“As long as I can remember. One day I woke up here, saved by the crab as you were, though being alone and without a ship, I imagine my circumstances were a bit more dire.” He ducked his head. “Not to minimize your near-tragic stumble, of course.”
Florence laughed. “If that was the worst I’d been through, I’d have no stories to tell.”
“Even if you made them up, I’d listen to all your stories until there were no more, and then demand you begin again.”
“I— Oh my.” Florence shifted in the sand, her mind grasping for something, anything, to say. She blurted out, “How long have you been here?”
He flashed a teasing smile but grew serious once more. “I don’t know. Thousands of years.”
Florence could hardly imagine it. “Thousands,” she repeated.
Talon nodded. “It’s nice to have visitors.”
Florence looked at him. He caught her gaze and held it.
“Do you get many visitors?” she asked finally.
“Only a handful in recent years.” His gaze drifted to Pirate Island, a mere dot on the horizon. “Pirates came a few times. They stole some of our plants and trees during the night and escaped.” He scratched his chin. “If only they had asked, we would have given them whatever they wanted. We have more than we need. There was no reason for their stealth. But because of their actions, we’ll never trust them.” He looked at the pirate ship. “I feared you were from there when I first saw your ship.”
“This ship wrecked on our island some years ago with two dying pirates aboard,” Florence said. “Our leader restored it and made it sound again.”
“Alex?”
“No, the one before him.” She grew thoughtful. “Do you suppose we’ve stolen the ship from the pirates if we’ve made no attempt to give it back?”
Talon thought about it for a while. “Sounds rather to me that your ship was trying to escape them. My verdict is that you’ve done the ship a good deed.”
“I’d like to think so,” Florence said. She couldn’t imagine what shape the ship would be in if it had stayed docked at Pirate Island when the volcano sank. “The pirates—they steal people too, and keep them as slaves. That’s why we had to pay them a visit. And now they’re stealing your sea creatures.”
“So it seems, and I know not why. From what you’ve recounted, it appears the eel is under their command.” He shook his head. “I don’t understand their motivations.”
“I don’t either.” She thought about Quill and Warbler. “I don’t understand many things about the evil people in our world.”
“I can tell you’ve seen more of them than I have, Florence. I hope you believe me—you have nothing to fear here.”
Florence dropped her gaze. “It’s a relief to know it. And you have nothing to fear from us . . . unless your sinister dropbears make a false move.” She smiled and looked out over the sea to the east, toward home, feeling strangely melancholy. “We’ll need to go back soon. We won’t trouble you for long.”
Talon was silent for a long time. And then he sighed and said in a soft voice, “Never have I desired trouble more.”
The Tales of Vido, the Dropbears, and Lhasa
He’s so hot!” Lani whispered. “Seriously—I almost burned my arm when I bumped into him. I thought Florence was hot after a day in the sun, but Talon, being metallic, is even hotter. I bet he sizzles when he goes in the water.” Lani, Samheed, Alex, and Sky sat around a campfire while Talon served them dinner.
“I can fry an egg on my biceps,” Talon agreed. “Would anyone like an egg? I can ask Vido if his hen friends have any.” Then he shook his head in disgust. “Chickens,” he said. “Foul creatures. I don’t understand them at all.”
Sky and Lani erupted into laughter. “No, thank you. We’re so full already. Everything was delicious!”
“And speaking of Vido,” Samheed asked, “what is up with that golden rooster guy? Does he ever come down from that tree?”
“No, he never does,” said Lhasa, a mischievous smile on her face. She float-walked over to the fire and sat just above the ground nearby. Florence, Simber, and Bock, the golden-horned deer, gathered as well. “Vido doesn’t leave his post. He’s waiting for the gods and spirits to return.” Lhasa waggled her furry head. “I keep telling him we are here already, right, Talon?” She tittered in laughter.
Talon, who had finished serving his guests, sat down across the fire from Florence and smiled at her. “Yes. In the meantime, he has plenty of advice, whether you desire it or not.”
