Free Ben the Dragonborn by Dianne E Astle

held it up so that the three humans could get a good look at Ben.  They saw a boy with dark hair and brilliant green eyes, eyes that had a mingled look of fear and relief in them. 
    Ratore, a young muscular man said, “I swear I saw a fish tail.  Maybe we’ve caught ourselves a changeling.”  With those words Ratore’s voice became very harsh and he appeared ready to strike Ben with an oar he picked up.  
    Ben choked out the words, “not…a…changeling.” 
    “There’s something else in the net,” Jared piped in. 
    “Pull it in,” said Harbo. “Let’s find out what it is.” 
    They left Ben tangled in the net as they dragged the rest of it up onto the lily pad.  “See, what did I tell you?” Ratore said, as they dragged the struggling orca out of the water, “A mer fish friend. We have caught a changeling.”  Ratore appeared ready to bash Ben’s brains out with the oar.   
    “I’m not a changeling!” Ben said strongly. Ben knew from the tone in Ratore’s voice that a changeling was not a good thing to be in the present company.  
    “That’s for the council to decide,” Harbo stated with finality.     
    Ben started to explain who he was. “I am…,” Ben began, but then hesitated. I am a chosen sent to this world from another.  Yeah right. He wasn’t sure he believed that. I came through a door that links your world to mine.  Definitely, not believable. The two men and the boy stared down at him. Their faces showed their growing suspicion.   
    Akca flopped about in the net and made a high pitched squealing sound. Ratore said, “Tell your fish friend to be quiet or we’ll cut his throat here and now. At least we’ll eat well tonight.” Akca either understood what was said or guessed by the note of threat in Ratore’s voice.  He was quiet and stopped flopping. 
    Harbo grunted, “We have never eaten the mer fish friends before.  It is part of the agreement between the mer and us.  However, tonight, the council might make an exception.  Food is becoming scarce. There are some hungry people in our Treehold.  All of us will soon be starving if that crown is not found and returned.”      
    Ratore tied Ben’s hands and feet none too gently while Harbo untangled him from the net.  Ratore tied a rope around Akca’s snout, but left the fish in the net. Jared brought over a large canoe shaped boat. Ratore and Harbo dragged the net into the boat. It was not an easy task for the fish weighed at least three hundred pounds.  As Jared held the boat steady, they dumped Akca into the bottom of it. Ratore and Harbo picked Ben up and threw him in on top of Akca. 
    They had not traveled far when the sound of humans living together was heard. There was talking and laugher, arguments and tears, children playing and people working. The same kind of sounds can be heard when you walk down an Earthen street on a hot summer day.
    The boat bumped up against something solid and Jared jumped out.  He tied the boat and steadied it as Harbo rolled Ben out of the boat onto a lily pad.  Ratore and Harbo dragged Akca out of the boat and left the fish on the lily pad tangled in the net.    
    “Ratore, you and I will take the stranger to the council,” said Harbo. “Jared will stay here and guard the mer friend.”
    “There’s no point in carrying the changeling when he has two good legs,” said Ratore.  He used a knife to cut the rope around Ben’s legs. He was none too careful and a line of blood appeared on Ben’s left leg.  Ben bit his lip and glared at Ratore.  
    Jared and Harbo stood Ben up. Ben had longed to have something solid under his feet, but now found that his legs would not hold him up. He’d been in the water a long time, with little to eat since breakfast.  But to be honest it was fear that made Ben’s legs weak. What was he going to say to this council to convince them that he was not a changeling?”
    As Harbo and Ratore led Ben away he looked over