Island of Dragons (Unwanteds #7)(61)

Simber threw the top panel of the cage at the sailors nearest Fox and lifted himself back in the air, then swooped around and headed back to snatch the canine. As he dove over the ship and picked him up, several Warblerans put tiny tubes to their mouths and sent darts flying. At the same time an enormous eel exploded from the water.

The eel wrapped its body around Simber’s neck as a sleep dart stuck fast in Alex’s back. Alex slumped lifeless against Simber, and all three Artiméans, plus Kitten in Alex’s pocket, went crashing over the railing and plunged into the water.





A Watery Grave


Alex, unconscious from the sleep dart, slid off Simber’s back and drifted toward the bottom of the sea. Fox bobbed in the water, unable to sink, and Simber thrashed and pawed at the eel, trying to loosen its grip around his neck. He chomped and bit at the creature and flapped his mighty wings trying to knock the eel away and free himself.

With a tremendous surge of effort, Simber’s stone wing caught the eel in the head. The eel’s body slacked, and Simber pulled himself loose. He kicked and bit at the eel, trying to kill it, but the eel was too fast. It slithered away into the dark water to nurse its wounds.

Simber continued to thrash his wings to keep from torpedoing downward. He managed to push himself above the surface. “Wherrre’s Alex?” he roared at Fox.

“H-h-he sank!” cried Fox.

“Blast it!” Simber cried. He let gravity take over and dropped through the water as if he were falling through air. His head turned wildly this way and that, looking and listening for Alex. Had the eel taken off with him? If Alex sank, he must have been unconscious. Had he been injured when they crashed through the railing? Simber hadn’t seen what happened. All he knew was that he had to find Alex fast.

After what seemed like far too long, Simber spotted movement. He swam toward it and saw it was Alex’s robe, swishing in the cloudy water. Simber lunged for it, gripped Alex in his jaws, and used the sea floor to push off. Flapping his wings to project himself upward, Simber soon burst from the water. He snagged Fox with one paw before the pirates could fish him out of the water and continued flapping. Alex hung limp, facedown, from Simber’s mouth, and Simber gently pressed on Alex’s chest with his jaws. Water dribbled from Alex’s mouth and nose, and he coughed and wretched violently, giving Simber hope. But the mage remained dead asleep.

Florence saw them coming.

Simber tossed Fox unceremoniously to the grass and landed on the shore by the mansion. Florence grabbed Alex and ran him inside, into the hospital ward. Simber followed close behind. Nurses gathered around and began working on him even before Simber had a chance to explain what had happened.

As darkness fell around them, the flaming tar balls continued to rattle the mansion, knocking out all but the strongest of windows. One especially large tar ball smashed into the side of the mansion, leaving a gaping hole in the second floor wall, straight through to Alex’s private living quarters. Rubble flew everywhere, destroying a portion of Alex’s bedroom and sending his dresser and blackboard crashing to the floor. The tar ball scorched the remains, but luck was with Artimé and it burned itself out.

Alex remained unaware. His unconscious body was focused on expelling the rest of the water he’d breathed in, and the nurses were intent on keeping their mage alive, one minute at a time.

Finally, after an agonizing hour, Alex began to groan. He rolled onto his back and coughed and choked. “My throat,” he rasped, and opened his eyes. He stared at the ceiling for a long, confused moment, and then looked at Florence and Simber. “What happened?”

Simber filled him in.

“Is Fox all right?”

“He’s fine,” said Simber. “Kitten is fine too. She crrrawled out of yourrr pocket a little while ago.”

“What’s happening out there?” Alex sat up and wiped his face with his damp sleeve as he began remembering everything that was going on. He struggled to his feet, waving off help from the nurses. “Thank you so much,” he said to them. “But I need to get back out there.”

The nurses shrugged at each other as Alex made his way through the hospital ward, fighting off the woozy blackness that washed over him. He stumbled. Florence reached out to catch him, and he grabbed on to the doorframe to steady himself and let the light-headedness pass. “What about Ms. Octavia?” he asked when he could see again. “And Sean and the others on the ship?”

“They’re all awake and fine again,” said Florence. “But we need to strategize about what to do with them. They’re in a precarious position out there overnight.”

“We can’t leave the ship out there without anyone protecting it,” said Alex.

“True,” said Florence. “You could try transporting it to the Museum of Large.”

Alex thought about it for a moment. “No,” he said. “We may need it to be easily accessible. And there’s no guarantee on placement with the transport spell—I don’t want it to accidentally end up in the lounge, crushing everyone.”

“I’ll stay with the ship overrrnight,” said Simber. “I might not be able to attack an enemy ship prrroperrrly, but I can prrrotect one of ourrr own without messing up. I think.” The giant cat looked slightly disgusted with himself, which was rare indeed.

Alex flashed Simber a sympathetic look. “It’s clear that they’ve prepared themselves for fighting you, Simber. That’s one bad side to fighting enemies we’ve fought before—they’ve figured out how to handle you. We’ve lost the surprise factor.”