culinary skills I find most valuable. We’ve never eaten better.” It was Nemo. In the distance behind him, out in the shallows of the expansive inlet and to the rear of the White Dragon, lay the gleaming form of the Nautilus. “Ho, Aven,” Nemo said in greeting, laying his fist across his chest. “Ho, Nemo,” Aven responded, offering the gesture in return. “Well met.” Nemo turned to say hello to Bert, but before he could voice a greeting, the little man rushed over and embraced the surprised captain in a bear hug. “Oh, my stars and garters!” Bert exclaimed. “I’ve never been so happy to see…well, almost anyone!” “Is that so?” Nemo said with a wink at the others. “That’s too bad,” he finished, gesturing over his shoulder with his thumb, “because they’ll be disappointed if they get less of a reception, just because I beat them here.” “What is it?” said Jack. “Who’s coming?” “It’s the other ships,” Bert said, eyes glittering with barely contained excitement. “The Dragonships have come together once more.” The companions, together with Nemo and Tummeler, raced back to the beach where the ships were anchored, as the first of the other Dragonships began to arrive. “The Orange Dragon,” said Bert. “The Dwarves, I think, run that one these days.” It was a Viking longship, broad and flat across the middle, from which extended three steeply pointed prows and a tall mast with the largest sail John, Jack, and Charles had ever seen. It was also, Bert explained, the only one of the Dragonships with three dragonheads, one on each prow. “I suppose the Vikings thought that where one was good, three might be better. Although,” he added, “given their successful track record for looting and pillaging, I can’t say that they were incorrect.” The captain of the Orange Dragon, who Aven explained was also the king of the Dwarves, splashed through the shallows carrying a massive ax and a stern expression. He shook hands with Nemo and gave a curt nod to Bert and the others. “A little grim, isn’t he?” said Charles. “Grim?” said Bert in surprise. “You don’t know dwarves. For him, that greeting was positively giddy.” “That, I’m assuming,” said Charles, pointing seaward, “is the Blue Dragon, unless I miss my guess.” It was. The Elves had arrived with the greatest of the Dragonships, an immense vessel that towered over the other ships as if they were toys. It was fully five stories tall, and almost three times as long and as broad as the White Dragon. The sails were barely visible, but it obviously had other means of propulsion, much like the Nautilus. The Elders of the Elves disembarked through a hatch that appeared just above the waterline and came over to greet the companions. They were several of the same elves who’d been present at the Council on Paralon, and they greeted John, Jack, and Charles as if they were visiting dignitaries. “Ho, Caretaker,” the Elf King, Eledir, said in greeting to Bert. “The Ancient of Days told us that you could use our assistance.” Bert bowed his head. “And we are grateful for it,” he said with sincerity. “How many have you brought?” Eledir pointed at the Blue Dragon in answer, as dozens of elves, armored and equipped for battle, flowed out onto the beach. “Six hundred,” said the Elf King. “More ships will follow, but this number was the best we could arrange and still arrive in time.” “Every one is a help,” said Bert. “We won’t complain.” The next ship to arrive was the Green Dragon—which seemed to be under the stewardship of the mythological creatures of the Archipelago. It was not unlike the White Dragon in appearance, except for the fact that it seemed the timbers from which it was made had never lost their ambition to be trees, and had kept on growing accordingly. There were branches and tufts of leaves everywhere. And the sails were so overgrown as to nearly collapse with the weight. The occupants were not merely on the deck, but also clambered up and around the branches and spars as easily as walking on the ground. From their vantage point on the beach, the companions were able to make out fauns and satyrs (“Great,” Aven grumbled. “As if they’ll be a lot of help.”), more than a few animals (including several badgers, wolverines, and at least one creature Jack identified as a Tasmanian devil), and the core of their force, a herd of centaurs. The captain of the Green Dragon was a centaur whom Nemo greeted as Charys. He was massive, standing eight feet tall at the shoulder, and kicked up a curtain of sand as he trotted over to the companions. “Greetings, Sons of Adam,” said Charys. “Which one of you is the Caretaker Principia?” “That would be me,” John said. “Nemo told me of you when he came to Praxis to enlist our aid,” said Charys. “I like your style. ‘Let’s go thataway,’” he said with a deep horsey laugh. “Oh ho ho! Now that’s the way we navigated in the olden days!” He laughed again and trotted off to greet the dwarves. “I think he was poking fun at me,” said John. “He was,” Charles agreed, “but I don’t think it’s advisable to make an issue of it.” Bert was pacing the shoreline, watching the water for more arrivals. By their count, there were two more Dragonships that might still come. “One, actually,” said Aven. “The Violet Dragon—the ship of the Goblin King.” “I don’t know,” said Bert. “I feel we may yet see the other as well.” “Is it possible?” said Aven. Bert scanned the horizon, then shook his head. “No, I don’t think so. It was too much to hope for, I know, but still…” “What are you looking for?” John asked. “The first Dragonship,” said Aven. “The Red Dragon. It hasn’t been seen since shortly after Ordo Maas created it. “As Ordo Maas said, all of the ships—even our own Indigo Dragon, bless her spars—were made from existing hulls. They were not new-built, but created from ships that knew surf and storm and had proven themselves able to cross into waters of a new world. And the Red Dragon was the greatest of them all.” “What was the Red Dragon?” asked Charles. “Anything we might know?” “Yes,” said Bert. “In fact, it was the original ship that showed Ordo Maas the secret of passage between the worlds and led him to the idea of living mastheads—for it had one of its own. “Before it was remade as the Red Dragon, it was a ship known as the Argo.” The kings and captains of the ships sat together in a council of war, while the others helped to organize their troops and make themselves ready for whatever was to come.
Jack immediately positioned himself alongside Nemo and Eledir as a representative of Man, although Bert had already explained Artus’s true identity and put him forth as the heir to the Silver Throne.
Nemo seemed to accept this news with aplomb, but Eledir and Falladay Finn, the Dwarf King, were more reserved.
“We’ve been through one round of false kings and queens, presented by the humans,” Eledir said, referring to the Council. “The Archipelago cannot continue to be supportive of a race that is unable to even police its own.”
Falladay Finn nodded in agreement. “If what you say is true, you will have the support of the dwarves.
