“Mal, you’ve usually got some magic handy,” Dhamon suggested. “Why not use it and make this easier?” ;
The big thief gave a snort. “My magic’s more for earth and fire, Dhamon. Everything here’s too wet to burn.”
At times they slogged through water that flowed up to their armpits. Maldred held the map above his head so it wouldn’t get soaked. Just enough sunlight bled through the weave of branches to reveal tiny glints of silver fish that schooled around them curiously. At one point the fish darted away as something larger slipped through the water in pursuit, a thick green snake that had two sets of short legs near its tail.
“Did you see…?” Varek whispered.
“Yes,” Dhamon returned.
“Snakes don’t have—”
“Apparently here they do.”
In one place they had to double back, after coming up against a block of branches as solid as any dwarven-built construction. Not a leaf or twig would budge. Eventually they worked themselves around to a section of younger trees, the trunks of which Dhamon and Maldred could bend over so they could continue on their way. The water was deep here, rising to Varek’s chin, and they sloshed through it for more than an hour. Each of them fell at least once, tripping over hidden rocks and logs, tangling their feet in roots. Dhamon noticed more and more fish here, a little larger than before, and the bigger ones were feeding on the silver fingerlings. Maldred insisted they keep going, that they were making progress.
They spent a few more hours twisting their way through the dense wall of vegetation. The morning passed into the afternoon before the trunks thinned and the worst of the wall was behind them. Stretching ahead of them, the sun shone down on an immense water-filled clearing, easily a few miles across, encircled by the plant weave.
Dhamon groaned at the thought of making his way through the similar vegetation wall on the other side.
“Under other circumstances I could enjoy this,” Maldred observed. He was slowly turning in an open expanse of water that came to just below his knees. “I feel a nice breeze, and I smell the mangrove blooms. I could get drunk on them.”
The other two looked at him as though he were crazy. A grinning Maldred pointed to a pair of trees, the roots of which started well up on their trunks, looking almost like branches and angling into the water. Veils of dark red flowers hung from their highest branches and spiraled down, scenting the air with something sweet and unfamiliar and overpowering.
“I don’t care about any strange-looking trees or flowers,” Varek said. “I want to find Riki.”
“Aye,” Dhamon agreed. The sooner they had the half-elf, the sooner he and Mal would be able to go after the pirate’s treasure. He caught Maldred’s gaze. “Riki first,” reminded Maldred, reading his thoughts. “We’re getting close. Then this healer of yours.”
“Let’s move.” Varek headed away from them, striking out to the west, careful to skirt what looked like a wide, deep patch of water where larger fish swam near the surface. He turned and motioned for Dhamon and Maldred to follow. “All this saltwater,” he said, waggling his fingers just above the surface. The sunlight sent shimmering flecks of gold across its surface and illuminated the myriad of fish that swam everywhere. “Strange, isn’t it? By my reckoning we’re too far south from the coast for there to be saltwater here.”
“By my reckoning,” Dhamon snapped, “I suspect we’re well into Sable’s realm. And I’m certain the black dragon can create saltwater marshes wherever she wants.”
“It’s for food,” Maldred said, barely loud enough for them to hear. He was sloshing steadily through the water “Her spawn fish in these places for her. Spawn like fish, and so does Sable.”
Varek cocked his head. “Just how would you know that?”
“I know lots of things,” Maldred said flatly. He was looking to the trees that ringed the place. “I know there should be some animals here too. Birds or something. Something other than these fish. There were snakes dripping from the branches everywhere else. Lots of lizards in the wall. Don’t see anything now. Odd.”
“Aye,” Dhamon agreed. “There should be animals. Perhaps something scared them away.”
“Something.” Maldred peered at the distant foliage more closely. He caught a glimpse of bonewhite through the rustling leaves. It was to the southwest, shaded by cottonwood branches and willow leaves, and it piqued his curiosity. He slogged closer for a better look.
“I think there’s a statue over there. A big one. I want to get a closer look. It’s on our way.”
He gestured toward it, and Dhamon headed in that direction.
The water deepened to their thighs as Maldred and Dhamon passed through a veil of willow leaves. A few more steps, another leafy veil, and the water was past their waists again.
“Dhamon… it’s not a statue.”
“I see it, Mal. It’s dragon skulls. Lots of them.” Dhamon closed his fingers about the handle of his knife and edged closer to the thing. At the same time the scale on his leg began to grow warm, and he saw an image in the back of his mind, yellow eyes surrounded by blackness. A dragon. His head began pounding, and the blackness of the dragon’s visage became more distinct, scales as shiny as beads and sparkling like inky stars, the pupils coming into sharp focus. The great eyes blinked.
“A dragon’s coining, Mal. A black one,” he whispered so softly that Maldred couldn’t hear him.
“Dhamon, Maldred, what is it? What’s over here?” Varek was coming up behind them, brushing aside the first veil of willow leaves, gasping loudly at the sight of the skulls. The three of them gaped at the mass of dragon skulls, which were arranged in a pyramid-shaped tower. The construct was wider at the base, which was comprised of the largest skulls. It rose nearly fifty feet, bone-white but covered in places with green and gray moss to add to the hellish image. The skulls’ eyes softly glowed, as if candles were burning inside them, their colors hinting at the dragons they were in life: red, blue, black, green, white, copper, bronze, silver, brass, even gold. Most of the skulls had horns intact, and the one that crowned the top had some patches of silver scales affixed to it. A boa constrictor poured itself out the mouth of one skull near the top and slowly slithered and circled down the column.
With some effort, Dhamon thrust the image of the black dragon out of his mind and edged closer to the tower.
“Dhamon, don’t,” Maldred cautioned.
“Let’s get out of here,” Varek suggested. “This has nothing to do with finding my wife.”
“Aye, we need to get out of here,” Dhamon said. “A dragon’s nearby. But I want to take a good look at this thing first. It’s a chance not given many mortals.”
The lowest skulls were massive, perhaps coming from dragons that were well more than a hundred feet long in life. Dhamon cautiously moved his foot forward until he felt another ring of skulls under the water’s surface and wedged well into the mud. There had to be at least three dozen of the massive skulls in the totem. He stooped over to get a look inside of one, then looked into another and another. He moved as if hypnotized.
“Brains,” he whispered in awe. “The brains are intact inside the skulls. I think there are brains inside all of them!”
“It’s a dragon totem, for certain,” Maldred said. There was a tinge of awe in his voice too.
“Nobody’s ever seen one and lived to talk about it. I heard about them from Grim Kedar’s tales. This has got to be one of Sable’s totems. Souvenirs from the dragons she killed in the Dragon Purge. There’s much magical power in the collection. I can sense that without even touching it. Like insects dancing all over my skin.” He paused. “I’ve no intention of trying to find out what it can do.”