The boy stopped and turned. ‘I will consult with the herdsfolk.’

The herdsfolk retreated and sat down in a circle to confer.

Tab staggered back to the scout vessel. She sat down heavily on one of the benches. Verris tore his shirt into strips and began to wrap it around her burns while she recounted what had happened.

‘Nicely played,’ Verris said, nodding.

Fontagu sat down next to Tab. ‘Did you manage to collect any of that dragon's blood? Or perhaps the tears? Big market for dragon's tears.’

‘She's still bleeding,’ Tab said. ‘Go and help yourself.’

Fontagu looked longingly at the dragon lying in the sand. ‘Perhaps if you could make a formal application to her on my behalf.’ He glanced at the arm that Verris had not yet bandaged. ‘Whenever you're ready.’

Tab shook her head. ‘Sometimes you're just…’ She searched for a word.

‘What?’ he asked.

‘It doesn't matter.’ She sighed.

‘Look,’ said Philmon, as another herdsfolk man approached. He was decorated all over with the curlicue tattoos. He was smiling, but Verris stepped away from Tab and kept his hand on his scabbard.

‘You have made my young friend very angry,’ the man said when he had reached them. ‘He spits and dances as if he is filled with hot coals!’

‘Sorry,’ Tab said.

He stepped forward and took hold of Tab's exposed forearm, examining the burns. ‘This is what you wish to heal?’

Tab shook her head. She pointed at Melprin. ‘Our dragon… our scavenjaw has wounds.’

The herdsfolk healer looked at her through sparkling eyes. ‘It's not our custom to heal scavenjaws.’

Tab held his gaze. ‘We'll not leave until she's ready to fly,’ she replied quietly.

He nodded. ‘I'll prepare a poultice. It should do for both. Will you wait here?’

Tab put her hand on Torby's head. ‘My friend is unwell in here. I thought maybe if he saw Tattoo… ‘ She trailed off.

‘The storm maker.’ The healer grinned. ‘He is not supposed to sink, yes?’

‘He's not master of his gifts,’ Amelia murmured.

The healer tilted his head to the side. ‘I'm not sure if you understand how this works.’

‘How does it work?’ asked Fontagu.

The herdsfolk man regarded Fontagu for a moment. ‘I will prepare a poultice and return, and then we will talk more. We will be back when the first moon rises.’ He pointed to the horizon. ‘Your strongest should head in that direction.’ He pointed over the dune. ‘And collect wood for a cooking fire. Do you know what makes a good cooking fire?’

Verris nodded. ‘Hot coals?’

The healer nodded. ‘Like in my young friend's chest.’ He laughed and then he left. Two of the herdsfolk stayed on the dune, at a distance, to keep watch.

Philmon, Verris and Vrod tramped away across the dune to collect wood. Fontagu trailed behind them grumbling. ‘I have a bad hip. My body is my livelihood, you know.’

Amelia and Torby joined Tab sitting by Melprin and Aventurine. Torby had dark circles under his eyes. Amelia made him lie down with his head resting on her lap. She stroked his forehead until he went to sleep.

‘It's not really going to plan, is it?’ Amelia asked.

‘There was a plan?’ Tab joked.

‘You know what I mean,’ Amelia said.

Tab lay back and rested her head on the dragon's shoulder. She was tired and her arms throbbed in time with her heartbeat. Verris had not bandaged her other arm since the healer was going to poultice it anyway. She blew on the blisters gently.

‘Does it hurt?’ Amelia whispered.

‘I'm all right,’ Tab answered, closing her eyes.

It seemed to her that since Quentaris had left Amlas all they had met were people who didn't like them! They did enough fighting when they were on the ground without more fighting in the sky. For that matter, Quentarans did enough fighting amongst themselves. It was exhausting.

The five lay silent and still for some time. The air became cooler. It was reassuring to feel the warmth and the rise and fall of Melprin's chest against Tab's back.

After a while of struggling with her emotions, she sent a thought to Melprin.

›››There are other dragons here

›››I can hear them

›››Will you stay?

Before Melprin had a chance to answer, the others returned and set about making a fire halfway between the scout vessel and the place where Melprin lay, and not long after they had a blaze going the herdsfolk healer returned. He brought a family with him and they each carried a shoulder sack. The herdsfolk children eyed Tab and her friends shyly.

Presently, five equens crested the hill, led by Tattoo. They shied and snorted when they first saw Melprin and Aventurine lying side by side in the sand, but soon settled when they saw the healer and his family were not alarmed.

The healer sat cross-legged next to the fire, mixing the poultice in a bowl. Once it was blended he held out the spatula and Tab offered her arms. The mixture was cool and soothing on her burns. He rebound her arms with fresh strips of cloth offered by Verris, then he helped her to her feet.

They approached Melprin together and the healer showed her how to smooth the mixture over the scales and into the wound. He wouldn't touch the dragon himself, but his nerve was steady as he advised Tab.

Tab left Melprin to rest and they returned to the fire where the rest of the family had been preparing the food. They were rolling some sort of meal with water into rounds, which they cooked on hot stones. Then they stuffed the rounds with a gooey, mashed vegetable mix.

Philmon took a bite and his eyes widened. He smiled politely at the herdsfolk lady. ‘It tastes very… wholesome,’ he said.

Vrod turned over his mouthful as if he was afraid to swallow. Verris elbowed him in the ribs when he thought the herdsfolk weren't watching and reluctantly the troll finished, rubbing the floury meal from his hands.

Tab bit into hers and immediately regretted it. It was bland and fibrous, and seemed to stick to the roof of her mouth, but it was too late. She had to finish. She tried to imagine it was a sweet cake, like the ones the sky-traders had given them.

After everyone had eaten their rolls, the family packed away the leftover food into their sacks. The children sat up straight and sang a song for the visitors, slapping their hands together in an elaborate pattern. The visitors clapped in time.

When they had finished Verris looked at Vrod and the two of them broke into a jolly pirate song, except without the swearing. Tab and her friends cheered.

Fontagu stood and sang a melancholy ballad in a powerful and tuneful voice. Even Amelia was gripped by the sound of it.

‘So you're good for something!’ Verris joked when he reached the end.

Fontagu bowed deeply, and Tab was pleased to see him accepting the dig with grace.

After the songs had finished, Torby and the small herdsfolk children curled up near the fire and slept. The others sat around the crackling blaze in silence. A short distance away the equens stood swishing their tails contentedly and dozing.

‘How does it work?’ Fontagu asked finally. Flicking a glance towards Tattoo.

The healer broke up some more sticks and placed them into the fire. ‘It's complex between us. The equens carry in their minds the places that are best to find food, water and to stay protected from the weather at different times of the year. We carry with us the methods to keep them well. When we settle we use their manures to feed our crops. We eat the grains and feed the equens the stalks. By watching them selecting herbs on the ranges we know which ones to collect to protect from illnesses in the chest and in the blood. Their smell tells us when predators will arrive or when the weather will turn sour.’

Fontagu blinked. ‘But what about the magic healing?’