Island of Dragons (Unwanteds #7)(25)

Working alongside Claire was Lani Haluki, who was explaining some of the most recent nonlethal spell components and how they worked. She also reminded the warriors of the two deadly spells: heart attack, which required three components to put an end to an average human-size enemy, and the single scatterclip, which was harmless on its own, but deadly when coupled with the right phrase. There would be no practicing for these two, and only those who wished to have that amount of power carried them. Lani reminded the class that it was Artimé’s policy since the days of Mr. Today, that each person must think long and hard about whether she wanted to have that responsibility.

Observing the training today were Aaron and some nonmagical friends: Kaylee, Sky, and Crow, who was looking after Thisbe and Fifer along the water’s edge. Sky sat in a chair under a tree a short distance away, reading a book, while Aaron, Kaylee, and Crow all lay on their stomachs, elbows in the sand, hands cupping their chins. Aaron and Kaylee lounged together, and Crow was a few feet away, perched sideways so he could see the training and watch the twins at the same time.

Kaylee and Aaron, both feeling a bit like outsiders in Artimé, had fallen into a friendship of convenience. Aaron wasn’t accustomed to having friends at all, so he was always awkward with people until he relaxed. And Kaylee was boisterous and playful—the complete opposite of Aaron, or so it seemed. Yet it was her large personality that relaxed him, and the two got along somehow.

Crow eyed them suspiciously from time to time, but they didn’t seem to be romantically involved at all, which was a relief. He was tired of watching other people kissing, including his own sister. He preferred a more anonymous kind of admiration over outward displays of affection, and he was exercising that anonymous admiration now as he watched Scarlet. He studied the intense look on her face that never broke when she was casting spells. He appreciated her long blond hair swishing over her shoulders when she followed through on her spell casting.

Scarlet stood next to Thatcher, who had the tallest hair Crow had ever seen. Most of the time Scarlet stayed focused on her task. But once, between exercises, she and Thatcher laughed together at something Ms. Morning said to them, which Crow couldn’t hear. Crow frowned, even though he knew Scarlet and Thatcher had been friends for a long time.

Near Crow’s legs, Fifer piled up small, flat stones, one on top of another in a precarious stack, using extreme precision for a child her age. Thisbe stood on the other side of Crow, entranced as she watched the magical warriors on the lawn. Every now and then she imitated their movements, saying “Dat!” or “Boom!” and casting imaginary spells of her own.

“Hey, Crow,” Kaylee called. “Who’s the dude with the righteous Afro?”

“The what?” asked Crow. Half the things Kaylee said made no sense to him.

“The boy next to Scarlet.”

“Oh. That’s Thatcher. He’s one of the Warbler kids.”

“I figured, due to the orange eyes and the scars on his neck.”

“I forget about those things sometimes,” Crow said. Orange eyes and neck scars were all too common to him.

“He’s really good,” Kaylee said.

Crow bristled. “Scarlet’s better,” he said in a quiet voice. He returned his gaze to Warbler girl.

Kaylee looked sideways at him and pressed her lips together to stifle a smile. “Yes, I totally agree,” she said. “Scarlet rocks.” She poked Aaron with her elbow.

Aaron startled. “What?”

Kaylee leaned in, her shoulder touching Aaron’s shoulder and her face dangerously close to his. He resisted the urge to shrink away, and she whispered in his ear, “Crow has a crush on Scarlet.”

Her breath was warm as it caressed his skin and slipped down below his shirt collar. Aaron’s ear tingled, and then his whole body tingled. His heart thudded in his chest. He didn’t even register what she was saying. Instead of responding like a normal human, Aaron froze. He stared straight ahead and didn’t move. He had no idea what to do. All he knew was that her shoulder was still touching his, and he wasn’t sure if he wanted it to stay there or move away.

With Crow, Aaron, and Kaylee all momentarily occupied, and Sky reading intently under the tree, nobody actually paid much attention when Thisbe meandered over to where her sister was stacking stones. Thisbe took a warrior stance and pointed at the tower. “Boom!” she said.

The stones flew into the air of their own accord and pelted the sand around Fifer. Fifer stared, and then the twin girls began giggling hysterically. “Again!” cried Fifer.

“Again!” cried Thisbe.

Fifer began to pile the stones once more.





Contemplating Flight


Alex woke around noon feeling groggy and disoriented after having stayed up all night with Pan, but once he bathed and dressed, he was wide awake and ready to work. He found Ms. Octavia in her classroom and told her about the dragons and what had transpired overnight.

“That’s quite a project,” Ms. Octavia said, scratching her head with one of her tentacles. “I admit I have no idea how you’re going to do it. I’ve only fixed existing appendages. I always left the creating of them up to Marcus.”

“I know . . . I still have to figure that out. But,” Alex said, his face growing excited, “I have something cool I need to show you.”