Sky said softly. “They know we’re here, but they won’t alert anybody yet—they don’t want to be seen, and they don’t know we know they’re there. They are experts with the sleep darts, so they feel very confident right now.”
“Do you know how many darts they have?” Alex asked. “At least a dozen each, I’d guess.” Sky lifted her chin in defiance as she gazed at the island. “They’re very accurate, though, so they never expect to use them all.”
Alex nodded. He checked the sun, which hung low over Pirate Island. “We’ve got about an hour of daylight left,” he said. He turned to get reassurance from Simber as his stomach started flipping like a fish on the sand. Simber nodded.
“First wave,” Alex said, trying to make his voice sound commanding, “you’re up. Be careful.” He turned to the fox and kitten. “You know what to do.”
They both nodded. Fox’s hind legs jittered with excitement, and Kitten stood up on Fox’s head. With a nimble leap, the driftwood fox jumped over the side of the ship and splashed in the water, bobbing immediately to the surface. He began swimming with all his might. Kitten rode high and dry—except for the initial splash, of course. Florence followed, stepping carefully off the ship as Simber put his weight on the other end to balance it. She gathered up the rest of the statues in her arms like a bundle of sticks and made her way to the shore in a few long strides, just barely beating Fox and Kitten. Everyone else stayed on the ship.
Meghan gripped Alex’s arm as Florence set everyone down on the sand. “Just when you think you’re safe,” she whispered. “Bam!”
Right on cue, the first round of sleep darts soared through the air. The tiki statue remained on board to count darts with its three sets of eyes, and Simber hovered above the ship, waiting.
When the darts bounced off the statues, Captain Ahab hobbled around, picking them up and putting them inside his hollow peg leg, and the statues, unaffected, kept walking. There was a moment when no darts flew. “They’re shocked,” Sky said. “But now they’re recovering and reloading.”
A moment later the darts began again, pelting the statues like a freak desert hailstorm. In the flurry, the fox and the kitten darted into the trees and disappeared. Charlie loped after them.
“Magicians ready?” Alex called. He pulled out a component in each hand and held them. When the darts thinned out and the tiki statue had counted one hundred and fifty, he said, “Go!”
“Attack dart throwers!” the magicians commanded, each launching two origami dragons. The flaming dragons soared toward the trees, seeking out their invisible targets. “Okay, Simber. You’re up.” Alex said.
Simber beat the wind and flew through the air just as the
dragons began to explode, pointing out the hidden dart throwers. Florence and the other statues grabbed the ones who fell from their posts attempting to escape the fierce fiery dragons, and Simber plucked all the other dart throwers from the trees. From the ship, Ms. Octavia was the best long-distance shot, and she froze any of them who tried to get away, while Florence cast spells on the ones within their grasp on the beach.
Soon all the orange-eyed dart throwers were contained and placed in a neat stack on the beach, frozen. Simber and Florence checked the trees once more, finding no one else. Florence turned to the ship and gave Alex a thumbs-up that all was clear. Then she barked out an order and most of the statues began to move along the perimeter of the island, staying close to the trees to guide any stray, fleeing, or lost Artiméans to safety. Florence disappeared, making her way to the other side of the island, where the entrance nearest Queen Eagala’s cave was, in case any problems arose there.
“Rufus, your team is clear to go,” Alex said. “Be safe up there.” The small army of squirrelicorns took off flying for the center of the island.
Alex turned to the humans. “Meg, if there are any problems, send me a seek spell. And if Lani and Sam both make it back here, send out Lani’s so I know. The squirrelicorns are monitoring above and will alert Florence to any activity. Once things move this way according to plan, she’ll head back here to get the statues loaded on the ship.”
Meghan nodded. He face was white and she gripped the railing. This was a little too real for her.
Alex glanced at the setting sun once more. “How long has it been?”
“Eight minutes since Fox and Kitten made a break for it,” Sean said.
Alex set his jaw. “I can’t stand this.”
“You have to give them time,” Sky said.
“I know.” He stared at the island, unable to see anyone at all.
The agonizing minutes crawled by. Alex fingered Lani and Samheed’s spell components in his pocket, waiting. “Time?” he asked after a while.
“Twelve minutes.”
“Sheesh.” Alex dropped his head in his hands and wiped away the sweat.
Everyone else paced, or wriggled a foot nervously.
Finally Sean touched Alex’s shoulder. “Fifteen, my friend,” he said. “Let’s do this.”
“Okay.” Alex sucked in a breath and pulled the two prototype components out of his pocket. He clenched them in his fist and held his hand in front of him. He let out the breath, concentrating on the items in his hand, and whispered, “Seek.”
Two flaming balls whooshed out of Alex’s hand and raced to the shore, going in different directions, and soon they were hidden by trees. “Come on,” Alex whispered. He blew out another nervous breath and gave a grim smile to his friends. “Okay,” he said. He looked at Crow, Henry, and Sky, and then at Sean and Carina. “Ready?”