That made me smile. If there was one thing Fin had, it was evidence of good fatherhood, and not all of it from me. “That would be nice.” I nodded. “Yeah, the thought of bouncing a grandchild on my knee is appealing.”
“Since you’re here,” Fin said after a while, “do you know anything about the geology of volcanoes?”
“They are hot, they’re high and they spit lava,” I said. “I think that wild black dragons originally came from the Diablomaw Mountains, the volcanic range in central Gultima. But that’s about the extent of my knowledge. Sorry.”
Chapter Eleven
The meeting was concluded, staff rotas for the next three months were set, and all delivery issues accounted for.
“A moment more of your time please, Flight Sergeant Segast.”
Ang Shi’s request was a worry, as I saw no reason for it. I didn’t think the other flight sergeants were any clearer as they left either. The last one out closed the door.
“Please, Segast,” Shi held his hand out again, indicating the chair I had just vacated. “Sit.”
I did.
Shi sat very upright in his chair. As always. Once I was seated, his eyeline went to the tabletop. The wood was polished, the grain beautifully swirled but I doubted Shi was seeing it.
His head came up and then turned slightly so he was facing me. “Tell me about the silver dragon. Tell me what you saw.”
My heart juddered into my throat. My blood sank to my boots. None of it seemed to be getting up into my brain.
“Be assured,” Shi said. “I ask for my own curiosity, this is not an official demand, it will not be reported onward. I understand that the moment was consequential for you and for young Mister Segast. I wish only to understand it.”
I wish I had never mentioned it. To anyone. Ever.
“Please, Segast, I wish to support you and your son and need to understand to do that.”
I’m not sure he did, but perhaps I needed to be understood by someone. I took a deep breath. “It wasn’t as much as you might think. But I was out in the fields behind Pasaocea. With Fin. We were playing catch.” Such a stupid, simple thing. Innocent. That should never have had the impact that it did.“Suddenly, there was a shadow over us. We didn’t even look up, we were that used to dragons flying over. Then it landed, that we turned to see. I stood there, unmoving, trying to comprehend what was in front of me. This massive silver dragon. Bigger than any other dragon I’ve ever seen.” I swallowed, some part of me still in shock from that moment.
“It had landed on three paws. It carefully lay the girl in his claw on the grass, looked at me. Looked at the girl. Looked at me. Then flew off. It was Fin that broke the silence. ‘He wants us to take care of her,’ Fin said.” I breathed again. Swallowed. That short interlude was so vivid in my memory, it played out in front of me all over again.
“It was like Fin’s words broke some spell. I ran to the girl. She was just lying there. Eyes wide, breath stuttering, hyperventilating, white as a sheet. I recognised her, picked her up, helped her control her breathing, checked she wasn’t hurt. She wasn’t. Not a scratch on her. Then I took her back to the fortress. Back to her father.” I paused. It was the barest explanation, but it was also a full one.
“Her father being then Dragonlord Tiernan?”
I nodded.
“I have tried to find out what happened to his daughter,” Ang said, “but there is no news. As if she has … disappeared off the face of Gultima.”
That made me frown. “Do you think she’s dead?”
“I think that there is no news, so must hope for the best. Go on with your account.”
“When I was called to explain what had happened, it was before senior officers and a priest. So I explained, and was instantly called a blasphemer by Confident Tamura.”
“That is the part I do not understand,” Ang Shi said. “While we only recognise six colours of dragons, there are tales of a gold dragon from centuries ago. Why could there not be a silverdragon? One that comes from a land we are not yet aware of? We only discovered purple dragons a thousand years ago when one came to Gultima. How can we be so sure that there are no other colour great dragons out there? After all, carrier dragons show very different markings.”
Carrier dragons were mottled between green and brown, some speckled for camouflage, and they were anything up to the size of a large dog. They were used to carry messages and parcels from message hub to message hub.
“What is the blasphemy?” Ang asked. “How does the reported existence of a silver dragon defy belief in the Nine Gods?”
I swallowed. “I’m not exactly clear on that myself. All I can tell you is that that’s what Father Tamura called it. I have heard is that it links a heresy from the dim and distant past, but I didn’t have chance to find out more before I was ordered to come here.”
“Perhaps I could—”
“No!”
