Free Into the Wind by Shira Anthony Page B

himself back in the basket with his mother’s voice singing to him.
    “Lost your mother?”
    Stupid fool! If he’d wanted to harm you—
    “You’re still worried I might hurt you, aren’t you?” Brynn appeared pleased with this conclusion.
    Taren ignored this, although he figured Brynn had a point. As out of sorts as he’d been since he’d washed up on the beach, Taren knew he’d been careless with his own safety. “Go back to sleep,” he grumbled, unwilling to dignify the question with a response. “It’s you who should be worried of what I’ll do if it turns out you lied to me about Odhrán.”
    Brynn crossed his arms over his chest and frowned. “I haven’t lied. You’ll see.”
    Taren repressed a chuckle. “That I will,” he said as Brynn lay back down on the sand. “That I will.”

Eight

     
    T HEYSETout at dawn after loading the small boat with coconuts. Brynn explained that it would take them nearly the entire day to reach Odhrán’s island, and while they might be able to fish along the way, there would be no fresh water for them to drink.
    Thankfully, the sun played a game of cat and mouse with the soft white clouds as Taren rowed. Brynn offered to help, but thin as Brynn was, Taren figured he’d let the boy rest a bit. Taren’s body still ached from his injuries, but he embraced the physical labor. It helped keep his mind off Ian and his crewmates, at least temporarily.
    The faster you find Odhrán, the faster you’ll be reunited with them , he reminded himself as he pushed away his unease at being separated from Ian. He disliked making decisions such as this one, but having done so, he resolved not to doubt his choices. Or at least he resolved to try not to doubt them.
    “Were you born on these islands?” he asked Brynn as the island grew small on the horizon.
    “No.”
    “Where are you from?”
    Brynn shrugged and gazed skyward at the gulls that had followed them since they’d left the beach.
    Much as Taren wished to learn more about the boy, Brynn was clearly reticent to speak about himself, and Taren wouldn’t press him. Best to try to draw him out first. Speak of something less personal. “What more do you know about Odhrán?” he asked.
    Brynn looked back at Taren, clearly pleased to share what he knew. “He is powerfully strong. Stronger than you, even. They say he can kill a man your size with his bare hands.”
    Taren supposed this was possible, although Odhrán would have to be a giant of a man to do so. “If he’s so powerful, why does he hide?”
    Brynn shrugged again. “They say he has enough gold to last him an eternity and that he guards it well.”
    “The dragon,” Taren said with a smile. Brynn nodded solemnly. “And the stories about merfolk?” Taren disbelieved the rumors that Odhrán kept Ea as slaves, but he was curious to learn more about how they had begun.
    “Some of the fishermen claim to have seen them,” Brynn said. “Men and women with tails like fish. Myself, I don’t know.”
    “You haven’t seen them?”
    Brynn stretched his arms over his head and yawned. “I’ve seen something. Don’t know what to call it. Like a small whale. It vanished before I could see it clearly.”
    Something the size of a whale, even a small one, was far too large to be an Ea. “Do you think merfolk exist?” He wasn’t sure why he asked.
    “Nah. Although if they did, I’d like to meet one. Like to meet a dragon too. Can you just imagine, flying on its back as it swoops over the islands and lights the volcanoes?”
    Taren laughed at Brynn’s broad grin. Perhaps after he’d found Odhrán, he might see if Rider needed another hand aboard the Sea Witch . This thought reminded him again of how alike he and Brynn were.
    Night had nearly fallen when the island came into view and the familiar smell of the ocean mingled on the warm breeze with the earthy scent of trees and flowering plants. Birds sang to one another and insects added to their melodies. Unlike the