“Just try it!” Audun snarled, baring his fangs.
Suddenly, Audun felt the overwhelming urge to inhale. His air was gone. He’d have to surface or drown. Either way, he wasn’t going to be able to help the baby desicca bird any longer. If only . . .
And then the shark was there, jaws snapping and teeth grazing the scales on Audun’s neck. The dragon fought back in a desperate frenzy. His fangs pierced the rough skin of the shark even while white lights exploded in the darkness.
The shark writhed, its tail whipping the water as Audun released his grip and bit again, deeper and harder, only to feel his jaws grow slack as he began to lose consciousness.
“We got it!” a snake’s voice whispered in Audun’s ear as the shark broke free and turned to rip at the dragon’s side. Something cool settled around Audun’s neck while the shark snapped at him, trying to penetrate the rock-hard scales. Within a few seconds, the dragon was able to breathe. He could feel the scrape of the shark’s teeth even as he started to come around, and then the dark fog was gone and he was back. With one swipe of his tail, Audun knocked the shark spinning through the water.
The shark shook itself and turned to charge at the dragon again. When it was only a few yards away, Audun threw back his head and roared. Ripples of sound hit the shark like mallet blows to its snout, forcing it to turn aside. Audun was preparing to fend off another attack when the shark shook its head and sped away.
The sea snakes cheered, their tails slicing through the water, but Audun wasn’t ready to celebrate yet. All the while he had been fighting the shark, the baby bird had been soaking up more water, becoming wider and harder to move. It took all of the young dragon’s strength and that of the sea snakes as well to shove their charge to the surface of the water, and even then the bird grew heavier and heavier as they propelled it toward the nearest island. When they finally rolled the baby bird onto the sandy beach, Audun was so tired that he was close to collapsing.
“Get rid of that water!” he told the bird, and gave it one last shove. Then, while the sea snakes watched from just beyond the surf, Audun lay his head on the sand and let the darkness overwhelm him.
Eleven
It was morning when Audun came fully awake, although he seemed to remember more than one sunset since he first lay down. The baby bird was nestled against his side, muttering about being hungry. It was back to its normal size. Audun raised his head and saw that he was only a few yards from a pool of water that hadn’t been there before. A deep channel had been etched into the beach where the excess water had drained into the sea. Apparently the baby bird had rid itself of the water right where it landed.
Audun was stiff and sore when he stood, but he had one more trip to make before he could return to King’s Isle to present the flute to the council. Picking up the baby bird, he carried it past the island’s tree line to the underbrush, where insects would be easy to find. While the hatchling ate, Audun returned to the ocean for a quick breakfast of fish, then retrieved the bird and rose into the sky. The oasis where he’d found the egg was at least two days’ flight away, but he had to return the little creature to its mother.
Audun had been gone for over a week by the time he returned to King’s Isle with desert sand still grating between his scales. Finding the mother bird hadn’t been easy, but it had been well worth the effort to see her joy when she finally saw her hatchling for the first time. Fortunately for Audun and the baby bird, the mother had accepted it back, although the baby still seemed to think that the dragon was its mother, too.
The first dragon Audun ran into when he set foot in the king’s stronghold was Frostybreath. The big ice dragon seemed happy to see him, patting him on the back so hard that Audun nearly lost his footing. “Welcome back, young dragon. You were gone so long that we thought we’d never see you again. The king and his councillors are going to be happy to see you. And so is Loolee. Make sure you ride the chute with her. It’s all she’s been able to talk about since you left the last time.”
“I will,” said Audun. He didn’t want to disappoint the little dragoness again.
“I’ll go on ahead and let the king know that you’re here, but you might as well go down to the antechamber. I’m sure he’ll want to see you right away.”
Audun was on his way down the ramp when he passed a gaggle of dragonesses going the other way. They all seemed happy to see him, but it was Hildie who stopped to talk while her friends continued on. “What have you been doing?” she asked. “You look different.”
