Island of Legends (The Unwanteds) (2 page)

Eventually his eyes adjusted enough that he could just barely make out a few shapes. Large tree shapes loomed overhead, and the outline of an enormous rock appeared to step out of the shadows. Near the rock he could see a faint patch of light from the moon shining through the trees.

After another moment of calm, Aaron felt a bit of courage returning. It was enough for them to venture one step toward the light, and then another. A stick cracked under his foot and he froze, but nothing came of it. He glanced over his shoulder, making sure he could still see the tube, and then continued toward the light.

When he stood in the middle of the glow, he looked up through the clearing. Jungle vines hung all around from the most monstrous trees he’d ever seen. The rock nearby was much larger than he’d thought. It jutted upward into the darkness, and Aaron couldn’t tell how high or deep it went.

Aaron peered at the rock. Perhaps he could slam his shackles
against it to break free. He edged closer, eyeing the shadowy crevasses, one of which looked like it could be the entrance to a cave. Tentatively he tapped the clay shackles on the rock.

Immediately two craggy yellow eyes opened and stared back at him. The cave opening changed shape, as if it were the giant rock’s mouth, but it didn’t speak. Aaron backed away in fright. And then, from behind him, a high-pitched noise like a woman’s scream pierced his ears.

Aaron whirled around and screamed too. The screech grew louder, turning the boy’s knees to liquid. He could make out a large animal shape creeping toward him. Aaron tried to run but stumbled over his feet, unable to get his legs to move properly, and then pitched forward as his foot tangled with a vine on the jungle floor. He braced his fall with his forearms and rolled onto his back, desperate to see if either the yellow-eyed rock or the screaming monster was following him.

One of them was. The screaming creature crouched nearby, its hindquarters shifting as if it were about to pounce.

Aaron rolled again, onto his front side, and scrambled up to his feet, inching sideways toward the tube and holding his only weapon—his shackled wrists—in front of him. He scooted
faster now in the direction of the tube, praying not to trip, as the monster leaped and landed on the ground in the patch of light where Aaron had been.

The creature gleamed black all over, shining brighter along the curve of its back. Its face resembled that of the frightening winged statue who guarded Aaron’s twin brother, Alex, and the mansion in Artimé, and its body was nearly as large. But this creature had no wings. It crept toward Aaron and screamed once more, displaying four gleaming, dripping fangs.

Aaron froze, nearly fainting with fear, paralyzed by the hideous screaming as if he were under a spell. The creature pounced, knocking Aaron to the ground and holding him there with a giant paw on his chest.

It was so startling, so uncommon, that instead of frightening Aaron, it infuriated him. He was the high priest of Quill, after all. He demanded respect. Aaron forgot his fear and sprang into action, slamming his shackles hard into the nose of the creature and crying out with all his might, “Get off, beast! Release me!”

To Aaron’s astonishment, the creature stepped back. After the slightest hesitation, Aaron rolled out of reach and crawled
to the tube, his hands flailing wildly for buttons—any buttons he could find. Anything to get him out of here.

As his right hand connected and the dark jungle disappeared, Aaron realized his shackles had fallen away. His hands were free.

A
t the sight of a hundred lights pricking the horizon in the direction of Warbler Island, Alex Stowe, head mage of Artimé, bounded into the mansion with robes flying, and leaped up the stairs three in a stride. He didn’t have time to look for his awful brother, Aaron. He didn’t have time to comfort his newest friends, Sky and her younger brother, Crow, who felt sure that the people of Warbler were coming to attack Artimé because of them and their escape. Alex only had time to act.

Behind him came Simber, and behind Simber came Ms.
Octavia, the octogator, nearly appearing to float through the air on her many tentacles.

Alex dashed through the no-longer-a-secret hallway, past the two mysterious doors he had not yet been able to unlock, and then past the doors to his new living quarters and the Museum of Large. He turned left into his new office at the end of the hall, by the picture window that overlooked Artimé.

Charlie the gargoyle was there already—he spent a good deal of time in this wing of the mansion, still not quite having gotten over the loss of his creator, Mr. Today, whose recent death had shaken Artimé.

“Can you ask Matilda to contact us if she sees Aaron showing up at the palace tonight?” Alex asked Charlie. “Also, find out if his wrists are still shackled.”

Charlie responded with a hand signal Alex had determined to mean “yes,” though Sky, who knew the sign language, had said something once about how that hand signal had a more complex meaning, like “yes” with an air of reverence, as if the gargoyle were acknowledging Alex as a king. It made Alex feel a little embarrassed to be referred to in such a manner, but Sky had said it would be insulting to Charlie if Alex asked
him to stop, so the new mage reluctantly accepted it.

“Thanks,” Alex said. He drummed his fingers nervously on the desk and sorted through a stack of papers, not really seeing them, just keeping his fingers busy as if to mimic the speed of the wheels turning in his head.

Simber and Octavia entered the office and took their places. Claire Morning and Gunnar Haluki, both recovered from their brushes with death, were not far behind. Tailing them was Florence, who had stayed back to be sure everyone made it safely inside the mansion to await their instructions.

Alex stood abruptly and paced the floor, distracted by a whirlwind of thoughts and not knowing quite how or where to start preparing for an attack at home. Crow had cried out that it was the birds of Warbler coming to get them, but Alex thought it was more likely that the dots of light were from Queen Eagala’s fleet of ships she’d been building for years. Sky had said there were many in various states of construction. He wondered if Warbler really could be heading to Artimé to attack.

