Текст книги "Albrek's Tomb"

Автор книги: Mark Forman

сообщить о нарушении

Текущая страница: 10 (всего у книги 26 страниц)

It took Alex three tries to open the door. Behind the door was a small room filled with piles of treasure that looked as if they had been searched through in a hurry. To Alex, it looked like the owner of the room had been in a terrible rush to find something, and then left quickly without straightening up. Barnabus and Kat both seemed happy with the discovery, even if Alex was troubled. Absentmindedly he picked up a golden necklace. Why?That was the only thing he could think of. Why would the dwarfs leave all of this behind?

“We should get the others,” said Barnabus after several minutes.

“Yes,” Alex agreed, returning the necklace to a nearby shelf. “Thrang will want to know what we’ve found.”

“I sense you are troubled by this,” Kat murmured.

“I can’t find a reason for it,” Alex answered, turning to go. “No one leaves their wealth and their home for no reason.”

The others followed Alex out of the house. Nellus and Arconn were waiting for them in the street, but they were alone.

“Where are Thrang and Thrain?” Kat asked, looking up and down the street.

“They believe they’ve found a hidden room,” said Arconn. “They’re trying to find a way to open the door.”

“They’ll have a hard time with it,” said Alex. “We found one as well, and it was guarded better than I expected.”

“I would guess that all the houses have hidden rooms,” Arconn said thoughtfully.

“And I would guess that Thrang will want us to open them all,” said Alex.

Alex found Thrang and Thrain inside a house, standing next to a blank wall and looking unhappy. Thrang knew only a few opening spells, but he had tried them all. Alex explained about the hidden room they had found in the other house and smiled when Thrang insisted on trying one more ancient dwarf spell. Thrang stood still for a moment, deep in thought. He took a step back and spoke the words, but nothing happened.

“I suppose you’ll have to do it, then,” said Thrang, looking at Alex hopefully.

Alex bowed slightly and touched the wall with his staff. Once again the outline of a door appeared, and this time Alex was able to open it on his first try. Thrang and Thrain both hurried into the small treasure room as Alex watched from the doorway.

“Did the room in the other house hold this much treasure?” Thrang questioned.

“About,” said Alex with a shrug.

“I suppose we’ve added to our wealth, then,” Thrang said with a laugh.

“That is true, but the real question remains,” said Alex, turning away from the room.

“What question is that?” Thrang called after him.

“Why?” said Alex, walking out of the house.

Chapter Thirteen

Salinor

Why what?” Thrang questioned, following Alex out of the house and into the road.

“Why has all this been left?” said Alex. “Why are there no dwarfs here? Why do we feel troubled and then not troubled? There is something wrong here, and I want to know what it is.”

“Yes,” said Thrang, nodding his head. “I agree that none of this makes any kind of sense. I suppose we should look for the colony’s records and leave the treasure hunting for later.”

“That would seem the wisest course,” said Arconn.

“Yes, well,” Thrang said, looking down the stone-paved street, “I suppose we’ll have to move farther into town. It’s customary for the archives to be built near the center of the settlement, unless the dwarfs built most of the city underground.”

“It looks like most of this city is aboveground,” Nellus said.

“Kat, if you sense anything—anything at all—please say so at once,” Alex said to the seer.

“Whatever I sensed before has either left or hidden itself very well,” said Kat, sounding both relieved and unhappy at the same time.

Alex could not explain it, not even to himself, but he knew there was something on the island, and even if Kat could not sense it, it was still there. Whatever it was, Alex couldn’t do anything about it, not unless it wished to reveal itself to him, so he settled on the next best thing—finding the records of the city and whatever answers they might hold.

“Come on, then,” said Thrang, starting off down the road that led to the center of the deserted town.

Alex and the others followed, looking from side to side as they went. They didn’t bother picking up the small bags anymore; there would be time for treasure hunting after they’d found out what had happened to the dwarfs.

Fortunately the village was fairly small, with only about sixty stone houses. Each of the houses had an area of open land around it, which seemed odd for a dwarf colony, or at least it did to Alex.

“They must have expected the colony to grow,” Thrang said in a thoughtful tone. “As a rule, dwarf houses are closer together and often share walls.”

“The treasure we’ve found so far would indicate that this was a promising place,” Nellus said. “If the dwarfs here had found so much wealth, others would surely have come to join them.”