“I’ve been in the desert,” he replied, thinking that she must be referring to the sand he was still shedding as he walked.
“Hmmm,” Hildie said, looking him up and down. “I didn’t know a desert could do that to you.”
Audun excused himself and continued down the ramp, but somehow he knew that she was still watching him.
Audun had never thought much about his appearance. He’d always been the average length for whatever his age happened to be and he’d always kept his scales fairly presentable, but he’d never preened the way some dragons did, or paid someone to burnish his scales to a semi-sheen. It came as a surprise, therefore, when he paused long enough to see his reflection in the ice and it wasn’t at all what he’d expected. True, his scales were the same blue and white they’d always been, but now they gleamed in the torchlight like well-polished metal. He also looked older; he’d lost the rounded cheeks of a teenage dragon and acquired a more angular, adult look. Although he hadn’t grown any longer, he seemed bigger, with well-defined muscles and broader shoulders. When he turned this way and that to see himself better, it was obvious that he had been working hard and eating little. Perhaps that was what Hildie had meant.
Frostybreath was waiting for him on the ramp. They nodded once at each other, then the older dragon ushered him into the audience chamber and left, shutting the door behind him.
Audun felt uncomfortable as he stood before the king and his councillors, waiting for his turn to speak. He wasn’t happy with them for sending him on a mission that had endangered an innocent life. It was hard to think of a diplomatic way to tell them this, though, while they talked among themselves. Their voices were too quiet for him to hear except for a few phrases like “. . . not at all what I expected,” “. . . couldn’t have been nicer . . . ,” “. . . someone will have to go . . . ,” and “. . . know that you have fish eggs on your chin?”
Finally King Stormclaw turned to the young dragon and said, “I’ve been reminded that I haven’t properly introduced my councillors to you. You’ve met Frostweaver and Wave Skimmer, and of course you know Song. This,” he said, indicating the gray-and-white-scaled dragon seated beside Audun’s grandmother, “is Vision Seeker, a truly gifted dragoness who is sometimes able to see into the future.”
Audun dipped his head in respect, but the old dragoness just snorted and said, “Did you get the flute?”
“I have it here,” he said, holding it up so everyone could see it.
“Did you have any problem with the sea witch?” asked Wave Skimmer.
“Nothing I couldn’t handle,” said Audun. “She wanted the egg so she could make it hatch and use the baby bird to suck the water out of a cave. Did you know why she wanted it before I went? Did you know that she wouldn’t care if the hatchling lived or died?”
Wave Skimmer shook her head. “We didn’t know what she wanted the egg for, although we had a good idea, considering the nature of the bird. What happened to the hatchling?”
King Stormclaw leaned over the edge of his slab to glare at Audun. “Did you leave it with the sea witch?”
“I couldn’t,” Audun said, straightening his back and returning the king’s glare. “I took it back to its mother in the desert.”
King Stormclaw looked satisfied. He glanced at Song and nodded. “You were right about him.”
Audun glanced from the king to his grandmother, confused.
“I told King Stormclaw that you would not only get the flute from
the witch, but also keep the baby bird safe,” said Song of the Glacier.
“We needed the flute,” said the king, “but we had no intention of hurting the baby.”
“You could have told me,” Audun muttered.
“Yes, and we should have,” said his grandmother. “You must excuse us. We’ve had other things to worry about of late.”
“Tell him!” said Wave Skimmer. “If you don’t, I will!”
King Stormclaw nodded. “There’s something else you should know. We’ve had a most unexpected visitor in your absence. Princess Emeralda, the Green Witch, came to see us. It seems that her daughter is pining away. She refuses to eat and doesn’t sleep, so her mother came looking for you. I didn’t know how powerful the witch’s magic was until she said that she used it to trace you here.”
“She says that her daughter swears she loves you so much that she will never love another,” interrupted Wave Skimmer. “I must admit, the girl sounds like a true dragoness. When I was young, I had a number of friends who swore they would rather die than give up the one they loved. I think it’s so romantic!”
