Island of Dragons (Unwanteds #7)(23)
Pan looked at Alex sharply. “Because of the pirates.”
Alex glanced down at the young creatures as he pieced the information together. The pirates had been caging and selling sea creatures . . . but to whom? And young coiled water dragons must be very valuable to them if Pan was afraid enough to keep them hidden inside this island.
Pan looked all around cautiously, then lit up the night again so Alex could see the dragons’ features more clearly. Each was about the size of an adult human, and they sported a variety of hues. One was the color of flame, one the shade of a forest, one as icy blue as a wolf’s eyes, and two were a deep purple like the sky before a rainstorm. One of the purple dragons had a golden stripe down its back. All five had iridescent scales that sparkled beautifully in the firelight.
“You want them to fly? All five of them?” Alex said, rubbing his chin. “Is that so they can escape from the pirates?”
Pan frowned and the rumble returned.
Alex shrank back. He couldn’t seem to stop asking questions. “I’m sorry,” he said again. He thought long and hard about what role he should play. Would he risk anyone’s life by offering to make wings for the dragons? “Pan,” he said cautiously, “before I can agree to give wings to these dragons, I have to know if they will harm anybody. I hope you can understand why I need to know this.”
Pan bowed her head. “Yes, of course I do,” she said quietly. “And I realize the strength and power my children carry. While I cannot predict their future actions, I have raised them to follow in my ways. They will not harm anyone who contains more good than evil.”
More good than evil. What an interesting directive. Alex looked into Pan’s eyes and saw the honesty within them. He marveled that dragons could possess the ability to sense a person’s goodness or evilness. It seemed to Alex that creatures like this could be a real asset to the world.
“All right,” he said. “I’ll help you. You don’t have to tell me anything else unless you wish to. I’m giving you my full trust.”
“The less you know, the less you can reveal,” said Pan. “My secrets are for your safety as well as mine and my children’s.” She paused and added, “Please—know that I am extremely grateful for your help, and . . . and it is quite humbling for the ruler of the sea to be in need of it.” She bowed her head slightly, gazing down at the young dragons. “Would you like to meet them? They will not harm you.”
“Oh.” Alex’s eyes flickered, and his heart pounded in his chest. “Yes, of course,” he said. The words came out thin with a whoosh of air. “You’ll pull me out if anything . . . happens?” He began to sweat, thinking of being stuck in that pit with five dragons. But then he banished the thought. He had to see them up close. There was no way he could make wings for a creature he hadn’t seen or touched with his own hands.
“Nothing will happen,” Pan said. “But I will keep a hold on you with my tail and I won’t let you go.”
Alex nodded and tried to take a deep breath, but his lungs weren’t cooperating. “I’ll need to see them up close,” he said, “and touch their scales. Would that be all right?” Alex’s hands automatically went to his pockets to see what sort of components he had with him, just in case something went horribly wrong.
“I expected that,” said Pan. “Yes, you may touch them, but greet them first with a closed fist so they can smell you.”
A sickening chill ran through Alex and both his fists closed reflexively, but he didn’t dare ask Pan another question. He could only trust that she would keep him safe and not let them eat him.
“Climb on my back and hold on to my neck,” said Pan. Alex obliged, and soon Pan began the awkward trek down the inside of the cylindrical island with Alex clinging to and swinging from her neck.
Soon she settled into the water with the young dragons, which climbed over her tail and blew tiny blasts of fire from their throats.
Alex dodged the fire and hung on tightly to Pan’s neck, just out of the young dragons’ reach. He lit a highlighter so he could study them—their structure and skin, their coloring, their proportions and center of balance, and the way they moved. He put the highlighter behind his ear to hold it steady, pulled out his notebook and produced a pencil from it, and eased over to a small rock ledge above Pan’s back so he could sit and sketch.
While Alex carried out his job, Pan began to speak in a strange, soothing language that he didn’t understand. But clearly the young dragons understood it, for they soon settled down and stopped their attempts at breathing fire.
After a while, Alex looked up from his notebook. “Could I see the orange one a bit closer, please?” he asked.
Pan called the orange dragon to her, and when the young thing drew near, Pan wrapped her tail around its legs, picked it up, and moved it to Alex’s side. She looked at the mage. “She won’t hurt you. Mind the spines, though. They’re quite sharp.”
Alex looked warily at the ridge of spikes that rippled down the dragon’s back, and noted them in his sketch. “Hello,” he said to it, and put his fist out, remembering to greet her first before doing anything else. “I’m, uh, I’m Alex.” He tried not to tremble.
The orange dragon turned her oversized face toward Alex and tilted her head, bringing her nose nerve-wrackingly close to Alex’s hand. After a moment she pulled away. Apparently she accepted Alex, or at least she didn’t seem intent on eating him.