“Yes,” said Thrang. “But it appears that no one ever did.”

The discussion ended as Thrang spotted what he was looking for. A large stone building made of white marble stood alone in the center of the town square. Polished bronze doors still gleamed brightly in the afternoon sun.

“Locked,” Thrang said, pushing on one of the doors. “I suppose we should have expected that.”

“The bronze has not tarnished,” said Barnabus in surprise, rubbing one of the doors with his hand.

“A little dwarf magic,” said Thrang, a note of pride in his voice. “The dwarfs of this village took great care in building their storehouse.”

“This looks too grand to be a storehouse,” Nellus said.

“A common name for such buildings,” said Thrang, pushing on the door again. “The dwarfs would have used this building to store supplies as well as their records. There is also a chance that they stored community treasure here as well.”

“I suppose we should find a way to open the doors,” said Alex.

“If you would, master wizard,” said Thrang, bowing to Alex.

Alex stepped forward and put one hand on the bronze doors. He could feel the dwarf magic vibrating through his fingers and palm as if the door had a life of its own. This was deeper magic than the hidden rooms in the dwarf houses, deeper and much more powerful. For several minutes he stood motionless, letting his mind explore the spell that held the doors shut. Slowly he stepped back, then lifted his staff and knocked on the bronze door twice. For a moment nothing happened, then the shining bronze seemed to dim. The others looked in wonder as what had once been solid and locked bronze doors melted away, vanishing completely.

“Amazing,” said Thrain, a stunned look on his face.

“An interesting spell,” Alex commented. “Whoever put it here knew what they were doing.”

“Well then,” said Thrang, looking at the dark open space in front of him. “I suppose we should have a look inside.”

Alex could see how nervous Thrang and the others were, but he knew there was no danger. He stepped forward into the darkness, and, seeing no source of light inside the building, conjured up several weir lights. Thrang hurried in behind him, and then smiled as the weir lights moved along the dark passage showing them which way to go.

“Strange there are no windows,” Thrang said, walking at Alex’s side.

“The dwarfs might have been afraid of being robbed,” said Alex. “The door was impressive—though I wouldn’t think that the colony’s records would require so much protection.”

Thrang didn’t comment as they continued to walk into the darkness. A short distance into the building, they came to a broad staircase that led steeply into the ground.

“It seems the building is only a marker,” said Thrang, walking down a few steps. “Perhaps the dwarfs here had a great deal more than archives to protect.”

The stairs went down for a long way before opening into a vast hall. Alex magically lit the torches and lamps along the walls, and then turned to look at Kat.

“Any idea where the archives might be?” asked Alex.

“Lower down,” said Kat after a moment’s thought.

“That sounds right,” said Thrang as he started off into the hall. “This would be a feasting hall. Kitchens and stores would be on the left, and perhaps some private rooms there on the right. There should be another staircase at the far end of the hall that will lead us to a second level. That is where the archives should be.”

“There is a third level as well,” said Kat thoughtfully.

“Oh,” said Thrang, looking back in surprise. “The only reason for a third level would be to store treasure. We’ll have a look there after we find the archives.”

“And after a meal,” Barnabus said.

“It has been a long day already,” Arconn added, smiling at Thrang.

“Yes, of course,” said Thrang as if he’d only just remembered that none of them had eaten since that morning. “Barnabus, Nellus, Thrain, perhaps you would be so good as to return to the surface and set up our camp. The rest of us will go to the archives and see if there are any records of what happened. We will not explore the third level until tomorrow.”

Barnabus and Nellus nodded and started back to the stairs. Thrain took a step then turned back as if to argue about leaving.

“You can see it all tomorrow, Thrain,” said Thrang in a kind but stern voice.

Thrain nodded and reluctantly followed Barnabus and Nellus back up the stairway. Thrang smiled as he watched the young dwarf go, and then turned back toward the hall and started across it.

Alex held back a laugh as he caught Arconn’s eye. He knew how excited Thrain was to explore this abandoned dwarf building, but he also knew that Thrang was right to send him back for the time being. There might still be dangers here, and Thrain was not yet ready to face the unknown.

They found a second set of stairs at the end of the hall, and once again they went down them. The weir lights Alex had conjured had been hovering above his head, and now they rushed down into the darkness to light the way.