King Stormclaw cleared his throat. “The Green Witch is a much better human than I expected. And a much better dragon,” he added, at a small sound from Song. “Word of the war between East Aridia and Aridia has spread. The Green Witch has heard of our ties to Aridia and understands our concern. She explained that she doesn’t care about jewels, and that Greater Greensward has had difficulties of its own with the East Aridians. She came to the stronghold to offer us a pact of alliance should we need it.”
“I thought it was so nice that she asked,” said Wave Skimmer.
“We told her that we would discuss it and send her word of our decision when it had been made,” said the king.
“What about Millie?” Audun asked anxiously. “Is she all right?”
“I’m sure she is now,” said his grandmother. “Her mother said that she’s going to withdraw her objections to her marrying you.”
“Imagine a human objecting to her daughter marrying an ice dragon!” snapped Vision Seeker. “She should be grateful an ice dragon wants to marry her!”
“Can I go see Millie?” Audun asked, suddenly so excited that he found it hard to stand still.
“Actually, we have another task for you,” said the king. “The girl’s mother understands that we’re in the midst of a difficult time and will tell her daughter as much.”
Audun held the flute out to the king. “What should I do with this?”
“Take it with you,” said King Stormclaw. “We need you to deliver it to a family of giants traveling on the Eastern Sea. They have been friends to ice dragons for many years and we are happy to help them when they find themselves in need. Frostybreath will give you the directions.”
Frostybreath was waiting for Audun outside the chamber, but he wasn’t alone. Loolee was there, wriggling with anticipation and talking nonstop about sliding down the chute. Hildie was there as well, along with another dragon that Audun had never met before. Unlike Ice Rider, the dragon Hildie had introduced him to during his last visit, this one was much older and not nearly as athletic. He looked closer to Audun’s father’s age than to Audun’s, and his ponderous belly was encrusted with jewels, a typical dragon way of showing off wealth and protecting his more tender regions.
“Audun,” said Hildie, pushing herself in front of the others, “this is—”
Loolee grabbed hold of Audun’s leg and clung to it. “I’m ready to go down the chute,” she cried, her eyes wide with excitement as she gazed up at him. “Can we go now?”
“Loolee!” Audun had never had a younger sibling and neither had any of his friends, so a playful little dragoness was new to him.
“Audun, I wanted you to meet—,” Hildie tried again.
Loolee began bouncing up and down, crying, “You promised, Audun, remember?”
Audun sighed. “I can go with you one time today.”
Shrieking with delight, the little dragoness took off up the ramp. Audun was about to follow her when he remembered something. “You have some directions for me, Frostybreath?” he asked, turning to the big dragon.
“You go ride the chute,” the big dragon replied. “I’ll meet you at the door and tell you how to get to the islands.”
“But, Audun,” wailed Hildie. “I need to talk to you!”
“Sorry, but I’m already short on time. It will have to wait until I come back.” Audun may not have had a lot of experience with young dragonesses, but he did know that he didn’t want his name added to Hildie’s list of suitors.
Twelve
Frostybreath was good at giving clear directions. For the first half of the trip, Audun found himself flying over familiar territory. He saw the distant mountains where the witch’s servants had imprisoned his family, and flew over the plains and forests that he had crossed while looking for Millie. Later that same day he looked down to see a marshy area where a dragonlike beast called a knucker was chasing an unfortunate deer. He circled for a minute, wondering if he should look for fish in the marsh, but continued on, his stomach growling from hunger. Just beyond the marsh lay a forest of scruffy pine which continued to the rocky shore of the sea. It wasn’t as blue or as clear as the sea where he’d found Nastia Nautica and he couldn’t see as far into its depths, but he did see schools of fish from time to time. He had a full belly by the time he reached the island where the giants’ boat was beached.
