Dragon Fool

by Delaney Walnofer

Rib stared out at the sea between them and Crageria. The horrible lands had long ago disappeared, and now the sun rose to bless them with its morning light. Mortaug sat at the steering oar with Jasper and Gavin, dressed in a new tunic, beside him. Damara rested on a blanket with the two monigons and Spryte perched on the sail above, staring down at the potion book nestled safe and dry between crates.

  We've done it. We've escaped.

  Rib could hardly believe it. How drastically their hopeless situation had changed in one night.

  Please let Memory be there, he thought, facing the way they were headed. Nothing but open ocean could be seen, but he trusted the Captain's direction. He, Gavin, and Damara had already told Mortaug all that had happened. And though Mortaug was displeased by their previous agreement to try and flee with a firebreather along with the book, he was understanding. It amazed Rib that this was the same man who once owned Gavin as a slave.

  It made him think of Zheal with Memory.

  Could he change too?

  Rib wasn't sure what he'd do if he found them at the Island. All he knew was that he had to get Memory away from Zheal.

  I won't let him bewitch her again. She won't be his slave any longer.

  "Hey." Gavin joined him, leaning against the side of the boat to also look ahead of them. "Mortaug was just telling me about this island we're going to."

  Rib looked at his friend in surprise. "He knows of it?"

  Gavin nodded. "Huskhns once lived on it," he said. "Until a huge volcano erupted and forced the survivors out."

  "That's where we're going now?" Rib was alarmed.

  "They call it Rtycush," Gavin ignored his question, "which translates to 'hurling fire'."

  "Hurling Fire?" Rib repeated. "What about all the dragons and humans living there? Are they in danger?"

  Gavin laughed. "Relax. Mortaug says the only reasons Huskhns didn't move back was because it was stripped of most its trees and the grazing and farming was poor. It wasn't of any value to them."

  That doesn't sound very good.

  "What is that?" Jasper's voice spoke up and they turned to look at what he was talking about.

  A considerable length behind them, a thin creature rose, eyes seemingly set on them as it carved through the water.

  That's a?

  "Sea serpent!" Rib exclaimed.

  It was much smaller than the Great She-Serpent of the Sea that Clyde rode on, but still it was huge. The water beast's scales were orange like the sunset and spines ridged its back. As it followed them, it kept its head low and its webbed crown flattened back. Rib got the apprehensive feeling it was stalking them.

  "It's giant!" Jasper yelled. "Rib, kill it!"

  "I can't kill that!" Rib protested. "I wouldn't!"

  The monigons began barking at the distant serpent. At all their noise, Damara awoke and sat up. Rib watched her to see what her reaction would be. Something like fear registered on her face as she stared at the water beast, then turned to Mortaug.

  "I know this serpent," she voiced urgently. "And unless it's changed?we're in danger."

  "What?" Rib sputtered. "What do you mean you know it?"

  Damara looked at him, but didn't answer. Instead, she hastened to climb up onto his back, saying, "We need to distract it away from the boat. Spryte, you too!"

  "No!" Spryte refused from above them.

  "Distract it?" Rib repeated, planting his feet on the deck. "How?"

  "Wait," Gavin said. "Look."

  The sea serpent appeared to have its eyes locked on something else now, its frilled head turning. Rib looked in the same direction as it and saw dark shapes break the surface at a distance.

  Whales!

  Lowering its head closer to the water, the sea serpent peered at them a moment longer before diving under, every arc of its body disappearing beneath the bright waves.

  Damara gasped and leapt off Rib to rush to the end of the boat. She gripped the edge, staring down into the water.

  "Where'd it go?" Jasper asked nervously.

  Rib wondered the same thing.

  Is it beneath us? His hide bristled at the thought.

  But as everyone waited, no one stirring, no one breathing, nothing happened. Slowly, Rib's scales began to lie flat again. Even the whales appeared to be gone.

  "I think it's gone," he said. "After those whales."

  Damara remained at the edge, seemingly unconvinced. Everyone else returned to what they were doing, but Rib could see them frequently glancing at the waters.

  "How have you seen that serpent before?" Rib asked Damara, coming up beside her.

