He nodded understandingly. Personally, he loved the water. And for that matter, the mud. 'I still wonder why those soldiers didn't come after us?'
Mamakitty shrugged. As performed by her, it was a remarkably liquid gesture. 'I suppose they decided being impaled on Cezer's blade wasn't worth capturing a female for their captain.'
While this reasoning did not fully satisfy the contemplative Oskar, he could think of no better explanation for what had transpired. Besides, he was tired. Since Mamakitty seemed content to let the boat drift downriver, he saw no point in dwelling on what was past. Finding an empty place on the open deck, he paced in circles, tighter and tighter, until at last he felt comfortable and lay down, curling up as compactly as his new body would allow, before falling into an exhausted and dreamless sleep.
When his eyelids next fluttered, the sun was already up. A mass of orange-red fluff was gazing back at him out of eyes that protruded from the depths of dense down. Whether it was composed of feathers or fur, he could not tell. Taken unawares by its proximity, he snapped awake. Emitting a startled coo, the orange sphere promptly fluttered its feathers (or fur) and rose vertically into the air. Looking up, Oskar saw that it had joined a dozen others of its kind. They hovered above him for another moment before flocking as one for the grove of orange-tinted palms from which they had emerged.
'I wonder what they are.' Cocoa was sitting up on the deck.
'I wonder if they're edible.' Standing next to her, Cezer rested a hand on his belly. 'I'm hungry.'
'We should conserve our supplies. How about some fresh fish?' Samm stood contemplating the water.
Cezer's face lit with anticipation, and he all but slobbered on his fine clothes. 'Fish! You're asking a cat if it would like some fish?'
'You're not a cat anymore,' Taj pointed out.
'I'm not all human, either,' Cezer shot back. 'Don't tell me you don't feel the urge to flap your arms and take to the sky.' Before the other man could reply, the swordsman had turned back to Samm. 'Get us some fish, and I'll lick you clean myself.'
The giant wore a look of distaste. 'Thanks, but I got clean enough in the river.'
'How are you going to catch fish?' Oskar wondered. 'Master Evyndd used to take me fishing with him. There is no fishing equipment on board this boat. Besides, it is a delicate skill. You have to understand how to read the play of swimmer and sand, light and water.'
'Then I will be delicate.' Leaning over the side, Samm caused the entire boat to tilt in his direction. While his companions struggled to remain erect, the giant scanned the softly rippling surface of the river intently. Espying motion, he brought his enormous axe down in one swift, arcing movement. Water erupted, cascading over the gunwale and drenching everyone and everything aboard.
Sputtering, Oskar was about to say something disagreeable—until he saw the half dozen stunned fish that now lay twitching on the deck. Water spilling in rivulets from his bald pate, Samm sat back down in the stern, set his axe aside, and patiently began picking at the yard-long specimen nearest his feet. With a cry, Cezer and Cocoa bent to do the same. There was no place to make a fire, but that did nothing to mute the avidity with which those on board tore into the unexpected bounty. Having always consumed it raw, they saw no necessity to cook it now.
Only Taj did not participate. The orgy of consumption, with fish blood and oil staining the deck and pale flesh and bone flying every which way, turned his stomach. He had to satisfy himself with dried fruits and vegetables from those stored in Samm's pack.
Bellies swollen, stomachs packed full, they settled down as cats and snakes will do after eating for a long, contented nap. That left only Oskar—who although he had eaten well was not quite as serious a fish fanatic as his feline companions—and Taj to consider the country through which they were passing. While the boat drifted onward, the others slept off the unexpected feast. Rhythmic digesting sounds issued from somewhere within the somnolent Samm, persuading Oskar that despite what one might think, it was indeed possible for a snake to snore.
'I still can't figure out why those soldiers didn't come after us.'
'You heard Mamakitty's explanation.' Taj was leaning over the prow of the boat, contemplating the water. Suddenly he lifted his head. 'Maybe that's the reason, up ahead.'
Oskar had to squint. Though excellent, his eyesight was not as sharp as the other man's. Then he saw it: the place forward of the bow where the river disappeared into a huge cave. The rim of the yawning opening was dominated by prominent stalactites and stalagmites.
'We'd better wake the others. We have to go ashore before we reach that. No telling what happens to the river once it has entered the cave.'
'We'd better wake them quickly.' Taj had straightened, and the hair on the back of his neck had stiffened. 'That's not a cave. It's a
NINE
Amid frantic yelling and screaming, and not a few accompanying kicks and blows, Taj and Oskar fought to rouse their companions. One by one, as soon as they saw where their free-drifting craft was heading, the others came awake with astonishing alacrity.
'The wooden thing on the end!' Mamakitty led a general rush toward the back of the boat. 'Samm—push on the wooden thing affixed to the stern!' As seemed to happen more and more the longer they dwelled in human form, the word suddenly popped into her mind. 'The rudder—move the rudder!' The giant obediently leaned a massive hand on the indicated mechanism. 'No, no!' Mamakitty yelled. 'The other direction! Push it the other way!'
Simultaneously fascinated and horrified, all eyes were now focused on the colossal maw toward which they were helplessly floating. As they picked up speed, Oskar saw that even though they had changed course and were now heading for the eastern bank, their angle of approach would not be acute enough to allow them to beach the boat before they were swallowed up. He began running back and forth the length of the boat until it struck him that such activity was not a suitable expression of concern in his present form.
Two looming ridges high above the dark opening in the mountain that blocked their way suddenly cracked open, exposing a pair of flattened scarlet eyes out of whose depths stared tiny black pupils. From deep within the gaping organic cavern, a voice emerged that was like a sigh of petrified winds.
'I am the Red Dagon, drinker of this river and everything that swims within and upon it! Draw near, and be consumed.'
Reaching up, Oskar grabbed his friend's pants leg. 'It doesn't matter, Cezer! You'd never make it.'
Reluctantly, the other man let himself be drawn down. 'This boat is doomed. What else can we do but try and swim for it?' He rested a hand on his companion's arm. 'You were always a good swimmer, Oskar. You might make it.' He looked past him. 'So might Samm.'
The giant nodded. 'I have always been comfortable in the water, but I will not go without the rest of you.'
'A sensitive serpent. Who would have believed it?' A downcast Cezer looked away.
'You might have, had you ever been able to talk to me,' the giant responded calmly.
'It's a hard thing to communicate in the absence of common speech.' Taj was studying the approaching maw disconsolately, lamenting yet again the absence of his wings. 'Can we discuss it later?'
'Cezer's right. We have no time to consider alternatives. There's nothing we can do except jump in and swim as strong as we can for the near shore.' Mamakitty was readying herself for the desperate leap into pink-tinted water. 'It just bothers me so to perhaps perish like this, without even being able to preen one last time my silky black coat with its lovely white spots.'
'Black? White?' The gigantic pair of jaws they had mistaken for the entrance to a cave slammed shut with a
