Page 15 of A Kingdom Restored

Rekavidur slipped forward, his body sliding sleekly off the cliff face and plummeting downward. He pushed against the rock with his back talons to put some distance between him and the cliff, then snapped his wings out to turn the fall into a controlled flight.

As he caught the wind, he rose back up, hovering in place halfway up the cliff as he sought the source of the magic.

There. In the water below, the faint flash of scales.

He could see at a glance that it wasn’t Merletta, but he was still certain he’d sensed the precise power before. Curious, he angled himself downward, reaching the water in less than a second. He entered it smoothly, his wings folded back and his eyes searching the gloom.

“Ah,” he said, pulling up.

Pleased to have the mystery solved, he regarded the two merpeople who were blinking back at him in evident astonishment. He gave the mermaid only a brief moment of attention before focusing on the merman beside her.

“I’ve seen you before. That’s why your signature is familiar.”

The merman stared back at him, perhaps surprised by the ease with which Rekavidur could speak under the water.

“Greetings, Dragon,” he said, in an imperfect imitation of the proper address used by humans when greeting the magical creatures. “I am August, and this is my wife, Eloise. You saw me when I ascended onto the land with Merletta, during her visit to this kingdom.”

“Yes, I recall,” Rekavidur remarked. “Has Merletta not communicated to you what occurred after your departure? It is not safe for you to be here.”

“She told us,” August said. “That’s why we’re here. She explained why you can’t come to the island anymore, to give us updates. We understand the risks of coming here ourselves. But she led us to believe that the annihilation of our kind is almost inevitable, and staying away can achieve nothing more than delaying it.”

“That is likely true,” Rekavidur agreed.

He felt a flash of appreciation for the merman’s ability to discuss the imminent destruction of his civilization without descending into impractical and unpleasant displays of extreme emotion. This conversation would probably be tedious with a less collected member of the species.

Rekavidur’s own thoughts caught at his mind. When he’d thought ofthe species, he’d been picturing humans, and their emotional tendencies. It wasn’t the first time he’d conflated merkind with humans in his thinking. In fact, Merletta had seemed human to him from the first time he’d seen her. Human but with modifications.

Rekavidur had the sense that Heath and Merletta saw the differences between their kinds, not to mention the gulf between their worlds, as a nearly insurmountable barrier. He couldn’t see it, himself. Human kingdoms had cultural differences, and yet managed to communicate with passable success. Merletta’s behavior, speech, attitude to the world…all of it seemed indistinguishable from any human’s, as far as Rekavidur was concerned.

It was all just more reason to think that his speculation was correct—that the mermaids were not descended from abominations that had been transformed from regular fish into something more by forfeited dragon magic. The other abominations—such as the horned horses, or the oversized, savage wolves—had not undergone such dramatic transformations. They had been merely warped versions of their kind. They hadn’t become human in appearance or intelligence.

Rekavidur didn’t feel entirely comfortable with the idea that he was right about something that all the elders of his colony had wrong. But he felt even less comfortable with the thought of standing passively aside while they annihilated an entire intelligent species on the basis of what he was sure was a misconception.

All of this passed through his mind in a matter of seconds, doing nothing to disrupt the flow of his conversation with the two merpeople in front of him.

“What did you hope to achieve by coming here?” he asked August.

“First, I wanted to confirm whether Merletta’s understanding is correct. Is there truly so little hope that the dragons will leave us be?”

“Very little,” Rekavidur said matter-of-factly. “The elders met recently to discuss the matter, and they emerged from their convocation determined to act.”

August’s wife looked at her husband, but the merman kept his eyes on Rekavidur.

“What about timing, then? How long do you think we have to prepare ourselves?”

“That is difficult to predict,” Rekavidur informed him. “I suspect that they do not take my initial refusal seriously, and expect that I will in time tell them the whereabouts of your kingdoms. It is rare for dragons to deceive one another, even through omission.”

He lifted his wings, flapping them gently to keep himself in his desired position under the water.

“They will eventually discover that I am set on my course, however,” he went on. “And I imagine that at that time they will discuss a new approach, most likely deciding to send out scouts to scour the ocean from above. That process will not happen in a day, but it could happen very quickly if they decide the matter is urgent. Once scouts go out, I anticipate your cities will be quickly found.”

“Will they decide it’s urgent?” August demanded.

“I cannot see the future,” Rekavidur said, flicking his tail in irritation.

“I didn’t think you could,” August said. “But your experience and knowledge regarding dragon attitudes and decision-making must put you in an infinitely better position than us to speculate as to what they will do.”

“True,” Rekavidur acknowledged, struck by the simple good sense of August’s point. He considered the matter. “I do not think they will decide it is urgent. They are unaware that you have been warned so specifically. Their total confidence in their ability to find and destroy you all will influence them against rushing the process.”

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