“The race started in Newport, Rhode Island. From there I headed east across the Atlantic Ocean to the coast of Spain.” She pointed to it and traced her route. “Then I sailed south around Cape Town, South Africa. Then up to Abu Dhabi, and then around India and Singapore and the Philippine Islands to South Korea. I had just left there and was on my way to New Zealand when the storms hit.”
“That’s an incredible distance,” marveled Lani, who was using the map’s key to figure it out. “You were very far from home.”
“I was at sea for months,” said Kaylee, “except for restocking supplies in the ports. I was the youngest sailor to ever attempt this race alone.”
“You didn’t have anybody with you at all?” exclaimed Alex. “We’d never do that here. Too dangerous.”
“My instructor and team were in a boat nearby most of the time, following me in case anything went wrong. But the rules stated that I had to do everything alone.” Kaylee studied the map and shook her head. “I was doing fine. I don’t know what went wrong, exactly. The storm came out of nowhere, and I got separated from my team. But I’d been in lots of storms before. It wasn’t a big deal.”
“Where were you on this map?” asked Sky. “Maybe we can find our island.”
Kaylee gave a grim smile. “South of Japan, northwest of the Philippines,” she said, and touched the spot on the map. “I realize all these place-names don’t mean anything to you. But Japan—that’s where the scientists are from.” She hesitated, then added, “This area of the sea is also where the circus ship had been when it hit a storm. Before it ran ashore on the Island of Graves, I mean. I read about it in the ship’s log.”
Alex took a closer look and pointed to some dots on the map. “There are islands there, right? See? Could this cluster be us?”
Kaylee laid her hand on Alex’s shoulder, realizing he wanted Artimé to be on her map almost as much as she did. “Those are islands, yes,” she said gently. “But they’re not your islands.”
Alex frowned. “How do you know?”
“They’re labeled, see?”
Alex looked at all of the land around the dots, reading the unfamiliar names aloud.
Sky gave Kaylee a solemn look. “So, have you figured out where we are if we’re not on your map?”
Kaylee shoved her hands in her pockets and sighed. “Yeah, I have, actually. It’s been in the back of my mind since the storm, but I didn’t want to believe it. However, after reading the ship’s logs I started to reconsider. And finding out that a dragon not only exists here, but is the actual ruler of the sea? That pretty much solidified it in my mind.”
Alex and Lani looked up from the map. “Where are we, then?” asked Alex.
“Well,” Kaylee said, pointing to a triangular shape made of faint, dotted lines on the map, “I’m afraid we’re lost about a hundred miles south of Tokyo in the Devil’s Sea. Also known—quite fearfully by sailors, I’m afraid—as the Dragon’s Triangle.”
Trouble at Sea
Henry was glad for the cocoon, which was more like a giant wind sock than a chair, because it allowed him to stretch out and relax without fear of flying off Spike’s back. He had never gone so fast in his life. His eyes watered in the wind, and after a while he just curled up and put his arms over his face to shield them.
“Are you okay?” Florence called out to him.
He nodded and gave Florence a thumbs-up.
Before dark, Warbler Island was growing large off to their left. Pan and Spike decided to go around the island at a bit of a distance to keep from being noticed by anyone there.
Spike slowed and cleared her blowhole, drenching Henry, though he was wet anyway from the sea spray. “Something is not right at Warbler,” she said.
Pan slowed as well and swung her head around to look at the silent island. Florence and Henry looked too.
Pan’s yellow eyes narrowed. “Ships,” she said.
“In the water?” asked Florence. Neither she nor Henry could see them.
“Yes,” said Pan. “Lined up around the east side. They’ve moved some of their fleet offshore, it appears.”
Florence looked troubled. “I wonder why?” She thought about the Warbler children in Artimé.
No one had an answer.
“I’ll take a closer look on my return,” said Pan. “There are no people on board the ships that I can tell, so likely they won’t be going anywhere tonight.” They sped up again, anxious to get to their destination.
With Warbler behind them, the Island of Fire grew larger, and the Artiméans and Pan noticed more ships, this time sailing from the pirate island toward Warbler.
Florence pointed them out to Henry, and Spike and Pan changed course to make sure their group wasn’t detected.
“This doesn’t look good,” Florence said to Henry.
“It could be nothing,” Henry said. “Or maybe the pirates are buying more slaves, like Copper.”
“I doubt they would need multiple ships for that,” Florence said. It was worrisome.
The party continued traveling swiftly as darkness fell. Henry curled up once more and fell asleep, and Florence sat quietly, thinking about seeing Talon again.
Deep into the night, Spike called out, “Something bad is coming.”