At the bottom of the staircase was a solid-looking iron door. Alex stepped around Thrang, who was pushing on the door, and placed his hand on the cold metal. The dwarf magic was stronger here than it had been in the bronze door. After a few moments of thought, Alex spoke a few words in the dwarvish language, and the door slowly creaked open on its own.

“Impressive,” Arconn said.

“Yes,” agreed Alex. “The dwarfs who lived here must have had at least one wizard with them.”

“There have been few dwarf wizards,” Thrang said thoughtfully. “I know of one who lived in Thraxon at about the same time as Albrek. His name was Languinn, but there aren’t many stories about him.”

“It seems we’ve found the hall of records,” said Kat, looking around the room that was filled with books. “I would say the door at the far end of the hall leads to the lowest level of all.”

“Yes,” said Thrang, looking in the direction of the door. “First things first, however. Let’s see what the records have to say about the colony and if there is anything about why the dwarfs left.”

Left, or were destroyed,Alex thought but didn’t say.

Alex lit the lamps and then joined the others in looking through the records. There were far fewer records here than there had been in the archives of Benorg, and it didn’t take them long to find what they were looking for.

“Here now,” said Thrang, looking down at a large leather-bound book that was sitting on a stone table. “This is a listing of what the colony had mined. It seems they found some rich mines here, including at least one mine of true silver.”

“The amount produced drops after the third year of mining,” Alex said, looking over the information. “For the first three years, the numbers increase, and then they drop off by quite a bit.”

“That would make sense,” said Thrang, running his finger down the page. “If Albrek took most of his people south, there would be far fewer dwarfs here to do the mining.”

“So it would seem that Albrek left the Isle of Bones after three years, and went . . . where?” Arconn frowned.

“To the Lost Mountains, no doubt,” said Thrang. “We know that was his plan from the start, but it would be nice to find something written to confirm that fact.”

“It will take some time to go through all these records,” Alex said. “Kat, do you have any impression about where we should start?”

Kat was silent for a minute, her eyes closed. Slowly she moved to one side of the room and put her hand on a huge volume.

“This one,” said Kat, blinking several times as if to focus her eyes.

Arconn and Thrang lifted the book onto one of the stone tables. Alex had never seen a book so large, and he wondered why the dwarfs would make something that no single dwarf could move alone. His thoughts about that were soon forgotten as Thrang began reading from the book.

“Yes, this is the complete history of the colony,” said Thrang, turning the pages. “We should learn what happened here when we see where the history stops.”

Thrang paged quickly through the book, looking for the place where the writing stopped. It took only a few minutes, but those minutes seemed to last for hours as Alex and the others waited.

“Ah, here we are,” said Thrang, turning back a few pages from the end of the writing.

For several minutes Thrang read in silence, Alex and Arconn skimming the words over his shoulder. Kat stood back, looking around the room and waiting to hear what had happened.

“It sounds like things were going fine, and then all at once every dwarf on the island started feeling uneasy and tense,” Thrang summarized, taking his hands off the page so Alex and Arconn could finish reading.

“That sounds similar to the way Alex and I felt earlier today,” Arconn said.

“Too similar,” Alex added. “Something on the island was affecting the dwarfs.”

“But what could it be?” Thrang asked. “The record gives no clue at all, and the writing stops without explaining anything about what happened. Kat is unable to sense anything on the island, so what could the trouble have been?”

“I don’t know,” said Alex, pacing back and forth. “Yet there is something here. Something that doesn’t want to be found.”

“Whatever it is, it seems to be leaving us alone,” said Thrang, closing the book with some effort. He sighed in frustration. “We’re not here to find out what happened to the colony, we’re here to find the tomb of Albrek.”

“So you think we should continue our quest and not worry about what happened here?” Alex asked.

“We should worry about it, but not let it get in the way of our quest,” Thrang answered. “We have two weeks on the island, so we should make good use of them. Tomorrow we will explore the third level and gather all the treasure we can find in the time we have. As long as these troubled feelings don’t return, I don’t know what else we can do.”

“And if they do return?” Arconn questioned.

“Then we’ll do what we have to do to protect ourselves and complete our adventure,” said Thrang.

“Very well,” said Alex, refocusing his thoughts. “We should all pay attention to our feelings, though. Hopefully we won’t have any problems before the Seekerreturns.”

