Island of Dragons (Unwanteds #7)(26)

“What is it?” asked Ms. Octavia.

Alex pulled his notebook from his pocket. It sprang open to the page with the 3-D dragon drawing. The drawing popped up and hovered a few inches above the page.

Ms. Octavia took in a sharp breath, and then carefully took the notebook from Alex and looked more closely at the dragon from all angles. She took off her latest pair of fake glasses from Mr. Appleblossom and studied it some more, turning the notebook in a circle. Then she looked at Alex. “I’ve never seen this happen before,” she said, admiration in her voice. “I am very proud of you. Your drawing has continued to improve to near perfection over the years because you work so hard at it, and clearly this is your reward for that. Well done, Alex. Well done.”

“I didn’t mean to do it,” he said modestly. “It just happened when I was drawing.”

“You must have been perfectly precise,” said the octogator, “or I’m sure it wouldn’t have happened. This is really something to celebrate! I wish Marcus were here to see it.”

Tears sprang to Alex’s eyes at the mention of the wonderful old mage who had saved so many Unwanteds over the years. Alex longed for Mr. Today to see this accomplishment. “It’s okay,” Alex said, swallowing the lump in his throat. “Perhaps he knows somehow.”

Together they brainstormed the predicament of putting magical wings on a nonmagically made creature.

“Was Jim the winged tortoise created from a real tortoise?” Alex asked.

“No, I’m afraid not,” said Ms. Octavia. “He’s like the rest of us.”

“But what about you?” Alex said. “You’re parts of two animals. Octopus and alligator. Those creatures are nonmagical, yet you exist magically.”

“Ah, but you forget that I am not actually either of those animals, not even a little bit. I only look like a combination of them. I was created from items found in the sea—seaweed, shells, plant life.”

“I remember that now,” Alex said, thinking back to when all of Artimé was gone and Ms. Octavia’s body had morphed into those materials. “So what exactly is the real dilemma here? I think it’s like I told Lani yesterday. I can’t create a third arm and attach it to her, and expect it to work like the other two arms, can I? Because she was born a living human, and magic and human parts can’t communicate. A third arm would need blood and muscle and bone connected to the rest of the body, and magic can’t create that, can it?”

“No magic that I know,” said Ms. Octavia. She tapped her snout thoughtfully as a second tentacle began jotting down notes and a third picked up her coffee mug and brought it to her mouth. She took a sip and swallowed.

As they sat thinking, there was a knock on the door. Aaron poked his head in.

“Am I interrupting?” he asked.

Alex frowned. He wanted to be the one who figured this out, not his freak prodigy brother. But then he reluctantly admitted it was silly of him to be acting so petty about Aaron’s abilities. Alex needed Aaron, just like he needed his other friends for the various things they were good at. And then he remembered Aaron would be leaving soon, perhaps for good, and the empty feeling gnawed at him.

“No, you’re not interrupting,” said Alex. “We’re talking about dragon wings and . . . and I think maybe you can help us. Unless you can’t stay, of course.” Alex tried not to look hopeful.

“I was just looking for you to see if you were getting lunch,” Aaron said. “Of course I’ll stay, but I don’t know what help I’ll be.”

“Okay. Great, then. We’ll get something to eat afterward if you can wait,” Alex said.

“If I can wait?” Aaron nearly laughed. “I’m from Quill. Of course I can wait for food. I’m just thrilled to know there is some. Also, I was wondering about Henry. Is there any news? And if it’s all right for me to, you know, go home. To Ishibashi’s, I mean.”

“Ah, yes—sorry,” Alex said. “I meant to tell you. I should be able to get you back to the Island of Shipwrecks very soon, but I was sort of hoping to finish the dragon project first. Then we can set off together, attach the wings, and continue on to the Island of Shipwrecks.”

“Oh,” Aaron said. “All right.” He was only a little put off that Alex wasn’t going to jump into the boat today to take him away. “Of course that’s fine. I don’t want to inconvenience you.” He came and sat down with them. “What’s going on?”

Alex filled Aaron in on the conversation so far.

Aaron listened intently, and when Alex reintroduced the third-arm scenario, he closed his eyes, a perplexed look on his face.

“What’s wrong?” Alex asked.

Aaron didn’t answer at first, and then he said, “So you’re saying that you wouldn’t be able to give Lani a third arm because you can’t create human blood and bones and things like that, and for this same reason you can’t make dragon wings.” He opened his eyes and looked inquisitively at Alex.

“Right,” said Alex. “I know you think you can do this, but—”

“I can,” said Aaron. “You’re making it too complicated.”

Ms. Octavia nodded. “I think you may be right, Aaron. Why do the wings need to have dragon’s blood and bones and muscles in them in order to work?”