I was talking to Melody earlier today, I got out of her that she and John and everyone else was trying to defeat the Dragonfish! What should we do?"

The king froze and thought for a moment, then said, "They're defeating him? Oh, great!"

The queen gave herself a silent pat on the back and did a victory dance.

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I slept awfully that night. The girl's voice was in my head again, but this time I couldn't see her. I saw a pink mist and I heard the Dragonfish saying, "Go on, now, pumpkin. You can do it. Just listen to me...that's all you have to do...come on...come on..."

I sat up, covered in a blanket, a sleeping Melody beside me. I took a few deep breaths in the piercing air, then laid down again. But I couldn't fall asleep.

I kept thinking about what the Dragonfish had said. "Just listen to me..." There was something odd about that. Was he actually asking me, or was that just part of the dream? I couldn't tell.

I finally fell asleep, the stars fading away in the eastern sky, and the sky turning purple.

Later, I woke up, folded up the blanket, and packed it in the backpack. Melody's father and Andrew had gone to the creek to catch some fish for a sort of breakfast. When they came back, we cooked the fish and ate it near the campfire.

After that, we started on our journey back to the Dragonfish's cave. I was shaking all over as we got closer. Ugh...and I heard the Dragonfish's voice again.

It was worse than ever...I clutched my heart and collapsed to the ground. "Come here...my little one...come here...listen to me...come here...and none shall be harmed...you have one hour..."

Everyone else must have heard it, too, because I saw Melody, Allison, Chloe, Angelina, John, and Andrew cover their ears and Melody's aunt and uncle look around, horrified, at the sky.

I had no time to waste. I got up, walking briskly toward the river. No one else followed. I went on the bridge and almost fell into the hole. Thirty minutes had gone by.

I jumped down into the pit and banged on the wooden door. A guard opened it. I stepped inside, facing the Dragonfish.

He looked really mean at the moment. He was smiling quite an evil smile and he was in his elaborate throne.

I had to face him.

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-cat