Tintaglia paced to the edge of the cliff and launched herself.
'I'M SO HUNGRY,' SELDEN QUAVERED. HE PRESSED HIMSELF MORE TIGHTLY AGAINST Reyn, seeking body warmth that Reyn himself was rapidly losing. Reyn couldn't even find the spirit to reply to the shivering boy. He and Selden lay together on a mat of tree limbs that was gradually sinking into the rising muck. When the mud consumed it, it would devour this last hope as well. The only opening out of the chamber was far overhead. They had attempted to build a platform of debris, but as fast as they piled up fallen earth and tree limbs, the muck swallowed them. Reyn knew they were going to die here, and all the boy could do was whine about being hungry.
He felt like shaking some sense into him, but instead he put his arm around Selden and said comfortingly, 'Someone must have seen the dragon. My mother and brother will hear of it and guess where she came from. They'll send help.' Privately, he doubted his own words. 'Rest for a bit.'
'I'm so hungry,' Selden repeated hopelessly. He sighed. 'In a way, it was worth it. I saw the dragon rise.' He turned his face to Reyn's chest and was still. Reyn let his own eyes close. Could it be as simple as this? Could they simply go to sleep and die? He tried to think of something important enough to make him go on struggling. Malta. But Malta was likely dead already, somewhere in the collapsed city. The city itself was the only thing he had cared about before discovering Malta, and it lay in ruins all around him. He'd never unearth its secrets. Perhaps dying here and becoming one of its secrets was the closest he would ever get to it. He found his heart echoing Selden's words. At least he had freed the dragon. Tintaglia had risen, to fly free. That was something, but it was not a reason to go on living. Perhaps it was a reason to die content. He had saved her.
He felt another tiny quake. It was followed by a splattering sound as loose earth cascaded from the opening above them to splash into the muck. Perhaps the whole ceiling would cave in; that would furnish him a quick end.
Cool air wafted past his face, heavy with the scent of reptile. He opened his eyes, to find Tintaglia's pony-sized head thrust down into the chamber. 'Still alive?' she greeted him.
'You came back?' He was incredulous.
She didn't reply. She had pulled her head out and her taloned forepaws were tearing at the earth around the opening. Rocks, dirt and bits of ceiling rained down within the chamber. Selden awoke with a cry and cowered against Reyn. 'No, it's all right. I think she's trying to rescue us.' Reyn tried to sound reassuring as he sheltered the boy from the falling debris.
Earth and stone trickled down and the hole overhead grew larger. More light found its way into the chamber. 'Climb onto this,' Tintaglia suddenly commanded them. A moment later her head entered the chamber, a stout section of tree trunk gripped firmly in her jaws as if she were a terrier who had fetched a stick. The breath from her nostrils steamed in the cool chamber and the stench of reptile was overpowering. Reyn summoned his last strength to stand up and lift Selden so he could scrabble up onto the log. Reyn caught hold of the other end. As soon as he gripped it, she lifted them. They snagged for a moment in the opening, but she tore the log free with a fine disregard for how weakly they clung to it.
An instant later, she had set them down on mossy earth. They sprawled upon an isolated hummock of land amidst the swampy forest, the long-buried dome beneath them. Selden staggered away from the log and then collapsed, crying in relief. Reyn tottered, but found he could stand. 'Thank you,' he managed.
'You are not obliged to thank me. I've done as I said I would.' She flared her nostrils and a blast of steamy breath briefly warmed him. 'You'll live now?' It was as much statement as question.
His legs began to shake and he dropped down to his knees to keep from collapsing. 'If we can get back to Trehaug soon. We need food. And warmth.'
'I suppose I can take you there,' she conceded unwillingly.
'Thank Sa,' Reyn breathed as fervent a prayer as he had ever uttered. He drove himself to his feet and lurched over to Selden. He bent over and seized the boy, intending to lift him, found that his strength was not enough and managed only to pull Selden to his feet. Half-dragging the boy, he lurched toward Tintaglia.
'I'm exhausted,' Reyn told her. 'You will have to crouch down for us to climb onto your back.'
