Island of Legends (The Unwanteds) (16 page)

“Look out!” Sean cried as the eel wrapped its tail around Carina.

Carina began firing off every spell she knew, even using heart attack spells at the creature, but nothing seemed strong
enough for such a beast. The eel lifted her into the air and flung her overboard, into the sea.

Florence let out a war cry like nothing any of them had ever heard before. She rolled to the other side of the deck, sending every human and creature on the ship tumbling again as she reached for the eel’s tail.

Simber, back in the air above the ship, went after Carina as the slithering beast grabbed the fox next, flinging him far across the water in the opposite direction.

“Mewmewmew!” screamed Kitten from somewhere on the ship.

“Hang on, everybody!” Florence yelled. And then to Simber, “I’ve got this, Sim! You take care of everybody else!” She lunged once more, sending Henry and Samheed flying overboard into the water. Simber zoomed overhead, depositing Carina onto the deck once the ship righted itself again and going after Fox. Florence closed a two-handed grip around the tip of the giant eel’s tail.

The eel jerked wildly, trying to escape from Florence’s grip. It hissed as Florence dug her iron fingers into the creature and began to pull the eel by the tail. It writhed and twisted all
the way around the hull of the ship, and it clamped its mouth onto the ship’s railing to stop Florence from pulling it any farther. Captain Ahab, carrying his wooden leg, which had been knocked loose in all the commotion, began to slam the eel over the head with it. From the ropes, Ms. Octavia unleashed an arsenal of magical spells on the creature that half the humans had never heard of before.

The eel let out a scream as Florence yanked it, and then its mouth let go of the railing and its head jerked down below the water. Florence scrambled to her feet, balancing precipitously with one foot on each side of the ship, and began coiling the eel. Simber soared in and dropped Fox onto the ship. “Arrre you surrre you’ve got this?” Simber roared at Florence.

“Would I lie to you?” Florence shouted back.

“Simber!” Alex yelled. “Over there!” He pointed out Henry and Samheed.

Simber glanced at the boys bobbing in the water, looked back at Florence, and hesitated in the air. Then he followed Alex’s instructions and flew over the sea to rescue the boys.

Just then the eel’s body twisted in Florence’s hands. Its tail sprang loose from her grip and lashed out, slapping her
across one cheek and then the other. Electric sparks shot up and arced like fireworks raining down on the ship. Florence lunged and staggered as the head of the eel rose up and struck at the giant statue. The ship rocked. The eel twisted itself around Florence in jerks and spasms. Florence stumbled, her arms pinned to her chest and her stride shortened by the eel’s grasp. She lost her balance, fell backward, and sat down hard, crashing through the deck, her backside coming to rest on the deck ten feet below.

The eel screamed and lurched wildly to the port side. With a mighty twist, it lifted Florence’s body up and out of the hole as if she weighed nothing at all. The eel wound around the ebony warrior like a bandage, and then, as a unit, they rolled to one side. Florence, arms tied to her chest by the eel, managed to loosen a hand from the creature’s grasp. She flailed blindly, grabbed the railing, and shouted a muffled, “Everybody hang on!”

Simber reached the boys in the water and turned to see what had happened. “Are you okay for a bit?” he asked them.

They nodded.

“I’ll be rrright back,” he growled, and barreled back toward the ship.

Before he could reach it, the ship groaned and tilted precipitously, throwing everyone off their feet once more. With one last lunge against the railing, the eel flipped Florence and drove her over the side, but she wouldn’t let go of her grip on it. The eel smashed its head against Florence’s hand, forcing her to loosen her grip. Florence hung on for a breathless second, her mummy-wrapped body dangling over the water. “Simber,” she called, sounding oddly calm, “as it turns out, I may need a little help after all.” Her hand slipped the slightest bit, giving the entire ship a tiny jolt.

Simber roared. He reached his front legs toward her, dodging the waving tail of the eel. Stone clinked against stone as Simber’s paws encircled Florence’s forearm. When her fingers let go of the railing, Simber beat his wings with all his might, pulling up toward the sky.

