Page 52 of Dragon Fire

“I’m afraid it’s possible,” Livia said quietly. “Even Gryffid has come to the same conclusion.”

“I thought, being outsiders…” Seth went on, looking pointedly from Lizbet back to Leo, “…we might possibly be able to spot things the folk who live here could otherwise miss.”

“Like what?” Lizbet asked, not really caring that Seth meant for the conversation to be between the folks from Draconia.

For his part, Leo wouldn’t keep Lizbet out of any conversation he might have. This was her home. She was entitled to know what was going on as far as he was concerned.

“Could be anything. Someone walking where they shouldn’t be. A sound out of place in the setting. A suspicious action that goes otherwise unnoticed,” Seth said, clearly scrambling for examples. “Frankly, since you’re spending most of your time down here on the beach, I don’t expect that you’ll see much, but you never know.”

“I’ll keep my eyes open,” Leo agreed readily.

“Good. Now that’s out of the way, I understand a memorial of sorts is being planned for three days hence, down here on the beach so as to include the sea dragons,” Seth told them. “Lady Lizbet, can you tell us what we might expect?”

“Music,” Lizbet replied at once, her expression somber. “And toasts to the departed. It is our tradition to sing them home. Such memorials have been going on all over the island since the battle. Many were lost, though not as many as would have been had Sir Hrardorr and the sea dragons not come to our rescue.” Lizbet’s beautiful blue eyes looked so sad Leo wanted to put his arm around her shoulders, but he dare not take such liberties, especially in front of others. “It is our way to share the celebration of the life that was lost with those around us. It is natural to my people to want to include the sea dragons in our ceremony. I should have realized…”

“You were busy with other thoughts,” Leo told her quietly, reaching out to touch her hand. Surely, that small touch wasn’t overstepping the bounds of propriety.

Lizbet seemed to take comfort from his gesture. She smiled softly at him before squaring her shoulders and getting back to the topic at hand.

“There will be food and drink. A large crowd here on the beach. Music. Ceremonial dance. Offerings of flowers, grains and dried herbs. A ceremonial fire.” She looked around at the beach. “We’ll need to make preparations to host that large a group and provide the facilities they will need—the fire pits, the seating areas. The nests for gryphon families and comfortable spots for the dragons…” She trailed off, looking to Leo for guidance.

“Land dragons prefer heated sand pits for relaxation. I’ll ask Xander what he thinks, but the dragons will probably be the easiest to accommodate since we’re on a sandy beach already, and both Xander and Sir Hrardorr can supply any fire we need to get things heated up.”

“I wonder what the sea dragons think of hot water?” Livia mused. “If we could create a shallow pool, one of our dragon friends could heat it with a quick burst of flame, right?” She looked to Seth, who nodded agreement. “I wonder if they’ll think it odd, or if they might like it?”

“We’ll have to ask,” Lizbet said. “Shara and I have never talked about such things, since none of the sea dragons are able to flame like your land-based friends. I suspect they might like it, though. They enjoy basking in the noonday sun here on the beach. Shara told me they like the warm rays on their scales.”

“Then, we should look into testing out this idea. Leo, can you and Xanderanth try digging out a shallow pool big enough for a dragon when you have a few free minutes?” Seth asked him.

Leo nodded readily. “We’ll give it a try as soon as he’s free.”

CHAPTER SIXTEEN

As it turned out, the sea dragon lord himself was the first to try the heated pool Xanderanth and Leo had devised. All the sea dragons had watched with interest as they took a short break from the planning and training to enjoy the sunlight and a moment of peace together on the beach. Xanderanth and Leo, of course, did not rest, but set to work building a small pool down by the water. Sort of a manufactured tidal pool that would capture about a foot of water in a shallow depression big enough for Xander to sit in comfortably.

When Lord Skelaroth asked what they were doing, Xanderanth had explained the experiment, and the sea dragon leader volunteered to try it out first. He stood back, watching Xanderanth with what Leo read as respect, while the younger dragon blew fire onto the small pool of water, heating it to a steaming bath in just a few moments.

Lord Skelaroth dipped a toe into the water, and his head went up in surprise, then moved downward again in intrigue as he lowered his front foot into the warm water. A moment later, he was sitting in the pool, a dragonish sigh releasing from his nostrils. Leo had to grin. It was more than apparent that the sea dragon liked the hot water on his scales.

“This is divine,”the dragon lord commented to all, his eyes closed in bliss as he settled deeper into the heated pit of sand and water.“Do land dragons do this all the time?”he asked.

“We sleep in heated sand pits called wallows when we are not on duty elsewhere,”Xanderanth told the sea dragon lord.

Leo added a little more to the story. “The Lairs are built into the sides of mountains and cliffs. There are platforms for flying and landing, and each dragon or dragon pair has a suite of rooms built around their wallow. The oval wallow is the heart of the suite, with a rim where people can walk and rooms arranged around the sides of the pit. Usually a small kitchen, bathing chamber, bedroom for the knight, or if it’s a family’s suite, rooms for children as well, supplies, equipment and other things. The key is, the dragons can see into every room arranged around their sand pit so they are part of the family, involved in every aspect of our lives,” Leo told the sea dragon.

“Do you have to heat the sand yourselves?”Lord Skelaroth asked, tilting his head as he spoke to Leo directly for the first time.

“My understanding is that there was a bit of magic used in the construction of the Lairs,” Leo told the dragon, scratching his head as he thought about it. “Science and magic both, actually. The wallows are heated automatically, but I don’t know exactly how. There is also running water in the bathing chamber and the sink in the kitchen, but if I want a hot bath, I fill the tub and ask Xanderanth to heat it for me.”

“It is a blessing to have fire in your belly,”Lord Skelaroth said solemnly.“That is something we have lost, but it is said of old, our forefathers could flame.”

Leo didn’t know what to say to that, so he remained silent.

“Perhaps one day, you will flame again,”Xanderanth said, with all the enthusiasm of youth.“I, for one, would love to be able to swim like you or Sir Hrardorr, but I fear it is a skill beyond my abilities.”

Lord Skelaroth turned his head to really look at Xanderanth, giving him a critical eye.“Maybe not,”the sea dragon lord said, making Xander’s head pop up in surprise.“You have strong wings and a muscular build. You could be a very powerful swimmer, given a bit of instruction, I believe. Perhaps while you are here, we will get a chance to give it a try.”

“Oh!”Xander seemed truly enthusiastic about the possibility.“I would enjoy that greatly, milord. Thank you.”

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