by Lisa McMann
The dragon, seeing the boat retreating, closed its mouth and stopped pursuing them. Alex slowed the boat to a stop so they could look at it from a safe distance. “We come in peace!” Sky yelled out.
The dragon’s ears twitched.
Sky glanced at Alex. “It heard me,” she said. “Did you see that?”
Alex nodded, not taking his eyes off the creature. “Do you think it understands us?”
“I don’t know,” Sky murmured. She called out, “We don’t want to hurt anyone. We are looking for someone. A human, like him.” She jutted her thumb at Alex. “Have you seen him?”
The dragon coiled up its extremely long tail. Its short, stocky legs, which ended in wide, webbed feet with three large, hooked claws, paddled the dragon through the water away from them.
“Wait!” Alex studied the creature, and wondered why the thing seemed vaguely familiar when he hadn’t ever seen a real dragon before. “Its all coiled up on the water,” he murmured. “A coiled water dragon. Where have we heard of it?”
Sky frowned and shook her head. “I have no idea.”
Alex thought harder. Had Ishibashi mentioned it? “Oh!” he exclaimed after a moment. “It was Talon from the Island of Legends.” He stood up on the captain’s seat and hung on to the windshield. “Please wait! We are friends of Talon and Lhasa and Karkinos the crab, many days’ journey to the west!” he shouted. “I am Alex, and this is Sky. Our whale is called Spike, and she means no harm!”
At this, the dragon stopped paddling. Alex could see Spike rounding the island, making a wide turn out to sea to keep from threatening the dragon.
When the dragon looked at Spike, the whale swam closer and spoke up. “We are the ones who saved Issie and the squid from the underwater pirate cage,” Spike said. “Our friend Simber the stone cheetah broke the glass.”
The three Artiméans peered anxiously at the dragon, which eyed them one at a time. Finally the dragon lifted its regal head, shaking out a scaly, shimmering mane, and a female voice boomed out over the water. “Approach without fear.”
Alex and Sky dared not look at each other.
Softly Sky said, “If she belongs to the Island of Legends, why is she way over here?”
“Talon said she rules the sea,” Alex whispered, “so maybe she just floats around. He told me her name, but I don’t remember it.”
“I am called Pan,” the dragon said. “I am the ruler of the sea.”
Alex flushed, wondering if she’d heard their whispers.
The dragon went on. “I am grateful to your people for rescuing our creatures.” Slowly she uncoiled, and uncoiled, and uncoiled. Alex, Sky, and Spike all watched in fascination as she spread out to her full, tremendous length, from her oversized head to her streamlined body, stout legs sticking out from the thickest part, all the way down to her spiked, ropelike tail, which began slowly snaking through the water, surrounding Spike and the boat and pulling them toward her fire-breathing, scale-shimmering head.
Alex swallowed hard. Was this a trick? Were they about to get eaten?
The dragon lifted her head to the sky and roared, flames shooting thirty feet into the air.
Sky hopped backward, sword handle gripped tightly in one hand. She stood side by side with Alex, who reached his arm around her. Both of them shook with fear, and neither one was certain they were going to live through this.
From the cabin, Charlie opened the door and peeked out, saw Alex’s and Sky’s faces, and closed it again.
Once Pan had drawn them close to her and the island, she pulled her tail in and coiled it up once more, then lifted the coil in the air and began to rotate it. With a roar, she swung her tail up high in the air, where it stretched to a ridiculous length, never stopping until it cleared the crown and hooked on to something up there. The dragon grabbed its tail with its clawed feet and climbed up the sheer rock several yards.
“Wow,” Alex said under his breath.
“I suppose that’s one way up,” Sky said.
The dragon, apparently settled while dangling twenty feet above the water, stretched its head down toward its rapt audience. “Tell me,” she said, “how I can help you.”
The Journey Continues
Alex explained their plight to the dragon. “We’re looking for my brother,” he said. “He looks just like me. His name is Aaron, and he is the former high priest of Quill. Have you seen him? Is he on your island?”
