Salamaine's Curse by V. L. Burgess Page A

for. He could sense Porter’s frustration as well. He turned his attention to the map’s geologic features. Bloody Blister Bay, Relic Run, Tsunami Shores, Hurricane Hell, Skeleton Harbor, Poison Gull Beach.
    Not exactly exciting places to vacation. Nor was there anything there that might show them the way to Arx. Blocked again. His father’s maps had been so easy to read. But this one, this was like prying open something that had been sealed shut for centuries. His right wrist—the one that had been grabbed by the scavenger’s claw—began to burn and sting.
    Refusing to give up, Tom closed his eyes and focused his thoughts on the book. After a moment he felt odd. A current swept through him and the southwestern corner of the map began to glow. Subtle at first, it grew stronger and stronger, turning that portion of the map from a murky blue to a bright pinkish-orange, a color remarkably similar to the folly’s rattle in his pocket.
    The sea parted slightly, giving them a glimpse of jagged canyon walls just beneath the surface. As he watched, two spiked peaks rose up out of the sea like glistening coral pillars. Fierce, whistling wind whipped between them. The narrow passage shimmered and shook, clearly indicating their way forward.
    Victory surged through Tom. He withdrew his fingers from the map at the same instant Porter did.
    â€œThere,” Porter said, not bothering to mask his triumph. “We’ll enter the Cursed Souls Sea there, through that passage.”
    Willa leapt from her chair and traced a path on a nautical map mounted to the wall. “We’re almost there,” she announced breathlessly. “Look! We’re in the southern straits now. If we veer west—”
    â€œWait just a blasted minute,” Umbrey interrupted. “We’re not veering anywhere.”

    â€œWhat do you mean?” Willa asked. “You saw the map, it said to go that way.”
    â€œI don’t care what the map said. I’m captain of this vessel, and I’m saying we can’t. Not in this ship. Ask it to show you another way.”
    â€œBut—”
    â€œDo it.”
    Tom and Porter exchanged a look, then did as Umbrey instructed. The result was exactly the same. As the rest of the map went still, a pair of glistening coral pillars rose in the southwestern corner of the map.
    Umbrey sighed and drew a hand across the thick stubble covering his chin. “I was afraid of that.”
    â€œAfraid of what?” Tom asked.
    â€œThat channel there. The Coral Canyon. It’s a bottleneck.”
    Willa looked at Umbrey, her brows drawn together in confusion. “A bottleneck? What does that mean?”
    â€œIt means this.” Umbrey reached for the desk and grabbed a sheet of paper and a quill. He dipped the quill’s tip in ink, then slashed out a rough figure resembling an hourglass. “From the outside, the canyon looks broad enough. But here …” He pointed to the middle of the hourglass. “That’s where it’ll get you. The worst of the coral lurks underwater, sharp as a razor’s edge, right where the current’s the strongest and the wind does nothing but push you forward. It’s a trap, pure and simple. It’ll chew us up and spit us out.”
    Tom remembered the way Umbrey’s ship had bumped the gates of Divino as it had sailed past. The
Purgatory’s
hull was thick and wide. Sturdy. A vessel built to carry cargo over long ocean voyages, not dart through narrow channels. “So there’s no way through?”
    Umbrey shook his head. “I’ve heard too many stories of what happened to those who dared try it. There’s no way in. Not in this vessel.”
    â€œWait a minute,” Mudge interrupted. “Others have tried to find the Book of Pernicus?”
    â€œNo, not the book. Salamaine’s treasure. The gold he originally set out to find.”
    â€œSo that wasn’t just a