But it’s not me, she tried to shout. I would never do this!
And yet at the same time she was dragging Abeke down the slope toward the Conquerors. Abeke was taller, but Meilin knew ways of holding people that made it almost impossible for her to break free.
“Meilin!” Rollan shouted. “Stop! What are you —”
He must have figured it out at the same time that she did.
Bile. Someone gave me Bile instead of Nectar at my ceremony. And now Gerathon can control me.
Worse: She’d been able to control Meilin this whole time. She’d seen through her eyes, knew everything she knew.
It’s me. I’m the mole.
Her insides felt like they were splintering apart, crashing down like the walls of Jano Rion.
She had a sudden, ghastly memory of her father’s death and his last words to her as his blood stained the grass of the battlefield near Dinesh’s temple.
Should have told you . . . betrayed . . . the Bile.
Did he know?
She remembered how convinced, how certain he had been that she would call a spirit animal on the day of her Nectar Ceremony.
That led to a thought she couldn’t bear, so awful it was like having her heart ripped out by the Devourer’s crocodile.
Did my father do this to me?
Rollan raced down the rocks toward them, sliding and scattering pebbles in his haste.
“Stay back!” Meilin-but-not-Meilin yelled. She flipped Abeke around in front of her and pressed a knife to her throat.
No, no, no, the real Meilin sobbed inside herself.
Rollan froze, several paces away but close enough to see her eyes.
“Meilin,” he called. Pain was carved all over his face. Meilin knew he must be thinking of his mother, and how he’d been facing her and the same evil yellow eyes only a short time ago. “Listen to me. I know you’re still in there. You can fight this! You’re the strongest person I — the strongest person maybe ever. You can fight her!”
Meilin didn’t think that was true. What chance did she have against a Great Beast and her magic? But she tried. She dug mental claws into the sides of her brain and shoved, trying to force her way out and back into control of her own body.
Her feet wavered underneath her, and her grip on Abeke loosened. The Niloan girl suddenly twisted under Meilin’s arm and jerked free. She bolted three steps up the slope toward Rollan.
And then Meilin’s quarterstaff came down on her head with a heart-stopping crack.
Abeke collapsed to the ground like a doll.
Meilin stared at her body, horrified. I hope she’s only unconscious.
“Abeke!” Meilin’s real voice struggled out and was crushed in almost the same breath. “There is no one who can fight me,” she snarled at Rollan. She advanced to stand over Abeke’s fallen body. “Certainly not your precious Meilin, who’s been my puppet from the moment she summoned Jhi.”
The sleepwalking, Meilin realized. Every time I blacked out, that was Gerathon taking control of my body.
Which meant she could take control without Meilin even knowing it. And that also meant she did want Meilin to know it now. She wanted Meilin to suffer through the betrayal of her friends and be aware of every moment of it.
Meilin felt her mouth being forced into a cruel smile. Her voice had an unnatural hiss to it as Gerathon spoke to Rollan again. “Didn’t you ever wonder about how easily she controls that panda? Their bond is a Bile bond. Jhi has no choice but to obey her.”
Inside herself, Meilin wanted to curl up and die. The way she ordered Jhi around — the way Jhi always tried so hard to do as she was asked — now it was painfully clear, horribly wrong. She’d thought she was so great, such a natural leader that of course Jhi would follow her. She’d mocked the others for having trouble with their spirit animals. She’d assumed that was just another way she was superior, as with her fighting skills.
But it was all a lie. Their connection was forced, not a true bond. Jhi was being controlled by Meilin exactly the way Meilin was being controlled by Gerathon right now.
She felt like throwing up, but she couldn’t even move.
My poor Jhi. I’m so sorry. Is this what it always felt like, being with me? Did you feel trapped and enslaved? Do you hate me?
She remembered Mulop’s words to Jhi. He must have known. Seems like that would have been one of the more useful warnings to pass along, octopus.
Her body was bending and lifting Abeke against her will. She dragged the taller girl up to a sitting position, and out of the corner of her eye she saw the flash of something gray around her neck.
The talisman! Meilin thought. NO. They can’t have me and Abeke and the Granite Ram too.
