The Island of Fire never saw the return of its pirates. Spike went to check on the inhabitants, and she returned to report that the few elderly people and young children who hadn’t joined the attackers continued to live on without trouble in the reverse aquarium, riding the whim of the plunging volcano with no way to escape. Alex decided that once things were under control at home, he’d pay a visit to the residents of the Island of Fire to see if anyone wanted to leave their home and join them in the outside world, living in peace in Artimé. But that time had not yet come.
Life in Quill was back to normal—the only thing missing was the threat of attack. Gunnar Haluki strolled around the almost pleasant streets of Quill, often with Claire Morning at his side for company, making sure the people there had what they needed. Well, most of the people, anyway. He left the few ornery Wanteds alone on their patch of soot.
Crow thrived in his role as caretaker to the twin girls, and his secret admiration for Scarlet grew. He was thrilled to discover that she was staying in Artimé, though of course he said nothing to anyone about his feelings. He liked to daydream that she stayed because she liked him, even though he knew that wasn’t the reason. Once in a while she smiled his way, and that alone energized him for days.
Sean and Carina grew closer than ever and decided to stay together, wherever life would lead them. They hoped for some quiet before they took on any new adventures, though. And Carina’s son Seth began to think of Sean like a father. Sean thought that was the greatest thing since magic was invented.
Claire Morning and Ms. Octavia were back in their classrooms as usual, teaching those who wished to be taught, both young and old. The library buzzed with frequent visitors, and the lounge was much less crowded than it had been during the final battle. Kitten and Fox rejoined the lounge band, and Earl the blackboard was slightly less grumpy than before.
But the theater was dark for now. Former students scribbled poems and stories in iambic pentameter on tissue paper and brought them in to place them on the stage, under a single spotlight. The papers fluttered about at the slightest breeze in butterfly-like tribute to Mr. Appleblossom. And mounted on the walls all the way around the auditorium were the many hundreds of swords and shields left by the pirates—for decoration, but easily accessible just in case they should ever be needed again.
Florence and Simber were most often found perched on their glorious pedestals inside the front door to the mansion, as they were meant to be. New to the entryway was Talon, who often came for his morning visit to gaze upon Florence’s great beauty and be charmed by her wit. Sometimes the gazing and charming was more than Simber could take, so he went for frequent walks. Once he even ventured into the deepest, darkest part of the jungle to say hello to Panther, whom he thought was quite striking, though he had his reservations about her violent impulses.
Panther screamed in his face.
Spike was thrilled to have underwater friends nearby, and she spent her days as the great communicator between crab, giant squid, and sea monster. She delivered the squid’s report to Alex that Queen Eagala had indeed ridden the whispering ship straight into the volcano and disappeared, hollering most of the way.
Sometimes Spike helped Issie look for her baby, though the sea monster mostly kept to herself. Every now and then Issie would disappear for several days at a time, but she always returned. No one ever learned where she went—or if they did, they kept silent about it. Kaylee had a pretty good guess, though.
Pan and her children roamed the sea and airspace around the islands. Pan made sure all five of the young dragons had met the people and creatures of Artimé and Karkinos and understood that they were friends.
Thisbe, Fifer, and Seth grew very fond of the young dragons, and quite vociferously wished they would visit more often. The girls especially took to Arabis the orange, who was the calmest among the five, and who even let them ride upon her back as she floated gently in the shallow water.
? ? ? ?
On the morning that Aaron and Kaylee were to depart with the scientists, Alex and Sky sat on the lawn with Samheed and Lani, all of them working on projects of some sort. Samheed ignored everyone as he desperately wrote the last scene of the play he’d been working on so that he could reopen the theater and get the new young students to test it out. It was a daunting task, but Samheed was determined to fulfill his mentor’s dying wishes, and he could think of nothing else.
Sky studied the ship’s logbooks that Kaylee had recovered from the Island of Graves, wondering if there were any clues inside that would help them understand how people from the outside world first came to be here in the Dragon’s Triangle—and if there was any way out. As an added bonus, she learned a lot of strange things about circus people.