Slowly, so slowly, the boat and its occupant grew larger. Sedric’s eyes ran with tears and not all of them were from the effort of keeping his light-dazzled gaze on the water. Carson recognized him before he knew the hunter. ‘SEDRIC!’ he cried, sending his deep-chested shout of joy across the water to him. Then the hunter redoubled his efforts with the oars. It still seemed an eternity before Sedric could kneel and catch the line that Carson tossed to him. He drew the boat in close to the logs and then didn’t know what else to do. He was grinning foolishly, trembling with relief.

‘Thank Sa you’re alive! And the dragon, too? That’s a double miracle, then. And she’s up and out of the water! How did you do it? Look at you! The river worked you over, didn’t it? Here, let me take that and I’ll make her fast. What do you need first? Water? Food? I thought I’d find you half-dead if I found you at all!’

He stood shaking as Carson did all the talking for both of them. In moments the boat was secured to the edge of the debris island, and without his asking, Carson was offering him a waterskin. He drank greedily, paused to mutter, ‘Sa be praised and thank you,’ before drinking again. Carson watched him, his grin white in his beard. He looked weary and yet so triumphant that he shone.

As Sedric returned the waterskin to him, the hunter pushed a flat ship’s biscuit into his hands. Sedric suddenly felt giddy with the smell of food. Perhaps he swayed on his feet, for Carson caught his elbow. ‘Sit down. Sit down and eat slow. You’re going to be all right now. You’ve had a bad time, but everything’s come right now. For you, too!’ he assured Relpda as the dragon trumpeted her protest that Sedric was eating and she wasn’t. Sedric was grateful but suddenly so hungry he could scarcely focus on Carson’s words or Relpda’s complaints. He broke off a piece of the hard bread and chewed it slowly. His jaw hurt and he couldn’t chew on the bruised side. Swallowing food made the pain worth it. He broke off another bite and ate it slowly.

Carson left him and went over to speak with the dragon. When he came back, he was shaking his head in admiration. ‘That’s a nice bit of work there; it will probably fall apart if she moves around at all, but having a place to haul out is better than any of the other dragons have had.’

The words slowly penetrated Sedric’s mind and he remembered that there were more things in the world to consider than just food and water. He spoke with his broken mouth full. ‘Who survived?’

‘Well, more survived than went missing. Took us a day or two, but we’ve gathered up most everyone. Now that I’ve found you and the copper, we’re only missing Rapskal, his dragon, and Jess. We found poor Warken dead, and Ranculos is badly bruised, but other than some injuries, every one else is fine. How about you? You look more battered than anyone else.’

He touched his face self-consciously. ‘A bit.’

Carson gave a low laugh. ‘From here, it looks like more than “a bit” to me. So. It’s only you and the dragon here. No one else?’

‘Only us,’ he replied guardedly. How would Carson feel if he knew that he and Relpda had killed the other hunter? He had frequently seen the two men together on the boat, and they often partnered one another in their hunting tasks. Now was no time to risk offending his saviour. If he said nothing about Jess, no one would ever know.

Unless Relpda said something.

A tremor of fear went through him. The dragon reacted to it. Danger? Eat hunter?

‘No, Relpda, no. No danger. The hunter will find food for you, but not right now.’ He mended her words as best he could and then said to Carson quietly, ‘She’s been a bit more confused since the big wave.’

‘Well. I think we all have. But she has a point. She has to be ravenous. She was never fat to begin with and it looks like the last couple of days have winnowed her down. Relpda? I know that dragons prefer fresh meat, but I saw an elk carcass floating not far from here. Shall I show you where?’

‘Bring to Relpda. Relpda tired.’

‘Carson tired, too,’ the hunter muttered, but it was a good-natured complaint. ‘I’ll go put a line on the stinking thing and pull it down here. You want me to leave the water with you?’

‘Don’t go!’ The words were out of his mouth reflexively. Rescue had only just arrived.

Carson grinned and put a gentle hand on his shoulder. ‘Don’t worry. I’ll be back. I’ve gone to all this trouble to find you. I’m not about to abandon you here.’ Carson’s gaze met his and the words seemed to come from the hunter’s heart. Sedric didn’t know what to say.

‘Thank you,’ he managed at last. He looked away from the man’s earnest gaze, ‘I must seem a coward to you. Or an incompetent idiot.’

‘Neither one, I assure you. I won’t be long. I’m leaving the water with you. It’s all we’ve got right now, so go as easy on it as you can.’

‘It’s all we’ve got? Why did you let me drink so much?’ Sedric was horrified.

‘Because you needed it. Now, let me go get Relpda some nice rotten elk, and then I’ll be back. Maybe I’ll still have enough light to go up the trees and look for more food for us.’

‘Jess—’ Sedric halted his words. He’d nearly told him that Jess had found fruit nearby. Stupid, stupid, stupid. Don’t mention the other hunter.

‘What?’

‘Just be careful.’

‘Oh, I’m always that. I’ll be back soon enough.’

The water had gone down. There was still plenty of dead fish to eat. It wasn’t fresh but it was filling. She wasn’t dead. At least, not yet.

Sintara shifted her weight. Her feet were sore from the constant immersion. The water was less acid than it had been, but her claws still felt soft, as if they were decaying. And she had never had less hope for herself.

She, Sintara, a dragon, she who should have ruled the sea, the sky, and the land, had been picked up and tumbled head over heels like a rabbit struck by a hawk. She’d floundered and gasped. She’d clung to a log like a drowning rat. ‘No dragons have ever endured what we have,’ she said. ‘None have ever sunk so low.’

‘There is nothing “low” about survival,’ Mercor contradicted her. As always, his voice was calm, almost placid. ‘Think of it as experience hard won, Sintara. When you die and are eaten, or when your young hatch from the egg, they will carry forward your memories of this time. No hardship endured is a loss. Someone will learn from it. Someone profits from it.’

‘Someone is tired of your philosophizing,’ scarlet Ranculos grumbled. He coughed and Sintara smelled blood. She moved closer to him. Among the dragons, his injury was the most serious. Something had struck his ribs as he tumbled in the flood. She could sense the pain he felt with every breath. For the most part, their scaled bodies had protected them. Sestican had a bruised wing that ached when he tried to open it. Veras complained of a burned throat from swallowing acid water. The lesser bruises that they all had scarcely seemed worth mentioning. They were dragons. They would heal.

The river had retreated as the day wore on. There was something of a shore now. Bushes festooned with streamers of dead vines stuck up in a long bar of silty mud. It was a relief to be able to stand, to have her belly out of water, but walking about in the thick sucking mud was almost as wearying as swimming.

‘So what would you have me say, Ranculos? That after we have come this far, through so much adversity, we should now lie down and die?’ Mercor came slogging over to them. To stand so close to one another was not normal behaviour for dragons, Sintara recognized. But they were not normal dragons. Their years huddled together in the limited space near Cassarick had changed them. In times like these, times when they were weary and uncertain, they tended to gather. It would have been comforting to lie down and sleep next to Ranculos. But she would not. The mud was too deep. She would stand and doze tonight and dream of deserts and hot dry sand.