Septimus Heap, Book One_ Magyk - Angie Sage [134]
As Marcia prepared a Thunderflash to hurl at the increasingly hysterical DomDaniel, a familiar voice above her said, “Come on, Marcia. Hurry up. Get on here with me.”
The dragon dipped her head down onto the deck, and, for once, Marcia did as she was told.
45
EBB TIDE
The Dragon Boat flew slowly over the flooded marshes, leaving the powerless Vengeance behind. As the storm died away the dragon dipped her wings and, a little out of practice, landed back on the water with a bump and a massive splash.
Jenna and Marcia, who were clinging tightly to the dragon’s neck, were soaked.
Boy 412 and Nicko were knocked off their feet by the landing and sent sprawling across the deck, where they ended up in a tangled heap. They picked themselves up and Maxie shook himself dry. Nicko breathed a sigh of relief. There was no doubt in his mind—boats were not meant to fly.
Soon the clouds drifted away out to sea, and the moon appeared to light their way back home. The Dragon Boat glimmered green and gold in the moonlight, her wings held up to catch the wind as she sailed them home. From a small lighted window far across the water Aunt Zelda watched the scene, a little disheveled from dancing triumphantly around the kitchen and colliding with a pile of saucepans.
The Dragon Boat was reluctant to return to the temple. After her taste of freedom she dreaded the thought of being shut away underground again. She longed to turn around and head out to sea while she still could and sail away across the world with the young Queen, her new Master and the ExtraOrdinary Wizard. But her new Master had other ideas. He was taking her back again, back to her dry, dark prison. The dragon sighed and hung her head. Jenna and Marcia nearly fell off.
“What’s going on up there?” asked Boy 412.
“She’s sad,” said Jenna.
“But you’re free now, Marcia,” said Boy 412.
“Not Marcia. The dragon,” Jenna told him.
“How do you know?” asked Boy 412.
“Because I do. She talks to me. In my head.”
“Oh, yes?” Nicko laughed.
“‘Oh, yes’ to you too. She’s sad because she wants to go to sea. She doesn’t want to go back into the temple. Back to prison, she calls it.”
Marcia knew how the dragon felt.
“Tell her, Jenna,” said Marcia, “that she will go to sea again. But not tonight. Tonight we’d all like to go home.”
The Dragon Boat raised her head high, and this time Marcia did fall off. She slipped down the dragon’s neck and landed with a bump on the deck. But Marcia didn’t care; she didn’t even complain. She just sat gazing up at the stars while the Dragon Boat sailed serenely across the Marram Marshes.
Nicko, who was keeping a lookout, was surprised to see a small and oddly familiar fishing boat in the distance. It was the chicken boat, floating out with the tide. He pointed it out to Boy 412. “Look, I’ve seen that boat before. Must be someone from the Castle fishing down here.”
Boy 412 grinned. “They chose the wrong night to come out, didn’t they?”
By the time they reached the island, the tide was rapidly ebbing and the water covering the marsh was becoming shallow. Nicko took the tiller and guided the Dragon Boat into the course of the submerged Mott, passing the Roman temple as he did so. It was a striking sight. The marble of the temple glowed a luminous white as the moon shone upon it for the first time since Hotep-Ra had buried the Dragon Boat inside. All the earth banks and the wooden roof that he had built had been washed away, leaving the tall pillars standing clear in the brilliant moonlight.
Marcia was astounded.
“I had no idea this was here,” she said. “No idea at all. You’d have thought one of the books in the Pyramid Library might have mentioned it. And as for the Dragon Boat…well, I always thought that was just a legend.”
“Aunt Zelda knew,” said Jenna.
“Aunt Zelda?” asked Marcia. “Why didn’t she say so?”
“It’s her job not to say. She’s the Keeper of the island. The Queens, um, my mother,