The dragon regarded Alex. “I have not seen him,” she said slowly.
Sky pressed her lips together nervously, then asked, “He’s not . . . up there, or anything, is he?”
“No human has ever been,” the dragon boomed.
“Oh, okay,” Alex said, and though his feet felt like they were cemented in place, he leaned back slightly as if the powerful voice were pushing him.
The dragon regarded Alex for a long moment before speaking once more. “I have seen no one resembling you.”
Alex gulped and nodded, knowing they should just leave, but not quite satisfied enough to do so. “If—if I may ask . . . ,” he began.
“You may,” boomed the dragon.
Alex lifted his chin bravely. “Is there any entrance to the island, or any sort of cave or nook nearby that a human might cling to?”
“There is not,” said the dragon, sounding slightly impatient.
Alex dropped his gaze. “Okay, thank you.” He glanced at Sky, who had carefully put the sword aside, and then he went on. “I . . . we . . . I guess we should go, then. We have to find him.” He looked at the boat’s controls, not daring to move. “Is it all right if we . . . go?”
“Yes,” said the dragon. She didn’t move.
Alex glanced up at her. “Thank you.” He hesitated. “By the way . . .”
“What is it?”
“Have you seen our friends lately? Talon and Karkinos and Issie? Is Karkinos . . . doing all right?”
“Karkinos is ill,” Pan said, her voice less booming now. “He’s growing steadily worse.”
Alex and Sky exchanged pained looks at the news. “I’m so terribly sorry to hear that,” Alex said.
“Me too,” said Sky.
“And me,” said Spike.
“If—if you see them,” Alex said, “will you give them our best? And . . .” He trailed off, knowing there was really nothing else to say. “Thank you,” he added feebly. “Thank you for your help today. It was nice meeting you. We’ll continue looking.”
Alex put his hand on the ship’s wheel and spun it slowly, turning the boat to the east to continue their journey. “If there’s ever anything we can do for you, please come to me,” Alex said over his shoulder. “We are from the island to the west.” He thought for a moment, and clarified. “The southernmost bit of the island, that is. Artimé. Someone else rules the rest of the island. Someone . . . evil.”
Pan nodded wisely, as if she already somehow knew this, but Alex didn’t question her.
As they rounded the island, the dragon called out in a terrible voice, “Wait!”
Alex swung the boat around, and they looked back at the dragon. “Yes, Pan?” called Sky. “Can we help you?”
“The stone cheetah who broke through the glass . . . Is it true that he flies?”
Alex turned fully around. “Yes, he flies very well,” he said.
Pan lifted her head. “And was it you who gave him wings?”
Alex shook his head. “No, it wasn’t. The mage who came before me created him that way.”
Pan seemed saddened. “I see. And that mage is dead now.” After a moment, the dragon bowed her head, as if indicating they were free to leave.
Alex was surprised she knew so much about Artimé when he knew so little about her, but perhaps Talon had told her everything. And, he supposed, as the ruler of the sea, it was probably her job to know what was going on. Alex studied the dragon, and curiosity got the best of him. “Pan,” he ventured, “are you in need of wings?”
Pan seemed to regret having asked
the question. Absently she pulled her body up the wall by her tail, and finally she said, “I do not ask for myself, but for others.”
Alex nodded. “I understand. If I ever figure out how to make something fly, shall I seek you out?”
“Karkinos is more important,” stated the dragon. “You must help him first.”
The request left a knot in Alex’s stomach. He didn’t have a clue how to fix Karkinos. They hadn’t even had a chance to start working on a solution. “I will,” he found himself promising, and he hoped he wouldn’t regret it.
“Because of your kindness,” Pan continued, “a word of caution as you journey eastward. Nothing good lies ahead of you. I advise you to turn back now.”
Alex looked down. “Thank you,” he said. “But I’m afraid we must continue.”
Pan nodded. “May safety ride with you, then.”