With all the will she had left in the world, she shoved outward as if she were forcing herself through an invisible hedge. Stabbing, scratching pain seared through her, but she seized control of one hand — that’s all she needed, just one arm — ripped the cord off Abeke’s neck, and threw it as hard as she could at Rollan.
“Get out of here!” she screamed while she still could.
Shocked, he fumbled to catch the talisman and then took a step back. But his haunted eyes were still on her face. “No, Meilin. We can get you away from here. We can help you!”
“You know you can’t,” she answered, the one thing both she and Gerathon agreed on. It wasn’t safe for her to be anywhere near Rollan or the talismans or the Greencloaks. The Great Serpent could control her at any moment, could spy on them whenever she wanted to. Meilin had to give herself to the Conquerors to protect her friends.
She let go of the last bit of resistance and stepped back.
But apparently now Gerathon had decided she wanted them all. Meilin found her body dropping Abeke and then running up the rocks toward Rollan, knives out and ready to attack.
“I’m not abandoning you!” Rollan shouted, his face going hard.
He tackled her to the ground, knocking the knives away, and they wrestled in the dirt, kicking and twisting. But Meilin was better trained, faster, more wily. In moments, she was able to flip him over and pin him to the ground. She felt herself drawing another knife from her boot.
Rollan, Rollan, please run. Please get away from here. Take your talismans and fly.
He knew what a skilled fighter she was. He didn’t stand a chance against her.
Meilin flung herself against the walls of the prison around her mind, screaming and kicking. For a moment her hands paused, and in that moment Rollan was able to throw her off and squirm free.
And then he did run, and he didn’t look back.
Gerathon wanted to chase him, Meilin could feel it. But Rollan threw the Granite Ram around his neck and leaped away with all the speed and grace of Arax the Ram. On the cliff top, Essix was waiting; it would only take a moment for Rollan to switch talismans, climb on board, and escape.
Gerathon hissed through Meilin’s teeth, then turned and kicked Abeke in the side. “At least we have these two,” she growled. With unnatural strength, Meilin crouched and threw Abeke over her shoulder.
The Conquerors were waiting for them. Someone took Abeke from Meilin as she stepped down the rocky path. Her feet propelled her onto the once-beautiful white sand of the beach, now trampled by a thousand paws and marred with blotches of blood.
Zerif stood by one of the boats with his jackal beside him, smirking. He gave Meilin a small, ironic bow as she walked up to him.
“Nice of you to join us at last,” he said. “Of course, you’ve been terribly useful on the other side. We all appreciate that. But now that we have so many talismans, it’s time for you to stand by the Reptile King, where you belong.”
Something in her face made him pause. He tugged on his beard, frowning.
“You did bring a talisman, didn’t you? The Coral Octopus, I hope? Or the Granit
e Ram would do. I can see you don’t have the Slate Elephant.”
Meilin turned and followed his gaze to the sky, where the enormous shape of Essix was winging away to the north. Rollan was just a small dark blur, crouched on the falcon’s back.
“No talismans,” Gerathon said harshly in Meilin’s voice. “But we have Jhi and Uraza, and Tellun remains hidden. The only talisman left for them to find is Cabaro’s. Our plan is nearly complete. Kovo will be free soon, and then your Reptile King’s armies will lay waste to the last rebellious corners of Erdas.”
Meilin spotted Shane hovering over the next boat as Abeke was lifted inside. Shackles were snapped over Abeke’s wrists and ankles.
“Careful, be gentle,” Shane protested, sounding guilty.
Meilin automatically began to raise her arms, ready for her own shackles.
In her head, Gerathon started laughing. You don’t need shackles, drinker of the Bile, the serpent’s voice hissed. You’re my creature. Try to resist all you like, but in the end, I control you completely.
Despair washed over her. She stepped into the boat beside Zerif and watched Mulop’s island grow smaller and smaller as they rowed toward the Conquerors’ ships. Gerathon could keep her eyes open, could point them in any direction she chose, but she couldn’t stop the tears that slowly rolled down Meilin’s face.
