Free Through the Whirlpool by K. Eastkott

lichen on the rocks he had just left, crisping it instantly. He dashed into the hollow, grabbed his belongings, and raced up into the trees.
    Hidden under ferns, he watched as the reptile slowly continued to wake. That other presence hovered, familiar. The dragon looked his way as it began to struggle to its feet, but woozy from the sedative, it overbalanced and fell. Only on the third attempt could it stand shakily. After staring toward the forest for a moment, head on one side, it began to clean the remaining fungus-soap from its feathers. Standing, it was a magnificent creature, as tall as Kreh-ursh himself. When it spread its wings, they arched up to almost twice its height. Kreh-ursh withdrew farther into the tree cover… That was when he saw her. He scrambled through ferns, ripping creepers from his path:
    “ Geh-meer!”
    But she was gone. He called with his mind. No answer. She had broken the rite. Candidates must not help each other. Each was alone to succeed or fail. Yet without her, he might now be dragon food. Turning, he got a last glimpse through the trees of the majestic beast perched on the ridge of the hollow, stretching and flapping its wide wings mightily. Then with a great leap, it threw itself into the air and began to rise, circling. He watched it negotiate the breeze, find an updraft, and soar up, away behind the island, a pink, sun-bright sail planing sideways across the blue morning sky. He sighed. The sight of such a wondrous reptile… that was what gave meaning to the life code.

S hadows Within
 
    T he boy headed inland along the track he had found earlier, the vegetation gradually changing as he climbed higher along the ridge. Although the slope was not steep, he was soon panting from the effort. His thoughts continued to dwell on the eh-gawg-bhaanj. Lesser dragons often fished the lagoons and wider ocean, but they always returned to their nesting ground among the volcanoes. Kreh-ursh had never seen one up close. What was that stuff on its wings? He had seen nothing like it, no mud that stuck like that, heavy enough to keep a powerful creature like the dragon out of the skies. It must have come from somewhere on Zjhuud-geh, which was the only land close by.
    Soon, he saw through a gap in the trees that he had climbed high above the lagoon. The water below was a clear turquoise , stretching to the white halo of the surrounding reef. Schools of fish flitted to and fro above the sandy bottom like cloud shadows. Occasionally, a larger fish, cruising hawk-like, circled around, a gray presence gliding, somber, through the shallows. Ocean breakers crashed violently against the reef, and far out the sea was deep blue flecked with puffs of white where wind clipped the tops off the highest waves. Shoals of kree-eh created mauve and green ribbons through the deep water. The sun was now high in the sky and filtered down through the trees to where he rested, providing a gentle warmth that set the vegetation steaming.
    Abruptly, he sat up, eyes narrowed against the glare off the sun-bright sea, straining to see out. In the distance, almost at the horizon, was an indefinite smudge. Too dark, too large, for a school of fish, too hazy for a canoe—he was puzzled. Almost imperceptibly, as he watched, the shadow on the water drifted farther off until he could no longer make it out.
    He turned his thoughts back to sea-nomad-becoming. This was what he must crack, what he was here for. He decided to consult his vision. Squatting on the track, he began to undo the bag hanging from his neck, but the drawstring momentarily snarled with Kaar-oh’s. He took the scarlet bag from around his neck and held Kaar-oh’s carved talisman in his palm for a moment.
    Then he was back there, living through the accident again—Kaar-oh falling toward the green water, that same crimson bag swinging against his brown skin… white tunic… stained red… and scarlet clouds mushrooming out through the shallows.
    “ Kaar-oh!”
    His