  The young woman stayed quiet and never looked away from the depths.

  "Tell me," Rib pressed.

  Damara settled herself against the boat, her chin rested on her arms before her. "It used to live in a sunken pond in Wystil." she answered finally.

  The Earthen Cauldron? Rib knew the place she spoke of.

  "What were you doing there?" he pursued the topic.

  "I?found Tide guarding you and the clutch you hatched from near it. He was afraid you would wander too close to the serpent."

  "Wait," Rib interrupted, taken aback. "You met me when I was a hatchling? Why did you never tell me this?"

  "What does it matter?" Damara shrugged his question off.

  She just doesn't care. Rib became frustrated.

  "It does matter," Rib growled. "We've been together this entire journey. We've even shared a dungeon cell together! Yet only now I hear you've known me since I left the egg. Why do you make yourself such a stranger?"

  "I have my mind on other things."

  "Saving your brother's wife, I know!" Rib said. "But I want us to get the cure, too. We have our minds on the same things."

  Damara didn't reply and Rib gave up.

  It's almost as though she's hiding something, he grumbled inwardly. I'll never understand her.

  . . .

  After many days of sailing, they began to pass icebergs. The first floating mountain of ice, Rib had gawked at, but now they were a normal sight to him. He'd even started eating chunks of ice off them, so the others' supply of drinking water would last longer.

  The closer they got, the more icebergs appeared, which Mortaug was always careful to steer clear of. Rib wondered at how they formed. He asked Gavin once, but his friend hardly shrugged. It was obvious Gavin was getting anxious as they neared the place of his parents.

  Rib felt the same anxiety whenever he thought of Memory.

  "What do you remember about them?" he asked Gavin, knowing he needn't clarify who he was talking about.

  Gavin shook his head slowly. "I was just so young?" With a sigh, he rested his chin on his arms as he leaned against the edge of the boat. Rib thought he meant he had no memories of them, until his friend spoke again, his voice distant. "My mother used to sing for the entire town, my father on the flute. Other Eristads beat the drums. Maybe they were my uncles, I'm not sure. One of them gave me a drum, with its batter skin so loose it hardly made a noise when I hit it." Gavin gave a half-laugh. "Good way to entertain a rhythm-less child, I suppose."

  His whole family played instruments? No wonder he's so good at the flute.

  "What had you thought happened to them?" Rib asked, somewhat brash. "Before Spryte told us they were on the Island?"

  Gavin gave him a look. "Same as you thought happened to Memory before word spread about her and Zheal," he answered, matching Rib's tone. "I thought they were gone."

  With the conversation having turned to his own personal life, Rib turned his head away and became quiet for a while.

  At least he knows they're at the Island now, he reflected, unable to keep the bitterness from his mind. I still can't say the same for Memory.

  . . .

  At long last, when Rib went out flying for fish, he spotted land and returned to the ship declaring it joyously. Everyone stood to see except for Spryte, who broke away from her restless circles around the top of the mast to join him
.

  "That's it!" she declared, though it was little more than a streak in the distance. "Finally!"

  As they neared, they found that the icebergs were far too clustered ahead for them to proceed without a route identified. And so, Rib flew forward to look for a clear passage to the Island.

  Memory could be here?

  Memory could be here!

  Rib had trouble paying attention to the icebergs below and not just staring at the land in front of him. He could see mountainous terrain closest to him, but could tell it was much flatter beyond. As he forced his head down, he noticed the icebergs were much less dense along the path he soared. Looking further, he saw that strips of land and a couple of curving peninsulas formed a bay free of ice and perfect for their boat.

  Giving the Island one more glance, Rib was about to turn back when he spotted something. Five long boats were pulled up to the black beach blocked in by mountains.

  Islanders? Rib wondered and flew closer, alighting on a tall icy peak to spy. Peering at the camp full of tents and men, realization dawned on him. No?these are?

  Huskhns!

  Rib fought the urge to glide straight in calling for Memory. With his claws digging into the ice, he searched the area meticulously with his eyes. He saw no dragon among them.

  But she could be behind a tent, or further inland with Zheal, or?

