The birds saw him coming and, to his chagrin, fled before he could get anywhere close. He thought for a second if he should follow them, but knowing Baudron was down there stopped him. Taking a last look at the distancing specs, he turned back down.

Below the hill Baudron was lying on was a small group of four-legged, brown-furred creatures. They lay bunched together with long necks covered in thick horizontal folds, and Mason knew them well. Tasty, although a bit fat with odd orange blood and a long curly tail. They were also one of the staple things Mason had eaten since coming to the desert.

Fine, porc instead of poultry! Mason thought and grinned as he dove down, readying the fire.

The creatures must have some sixth sense because they woke and scattered just before he could jump them. Mason snorted and aimed for the largest one, a fat male that scattered the sound as it desperately tried to get out. Opening his mouth, he blasted a torrent of fire. The beast managed a single squeal before the flames engulfed him and Mason landed on top of its shivering form. With a causal rip, born from many experiences, he ripped out the brown throat, and the shivering stopped as orange blood pooled on the ground. Seeing the liquid, Mason froze. Liquid, water? It was worth a try!

Grabbing the beast's neck with his back claws, he began flapping like crazy. Although heavy, it wasn't anywhere near what Baudron weighed, and after a second, he passed the crest of the hill.

Baudron lay where he had left him, his chest heaving up and down and his eyes closed. Worried, Mason flapped over and dropped his burden besides the dragon. With a shock, Baudrons eyes shot open, and he stared at the steaming, bleeding body beside him.

"Etag!" He hissed before dragging himself forward. Without even asking anything, he bit into the thick sacks beside the thing's neck and began gulping down the orange, pungent liquid.

Landing next to them, Mason blinked at the sight of the big dragon, drinking from the smaller beast's throat. Juk…

After a while, he sat down, watching the dragon that seemed intent on draining the whole body. When Baudron finally finished, Mason lay beside them, his eyes blinking, and his mind drifting almost asleep.

"Ahhhh, I needed that! Where did you find an Etag? They are incredibly rare."

Mason got up, blinked a few times before stepping to the body, and ripping off a leg that he held up. "Rare? There are many of them closer to the coast! This one was sitting below the hill next to us together with a whole bunch of others." Then he began slowly roasting the meat with a thin beam of fire from between his lips.

Baudron watched him for a moment before stretching. Seeming far more energetic, he ripped meat from the bloodless carcass and stuffed it in his mouth. "If you can find more, I won't have to worry about dying of thirst!" he said with his mouth full, blobs and slivers of meat spraying onto the sand.

Mason continued eating until he felt mostly full, and only bones lay around him.

"Do you think you can get another one?" Baudron asked as he stared ruefully at the pile of bones.

"Sure, but I think we need to get some things out of the way first," Mason said down next to the bones, picked one up, and started removing small strings of flesh from between his teeth.

Baudron's eyes narrowed, and he opened his mouth only to close it again and sit down.

"As I told you, I am not from here, and I have no idea how things go on this island. Why were those guys after you?"

Baudron sighed, his large chest deflating as he hung his head. "I guess it doesn't matter anymore if I tell someone." He fell silent for a while before raising his head and staring at Mason. For the first time, there was some fire in his eyes.

"I changed a few years ago and woke up in the middle of nowhere, far to the north. It took me a while to regain myself after that, and then decided to head to the south. There were rumors of a group of drakes there that flew free. After traveling around for a year, I was captured by Har the Slaver in a moment of carelessness. At first, things weren't that bad; he found out I could sniff out the Taznir stones and made good use of my skills." Baudron gazed off in the distance and his expression slowly changed.

"Than Mosran Hasrion, that ugly pile of rotscale heard of me. Har had no choice. He sold me…"

Baudron sighed before continuing in a tired voice. "Things stayed mostly the same for a while. I just got my food from someone else. Until a week ago, when I was scouting far to the east and saw..." Baudron shook his head in wonder, "something impossible!"

Baudron didn't continue, dozing off, as if he saw the whole thing again.

"What did you see?" Mason asked, wondering what all this had to do with how Baudron got wing-snipped and running off into the desert.

"I saw a drake with eggs! I know it's impossible, but I am telling you it was real!" Baudron stared at Mason, and when Mason just shrugged, he seemed taken aback. "Don't you understand? Drake's don't lay eggs! The Hound creates them!"

"Will you cut that crap out? There ain't no dumbass Hound going around making dragon babies! How did you, seeing some dragon with eggs, get your wings cut off?"

Baudron shuttered a bit, seemingly taken aback, and for all his size, he reminded Mason of a startled child.

"I didn't tell the Mosran what I had seen, nor any of my caretakers. But they must not have trusted me because one of the loyal drake guards had been following me and saw what I saw."

Mason cringed inside, wondering how someone could be this dense. Of course they didn't trust you. You were their slave! But he just kept staring at Baudron until the other continued.

With a sad sigh, Baudron's shoulders hunched even further, and he gazed off in the distance again. "They drugged my food, and when I woke up, the Mosran was there. He was furious, said that I should have told him. That he gave me more freedom than I deserved, but now I would be made an example of. After that, they would find the mother drake and kill her! Two of his drake guards held me down, and another tore my wings off..." Baudron's voice trailed off, and he shuddered while the stubs of his wings shook.

Mason moved over and put the tip of his wing on the other's shoulder. "You aren't there anymore, and they can't hurt you now! How did you manage to get out of there? That can't have been easy?"

Baudron shook his head. "After they dropped me unconsciously in my cave, they left only a single drake to guard me. But I heal fast, much faster than any other drake I know, so an hour after they left, the bleeding had stopped, and I was conscious again." A soft growl came from Baudron, and he snarled at the sand. "They shouldn't have put one guard there… After that, I managed to sneak out of the city at night and headed to the spot where I had seen the eggs and the drake, but..." Baudron sighed, his head hanging so low his nose almost touched the ground.

