When the flood starts, Jasper and Iodine are in the Lost Inlet.
Dumped here by Poppy, so that she and the kids’ father can have some ‘alone time’ (Jasper knows what this really means, but he keeps up the charade for Ellie’s sake), Jasper sat his sister down and let her eat one of her sandwiches, pulling the rest away from her. When she finished the first, she pouted hungrily at her brother, but he was insistent. Who knows how long they would be stuck here for?
They played together, with Flo dancing around their hands and feet, with Sadie a little way off, watching. The volcano was old news, but when the second curse struck and Mercedes changed, hungry and desperate and savage, Jasper picked up his sister and they ran, hid in a small, quiet cave. Ellie cried when they left Flo – who seemed barely affected by the curse, though she pounced madly and uncharacteristically upon a butterfly and munched it down in one smooth gulp – but the blue haired boy kept moving. The kitten could probably have come with them, but he had to leave Sadie. She was too dangerous.
So, when the flood starts, they are completely alone.
Jasper spares a brief thought for Draco, but shakes it away; he will be fine. He and Poppy will find a safe place, wherever that may be. The water is surrounding them, licking into the cave mouth and reaching for them. “Jasper!” cries Iodine, and he turns to her, scoops her up in his arms and holds her tightly to him. “It’ll be okay,” he tells her, but he doesn’t believe it. He doesn’t know what to think.
There is too much water now for them to walk out. They could probably swim, but it would be too dangerous; he couldn’t ensure that Iodine would be entirely safe. And he can’t let anything happen to his little sister. Teleportation would work if he could concentrate, and if he knew where to go, but the screams from outside and the panic that is attempting to rise inside him make concentration impossible. He glances around him, pulling the shadows around to see if he can spot an exit, but there is nothing. Their safe haven has become their tomb.
There is a loud crash from somewhere nearby, and Ellie screams. “Where’s daddy?” she asks, sobbing. “Is daddy okay? Jazzie, what’s happening? Are we going to-“ Jasper hisses before she can say the word. They are not going to die, though he isn’t sure what to do. He’s twelve, not Superman. And they are trapped on an island, and they need to get to the Core. He bites his lips and flicks his head and is, unexpectedly, scared. He has never felt fear before, not real fear, but he is scared for Ellie and for himself and for Sadie and Flo and Perry and even Draco.
Something scrabbles at the cave mouth. Jasper shrinks back further, away from the foaming water, clutching Iodine as tightly as he can. The thing squawks and snaps its beak and is inside, beating its wings. “Perry,” Jasper breathes, watching him. He doesn’t seem wild; he seems like the same old Perry, minus a few behavioural characteristics. But this doesn’t mean that Jasper is any more willing to approach him. He only has one choice left – teleportation is the only way out. He takes a deep breath, his back pressed against the stone wall. He shushes Ellie before she can make a sound, and squeezes his eyes shut – he wants to get to the Core, right in the centre of Shaman. Chances are, it’s the safest place to be.
Something moves, his hair flutters in the new breeze, and he opens his eyes triumphantly, only to see that the gentle gust of wind was caused by Perry’s wings. He is close now, and in that moment Jasper understands just how dangerous a creature this is. Sadie may be wild, but she is hardly cunning – Peregryne is sly and clever and fierce. His beak pushes into the air, connects with Iodine’s back, and she shrieks. Jasper bats out at the hippogriff, knocking into his head, and he winces, closing his eyes and praying that the Core will come to them. He waits, waits for Perry’s attack, but nothing comes, nothing but Ellie’s delighted, nervous laugh. The blue haired boy allows his eyes to open, and there at where they wanted to be. They are in the Core, and they are safe, and he can see Draco moving towards them, holding out his arms in that annoying way that signifies a hug. Jasper hates hugs. Especially after near-death experiences.
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