They all agreed, and Thrang led them up the stairs toward the deserted dwarf village. As they went, Alex tried to relax his mind, but something was poking at his thoughts. The troubled feelings he’d had earlier in the day still reminded him of something, but even now he couldn’t think of what it was.

When they climbed out of the dwarf ruins, they found that Barnabus had their dinner nearly ready. Nellus and Thrain were watching the empty space where the bronze door had been and seemed relieved when Alex and the others emerged.

“What happened?” Nellus questioned.

“I’ll explain as we eat,” said Thrang, moving toward the campfire. “We’ve learned some things, but not everything.”

Barnabus served the food, and Thrang slowly recounted what he had read from the giant book.

Alex had a hard time paying attention to the story or his food; he was still trying to remember what it was he had forgotten and what his strange feelings reminded him of. He knew the answer would come to him eventually, but for now, his thoughts were cluttered and confused.

As the others prepared to sleep, Alex remained by the fire. They all agreed it would be a good idea to keep watch, and Alex had drawn the first shift. Arconn also remained by the fire, but remained still and quiet. Alex listened to the breathing of his friends as he watched the fire burn down, still trying to relax his mind.

“You seem troubled,” Arconn said at last.

“The feelings we had earlier today remind me of something, but I can’t remember what,” said Alex, shifting his position slightly.

“Yes, I feel the same way, though I don’t know why. Perhaps an answer will come to you in your sleep. Often our minds find answers when we stop looking for them.”

“Yes,” Alex agreed. “I suppose I should try to sleep.”

Arconn said nothing more, and Alex slowly moved away from the fire and lay down on his blanket. Closing his eyes, he forced himself to relax, and before he knew it, he was asleep.

How strange,Alex thought in his dream.

He felt awake, even though he knew he wasn’t. He was sitting on a beach, possibly the beach they had landed on that morning. The wind blew his hair, and the smell of the sea reminded him of the sailors he’d met on the Seeker.For several minutes he remained seated, and then he slowly rose and looked toward the land. It looked exactly as he remembered it from earlier in the day, with one large exception.

Sitting directly behind him was an enormous dragon.

“So, you are what Kat could feel. The presence that moved away when she got too close,” said Alex.

“I thought it best that we meet in your dreams,” said the dragon, its voice softer and friendlier than Alex had expected. “I hope you will forgive my intrusion, but meeting face-to-face would have been difficult.”

“I am surprised to see you here,” said Alex, watching the dragon for any sudden movement and trying not to look into its eyes.

“And I am surprised that you are so young,” said the dragon.

Alex was not afraid, though he thought perhaps he should be. This dragon was much larger than Slathbog had been, and even if this was only a dream, he knew the dragon still had a great deal of power.

“I require your assistance, young wizard,” the dragon said. “I can offer several things in return for your services.”

“Why do you require my help?” Alex questioned.

“Because you are what you are,” the dragon answered. “You are a wizard of great power, and I need that power to accomplish my goals.”

“Why would I agree to help a dragon?” Alex asked. “I’ve met one of your kind before, and I doubt your goals will be something honorable.”

“Yes,” said the dragon, its voice sounding thoughtful. “You met Slathbog and destroyed him, as was right. And because of your encounter with Slathbog, you mistrust me, which shows wisdom on your part. However, I am not like Slathbog; I do not hoard wealth nor seek out the lesser races to destroy them.”

Alex considered the dragon’s words for several minutes before he replied. It seemed to be true that this dragon did not care about the dwarf treasure scattered across the island. Still, dragons were dragons, and Alex knew he had to be careful.

“What is it you wish of me?” he asked.

“A spell,” the dragon answered. “A spell to hide this island from all who seek it.”

“Why do you wish that?” Alex questioned, surprised by the dragon’s request.

“So the past will not be repeated,” said the dragon, sounding strangely sad.

“It was you, then,” said Alex as he considered how dangerous a dragon might be in a dream. “You destroyed the dwarfs that lived here.”

“Sadly, yes,” said the dragon. “I did not mean for it to happen, and while most of the blame is mine, the dwarfs still share some of it.”

“Will you tell me what happened?” Alex asked.

“Long ago I chose this place to hide,” the dragon began. “I had grown tired of my long travels and wanted only to sleep and to dream. This island was a good place, far from the lesser races and secluded by the sea. For hundreds of years I slept here, and then the dwarfs came.”

Alex remained quiet.

