Soon every tender had reached the shore and unloaded, and Warblerans and pirates stood armed in a giant circle around the panicked people of Artimé, watching the birds do their work for them.
A single raven managed to get inside the rock’s mouth. It went straight for Crow’s face and began pecking. Fifer reached out, grabbed the bird, and screamed at it.
The scream rose above all other sounds in Artimé and reverberated through the land. Everyone, even the birds, froze and listened.
“That’s one of the twins,” whispered Alex, eyes wide.
Within seconds, the scream ended and all of the thousands of ravens turned to smoke.
A Familiar Face
The blackness billowed and lifted into the sky, forming streams of smoke like giant black snakes slithering back to the ships, weaving through their sails and entering through their portholes and pouring down their staircases.
“Who—what—?” cried Alex. “Was that Fifer?”
“It sounded like her,” said Sky, breathless and incredulous.
The pirates and Warblerans watched wide-eyed, then looked at each other, concerned. And that’s when the Artiméans realized what had transpired during the raven attack. They looked around the lawn as the morning light returned, and realized with dread that they were entirely surrounded by rows and rows of pirates, and now Warblerans, too. There were twice the number of enemies than they’d seen the day before. Unfortunately, most of the Artiméans had fled the mansion without their weapons.
Captain Baldhead, looking pristine and unblemished, and only slightly fazed by the unplanned disappearance of their secret weapon, stepped forward to address the ragged, rapidly shrinking crowd of Artiméans. “We’ve got you surrounded,” he said in an ominous voice. “Hand over the Warblerans, or we will end every last one of you.” He drew his sword, and everyone around the circle, including the Warblerans, drew swords as well.
The Warblerans of Artimé looked surprised to see their people holding weapons, and doing so quite expertly.
That’s why they waited so many months to attack, thought Alex. They were training the Warblerans to fight. Alex tried not to show his panic. He didn’t know what to do.
The Artiméans, looking small on the torn-up lawn, gazed with false bravado into the eyes of their enemies, knowing it was only a matter of time before they’d meet their tragic ends. Even Florence and Simber knew they were vastly outnumbered—a wrong move now could cost the rest of the Artiméans’ lives.
The orange-eyed among them who weren’t hidden inside the rock—Copper, Sky, Lani, Samheed, and Scarlet and Thatcher—stood together, surrounded and protected by their friends. Copper glanced at Sky, knowing Artimé would never give them up. She and Sky had talked privately about this day, and what they would do if and when it came. Sky looked at Alex with love and sorrow and apologies in her eyes, and Alex looked back at her, alarmed, worried that she was going to give herself up for the sake of Artimé.
“Don’t,” Alex mouthed. He shook his head, eyes pleading. “Please don’t.”
Sky’s chin quivered, and after a moment she turned her face away.
Copper looked at the pirates, her gaze moving slowly over the ranks. She recognized some of them, having slaved for them before her rescue from the Island of Fire. They stared back at her with contempt. She held her head higher. And then her gaze landed on another familiar face.
Her eyes flickered.
His eyes narrowed. And then he tilted his head the slightest bit, revealing the thorn necklace below his pirate-shirt collar. He looked away, and in doing so reminded Copper not to let her gaze rest too long on him.
Alongside the fear grew a tiny sprout of hope, for the man she recognized was her old friend and fellow slave, Daxel.
When All Is Lost (Reprise)
Copper’s fingers brushed the back of Sky’s hand, and when Sky glanced her way, Copper shook her head.
Sky breathed a quiet sigh of relief. She didn’t know what had changed her mother’s mind, but clearly something had happened. And then she, too, noticed Daxel, the pirate slave who had helped them escape with Copper from the Island of Fire. Soon she realized there were a number of pirates she hadn’t seen yesterday, all wearing white, high-collared shirts that bulged suspiciously at the neck, and all with the telltale orange eyes. More slaves like her mother.
Captain Baldhead lifted his sword. “Pirates, prepare to destroy the rock and remove the hidden children!”
A small band of pirates stepped over to the rock, while others filled in their spots in the circle to keep it strong. The pirates raised their swords and began hacking at the rock’s mouth. The rock’s yellow eyes flinched.