‘Corthie and I have had many disagreements during the time we have known each other, but he is not the reason I am in hiding. You see, my dear, I have discovered that the Ascendants are after me.’
‘What do they want with you?’
He tapped the side of his head with a finger. ‘They want what’s in here. I have used a Quadrant to travel to the City, I mean the salve world, many times, and apparently my brain remembers the finger movements necessary.’
‘And that’s all they need?’
‘Precisely. They still haven’t managed to get the Sextant to work, so I guess I’m the next best thing.’
‘And where is my nephew?’
‘He’ll probably be in Alea Tanton by now, I’d think.’
‘What’s he going there for?’
‘To do Corthie-type things; fighting and so on. Dying once wasn’t enough for him.’
‘Did he send you away?’
‘No, I fled. Not my proudest moment, but self-preservation has always been a talent of mine, and a priority.’
She darted into his head as he smoked the cigarette.
‘How much do you want for the salve?’ she said.
‘How do you know… wait, that’s a stupid question. You couldn’t resist, could you?’
‘At least I’m offering you a price for it; I could have just knocked you out and taken it. Is it the same jug you had when you healed me in Old Alea?’
‘It is, yes. Nine-tenths of it remain.’
‘How much would be a fair price? I have plenty of gold, as you’ve probably seen.’
‘That gold is yours? I might have known. Where did you get it?’
‘Lots of places. That Quadrant I took from Felice proved to be very lucrative.’
‘Then why did you hand it over to Maddie?’
‘It was the price of going to Dragon Eyre.’
He laughed. ‘And why, in Malik’s name, would you want to go there? It’s infested with lizards, gods and Banner soldiers.’
‘It sounds like fun.’
‘Suit yourself. You can have what’s left of the jug for five hundred gold sovereigns, standard Implacatus weights, of course; and a favour.’
‘What favour?’
‘Get me out of here.’
‘Where do you want to go?’
‘Home, ideally; back to the City with my tail between my legs, where I shall offer my services to the new king and queen.’ He sighed. ‘How my hopes have fallen, that I would view such a fate favourably.’
‘It’ll be up to Blackrose,’ she said. ‘I can ask her, or you can ask her yourself.’
He shook his head. ‘I already know what she’ll say.’ He eyed her. ‘Maybe, when Maddie gets back, we could…’
‘Haven’t you tried this approach before? And anyway, I’m on my last warning with the big black dragon. One more transgression and she’ll roast me.’
The air by the stairs shimmered, and Maddie appeared.
‘Hi,’ said Naxor.
Maddie clutched the Quadrant to her chest and stepped back. ‘What’s he doing here?’
‘Hiding from the Ascendants,’ said Sable. ‘I’ve warned him about the Quadrant, but stand away from him, just in case.’
Maddie narrowed her eyes at the demigod. ‘The last time I saw you, you tried to steal the God-Queen’s Quadrant, in the cavern at Fordamere.’
Naxor spread his palms out. ‘I was trying to stop her leaving.’
‘Yeah, right.’
‘How did it go upstairs?’ said Sable.
‘Fine. Blackrose sniffed the pig iron for a minute and pronounced it satisfactory. She wants to look at some gold next.’
Sable stood. ‘Then let us give her Majesty what she desires.’
‘What about him?’
‘I’m sure he can tag along. I’ll stay between him and the Quadrant.’
She picked up the lantern and led them down one more flight of stairs, and then into a long, cold passageway. They came to a door, and Sable pushed it open, then shone the lantern inside. Maddie gasped. The chamber was filled with gold. Most of it consisted of coins, piled up in bags and chests, but there was a heap of ingots in the centre of the floor.
‘You stole all this?’ said Maddie.
Sable smiled. ‘Yes.’
‘You are quite the entrepreneur,’ said Naxor. ‘Some of that bullion appears to have come from bank vaults in Kin Dai.’
‘That’s right.’
‘You broke into a bank?’
‘I had a Quadrant; what else was I supposed to do with it?’ She gestured to Maddie. ‘Pick up an ingot, and we’ll walk back up to the iron bins. I could show you how to get out of here using the Quadrant, but I don’t want to place temptation in Naxor’s way.’
Maddie lifted one of the gold ingots. ‘It’s heavy.’
‘Give it here,’ said Sable.
She passed it over, and the three of them returned to the cavern filled with pig iron. Maddie took out the Quadrant, and Sable took hold of her arm, while Naxor placed his hand on Sable’s shoulder. Maddie swept her fingers over the surface of the device, and they appeared in the chamber next to Deepblue and Millen.
‘Who’s that?’ said Millen.
‘This is Naxor,’ said Sable. ‘Don’t trust him.’
‘Should I burn him?’ said Deepblue.
‘Not yet. Let’s see what Blackrose has to say first.’
They all walked out of the caverns and emerged into the dim light of evening. They crossed the courtyard and went through the broken gates to where the other dragons had gathered. Ashfall was talking to Blackrose, but stopped as the others approached.
‘Things may be worse than we’d feared,’ said the black dragon. ‘Ashfall has patrolled up and down the coast. It is in ruins. Enormous waves have battered the entire shoreline. Cape Armour is no more; the entire settlement is under water, and it is the same to the north.’
‘How far to the north?’ said Naxor.
Blackrose paused, staring down at the demigod. ‘Naxor? What a surprise. I haven’t seen you since your foolish behaviour at Fordamere.’ She glanced at Maddie.
‘We know; he’s not to get close to the Quadrant.’
‘He is already too close to it, in my opinion. Step a few yards to the right, Naxor, just to ease my nerves a little.’ She watched as Naxor did so. ‘Now, what was your question?’
‘The waves you mentioned; did they reach Alea Tanton?’
‘I didn’t go that far,’ said Ashfall.
‘Should I check?’ said Sable. ‘Naxor doesn’t have the range to reach.’
‘If you must,’ said Blackrose,
