Free Eye of the Oracle by Bryan Davis

ear.
    Makaidos snorted to himself. That whispering was more than words of comfort. Something devious was going on.
    With two flaps of its ebony wings, the raven jumped to Noah’s shoulder, its feathers ruffling in the wind. Ham hustled down the ladder toward the second level. “I’ll be right back,” he called.
    “What’s going on?” Japheth stepped into the corridor, rubbing his eyes. “Why are you opening the window so early?”
    Noah nodded at the raven on his shoulder. “An experiment, of sorts.”
    “Ham’s raven? What could it ”
    “Here it is!” Ham said, climbing back to the top level. He held a green anole in his hand and showed it to the raven. “Green,” he said, stroking the lizard’s skin. “Bring me something green.”
    Noah turned his shoulder toward the window, and the raven leaped for the exit, its wings beating against the breeze. Noah left the window open and limped toward his quarters, his back bent. “I will pray with Emzara for the raven. Perhaps this long journey will end soon.”
    Makaidos lurched toward the window and extended his neck through the opening as far as he could. The ark listed to one side, clearly stuck on something beneath the white-capped waves that constantly punished the hull. To his left and only several feet below his level, the main deck’s blistered planks led away from Adam’s door.
    From his vantage point, the deck seemed to be an observation platform where someone standing at the parapet could look out over the dark blue sea. A few distant mountaintops peeked through the endless expanse of water, too far away for any possibility of reaching them against both wind and waves. The only hope lay on the other side of the ark, but that view was out of reach, even for a long-necked dragon.
    Makaidos opened his eyes wide and drank in the sun’s rays. Pure luxury! His neck scales cried out for joy, but even this splendor was nothing more than a tease. He and Thigocia needed much more energy, a recharge that only a full sunbath could bring, and the rays at this angle, not quite enough to sneak into the window, provided only a glancing exposure.
    He pulled his head back inside. Since the bird was nowhere in sight, there was no use keeping watch. Even if Ham’s idea could work, the presence of a dragon in the window would surely frighten the raven away.
    Makaidos stared into the ark’s dim interior, giving his eyes a moment to adjust. His vision flashed on to compensate for the change, and the two dim beams locked onto Ham’s chest as he stood next to Japheth. Both men were watching the window.
    Ham swept his hand across the pair of red dots on his tunic, trying to brush them away as if they were bothersome flies. When the dots stayed put, he glanced at Makaidos, a frown taking shape on his face. Without uttering a word, he climbed down the ladder and disappeared through the hole.

Chapter 4
    The Raven’s Plot
    Something sharp tugged Naamah’s ear. She slapped at it, making it stop for a moment, but when the tugging persisted, she opened her eyes. Shadows waltzed on her bedding, keeping time with the ark’s rhythmic shifts, but little else moved in her quiet sleeping quarters. A flickering lantern hanging from a distant rafter cast a glow around a dark shape as it swayed back and forth, a bird-like phantom perched on the straw next to her head.
    “Lilith?” Naamah whispered.
    “Take care to call me Morgan now,” the raven croaked softly. “Dawn is approaching, and the time for our plan is upon us. Are the seeds of Eden safe?”
    “Yes. They’re hidden in my bed.”
    “Good. You will be able to get them later. For now, take the grapes I put in your hand and follow me.”
    Naamah closed her fingers around a handful of dried grapes, checked the sleeping infant at her side, and tiptoed into the dim corridor. The raven landed on her shoulder. “Follow the moonlight to the window.”
    Naamah obeyed, timing her barefooted steps to match the squeaks of the