Brian Rathbone - Regent

"Will you not speak to them, sire?"

"You try my patience, wizard!" Thorakis began with a wild gleam in his eye. Seethe shifted in Thorakis's lap, and Grimwell's eyes grew wide. A vision overwhelmed Thorakis as he saw himself delivering an oration like none ever achieved before. He could feel the energy radiating from the crowd as they cheered his name, and with every breath, he was filled with it. When he looked back at Grimwell, the wizard shrank away. "Yes. I will speak to them, wizard. Gather them and prepare them. I am ready."

Grimwell retreated backward from the hall, his eyes locked with Seethe's, and it was everything he could do not to run. Had he seen those who stepped from the shadows after his departure, he would have.

Within the modest room he called home, Brother Vaughn sat facing Trinda. "Please tell me about the dragons. How did you call to them?"

Trinda shrugged. "I sang."

"Had you sung before?"

"Yes."

"When and how often?" Brother Vaughn asked, hoping she wouldn't make him pull every detail from her.

"Just sometimes."

"And what happens when you sing. Please, tell me."

"When I sing, I think about things, and they come to me."

Brother Vaughn let that statement sink in. "What things have come to you?"

"Butterflies once. And birds once. And one time fish. And now dragons, I guess."

"Fish," Brother Vaughn said and Trinda nodded. "Will you show me?" She nodded again.

From the three-pronged stand that Strom had made him, Brother Vaughn grabbed his herald globe and a ball of string. Trinda looked interested but said nothing more. As they walked, he noticed how much Trinda shied away from anyone they passed and, in more than a few cases, how the people they encountered reacted to Trinda. It was a small hold, and Brother Vaughn hoped he could find a way to keep the girl safe. Many associated Trinda with the death of Catrin's and Chase's mothers, and no matter how hard they tried, some simply could not accept her presence in the hold.

As they passed through the dark halls, only the glow of his herald globe lit the way, and Trinda huddled within its light. Those they passed had their own business and paid little mind. At the dock, no barges waited, the area eerily quiet. Trinda drew a deep breath when she beheld the God's Eye, and Brother Vaughn couldn't blame her. No one seemed prepared for the sight of a natural vaulted chamber of such size and capacity to hold what could only be called a lake. This end of the lake received the least light and had no algae growing in it, which meant that the fish usually stayed at the far end of the lake, where food was more plentiful.

Using his string, Brother Vaughn created a cradle for his herald globe and showed it to Trinda, who looked dubious. He lowered the herald globe into the water, not really knowing what to expect. To his surprise, the light became brighter and cast distorted beams through the water, but it also did an excellent job illuminating the steep slope that dropped away from the cavern entrance. No fish could be seen.

"Would you sing now for me? And think about fish? Just the ones in this lake, mind you," he added, suddenly envisioning fish leaving the sea to find her. Trinda hesitated and Brother Vaughn said nothing, not wanting to coerce her. She closed her eyes for a moment, and Brother Vaughn thought she might not be ready, but then she nodded and began to sing a soft, wordless tune that pulled at his heart. Brother Vaughn lost track of time while he listened, and he forgot the reason they had come, forgot what he had asked her to sing for. When he looked down and saw the glowing water filled with writhing bodies, all aligned and pointing at Trinda, he jumped and lost his grip on the string.

Trinda stopped singing and tried to grab the string as it slipped beneath the water. The globe looked as if it might come to rest on a shelf of rock, but the shifting water pulled it out and sent it tumbling into the depths. Brother Vaughn watched in morbid fascination; the light grew brighter as it moved deeper. He could see the smoothness of the slope; there was nothing to impede his herald globe, which had left the string behind. Both of them gasped when the shape of a shipwreck appeared from the darkness and was then lost again in shadow. Just as suddenly, the light stopped moving, apparently stuck on a rock formation of some sort.

"You dropped it," Trinda said.

Brother Vaughn couldn't contain his excitement. "Did you see that? That was amazing! You called the fish to you, and that was wonderful, and then, like the great oaf I am, I dropped the globe, but even that brought discovery. Did you see that ship? It must have been built inside this cavern. Can you imagine that?"

"By the gods!" came Simms's shout. His barge was over where the herald globe had come to rest. "Would you look at that!"

Bradley, on another barge, quickly poled his way to where Simms waited, seemingly too stunned to move. Bradley looked down and, cursing, poled his way back to the dock. Simms remained where he was as if paralyzed.

"What is it, man?" Brother Vaughn asked.

"Get on," Bradley said. "You just have to see it."

Brother Vaughn hesitated a moment, unsure how Trinda would do on the water, but she stepped behind Bradley and onto the barge so fast, all he could do was follow. Bradley poled them back to where Simms was now issuing a steady stream of curses with occasional prayers interjected.

Below them lay an unmistakable form, or at least part of it. What looked back from below was a gleaming feral dragon, its menacing maw clear in the light. The globe had landed quite close to the eye of the giant serpent, which seemed to be made of enormous crystalline structures, as if the gems had naturally formed into the shape of a mountain-sized dragon. The beast's body faded into the darkness, but Brother Vaughn imagined it stretching to the far shore. The dragon's glare inspired awe and fear, and seeing the fish now gathering around the dragon's eye, attracted by the light, was among the most vivid images Brother Vaughn had ever seen.

"Are there any divers within the hold?" Brother Vaughn wondered aloud.

"There's Logan the spear fisherman," Bradley said. "That guy can hold his breath for a really long time. I bet he could get it back."

"Could you go find him for me?"

Bradley seemed hesitant to leave his post. Though he was working as a bargeman, he was officially part of the guard, and abandoning one's post was a serious crime.

"This is important. Let's go see your commander. I have something to ask of him as well," Brother Vaughn said.

Bradley followed. Simms looked as if he didn't care, but Bradley wore his concern openly.

"Don't worry. I'll take care of this."

"Yes, sir," Bradley said, looking no less uneasy.

Brother Vaughn could understand his worry and uncertainty. So many things were new in Dragonhold, and so few people knew with absolute confidence what they should do and to whom they should listen without question.

It came as a bit of a shock when it was Morif Bradley sought out. It would appear that Bradley ranked higher than one might think, and Brother Vaughn suspected Morif was keeping a special eye on the hold's entrances.

"What's all this about?" Morif said as they entered his home.

"Sir, I'm sorry, sir," Bradley began, and Morif held him in a steady, one-eyed gaze.

"I pulled him away from his post," Brother Vaughn interjected, and Morif turned his imposing stare.

"I've made a discovery! Well, several, actually, and I need a diver to get my herald globe back from the bottom of the God's Eye. And you should see what's down there!"

"Why did he bring you up here?" Morif asked Bradley.

"He wanted me to find Logan so he could dive for the herald globe Brother Vaughn dropped in the water."