Island of Fire

Samheed patted the man’s shoulder sympathetically.

Alex, Sky, Samheed, Meghan, and Lani gathered in a group to try to figure out where the thing could have come from. And then Lani blurted out, “Sometimes don’t you just wonder how we all got here? I mean our ancestors, before Mr. Today and Justine started Quill.”

That left them all silent and thoughtful. Aaron stared at Lani. “What do you mean, before them?”

Lani startled. Most of them had forgotten that he was still standing nearby, waiting to be let free.

But Lani didn’t have time to answer him, not that she would have anyway, because Simber rose quickly and stared out over the sea to the west. Alex followed his gaze, and then he sucked in a breath.

“Oh, crud,” he said. He raced to Simber, made sure he wasn’t imagining things, and said quietly, “Is that—?”

Simber growled long and low. “It is.”

Alex tried not to panic. He stood by Simber’s side collecting his wits and gathering courage through a few mostly painless deep breaths. Florence moved over to them as well. Alex turned to face the partygoers, his face stricken, as hundreds of tiny lights appeared, dotting the surface of the sea between Warbler and Artimé.

The time for merriment and discussion about flying objects was over.

“Everybody,” Alex said in as calm a voice as he could muster. “It appears we are under attack. I need you to go inside and get dressed for battle.”

The hundred or so Unwanteds that remained stood stunned, and then several of them gasped and jumped up, trying to see what was happening. The lights slowly grew stronger.

Alex called for attention once again, but the panic was palpable. “Warriors, you’ll find instructions on your blackboards in a few minutes. As soon as you have them, return to the lawn. Go quickly now!” There was a split second’s hesitation before the alarmed Artiméans stampeded to the mansion door.

Alex looked around, anxious, scanning the crowd for his closest friends, and he saw Sky at a run, dragging Crow by the hand and rushing up to Sam and Lani.

“They’re coming for us!” Sky screamed. “Lani, Sam, Crow—we have to go back with them or they’ll attack Artimé!”

“No!” Alex shouted. “No one is going back there. Artimé fights to protect its people.”

Sky’s eyes blazed. “I won’t be responsible for anyone’s death!” she yelled back at him, her voice ragged.

Crow started crying as people pushed past him.

“Sky—” Alex said, but Lani caught Alex’s eye. She grabbed Sky’s arm and pulled her and Crow inside.

Alex turned to Florence. Outwardly he was calm and collected, but inwardly he felt like he was bordering on hysterical. He pulled his little notebook from his pocket to sketch out their plan of defense, knowing that Artimé was the most prepared it had ever been yet feeling like they were about to be overwhelmed.

He focused, turning away from the flurry and chaos at the mansion door, while the High Priest Aaron Stowe, more afraid than all the rest, wrenched his arms free from his guards and lost himself in the crowd, still shackled. He tripped up the stairs, and before anyone cared enough to stop him, he careened down the secret hallway and into the kitchenette, and stumbled into the tube.

Faced with an array of buttons this time, Aaron panicked. “Which one?” he whispered like a man possessed. “Which one!” He hesitated, and then he slammed his shackled fists into all of them.

No more than an instant later, the high priest of Quill faded away.