But Florence, wrapped in a giant eel, was too heavy. And Simber was too late to do anything else. With a sickening scrape, Florence’s arm slid through Simber’s grasp. And with an enormous smack, Florence and the eel hit the water and disappeared.

Like a catapult, the ship snapped back, throwing everybody
on board into the sea in the opposite direction. One by one, the shouts and cries of the airborne stopped abruptly as the Artiméans hit the water.

Only Simber’s roar never ceased.

When the ship had righted itself, it was clear there was nothing anyone could do about Florence except hope for her to gain the upper hand against the eel and fight her way back up.

Simber turned sharply and shouted for Alex.

“I’m here—I’m fine,” Alex called out, a short distance from the ship. “Does anybody have Kitten?”

“She’s in my pocket!” Henry yelled from the other side of the ship. He reached down and pulled her out, lifting her above the water’s surface. “Is everybody okay?”

“Fine,” groaned Carina, who had been flung into the sea twice now. “All the humans are accounted for. Creatures? Statues?”

“Yes, we’re all here,” Ms. Octavia said. “I’m going after Florence.” She dove below the surface and disappeared.

“Blast it!” cried Captain Ahab, who had entangled himself in a rope for safety and was the only one to remain on board. “My leg—I’ve lost it again.” His shout ended with a hiccup
and a sob. “Oh, you shimmering beast. You wear a facade, but I know ’tis you, you simmering barrel of blubber!”

“But what can Ms. Octavia do about Florence?” Sky called out. “Even her magic wasn’t working against the eel.” She paused, then added, “Can Florence swim? How will she get back?”

Simber, silent now, lowered himself to hover just above the water. Alex grabbed a wing on its way down and vaulted onto Simber’s back. Crow followed, and Simber flew to assist the others. He began rumbling under his breath.

“Florence!” Alex called, the others joining in. “Florence?” He scanned the water, silently begging Florence to surface. Soon everybody was back on board the ship and craning their necks over the sides, looking for any sign of their Magical Warrior instructor.

“Simber,” Alex said quietly, fear creeping up to his throat, “do you know if Florence knows how to swim?”

“What?” Simber looked at him, alarmed. “You told me everrrybody on boarrrd but Kitten and Ahab could swim.”

Everybody turned to look at Alex.

“I—I guess I forgot about Florence,” Alex said in a small
voice. “I wasn’t going to bring her on this journey initially, so when I was reviewing the list, I must have just . . . gotten distracted. And forgotten to ask her like I asked everybody else.” He looked down. “And in all my planning, I never pictured something like
this
happening. I mean, did you? Besides,” he said, feeling increasingly defensive, “Florence is . . . she’s . . . she’s supposed to be invincible.”

“Invincible!” Simber looked sharply at Alex. “You mean just like Mrrr. Today?” he asked. His voice grew even louder. “Just like me? What’s wrrrong with you, Alex? Think, boy!” He plucked Ahab’s wooden leg from the water, dropped it to the deck with a clatter, and soared high overhead, circling the ship, peering down at the water as the first sliver of the sun came up and the last belches of fire lit up the sky.

The others shuffled their feet, throwing uneasy glances Alex’s way. No one liked to be yelled at by Simber. But Simber yelling at Alex, the head mage? It was mortifying.

There was nothing worse than Simber’s disappointment, except perhaps his silence. Alex stood at the railing near the gaping hole in the deck created by Florence’s backside, his pride and confidence stinging from the public verbal slap from
his closest confidant. He wished he could disappear. Simber had never spoken to Mr. Today like that. Not in front of anyone, at least. It made Alex feel like a child.

He didn’t see Lani looking on with sympathy, or Sean and Carina in a heated conversation with Samheed in the corner, or the captain crawling over to retrieve his wooden leg.

What could Alex do? If she couldn’t swim, Florence was most certainly at the bottom of the sea by now. Ms. Octavia couldn’t bring her back to the surface any better than Alex could. He was tempted to jump in heroically in an attempt to rescue Florence, but that was something the younger Alex might have done, and it would only cause more trouble in the end.

