All five of them stood at the water’s edge, watching the display of lights come closer and closer. Some were tiny like fireflies and some were larger, like shooting stars, but all of them danced and swam both in the air and in the water. As they grew nearer, the group could hear the ring of tiny voices crying, “Sing, sing, sing.” They sounded like a thousand wind chimes tinkling in the wind.
“It worked,” Patrik whispered to Larkin, afraid to break the spell that had brought the Guides.
“Sing, sing, sing.” The voices grew louder as the Guides drew closer. One, larger than the rest, flitted up to them, hovering in the air in front of their faces. “Sing, sing, sing,” it chimed.
Patrik’s mouth fell open, and he couldn’t help but stare at the Guide, for inside the ball of light flitted a miniature person, or what Patrik thought was a person. It had arms, legs, and wings. “What is it?” he whispered to the wizard.
“I don’t know. I’ve never seen or read about such a creature.”
“Sing, sing, sing,” the Guide said.
Rat batted at the air trying to catch one of the flying, darting creatures.
“We’d better do something soon,” Patrik whispered.
“Larkin, sing a few more notes, then stop and tell them you’ll sing if they will guide us across the sea,” the wizard said in a low, hushed voice.
Larkin began to sing and immediately the Guides hushed to listen. The one that was closest to them hovered over Larkin as he sang. It flitted around the dragon like a large hummingbird. When the dragon stopped, the Guide said, “Sing, more.”
“I will sing if you will lead us across the sea.”
“Sing more.”
“Will you guide us?”
“Sing more. Will guide.”
Larkin began his song again, and the Guides began to head off in a northerly direction.
“I guess we’d better hop to it,” the wizard said, “or we’re going to be left behind.”
They rushed around their campsite, packing up their supplies, and strapping them on the dragons’ backs. Larkin quit singing for a minute while he was being harnessed, and almost immediately, the Guides quit moving. “I don’t like this,” he said. “What’s going to happen when I can’t sing any longer?”
“There is that,” the wizard said. “We’ll just have to hope that we get to the other side before that happens.”
Patrik blew out a breath between pursed lips. This was their only real chance to find their way, and now it seemed very chancy indeed. He mounted Larkin, and they waited until Redwing took off to launch them into the air. Once he was airborne, Larkin began to sing again, and the Guides again began moving northwards.
The moon sank and the sun began to rise as they continued to fly while Larkin sang. They had to fly low over the water so that the Guides could hear Larkin’s song. Large spoon fish, dolfiniums, and other sea creatures they couldn’t identify, came to its beckoning call. They trailed behind the Guides like horses on parade, and Patrik’s neck began to ache from cranking it around to watch them. The sun grew hotter and the day longer, and still they flew while Larkin sang.
“I need water,” Larkin croaked after singing for many sunmarks.
Patrik reached into his pack and pulled out the water flask. He stretched over the dragon’s neck while Larkin turned his head toward him. The boy pulled out the stopper and dumped its contents down the dragon’s throat. “That’s better, but not enough. I don’t know how long I can keep this up. I hope we find land soon.”
Patrik had been thinking the same thing. The sun was setting and they had found no sign of either the far shore or one of the Floating Isles. “Ask them to take us to an island. We can get more water there and rest for the night,” Patrik said.
When Larkin quit singing, the parade behind them disappeared, and the Guides hovered stationary in front of them. “Sing, sing, sing,” they all began chiming at once.
“No sing. Need land,” Larkin said.
“No land. Only across. Sing,” said the Guide closest to Larkin’s face.
“What does that mean?” Allard asked as Redwing drew up closer to Larkin.
“I don’t know,” Patrik said. “I think it means there’s no land between here and the other side.”
“I was afraid that’s what it meant,” the wizard said. “I guess we keep going. How are you holding up, Larkin?”
The dragon sighed. “Not too well. I’m starting to get croaky, and my wings hurt.”
“I’m getting tired and thirsty,” Redwing said, “but I think I can keep going a little longer.”
“I gave you all the water I had,” Allard said. “Of course, I can get us more anytime you want. All I’d have to do…”
“No magic!” Redwing snapped. “You promised.”
“And I’ve kept my word. But just let me know if you change your mind. I can…”
“No magic!”
