Although the bird was out of sight, sand continued to shoot out of the tunnel. When it stopped, Audun expected the bird to emerge, but at least five minutes passed before he saw movement and then it wasn’t the bird at all, but a mottled brown and gold egg, rolling out of the tunnel as its mother pushed it from behind. The bird emerged only long enough to place the egg beside the water before returning to the tunnel. Twice more it brought out an egg, and each time Audun thought about rushing down to grab one, but curiosity made him stay where he was, waiting to see what would happen next.
When the last egg had rolled to a stop beside the water, the desicca bird tapped it with her beak once, twice, three times. Suddenly the egg began to rock wildly back and forth. A crack appeared in its side and a sharp yellow beak appeared. As the first baby emerged from its shell, the mother tapped the second egg, eliciting the same response. The third egg was a disappointment, however, for despite the mother’s tapping, the egg remained motionless and no baby bird appeared.
Audun was mentally kicking himself for not taking one of the viable eggs before they hatched when he noticed that the babies were following their mother into the pond. Scrawny and yellow, the freshly hatched chicks staggered into the water and plopped down. While their mother stood beside them, chirruping softly, the babies sat patiently, gazing at each other and the new world around them. Audun wondered what was going on. Then he realized that even though they weren’t visibly doing anything, the chicks were growing plumper. It wasn’t until he saw the waterline receding that he understood what was happening. The chicks had hatched from the eggs of a bird that carried water in her body and could deposit it at will, and now they were absorbing the water she had brought.
That’s one way to give your babies water in a desert, thought Audun. And that’s why they’re seen only near oases. They don’t come to the oases. They make them!
The two chicks were as round as snowballs when Audun’s gaze returned to the last egg. He was going to have to visit another oasis in the hope that a second desicca bird might come along. And if none came . . . The remaining egg rocked slightly and Audun gasped. The baby inside was alive after all!
Moving carefully, Audun crept out of the dune, hoping the mother desicca bird wouldn’t notice the sand trickling down the slope, or the continued rocking of her egg. She was still absorbed in examining her hatchlings so Audun dashed down to the water’s edge, pulled the square off his back, and threw it over the egg. Picking it up in his talons, Audun leaped into the air, climbing high with powerful beats of his wings. The desicca bird squawked, but Audun was already far away, with the egg clutched to his chest.
Twice in two days he had stolen something from a mother bird. The first time he had felt triumphant. This time he couldn’t help but feel guilty.
Eight
Word of Audun’s return must have reached the council members the moment he set foot on King’s Isle because he was taken directly to the audience chamber where they were already waiting. He had yet to relax his grip on the egg he carried; it was almost with reluctance that he unwrapped it from its covering and held it up for the king and his councillors to see. The older dragons leaned forward to get a better look. After a moment, Stormclaw turned to Frostweaver and raised a brow ridge.
The old dragoness gestured to Audun. “Bring the egg to me, young dragon. My eyes aren’t as good as they were when I was your age.”
Audun stood on his hind legs to show the egg to Frost-weaver, and sand trickled from the spaces between his scales, dusting the floor. Although the sandstorm had polished the outside of each scale, it had also left him with sand in every crack and crevice. He’d already decided that the desert was a nice place for an ice dragon to visit, but he, at least, would never want to live there.
The sand crunched under his feet as Audun held the egg higher, being careful not to lose his grip. The dragoness leaned so close that the tip of her nose almost touched the egg. Turning her head to the side, she placed her ear against the egg and listened. When she finally sat back and turned to the king, a smile split her wrinkled face.
“It’s a desicca bird’s egg all right, and I can hear the chick moving inside,” she told the king, as Audun covered the egg to keep it warm. “We can’t waste any time. He has to take the egg to her now.”
Stormclaw nodded. “And he will, soon enough. But first I want to hear what happened. Did you have any difficulty finding the bird?” he asked Audun.
The young dragon shook his head. “Not once I knew where to look, but if the human boy, Owen, hadn’t told me, I’d still be combing the desert right now.”
