was obliterated by Bert’s response to his appearance. He whipped off his hat and threw himself prostrate on the ground in front of the ancient man. Even Samaranth had not received this measure of outright worshipfulness. Aven hesitated only an instant before dropping to a slightly more dignified kneeling position, which Jack, John, Charles, and Bug quickly emulated. Only Magwich remained standing, but he seemed to be frightened out of his wits and was hunched over, trembling (which Charles figured was just as good). Ordo Maas frowned and covered his eyes. “This is why I gave up being a king,” he said, shaking his head. “Everyone wants to waste time bowing, and scraping, and ‘if-you-please’-ing, and at my age, that just won’t do. Please,” he finished, tapping Bert with the torch-topped staff he was holding, “do get up.” “My apologies,” said Bert. “I didn’t think it would hurt to start with the formalities, just in case.” “Formalities?” said John. “This is the island of Byblos, my boy,” Bert said. “I’d heard of it since the first day I became a Caretaker.” “Begging your pardon,” said Charles, “but we’ve been to Paralon, and as impressive islands go, it’s a pretty hard act to follow.” “Paralon?” said Ordo Maas. “Tell me, how is my good friend Mr. Tummeler? Is he still writing books?” “You know Tummeler?” said Charles. “Very well,” said Ordo Maas. “I know all of the Children of the Earth.” “How is that?” “Because,” said the eldest of the seven men accompanying Ordo Maas, “all of the Children of the Earth— the animals—are descended from those he brought here, thousands of years ago.” “Yes,” said Bert. “That’s what I was trying to say. While there were wilder lands, occupied by creatures that were the precursors of the other races scattered throughout the islands, the true beginning of the Archipelago was here, on the island of Byblos. What Samaranth is to the dragons, Ordo Maas is to men.” “Well, now I really feel old,” said Ordo Maas. “Raising the animals was easy—teaching them to speak was much harder.” “In that case,” said Charles, “I’m very pleased to meet you indeed.” “The feeling is mutual,” said Ordo Maas. “Please,” he continued, gesturing with the staff toward the slight path in the woods from which they had come, “let us repair to my home, and you may rest, and sup. And as we walk, you can tell me about what my friend Tummeler has been up to.” Chapter Eleven Ordo Mass and the seven men—all his sons—led the companions through the thickly forested trail to a small compound of pale-wooded cottages in the center of the island, trailed by cats all the while.
“Interesting homes,” said John. “Were they made of wood from another part of the island? It doesn’t look like any from the trees we passed.”
“Our original ship was quite large,” said Ordo Maas, “and we never expected to use it again, not in the same manner we originally did. So we used the timbers from its hull to build our homes, and one or two other useful things.”
“That’s an understatement,” said Bert, “if the rest of the legend of Byblos is true.”
“There are lots of legends,” said Ordo Maas, “but yes. What you’ve heard is true.”
“What are you talking about?” said John. “He built the ships,” said the youngest son. “All of them.” “Hap,” Ordo Maas chided. “Do not be boastful.” “Ships?” said Charles. “You mean the Dragonships, don’t you? Did you really build them?”
“My sons…came across a small, badly battered boat.”
Ordo Maas nodded, a small smile playing at the corners of his mouth. “I, and my children.” “Your sons?” said John. “I have many children, but these seven are those who helped me, in the beginning, to build the first of what you call the Dragonships, yes.” The companions (plus Magwich) were shown to an expansive room in the largest cottage, where they sat on overstuffed cushions scattered across the floor. Jack noticed that the cushions smelled slightly of livestock—a thought that went with the fact that the broad double doors were large enough to admit a horse, or more likely, a lion. The house was plain, but in a manner that was simple rather than drab. Ordo Maas’s sons served them cups of hot tea and a platter of bread thick with pepper, which they needed little encouragement to devour. They noticed that dozens of saucers of tea—several of which were already being attended to by the cats that had followed them—had also been set along the walls. The companions were curious as to what Ordo Maas would say about the Dragonships, but they held back from asking for details while their host was so graciously serving them. And to be honest, they were grateful for the respite and sustenance, stretching luxuriously on the cushions and drinking a large quantity of tea. Once the companions had sated their hunger and thirst, the dishes had all been cleared away, and everyone was comfortably settled, Ordo Maas began his tale. “A very, very long time ago, when this world and your own were much younger, and not so different, the boundaries between them were as gossamer, and could be freely passed.
“I traveled to the lands herein often, most frequently to those islands now called the Drowned Lands, but then, we lived in your world—”