Alex spoke. “He told me that when I look in the mirror, a stranger looks back.” He scratched his head. “I’m afraid to ask what that means.”
Sky sat up. “He told me a girl with eyes of fire has a heart of ice.” She gave Alex a long look. “So don’t mess with me.”
He grinned uneasily.
Talon watched all this with a smile on his face. “I wouldn’t worry about anything Vido says.”
“He opined that a beast without furrr has narrry an hourrr to live,” Simber drawled. “I told him that a birrrd without featherrrs has about ten seconds.” He licked his paw and began working a claw with his teeth. “That shut him up.”
The snow lion laughed. “He’s harmless. Very spiritual and superstitious.”
“I don’t blame him forrr finding the tallest trrree to sit in, though. I almost had a few drrropbearrrs for lunch.”
Florence grinned. “What happened? What do they look like?”
“They’re not tiny,” Samheed said with a wry grin. “About the size of a really fat baby. They look soft and cuddly. Gray and white and furry with long arms, cute round ears, and black button noses. They sit in the trees eating leaves and being all cute—cute enough that you think, ‘Hey, I should get one of these down for the girl I like, and maybe she’ll forget we’re fighting.’ ” He glanced at Lani, who started laughing. “But I do not recommend that.”
Florence’s eyes widened. “What happened?”
“As soon as he started climbing the tree,” Alex said, “about a hundred of these things started dropping out of nowhere onto our heads. They grabbed our hair like reins and rode on our backs like knapsacks. They clung to our arms and legs until we were completely covered with them.”
“And then there were the fangs,” Lani said, still laughing. “If we tried to get the dropbears off, they opened their mouths and showed us their giant fangs, and then they started growling and hissing! It was so weird to see these cuddly-looking creatures turn into your worst nightmare.” She wiped her eyes and sighed. “But you were right, Talon. They didn’t hurt us. After a while they got bored and climbed the trees again.”
“Where did they come from?” Florence asked.
“They were here when I got here,” Talon said. “None of us understands their language, but they seem to understand me, at least a little. In the early years, when it was just Vido and me, they would attack and try to bite me, but it didn’t hurt and eventually they stopped. I think it has something to do with the metal,” he said, rapping on his chest. “It’s a bit hard on the teeth. They are tame now and stick to eating plants. Too afraid to try to take a bite of anything that moves.”
Alex was fascinated. After a moment, he looked at Lhasa. “When did you arrive?”
“I was born here,” the snow lion said. “My father was kidnapped by sailors, and my mother drowned chasing after them.” She didn’t seem bothered by this. “Talon was too heavy for the sailors to carry, so they tied him down. The dropbears bit through Talon’s ropes and set him free, and Talon found me and took care of me.”
“How is it that you seem to float just above the ground?” Ms. Octavia asked from the shadows. She didn’t like to sit too near a fire because it dried out her skin.
The snow lion laughed merrily. “I should ask the same of you.”
“Oh, me—it’s just an optical illusion,” Ms. Octavia said. “I sort of roll along on several tentacles, but each only touches the ground for a short tim
e, so it looks like I’m floating.”
“I have always been this way.” Lhasa lounged to one side dramatically. “Talon says it is because I am a queen, but Vido thinks it is because my mother’s spirit is inside me, lifting me up.” Her laughter filled the air again.
“And who do you believe?” Ms. Octavia asked.
“Both, of course.” She got to her four paws and shook a tiny bit of sand out of her fur. “One day I shall get revenge on those sailors.” She smiled the sweetest, most unassuming smile imaginable and, seeing all eyes on her, pranced to the edge of the island. “I shall thunder around the world! Skate across the sea! Find those evil sailors and bring my father home with me!” She teetered at the edge of the island, then flounced over the water and hovered there, too, not even getting the least bit wet in the process. “Ha! Tricked you.” She grinned and shook her head from side to side, her fur flying joyously.
“Wow!” Lani said. “You can float above the water, too? Ms. Octavia can’t do that.” She looked at Ms. Octavia. “Wait. You can’t, can you?”