“When did you see a human?” asked Song of the Glacier.
“I saved his brothers and sister from a lion that was about to eat them. They were the ones who told me that a roc had carried off Owen. It was after they escaped from Desidaria right after the war.”
The king’s brow ridges came together in a frown. He glanced at the dragoness seated between him and Song, but all she could do was shrug. “There’s been a war in Aridia?” he said, turning back to Audun. “Who were they fighting?”
“The East Aridian army invaded the city. A lot of people were killed, including the king.”
Frostweaver gasped; Stormclaw and his advisers ex-changed glances. “That explains why there was neither a delivery nor a message,” said the king.
“What else can you tell us about this war?” Song of the Glacier asked her grandson.
Audun told them everything he could remember, and when he was done he told them in greater detail about the lion and the roc and finding the desicca bird. The king had come down from his pillar to pace while the young dragon talked about the orphans in the city, but he didn’t interrupt until Audun was finished. “You’ve done well, young dragon. Better than we expected. The news you brought has given us much to think about.”
“Stormclaw,” prompted Song of the Glacier.
“Ah, yes. Your second task,” the king continued. “Because you have been so resourceful, and have shown real concern for the chick within the egg, we believe you are the ideal dragon to take care of this for us. Wave Skimmer will tell you what to do.”
The dragoness seated between Frostweaver and the king waved at Audun to get his attention. She was plumper than Frostweaver and not quite as old, although her scaled face bore more wrinkles and creases. “I’m over here, young dragon,” she said. “King Stormclaw seems to forget that you don’t know who we are. My name is Wave Skimmer and my talent lets me see things far away, provided they’re under or on top of water. And if the weather is good. And if I’m feeling up to it. Sometimes my back aches so much that—”
“Wave Skimmer!” interrupted the king.
“Oh, right. You’re in luck today. I think we’ll be able to see just fine. We need you to take the egg to the sea witch Nastia Nautica, and exchange it for a musical instrument called the Sea Serpents’ Flute that she keeps in that rotting hulk she calls home. Here, I’ll show you.”
Picking up a wide bowl resting beside her, she spread her wings and stepped off the slab, landing on the floor with a thump. The bowl was filled with water that sloshed over the rim when she set it down. “Now watch,” Wave Skimmer said, sticking her talon in the water and stirring it. A picture formed in the swirling water. It was hard to make out at first, but as Audun watched the image became clearer. An old mermaid with pale, nearly transparent hair and dark green scales on her lower half was holding a long, thin tube with holes running down two sides.
Wave Skimmer flicked her talon at the mermaid. “That is Nastia Nautica, and that,” she said, circling her talon tip around the tube, “is the instrument you have to bring back.”
The mermaid in the image looked up when Wave Skimmer said her name, almost as if she had heard her. She began to look around, peering under tables and into chests. When she didn’t see whatever she was looking for, she flipped open the curved lid of a sea chest and tossed the instrument inside. Bubbles escaped from the chest as she shu
t the lid and turned to sit on it.
“What’s she doing?” Audun asked.
“Don’t ask me,” said Wave Skimmer. “She’s as crazy as a sea serpent stuck in a waterspout.”
Nastia Nautica spun around, her dark, empty eyes looking frantically from one side of the room to the other.
“Do you think she can hear us?” Audun asked.
The mermaid darted to the empty panes of the large window at the back of the room. Sticking her head out, she peered around, seeming disappointed when she pulled her head back in, her mouth working in a scream that Audun was thankful he couldn’t hear.
“Huh,” said Wave Skimmer. “I hadn’t thought of that. Sure looks that way, doesn’t it?” The old dragoness took her talon out of the water and the image vanished. When she stuck the tip back in, Audun could see rolling waves as if he were looking down at the water from above. “That isn’t right,” muttered the old dragoness. “Maybe if we go this way . . .” When Wave Skimmer angled her talon to the side, the image shifted as well. Now it looked like the waves were coming head on, as if the dragons were bobbing on top of the water. Audun noted that they were near an island with oddly shaped trees and what looked like a magic carpet on the sand. An old man was dancing around the carpet, waving something green in the air while sunlight glinted off his bald head.
