Island of Legends (The Unwanteds) Read Online Free Page B

wore off. At the sight of the weapons, Mr. Appleblossom had returned with an apparent change of heart. He stuck by Alex’s side, having pushed his way forward to assist now that so many of Artimé’s front line were flattened.
    “Oh, thank goodness,” Alex said, seeing the eccentric theater instructor. “Let’s split these up and be done, shall we? Scatterclips seem to be the answer here.”
    Together they fired a dozen smart rounds of scatterclips, sending all but a few of the Warblerans smacking into the sides of ships. The few whose paths were not in a direct line with a ship flew past them and kept going, out of sight.
    When Alex ran out of scatterclips, he pulled out a new spell component that Meghan had created and popped it into his mouth. He blew through his lips, and a long, thin bubble emerged, taking the form of a sword. Alex grabbed the bubble sword and began swiping it at the oncoming attackers, sending them bouncing in various directions, where others could subdue them.
    Mr. Appleblossom followed up with a new abstract spell, which caused the Warbler attackers’ body parts to scramble, causing mass confusion.
    Once the last of the Warblerans at the shoreline was rendered useless, Alex and Mr. Appleblossom turned to see who might have gotten past them. As it turned out, a great number of them had.
    The two charged toward the enemy, meeting up with Sean and Carina near the entrance to Quill. “Over there!” Carina cried. “They’ve got Crow.” She rushed off, and when she was in range, fired off a variety of spells. Crow fell to the ground. Carina scooped him up and ran inside the mansion.
    “Sean,” Alex said, “we’ve got to get Sam, Meg, and Lani into the mansion. Sky, too, if you can find her.” He looked all around, knowing Sky must be outside. There was no way she would have gone to the library without Crow.
    Alex ran toward Henry just as the boy was being held against a tree with a knife to his throat, and quickly put a stop to that. Then the two turned to see a concerted effort by adult Unwanteds, not known for their magical fighting abilities, who pooled some swan song spells and sent eightWarblerans squawking and waddling in a circle all at once.
    “Well done!” Alex shouted to them. “Can you do it again?”
    With a few more quick blasts by each Unwanted who was still able, the remaining Warblerans were soon contained in one way or another—many of them stone-cold statues, reminding Alex a little too much of how things had looked on these grounds not so long ago.
    As the noise died down, Alex, breathing hard, whirled around to assess the damage. “Be very sure you’ve got the attackers contained by permanent spells. Check each one over to be certain no one is faking.”
    The Unwanteds set out.
    Alex turned to Florence and Simber. “What’s happening out there at the ships?”
    “Simber’s going to take a look if you think it’s wise.”
    The enormous cat stood patiently, waiting for Alex’s reply.
    Alex thought for a moment, worried that a boulder in a catapult could hurt the statue. “Okay,” he said, his voice guarded. “But be nimble.”
    The cat needed no further urging. He leaped into the air and flapped his enormous wings. It took only seconds forhim to soar high over the ships and release a shattering roar. Moments later, Simber didn’t need to make any announcement as to what was happening. Whoever remained on the ships began pulling anchors and raising sails. Those stuck to the sides of the ships began screaming in fear, but the ships pulled away, leaving great numbers of their own people dropping into the water or frozen stiff on shore.
    “Get our wounded inside!” Alex commanded the Unwanteds. “Ms. Morning, Henry, and the rest of the nurses are already heading in there. Let’s go!” He paused and looked at the Warblerans in the water, knowing they probably couldn’t swim. “And get a team of good swimmers and the squirrelicorns to rescue them right