I’m the mole. Not Abeke. Not anyone else. Me.
I’m the reason the Conquerors are winning the war. I’m the reason they’ve always been able to find us; it’s my fault they have the talismans they stole from us.
It’s my fault my father is dead.
And now that I know Gerathon can control me . . . it’s as though there’s no Meilin left at all.
ROLLAN CIRCLED OVER THE OCEAN AND THE FLEET OF SHIPS for as long as he dared, but he saw no sign of Conor in the water, even with his falcon-enhanced sight.
Please let him be all right. Don’t let him be lost too.
He couldn’t have drowned with the Coral Octopus on . . . could he? Had one of the Conquerors’ ships picked him up? Or something worse . . . Rollan could see the menacing fins of Bile-enhanced sharks lurking between the ships. He wouldn’t let his imagination go any further in that direction.
Rollan didn’t want to leave him. He didn’t want to leave Meilin or Abeke either, but how could he get anywhere near Zerif’s ship?
What can I do? Of all of us to get away . . . I’m the most useless.
Finally one of the Conquerors’ arrows came too close, and he was forced to tell Essix to fly away. He didn’t want to risk losing her too, and he could feel the weight of the talismans he carried, one around his neck and one in his pocket. The only thing left that he could do was take those talismans to safety.
Sick at heart, he leaned into Essix’s warm feathers, feeling her muscles contract and lengthen below him as she flew. The cold wind whipped away the tears on his cheeks.
It seemed like a long time later when he felt Essix tilt her wings to descend. He looked up and realized that the sun was setting. Golden light spilled across the rippling sea. The sky was streaked with blazes of pink and orange.
It was the most beautiful and the saddest sunset he’d ever seen.
Essix soared down toward the Tellun’s Pride, now anchored off a small deserted island. Tarik must have ordered the ship to move so he wouldn’t come into contact with Kalani’s people — protecting them from tapu again. The huge shapes of the rockback whales loomed beside the ship, as big as islands themselves.
As the giant falcon spiraled down toward the deck, the sailors on board began shouting and pointing. Rollan spotted Tarik’s familiar green cloak as the man climbed onto the deck. Tarik shaded his face to look up at Rollan and waved, and Rollan was startled to feel more tears pricking at the backs of his eyes. He leaned forward, too defeated to wave back.
There wasn’t enough room for Essix to land on the ship without getting tangled in the masts, so she swooped close enough to hover while Rollan swung himself into the rigging. As soon as he was secure, he took off the Slate Elephant and climbed down to where Tarik was waiting.
The Greencloak’s face was openly relieved, until he saw Rollan’s expression.
“What happened?” he asked, panic creeping into his voice. He reached up unconsciously to stroke Lumeo’s back, worry lines creasing his forehead. “Where are the others? Rollan?” He caught Rollan as the boy staggered away from the ropes. “Where are the others?”
“I lost them,” Rollan said. His legs gave up on standing and he crumpled to the deck. He buried his face in his hands, leaning against his knees. “Tarik, Meilin was the mole. She took Abeke. The Conquerors have them both now.” He looked up into Tarik’s shocked eyes. “She — she’s being controlled by Gerathon. Somebody gave her the Bile.” A flood of anger washed over him. “Somebody gave her the Bile, Tarik!” he yelled. “How could that happen? It must have been at her Nectar Ceremony. Who could have done that? Why didn’t the Greencloaks protect her?”
Tarik crouched beside him and put one hand on Rollan’s shoulder. “Rollan, if Meilin was being controlled by Gerathon, I’m sure there was nothing you could have done to save her or Abeke. This isn’t your fault.”
“I know that!” Rollan shouted, shaking him off. “It’s the Greencloaks’ fault for letting her drink the Bile in the first place!”
Tarik rubbed his face with his hands, looking far older than he was. “Where’s Conor?”
“He had the Coral Octopus,” Rollan mumbled, dropping his head again. “He swam into the sea and then — I don’t know. I couldn’t find him. There were too many Conquerors and he wasn’t anywhere. . . .”
