Free Dragon Stones by James V. Viscosi Page B

the sea above it.  It must be terribly hot in the hold; Ponn prayed that Pord wasn't hiding down there.
    The sunlight dimmed as smoke enshrouded them.  Navigation became impossible.  Gelt shouted a command to drop anchor; there was a splash, and a moment later the ship halted, an indication of just how little water supported them.  "Innkeeper!" Gelt shouted, coughing.  "Get us out of here!"
    "I can see no better than you!" Ponn said.  "I warned you—"
    "You said nothing about these stinking clouds!"
    "Are you mad?  What did you think you would find when we neared the volcanoes?  Until the wind shifts, we are blind!"
    A fit of coughing overtook Gelt, preventing him from answering; and then, over the hiss and bubbles, Ponn heard the sound of wings.  A massive shadow passed overhead, longer and wider than the ship, heading toward the west; a moment later a tremendous downdraft shook the vessel, nearly knocking Ponn from his perch.  He swung around, clinging to the rigging, feet kicking in the air.  The smoke thinned momentarily, revealing an open channel running at an angle to the left, passing between high walls of rock into open water.  Gelt had stopped them in a volcanic bowl, perhaps the crater of a newly-forming island, the absolute worst spot he could have chosen; if they could make it through the gap and into open water, they might be able to see again.  One thing Ponn knew:  They could not stay where they were.  The pitch would boil out of the planks, the ship would sink, they would all roast.
    "What was that thing?" Gelt cried.
    "That was a dragon, you fool!" Ponn said.  "We have to get out of here before it notices us!  If he's at all competent, your navigator has been plotting our route; tell him to retrace it!"
    "Turn back?" Gelt said.  "Not when we're so close to our destination!"  He began speaking to the helmsman; Ponn couldn't hear his instructions over the lather of the sea, but he knew well enough what the man was doing; despite the presence of the dragon, he was going to push on to the island and doom them all.  But it had been flying to the west; it may have been departing the islands rather than arriving.
    He could only hope it was so.
    Now Ponn heard the clink and rattle of the anchor being raised.  The ship began to move again, slowly, angling to the left.  Gelt's rowers would be doing this work; how could they perform in such heat?  They entered the channel.  Stone scraped  against the hull.  Gelt barked orders, sending men down into the hold to check for leaks, to the sides to pole them away from the walls.  Ponn clung to the rigging and waited for them to be wrecked; blinded, there was nothing more he could do.
    At last, they emerged into open water.  Gelt's target island loomed ahead of them, a hellish landscape of barren rock and smoke; but compared to where they had just come from, it looked like paradise.  Two arms of the island curved outward, forming a small, sheltered cove.  The oarsmen guided the boat into this unwelcoming harbor, but there was nowhere suitable for a landing; they dropped anchor in the center and set about preparing a large canoe.
    Ponn climbed down from the rigging.  Gelt ignored him, moving from position to position, issuing instructions.  Ponn trailed along behind him, and finally said:  "You can't possibly go ashore here."
    Gelt did not favor him with a glance.  "Of course we can."
    Ponn gestured at the unbroken black rock that surrounded the sapphire-blue water.  "But there's nowhere to beach a canoe.  It's nothing but stone!"
    "I'm not worried," Gelt said.  "I'm sure you'll manage."

 
     
     
     
     
     
    CHAPTER FOUR
     
    Adaran awakened from a nightmare with a stiff back, a dry throat, and no idea where he was.  He sat up and looked blearily at his surroundings, remembering that he was hidden in the supply tent at Dosen's camp.  The ability to sleep under adverse conditions was an important skill, but this time he had taken an