“And I gave Larkin all mine,” Patrik said, interrupting them.
“I know. Let’s get going. Hovering here is harder than flying and is just tiring us out faster,” Redwing said.
Rat yowled her displeasure at the extended journey, and when Patrik reached out to comfort her she snapped at him, her large jagged teeth coming within a finger’s length of his hand.
“Sing, sing, sing,” the Guides demanded.
Abbiene had left them sunmarks ago. “I can hardly feel the pull of the islands,” she had said. “If I don’t turn back now, I’ll never find my way home.”
They all thanked her for helping them, and Allard gave her the last of his sapphires. Her scales almost glowed with delight. “I’ll be the only hatchling with my own gems,” she crowed.
They watched her leave, knowing there was no way to return to the Floating Isles. Their course was set, and the only way they could go now was across the sea.
“Sing, sing, sing,” the Guides demanded.
Larkin inhaled deeply as if trying to find the energy needed to fulfill this task. Opening his mouth, he began to sing again, and the small group of travelers continued northwards.
Chapter Fourteen
When the moon rose, they realized they had been flying for over twenty-four sunmarks. Each flap of the dragons’ wings was slower and heavier. They hovered lower and lower over the water as the dragons became weary. Occasionally, their wing tips would touch the sea and salt water would spray over their backs, soaking Rat, who hung lower than the others. The mountain prowler hissed and snarled, making them all aware that she did not appreciate the water.
“I can’t sing much longer,” Larkin croaked, his voice not much more than a harsh whisper. “If only we had some water.”
Patrik reached down to pat his friend’s side. “I don’t know how you’ve held up this long.”
“I can’t fly much longer, either.”
Redwing flew alongside them. “I can’t hold up much longer, myself. Even though I’m bigger and stronger than Larkin, I’m carrying more weight.”
“What should we do?” Patrik asked the wizard.
“Can you swim?” Allard asked Redwing.
“No, we’re not like water dragons.”
“There is that,” the wizard said. “Can you float?”
“I don’t know,” Larkin answered for both of them. “I’ve never tried it.”
“That’s not the problem,” Redwing interrupted. “If we land on the water, there’s no way we’ll ever be able to take off again. The water dragons are built differently than we are. We use our legs for take-off and landing. They use their wings. Ours aren’t as strong as theirs.”
Larkin’s wing hit the sea again, splashing all of them with seawater. Rat responded by sinking her claws into the dragon’s side. “Ouch, that hurt. Patrik, can’t you do something about that cat?”
“Not really. Last time I tried she nearly bit off my hand.”
The Guides had paused their northward journey, and only their lights lit the darkened sea. The moon overhead was only a sliver, and without the Guides, the travelers knew they would soon be completely lost.
“I can’t go on,” Larkin said, as his wing once again dipped into the water. “I have to rest.” His breath came in harsh pants and his voice cracked on each word.
“It’s okay, Larkin,” Patrik said, patting his friend’s side. He turned his head toward the wizard. “We have to let them rest. We’ll just have to land in the sea and hope they can float.”
“Yes, you’re right,” the wizard replied. “Redwing, please take us down. I could transport us across this sea you know.”
“No magic,” Redwing sighed, too exhausted to argue with the wizard.
They didn’t have far to go as both dragons had only been flying a few feet above the sea. The dragons landed in a splash of seawater that drenched everything, and Patrik only hoped that their waterproof packs would protect their maps and journals. Almost immediately, they began to sink. Rat panicked and began clawing at her sling, her paws grabbing at anything she could reach. Unfortunately, Larkin’s scales were closest, and they were soon as scarred as if he had been in a battle.
“Paddle with your legs and spread out your wings,” Patrik shouted.
Both dragons began paddling and soon they were floating side by side.
Larkin’s sides heaved with exertion as he panted for breath. Patrik wished there was something he could do to help his friend. “If I swim alongside you, will that help?” he asked.
The dragon was so tired he could only grunt. “Uh-uh.”
“Sing, sing, sing,” chimed the Guides, but Larkin and his friends ignored them.
“What do we do now?” Patrik asked.
