“And who do you believe?” Ms. Octavia asked.

“Both, of course.” She got to her four paws and shook a tiny bit of sand out of her fur. “One day I shall get revenge on those sailors.” She smiled the sweetest, most unassuming smile imaginable and, seeing all eyes on her, pranced to the edge of the island. “I shall thunder around the world! Skate across the sea! Find those evil sailors and bring my father home with me!” She teetered at the edge of the island, then flounced over the water and hovered there, too, not even getting the least bit wet in the process. “Ha! Tricked you.” She grinned and shook her head from side to side, her fur flying joyously.

“Wow!” Lani said. “You can float above the water, too? Ms. Octavia can’t do that.” She looked at Ms. Octavia. “Wait. You can’t, can you?”

Ms. Octavia tapped her lips. “I might be able to think of a way to do it with magic,” she said. “But no . . . if I walk off the edge, I’ll fall in the water.”

Samheed, who couldn’t take his eyes off the snow lion, felt like applauding. He ran over to the edge. “You were born to act on the stage, Lhasa,” he said, with the deepest admiration in his voice.

“The stage, the stage,” Lhasa sang. She pranced over the water. “What is the sta—”

But she didn’t have time finish her question, because the giant eel burst from the water, curled around her belly, and pulled her under.

The Return of the Eel

What? Stop!” Talon’s wings unfurled, and he flew like the wind to the water, his hands gripping his head in shock and disbelief. “Where is she?”

Samheed, who had come to his senses, turned back to the group and shouted, “It’s the eel! Get back!” He ran to help Henry and Copper move away from the edge.

Florence and Simber thundered over. Sean and Carina kicked off their shoes and dove into the water. Alex whipped off his robe, throwing it at Lani. “Stay here!” he yelled. “Move everybody to the center of the island!”

The crab’s reefy claws began clicking out in the darkness.

“Get back, Alex!” Simber roared.

But Alex didn’t listen. He grabbed a blinding highlighter and dove in after Sean and Carina into the cool, silent darkness of the sea. Above him, Florence plunged her face into the water, and next to her, Talon did as well, both of them straining to see.

The eel wasn’t far off. Alex did a double take—the eel seemed much bigger than it had been before, nearly twice the size. Was it even the same one? If so, it must have been eating a ton to have grown so large. It swam lazily just below the crab’s reach, with Lhasa dangling like a rag doll inside the curl of its tail. There wasn’t much time before she’d be dead, Alex knew. He began firing spells, knowing they probably wouldn’t work but not having many other alternatives. Sean and Carina tried the same, but soon all three of them gave up. Their only hope was to get Lhasa to the surface, and there was no spell for that.

Sean pointed frantically at Lhasa and then upward, trying to tell Carina and Alex to go to her and attempt to push the eel’s tail above the water. They nodded and swam over while Sean grabbed a blinding highlighter and went straight for the eel’s head.

The eel struck. Sean dodged, then grabbed on to the creature, sliding around to the back of the eel’s head. He reached around with the highlighter and stabbed it in the eel’s eye socket.

The eel writhed and screamed. Sean hung on for dear life. The crab snapped its pincers at the eel, but it was still out of reach. Alex and Carina watched in horror as Sean stabbed at the creature again.

This time the eel dodged the blow. It rose up and out of the water at a dizzying pace, Sean still clinging to its head, and flung its front half onto the island. It began twisting and rolling, hitting everything in its path, destroying plants, trees, and the campfire, and bowling over Simber and Florence.

Talon grabbed the middle of the eel, draped it over one shoulder, and heaved with all his might, trying to pull it onto the island, no doubt hoping to find Lhasa at the end of it. As the eel squirmed, Talon pulled, using his wings to help gain momentum. Florence got to her feet and ran to join him. But as soon as the eel lifted Lhasa out of the water, it let go of her, leaving her floating motionless just above the surface several yards off shore. Simber charged and sprang into the air, flying out over the water to rescue Lhasa. He grabbed her by the scruff of her neck and flew up, out of reach of the eel, then over the trees toward the center of the island.

The eel whipped its now empty tail around Talon, pulled him off his feet, and slithered over plants and trees, screeching and rolling, and slamming Talon into the ground.

Sean couldn’t hang on any longer. After a violent shake of the eel’s head, he let go and went flying through the air, landing with a sickening thud.

Simber returned from dropping off Lhasa, shouting, “Spike! Find Alex!” He lunged at the eel, sinking his claws into the slippery skin, while Florence grabbed on to its head, trying to hold the creature still. But the eel slipped out of her grasp and knocked her over.

Dangling in the air, wrapped in the eel’s tail, Talon managed to pull his sword from his belt. With all his strength he struck the eel, slicing clean through it. The eel screeched as its tail fell to the ground with Talon still wrapped inside.

The eel began to flail even more, rolling and twisting its way toward the center of the island, bucking Simber off and swatting Florence aside.

Talon, stunned from the fall, fumbled free of the still squirming tail and bounded after the creature. The tail wiggled its way to the water’s edge and fell into the sea.