Morgan Rice: A Fate of Dragons

But Alistair merely kept her face down, silent.

“It’s true,” inserted one of the servant women. “This one’s never told us who she is. Or why she’s here. She refuses to. We’ve tried for years.”

Erec was deeply puzzled by her – but that only added to her mystery.

“If I cannot know who you are, then I shall not,” Erec said. “I respect your vow. But that will not change my affection for you. My lady, whoever you are, if I should win these tournaments, then I will choose you as my prize. You, from any woman in this entire kingdom. I ask you again: do you consent?”

Alistair kept her eyes fixed to the ground, and as Erec watched, he saw tears rolling down her cheeks.

Suddenly, she turned and fled from the room, running out and closing the door behind her.

Erec stood there, with the others, in the stunned silence. He hardly knew how to interpret her response.

“You see then, you waste your time, and mine,” the innkeeper said. “She said no. Be off with you then.”

Erec frowned back.

“She did not say no,” Brandt interjected. “She did not respond.”

“She is entitled to take her time,” Erec said, in her defense. “After all, it is a lot to consider. She does not know me, either.”

Erec stood there, debating what to do.

“I will stay here tonight,” Erec finally announced. “You shall give me a room here, down the hall from hers. In the morning, before the tournaments begin, I shall ask her again. If she consents, and if I win, she shall be my bride. If so, I will buy her out of her servitude with you, and she shall leave this place with me.”

The innkeeper clearly did not want Erec under his roof, but he dared not say anything; so he turned and stormed from the room, slamming the door behind him.

“Are you certain you wish to stay here?” the Duke asked. “Come back to the castle with us.”

Erec nodded back, gravely.

“I have never been more certain of anything in my life.”

Thor plummeted down through the air, diving, racing headfirst for the churning waters of the Sea of Fire. He entered it and sunk down, immersed, and was startled to feel the water was hot.

Beneath the surface, Thor opened his eyes briefly – and wished he hadn’t. He caught a glimpse of all manner of strange and ugly sea creatures, small and big, with unusual and grotesque faces. This ocean was teeming. He prayed they did not attack him before he could reach the safety of the rowboat.

Thor surfaced with a gasp, and looked immediately for the drowning boy. He spotted him, and just in time: he was flailing, sinking, and in a few more seconds, surely he would have drowned.

Thor reached around, grabbed him from behind by his collarbone, and began to swim with him, keeping both their heads above water. Thor heard a whelp and a whine, and as he turned, he was shocked to see Krohn: he must have leapt in after him. The leopard swam beside him, paddling up to Thor, whining. Thor felt terrible that Krohn was endangered like this – but his hands were full and there was little he could do.

Thor tried not to look all around him, at the waters, churning red, at the strange creatures surfacing and disappearing all around him. An ugly-looking creature, purple, with four arms and two heads, surfaced nearby, hissed at him, then submerged, making Thor flinch.

Thor turned and saw the rowboat, about twenty yards away, and swam for it frantically, using his one arm and his legs as he dragged the boy. The boy flailed and screamed, resisting, and Thor feared he might bring him down with him.

“Hold still!” Thor screamed harshly, hoping the boy would listen.

Finally, he did. Thor was momentarily relieved – until he heard a splash and turned his head the other way: right beside him, another creature surfaced, small, with a yellow head and four tentacles. It had a square head, and it swam right up to him, snarling and shaking. It looked like a rattlesnake that lived in the sea, except its head was too square. Thor braced himself as it got closer, preparing to be bitten – but then suddenly it opened its mouth wide and spat seawater at him. Thor blinked, trying to flush it from his eyes.

The creature swam around and around them, in circles, and Thor redoubled his efforts, swimming faster, trying to get away.

Thor was making progress, getting closer to the boat, when suddenly another creature surfaced on his other side. It was long, narrow, and orange, with two claws at its mouth and dozens of small legs. It also had a long tail, which it whipped about in every direction. It looked like a lobster, standing upright. It skirted along the water’s edge, like a water bug, and buzzed its way close to Thor, turning to the side and whipping its tail. The tail lashed Thor’s arm and he cried out in pain at the sting.

The creature whizzed back and forth, lashing out again and again. Thor wished he could draw his sword and attack it – but he only had one free hand, and he needed it to swim.

Krohn, swimming beside him, turned and snarled at the creature, a hair-raising noise, and as Krohn fearlessly swam its way, it scared the beast, making it disappear beneath the waters. Thor sighed with relief – until the creature suddenly reappeared on his other side, and lashed him again. Krohn turned and chased it all around, trying to catch it, snapping his jaws at it, and always missing.

Thor swam for his life, realizing the only way out of this mess was to get out of this sea. After what felt like forever, swimming harder than he’d ever had, he made it close to the rowboat, rocking violently in the waves. As he did, two Legion members, older boys who never spoke to Thor and his classmates, were waiting there to help him. To their credit, they leaned over and extended him a hand.

Thor helped the boy first, reaching around and hoisting him up towards the boat. The older boys grabbed the boy by his arms and dragged him up.

Thor then reached around, grabbed Krohn by his stomach and threw him up out of the water, and onto the boat. Krohn clamored with all four paws as he scratched and slipped on the wooden boat, dripping wet, shaking. He slid across the wet bottom, across the boat. Then he immediately bounced back up, turned, and ran back to the edge, looking for Thor. He stood there, looking down into the water, and yelped.

Thor reached up and grabbed the hand of one of the boys, and was just pulling himself into the boat when suddenly he felt something strong and muscular wrap itself around his ankle and thigh. He turned and looked down, and his heart froze as he saw a lime-green squid-like creature, wrapping a tentacle around his leg.

Thor cried out in pain as he felt its stingers pierce his flesh.

Thor realized that if he didn’t do something quick, he would be finished. With his free hand, he reached down to his belt, extracted a short dagger, leaned over, and slashed at it. But the tentacle was so thick, the dagger could not even pierce it.

It made it angry. The creature’s head suddenly surfaced – green, with no eyes and two jaws on its long neck, one atop the other – opened its rows of razor-sharp teeth and leaned in towards Thor. Thor felt the blood being cut off from his leg, and knew he had to act fast. Despite the elder boy’s efforts to hang onto him, Thor’s grip was slipping, and he was sinking back into the water.

Krohn yelped and yelped, hairs standing on his back, leaning over as if getting ready to pounce into the water. But even Krohn must have known it would be useless to attack this thing.

One of the older boys stepped forward and screamed:

“DUCK!”

Thor lowered his head, as the boy threw a spear. It whizzed through the air but it missed, flew harmlessly by and sank into the water. The creature was too skinny, and too quick.