“At first I was not aware of them,” the dragon continued. “The dwarfs dug their mines and found their treasures, and I remained asleep. Then they opened new mines and looked for more treasures. That is how dwarfs are, so I cannot blame them for that. The mining was noisy, and it slowly woke me from my long sleep. They had a wizard with them, and he was the first to realize I was here.”

“So you destroyed the dwarfs before they could attack you,” said Alex.

“No, nothing like that,” answered the dragon. “The dwarfs attacked me while I was not yet fully awake. Their wizard, a dwarf named Languinn, had great power. He believed that he could drive me away or even destroy me. When I woke fully, it was to his attack. Startled by his magic, I thought only of defending myself. But my anger began to burn inside of me, and being a dragon, my rage got the better of me. I swept down on my attackers and destroyed most of them before I was able to shake off my madness.”

“You destroyed most of them, but not all?” Alex questioned.

“No, not all. Languinn and some of the other dwarfs hid themselves in the underground archives. I tried to apologize, to make things right, but Languinn would not speak to me, even in dreams.”

“So he and his people are still down there?” Alex asked, stunned by the idea.

The dragon shook his head. “They died off, until only Languinn was left. Even then, alone in the dark, he would not speak with me, though I tried many times.”

“So we will find their remains on the third level when we go there tomorrow,” Alex said, wondering how much of the dragon’s story was true.

“Yes,” answered the dragon. “Perhaps that will convince you I speak the truth, though there is an easier way, if you dare.”

“You would have me look into your eyes,” Alex said, feeling a strange desire to look, despite knowing the danger.

“We are in a dream so our powers are not what they might be,” the dragon said. “And I will give you something to protect you, if you will trust me.”

“What can you give me for protection?” Alex asked. He wanted to trust the dragon, yet he knew that trusting any dragon could be fatal.

“I will give you my true name,” the dragon answered.

Alex considered the offer. He knew that dragons often had many names, but they each had only one true name, a name that gave them their power and made them what they were. He also knew that having that true name would give him power over the dragon, power to control and command the dragon to do whatever he wanted it to do.

“How will I know the name you give me will be your true name?” Alex asked.

“You will know,” said the dragon with what might have been a smile on its face. “I am Salinor, oldest remaining of my race. I am the lord of dragons, the most ancient, the guardian of the past.”

“Salinor,” Alex repeated, feeling the incredible power of the name even in his dream. “Yes, I will trust you. I will look into your eyes.”

Even before he looked, Alex knew that Salinor had told him the truth. As their eyes met, Alex could feel Salinor’s power, and he could see some of the details of the dragon’s long life. Salinor was far more powerful than Slathbog had been, and Alex knew that he could not defeat this dragon, not in the same way he had defeated Slathbog and not in any other way he could think of. Then, to his surprise, Alex realized that Salinor could not defeat him either. They were equals, an even match.

“There is more to you than I thought,” Salinor said, sounding pleased and perhaps a little proud. “It is good that we have met this way. If we had been forced to battle, I think we both would have lost in the end.”

“I am glad we have not met as enemies, then,” said Alex, letting his mind move closer to Salinor’s.

The mixing of thoughts was amazing, and for a moment Alex considered breaking away and forcing himself to wake up. At times Alex had felt that his own mind was cluttered and full, but that feeling was nothing compared to what he felt now. And he sensed something else as well—the same wild, reckless feeling he had felt twice before on his journey.

“Open the third level for your friends, then come and talk with me,” said Salinor, blinking and breaking the link between the two of them. “There are things we need to speak of, things you will need to know.”

“I will come,” said Alex.

“Until then,” said Salinor, turning to leave the beach of Alex’s dreams. “I will see you soon, young dragon lord.”

“Dragon lord,” said Alex, waking up with a start.

“What’s that?” Thrang asked, turning away from the cooking fire to look at Alex.

“Oh, nothing,” said Alex, looking around to see if anyone else had overheard him.

“Well, come and get your breakfast,” said Thrang. “We have a long day ahead of us.”

Alex got up, still thinking about his dream. He knew that it had been real, though he had never actually spoken to anyone in a dream meeting before.

“We’ll go down to the third level this morning,” Thrang said as they finished breakfast. “It should be worth our time to look around and perhaps find a bit of treasure.”

“I have something to do after I open the door to the third level,” said Alex.

“Oh? What is that?” Thrang questioned, a puzzled look on his face.

