“What’s the way to a woman’s heart?” he asks, grabbing a paint brush out of the storage closet, too.
Pearls? Gold? Unconditional love?
“Love?”
“No. Food.” He rushes to the door with the basket of fish and paint supplies.
Algar hobbles his way outside, and I stand in the frame of the open door, watching as he shouts Thane’s name. The dragon bumps the boat again, this time sending dishes flying out of the open cupboards and crashing to the floor. I yelp as I hold on to the rail by the door. Algar says something to Thane, then repeats it to Rynthea and Solyen.
“Are you mad?” Solyen yells.
“Trust me, it will work!” Algar yells back. “Just don’t fire the cannons! You’ll only piss her off more!”
Solyen isn’t pleased. Regardless, he throws up a hand to halt his crew members, who obediently stop loading the cannons. Algar hustles to the center of the deck with the items he’s taken from the cupboards.
He removes the lid from the paint can and sloshes the brush into it. Thick silver paint drips from the bristles. He goes to work immediately, stumbling a few times as the boat rocks.
He creates a circle with a hastily drawn wave inside it. It’s sloppy work, but Algar apparently deems it acceptable because he stands and mutters to himself while nodding in approval.
The dragon breaches the water again, and her massive head hovers above the ship. Water drips in streams from her chin. Her mouth opens wide, ready to spew more acid-venom.
“Algar, hurry up!” Rynthea shouts.
The dragon’s nostrils flare, liquid accumulating in the back of her throat. Thane raises his gold-lit hands, ready to deflect it with another shield, while Rynthea stares up in a defensive stance, scythesword still locked in hand.
“Hey!” Algar calls, waving his hands in the air.
The dragon snarls and brings her head down so that she’s eye-to-eye with Algar. Her glowing blue eyes swirl like the tidal pools on Ember Coast, water trickling through her shimmering scales.
“That’s right! Right here!” Algar tries to make himself as large as possible. “We don’t want to hurt you!” He gestures to the symbol he painted on the deck. “We aren’t here to hurt you or your family! This is our signal of peace! We yield to you! All we want is to pass!” He kicks the basket of fish forward.
The dragon finally clamps her mouth shut. She looks from Algar to the painting to the fish and then back to Algar. Her head tips to the right as a low croak sounds in her throat. Blood rushes to my ears as I hold my breath, waiting to see what the water dragon does next.
She blinks at Algar, observing the painting that is smearing around the edges, and the full basket of fish. Then she stretches her mouth open and aims directly for him.
I scream, but he just stands there. That’s when I realize she’s not going for him. She’s aiming for the fish. She takes the entire basket into her mouth, swallows without chewing, then chuffs as she glares at him, expecting more.
Algar puffs out a breath as he approaches her. He drops to his knees before he presses his hands to her muzzle.
I hold my breath.
“Passage…please?” he requests in a trembling voice.
A satisfied rumble sounds in the dragon’s throat as she blinks, eyes swiveling to look at everyone on board. Then she pulls her head away with another chuff and backs away from the ship. With one last glimpse at us, she slinks away and disappears beneath the waves.
We all collectively release a breath, standing in disbelief as we stare at the patch of ocean where she descended, waiting to see if she’ll return.
After another calm moment, Thane turns to Algar and says, “What just happened? Where did it go?”
“Probably back to her nest,” Algar says, panting. “Fuck, that was scary,” he wheezes. “Almost pissed on myself.”
“Is it coming back?” Thane asks.
“I doubt it. Back in the day, mortals used to share symbols of peace with water dragons when they voyaged,” Algar explains. “These symbols helped them get past the water dragons if they encountered them. So she recognized my horribly painted symbol of peace, ate the fish as an offering,andshe let me place my hands on her.” He smiles, seeming proud of that. “They are exceptionally smart, but when it comes to their territory, they attack first and assess later. She thought we were intruding, and that’s why she was about to destroy the ship. We had to prove to her that we weren’t bringing any trouble.”
“So let me get this straight.” Solyen steps forward with a hand raised. “Had she not watched you make a fool of yourself,andif she hadn’t eatenhalf of our supplyof fish, my sweetEmelliewould be sinking to the bottom of the ocean right now?”
“That’s correct,” he replies. “Better for us to be a little hungry than drowning or getting hit with her venom, right?”