Ms. Octavia tapped her lips. “I might be able to think of a way to do it with magic,” she said. “But no . . . if I walk off the edge, I’ll fall in the water.”
Samheed, who couldn’t take his eyes off the snow lion, felt like applauding. He ran over to the edge. “You were born to act on the stage, Lhasa,” he said, with the deepest admiration in his voice.
“The stage, the stage,” Lhasa sang. She pranced over the water. “What is the sta—”
But she didn’t have time finish her question, because the giant eel burst from the water, curled around her belly, and pulled her under.
The Return of the Eel
What? Stop!” Talon’s wings unfurled, and he flew like the wind to the water, his hands gripping his head in shock and disbelief. “Where is she?”
Samheed, who had come to his senses, turned back to the group and shouted, “It’s the eel! Get back!” He ran to help Henry and Copper move away from the edge.
Florence and Simber thundered over. Sean and Carina kicked off their shoes and dove into the water. Alex whipped off his robe, throwing it at Lani. “Stay here!” he yelled. “Move everybody to the center of the island!”
The crab’s reefy claws began clicking out in the darkness.
“Get back, Alex!” Simber roared.
But Alex didn’t listen. He grabbed a blinding highlighter and dove in after Sean and Carina into the cool, silent darkness of the sea. Above him, Florence plunged her face into the water, and next to her, Talon did as well, both of them straining to see.
The eel wasn’t far off. Alex did a double take—the eel seemed much bigger than it had been before, nearly twice the size. Was it even the same one? If so, it must have been eating a ton to have grown so large. It swam lazily just below the crab’s reach, with Lhasa dangling like a rag doll inside the curl of its tail. There wasn’t much time before she’d be dead, Alex knew. He began firing spells, knowing they probably wouldn’t work but not having many other alternatives. Sean and Carina tried the same, but soon all three of them gave up. Their only hope was to get Lhasa to the surface, and there was no spell for that.
Sean pointed frantically at Lhasa and then upward, trying to tell Carina and Alex to go to her and attempt to push the eel’s tail above the water. They nodded and swam over while Sean grabbed a blinding highlighter and went straight for the eel’s head.
The eel struck. Sean dodged, then grabbed on to the creature, sliding around to the back of the eel’s head. He reached around with the highlighter and stabbed it in the eel’s eye socket.
The eel writhed and screamed. Sean hung on for dear life. The crab snapped its pincers at the eel, but it was still out of reach. Alex and Carina watched in horror as Sean stabbed at the creature again.
This time the eel dodged the blow. It rose up and out of the water at a dizzying pace, Sean still clinging to its head, and flung its front half onto the island. It began twisting and rolling, hitting everything in its path, destroying plants, trees, and the campfire, and bowling over Simber and Florence.
Talon grabbed the middle of the eel, draped it over one shoulder, and heaved with all his might, trying to pull it onto the island, no doubt hoping to find Lhasa at the end of it. As the eel squirmed, Talon pulled, using his wings to help gain momentum. Florence got to her feet and ran to join him. But as soon as the eel lifted Lhasa out of the water, it let go of her, leaving her floating motionless just above the surface several yards off shore. Simber charged and sprang into the air, flying out over the water to rescue Lhasa. He grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and flew up, out of reach of the eel, then over the trees toward the center of the island.
The eel whipped its now empty tail around Talon, pulled him off his feet, and slithered over plants and trees, screeching and rolling, and slamming Talon into the ground.
Sean couldn’t hang on any longer. After a violent shake of the eel’s head, he let go and went flying through the air, landing with a sickening thud.
Simber returned from dropping off Lhasa, shouting, “Spike! Find Alex!” He lunged at the eel, sinking his claws into the slippery skin, while Florence grabbed on to its head, trying to hold the creature still. But the eel slipped out of her grasp and knocked her over.
Dangling in the air, wrapped in the eel’s tail, Talon managed to pull his sword from his belt. With all his strength he struck the eel, slicing clean through it. The eel screeched as its tail fell to the ground with Talon still wrapped inside.