  Raising his gaze, he scanned the mountain ridge that curved around the warriors' camp. At first he saw nothing, but then his heart skipped a beat. Dragon silhouettes, a dozen or so of them, lined the mountain tops.

  They enslaved more?!

  Is one of them Memory?

  "Hey."

  Rib arched his back and scrabbled to the side at the sound of a female voice beside him.

  "Hey, it's alright!" the female laughed lightly and Rib opened his eyes wider at the sight of her.

  She was a dragon, light blue and white, tall and elegant. Having landed on the ice, she wrapped her thin tail around herself, with stunning wings folded against her sides. Rib was soothed by her amiable smile.

  "Hello," she greeted him. "I'm Sky."

  Sky?

  Rib blinked. "Uh?hello," he replied. "I'm Rib."

  "Nice to meet you, Rib." Sky dipped her head. "Where did you come from? You have a saddle on your back." She lowered her eyes down to his chest strapped with leather and buckles.

  "Y-yeah, I?" Rib couldn't think of what to answer. All he could think of was questions to ask her.

  Where did she come from?

  Is she with the Huskhns?

  Does she know Memory?

  As he struggled, Sky cocked her head at him, her eyes soft. "Are you alright?"

  "Yes," Rib forced out the word. "Please, I'm?I'm not sure who you are. Are you with the Huskhns? Have you met a dragon by the name Tairg?"

  Sky smiled. "No, I'm afraid not. I'm a Colonist. I thought you might be with the Huskhns."

  "No!" Rib blurted. "But my sister?lavender grey, my size?She's been enslaved by them. Have you seen her?"

  "Enslaved?" Sky's eyes were filled with pity. "That's terrible. I have seen a dragon of that description, but-"

  "Is she here now?!" Rib interrupted.

  Sky shook her head. "Sorry. I saw her leave with a ship of other Huskhns a week or so ago."

  No?Rib let his wings fall open, devastated. I'm too late?again.

  "I had no idea she was their slave," Sky murmured. "She looked like she was with them of her own will."

  "She's bewitched," groaned Rib. "I was going to help her?but now?" A sick feeling clutched at his insides and he pressed his head into the ice.

  "Hey," Sky hushed. "Don't worry. She'll probably come back."

  "What?" Rib lifted his eyes to see her. "Really?"

  Sky nodded softly. "The Huskhns keep coming here. They want something from us, but we've been holding them back like the Islanders asked us to."

  "The Islanders?" Rib perked up a little. "Is there someone named Brock with them?"

  "Yes!" Sky brightened. "You know him?"

  Rib told her of Gavin and the people they came with. As he did, Sky's eyes widened.

  "Brock's lost son?" she repeated after him. "And Damara? She's here?"

  She knows Damara, too? Rib couldn't believe how many knew such a withdrawn woman as her. Opening his wings, he jerked his head towards the direction of their boat.

  "I'll show you."

  Immediately, Sky was in the air next to him. He was distracted as he noticed the flawless shape of her bat-like wings, how perfectly they struck the air. Together, they soared over the icebergs and a thought occurred to Rib.

  "Do you breathe fire?" he asked.

  The female flying beside him grinned.

  "No, not I!" Blowing a whirlwind of snowflakes in front of them, she said, "First icebreather of the Island."

  "Do you know any firebreathers?"

  "I used to," Sky murmured. "But they all live in isolation, if any are left."

  Hmm?

  "Does Wizard Brock keep a dragon flame alive with him?" he questioned further.

  "He does. Mine, in fact?Oh!" The icebreather looked ahead. "Is that your boat?"

  Without waiting for an answer, she sped forward the last stretch and descended on the Merry May, where everyone stood in shock. Rib was quick to follow.

  "Damara!" Sky exclaimed the moment she alighted on the deck before her. The weight of the dragon pitched the boat from side to side and the humans clutched the railing to stay upright. "Look how you've grown!"

  Damara had a troubled look on her face as she stared up at the friendly dragon.

  "I'm sorry?" she asked.

  "Oh, you were so young." Sky beamed. "No wonder you don't remember me. I'm Sky, a friend of Princess Theora."

  "Sky?" Damara echoed. "You were a part of the Colony?"

  "I still am," Sky answered. "This is where we live now."