“It’s that wizard again,” muttered Audun. “I wonder what he’s up to now.”
“Slush!” exclaimed the dragoness, and jammed her talon in the water until it scraped the bottom of the bowl. This time the image raced down to the bottom of the ocean until all they could see was brown muck.
“I went too far,” murmured Wave Skimmer, pulling her talon back just a bit. “There, that’s better.” The image of an old, round-bellied shipwreck appeared, the timbers broken and half-covered with seaweed. Brightly colored fish darted in and out of the openings while a long, thin creature like a flat snake undulated past. “It’s not much to look at, but the old witch has lived there for years,” said the dragoness.
Suddenly, Nastia Nautica shot out of one of the larger openings, frightening a school of small, bright yellow fish that darted out of her way. The sea witch looked wildly around, but didn’t seem to see anything. Shaking her fist at the ocean outside her door, she retreated into her wreck.
“Where is this?” asked Audun.
“That’s easy,” said Wave Skimmer, taking her finger out of the water. “Go due south for three days. When you see a cone-shaped island puffing smoke, head west until you see three islands in a straight line. Look for the sea witch’s wreck near the island shaped like a seagull’s head.”
“Why don’t you show him a map like I did?” asked Frostweaver.
Wave Skimmer glared at the older dragoness. “You do things your way and I’ll do them mine. Now, if you don’t have any other questions . . . ,” she said, turning to Audun. When he shook his head, she flew back to her perch atop the slab, her wings creaking with each beat.
“You forgot the amulet,” King Stormclaw reminded her.
“Oh, right! Silly of me. He’s going to need that.” Peering down at Audun she told him, “Now, I’m sure that like most ice dragons, you can hold your breath underwater for a good long while. However, you won’t be able to hold it while you talk to the sea witch, so you’ll need this amulet I’m going to give you, if I can just find it.” The old dragoness patted her slab. “Let me see . . . No, it’s not . . . I know! I must have put it in my pouch.” Her voice became muffled as she buried her face under her wing. “No, it’s not . . . Ooh! What’s this? Tsk, tsk. I’d better have a doctor look at that before it gets any bigger. Now let me . . . Here it is! I was sitting on it. This is your amulet.”
Snagging the chain with his talon, Audun held up the embossed amulet so he could examine it. Waves surrounding a round bubble rolled across the amulet. For a moment, Audun thought the waves were moving.
“That amulet is yours now, so put it on and don’t take it off. It will let you breathe underwater for as long as you’re wearing it. Take it off and you’ll drown. If you’re underwater, I mean. Any questions?”
“Just one,” said Audun. “I’m supposed to take the egg to the sea witch and trade it for that flute. Does she know I’m coming?”
“Nope. She has no idea,” said Wave Skimmer.
“Is there anything I should know about her?”
“You shouldn’t trust her. Nastia Nautica’s a slippery one. Any other questions?”
Audun shook his head and the old dragoness sat back with a soft grunt. “Well then, as I said before, you need to hurry. The chick won’t stay alive in that egg forever. I don’t know why the old sea witch wants it, but she won’t trade for the egg unless the chick is still alive.”
“I’ll leave right away,” said Audun, but King Storm-claw was talking to his councillors again. Audun heard a few words: “. . . send someone to find out . . . ,” and “. . . no one who can . . . ,” before his grandmother called him over. She gestured for him to follow her behind her slab so they could have a moment of privacy.
“I wanted to tell you that you did very well with your first task,” Song told him. “Just be careful around the sea witch. Nastia Nautica has no scruples. She’ll do anything to get what she wants.”
Audun had a lot on his mind as he climbed the ramp to the top floor and the exit of the island stronghold. He was grateful to his grandmother for taking his side and worried that the king might never see why he had to be with Millie. And what about Millie? Her mother had taken her away because of him. He didn’t know anything about her mother, except that she was a princess, a witch, and a Dragon Friend. Was she good to Millie? Had she taken her away to punish her? What was she doing right now? Was he wasting his time hunting for an egg and negotiating with a sea witch when he should be rescuing his beloved?
