Thymara stared at her. She put her words together carefully. ‘Alise, people like me, like them, people who are already so heavily touched by the Rain Wilds, we are not allowed to marry. Or to mate. They are breaking one of the oldest rules of the Rain Wilds.’
‘It’s a law, then?’ Alise looked puzzled.
‘I … I don’t know if it’s a law. It’s a custom, it’s something everyone knows and does. If a baby is born and it’s already changed so much from pure human, then its parents don’t raise it. They “give it to the night”; they expose it and try again. Only for some of us, like me, well, my father took me back. He brought me home and kept me.’
‘There’s a fish there, a really big one. He’s in the shadow of that driftwood log. See him? He looks like he’s part of the shadow.’
Alise sounded excited. Thymara was jolted at the change of subject. On an impulse, she handed her spear to Alise. ‘You get him. You saw him first. Remember, don’t try to jab the fish. Stab it in like you want to stick it into the ground beyond the fish. Push hard.’
‘You should do it,’ Alise said as she took the spear. ‘I’ll miss. He’ll get away. And he’s a very big fish.’
‘Then he’s a good big target for your first try. Go on. Try it.’ Thymara stepped slowly back and away from the river.
Alise’s pale eyes widened. Her glance went from Thymara to the fish and back again. Then she took two deep shuddering breaths and then suddenly sprang at the fish, spear in hand. She landed with a splash and a shout in ankle-deep water as she stabbed the spear down with far more force than she needed to use. Thymara stared open-mouthed as the Bingtown woman used both hands to drive the spear in even deeper. Surely the fish was long gone? But no, Alise stood in the water, holding the spear tightly as a long, thick fish thrashed out its death throes.
When it finally stilled, she turned to Thymara and cried breathlessly, ‘I did it! I did it! I speared a fish! I killed it!’
‘Yes, you did. And you should get out of the water before you ruin your boots.’
‘I don’t care about them. I got a fish. Can I try again? Can I kill another?’
‘I suppose you can. Alise, let’s get the first one ashore, shall we?’
‘Don’t lose it! Don’t let it get away!’ This she cried as Thymara waded out and put a hand on the spear.
‘It won’t get away. It’s very dead. We have to pull the spear out of the ground so we can get the fish to shore. Don’t worry. We won’t lose it.’
‘I really did it, didn’t I? I killed a fish.’
‘You did.’
It took some effort to free the spear from the mud. The fish was bigger than Thymara had expected. It took both of them to drag it back to shore. It was an ugly creature, black and finely scaled with long teeth in its blunt face. When they flipped it up onto the shore, it had a brilliant scarlet belly. Thymara had never seen anything like it. ‘I’m not sure if this is something we can eat,’ she said hesitantly. ‘Sometimes animals that are brightly coloured are poisonous.’
‘We should ask Mercor. He’ll know. He remembers a great deal.’ Alise crouched down to examine her prize. She reached out a curious finger and then pulled it back. ‘It’s strange. All of the dragons seem to have different levels of recall. Sometimes I think Sintara refuses to answer my questions because she cannot. But with Mercor, I always feel like he knows things but won’t share them. When he talks to me, he talks about everything except dragons and Elderlings.’
‘I’m not sure we should touch it before we know.’ Thymara had remained crouched by the fish. Alise nodded. She rose, took up the spear and began prowling along the river’s edge. Her excitement was palpable.
‘Let’s see what else we can kill. Then we’ll ask Mercor about that one.’
Thymara stood up. She felt a bit naked without her spear. It was odd to be the one trailing after someone else who was hunting. She didn’t much like the feeling. She found herself talking, as if it would restore her sense of importance. ‘Mercor seems older than the other dragons, doesn’t he? Older and more tired.’
‘He does.’ Alise spoke quietly. She didn’t move as smoothly as Thymara did, but she was trying. Thymara realized that her tiptoeing and hunched stance was an exaggerated imitation of Thymara’s prowl. She couldn’t decide if she was flattered or insulted. ‘It’s because he remembers so much more than the others. I sometimes think that age is based more on what you’ve done and what you remember than how old you are. And I think Mercor remembers a lot, even about being a serpent.’
‘He always seems sad to me. And gentler, in a way that the other dragons are not gentle at all.’
Alise hunkered down on her heels, peering under a tangle of branches and fallen leaves. She sounded both intent and distracted as she replied. ‘I think he remembers more than the others. I had one good evening of talking to him. When he spoke to me, he was far more open and direct than any of the other dragons had been. Even so, he only spoke in generalities rather than of his specific ancestral memories. But he expressed things I’ve never heard the other dragons say.’ She extended the spear and tried to lift some of the weed mass out of her way. As she did so, a fish darted out. She lunged at it with a splash and a shout, but it was gone.
‘Next time, if you think a fish might be there, just stab down. If you move the water anywhere near a fish looking for it, it’s gone. Might as well risk a jab and maybe get something.’
‘Right.’ Alise expended an exasperated breath and continued to stalk down the shore.
Thymara followed. ‘Mercor said unusual things?’ she prompted Alise.
‘Oh. Yes he did. He spoke quite a bit about Kelsingra. He said it was a significant city for both dragons and Elderlings. There was a special kind of silvery water there that the dragons especially enjoyed. He couldn’t or wouldn’t explain that to me. But he said it was an important place because it was where the Elderlings and dragons came together and made agreements. The way he spoke, it gave me a different view of how Elderlings and dragons interacted. Almost like adjacent kingdoms making treaties and having accords. When I mentioned that to him, he said it was more like symbiosis.’
‘Symbiosis?’
‘They lived together in a way that benefited both. But more than benefited. He did not say it directly, but I think he believes that if Elderlings had survived, dragons would not have vanished from this world for as long as they did. I think he feels that restoring Elderlings will be key to the dragons continuing to survive in this world.’
‘Well, there is Malta and Reyn. And Selden.’
‘But none of them are here,’ Alise pointed out. She started to step into the water and halted. ‘Do you see that speckly place? Is that a shadow on the river bottom or a fish?’ She tilted her head the other way. ‘So the dragons now depend on their keepers for what Elderlings did for them, once upon a time.’ She cocked her head. ‘Hmm. I wonder if that was why they insisted on having keepers accompanying them, as well as the hunters? I’ve wondered about that. Why did they want so many keepers but were content with only three hunters? What could all of you do for them that the hunters didn’t do?’
‘Well, we groom them. And we pay a lot of attention to them. You know how much they love to be flattered.’ Thymara paused, thinking. Why had the dragons demanded keepers? She saw Alise’s intent stare. ‘If you think it might be a fish, jab it! If it’s only a shadow, no harm done. If it’s a fish, you’ll kill it.’
‘Very well.’ Alise took a deep breath.
‘Don’t scream this time. Or jump in the water. You don’t want to scare other nearby game or fish.’
Alise froze. ‘Did I scream last time?’
Thymara