With that, the ruler of the sea dug her claws into the side of the island, dropped her tail deep into the water, and then curled it up, capturing three large fish quite expertly in its grasp. Then, tail hanging and fish struggling, she lunged her body upward and scrabbled to the top of the wall, swung her tail up and over the edge, and dropped the fish into the cylinder. Then she perched on the ledge between two points of the crown and watched as Spike swam and Alex guided the boat in the direction of the next island.
Sometime later, when Alex looked back over his shoulder at the seventh mysterious island, the dragon was gone. But there were several thin trails of smoke rising from the top of it.
The Orange-Eyed Children
Back in Artimé, Crow sat on the beach next to Carina, who had recovered nicely from her ice-spear wound by now. Sean sat on the other side of her. The three turned their backs on the dust squalls in Quill and tried to enjoy the weather as Thisbe, Fifer, and Carina’s son, Seth, methodically scooped sand into tiny buckets and poured it over their legs.
On the lawn behind them, Florence and Claire were working with the newest batch of spell casters, teaching them to master the basics—scatterclips, invisibility paintbrushes, fire steps, stinging soliloquies, clay shackles, and the like. As usual, there were some older Artiméans who joined the training sessions to improve their defense and attack skills. But this time the vast majority of the students were young immigrants with orange eyes and neck scars, who had been catapulted onto Artimé’s shore as human weapons from Warbler, one island to the west. The Artiméans had later learned that the parents of these children had deceived Queen Eagala by offering up their children as part of a secret plan to save them from the queen’s oppression and give them a better life.
By now the Warbler children had settled in. Though they missed their parents terribly, compassionate Unwanteds had stepped up as they always did to offer comfort. The students had been taking classes for months with Ms. Octavia, Mr. Appleblossom, Claire Morning, and the other instructors, and some had already discovered what they were especially interested in—art, music, design, construction, theater, storytelling, inventions, and many other things. Now, in Magical Warrior Training, some of them found that they were decent spell casters, too.
Crow, who didn’t care to do magic and didn’t like fighting at all, watched over his shoulder, trying to identify the best future mages of the bunch. He’d known some of the children before, from when he and Sky lived on Warbler. One of them, the pale, blond girl he’d translated for on the day of the attack, seemed to be quite a serious force. Her name was Scarlet. A boy a year or two older than Crow was also learning magic quite easily.
Carina turned to see what Crow was looking at. “Who’s that?” she asked him, watching too. “The boy next to Scarlet.”
“That’s Thatcher,” Crow said. “He’s almost as good as Scarlet. Not quite.”
Sean turned to look. “Ah yes, those two. I’ve been watching both of them lately. They’re good.” He turned back to check on the toddlers and make sure they weren’t straying too close to the water. “Claire said she’s got a good-size group of Warbler kids who are really starting to do well with their magic.”
Thisbe came up to Crow and patted his cheek with a sandy hand. Crow smiled at the girl, and she dumped her sand on his stomach. “Oh, thank you!” he said, as if he sincerely meant it.
“Ax?” said Thisbe, looking around.
Fifer paused what she was doing and looked up. “Ax?” she echoed.
“Alex went away in the boat,” Crow said. “Bye-bye. He’ll be back in a few days.”
Thisbe frowned. “Boat.”
“Uh-oh—I need more sand on my belly,” Crow said, patting it. Seth ran over and provided it, and then the girls did too.
Carina looked on. Crow was so tolerant and good with the little ones. It warmed her heart to watch him. She glanced at Sean and gave him a sparkling smile. He leaned over and kissed her.
Crow peeked at them, only a little embarrassed. When the kiss went on a bit too long for his liking, he turned to watch Magical Warrior Training once more. His friend Scarlet was stealthily aiming a component at Thatcher while the boy joked around with Claire and Florence. The boy’s dark brown skin was a few shades lighter than Florence’s ebony hue, and his hair was black and curly. A moment later his hair exploded, turning bright pink.
“Flaming color spell,” Crow remarked with a grin. Florence’s rumbling laughter could be heard across the lawn as Thatcher tried to figure out what had just happened to him and who was responsible. Scarlet pretended to be very focused on her components and never cracked a smile to give herself away. Crow admired her for a moment before turning his attention back to the children. He glanced sidelong at Carina and was relieved to see that she and Sean had stopped kissing.