"That Mosran guy made it there before you did." Mason completed the sentence. He had a good idea of what that Mosran Hasrion had done, and it probably wasn't good.

Baudron just sighed. "Are you sure you want to go to the Hounds eye? There are only monsters and death there..."

Mason moved off to the ridge, staring out across the vast desert. "Yes. Besides, that would make for a great place for a roost of dragons to hide out."

Baudron sniggered before lying down. "A roost? You are a weird one…" Then he closed his eyes. "Wake me when you want to leave." Within seconds snoring came from him, and the sand around him almost bounced up and down.

Mason took a last look at Baudron before sitting down and staring at the star-filled sky. I hope you are having more luck than I am having, Jake.

----

Jake shot forward, enjoying the sensation of freedom and power. Tir sat silently and forgotten on his neck, staring around with wide eyes.

He had been swimming for days; through the river, passed the reef and away from the patrols of Hydraci, until he arrived at a chasm where the white sandy bottom just dropped off into the depths and disappeared. He hadn't even hesitated, the alluring pull from far away seemingly closer than ever.

There was only blue water around him, from dark-blue, almost black below, to bright turquoise above. Nothing moved beside the currents and the softly flowing water-mana particles. The further he went, the denser they were, and he felt them permeate every part of him.

It's so far still. The thought came with the clarity of a bell, and he was surprised when he realized this was the first thought since he had left Melissa and the others. Finally, giving in to the pull and letting go of all inhibitions had gotten him into a sort of trance-like state. He quickly turned his head and stared at Tir, who was curiously examining him. She seemed awake and unhurt and much more energized than she had been in days.

As he looked around the almost hypnotizing blueness, his situation slowly dawned on him and the joy and exuberance from before faded. He slowed down until he floated in the water, drawn one side by the strong current. What the hell am I doing here? The memory of the enormous being that he had met while traveling with Tir and Ter popped up, and he swallowed. Heading of like a headless chicken, he could have gotten himself and Tir eaten! He tried to remember how long he was swimming, but his memory was hazy. Two days, or three? Somehow he feared the answer might be higher still.

He gazed up at the water above him. Although it was much lighter than where he was, he couldn't even see the surface. All he saw were the occasional bubbles that floated up from some unseen origin far below.

I wonder if dragons need to decompress if they go back up?

Shaking his head at the absurd notion, he turned his gaze to the darkness below. Somewhere down, there should be the seabed, but how far? The direction he had to go felt like an arrow on a three-dimensional compass, and it pointed forward and slightly down. After a moment's hesitation, he swam down, wondering about how things had changed. Not that long ago, being so far below the surface while staring at this almost impenetrable darkness below would have been frightening. The fact that it barely bothered him and that only the prospect of bigger predators than himself made him even remotely nervous baffled him.

He swam deeper at an increasingly steep incline until he was swimming almost straight down.

Tir crooned softly, the first noise she had made since the start of their travels. Looking at her, Jake felt sadness. She used to be so exuberant, talkative, and smart. Now she was nothing more than a lizard, and he blamed himself partially for it—that, and the fact that he still had no idea what had happened to Ter. Although Jake knew Tir's brother was likely dead, he still held a faint hope the smaller lizard had managed to get away unscathed. Perhaps he was now living a simple life, hunting insects, and creating a roost for himself. Perhaps.

He turned his attention back to swimming. It became darker as he went further, but he barely noticed. The light glow from the mana-particles became stronger the further he went, and more and more appeared. At some point, the glow from above, the last light simmering down from the surface, disappeared. He continued for a long time. The abundance of energy seemed to prevent him from becoming hungry or tired. Tir too seemed invigorated, snapping at the small specs of blue energy that came to close, her eyes shining brightly.

As Jake saw her play-swallow a clustering of blue energy, he blinked. Can she see the energy? He kept his attention divided between the dive and watching the small lizard happily bite at mana-energy she shouldn't be able to see. Or should she? Confused, Jake tried to recollect everything they had told him of the lizard siblings of awoken.

The water pulled at him, and a strong current began pulling him sideways and down. Jake shook awake and looked around. He felt Tir stop moving and hug closer to his neck. A dark shadow moved past him, dragging currents of water along. It had at least two long tentacles, each large enough to dwarf Jake.

After a second, the being disappeared into the darkness, and slowly the water became calm again. Jake closed his mouth that had fallen open at some point and shivered.

That thing must have been immense if it moved so much water with its passing!

He continued down, but this time he didn't think of anything. The mental image of a giant shark swimming up from the bottom and swallowing him whole played out in his mind.

A long time passed when he saw reddish dots appear below him. The water temperature increased rapidly, and suddenly, he swam through a shimmering line that he hadn't seen before. He stopped as he gaped at the sea bed, sprawled out a hundred meters below him.

Large hydrothermal vents stood everywhere, spraying plumes of shimmering bubbles up. Enormous clusters of multicolored clams stuck to them, almost connecting them into a single reef-like structure. In between, massive crustaceans, many as big as Jake moved, mulling through the patches of mud with their claws. The dirt that floated up in the water sank back almost immediately, barely training the crystal clear water.

Feeling his heartbeat rise, Jake looked around. The scenery stretched out in every direction and seemed to go on forever. To his left, he saw a whale chase an enormous squid while a fish half their size with six eyes followed both. Jake shook his head in wonder and swam in the opposite direction, to where his inactive compass told him his goal lay.

Tir nudged her head against his neck, and he saw she was looking straight at a blue and silver fish that darted from clam to clam, eating off small barnacles.

"Finally hungry? Fine, let's go and see if we catch something!" Jake grinned as he turned towards the fish.