Island of Legends (The Unwanteds) (31 page)

Sean pointed frantically at Lhasa and then upward, trying to tell Carina and Alex to go to her and attempt to push the eel’s tail above the water. They nodded and swam over while
Sean grabbed a blinding highlighter and went straight for the eel’s head.

The eel struck. Sean dodged, then grabbed on to the creature, sliding around to the back of the eel’s head. He reached around with the highlighter and stabbed it in the eel’s eye socket.

The eel writhed and screamed. Sean hung on for dear life. The crab snapped its pincers at the eel, but it was still out of reach. Alex and Carina watched in horror as Sean stabbed at the creature again.

This time the eel dodged the blow. It rose up and out of the water at a dizzying pace, Sean still clinging to its head, and flung its front half onto the island. It began twisting and rolling, hitting everything in its path, destroying plants, trees, and the campfire, and bowling over Simber and Florence.

Talon grabbed the middle of the eel, draped it over one shoulder, and heaved with all his might, trying to pull it onto the island, no doubt hoping to find Lhasa at the end of it. As the eel squirmed, Talon pulled, using his wings to help gain momentum. Florence got to her feet and ran to join him. But
as soon as the eel lifted Lhasa out of the water, it let go of her, leaving her floating motionless just above the surface several yards off shore. Simber charged and sprang into the air, flying out over the water to rescue Lhasa. He grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and flew up, out of reach of the eel, then over the trees toward the center of the island.

The eel whipped its now empty tail around Talon, pulled him off his feet, and slithered over plants and trees, screeching and rolling, and slamming Talon into the ground.

Sean couldn’t hang on any longer. After a violent shake of the eel’s head, he let go and went flying through the air, landing with a sickening thud.

Simber returned from dropping off Lhasa, shouting, “Spike! Find Alex!” He lunged at the eel, sinking his claws into the slippery skin, while Florence grabbed on to its head, trying to hold the creature still. But the eel slipped out of her grasp and knocked her over.

Dangling in the air, wrapped in the eel’s tail, Talon managed to pull his sword from his belt. With all his strength he struck the eel, slicing clean through it. The eel screeched as
its tail fell to the ground with Talon still wrapped inside.

The eel began to flail even more, rolling and twisting its way toward the center of the island, bucking Simber off and swatting Florence aside.

Talon, stunned from the fall, fumbled free of the still squirming tail and bounded after the creature. The tail wiggled its way to the water’s edge and fell into the sea.

In the water, Spike rushed to the shore, towing Carina and Alex, breathless and trying to figure out what was happening.

“Holy smokes!” Carina yelled. “The eel is on the island. It’s destroying everything!”

They pulled themselves ashore and ran toward the horrendous noise.

When they reached the destruction, all they could do was watch in horror. The eel had twisted around, and with a violent slap, it sent Simber soaring into the air once more. Simber came roaring back, his jaw not quite wide enough to grip the thicker parts of the beast, and his claws doing little to stop the eel from terrorizing everyone in its path.

The slimy creature batted Simber away and lunged at
Talon, grabbing the bronze man in its mouth as it snaked its severed end around Florence, rolling her up in it. She managed to free her hands just as Talon began to push up on the eel’s jaw, trying to pull his body free.

The eel screeched. Suddenly a bright, blinding light sparked all around. Talon cried out in pain, his entire body lighting up like a fireball. Smoke poured from around his body. Florence shuddered with the jolt of electricity, unable to move. When it was over, she reached behind her and pulled an arrow from her quiver and the mighty bow from her shoulder.

“Talon!” Florence yelled.

As the eel shook her all around, Florence painstakingly nocked the arrow and waited until the eel had curled her around to face its head once more. When it did, she drew back the arrow and aimed. “Talon, don’t move!”

She released the shot with a powerful
thwack
that resonated across the island. Florence’s arrow soared straight and true, missing Talon’s neck by inches and burying itself deep between the eel’s eyes.

The eel’s scream died in its throat.

With a loud crash, its head flopped to the ground, throwing Talon hard into the brush. The severed end followed, slamming Florence into a copse of trees.

On the second impact, there was a thunderous snap of tree trunks, followed by an eerie silence. The eel quivered and was still. And then a hundred dropbears descended onto the creature and covered it.

