Island of Dragons (Unwanteds #7)(72)

Aaron climbed up the rubble, stepped on a broken windowpane, and shimmied up the side of the window, thinking little of falling. He reached high and grabbed on to the opening in the wall left by the tar balls, and pulled himself up and into Alex’s room. He dodged around the mess and the ransacked desk that had once held thousands of components, and ran out into the hallway. He tore down it to the kitchenette, and then stopped short. “Squirrelicorns,” he muttered, and raced back to the gaping hole in Alex’s wall.

“Squirrelicorns!” he shouted.

Three of them flew to him immediately.

“I need you to come with me,” he said. “I’ve got a dangerous job, but I think you are the ones to do it.”

“Yes, sir!” the three shouted.

“Follow me,” said Aaron, starting toward the kitchenette once more. “Have you ever taken the tube before?”





The Call of the Wild


The squirrelicorns folded themselves up quite efficiently inside the tube, careful not to poke Aaron’s eyes out with their long spiral horns, and there was room to spare.

Aaron explained his plan briefly, and then hit all the tube buttons at once. Soon they were transported to the quiet, dark jungle, smelling its earthy musk.

“I’ve been in the jungle before, but never this deep,” said one of the squirrelicorns. “Sir.”

“Well, you’re in it now—this is the very deepest part. And it’s dangerous. So stay close and do what I say.”

The squirrelicorns agreed.

Aaron stepped out, twigs crackling under his feet. Within seconds, Panther came bounding toward them. She screamed at Aaron in delight, and sniffed at the squirrelicorns as if she might want to eat them. The squirrelicorns shrank back.

Then the ground shivered and the enormous rock caretaker moved into view.

“Oh good. I’m glad you’re both here,” said Aaron. Artimé is in a terrible spot, and we need your help. Rock, will you help us?”

The rock hesitated. “Of course I’ll help you. But I don’t know how.”

“That’s okay,” said Aaron, anxious to get his plan in motion. “I’ve got that figured out. I’ll tell you in a moment, but for now, can you find me some dropbears?”

The rock, which had learned to trust the mage of Artimé with his entire heart, went immediately without question, and soon disappeared into the jungle.

“Panther,” Aaron said earnestly, kneeling down and stroking her on the head, “I need you to listen very carefully.”

Panther nodded her head and impulsively licked Aaron’s face, nearly knocking him over in his exhausted state.

“Good girl,” said Aaron. “Please fetch me as many of the vine spiders as you can find and bring them right back to me. Quickly now, all right?”

Panther darted off and disappeared.

“Stay in the tube,” Aaron ordered the squirrelicorns. “I’ll be right back.” He broke into a run down a small path in the jungle. “Where are you, you little terror?” he called out in a kind voice. He looked up in trees and down on the ground, trying to find the camouflaged dog with the deadly spiked teeth.

Finally the pup jumped out at him and bit his arm. Aaron was ready for it, and knocked the dog loose before his grip could take hold. Aaron picked the dog up and held him at an arm’s length, then ran back to the tube where the squirrelicorns cowered. Panther stood over them. A pile of vine spiders sat next to the tube.

“Panther, please leave the squirrelicorns alone. They are not edible.” Panther sat back on her haunches. Aaron held the dog up to show the squirrelicorns, leaving a safe distance between them. “One of you take this dog. If you hold him just right, he won’t bite your leg off. Go straight through the tube and out of the mansion, and deposit the dog on the nearest enemy ship, and then come back immediately. Who is willing?”

All three of the brave squirrelicorns volunteered, so Aaron chose one and had the other two exit the tube. Aaron showed the chosen squirrelicorn the button he’d need to push, and then explained how to push all of the buttons at once in the mansion’s tube in order to return.

Aaron carefully handed off the grinning dog, stood aside, and watched the squirrelicorn poke the button with his horn and disappear.

The ground shook again. Aaron, Panther, and the two squirrelicorns turned sharply to see what was coming, and they watched as the rock rolled into the area. Upon it sat six dropbears.

“That’s perfect,” Aaron said to the rock. “Hold tight there for a minute until our other squirrelicorn returns.”

A moment later, the first squirrelicorn returned without the dog. “Job completed, sir,” he said.

“Excellent work,” said Aaron. “Okay, now this next part is going to be a little more difficult. I need each of you squirrelicorns to take two dropbears. They’ll hold on to your bodies, but you need to hold on to them as well so they don’t fall onto land. We need all six of these to go to the ship Queen Eagala is on. The way to do this is to fly overhead and hover there, and the dropbears will let go when they see a person they want to eat. Got it?”

The squirrelicorns contained their horror like professionals and confirmed that they understood completely.

Aaron set up the squirrelicorns with one dropbear clinging to each of their back legs. The squirrelicorns gripped the dropbears’ fur with their claws, their wings flapping to keep them aloft. Aaron helped everyone squeeze inside the tube, and then said, “Once your bears have dropped, find Florence, tell her what we’re doing, and ask her to come to the hole in the side of the mansion. I’m going to need some help.”