Island of Dragons (Unwanteds #7)(84)

With the pirates changing focus, Pan began moving Alex and Aaron around over the lawn with her tail, wherever they were needed the most, while at the same time fighting off pirate and Warbleran attackers with her jaws and her fiery breath.

The Artiméans dug in with renewed strength but kept their distance from the dragon for their own safety. Pan’s children soared overhead, spreading out, then each found a spot on the lawn to land. Pan called to them in the language of the dragons, and they began sniffing the people, determining which of them contained more evil than good, and going after them one at a time.

Some of the pirates tried to capture the young dragons and drag them away, their greed taking over their senses. Others tried to fight the creatures. But their swords wouldn’t cut them, nor would they penetrate their scaly skin, for the dragons’ new wings had been protected by preserve spells, which covered them all the way to their extremities.

Pan let Alex and Aaron down so she could use her tail to protect her young. The brothers didn’t falter. Instead they herded the pirates toward Pan so she could finish them off.

Arabis the orange and the ice-blue dragon played tug-of-war with one pirate, while the two purples teamed up against a small band of pirates and practiced using their ropelike tails to lasso them. When they reined in a pirate, they tried out their fire-breathing skills. And Ivis the green took to the trees, flushing out the pirates who had gone into hiding.

Pan moved toward another group of pirates and began picking them up with her tail and flinging them like torpedoes onto the ship where Ol’ Tater was stomping around. And if the pirates were lucky enough to avoid being stomped on and dove overboard, Spike was there to bat them back on board so Ol’ Tater could try again.

The pirate ranks thinned, and one by one the exhausted Artiméans dropped back, both to get out of the way as the dragons had fun playing with the pirates before putting an end to them, and to give themselves a chance to rest. Soon Alex had no other pirates or enemy Warblerans facing him, and he actually had to search to find some. He looked around, determined to fight to the very end, but then dove out of the way of Pan, who was coming farther and farther on land. Some of the pirates gave up and started to run away, but Pan’s tail brought them back in. She wasn’t about to let any of them escape.

The young dragons began to chase the pirates around the lawn.

Pan spoke sharply to her children, and then the six of them began herding the enemies to one central location, gently pushing the fighting Artiméans out of the way. Soon they moved to make a tight circle around the remaining enemies.

Alex backed off and saw that many of his friends had stopped fighting as well. They moved slowly toward the mansion, watching what was happening, almost unable to believe that the dragons had arrived to help them.

And then Alex remembered. “Has anyone seen Eagala?” he asked.

Samheed looked up wearily. “Lani took her out early on with a transport spell.” He looked around. “Where is Lani, anyway?”

“She’s hurt,” Alex told him. “Pretty badly, I think. Henry’s working on her.”

Samheed’s face filled with concern. He glanced at the enemies, and then back at Alex.

“Go,” Alex said. “See how she’s doing.”

Samheed didn’t hesitate. He jogged to the mansion.

Alex looked around for Sky, his heart leaping into his throat. He hadn’t seen her in a long time. Finally he spied her, still alive, and his throat tightened. She limped to the mansion, her exhaustion clear, but she lifted a hand at Alex to let him know she was okay. She went inside to the hospital ward.

The rest of the Artiméans and their Quill and Warbler friends backed away from the battle, awestruck by the size of Pan and the beauty of the young dragons, and thrilled not to have to be fighting against them.

They watched as the young dragons gently pushed the more-good-than-evil Warblerans and pirate slaves to the outskirts of the lawn, and corralled the more-evil-than-good pirates, herding them with their fiery bursts of breath toward the center of the lawn.

Soon all of the remaining attackers were surrounded.

Alex retreated for safety to the front steps of the mansion, with Simber, Florence, and Talon standing behind him. Together in silence they watched Pan demonstrate to her children once more how to decimate an enemy group in quick fashion. And soon there were no more pirates.

? ? ? ?

When the dragons had finished their lesson, they returned to the water to cool down and play, and Pan joined them there, praising them for their work in detecting the mostly good from the mostly bad.

The remaining defenders let their weapons fall from their hands. Some of them wept. Others fell to their knees, overcome by the intensity of the battle, or the fact that they had made it through alive. None of them felt like cheering.

They had overcome the enemy at last, but it came at a tremendous cost. Alex wasn’t sure how many Artiméans remained alive, but evidence of their struggle was strewn about the entire island. How many had they lost? The numbers seemed extraordinary. Clive. Liam. Mr. Appleblossom. And Alex spotted Bock the golden-horned deer lying on his side, dead too. Hundreds more, gone for the sake of Artimé. It was almost too much to bear. But the hospital ward, with ninety full beds, was buzzing with the news of the dragons. There was life in there. The bodies would heal. And Artimé was at peace at last. Was it worth it?

Alex knew that was an impossible question. Would he have done better by surrendering and saving everyone’s life, but forcing them to become slaves to the pirates? In Alex’s mind, there was no choice—he’d done the right thing. And though he’d faltered, he’d always had people, creatures, and statues to back him up and set him on track again.