Quince turned his head. “What is it that we are doing again?” he asked. “Is this where Pan lives?”

“No,” said Thisbe patiently, for there was no other way to be with the ghost dragons. “Pan is back in the land of the dragons under the Revinir’s mind control. When she’s in this world, she lives one island farther east, the tall cylindrical one. We’re here to stop a civil war on this island. Remember?”

“Oh, yes,” said Quince. “Though I don’t see a war. Where is it?”

“Um,” said Thisbe, “I’m not… sure.” She and Maiven exchanged a pained look.

“What shall we do, Thisbe?” asked Maiven gently. “This is your decision.”

“I—I’m thinking.” Thisbe leaned forward, knowing she had about ten seconds to come up with a plan before they’d actually be on top of the island. “Gorgrun and Quince, can you circle around please?” called Thisbe, feeling desperate for time to think. Certainly someone would have seen the dragons approaching by now—there was no way to sneak up on them. Where was Simber? The island was too eerily quiet and calm. Something wasn’t right. Simber should be here. Something wasn’t right.

Thisbe began to panic. “Be on your guard!” she shouted. “Prepare your spells, humans! Gorgrun, swoop in so we can get a better look inside the mansion, but don’t land just yet.”

“Do you want us to torch the structure?” asked Quince.

“No!” cried Thisbe, clutching her shirt. “Goodness. No. That would be terrible. Hold your dragon fire! Let’s just swing wide around the mansion for a look.”

Gorgrun complied with Thisbe’s instructions, swooping low over the beach and lawn. As they passed the windows, Thisbe shaded her eyes, ready with components. She peered inside, trying to see if she recognized anyone standing there. Cries of fright rose at the nearness of these unfamiliar ghost dragons. “They’re here! The evil dragon-monsters have come!” Through the noise, Thisbe heard a louder call to attack. Fearful dissenters launched components from every window.

“Look out!” Thisbe cried, but her warning came too late as three of her friends were hit with scatterclip spells. With nothing immediately behind them to stick to, the three sailed backward off the dragon and flew all the way to the fountain on the lawn, smacking into the sculpture and sticking there.

Rohan dodged flying components and sent a glass spell at one of the mansion windows, sealing it up nicely and forcing the person inside to find a new place to work from or take the time to release the spell. Thisbe peppered the visible dissenters with backward bobbly head, fire step, and pin cushion components, introducing all sorts of confusion and distraction into the mansion. They soared around the other side and did the same. One of the other children from Grimere managed to place a glass spell too, and earned high praise from Thisbe as the dragon rose out of range.

“Let’s quickly grab the ones we lost,” Thisbe called out to Gorgrun. “You can land on the lawn by the fountain. We’ll be far enough from the mansion that their magic won’t reach us unless they come outside. And if that happens, we’ll see them coming. I’ll release the spells on our friends, and we can figure out what to do next.”