“Do you think their parents will ever escape from Warbler?” Sean said. “It would be awful if they never got reunited.”
“If they don’t escape,” Carina said, “I suppose we’ll have to rescue them.”
“Add them to the list,” said Crow.
Sean laughed softly. “The never-ending rescue list.”
“If the kids keep working hard on their spells,” Crow said, “maybe they’ll be able to help.” He pressed his lips together. Maybe he ought to be over there too, learning magic so he could help rescue the Warbler parents. The thought made his stomach cramp.
“I hope so,” said Carina. She stretched out her shoulder gingerly. “Because I’m about ready to retire.”
Crow flashed her a worried look. “If I didn’t have the twins to look after, I would probably be better at magic,” Crow said, feeling guilty.
Carina looked sharply at him. “Crow, do you want to learn magic and fight?”
Crow looked down. “I mean, I feel like I should. . . .”
“Stop,” Carina said, holding up her hand. “No. There’s no guilt here. There are plenty of people in Artimé who choose not to fight. Every person decides for himself—that’s the way it has always been. But you have a much more important job. Do you realize that? The head mage of Artimé has entrusted you with the care of his sisters. That’s a pretty big responsibility. Do you enjoy your job?”
Crow nodded at the sand as Fifer clocked him in the head with her empty bucket. “I love it,” he said. “It’s the best job in the world.”
Carina put her hand on Crow’s knee. “And I love to fight. I was only making a joke before. Magic and fighting for Artimé make me feel alive inside. And working with children makes you feel alive, right?”
Crow nodded again. He lifted his head to look at her.
“We do what we love here,” Carina said. “Right? Okay?”
“Okay,” Crow said, relieved. With a big sigh, he flopped back in the sand, a tremendous weight lifted from him. And then Thisbe plopped down on his stomach, and Fifer poured a pail full of sand over his face.
Regrets
With the boat operating on Alex’s command and heading for the next island—the one with the gorilla—Alex and Sky delved into the stacks of books they’d brought. Sky’s were mostly books about scienc
e, nature, and animals, which she’d gotten from Lani, hoping to find something that would help them in case they came face-to-face with the gorilla.
Alex’s books were all from Mr. Today’s library in the Museum of Large, and topics consisted of magic, ethics, and weather, and volumes upon volumes of the old mage’s journals, which spanned over fifty years of his life.
Sky initially set out to find everything she could about gorillas, but now, in the back of her mind, she was also looking for information on crustaceans, in case there was anything useful about fixing the ailing health of the giant crab.
They studied in pleasant silence, trying to cram as much information into their brains in the time they had. Every now and then one of them broke the silence with a few interesting lines from what they were reading.
“Gorillas like fruit,” Sky said, eyes glued to her page. “They’re also supposed to be gentle.” She snorted and looked up. “I’m not sure if this book is going to help us at all.”
“Doesn’t sound like it. The saber-toothed gorilla I saw was not gentle. And the only fruit it ate was probably whatever that pig had in its stomach.”
“Ew,” muttered Sky. “Thanks for that visual.”
“You’re welcome.” Alex reached over to her seat with his foot and poked her.
She grabbed his toes and bent them backward.
“Ow!” he yelled, half laughing, and quickly pulled his foot back to his own side of the boat.
Sky grinned slyly and kept her eyes on her book.
They retreated back into silence.
While eating lunch later, Alex looked up from his book. “I just read a journal entry from Mr. Today where he mentions Ishibashi. He was talking about the tube.”
“Does he say how to fix it in case it ever breaks?” Sky asked sarcastically.
“No, of course not.” Alex was tempted to jab her with his foot again, but he valued his toes. “He also doesn’t say here how he met the scientists. I wonder if he wrecked on their island too?”
Sky nodded. “I’ve wondered that as well. I wish we’d thought to ask Ishibashi when we were there.”