Page 58 of Queen's Griffon

How she missed him. Somehow the abrupt man had wormed his way into her thoughts and heart. He might have turned to pirating but she saw the good in how he treated people, how he cared, and how he made her feel. Safe. Seen. Maybe not loved, but then again there was that kiss…

A kiss she hoped she lived to repeat.

Chapter 18

Griff

The mist moistenedthe skin and dampened Griff’s clothes. The tinge of rotted egg permeating the air made him flashback to the last time he’d been this close to Verlora. It had been much noisier with people screaming and the creaking of ships as they sailed from the disaster. The air stunk of smoke back then, too, the ashy haze around the continent carrying along the acrid stench from the fires that sprang up because of the lava bombs.

The eerie silence wasn’t an improvement.

He and his companions didn’t speak much—actually, at all. It could have been the fear of the unknown abetted by the fog that concealed everything from view. More likely, they remained stunned by the revelation of the dragon.

Griff had theorized for years that one plagued Verlora but to actually see it…

The sheer size of the beast.

The way it flew, its wingspan wider than his ship.

The strength that allowed it to carry a kraken.

It awed. Terrified. Roused curiosity. A plethora of emotions assailed Griff at seeing the true threat to his homeland. At least now they knew why no one who visited ever returned. A dragonof that girth probably ate a fair amount of meat, which led to him wondering, how could he kill it and free Verlora?

Then again, should he?

This was a dragon. A creature of myth. A rarity.

A predator that hunted humans.

“Are we going the right way?” whispered Simhi, who manned the oar behind him. They all had one, stroking in tandem, the skiff advancing into the mist.

“I don’t know.” Could be they rowed in circles. There was no way to tell. Griff currently guided them on an instinct he couldn’t explain.

“Think there’s more krakens in the water?” Monty kept eyeing the water suspiciously.

“They’re fairly territorial, so not likely,” Griff replied. Once the young got to a certain age and size, the mother chased them away.

“Could be something else hiding in the water,” opined Mohan, a sailor from Okkilam with tracking skills who’d volunteered to come.

“Not helping,” Simhi grumbled. She had her bow strapped to her back, although, as she’d complained earlier, “Doubt a dragon will feel my arrows.”

Most likely correct. Legends indicated dragons had a leathery hide tougher than even the sharpest blades could penetrate. Would his sword of wolfframm be an exception?

“Is it me, or is it getting brighter?” Monty exclaimed.

His observation had them all straightening. Indeed, the mist thinned enough that Griff spotted a post jutting from the water, the top of it splintered, but a sign they neared land.

“I think we managed to find our way to the old pier,” Griff announced. Verlora only had one large bay for ships. The other approaches to the continent were too shallow for anything but small boats with flat bottoms.

The sight of the dock’s remains renewed their flagging energy and spirits. They rowed faster, weaving through the rotted posts that had lost their planks. As they neared the continent itself, the seawall comprised of big concrete blocks appeared intact, if slimed with algae.

“How are we supposed to get up?” Simhi asked as Griff brought them alongside, the low tide leaving them well below the wall’s lip.

“We look for a break or the end of it.”

They paddled quietly. The mist still clung in patches, reducing visibility. It also muffled sound. He had to wonder what lurked beyond the seawall, lying in wait, perhaps even tracking their movement.

They came across some stairs that led down to the water, pitted in spots, but usable. Even better, a small, rusted ring remained tethered in the concrete, a substance not seen in use anywhere else as they’d lost the ability to make the liquid rock that hardened. So much had been forgotten when his people fled Verlora. Of the tens of thousands that used to live on the continent, only a few hundred remained scattered around the world.

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