On the ship, Tibby crawled out from underneath the weapons platform and climbed onto it again. The fire hadn’t gotten her; thank the moon god. She peered toward the dragons, but Fel shouted something and pointed toward the water.
Vorik was swimming toward one of the stormer ships. None of them appeared seaworthy, and the one that had lost its mast listed so far sideways that the crew struggled to keep from sliding off the deck, but the tenacious stormers kept loosing arrows at the Kingdom crewmen, and more than one of their cannons continued to fire.
Syla thought Tibby might aim at one of the ships since, with the dragons beyond the barrier, they were no longer a threat to the fleet, but when she planted her palm against a post, her face resolute, Syla realized what her target was. Since she still dangled from Wreylith’s talons, the dragon circling while waiting for a suggestion on a destination, Syla couldn’t do anything to stop her aunt.
Vorik was swimming fast, his sword sheathed so he could use both arms, but he had to navigate around wreckage from the ships, and she didn’t think his speed would be great enough.
“Look out!” Syla yelled, but with cannons still booming and dragons roaring their frustrations, he wouldn’t hear her. Trying to use telepathy, she also called,Look out!with her mind.
She feared it was fruitless, since she could only speak telepathically with dragons, and blurted a distressed, “No!” as Tibby fired a single silvery ball.
It sped straight toward Vorik, but he was already diving. He couldn’t have seen the attack coming as he swam away, but had he somehow sensed Syla’s warning? And would it even matter? Or would the magical sphere follow him through water as easily as it did through air and strike its target?
The projectile dove into the waves, and she groaned, certain it would hit him. A silvery flash came from the sea, then a strange bubble rose up, almost as if the water were boiling. Maybe it was.
Had the weapon struck Vorik? Syla worried it had, but he was so capable of avoiding death that she watched, hoping to see him surface, to keep swimming.
Long seconds passed, and she caught herself holding her breath as she searched. Though she spotted a few injured and some perhaps dead men floating on the waves, she didn’t see Vorik come up. Had her aunt succeeded where so many others had failed?
A lump formed in Syla’s throat. She told herself that between the waves, the lingering chaos of the battle, and the awkwardness of searching while dangling from a flying dragon’s talons, she might have missed Vorik. But dread settled into her as she worried he hadn’t survived.
It is not safe out here,Wreylith said.Now that your fleet is out of dragon reach, they will turn all their attention on us. Do you wish me to take you to your vessel or the city? Since we are now bonded, I should be able to travel through the barriers with you to your various islands, not just Castle Island.
Oh, yes. We need to check on the palace and see if we can find Lord Oyenar for an update. We may need to drive stormers out of the city, as well.
I do enjoy driving out enemies. Almost as much as I enjoy hunting. Also, I seem to recall that bog bears proliferate on this island.Wreylith flew toward the river mouth.Succulent and delicious bog bears that are nearly extinct on the mainlands.
Did you rescue me to save me from certain death or because you wouldn’t be able to get through the barrier to hunt those bears without me?
Your death would be inconvenient since it would leave nobody capable enough to heal me when I’m wounded.
So, you’d miss me as much as your belly would miss being filled with bog-bear meat?Syla sensed the barrier as they flew toward it, though it was as invisible as the one around Castle Island.
Equally so, I’d think. I?—
Wreylith struck the invisible barrier instead of flying through, and she screeched as sparks flew and light flashed. Her back tilted, her wings flapping wildly, and her talons jerked and released Syla.
Startled, Syla barely managed to flatten her hand to her face to keep her spectacles on as she plunged twenty feet. Cold water enveloped her, and she almost swallowed a mouthful when she came up, a wave striking her in the face.
What happened?she blurted telepathically, though it had been obvious.
It seemed Wreylith misremembered the past, or something was different about her bond with Syla than it had been with Queen Erasbella., and the dragon could only fly through the shield on Castle Island.
The barrier kept me from approaching.Wreylith sounded puzzled.I flew through it in the past when I carried your ancestor.
Did Erasbella have to say or do something to allow it?
I do not recall. I will have to sort through my memories.Wreylith tried to fly down to pluck up Syla again, but the current had carried her through the barrier.I cannot retrieve you.
Guess I’m swimming.Syla grimaced, well aware that stormers remained alive on those ships. With her dragon ally unable to help her, she would have to pray that she could make it to the fleet vessels before an archer with a grudge spotted her.
13
At least onearcher took note of Syla swimming through the waves toward theStormslicer. Through the water droplets clinging to her spectacles, she could make out the big black dragon, Ozlemar, circling near the barrier and General Jhiton, his bow across his lap, gazing down at her.
Wreylith remained close and roared at them. Jhiton looked blandly at her, not appearing concerned, probably because a half dozen stormer dragons remained in the area. Syla wished her aunt had been firing the weapons platform attheminstead of Vorik. Since Wreylith was stuck out there by herself, the stormer-allied dragons might go after her.
Though Ozlemar might have been close enough for his rider to loose an arrow, Jhiton surprised Syla by not doing so. Nor did he order his dragons to attack Wreylith. His gaze shifted to the water between the Kingdom ships and the mouth of the river. Was he, also, looking for Vorik to come up?