The only question Alex couldn’t face was the one that plagued his thoughts now. Sure, Simber had survived weeks stuck at the bottom of the sea, but that was when he was essentially put to sleep—the magic had been pulled out of him. His world didn’t exist. But what happened if a creature or statue was alive when it happened? Did statues breathe? And if so . . . could they drown?

M
any intense minutes passed as the reality of the situation hit them—Florence, whom no one ever thought to worry about, was gone, and she didn’t seem to be coming back. Sunk to the bottom of the sea, possibly drowned by a giant sparking eel.

Finally Ms. Octavia burst through the surface and sucked in a long breath, and another.

“Did you find her?” Alex shouted. “Is she okay?”

Ms. Octavia held up a tentacle until she could speak. “She’s gone,” the octogator said finally.

“Gone?” Lani gasped. “Like . . . dead?”

“No—sorry. I mean she’s not nearby. The eel dragged her away. I caught a glimpse of them heading in that direction at top speed.” Ms. Octavia pointed to the west, beyond the fiery island. “I followed for a bit, but the eel was going much faster than I could ever go, and soon they were out of sight.” She paused to cover her face for a moment.

Alex thought he heard a sob. But then Ms. Octavia dipped her face down into the water again and wiped it off with a big sigh. She reached for a rope and scrabbled up the side of the ship. When Simber swooped down to help, Ms. Octavia waved him away, as if she couldn’t bear the sight of him. Once on board, she began to construct a new leg for the captain like she always did, not realizing Simber had found the old one this time.

Alex looked at Sky, needing desperately to talk about this latest disaster. This was too big for him to handle alone. She held his gaze, and they walked carefully around the hole in the deck to meet at a quiet spot, all awkwardness between them immediately pushed aside.

“Look, Alex, it’s not your fault,” Sky said. “Florence isn’t a child. She’s a grown woman. Um, statue. Whatever. She knew
the risks of being on a ship. Plus, she
told
Simber she could handle it.”

“And besides that,” Alex said, “nobody could have predicted that there was anything powerful enough to wrestle Florence off a ship and into the sea.” He was still stunned that such a sea creature existed, let alone one so unaffected by their magic.

“Exactly.”

“But,” Alex went on, “I still feel responsible. I’m in charge. And like Simber said . . . I should’ve known if she could swim or not. Because maybe Simber would have been able to do something different, or sooner, if he’d known.”

“It’s not like Simber was just sitting around—he was doing some pretty important things too,” Sky reminded him.

But Alex pounded his forehead in frustration. “Another stupid mistake,” he said, thinking about Spike. “What are we going to do without Florence?”

Sky rested a cool hand on the back of his neck. “You’re being too hard on yourself,” she said.

He pulled away. “You don’t know the half of it.”

Sky’s hand jerked back like she’d been stung. “Wow. Sorry.”

Alex sighed. “No, no, I’m sorry. You were being awesome.
As usual,” he said, feeling totally miserable. “I’m just mad . . . at myself.” He looked past her, over the water. “I don’t know what’s wrong with me these days.”

Sky pressed her lips together and stood there awkwardly, not knowing what to say. She didn’t want to make things worse, so she said nothing at all.

Simber kept his distance, aloof, mourning in his own way.

Samheed approached Alex and Sky, his hair wild and standing every which way from the dousing. “It’s my fault, Al,” he said. “I told you to add Florence to the list at the last minute. I didn’t think—”

“Thanks, Sam—I really appreciate it. But it’s not your job to think,” Alex said, knowing he sounded like a jerk but unable to stop himself. He raised his voice, wanting to be sure Simber picked up on it. “It’s my job to think of everything. Didn’t you hear? Didn’t
everyone
hear?”

Samheed opened his mouth to shoot off a retort, but Sky caught his eye and her look stopped him. She took Samheed by the arm and led him a few steps away, whispering, “He’s upset about Simber, not you. And Florence, of course. Any chance you can let this one slide?”