But the wood didn’t ignite. Nor was the sand scorched where the flame had passed over it. Noa watched another dragon breathe a cloud of fire at a mage as she fled. But the mage ran on, as if she wasn’t even aware of the fire, let alone hurt. One of the scouts shot an arrow at a dragon, and the beast fell to the ground with a surprisingly gentle thud given its size. A dark mist rose off its body, and it was an iguana again.
The dragons weren’t real. It was all an illusion. But how?
A dreadful roar interrupted Noa’s thoughts. On the steps leading up to the castle crouched an enormous jaguar. The mages who had been running up the stairs to seek shelter in the castle turned on their heels and ran back down again. Another jaguar happily chased a screaming sailor along the beach. The huge cat seemed to bore after a while, and pranced back up the sand. Then it simply vanished, winking back into view next to a pelican, which squawked and flew off.
Noa looked from the jaguars to the dragons, still wheeling across the sky and breathing fire while the few stragglers remaining on the beach cowered and screamed—but not, Noa noticed, doing any actual harm. Nobody had been eaten, or burned, or even lightly charred. People were running because they were afraid, not because anything terrible was actually happening to them.
“Fear,” she whispered. She looked back at the ships. The strange cloud had dissipated after it passed over Astrae, but whatever magic it contained hadn’t.
Someone on King Xavier’s side could speak the language of fear. That was what the cloud had been—a spell that made people’s fears come true.
Julian came racing down the castle stairs, followed by Asha and several other mages. The jaguar leaped at him, placing a paw on each shoulder, and then—
It nuzzled his neck. Because it wasn’t a real jaguar—it was one of the island cats. The huge beast flopped at Julian’s feet with its belly in the air.
Julian hopped over the cat. Noa dragged a protesting Mite out of the hole and ran up to Julian. “Julian, I think one of the mages on those ships—”
“Speaks the language of fear,” he finished for her, his voice grim. “Yes, I think you’re right.”
Noa’s eyes welled with tears. “This is my fault.”
“It’s not your fault.” Julian’s voice was firm. A dragon skimmed his head, and he ducked with a shout. They seemed to be enjoying themselves almost as much as the cats were. Noa couldn’t really blame them—iguanas were ordinarily about as intimidating as barnacles. Julian murmured a spell, and a fierce wind rose, pushing the dragons down the beach.
“You shouldn’t waste your magic,” Noa said. “They’re just iguanas—they can’t hurt anyone.”
“Unfortunately, they seem to have most of my mages convinced otherwise.” Julian froze.
Noa looked. The king’s ships were almost close enough to launch boats. On the deck of the nearest ship stood a familiar straight-backed figure, her red cloak and dark hair billowing in the wind.
“Gabriela,” Noa murmured. Of course she had survived the destruction of her ship. Gabriela could survive anything.
“Who’s that man with her?” Mite asked.
Noa had hardly noticed him—compared to Gabriela, he cut a much less striking figure, being skinny and so pale he seemed to fade into the background like a wisp of cloud. It was hard to tell from that distance, but Noa thought he was smiling.
“That’s Xavier,” she said, feeling faint. “Why would he come here?”
Julian didn’t reply for a moment. When he did, his voice was dangerously flat. “I can only imagine it’s because he wants to watch me fall.” He motioned to the salt mages, and they hurried down to the water, already chanting a spell that stirred up the waves and would make landing boats more difficult.
“Call Beauty,” Noa said. “I bet she can sink at least one of those ships.”
“I would, but she can barely move,” Julian said. “Being separated from her daughter almost killed her. That was Xavier’s plan, after all—to incapacitate my greatest weapon, and then sweep in and destroy us all when he found the Lost Words.” He ran his hands through his hair. “How do they know we’re here?”
“Renne,” Noa said, her voice grim. “He’s a spy. Mite saw him sending a letter yesterday. That must be how Xavier always seems to know where we are.”
Julian looked as if he’d been struck. “Oh, Renne,” he said. On the deck of the ship, another man came to stand by Gabriela’s side. Even at that distance, Noa could see the worshipful look he gave her.
“I knew he had feelings for her,” Julian said. “He was furious when I abandoned her on that island. I just never thought . . .”
Gabriela raised her arms, her lips moving. Another dark, glittering cloud coalesced out of thin air and floated toward Astrae.
“It’s her,” Noa murmured. “She can speak it. What have I done?”
“What have you done? Well, you foiled Gabriela’s last plot,” Julian said. “And provided me with excellent advice, and saved the island numerous times. I could go on.” He let out a breath of laughter. “So, Gabriela’s a dark magician, is she? I wish I had time to gloat properly.”
He turned to Asha. “Have the salt mages keep at it. And send someone to round up the others. I won’t have my mages cowering before Gabriela’s specters.” Asha nodded, and he turned to Noa and Mite. “We have to come up with a plan.”
“What is there to plan?” Noa said. “Move the island. They’ve passed the shoals, so they can see us now, but if we move away from them, your spell will hide us.”
“I don’t want to run away.” Julian’s jaw was set. “Not this time. This time, we finish it.”
“Julian—” Noa began.
“Noa, if we run, they’ll come after us again.” He met her eyes. “And again. And again. You know that.”
A dozen arguments rose to Noa’s lips. There
