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[ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] Sy-wen clung to Conch s side as he wove his wings and body so deep that his belly scratched the sharp peaks of the reef. The waters near the islands, though, were too shallow. They would be easily spotted by the ships above. Conch struggled to find deeper water. From the corner of her eye, Sy-wen spotted trails of blood flowing back along their trail from the dragon s coral-wounded belly. Drawn by his blood, as if by magick, schools of sharks appeared from the black waters. In only a few heartbeats, monstrous rock-sharks, longer than three men, glided from dark valleys in the reef. Sy-wen realized what Conch was trying to do. He had purposely wounded himself, luring the larger predators from their hidden homes, trying to lose himself among the more common denizens of the reef. Conch slowed his glide through the water, letting the other predators within his shadow. He pulled hard once with his wings, then folded them under his body, narrowing his silhouette as he flowed through the water. Only the slow undulations of his body now propelled them forward. Sy-wen risked a glance upward. A huge rockshark, with a snap of its large finned tail, swept just over her head. Sy-wen leaned down closer to Conch s neck. The shark would not dare risk attacking until he knew the dragon was near death, but the hulking rockshark was not the true threat here. Farther overhead, the last of the boats glided past. Staring over her shoulder, Sy-wen slowly expelled the air from her sore lungs as the bellies of the hunting fleet faded behind her. They had made it! Sy-wen sat straighter on Conch s back and rubbed a hand along his neck. Tears of relief mixed their salt with the seawater s. Her silly curiosities had almost killed the gentle giant. A new resolve grew in her breast. Where words had failed, fear and danger had finally managed to dig free the stubborn hooks in her heart. Never again. She would never return to these islands. Her mother s words had been wise, and like a child, she had dismissed that good counsel! Sy-wen s hands clenched to fists. Maybe it was time to look toward her approaching womanhood with a more open heart. Maybe it was time she grew up and looked at the world with the wisdom of an adult, instead of the dreaming eyes of a child. She glanced back as the last of the boats drifted away from them. Never again! Suddenly, below them, the seafloor exploded upward, swallowing them in a storm of silt and sand. Conch s body contorted violently under her. The scaled folds that secured her feet spasmed open. Sy-wen was thrown from Conch s back. Her air siphon ripped from her teeth as she tumbled through the water. The sea gagged her throat as she swallowed a mouthful of salty water. In the blizzard of sand, she struggled to resecure the stem of her air hose. She must not lose her air. As her body slowed its tumble, instinct drew her fumbling fingers to the pod fastened to her waist belt and felt along its surface until she discovered the base of the stem. Thank the Mother, it was still intact. She hurriedly followed its length and pulled its end to her lips. She drank the air hungrily while using her webbed hands to hold herself in place. Able to breathe again, she could now think. What had happened? Swirling sand obscured her vision. She swam backward against a mild current, letting the flow of the water clear the silt around her as she kicked and paddled. Where was Conch? Suddenly, like the sun pushing through a break in the clouds, the storm of sand settled enough for Page 97 ABC Amber Palm Converter, http://www.processtext.com/abcpalm.html Sy-wen to get a quick glimpse near the heart of the storm. Conch, his long green body coiled up on itself, struggled savagely with something, his legs slashing, his neck twisting and contorting. It looked almost as if he were fighting himself. Then Sy-wen saw Conch s adversary. It was wrapped tight around his body, and the more Conch fought, the tighter his opponent gripped him. A net! A snare set in the sand to catch him! As Conch struggled, a single black eye rolled in Sy-wen s direction and fixed on her. For a brief moment, he stopped his struggle, hanging still in the tangled net. Flee , he seemed to call at her, I am lost . Then the sand swallowed her dear friend away. No! Sy-wen swam into the sandstorm, paddling fiercely. She had a knife and a stunner at her waist. She would not abandon Conch. She dug and clawed her way through the clouds of silt. It seemed forever that she fought the murk. Then, suddenly, she was free, back in sunlit waters, the wall of swirling sand at her back. She twisted around. She had swum through the entire cloud of silt. But where was Conch ? Above, movement caught her eye. She glanced up and saw her friend bundled in a tight ball in the clinging net, being hauled and drawn toward the surface. The bellies of the boats were now clustered in a circle around the ascending dragon. Sweet Mother, don t let this happen ! Sy-wen fought her way toward the surface, but she was too late. She had wasted too much time fighting the swirling sand. She watched, her heart thundering in her ears, as Conch was drawn to the surface. She kicked toward the planked bottoms of the boats. She must still try. Aiming for the largest vessel, she slid under its keel, and guided by a hand slipping over its barnacled surface, she floated upward until her head bobbed in the shadowed curve of the boat s leeward side. Voices suddenly struck her ears, strident, their thick accent making them difficult to understand. Look at the size of that beastie! someone called from almost directly overhead. Sy-wen sank lower until only her eyes and ears were above water. She watched as Conch rolled in the tangled net, sluggishly writhing as he tired. It ll fetch a shower of silver. We ll all be rich! another shouted gleefully. A sterner voice rang out from the boat above, guttural and full of threat, a [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ] |