Kethril snarled a curse. After years of associating with gamblers and thieves, he knew a wide range of swear words and epithets.
Ulin, his hand raised to shade his eyes, studied the dragon a moment and said, “That’s not Malys.”
“No,” answered the sirine. “That is Fyremantle, one of Malys’s underlings. One of the most greedy and troublesome dragons she allows to live in her domain.”
“What’s he doing here? It’s too soon.”
No one answered Ulin, for at that moment they saw the dragon incinerate the fishing boat. Kethril pulled his lip thoughtfully. “Want to bet he sees this boat?”
Ulin was not slow to catch his meaning. “Not a bet I’ll take. Everyone, into the water!”
The sirine went over the railing before he finished speaking. She swam to the dolphins to warn them of the danger. Kethril quickly followed, swimming through the water after her with clean, powerful strokes. The two sea elves launched themselves into the water and disappeared.
Only Notwen stared at them in amazement. “Jump overboard?” he said, dumbfounded. “Why? I can’t leave my boat.”
“If the dragon ignores us, we’ll swim back and get it,” said Ulin, propelling the gnome toward the water.
Notwen dug in his heels. He clamped his hands around the rail and held on for the sake of his beloved boat. “But I can’t leave,” he wailed. “My engine, my charts, my instruments!”
“Are all replaceable.” Ulin tugged at him. “But you are not. Now let go!”
“The dragon won’t burn my boat. He won’t even see it down here. Look, he’s up on the Rock.”
“Quit playing around!” Kethril shouted in exasperation. “Just throw him in the water!”
“I can’t swim!” Notwen howled.
“We’ll help you,” Ulin told him. He pried loose one small hand then the other, and before Notwen knew what was happening, he sailed through the air and landed in the water with a splash. Cool saltwater surged over him. He flailed wildly, too panicked to think. His eyes bulged in terror. Then something cool and slick slid under him. A curved fin came into his hands. A long, sleek body rose beneath him and lifted him to the surface where he could breathe. He wiped the streaming water from his face and saw he was astride a dolphin, a wonderfully strong and intelligent dolphin that rolled its eye at him and made a sound like a chuckle. Notwen hugged its dorsal fin to his chest and swore a lifelong friendship to all dolphins everywhere.
Ulin came toward him pulled by another dolphin. The sirine, the two men, the gnome, and the dolphins quickly moved away from the boat and headed toward the bluffs where the afternoon shadows might give them cover from the keen eyes of the dragon. They saw him swoop from the rock and shoot like an arrow out of the harbor. They saw, too, the fiery hot lance of flame that seared from the dragon’s mouth and consumed the Second Thoughts in the blink of an eye.
Notwen closed his eyes and turned away. He could not bear to witness the death of his creation.
It was a subdued group that swam with the dolphins into the harbor and came at last to Flotsam’s small docks. The dolphins left them there and headed swiftly back to the broad waters of the bay, taking with them the sirine’s thanks and Notwen’s eternal gratitude. Ulin and Kethril climbed up to the empty dock and helped the gnome and the sirine out of the water.
The waterfront was in an uproar. People came out of hiding and formed a bucket line to fight the fire in the warehouse before it spread through the town, while others tried to clean up the blood, mashed fish, broken barrels, and smashed gear where the fishing boat had been destroyed. Relatives of the lost crew searched frantically among the pilings and debris in the hope a loved one had somehow survived. Others stood on the dock and mourned in low, wailing voices.
Ulin heard someone call his name. He felt his heart leap, and he whirled around to see Lucy racing through the crowds of people toward him. Never had he seen anyone so beautiful. His feet sprang forward of their own accord, and his arms flew wide to welcome her. He met her in a delighted collision of arms, lips, and hands that clung and touched and could not get enough. Neither one could say a word at first. It was enough to hold each other and feel the reality of their reunion.
“This had better be Lucy,” Kethril said behind them.
Ulin felt Lucy stiffen in his arms. He stood aside so she could see her father standing on the dock, the sirine beside him.
“Is it?” she asked in a voice stiff with ice. Ulin nodded.
All the anger and all the resentment of ten years combined with the tension, rage, and feelings of fear brought by the dragon formed a single brilliant explosion in Lucy’s soul. She walked to her father, her green eyes crackling, balled her fist, and punched him in the nose. “You two,” she shouted to two dockhands nearby. “Take this man to the city hall and throw him in jail.”
The sheer force of her anger and the complete surprise of her punch was enough to topple Kethril Torkay to the planks. He stared at her astounded as the two men hauled him to his feet and bound his hands behind his back. Lucy nodded once to them and stalked away into the crowd of firefighters.
The sirine laughed. “If that was my sister, I think I like her,” she commented. “Maybe she’ll talk to me.” She skipped off after Lucy.
“Come on, Notwen,” Ulin said. “We’ll go to the Jetties and wait for her. I’ll treat you to supper.”
Kethril watched the man and gnome head for the street. “Wait a minute. Where are you going?” He struggled against his bonds, but the strong dockhands merely grinned and shoved him toward the wharf.
“Supper,” Ulin called without turning around.
The gambler struggled forward and caught up with him. “Hold it, boy! You dragged me all the way to Flotsam for this? What about your promise of safe conduct?”
Ulin drew himself up to his full height and coolly cocked an eyebrow. “I’d say-considering the cost, aggravation, physical labor, and time spent getting you here-you’re lucky she didn’t cut you down on the spot. Believe me, when the townspeople find out you are here, you will be safer in the jail. I will talk to her and the city council.”
“You told me the town thought I was dead. I never imagined Lucy would come all this way to identify my body.”
Ulin was not moved. “Well, she did, and now she’s seen it. I have fulfilled my promise to her. What you do now is up to you.” He left Kethril standing on the wharf with his guards, staring morosely at some distant point only the gambler could see.
Notwen looked up at his tall friend and back at the man on the wharf. “He came rather easily, didn’t he?”
“For a man facing a noose, he came a little too easily. Maybe he has something up his sleeve besides cards. A day or two in the city jail won’t hurt him.”
“No.” Notwen brightened with his inevitable optimism. “Well, that’s good. Maybe you can help me build a new steam engine before you go.”
Ulin walked slowly, trying to adjust his long-legged pace to the gnome’s shorter legs. “Notwen, just how much do you know about that red dragon?”
“Fyremantle?” Notwen said nervously, tugging at his wet shirt. “He’s a greedy, egotistical minion of the Red Queen.”
“What was he doing here today?”
Notwen’s face paled, and he sputtered a few words before he could answer. “He probably came to remind us about the taxes. He does that sometimes just to keep us upset and frightened.”
“Will he come again before Visiting Day?”
“I don’t know. Probably not. He has to collect from other villages in this area.”
“What else do you know?” Ulin stopped and bent over so he could look at the gnome eye to eye. “You have an investigative mind, Notwen. I am certain you have studied this beast.”