“Spike and Issie and the giant squid all pulled Karkinos along,” said Henry, “so we made pretty good time. And we came into sight of Artimé at dawn, right when all the ships were emptying, so we just kept rolling in. We saw the black smoke.”
Crow piped up from a nearby bed. “That was Fifer,” he said. “She screamed and crushed a raven in her hand, and it turned them all to smoke.”
“So it was Fifer,” Alex said, shaking his head in wonder. “We could hear her scream. It about broke our eardrums.”
“Wow,” said Henry. “You’ve got your hands full with those two.”
“I’m suddenly worried for my own safety,” said Alex. “Thanks, Henry.”
“No problem. I’ve got to keep moving—good luck out there.” Henry turned to assist the next injured person.
Alex smiled and slid off the bed, then picked up a pile of sandwiches that the kitchen staff had made for him to take out to the others. He headed to the lawn, feeling re-energized.
“Oh good—you’re okay!” exclaimed Kaylee when she saw him coming. “Things are falling apart a bit out here. Can I have one of those? I’m starving.” She grabbed a sandwich and shoved half of it into her mouth.
“Sure,” said Alex. “What’s happening?”
“The Loch Ness Monster got stabbed,” she said, her mouth full. “She’s okay though.”
“The . . . what?”
“The Loch—” Kaylee began, then rolled her eyes. “Oh, forget it. Culture gap. The sea monster thing. Nessie.”
“You mean Issie?”
“Yeah, whatever you call her in this world. No wonder nobody in Scotland can find her. Anyway, thanks for the sandwich.” She grabbed two more and ran off toward Sky and Carina.
Alex was mystified by Kaylee’s words, but there wasn’t time for questions now. Half a dozen Artiméans were writhing on the battlefield. He tossed the remaining sandwiches at Samheed and Lani so they could pass them around, and ran to help the injured. Soon he was dragging people into the hospital ward.
The pirates rallied, and their size and experience began to get the best of Artimé yet again. And though they’d been strong for so long, Alex’s friends began to fall. Lani took an especially hard hit to the back that sent her flying into the air and landing hard, knocking her out cold, and she wouldn’t wake up. Carina got backed into a tree and took a shallow stab to the stomach. Thatcher had a deep slice across his forehead and cheek that wouldn’t stop bleeding, but he refused to quit fighting and eventually passed out on the lawn.
One by one, Alex carried them all in, his body and heart aching. Why couldn’t they just win and be done with this? Things were looking desperate again. Some of Alex’s best spell casters were forced into the hospital ward, leaving the Artiméans struggling to hold their own.
When Alex returned to the lawn after bringing Thatcher inside, he saw a pirate leveling Claire Morning with his fist. From the ground, Claire kicked the pirate hard, and the pirate slammed his shield into Claire’s head, knocking her out. Alex gasped. The pirate lifted his sword up over her chest.
“Stop!” Alex yelled, and tore over the lawn toward Claire, but he was too far away to reach her in time. As the pirate prepared to stab his sword down, Liam came out of nowhere like a bull and slammed his head into the pirate’s gut, sending them both reeling back. They scrabbled on the ground, fistfighting. The pirate slipped from Liam’s clutches, grabbed his sword, and dove at Liam, pinning him to the ground. He lifted his body off Liam, and before the former governor could move, the pirate ran him through.
Horrified, Alex drew his sword and came up behind the pirate, but before he could attack, Kaylee rushed over and brought her blade down over the enemy’s head as hard as she could. The pirate wobbled and crashed to the ground in a heap. Alex and Kaylee pushed him aside and knelt next to Liam, then pulled the sword from his body. But Liam was already dead.
Feeling sick, Alex turned away. He went to check Claire for a pulse and found she was still alive. “Keep fighting!” Alex said to Kaylee as she ran off to do just that. Alex lifted Claire into his aching arms and slogged with her back to the mansion, hoping there was something Henry could do to help her pull through.
With the tide turning sharply in the pirates’ favor, Alex needed more than a miracle to get through the rest of the day.
To the Rescue