The giants’ ship was much bigger than the wreck that was the sea witch’s home, with a mast at least fifty feet tall. It rested on a beach of silvery sand with shallow ditches on either side. Two enormous boys were standing where the wavelets washed onto the beach, tossing rocks as large as Audun’s head into the water. A woman was seated on the sand, with her head bent so that her long, brown hair hung over her face. She was sobbing and her shoulders shook with every breath she took. It was obvious that something was terribly wrong. Suddenly, Audun regretted taking the time to slide down the chute with Loolee.
The young dragon was trying to decide where to land when he noticed ripples of water arrowing toward the beach, aimed directly at the woman. “Watch out!” Audun shouted. Thinking that a sea monster was about to attack her, he tucked his wings to his sides and plummeted to the sand, pulling up short in front of the giant woman. Audun turned his back to her and faced the water, preparing to fight.
He had already tensed his muscles and spread his wings to make himself look bigger when the ripples faded away and another giant stood up, shedding a torrent of water. At least twenty-five feet tall, he was bigger than the woman and the boys. “Who’s this?” boomed the giant, brushing his dripping hair out of his eyes and looking warily at Audun. Thick sheets of water sprayed across the beach, drenching Audun and making him stagger.
Audun bowed his head and said, “King Stormclaw and his council sent me. I brought you this.” Reaching into his flap, he took out the flute and laid it on the ground at the giant’s feet.
“Ah,” said the giant, giving Audun a halfhearted smile. “I was afraid he hadn’t gotten my message. I’m not sure it will do any good now. It’s been so long . . . I didn’t see anything,” he told the woman seated behind Audun.
The woman’s crying became so loud that each sob hurt Audun’s ears. He moved away when the giant gestured for one of the boys to pick up the flute. Although the boys looked just like the giant, they weren’t nearly as tall. Audun decided they must be his sons.
Audun had to brace himself as the earth shook from the giants’ footsteps and it wasn’t until they were all sitting down that he was able to say, “May I ask what happened?”
“Our daughter is gone,” said the woman, dabbing at her tears. “The sea monster took her.”
“Let me explain,” said the man. “My name is Hugo and this is my wife, Mona, and our boys, Clifton and Tomas. We’d been visiting the islands, seeing if we’d like to settle here, when we stopped to take on more fresh water and supplies. Mona
and I were collecting seaweed with the boys just over there,” he said, pointing down the beach, “when our little girl, Penelope, disappeared.”
“She’s only three,” wailed her mother.
“We think a sea monster took her. Shortly before she disappeared we saw a hideous beast with a long, whiplike tail jump out of the water as if it was trying to get a good look at us. We’ve been searching for her for days, but all we’ve found are some prints in the sand.”
“Don’t forget the picture,” said Clifton, the taller of the two boys.
Hugo sighed. “The boys found a picture made of seashells. They thought it looked like their sister.”
“It did look just like her, Papa!” said Tomas. “It was so good an artist must have done it.”
Hugo shrugged. “I didn’t see it myself. The waves had washed most of it away by the time I got there. If it was as good as the boys say, whoever made it must have seen Penelope. We thought they might want a ransom, but they never sent us a message of any sort. However, it wasn’t the picture that interested me as much as the marks in the sand. They were just above the waterline; the waves hadn’t reached them yet. It almost looked as if someone had pressed a cup over and over into the ground. The only thing we could think of was that a sea monster must have left the marks.”
“Which means that some horrible fiend had the sea monster carry her off,” said Tomas. “Those monsters aren’t smart enough to do a picture that good.”
“We don’t know anything for sure,” said Hugo. “Just that we think a sea monster was involved somehow. That’s why I asked an eagle to carry a message to King Stormclaw. I’d heard of the Sea Serpents’ Flute and knew Stormclaw could get it if anyone could. I thought we could find out what happened to her if we could talk to the sea monster.”
Clifton held up the flute, which looked like a child’s tiny toy in his hands and would have been lost in his father’s. “What happens if I blow into this?”