The dragon's eyes spun in silver disdain. 'Crouch?' she demanded. 'You upon my back? I think not, human.'
'But… you said you would take us to Trehaug.'
'I shall. However, no creature will ever bestride me, least of all a human. I shall carry you in my talons. Stand before me, together. I shall gather you up and carry you home.'
Reyn looked dubiously at her scaled forefeet. Her claws were silver, gleaming and sharp. He did not see how she could clutch them tightly enough to carry them without impaling them. He glanced down at Selden, to find the boy's upturned face mirroring his doubts. 'Are you afraid?' he asked him quietly.
Selden considered for a moment. 'I'm more hungry than I am afraid,' he decided. He straightened himself. His eyes roved over the dragon. When his gaze returned to Reyn, his face shone. He shook his head in wonder. 'Legends. Tapestries and paintings. They are all so feeble compared to how she shines. She is too amazing for distrust or fear. Even if she killed me right now, I'd still die in her glory.' The boy's extravagant words shocked Reyn. Selden summoned all his remaining strength with a deep breath. Reyn knew what it cost him to stand erect and declare, 'I'll let her carry me.'
'Oh? Will you?' the dragon teased him wickedly. Her eyes glittered with both amusement and pleasure at the boy's flattery.
'We will,' Reyn declared firmly. Selden was silent beside him, but gasped as the dragon reared suddenly onto her hind legs. She towered above them. It was as difficult a thing as Reyn had ever done to stand still as she reached for them with taloned forepaws. He held Selden at his side and did not move as the dragon closed her clawed hands around them. The tips of the claws walked over him, measuring him before her digits wrapped around him. The sharp ends of two talons rested against his back uncomfortably, but they did not pierce him. She clutched them both to her breast as a squirrel treasures a nut it has found. Selden gave an involuntary cry as she crouched on those tremendous hind legs, and she bounded skyward.
Her blue wings beat and they rose steadily. The trees closed below them. Reyn twisted his neck and got a dizzying view of treetops below him. His stomach lurched, but in the next instant his heart swelled with wonder. He almost forgot his fear in this perilous new aspect of the world. Green and swelling, the rain forest valley unfurled itself far below them. Up and up the dragon carried them in a widening gyre that afforded him glimpses of the open river winding through the lush growth. The river, he saw, was a paler gray than usual. Sometimes, after large quakes, it ran white and acid for days and anyone out in a boat had best be mindful of his craft. When the river ran white, it ate wood swiftly. The dragon tipped her wings and they swung inland and upriver. Then he caught both sight and scent of Trehaug. Seen from above, the city hung throughout the tree branches like decorative lanterns. The smoke of cookfires rose in the still air.
'That's it!' He cried the words aloud to the dragon's unspoken question, and then realized he needn't have vocalized it at all. Held this close to her, their old bond had reasserted itself. He felt a chill moment of foreboding, but then sensed her sardonic reply: he needn't worry. Further involvement with humans held no place in her plans.
He was almost grateful for his empty stomach as they descended in dizzying spirals. He caught whirling glimpses of city and river as they came down, including a brief sighting of pointing and shouting figures that scattered before them. He sensed her disgust that there was no wide, flat space prepared for a dragon to land. What sort of a city was this?
They landed jokingly on the city docks. The platforms, free to rise and fall with the changing flow of the river, gave way to the impact. White spray flew up from the edges of the wharf, causing the nearby Kendry to rock alarmingly. The liveship roared his bewilderment. As the dock rose, rocking under the dragon's weight, Tintaglia opened her claws. Reyn and Selden fell at her feet. She swiveled aside from them to let her forepaws drop to the wood beside them. 'Now you will live,' she asserted.
'Now… we will… live,' Reyn panted. Selden lay like a stunned rabbit.
Reyn became aware of the thundering of footsteps and the excited susurrus of hushed conversation. He lifted his gaze. A veritable tide of people was flooding onto the piers. Many were begrimed with the mud of long digging. All looked weary despite the amazement on their faces. Some few gripped excavating tools as if they were weapons. All halted at the end of the dock. The incredulous shouts rose to a confused roar as folk gawked and
