The team tittered with that revelation. Thisbe smiled and waited, then continued when they quieted. “Often on the beach you’ll see Lhasa the snow lion, and Talon the bronze giant, who is the caretaker of Karkinos the crab. But I don’t see either of them right now. Oh, and Issie the sea monster! She’s the mother of Isobel, who helped me and my friends return here safely through the volcano system. I’ve been trying to get them to find each other, because Issie keeps crying for her baby. It’s really sad. But they don’t seem to understand. Talon talked about going in search of her—I hope he has.”

Maiven and the other children peppered Thisbe with questions, but soon her attention turned toward Artimé, and she faltered with the answers. She strained her eyes to detect what was happening, imagining all sorts of bloody battles going on across the lawn like she’d read about in Lani’s books. But she could see nothing but the mansion and the fountains and the jungle. No human or statue activity, not any movement anywhere. They got closer, and Thisbe could see signs of past skirmishes, for sure—some of the grass was torn up, and piles of glass next to the mansion caught the light. She noticed Scarlet’s skiff anchored in front of the mansion, which was uncommon, but not suspect.

“I wonder if the whole battle is over already,” said Thisbe, her heart pounding. If so, what was the outcome? She rested a hand on the hilt of her sword and kept looking for any sign of life. While Thisbe never wanted to see any Artiméans in battle against one another, or discover that anyone had been hurt, this calm scene was almost disappointing—they’d come all this way at Florence’s request. “If it is over,” Thisbe mused, “it would have been nice of Florence to let us know.”

The others eyed Thisbe, gauging her mood, and watched the island grow larger.

“Are you able to send Florence the new send spell?” Rohan asked. “Ask her what’s happening? We don’t exactly want to go flying in there with the dragons spraying fire if everything has been settled.”

“No,” Thisbe lamented. “I wish I could. When I sent my reply, the spell component went with it—my guess is it’ll only come back to me if Florence replies to my response. If I had my own supply of send components I could start a new message, but it’s a brand-new spell, just developed after I left.” She paused. “Maybe she hasn’t made any more components. I’m sure she’s been busy.”

Asha said something to Rohan in the common language intended to be translated, but Thisbe thought she understood. “Are you wondering if I should send her the regular seek spell?” Thisbe asked. “I could, but that might be confusing—it’s been known mainly as a call for help. I don’t want Florence to worry about me right now, or receive a brightly lit spell that could give away her location in case she’s in danger or hiding somewhere.” She wrinkled her nose and studied the island as they drew close, trying to see through the mansion windows. She could barely make out the outlines of people standing just inside, not moving. “This is strange. They must still be fighting, but nothing’s actually happening right now. Unless… it’s over? But if the war is over, why is nobody on the lawn on such a beautiful morning? It’s not normal.”