The eel began to flail even more, rolling and twisting its way toward the center of the island, bucking Simber off and swatting Florence aside.
Talon, stunned from the fall, fumbled free of the still squirming tail and bounded after the creature. The tail wiggled its way to the water’s edge and fell into the sea.
In the water, Spike rushed to the shore, towing Carina and Alex, breathless and trying to figure out what was happening.
“Holy smokes!” Carina yelled. “The eel is on the island. It’s destroying everything!”
They pulled themselves ashore and ran toward the horrendous noise.
When they reached the destruction, all they could do was watch in horror. The eel had twisted around, and with a violent slap, it sent Simber soaring into the air once more. Simber came roaring back, his jaw not quite wide enough to grip the thicker parts of the beast, and his claws doing little to stop the eel from terrorizing everyone in its path.
The slimy creature batted Simber away and lunged at Talon, grabbing the bronze man in its mouth as it snaked its severed end around Florence, rolling her up in it. She managed to free her hands just as Talon began to push up on the eel’s jaw, trying to pull his body free.
The eel screeched. Suddenly a bright, blinding light sparked all around. Talon cried out in pain, his entire body lighting up like a fireball. Smoke poured from around his body. Florence shuddered with the jolt of electricity, unable to move. When it was over, she reached behind her and pulled an arrow from her quiver and the mighty bow from her shoulder.
“Talon!” Florence yelled.
As the eel shook her all around, Florence painstakingly nocked the arrow and waited until the eel had curled her around to face its head once more. When it did, she drew back the arrow and aimed. “Talon, don’t move!”
She released the shot with a powerful thwack that resonated across the island. Florence’s arrow soared straight and true, missing Talon’s neck by inches and burying itself deep between the eel’s eyes.
The eel’s scream died in its throat.
With a loud crash, its head flopped to the ground, throwing Talon hard into the brush. The severed end followed, slamming Florence into a copse of trees.
On the second impact, there was a thunderous snap of tree trunks, followed by an eerie silence. The eel quivered and was still. And then a hundred dropbears descended onto the creature and covered it.
The First Life of Lhasa
Alex, Carina, and Simbe
r rushed to where Florence lay on top of several felled trees. One arm and her bow rested a short distance away. Alex and Carina scrambled onto the tree trunks and ran along them to Florence’s side.
“Florence, you did it!” Alex shouted. “You got the eel!”
“Are you okay?” Carina asked.
Simber pushed gently on the trees from the other end and peered at Florence’s face. “Florrrence?” He wore a look of concern.
Florence stared up at the sky. She turned her head gingerly from side to side and checked the joints and fingers of her still attached arm. Then she sat up and looked down at her other shoulder. “Well, that’s a bit inconvenient. Not as bad as when my legs got lopped off at the knees, though. I’ll manage.”
“Can I give you a hand out of that trrree?” Simber asked.
“Har har, Cat,” Florence said. She eased up to a sitting position, checking her quiver first to make sure she hadn’t lost any arrows, and then her back, her legs, and her feet. “I think I’m all in two pieces.”
She grasped Simber’s neck and he helped pull her to her feet. “I got ’im good, eh, Alex?” she said with a grin.
“Right between the eyes,” Alex said. “I’ve never seen you use your bow before.”
“I only have one quiver of magical arrows. Once they’re spent, they lose their magic. So I only use them if I really, really need them.” She looked around, worried. “Is everyone else okay?”
She heard a step behind her and whirled around to see Talon coming toward them. “You used a precious arrow for my sake,” the bronze giant said, his voice full of wonder, but it turned to despair when he saw her missing limb. “And you’ve lost an arm—” He clapped his hand to his head in horror.
“Don’t worry,” Florence assured him, “it doesn’t hurt, and Octavia can fix it.” She looked at Simber. “Besides, we have bigger things to worry about. Where’s Lhasa?”
“I left herrr with Lani and Sky in the centerrr of the island.”