Page 33 of The Fire Dragon's Mate
Due to the way the wind blew, our return course took us around the island so that we had a clear view of the bay long before we sailed into it.
What we saw was horrifying.
The bay was lit by the fire raging on the only ship that was still there. More fires burned the tents, boats, and supplies on the shore. Bodies littered the ground and floated in the water.
Had our people attacked? Were they amongst the dead?
In a rush to know, Hagen ran our ship aground, and we scrambled down the gangplank to search for familiar faces or any survivors. Cighyss ran ahead and shifted into his full dragon form, clearly scenting the smoky air. I took a moment to pray that our people were safe.
“They’re not here,” Cighyss said in his thunderous voice. “But one still lives.”
I followed his pointed finger to a boy holding a wad of bloody cloth to his stomach. “Please,” he sobbed, “don’t kill me.Please.”
Though I’d wanted all of these soldiers dead, seeing himscared and crying ended my rage. “No one’s going to kill you,” I assured him. “Can you tell us what happened?”
“I-I’m not sure. The captains were arguing. AfterThe Windfallwas stolen andThe Harbingerwent after her, Captain Jovi wanted to go, too, but Captain Forrester wanted to scout for another way into the mountain.”
“This was…” I blinked at him, stunned. “You did this to yourselves?”
The boy nodded. “One minute it was just them yelling, and then all of a sudden everyone was fighting. My own shipmate s-stabbed me!”
Bromley got on his knees beside the boy and peered under the cloth. He met my gaze and shook his head.
“Oh gods,” the boy whined. “I don’t want to die!”
“And you won’t,” Cighyss rumbled as he leaned over him. “Bring him. And get the puppies.”
I stayed with Hagen and Bromley beside the boy, while Phineas returned to the ship with Eglantine to open the puppies’ crates. They hadn’t made a peep after Cighyss quieted them, and we’d fed them the mush we’d found. Cleaning up after them hadn’t been fun, but we’d managed that as well. Now each of the twenty little fluffs of fur bounded down the gangplank and through the debris to surround Cighyss. They still didn’t make a sound, though their little tails never stopped wagging.
Back in his mostly-human form, Cighyss led them and the rest of us up the hill to the base of the mountain and around to the hidden entrance.
A pale arm thrust a sword out from the darkness, narrowly missing both Cighyss and Phineas, who dodged to either side of the entrance. The torch Phineas held must’ve shown him who it was because he gasped, “Gilda?”
“Phin?”
“Gods, woman, what are— Gilda!” he said in sudden alarm. “The baby!”
I rushed forward to see Cighyss taking the torch as Phineas put his hands on Gilda’s much flatter stomach. Fear seized me.
“He’s fine,” Gilda said before clutching her husband to her. “By the morning after you left, he was here, but we’re both just fine.”
I breathed a sigh of relief as Phineas took a moment to hold her tightly. But then he stooped and lifted her in his arms before stalking deeper into the mountain. The rest of us followed, everyone trying not to step on the puppies still crowding around Cighyss’s feet.
“Are those puppies?” Gilda asked. “Phineas, put me down! I want to know everything that happened.”
“And I’ll tell you everything once I have you resting properly. Who the fuck let you down here?”
“Let me?I’ll have you know I’m perfectly capable of taking a shift just like anyone else.”
I dared to chuckle only to have both of them turning to glare at me.
But in looking back, Gilda must’ve seen the injured boy as well. “Is he dead? Who is he? Phineas Michael Harkin de Lancret, you tell me what happened right now!”
I could hear Phineas dutifully telling her, but that was also when we walked into the main area of the mountain. A shout went up, and suddenly everyone was rushing toward us.
Glad to see all of us, they were especially happy that Cighyss was with us. He hugged or kissed everyone, promising to tell them all that had happened, and then began giving the children at least two puppies each. As if he had freed them from their vows of silence, now the whole pack started barking and yipping as they swarmed their new caretakers.
I stood watching for a moment, but when Hagen carried theboy toward the infirmary, I followed. There was one guaranteed cure for him and, if he needed it, I wanted to make sure he understood what it was and what it meant from the start. While I didn’t begrudge how they’d handled my situation given how hostile I’d been, I wanted to ensure the boy had every bit of information.