Audun wasn’t looking where he was going as he left the ramp and almost ran into two dragons that were blocking his way. One was Hildie, looking bored. The other was an older male dragon he had never met before. “Audun!” cried Hildie, her face lighting up. “I heard you were back. Are you staying long?”
“No, I’m on my way out now, actually,” he said, trying to edge past.
Hildie frowned ever so slightly, then quickly sidled up to the older dragon and stood so that their sides were touching. “Wait, you have to meet my suitor, Ice Rider. He got his adult name last year, isn’t that right, dear?” The adoring look she gave him was so unlike the bored expression she’d been wearing just a moment before that Audun was surprised. Apparently Ice Rider was as well, but he seemed to like it; he lifted his tail and wrapped it around hers in a possessive way.
“That’s right, sweetness,” he said, smiling at her.
Turning to Audun, Hildie said, “He’s the champion ice floe rider. He can ride a floating piece of ice for miles.”
“How nice,” Audun told the dragon. “I’m sure that comes in handy at times.” As he squeezed past them, trying to keep the egg he cradled against his chest from getting squashed, he noticed the look of disappointment in Hildie’s eyes.
“Audun!” squealed Loolee, as she barreled off the ramp. “I heard you were back. Do you want to ride down the chute with me? I had so much fun last time.”
“I’m sorry, Loolee, but I can’t today. I have to go somewhere now. Maybe I’ll be able to slide with you when I come back.”
“All right,” the little dragoness said, her crest drooping. “And we’ll talk, too, then, won’t we, Audun?” called Hildie as he neared the door to the outside.
“Of course,” he said, but instead of thinking about talking to Hildie, he was already wondering what he could possibly say to a sea witch.
Nine
Audun may not have had a map this time, but he did know how to follow directions. He flew due south for three days, stopping to catch fish and to drink from rivers, and later to catch even bigger fish from the ocean. He took time out to sleep twice, once amid the ruins of a castle, after gett
ing permission from the banshee who lived there, and once on a tropical island whose only occupants were crabs and seabirds. Both nights he had difficulty falling asleep because he was thinking about Millie. Audun took good care of the egg, carrying it gently and making sure it was wrapped in the square so that the temperature was just right.
If it hadn’t been for the smoke, he would have missed the cone-shaped island that Wave Skimmer had mentioned. He’d been looking for the smoke for the last half day, but he smelled it before he saw it. Turning west, he began to look for the three islands all in a row, but didn’t spot them until late in the day.
Not wanting to face the sea witch in the dark, Audun spent the night on the island shaped roughly like a seagull’s head, although he thought it looked more like a crow. He was worried about the baby bird because it had been in the egg for much longer than its nest mates, so every once in a while he pressed his ear against the egg and listened. If he waited long enough, he was rewarded with the smallest of sounds, and so knew that the baby was still alive.
He woke early the next morning when the sunlight turned rosy outside his eyelids. After breakfasting on a plump fish, he flew out over the water, the amulet’s chain around his neck. Unlike the murky water in the Icy North, this water was clear and he could see far into its depths as he skimmed the tops of the waves.
Audun circled the island. When he reached the spot where he had started and still hadn’t found anything, he widened the circle and searched again. He did this three or four times, until he finally saw the wreck just beyond an enormous bed of seaweed. The ship had sunk in one piece. It had been a large ship, and sturdily built, although time and the sea had left gaping holes big enough for entire schools of fish to swim through. One fish was so huge that Audun was sure that it, at least, couldn’t fit through the openings. Nearly twenty feet long, the fish’s gaping mouth took up most of its pointed face and was filled with dragon-sized teeth. It swam with the confidence of being the biggest predator around. Audun watched as it passed over the wreck and back again. Finally, it seemed to grow bored and swam away, but the young dragon waited until it was out of sight before heading down to the wreck.