“But of course they must be,” muttered Alex. “Don’t be ridiculous.” He looked up when the floor shook slightly. Florence had taken her seat.

The strange party of humans, statues, and creatures glanced uneasily about, quite possibly because of Alex’s strange mumblings. Not a single one in the room had been around to see Alex’s forced evolution from boy to mage back when Artimé had turned to dust, the creatures rendered lifeless and the humans nearly so from lack of food and water. And while Alex, after a number of stumbles and amid countless moments of despair, had proven to be quite worthy of taking the place of their beloved leader, Mr. Today, the team had not been there to witness the worst of the situation.

Alex looked around the room, thankful for perhaps the eighty-seven millionth time that the eyes that sought his belonged to this particular group of advisors. He opened his lips to greet them, but hesitated, both in speaking and in pacing. Instead he took a moment to really consider who sat with him at this pivotal juncture: Simber, the pristine stone winged cheetah who had almost without effort grown to be Alex’s confidant and first mate. Florence, the enormous ebony statue who commanded Artimé’s magical warriors. Ms. Octavia, the art instructor, one of Mr. Today’s most gifted, trusted, and outspoken creations. Gunnar Haluki, the former high priest
of Quill and the father of Alex’s dear and valuable friends Lani and Henry. And Claire Morning, Mr. Today’s daughter, a musical genius and a nurturer rather than leader, by her own proclamation. It was an incredible group—Mr. Today’s own hand-picked team—and they were among the best of Artimé. Yet for Alex, something wasn’t quite right. Because during their absence with Artimé had disappeared, Alex had quite desperately come to trust a few others.

Alex tapped his lips. “How much time do we have before they get here, Sim?”

“Severrral hourrrs. Likely morrre,” replied the beast.

Alex nodded. “I’ll be right back,” he said. He strode to the rear wall of the office, uttered a spell, and went through the secret magical door that led into his private quarters.

“Clive,” he called.

Alex’s blackboard took on a slight glow in the dark room. A face pressed out of it. “Yes m’lord?”

“Knock it off,” Alex muttered. “I need you to summon Samheed Burkesh, Carina Holiday, and Sean Ranger. Have them come to my office at once.”

“Certainly, Your Grace.”

“You’re going to be sorry about mocking me very soon,” Alex warned. He didn’t have patience for Clive’s sarcastic jokes today. His eyes landed on the cabinet that held his spell components. Alex took a few seconds to top off his robe’s pockets as well as the pockets of his component vest underneath, and then he returned to the office. Clive called out an old but welcome reminder not to die as Alex closed the door.

Simber stood gazing out toward the sea from the office windows. Alex muttered a spell to unlatch one of them. He opened it so Simber could sample the air to get a better sense of what was approaching. The others talked quietly, already planning.

A moment later, Alex’s three breathless friends arrived and stood uncertainly in the doorway.

“Come in. Are Sky and Crow all right?” Alex asked.

“Lani and Meg are calming them down.” Unconsciously Samheed touched the scars on his neck. “They’re upset about what the leaders tell you at Warbler,” he said. He sat down and jiggled his foot. “That Queen Eagala would come after anyone who escaped, identify them by their orange eyes, and kill them. Lani and I nearly busted up laughing the first time we heard that back in Warbler, but Crow and Sky are really afraid. And
upset because of what they’ve brought on us by escaping and landing here. Sky is a mess over it.”

“I was afraid of that.” Alex sighed, but then he perked up and pointed at the empty chairs in the room. “Sit down, guys,” he urged.

Samheed looked like he was full of questions, but apparently he knew enough not to ask them now.

Alex glanced at Simber, as if he wanted the giant stone cheetah’s approval of the decision to invite these friends to the meeting. Simber dipped his head slightly, barely a nod, but the meaning was clear to Alex that Simber thought well of the plan.

Alex expelled a breath, trying to push his nervousness out with it, and leaned back against the desk, half sitting on the corner of it. “Hi, everyone. Thank you for coming so quickly,” he said. He looked at the three new, earnest faces in the room and felt immediately assured he’d made the right choice. “Now then,” he continued, clasping his hands in his lap, “let’s figure this all out, shall we?”

It was the voice of a leader. A leader who, for perhaps the first time, felt and sounded quite sure of himself.

S
amheed, in a minor fit of anxiety over being included as an advisor, took painstaking notes at the meeting in an effort to prove his usefulness to the intimidating group. By the end of twenty minutes, his record of the conversation looked something like this:

—Florence to organize and prepare squads as usual. Also will assign squad placement along shore and give all info to Alex for distribution via blackboard.

—As fleet approaches, Haluki to sail out via Claire’s boat to leader vessel and try for peaceful resolution.

—Carina reminds us most Warblerans canĐt swim. How will they approach without running their ships aground? Advantage for Artimé?

—Alex suggests stationing all orange-eyed residents—me, Lani, Sky, Crow—in water for safety since Warblerans can’t swim. Dumb idea, Stowe! They can still throw or shoot weapons at us. I suggest library third floor instead and adding Meg too because of thornament scars, as Lani and I believe Queen Eagala will seek revenge for her escape.

—Alex to expand hospital wing. Ms. Morning to take charge as chief healer, with Henry Haluki and other nurses as her assistants.