6. It’s Probably not Poisonous

I'm tempted to feed the dragon to the mole trolls. Flink takes several steps back, wary of my anger. He doesn't send me any particular image, but I know what he's telling me. It was an accident.

"What do we do?" Soleil asks.

"Alvaro's crewmen still have their shell." I sigh, pulling my eyes away from the miserable dragon. "As long as we stay close to the Sea Rose on the way back to Shalada, we'll be fine."

"If the ships are still here."

I force myself to give her a smile, pretending I'm more at ease than I am. "If they're not, we have bigger things to worry about than sea monsters."

"That's not comforting."

She's right—it's not. But for her sake, I will myself to stay calm.

"Maybe the shell will still work?" Soleil asks.

"I'm afraid not." I pull the conch from my pack. "The sea snail was crushed."

She grimaces. "There's a live snail in there?"

"There was." I chuckle at the pure revulsion that crosses her face and then toss the broken shell aside. "Felicity said they can live for hundreds of years, going in and out of a dormant state, but I doubt it survived this."

"We can't go out on the water this time of day without the shell."

Soleil is right. But I'm not sure we can stay here either.

"Let's get as far as one of the nearby islands and make camp there for the night," I suggest.

When she agrees, I look for Flink, expecting to find him sulking. Instead, the dragon is on his belly with the broken conch shell held between his front talons. He slurps up the sea slug eagerly, making a noise that turns my stomach.

"Ew, Flink—no," Soleil exclaims when she realizes what he's doing.

"Let him eat it," I say. "It's been a while since he's had a decent meal."

"What if it's poisonous?"

The dragon looks up, his jaw going still. He sends me an image of himself falling over dramatically, making a choking noise, and then going silent as his unseeing eyes stare into the distance.

"Maybe you should have thought about that before you gulped it down," I tell him. "But I think you'll be fine. You're naturally immune to many toxins." Then I say to Soleil, "And people harvest other conch shells for food. I doubt it will be an issue."

Flink snorts and then snuffles his snout back into the jagged shell, using his long tongue to seek out every last slimy, probably-not-poisonous morsel.

"I can't watch him eat that." Soleil turns back to the raft and lifts her hand, using magic to set the rudimentary vessel in the water. "And we're running out of daylight."

"It floats." I buckle my pack and place it and Soleil's on the raft. "That's a good sign."

Soleil makes a noise of agreement, sounding as exhausted as I feel.

"Come on, Flink," I call to the dragon once we're on the raft. "We need to get moving."

Licking his chops, he abandons the shell and lumbers to the raft. He paces the rocky beach, not wanting to get his feet wet. Soleil eyes him, curiosity circling her.

"What is it?" I ask.

"He has wings."

"Yes…"

"I've never seen him fly."

"Lesser dragons don't really."

"So, he's like a penguin?"

Flink has no idea what a penguin is, but he shoots Soleil a horrible look.

"More like an ostrich," I answer.

The raft wobbles as the dragon leaps onto it, nearly bucking us off. When it balances out, Soleil uses her magic to push us away from the shore. We paddle with our hastily crafted oars, moving slowly but making progress.

Fog settles over the archipelago, obscuring the last of the sunset. Water laps at the jagged rocks around us, and a seagull cries overhead.

"How far out should we go?" Soleil asks once dusk falls.

"Just a bit further. I'm not sure if the mole trolls can swim, so I don't want to be too close to the shore."

"Lukas, look!" Soleil says suddenly, grasping my arm with one hand and pointing with her other.

A light shines through the mist, bobbing as if attached to a dinghy. It's far away, likely headed for the beach near the camp.

"Cover your ears," Soleil warns, and then she sends a flare into the air that bursts with a crack so loud, it almost causes Flink to leap into the water. Then she turns to me. "Do you think they saw it?"

"If they didn't see it, they certainly heard it." I rub my ringing ears. "In fact, they probably heard it back home."

Her mood far lighter, Soleil nudges me in the ribs. "Hurry up. Let's paddle toward them."

The light grows brighter as we approach each other, the dinghy sliding through the water at a swifter pace than we can travel. We're close enough to make out several cloaked figures aboard the small boat when movement behind them catches my attention.

It's not a sea mammal, so it must be a fish of some sort. But that doesn't feel quite right. The creature glides across the surface, its back subtly protruding from the water.

"Soleil," I say urgently.

"I see it."

"Behind you!" I yell just as the beast rises.

It's not a fish, but a sea snake—larger than any I've seen. It's as thick as a tree trunk, covered in rough, bumpy scales. It bares its teeth, striking forward to snatch one of the crewmen. Before it can latch onto its prey, a firebolt flies through the growing night, hitting the monster square on the jaw. It lets out an unnatural scream and then disappears into the ink-black water. Silence blankets us once more, the night too still and quiet now.

Soleil exhales sharply, collapsing onto her knees.

"That was too close for comfort," one of the figures hollers. "Thank you, Miss Eldemyer."

The three men pull back their hoods, revealing that they're not men at all—they're our ship boys, Jorgin and Brantley, and the galley boy, Bryan.

Jorgin's the oldest at sixteen. The other two are only fifteen. All three shouldn't be away from the Serpent, especially this time of day.

"What are you doing out here?" I demand when we're close.

"Hudson sent us to look for you," Brantley says.

"More like he didn't tell us we couldn't go," Jorgin corrects. "He didn't want anyone else taking off because Lord D'vain's men are making noises about taking control of the Serpent. They're claiming you're dead."

Soleil shoots me a look.

"Well, we're not," I say.

Jorgin grins, ruffling his mop of blond hair with his hand. "Glad to see it."

"You didn't come out here without a shell, did you?" Soleil asks them.

"Lord D'vain's men wouldn't let us borrow it," Brantley answers. "They said it was a fool's errand, and if we left, we'd be eaten by those nasty cave goblins like you all were."

"Except you weren't," Bryan adds. Then he frowns. "At least not all of you."

"So far, Lord D'vain is the only one we've lost," I say.

"They got him?" Brantley's eyes go wide. "Those creatures did?"

"We can talk later," I say. "We need to get back to the Serpent."

"There's plenty of room." Brantley waves his hand, motioning us forward. "Come on over."

"We can tie your raft to the back if you want," Jorgin adds.

I look at Soleil. "Do you have any sentimental attachment to it?"

"None whatsoever."

"We'll leave it here." I stand, helping Soleil step into the dinghy. "Let's get moving before that sea snake comes back."