  "And the Islanders?" Gavin spoke up, standing beside Damara. "Is there a man by the name Brock here?"

  "Oh, how rude of me!" Sky said. "Yes, yes, your father is here. Come, I'll take you to the Islanders at once."

  Immediately, the ship was readied again and they followed after the graceful dragon, taking the clearest route they could to enter the bay. As they did, Rib took another look at the Huskhn camp, uneasy by their many weapons glinting in the light. But it was a comfort to know that the dragons on the mountains were keeping the men there. None of the waiting warriors seemed to notice Rib and his companions on their little ship passing between the great mountains of ice.

  A couple of other Colonists came to speak to Sky before the Merry May was allowed into the bay. Sailing between two strips of land, Rib and his companion were soon hidden from the Huskhns by a large, ridged peninsula jutting out between them.

  Exhaling in relief, Rib looked around at the bay they had entered. Here, the mountains flattened out to reveal a vast expanse of ground. Rushing from the inland, a wide river fed into the sea, creating currents that pushed their boat away. But the wind eventually got them over to the other side, where Rib could see trees donning their fall colors in the distance.

  "Come!" Sky said when they reached the land. "The Islanders are this way!"

  Rib looked at Gavin, who walked forward, his face pale.

  "Are you alright?" Rib asked him, grinning knowingly.

  The young man moistened his dry lips and nodded.

  He's going to see his parents again! After all these years.

  Rib glanced at his friend again, understanding how he must feel.

  It'd be like if I were about to see Memory again?

  Reminded of the weight of the situation, Rib couldn't laugh at Gavin for looking so frightened. He was impressed the man could even walk right.

  Over grassy slopes they went, where a great many sheep grazed. Rib tried not to look at them, sensing his stomach's desire for something other than fish. Shepherds called out to them but did not approach. Rib was intrigued by how similar their da
rk grey skin was to Gavin's.

  We're getting closer.

  Tension grew the longer it took them to cross the pastures, but finally they peaked a hill that overlooked a sight to behold.

  Whoa. Rib gawked at the view.

  Below was a cove dotted with little fishing boats. A little ways away from the water's black beaches stood a small village of green-rooved sod houses, and past those were steaming, vibrantly colored pools. In the foreground lay crops where people bent over to work.

  But what amazed Rib was the massive mound of ice that towered beyond it all, starting in the surrounding mountains and reaching out into the ocean, beside the cove. It was white and blue, bigger than the Great She-Serpent, frozen ripples of ice. On the other side, from the mountains and ice flowed a river that cut between the glacier and the sod house village to feed into the sea.

  Rib started as a thundering groan rumbled from the frozen mass. At the sheer end of the glacier, a large cliff of ice broke away and fell heavily into the ocean, sending waves out around it.

  Iceberg, Rib identified, staring at the newly floating mound. Among the other icebergs he spotted a huge shipwreck. That must be what the Colonists arrived on.

  "This way!" Sky urged everyone, gliding down to the village. Spryte, once again carrying the potion book, zipped after her. Rib wanted to follow on wing as well, but decided to stay with Gavin, who kept his eyes fixed on the houses and marched on. Fisherman and farmers looked their way as they passed, all of them the same color as Gavin. True Eristads.

  At last, as they neared the houses, Sky appeared with a man and a woman, followed by three little girls.

  There was a moment when the family froze as they spotted Gavin.

  Then the adults ran to him, and he to them.

  Rib marveled at the way they collided lovingly into each other, hugging and kissing. He didn't even come closer to hear what they said, but simply watched as the three girls were beckoned over.

  Gavin has sisters now. Rib found himself smiling.

  Beside him, Damara began heading over, and Rib after her. As he did, he saw the tears on Gavin's face, and the faces of his parents. Gavin's three little sisters just gaped up at their brother wondrously.

  At some point, Gavin turned to motion to Mortaug and Jasper, who hung back with uneasy expressions. Cautiously they approached, meeting Gavin's parents and shaking hands as Gavin spoke well of them.

  Observing all this, Rib found himself overwhelmed.

  This is what I want, he thought. Reunion.

  Memory.

  Chapter 17