Chantler, Scott

"The Island of Astaroth--"The Dark Island"--is a legend among sailors. It's rumored a demon lives there, and that it holds more riches than anyone could fathom. But no one has ever laid eyes on it. Certain that her long-lost brother is being held on the Dark Island against his will, Dessa hires a ragtag group of smugglers to take her there aboard their ship. But it's a journey fraught with danger and treachery, and the outcome seems less and less certain with each passing moment..."--Back cover.

On the thieves' trail, Captain Drake remembers his early days in service of the king--the key to capturing Dessa and her friends may lie in the intrigues of the past.

While waiting for Dessa, Topper, and Fisk to emerge from a healing community where he is sure they have taken shelter, Captain Drake remembers his early days as a member of the King's Dragons and the web of intrigue that his younger, more idealistic, self was drawn into, and wonders if the key to catching the three thieves could lie in his own dark past.

Fourteen-year-old acrobat, Dessa Redd and the circus strongman, Fisk, are recruited by Topper, the circus juggler, for the job of robbing the royal treasury of Kingsbridge, which sets off a series of adventures around the world in order to find Dessa's twin brother, who was kidnapped when they were young.

Fourteen-year-old acrobat, Dessa Redd and the circus strongman, Fisk, are recruited by Topper, the circus juggler, for the job of robbing the royal treasury of Kingsbridge, which sets off a series of adventures around the world in order to find Dessa's twin brother, who was kidnapped when they were young.

Dessa, Topper and Fisk, still searching for Dessa's missing twin brother, find themselves in a mess after Dessa accidently rescues a prince.

Seeking shelter from a storm, the three fugitives stop at a roadside inn where a greedy innkeeper plots to turn them in to the queen for a reward, and things get worse when the queen's Dragons arrive.

Dessa, Topper and Fisk, still searching for Dessa's missing twin brother, find themselves in a mess after Dessa accidently rescues a prince.

Seeking shelter from a storm, the three fugitives stop at a roadside inn where a greedy innkeeper plots to turn them in to the queen for a reward, and things get worse when the queen's Dragons arrive.