A
lex, Carina, and Simber rushed to where Florence lay on top of several felled trees. One arm and her bow rested a short distance away. Alex and Carina scrambled onto the tree trunks and ran along them to Florence’s side.

“Florence, you did it!” Alex shouted. “You got the eel!”

“Are you okay?” Carina asked.

Simber pushed gently on the trees from the other end and peered at Florence’s face. “Florrrence?” He wore a look of concern.

Florence stared up at the sky. She turned her head gingerly
from side to side and checked the joints and fingers of her still attached arm. Then she sat up and looked down at her other shoulder. “Well, that’s a bit inconvenient. Not as bad as when my legs got lopped off at the knees, though. I’ll manage.”

“Can I give you a
hand
out of that trrree?” Simber asked.

“Har har, Cat,” Florence said. She eased up to a sitting position, checking her quiver first to make sure she hadn’t lost any arrows, and then her back, her legs, and her feet. “I think I’m all in two pieces.”

She grasped Simber’s neck and he helped pull her to her feet. “I got ’im good, eh, Alex?” she said with a grin.

“Right between the eyes,” Alex said. “I’ve never seen you use your bow before.”

“I only have one quiver of magical arrows. Once they’re spent, they lose their magic. So I only use them if I really, really need them.” She looked around, worried. “Is everyone else okay?”

She heard a step behind her and whirled around to see Talon coming toward them. “You used a precious arrow for my sake,” the bronze giant said, his voice full of wonder, but it turned to despair when he saw her missing limb. “And you’ve
lost an arm—” He clapped his hand to his head in horror.

“Don’t worry,” Florence assured him, “it doesn’t hurt, and Octavia can fix it.” She looked at Simber. “Besides, we have bigger things to worry about. Where’s Lhasa?”

“I left herrr with Lani and Sky in the centerrr of the island.”

“Was she . . . alive?” Talon asked fearfully. “Oh, how foolish . . .” He began to run toward the center of the island, not waiting for an answer.

Florence looked at Simber.

“Go,” Simber said. “We’ll get yourrr arrrm and meet you therrre.”

Alex and Carina picked up Florence’s arm and bow and hoisted them onto Simber’s back, balancing the items between them. Simber trotted a few steps and leaped into the air, weaving through trees, avoiding dropbears and other creatures they hadn’t heard about yet, until they came to the gathering under the golden rooster’s tree. The rooster peppered the silence with his occasional whimsical advice.

Simber hovered above the circle of humans and creatures, and then found a clearing nearby where he could land. Henry, his head still bandaged, and Octavia, not quite back to her
plump self but making a steady recovery, worked over the snow lion.

Talon slipped through the crowd to Lhasa’s side and knelt down. “How is she?”

Henry shook his head. “Not good.” He pried open the snow lion’s mouth and shook the contents of a small vial into it, but almost nothing came out. “Is it safe to go back to the ship?” he asked, looking up. “I have more medicine there.”

“I’ll go,” Alex said. “Where is it?”

“In my healer’s kit near the ship’s wheel. Hurry.”

“A wise man sacrifices speed for accuracy,” squawked the rooster.

Alex hopped onto Simber’s back, and the cheetah galloped toward Karkinos’s head, to the lagoon where the ship sat completely unharmed by the eel. Simber jumped from the edge of the shore and sailed straight to the ship, flapping his wings backward to stop the momentum and letting Alex slide off.

“Everything okay?” Alex hollered at Captain Ahab.

“A sourer day this life has never seen!” the captain roared back. “Complete misery.”

“Good to know,” Alex muttered. He found Henry’s kit and
raced back to Simber, grabbing the cat’s wing and letting him flip him onto his back. They flew to the shore, where Simber took to the ground once more, speeding across the land, going so fast the dropbears missed them and landed on the path instead.

Simber skidded to a halt as Alex tossed the kit to Henry. Henry ripped it open and administered the liquid between Lhasa’s lips. Carina came up to Alex and whispered, “She’s not breathing. It doesn’t look good.”

“A life is but a small turn in time,” remarked the rooster.

“Please, Vido. Not now,” Talon said. The strain showed in his voice and on his face as he turned back to the snow lion. “Come on, Lhasa. Who will be the queen?” His voice broke.

