Island of Legends Page 11

  “There’s really no need to be so dramatic,” Alex muttered, forgetting the statue was a theater prop and so was inclined to drama. He sat up to watch. He could barely see the volcano outlined against the sky.

  Water shot from the mouth of the volcano, followed by fireballs and enormous flames lighting up the sky. The Artiméans could hear the slap of the water hitting the sea, and the roar and hiss of the volcano spewing molten lava.

  They were far enough away that the big wave that rolled toward them was manageable, so they stood at the railing to observe. It was a most spectacular, thrilling, and frightening sight to see.

  As the entire ship watched in awe, no one, not even Simber, noticed the slithering creature rise up from the murky water behind them, blinking its electric eyes.

  In over Her Head

  While everyone else watched the lavaworks display, Simber sampled the air and snapped to attention, looking all around. “Something’s wrrrong,” he growled.

  Alex turned sharply. “What is it?”

  Screams and shouts rang out as the head of an enormous electric eel rose out of the water. It bumped against the ship, making the decks shudder.

  “Everybody get below!” Florence shouted. “Giant eel!”

  The Artiméans fled in all directions. The eel began wrapping itself around the ship, slipping its tail end up and over the port side railing while its head slithered up the starboard side and onto the deck.

  Florence lunged for the head, tipping the ship precariously. Everyone on deck tumbled to the side, unable to go anywhere of their own free will.

  Simber torpedoed through the air to assist, grabbing the eel’s tail end in his jaws, but the slippery creature slid free and slapped Simber with a powerful blast to his head, knocking the cat off balance and sending him careening toward the water. He soared back up, shaking the nonsense from his head after the blow.

  “No!” Alex cried, coming to his senses and staggering to his feet. “Come on, guys. Attack!” He rummaged for a spell, shooting off blinding highlighters at the eel’s eyes. Its eyes sparked with fire, and Florence cried out. She released her grip on the eel’s head as its tail lashed this way and that, seeking its next victim.

  “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 agai
n.” 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?

  An Unsettling Rift

  Many 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?”

  Samheed frowned, but then shrugged. “I guess I could let one dumbhead remark go. Just this once.”

  Alex, gazing off over the water, turned abruptly and went down the stairs to the deck below to get away from the cat and nurse his wounds—to his pride, and also to his heart from the loss of their beloved Florence.

  The Quest Continues

  There was little time to mourn.

  After a while, Alex realized the captain was waiting for instructions. And since the volcanic activity had halted and Pirate Island stood quiet, he knew they needed to make their approach before it was too la
te. Florence would have wanted them to continue with the quest—Alex knew that well enough. He made his way back to the top deck. “To the island, Captain,” Alex said.

  The ship, sturdy and strong as ever in spite of the hole in the main deck, was soon sailing along at a fast pace, and the subdued passengers tried to forget their shock and sadness by cleaning up the mess made by the rocking ship.

  Alex ignored Simber, even though he was dying to ask him if he knew anything more about Florence—like did she breathe? But he couldn’t bear to be publicly rebuffed again, for failing to find out if everyone on his team breathed or not. Who even thinks about such things? Besides, finding out the answer now didn’t matter. She was either dead or alive somewhere in this vast sea, and either way they’d probably never see her again.

  Simber flew out ahead of the ship now, perhaps so that no one could see his face. “Not that I care,” Alex muttered rather incoherently. He needed a new plan now that they didn’t have Florence.

  It was with great pain to his soul that he realized they didn’t actually need Florence to punch a hole through the glass skylight. Simber could do it just as easily. So she could have stayed safe in Artimé after all. Of course, then it would have been someone else getting dragged off by the eel. Probably Simber. “Not that I care,” he muttered again, louder.

  Ms. Octavia looked at him. “When people say that,” she said, “they usually mean the opposite. And I suspect you care a great deal about whatever it is you’re struggling with.” The octogator swished over to Alex. “Did I miss something?”

  Alex laughed bitterly. “Yeah, you could say that.”

  “Do you want to talk about it?”

  Alex looked at Simber. He was sure the cat could hear. The cat hears all and knows all—Alex had that ingrained in his memory well enough by now. “No, thank you.”