Island of Shipwrecks

“He’s alive,” he whispered, clutching his side while the world changed beneath his feet.

The ice disappeared, and the grass and flowers sprouted up once more. The pirate ship and Claire’s speedboat were set free from the frozen stretch of sea, and in the distance, Alex could see the flash of a faux diamond–studded spike slicing the air, followed by Spike Furious herself, jumping and splashing in shallow water again.

“Yes!” Lani cried, turning to him. “We did it, Al!” She hugged Alex as the people of Artimé cheered and ran to the lawn to celebrate. “Artimé is alive again!”

But Alex hardly noticed what was going on around him. Strange thoughts appeared in his head and churned through his mind. He’s alive. He stumbled away from Lani’s grasp, a dazed look on his face. Lani watched him quizzically as he stripped off his robe and thrust it at her.

“Here,” he said in an odd voice. “I . . . I need you to take care of things. My sisters, and Artimé, and everything. Just for a while. Something’s happened, you see, and I . . .” He searched the crowd, looking for someone, and finally he found her. “I’ve got to . . .”

Lani grabbed his shirt, forcing his attention back to her. “Alex, what in the world are you doing?”

Finally he looked into Lani’s eyes. “I’ve got to go,” he said simply.

And before his stunned friend could reply, Alex ran to Sky’s side, took her hand, and spoke earnestly into her ear. Her eyes grew wide. And then she nodded. Alex kissed her cheek and darted off alone, almost completely unnoticed by the rejoicing Artiméans. He veered off the lawn to the shore, and continued toward the lagoon. And once he arrived at the spot where platyprots often perched, he splashed through the water, dove, then surfaced and climbed into the gleaming white boat named Claire.

He stood at the controls, and at his command, the magical boat roared to life. Alex swung it around, pointed it to the east, and without a single look back at the land and people he loved, he set out, full speed ahead, in search of the broken half of his soul.