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E ven though he had his eyes closed, Beetle kneas happening - he could sood son soood son

The lightning had struck Spit Fyre with an earsplitting crash, sending a bone-juddering jolt of electricity through the had happened extremely fast - and yet Beetle was to re the lightning streak toward theh Spit Fyre as the bolt hit and Spit Fyre&039;s head rose high in pain Then a lurch, a roll and a sickening free fall as the dragon dropped out of the sky, heading straight for the lighthouse It was at that hthouse, Beetle had seen the littleout in horror, that Beetle had shut his own eyes They were going to crash into the lighthouse and he didn&039;t want to see it He just didn&039;t But Septimus had no such luxury - his eyes ide open Like Beetle, he too saw the shocked face of the little hthouse; indeed, for a split second, as Spit Fyre hurtled toward the tower, their eyesthey would ever see And when, at the very last on away froot about the Watcher in the lighthouse, as all his concentration focused on keeping Spit Fyre in the air With each wing beat, Seption lurched past the black rain-soaked tower, through the brilliant beaht once- a pale crescent of sand catching the ht in a brief break in the clouds

Excited, he turned to Jenna, hite-faced with shock, and pointed ahead

"Land!" he yelled "We&039;re going to make it, I knoe are!"

Jenna couldn&039;t hear a word Septiave him a thuot a shock - Beetle had all but disappeared; all she could see was the very top of his head Spit Fyre&039;s tail had drooped right down, taking Beetle with it Jenna&039;s feeling of optimism evaporated Spit Fyre&039;s tail was injured - how ed Spit Fyre on toward the sliver of sand, which was drawing ever closer Spit Fyre heard Septied him down, until he could barely ski now, taking its lightning and torrential rain to the Port, where it would soak Sie on his way to the Castle But the as still strong and the waves ild, and as Spit Fyre struggled through the spray his strength began to desert hion&039;s neck "Spit Fyre," he whispered, "we&039;re nearly there, nearly there!" The dark shape of an island, outlined by the white of a long strip of sand, rose tantalizingly near "Just a little farther, Spit Fyre You can do it, I know you can"

Painfully the dragon stretched out his torn wings, soained control of his tail for a few seconds and with all three of his riders willing hilided across the top of the last feaves of an incoed down onto a bed of soft sand, justan outcrop of rocks

No oneto believe that there was land beneath their feet - or rather, beneath Spit Fyre&039;s stos were splayed out in deep sand troughs where he had skidded to a halt and lay exhausted, resting his entire weight on his wide, white belly

The clouds parted oncethe contours of a slistened white in the ht - it looked wonderfully peaceful - but the sound of the waves as they thundered onto rocks and the salt spray dusting their faces reminded thereat, shuddering sigh, Spit Fyre laid his head onto the sand Septimus shook himself into action and scrambled down from his pilot seat, closely followed by Jenna and Beetle For a horrible ht Spit Fyre&039;s neck was broken, as he had never seen him lie like this - even in his deepest, most snore-filled sleep Spit Fyre had a curve to his neck, but now it lay on the sand like a piece of old rope Septimus kneeled and placed his hand on Spit Fyre&039;s head, which ith rain and salt spray His eyes were closed and did not flicker open at Septimus&039;s touch as they always did Septi about Spit Fyre that reon Boat had looked when Simon&039;s Thunderflash had hit her

"Spit Fyre, oh, Spit Fyre - are youare you all right?" he whispered Spit Fyre responded with a sound that Septiled roar - which sent a spray of sand into the air Septi the sand from his sodden HeatCloak

Jenna looked at him in dis, water dripping from her rat-tailed hair

"Idon&039;t know," said Septiood," Beetle said "You ought to have a look"

Spit Fyre&039;s tail was abolt had struck just before the barb, and it had left a led jumble of scales, blood and bone and had very nearly severed the barb itself Septimus crouched down for a closer look He didn&039;t like what he saw The scales on the last third of the tail were blackened and burned, and where the lightning had hit, Septiht The sand underneath was already dark and sticky with dragon blood Very gently, Septiave another half-strangled roar and tried to move his tail away

"Shh, Spit Fyre," Septiht Shhh" He took his hand away and looked at it His hand shone ith blood

"What are you going to do?" asked Beetle

Septimus tried to re him that all vertebrate creatures were built to what he called "the same plan," that all the rules of Physik that worked for humans would also work for them He remembered what Marcellus had told hi as possible But he wasn&039;t sure if you should also immerse an open wound Septimus stood, indecisive, aware that both Jenna and Beetle aiting for hi Spit Fyre roared once more and tried to move his tail Septimus made a decision Spit Fyre was burned He was in pain Cold salt water would take away the pain and stop the burning It was also, if he reood antiseptic

"We need to put his tail in that pool," said Septie pool set back in the narrowly missed rocks

"He won&039;t like it," said Beetle, running his hand over his hair like he always did when he was trying to solve a proble up like a chis like hair right now, but he really hoped Jenna hadn&039;t noticed

Jenna had noticed Beetle&039;s hair It had ht, but she knew better than to say anything "Why don&039;t you go and talk to Spit Fyre, Sep," she suggested "Tell hi to do, and then Beetle and I can lift his tail and put it in the pool"

Septimus looked doubtful "His tail is really heavy," he said

"And we&039;re really strong, aren&039;t we, Beetle?"

Beetle nodded, hoping his hair didn&039;t wobble about too much It did wobble, but Jenna deliberately stared at the tail

"Okay," agreed Septimus

Septimus kneeled once more beside Spit Fyre&039;s inert head "Spit Fyre," he said, "we need to stop your tail fro to lift it and put it in so a little, but then it will feel better You&039;ll have to shuffle back a bit, okay?"

To Seption stared glassily at him for a few seconds, then closed them once more

"Okay!" Septimus called back to Beetle and Jenna

"You sure?" asked Beetle

"Yep," said Septimus "Go ahead"

Beetle took the injured part of the tail - which he kneould be by far the heaviest - and Jenna took the barb at the end, which was still hot to the touch