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The First Dragon(72)



“Beyond the End of the World,” the Maker said, “past the Great Wall, and to the shores of heaven itself.”

“Is that even possible?” Madoc asked. “Mind you, I speak from experience at having tried.”

Enoch nodded. “You are a Dragon, and those such as you are permitted to pass, as are those with you. But,” he added cautiously, “your adversary has the services of one of the Host, who is bound to serve him, and he is already speeding his way toward his destination. If he reaches Samaranth first, then the Archipelago may still be lost.”

♦ ♦ ♦

“We have not seen him in twenty years,” John explained. “Not since he forced Argus to bond Grimalkin to the hull of the Black Dragon.”

“The cat?” Charles exclaimed. “What was he expecting to come out of that?”

“Not just a cat,” John said heavily. “Grimalkin is a Fallen angel, who is bound to serve John Dee. And he can go everywhere a Dragon can go—including past the End of the World. Worse, they have a twenty-year head start.”

“Perhaps not,” said Enoch. “Time operated differently past the wall. What seemed to us to be years can be a far shorter time to someone on the other side.”

“Great,” said Fred. “That’s just what we need—more time-travel issues.”

“You misunderstand,” said Enoch. “The moment you came through the door of the keep, you realigned Chronos time and Kairos time. It is now the same on both sides of the Frontier, and that includes the flow of time past the wall. So while years were passing here, your adversary has been in flight only a short time.”

“Which means we can still catch them!” John said, rising to his feet. “What are we waiting for? Let’s go!”

“Please, tell me that we are not actually this insane,” Jack pleaded. “I know we have had our differences, John, but—”

“What he means to say is we have really missed you, Charles,” John said, giving Jack an exasperated look. “You were a tempering agent between us, and you were sorely missed. Especially since he died. There’s been no end to the arguments after that.”

“What I’m trying to say is that you aren’t as young as you used to be, and this is a task for others to do.”

“I understand your reservations, Jack, but this is not a negotiation,” John said. “I’m going to go.”

“I’m sorry, John,” Twain said, his voice filled with honest regret, “but you cannot go. You are the Prime Caretaker in fact as well as name, and your choices guide the path of this group. You must remain here.”

John glowered at the others for a moment, then sat down, sighing heavily. “I suppose you’re going to want to go with them,” he said to Jack.

“It’s been a long time,” Jack said. “I haven’t left Tamerlane House much, and, not to put too fine a point on it, I am now younger than you.”

“Hah,” John said. “That’s just because Basil painted you younger.”

“Look at it this way,” Jack said, winking at Rose as he got up from the table, “someday you’ll die too, and then you can go save the world with us.”

“Oh, shut up,” John huffed. “Go do what must be done. And then,” he added, “hurry back.”

♦ ♦ ♦

It didn’t take long for everyone at Tamerlane House to realize that save for the loss of Kipling, the current crew of the Indigo Dragon was the perfect team to undertake difficult tasks. “The Young Magicians,” Jack said as he climbed aboard. “You are the future of both worlds, you know.”

“I’ll be content enough just to save one if I can,” said Edmund. “Let’s go.”

After the Indigo Dragon left the Nameless Isles, there was one place Rose required that they go first, before she would even contemplate pursuing the trail of Samaranth and the missing Archipelago.

“Of course,” Madoc murmured. “Of course that’s where we should go.” Jack, Charles, Edmund, and the others all nodded in agreement. Rose blushed when she realized that she had simply given voice to an assumption they all had made before they started.

They had to see the tower first. They had to make certain the Keep of Time had indeed been restored.

“It isn’t difficult to find,” said Jack. “It’s just about all that is left of the Archipelago.”

He was right. They came upon it in a matter of hours. It was both comforting and heartbreaking to see the stark gray outline of the tower in the distance—but just seeing it was enough.