“We’ll go back and find him,” Tarik promised. “Lenori may be able to sense Briggan, or ask for a vision, or —”
“That won’t be necessary,” said a tired voice.
They both whirled around and saw Conor climbing over the rail, dripping wet.
“Conor!” Rollan cried. He wasn’t sure he’d ever been so happy to see someone. He scrambled to his feet and nearly toppled the boy over as he hugged him. “How did you get away? How did you get here?”
“It was Mulop,” Conor said, looking more than a little embarrassed. “He followed me out through the hole, grabbed me, and dragged me under the Conquerors’ ships. It took me a while to realize he wasn’t, like, taking me off to eat me or something. He just wanted to make sure the Coral Octopus was safe.” Conor touched the talisman around his neck. “We traveled underwater most of the way here.” He shivered. A puddle had already formed around his feet.
Tarik pulled off his own cloak to put around Conor’s shoulders. He paused for a moment, gave Conor a fierce hug of his own, and then went to get dry clothes and towels.
“I’m glad you guys are safe too,” Conor said to Rollan while they waited. “I was really worried about you, but Mulop wouldn’t go back. He said, ‘I won’t risk the Coral Octopus falling into the wrong tentacles, and neither will I.’ I think maybe he knew the ships were out there and set up the whole test so he could follow me out through the hole and get at least one of us to safety with his talisman. I’m sorry it was me, though; I wish I could have stayed to help you guys. Did you use the Slate Elephant on Essix? That’s what I was think — Rollan? What is it? What’s wrong?”
Rollan shook his head, took a deep breath, and told Conor everything about the battle and the truth about Meilin.
Conor stared at him in disbelief, his green eyes wide and confused. After a moment, he held out his arm and Briggan appeared. Conor crouched beside the wolf, wrapped his arm around Briggan’s neck, and leaned into his fur. Briggan licked Conor’s hand and made a soft whining sound.
“Poor Meilin,” Conor whispered.
“It’s not right,” Rollan said furiously. “The Bile is — it’s unnatural and wrong and . . . and awful. No one should be able to control people that way. And
Meilin must have been tricked into drinking it, which makes it even worse. . . .”
“Even worse than your mom,” Conor finished the thought.
Rollan was trying really hard not to think about his mom. He was trying not to remember those same serpentine yellow eyes looking out of Aidana’s and Meilin’s faces. That same malevolent presence forcing people he cared about to try to kill him. The same struggle he’d seen on both faces, as Aidana and Meilin both tried so desperately to break free and save him.
Tarik returned with blankets for both of them. Darkness was spreading over the ship, and stars were beginning to emerge one by one in the purple sky.
“What do we do now?” Conor asked Tarik. The three of them stood at the railing, watching the Hundred Isles slip past them. “Can we rescue Abeke? Is there anything we can do to . . . to fix Meilin?”
“I don’t know,” Tarik said heavily.
“There must be,” Rollan said, digging his nails into the wood. “There must be a way to reverse the effects of the Bile.”
“If there is, we’ll find it,” Conor agreed. With a stab of anguish, Rollan remembered Meilin saying almost those exact words.
Essix landed on the railing and sidled up beside Rollan. She eyed him thoughtfully for a moment, then hopped onto his shoulder and tugged on a lock of his hair.
“At least we have the Coral Octopus,” Tarik murmured, but from the tone of his voice Rollan knew they felt the same way.
The talisman wasn’t worth it. No talisman could be worth the price that Oceanus had exacted from them.
Meilin and Abeke were in the hands of the Devourer.
And according to Mulop, Kovo would soon be free.
Rollan stared bleakly down at the black ocean.
Was there any hope left for Erdas?
Tui T. Sutherland is a Jeopardy! champion and the author of the dragon series Wings of Fire, the Menagerie trilogy, the Pet Trouble series, and three books in the bestselling Seekers series (as part of the Erin Hunter team). Right now she has just one dog (clearly her spirit animal, Sunshine), but growing up she had, at various times, piglets in the bathtub, shrieking monkeys in the backyard, and a kitten with super-villain plans. She lives in Massachusetts with her husband, two sons, and Sunshine.