The jungle residents settled back to life as usual. While Aaron waited for the scientists’ return, he introduced Alex to the creatures there and explained how to handle the toothy dog, how to fix Panther’s tail, and how to make the rock feel important now and then to boost his spirits. He reminded Alex that the six dropbears in the jungle were carnivores, not herbivores like the ones on the Island of Legends, and suggested it might not be a good idea to let them mingle—at least until things settled down and the island needed a bit of excitement.
Karkinos decided to stay nearby, which made it very easy for the Artiméans to visit whenever they wanted to—and for the inhabitants of the Island of Legends to visit Artimé. That suited Talon and Florence perfectly.
And all but one of the Warbler ships that hadn’t been destroyed had been moved to the lagoon, near the Claire, until they were needed. It was a very impressive fleet. Alex had instructed Captain Ahab, who had been put back together, to leave one of the ships out front so Aaron and Kaylee could paint and decorate it to their liking and supply it with all sorts of comforts for their upcoming journey.
The hospital ward slowly emptied out one last time. Alex was able to shrink it back to the size Henry liked. The only frequent visitor was Lani, who still couldn’t walk or move her legs at all. She kept a brave face and a strong attitude about it with her brother and her friends, and she wasn’t in pain. But when she was alone or with her father and she let herself think about it, she cried quite a bit, especially at first. But then she pulled renewed strength from somewhere deep inside her—perhaps it was the spirit of Meghan that propelled it—and she carried on with her life, discovering new ways to live it, though not without immense frustrations.
Watching Lani figure out life in a new way helped Alex tremendously, and it reaffirmed his decision to remain head mage. What was Artimé if not creative enough to thrive with change? They were a people who had survived against the odds since their first infractions under High Priest Justine’s rule.
And while Henry, Carina, and the nurses puzzled over Lani’s injury, as they’d done with Alex’s, they could come up with no way to heal her. But Aaron, ever the designer, was struck with an idea. Inspired by Lhasa the snow lion, Ms. Octavia, and the contraption Ms. Octavia had made for Sean Ranger back when he’d had a broken leg, Aaron began tinkering. With a little help from the octogator, he designed and built Lani an intricate but minimalistic contraption, which she wore like a belt at her waist. It allowed her to move about Artimé in a standing or sitting position, floating just slightly above the ground like Lhasa did. Ms. Octavia added magic to it so that Lani could control it with a few key commands. The contraption could even help her climb the stairs to her room. As Lani got used to it, she began buzzing around Artimé almost as often and as speedily as she used to, just in a different way. And once that happened, it was back to work for her—which was exactly what she wanted.
Often she and the group of friends gathered together in the dining room or the hospital ward to work together. Henry, Carina, and Sean experimented with medicine. Alex, Samheed, and Lani created the concepts for new spells, and Sky, Kaylee, and Aaron executed the designs of the components. Thatcher joined them now too, interested in learning more about how to create spells. It didn’t hurt that he and Henry had become close friends in the time since the war ended, and they were often seen having deep, philosophical talks together.
Soon Claire was well enough to remove the thornaments on all the Warblerans who had survived the great battle. Thatcher’s sister, Yazmin, had recovered nicely and was on her feet not long after the battle ended. Their parents were among the Warblerans who had switched sides during the fighting, and both made it through, scarred but alive. Scarlet’s mother, who’d grabbed on to Simber’s mouth from Queen Eagala’s ship, had fought alongside her daughter. Both Scarlet’s and Thatcher’s families decided to stay in Artimé.
Copper and Daxel, along with several other Warblerans, chose to take one of the ships back to their home island and start life anew with Copper in charge of things. To their great joy upon returning home, they discovered that Fifer’s spell-breaking scream had not only turned the ravens to smoke, but it had also broken the silence spell that had covered Warbler for years. With all the thornaments removed, the Warblerans were well on their way to peace within their own vast caves. And Copper, Sky, and Crow made plans for frequent visits between the two islands.