Pan regarded Sky and Simber as if she were not quite sure she could trust them with a secret, and then she looked over her shoulder at the sea before leaning in toward Alex. “I must show you,” she said softly. “Come with me. I will return you to this spot by daybreak.”
Alex’s eyes widened. Did he dare go off with the dragon alone without knowing where she was taking him? But why wouldn’t he? She had helped them so generously, he couldn’t say no. Perhaps I should ask Aaron to join me, he thought. But then he frowned—he was the head mage of Artimé. He didn’t need Aaron’s help. Alex looked at Simber, who of course had heard the conversation. The cat narrowed his eyes but nodded once. Sky nodded more vigorously.
“All right,” Alex said to Pan, just as quietly. “How do you want me to, ah . . . climb on, exactly?” he said, looking up at the dragon’s back.
Pan’s tail slithered around and picked up Alex, depositing him in a sitting position. “We shall return,” Pan said to Sky and Simber. “Do not fear.” She turned her head to regard Alex. “Hold on very tightly to the folds of skin at the base of my neck, where the scales are worn away,” she said.
Alex did as he was told. He leaned forward as she began to move, and a moment later Pan was skating across the water, propelled by her tail. On the open sea, Pan sailed over the waves at a breathtaking speed that Alex had never experienced before. He pressed his face against the dragon’s neck and hung on tightly, keeping his eyes closed as his skin rippled from the force of the wind. Before Alex could imagine they were anywhere close to the island, Pan slowed. Alex opened his eyes and saw the towering cylinder in front of him.
Pan’s tail snaked under Alex’s arms and encircled his chest, then lifted the mage into the air, suspending him above the water. She sank the claws of her front feet into the island wall, and in an awkward jerking fashion began to climb, holding Alex completely still in the air all the while.
“Whoa,” he whispered as the height grew dizzying. He gripped Pan’s tail around his chest.
“Do not be afraid,” Pan said. “I’m going to set you on the top edge of the island between two spikes. Hold on and don’t fall in, whatever you do.”
“Or out, I suppose,” Alex said weakly.
“That could be nearly as painful,” Pan agreed. She clung to the side of the island and lifted her tail as high as it could go. She set Alex down on the rim of the crown. “All right?” she asked, loosening her hold on him but not letting go.
Alex grabbed on to the spiked crown and planted his feet. His knees quaked. “All right,” he said.
“Don’t worry about any noises you may hear,” said Pan. “They can’t get to you.”
Alex gripped the wall tighter. “They?” he whispered. His heart thudded.
Swiftly Pan whipped her tail around another spike in the island’s crown and took several large steps up the wall until she was halfway to the top. Then she sank her claws in and clung to the wall once more, letting her tail drop into the sea like she had done when Alex and Sky first met her. She pulled up several fish and flung them over the top of the crown.
Alex turned his head to watch the fish sail overhead and into the island. He was still fearful, and he almost didn’t want to know what sort of creatures Pan was feeding, but curiosity won out. As long as it wasn’t a bunch of saber-toothed gorillas, he figured he could handle it. He turned his head and peered down as Pan fished some more.
The inside of the island was like a pit. Alex couldn’t see very far down. In the darkness he could only make out a few strange shadows. But when the fish made a splash in the bottom of it, there was a mad scramble and several roars, followed by a few flashes of fire that disappeared immediately.
There’s water inside the island? And fire, too? thought Alex. He glanced at Pan, and then back down into the island pit. Could it be?
Pan gathered up another tail full of fish and flung them into the pit, and the sounds followed as before. She repeated the act twice more, and then wrapped her tail around a crown point and pulled herself up to the top.
Alex looked at her, wide-eyed. “I’m sorry, Pan, but I have to ask—what horrible-sounding creature are you keeping down there that you want me to give the ability to fly?” he said. “Do you seriously want me to provide world access to a roaring beast like that? How can I? Wouldn’t it put my people in danger?” He couldn’t imagine that Pan would want to unleash anything horrible. Had he judged her wrongly after all?
Pan gave Alex the most heartfelt, sorrowful look he’d ever seen her express. And then she looked in all directions as if making sure no enemies were near. Satisfied, she turned her face up to the sky, opened her mouth, and blew fire into the air.
At first Alex didn’t know what she was doing. But then he realized she was providing light for him. Slowly his eyes left hers and he leaned over the edge to look down inside the cylindrical island.
And when he focused on the scene below, he gasped and nearly lost his balance. “Oh my,” he whispered. “What in the world do we have here?”
Pan’s Sobering Predicament