Henry put his ear to the snow lion’s heart. He raised a hand to her muzzle and held it there, hoping to feel her breath while everybody else held theirs. But there was nothing.

After a long minute, and then another, Henry bit his lip and looked up at Talon and Bock. “Our medicine didn’t work,” he said. He lowered his gaze. “I guess . . . I guess the eel just hurt her too badly. I—I’m sorry. She’s . . .” His lip trembled.

“Is she dead, Henry?” Florence said gently.

Henry nodded.

No one spoke. Slowly, Talon bowed his head and rested it in Lhasa’s fur. Ms. Octavia dabbed her eyes. Samheed wrapped his arms around Lani’s shoulders and hugged her. Alex stood numb, alone. Sky hesitated, then went over to him and rested her hand on his arm. Florence watched Talon for a moment and dropped her eyes.

From Crow’s pocket, Kitten emerged and ran over to the fallen snow lion. She climbed up onto the beast and hopped up and down on Lhasa’s chest. “Mewmewmew,” she cried. “Mewmewmew.”

Simber sat up. “What?” he asked, his face filled with concern.

Kitten stopped hopping and stared at Lhasa’s face. “Mewmewmew!” she said again.

Fox, too forlorn over the death of the flopsy animal, didn’t even try to translate.

“Arrre you surrre?” Simber growled at the kitten.

Kitten didn’t respond. She stared at Lhasa for a long moment.

“What’s happening?” Alex asked. “Doesn’t she understand about Lhasa?”

“Mewmewmew!” Kitten cried again. She stared a moment longer, and then she froze, tipped to one side, and fell over, a tiny, lifeless porcelain statue. Her body slid off the snow lion’s slick fur and landed in the dirt. She didn’t move.

But Lhasa did. She gasped and opened her eyes. She sputtered and coughed. She heaved and sighed. “Talon,” she said weakly.

“Lhasa!” Talon exclaimed.

“Kitten, no!” Alex yelled. He ran to her, sliding on the dirt, and picked her up, clutching her with shaking hands. She was cold. Alex whirled around and stared at Simber. “What just happened? What did she do? What did she say?”

Simber just stared from Kitten to Alex in shock. He tilted his head slightly, as if he didn’t know what to say. And then he blinked and shook his head. “Kitten is dead.”

“What?”

“Let me think,” he growled. Simber wore a distressed look Alex had never seen before. The statue began pacing, as if trying to figure something out. Suddenly he stopped and looked at Alex. “You have to brrring herrr back to life.”

“What?” Alex exclaimed. “I can’t! Not if she’s dead.”

“You have to trrry! Trrrust me, Alex. I’ll explain in a minute. I hope to, anyway. Just do it beforrre I have a hearrrt attack.”

Alex’s jumbled mind scrambled to think of the spell. Did he need the live spell or the restore spell? He looked around wildly at all the eyes, including Lhasa’s, on him. And then Sky squeezed his arm. “I’ll get the robe,” she whispered. “You—just breathe.”

She picked her way to Lani, who slid out of the robe and handed it over straightaway. Sky brought it back and helped Alex on with it. “Okay?” Sky asked him. “Just turn around and don’t worry about them. Concentrate.”

Fox began to howl. Even Simber didn’t have the heart to quiet him.

Alex let out a breath. “Thanks.” He was feeling better now after his moment of panic. He’d try the restore spell first. But he still didn’t know if it would work—if either of the spells would. How did she just
die
like that? What kind of statue could just die on command? He cradled the cold kitten in his hand, trying to warm her, and began to concentrate on the words of the restore spell. He closed his eyes.

“Imagine,” he whispered, imagining the adorable kitten
racing around and hopping joyfully again. “Believe,” he said, forcing himself to believe without a doubt that whatever had just happened, she could come alive again. “Whisper,” he said, picturing his whisper swirling around and through Kitten, encouraging her to come alive once more, and then, “Breathe.” Alex took in a deep breath and let it out, passing life to the porcelain creature. When he was quite sure everything was in place, he uttered the final word. “Commence.” And then he began again from the beginning, two more times, ignoring the restless shuffling of feet and whispers and Fox’s howling behind him. This spell was not one to be rushed.