“I have to go and talk to someone,” answered Alex.

“Who are you going to talk to?” Thrain asked, looking even more puzzled than Thrang did.

“A friend,” Alex answered with half a smile.

“That’s no kind of answer,” said Thrang, standing up and running his hand down his beard.

“A dragon, then,” said Alex, and almost laughed at the shocked looks on his friends’ faces. “That’s where the uneasy feelings are coming from and what Kat could feel but not get close to. There is a dragon on the island, and I’m going to talk with him.”

“How do you know about the dragon?” Nellus asked, looking worried and pale.

“Because I spoke with him last night in my dreams,” said Alex. “I don’t have time to explain everything, but I can tell you there is no reason to worry. I’ll open the door to the third level where you should find the remains of some dwarfs and the dwarf wizard, Languinn. Once that is done, I will be leaving for a few days.”

“You’re going to talk with a dragon?” Thrang repeated, looking confused.

“The risk is great,” said Kat, looking from Alex to Thrang and back again.

“No, it’s not,” said Alex. “Enough talk. Let’s go and open the door to the third level. Or perhaps I should show Thrain how to open the hidden doors in the houses first.”

“You seem determined to go,” Arconn said.

“I am. And I’m sure there is no danger,” said Alex.

Thrang and the others looked as if they wanted to argue, but Alex wouldn’t hear any of it. He turned and walked into the stone building behind their camp, and the rest of them had no choice but to follow.

The door to the third level was better protected than either of the previous two. It appeared that Languinn had spent most of his time casting spells on the third door to protect himself and his comrades from the dragon. Just as Alex thought he had removed all of Languinn’s spells, however, he started sneezing uncontrollably.

“I didn’t expect that,” Alex said, shaking off the effects of Languinn’s spell. “A strange spell to put on a door.”

“Not so strange.” Thrang laughed. “Dwarfs often use such spells if they’re afraid of someone sneaking up on them. The sneezing would alert them to an enemy’s presence.”

“Yes, I see,” said Alex, wiping his nose.

Returning to the door, he removed the sneezing spell and quickly checked for anything else he might have missed. Confident that he’d removed all of the magic from the door, he told his friends to move to the sides of the short hallway. He carefully pushed the door open with his staff and a volley of arrows came flying out of the darkness, clattering against the stairs behind them.

“You should be careful as you search the third level,” Alex said, checking his staff for arrows.

“How did you know about the trap?” Arconn questioned, looking at the open door in concern.

“I thought Languinn might do something like this,” said Alex. “He was afraid, and he couldn’t be sure that his magic would be enough to protect him from a dragon.”

“The same dragon that had trapped him,” said Thrang, looking Alex in the eye. “The same dragon you want to talk to. The same dragon that killed my people on this island.”

“I told you I would explain later,” said Alex, his voice stern and slightly cold as it echoed into the darkness of the third level. “Languinn acted foolishly. He was only trapped here because he would not listen to reason.”

“But . . . a dragon?” said Barnabus softly.

“Enough,” said Alex, trying to stay calm. “I know what I’m doing.”

“We are concerned for your safety as much as our own,” said Arconn soothingly. “We aren’t questioning your ability or belief.”

“Forgive me,” said Alex, taking a deep breath. “I know you don’t understand and would like an explanation, but there isn’t time. Believe me when I say that I will be safe and that the dragon will not bother you. Languinn’s traps might be another story, though, so be careful.”

“Very well,” said Thrang, though he still looked unhappy. “We’ll all go up while you teach Thrain to open the hidden doors. We’ll need to make torches anyway, before we can search the third level since we won’t have your weir lights.”

With Thrang’s words they all moved back up the stairs. Alex felt bad that he couldn’t tell his friends everything he knew, but he wanted to hurry to his meeting with Salinor and telling his friends about his dream would only lead to dozens of questions that he didn’t have time to answer, even if he knew all the answers.

Thrain quickly learned how to open the hidden doors once Alex had explained how it was done and taught him the correct magical words to use. Thrang also paid attention, and, with some effort, he was able to open the hidden doors as well. With that task completed, Alex walked into the street and turned to look at his friends.

“I don’t know how long I’ll be gone, but I promise to return before the Seekergets here to take us back to Dunnstal,” said Alex. “I suggest you spend your time gathering everything of value here, including the archives. Once we leave this island, no one will ever be able to return.”