They stopped at the mouth of a cave. It was tiny and snug, the perfect size for the seven of them to sit in a circle while Yasha lit a cozy fire in their center.

Tadg passed around his father’s papers, starting with Shazi and Hasu on his right.

Shazi studied them and frowned. “I don’t see the Isle of Roane on the map.”

“That’s because Dad never found it,” Tadg said. “But he spent years searching for it.”

Hasu groaned. “But the Sea is the biggest of all the Wilderlands! Even if you rode a flying Beast, it would be almost impossible to spot a single island amid all this ocean.”

Sighing, Shazi handed the papers to Barclay and Viola. “This proves it, then. If Conley Murdock couldn’t find it, then the Isle of Roane really is just a myth.”

Even so, as Barclay inspected the hand-drawn maps, a mixture of thrill and frustration welled up in his stomach. His gaze darted across the nine islands of the Sea, as though expecting one of them to be labeled Roane. That swirl near the trench had to mean something.

“What if we tried this?” Viola spread the yellowed parchment across the ground and traced out a path with her fingertip. “These are all the islands Lochmordra has already attacked. Maybe if we map them out, we can find a connection between them. Here’s Glannock. Kelligree. Slakey. Coad—”

“That’s just a random zigzag,” Cecily said. “It doesn’t make any sense.”

Yasha wrung out his hands. “But if the papers don’t tell us anything, why would Orla keep them secret?”

Barclay, Viola, and Tadg met one another’s eyes. They knew firsthand why someone would hide information about Legendary Beasts.

“What if someone is trying to wake Lochmordra up on purpose?” Barclay asked. “What if someone is trying to bond with him?”

Hasu shuddered and scooted closer to Shazi. “B-but it’s almost impossible to bond with a Legendary Beast. Only a few people have ever. In all of history.”

“That doesn’t stop people from trying,” Barclay told her darkly.

“So you think Orla was hiding the maps for their protection,” Shazi said. “You think she doesn’t trust the other Lore Keepers.”

“But there isn’t anything useful on these maps in the first place,” said Yasha.

Barclay peered at Tadg, who was acting unusually quiet.

“These are your dad’s maps,” Barclay said to him. “There must be more that you can tell us about them.”

Tadg folded his arms across his chest. “Dad didn’t exactly share all his work with me. He was gone most of the time, and even when he was home, he was busy studying deepwater Beasts or writing his book.”