“I guess we paddle our way across,” the wizard answered. “We wait for Larkin’s voice to come back, and when it does, he can sing for the Guides. But that’s not the part I’m worried about. They need water, and so do we. I don’t know how long any of us can go without it.”
“We should be good for another twenty-four sunmarks,” Redwing said. “After that, I think we’ll all be in trouble. My legs are so cramped from flying, I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to straighten them out.”
“Me too,” Larkin croaked.
“I’m going to try to stretch them out a bit. We may start to sink, but I’ll start paddling again when that happens.”
A groan hissed its way out from between her large teeth as she stretched out her forelegs. “Oh, that hurts,” she mumbled.
As she began stretching out her hindquarters, she sank a little in back, causing the wizard to hold on tighter. She extended her legs as far as she could, and then jerked up in shock. “I felt something!”
“What?”
“I felt something beneath one of my claws. Like dirt only crunchy.”
“By my beard!” the wizard shouted, “that must mean we’re close to land.”
Larkin copied Redwing’s actions. “I didn’t feel anything.”
“You’re smaller than me. That means your legs are shorter. I’m going try it again.”
She stretched out as far as she could, and then jerked back up. “Yes, there’s definitely something down there.”
“Keep going, Redwing, and we’ll follow you,” Patrik said.
Rat, seeing an opportunity to get out of the water, clawed her way out of the sling and leaped from Larkin’s back to Redwing’s, where she immediately shook herself, splattering seawater in the wizard’s face.
“Flaming cat,” he muttered, “I knew I should have left you home.”
Redwing half-paddled and half-stretched as the night hours passed. The moon set behind the horizon, and the sun was beginning to come up when Larkin finally touched ground. “I felt something,” he croaked, his voice still not back to normal. “And Redwing’s right, it doesn’t feel like dirt or sand. It’s kind of crunchy.”
“It’s probably a reef of some kind,” Allard said. “I’ve read about them; they’re formed by sea animals of some kind. You find them when you get close to land.”
“That’s good news then,” Patrik said.
“Very good news, boy. We just have to keep following them and sooner or later we’ll find land.”
“We made it across,” Patrik hollered. “You did it, Larkin!” He thumped the dragon’s side with affection. “I knew you could.”
The dragon’s red blush went unseen in the darkness of the quarter moon. “It wasn’t me,” he said. “All I did was sing.”
“And your singing brought us the Guides, and without them, we’d have never made it this far,” Wizard Allard said. “You did a great job, Larkin.”
Redwing touched her nose to Larkin’s. “They’re right. You did what no one else could do, Larkin, and you should be proud.”
“All I did was sing,” mumbled the younger dragon. “Anybody could have done that.”
“But nobody does it as good as you, Larkin,” Patrik said.
Larkin, who had now been walking across the reef next to Redwing, suddenly floundered as the sea floor dropped off below him. Patrik threw his arms around the dragon’s neck to keep from falling off as Larkin tried to right himself. The dragon kicked his legs and began paddling with strong quick strokes and soon they were floating again. “What happened?” he asked.
“I would venture to say that the reef we are walking on is very narrow,” Allard replied, “and you walked right off of it. We’d best go slowly so that we don’t lose our way.”
Testing each footstep, they walked throughout the day, forcing their way through the sea like four-footed boats. Twice more Larkin stepped off the reef, and once Redwing floundered off the opposite side. Their conversation became sparse as thirst dried their lips, mouths, and throats. The water depth became shallower and shallower, and when it reached mid-height on Larkin, Patrik and the wizard jumped off and walked alongside them. Rat remained high above the water line on Redwing’s back, her injuries forgotten in her efforts to stay dry.
Pushing through the seawater took a heavy toll on the already exhausted dragons. Each step became slower and heavier. By the time the sun began to set behind the horizon, they were all near the end of their resources, both physically and mentally. All they could do was concentrate on putting one foot in front of the other, time and time again, heads down and shoulders hunched against the overwhelming odds they faced.
Larkin again stumbled off the reef, and as he righted himself, he looked up at the horizon. His head jerked forward, and his shoulders shot upright. “I see something!” he hollered. Redwing looked up, “So do I!”
“What? What do you see?” Patrik asked, excitement giving him new energy.
“I think it’s land. It’s green, whatever it is.”