Aaron thought about it. “I’m not sure. Good, I think.”
Alex tried to hide the grin on his face. For a former ruler of an entire civilization, and a mage with astounding abilities, Aaron was definitely naive about a few things. But Alex supposed his brother had never had any real friends his age until now, and certainly no romantic relationships. “Hmm,” said Alex. “Maybe she likes you.”
“She’s my friend, I think,” said Aaron, though he sounded uncertain.
“Well, yes, I know that,” said Alex. “But I mean maybe she, you know, likes you in a different way.”
Aaron had a hard time imagining anybody liking him like that. He’d never pictured himself coupled with anyone romantically. In his imagination, he was always and forever alone. “I don’t know,” he said.
“Don’t know what?”
But Aaron didn’t know the answer to that question either. He shrugged and shook his head. “I don’t want to talk about this. It doesn’t matter anyway.”
Alex understood the complex thoughts that were probably going through Aaron’s mind. “I get it,” he said. He got up and unfolded his seat to make a bed.
Aaron did the same, and the two grabbed blankets and lay down under the stars.
? ? ? ?
The next morning Alex woke to a familiar sight: the cylindrical island jutting up in front of them. The boat was idling, slowly circling the island. Alex got up and started looking for Pan. Knowing she was probably hiding, Alex hoped they wouldn’t have to wait long before she noticed them.
“Pan?” he called out a bit uncertainly. His voice woke Aaron, who sat up and looked slowly up the immense wall of rock before him. Charlie opened the door and peeked through the crack to see what was happening.
“How are we supposed to get up there?” Aaron asked.
“Pan will help us,” said Alex. “I hope she’s here.”
It didn’t take long before Pan’s oversized head appeared above them, and soon she was climbing down the wall in her awkward way, using her tail as a rope and sinking her claws into the stone, dropping down one length at a time. When she neared the boat, she stopped and clung to the wall, looking all around warily.
“Do not call my name aloud again,” she said in a low voice. “You’re too trusting. You know the pirates are on the move.”
Charlie quickly closed the door to the cabin, hiding inside.
“I’m sorry,” Alex whispered. “I didn’t think they had come all the way out here.”
“They haven’t—not yet, anyway,” said Pan. “But we cannot be too cautious. Eventually they will notice that the storm is gone from the Island of Shipwrecks if they haven’t already, and that will anger them as well. We must be very careful not to give them a reason to come this way.”
Alex and Aaron nodded, Aaron’s eyes wide with dread at the thought of the pirates making a stop at his future home. He hadn’t thought about that—without the hurricane, anyone could approach the island and attack the scientists. It made Aaron even more eager to get there and check on them.
Pan continued to look all around, and when she was satisfied they were not being watched, she peered at the wings lying in the boat. Her face changed abruptly. “How beautiful,” she crooned. She looked at Alex and Aaron with tears in her eyes. “You have matched my children perfectly. I could not have imagined it.”
“I hope they work,” Alex said.
Pan’s eyes clouded. “As do I,” she said.
“Let’s give them a try. Which dragon shall we work with first?”
“Arabis the orange is the most mature,” said Pan. “She will sit quietly while you work on her.”
“Then we’ll work on Arabis first,” said Alex.
Aaron picked up a wing for the orange dragon and handed it to Alex, then went back for the second one. He gave a dubious look at the ruler of the sea, afraid to ask where they had to go, exactly, to find the orange dragon.
Pan gripped the side of the cylindrical island and dropped her tail, letting it slither around the boys. “We must hurry so no one notices your boat,” she said.
Alex frowned, thinking Pan was acting a bit paranoid. “We’ll go as fast as we can, but we want to get it right.”
“Of course,” said Pan. With her tail tightly wound around the boys’ chests, she lifted them out of the boat.
Aaron clung to the wing and looked around anxiously as he began to rise in the air next to Alex. “This is quite frightening, isn’t it?” he whispered.
“A bit,” Alex agreed. “But she won’t let go of us.”
“Let’s hope not,” said Aaron.
Pan climbed up the wall, her body moving jerkily but her tail remaining quite calm as she went. Soon she reached the top and swung the boys over and down into the core of the island.
In daylight, the dragons were much easier to spot in the shallow water. Aaron looked as if he were about to faint. He began to tremble and sweat profusely.