The Shadow Dragons - James A. Owen [94]
“You must lower the Scarlet Dragon into the water,” Bert explained, “and go over the edge as if you were a twig caught up in the current. Only then, once you are over and falling, may you deploy the chute, and then unbind the balloon and rotors.”
“Isn’t that awfully risky?”
“There’s nothing about this venture that isn’t risky,” Bert replied, “but it’s the only way past the falls. We’ve tried to sail airships at altitude, but we always get forced back. The only way over . . . is down.”
“It’s quite a dilemma, isn’t it?” a voice said into John’s ear. He sat up straighter in his seat and spun around. A cat’s head was grinning at him and floating in midair above his chair. “This business of saving the world.”
“Grimalkin,” John said, sitting back. “You startled me.”
“I seem to be good at that,” said the cat. “It’s a Cheshire thing.”
“Is it also a Cheshire thing to be trusted?” said John. “No one here worries much that you appear and disappear at will.”
“I’m trusted, because I’m bound,” said the cat. “Do you see my collar? It’s a Binding.”
“I thought Bindings were spoken spells, involving True Names and blood.”
“They are—so consider how terrible a creature I must have been to require a physical binding as well.”
John gave Grimalkin a quizzical look. He really wasn’t sure whether the cat was just playing with him, or whether the words spoken were serious. “I’m not quite sure what to make of you.”
“That’s why I trust you,” the Cheshire cat said, grinning. “You aren’t hasty in your judgments.”
“I should be quicker to speak, though,” said John. “If I had, we’d have caught Kipling. And we might be further along than we are at resolving all of this.”
“Things are not always as they appear,” said Grimalkin. “An ancient Elder God may appear to be a cat, or vice versa. But which is which depends entirely on when you look.”
“What does that mean?”
The cat shrugged. “I can’t explain. If I did, I wouldn’t be a cat.”
John sighed. “You’re worse than Samaranth.”
“I’ll take that as a compliment,” said the cat. “If I wasn’t, then I’d feel undistinguished. He is still just a young creature, after all.”
“Samaranth?” John said in surprise. “He’s the oldest creature in the Archipelago. He’s even older than Ordo Maas.”
“I was ancient when Ordo Maas was still chasing young desert girls in the Empty Quarter,” said Grimalkin, “and I was with him on his first voyage into the islands, during the flood. It seems to be my fate to be present whenever someone does something that alters the composition of the world.”
“Is that what I’m about to do?” asked John. “Change the world?”
“What do you think?” asked the cat. “Would you be doing all these things if not for the Prophecy? Or would you be doing the things you believe to be right, even if they were in spite of it?”
“I don’t know what to think,” John said miserably. “I don’t know who to believe.”
“Decide what you want to do,” the cat said before vanishing completely. “Then do that. There’s no other way to move forward— with anything. If you don’t believe in yourself first . . . then no one else will either.”
With a final wave to his old friend, Bert signaled to the crew of the White Dragon to take the ship aloft. He pointed the ship to the east, and it began to pick up speed. In moments it was gone.
“That’s it,” Rose said. “We’re on our own.”
“Clears the mind, to have solitude,” said Archimedes. “Relative solitude, that is.”
“I agree,” said Professor Sigurdsson. “We are each appointed to our tasks, and that should be sufficient.”
“I concur!” Quixote exclaimed. “I am thy protector, Milady Rose. The good professor is our guide. And Archimedes is, ah . . .”
“I’m the muscle,” said Archie.
“Methinks I miss your meaning,” said the knight, “but I admire your resolve. Shall we be away?”
“No time like the present,” said the professor. “Rose?”
There was nothing more to be said. Rose gave assent with a simple nod of her head. The old knight adjusted the trim and moved the Scarlet Dragon forward and over the edge of the falls.
“It is time,” said the Shadow