Page 115 of Sky Shielder
They said they were returning to headquarters and would report everything—emphasis oneverything—to General Jhiton.
Vorik winced again. Since Lesva had been disobeying orders,he hadn’t been wrong to stop her, but… if he didn’t find and destroy the shielder before Syla activated it on Castle Island, Jhiton wouldn’t be pleased with him. Lesva might succeed in casting blame on him for his… soft attitude toward Syla.
And would she be wrong?
“Let’s go, my friend.” Vorik patted Agrevlari again. “We need to find the shielder.”
Agrevlari bunched his muscles, prepared to spring into the air, but he paused, his snout pointing out to sea.Wreylith has returned to the area.
“She may have sensed that the barrier is down and come to hunt here.”
Perhaps she missed my wit and has returned to allow me to court her.
“I doubt it.”
Your skepticism wounds me. Can you not support me in my mating endeavors, as I have supported you?
“I didn’t realize you were supporting me.”
Neither time when you fornicated with the princess did I interfere or comment on the techniques used in the seduction or accomplishment of the mission. I believed you would perform better if I did not intrude upon your concentration.
“Yes, I appreciate the lack of commentary, but we weren’t fornicating. At least not the first time.” Trying to urge the dragon to stay on task, Vorik pointed toward the slope of the volcano, in the direction he’d last seen Fel and Tibby.
Stimulation of a sex orifice was involved.
Vorik rolled his eyes, but Agrevlari was springing into the air, so he didn’t complain, other than to say, “I didn’t know you could see so much from way out on the rock.”
A single dragon eyeball rolled back toward him as Agrevlari flew up the slope.Through my link with you, I see much.
“I’m sure Syla would be flattered to learn she had an audience.Come, my friend. Let us find the shielder and complete our mission.ThenI’ll support you in your courting endeavors.”
Excellent.
Agrevlari flew faster.
With Syla and Fel on the deck, the whaling ship sailed out of the cove, three guard vessels gliding beside it, every cannon manned. The fourth guard vessel, with Aunt Tibby and its crew aboard, waited under an overhang in the cliff, the shadows hopefully hiding it from dragon eyes.
While they’d prepared, another of the great creatures had flown over the area, but no rider had sat astride its back. It, like the first, had headed inland. It hadn’t even glanced down at the cove, which was fortunate, since the orb had been bobbing in the water then, halfway to being loaded onto the guard ship.
They’d been lucky that the dragons with the riders remained a couple of miles out to sea, almost as if the barrier remained in place, keeping them back. By now, they had to be aware it was down, so Syla didn’t know why they hadn’t approached. Were they waiting for more allies to arrive? Or for Vorik to join them and take command? Had he woken up? By now, the candles must have burned out.
A fake orb, which was nothing more than crates of provisions and cannonballs that the crew had hurried to unload from the cargo hold of one of the guard ships, was tied under a canvas tarp near the harpoon launchers at the back of the deck. With the help of a few crewmen, Syla and Fel had done their best to pad and shift the crates so that the pile appeared rounded, like the orb.
Of the riders and dragons out there, it was likely that only Vorik had seen the other shielder and knew what one looked like.Syla hoped that even he didn’t realize that the orb could be removed from its mounting and only it would be transported.
Once the whaling ship sailed out of the cove, the dragons were more visible. They flew back and forth, doing the aerial equivalent of pacing. It appeared that they, or perhaps their riders, were discussing something. Or, as she’d been thinking, waiting on someone.
Her hand strayed to a pocket in her robe, to the figurine she’d managed to retain through all the chaos of the last few days. Unfortunately, she doubted Wreylith was around. Even if she was, why would the red dragon come to help Syla? Unless she had endured another run-in with a basilisk, she had no reason to do so. Still, Syla mulled over ideas in her mind, seeking something she could offer Wreylith to entice her to assist her one more time.
The captain of the whaling vessel, a fit man in his fifties, left the wheelhouse and joined her on deck. He eyed her, the canvas-covered pile, then her again. Something that looked like a piece of cane or a thick stalk stuck out of the corner of his mouth, and he chewed on it while he did the eyeing.
“Thank you for taking us onboard, Captain…” Syla realized she didn’t know his name since Aunt Tibby and her engineer friend had arranged all this. Had they warned him that he might die on this voyage? That theyallmight?
“Radmarik.” He surprised her by bowing to her. From the way he’d been eyeing her—and what he’d caught of her plan—he’d looked like he wanted to punch her. Or maybe strangle her. “My wife promises me I’m honored to serve you.”
“Your, ah, wife?” Syla looked at Fel, who stood a few feet away, as if he might know what to make of the comment.
But he was staring bleak-faced at the dragons while flexing and loosening his grip on his mace. He didn’t return her look.
