Book One: Onnu and Pannu

Merfolk

His head snapped up. The foot in the water lifted back out, dripping into the pond.
   "Why do you think we haven't found any dragon bones? Something as big as us, you'd think we'd have seen them by now. And Charon is awfully big. Even with fourteen planets to feed on, he's gotta get a good sized meal from time to time."
   His knees wobbled, and gave way. He dropped to the shore with a faint splash.
   She lay in front of him, face to face, but her eyes didn't quite meet his. "I haven't had the heart to tell them yet."
   His face went gaunt. "How do you tell someone something like that? Something they can't see with their own eyes? They'd have to take our word for it."
   "Faith," she agreed. "It's a hard thing to ask."
   A small voice asked "You mean the thing in the night is the night?"
   His head swung back toward the pond, as did hers. Peeking up out of the water was a small humanoid figure. They could see gills on her neck, and short green hair framing her tiny face.
   Well, tiny to us, she amended. She estimated the girl to be about the same size as an elf, though it was hard to know how long her tail was.
   It occurred to her that the pond, as she'd been calling it, might be more of a lake to the smaller kin. Surely large enough to house a decent sized community of mer.
   She settled near the water, as close to eye level as she could get. The mer girl swam backward, to allow the dragoness to stretch out her neck. A few more gillnecks popped up, when they saw that the girl hadn't been eaten. She labeled them gillnecks in her head because not all were humanoid. None seemed to be mammalian, in that they would have had a blowhole instead of gills.
   "You know what makes the water spouts?" they asked.
   "We do. I am not certain it is knowledge that would settle your minds."
   "We dive under soon's we see the darkness, either way. Be nice to know what it is." The speaker looked vaguely orcish. What tail she could see was akin to a barracuda.
   She sighed, blowing a small wave across the group, and immediately apologized.
   "It is unfathomably large," she began.
   "Obviously! If it wasn't, we wouldn't have to ask!"
   "Fair. I suppose it won't make much difference to tell you that it looks like a manta ray the size of the moon."
   "Tail and all?"
   She laughed. "I suppose I haven't seen one. Okay, fine, it's like a species with a short or nonexistent tail. I couldn't tell you what those are called, and it's not like I can Google it."
   That garnered both laughter and confusion.
   "Hang on, were you two human?"
   "How else would she know what a manta ray was?" the first mer girl asked.
   "Or that we call it a moon? Who knows what the word for it is, here?"
   The dragoness felt the need to point out that she hadn't seen any moons in the system yet. "I haven't explored, mind you, just looked out from the atmosphere."
   "What's it like out there?" The one that asked was of indeterminate gender, with abnormally large eyes. Their tail was that of an eel, as far as the dragoness could tell.
   So she regaled them with tales of the seven suns, and fourteen planets. She told them how it looked like the milky way, all bright gases and pastel colors. The blackness of space being totally absent, just light and color. She even told them of Charon, and the dead man's coins on its back. There was fear, of course, but also fascination. They wished she could take pictures for them.
   "If I had paints, I could try to capture a fraction of their beauty, but alas, we have not yet discovered pigments. Nor have we found adequate paper or canvas equivalents."
   While they lamented the loss, they were practical enough to point out that no painting would survive underwater. The eelgill would've loved to see a dragon-sized painting. The dragoness promised that if they ever found the means to create one, they would carry it to the water's edge for them to see.
   "It'd be like a movie screen!" They laughed. The novelty of it was enough to lighten the mood, and help them forget for a while the maw of Charon.
   Now that she'd said the name aloud, it was likely to stick, she thought. Best not change it now.
   They lay for a while and chatted with the gillfolk. In the distance, they saw some of the gryphons flying about, possibly having changed their minds about looking for clay or sand. Perhaps they'd gone to hunt. Either way, the dragoness kept an eye and ear on them, just in case.
   After a time, one of the gryphs flew toward them. They didn't appear harried, so she made her excuses and rose to meet them. The dragon was welcome to visit, she thought. If he was needed, he would hear her call.
   "Hail," she called. "Have you need?"
   The gryphon held out one of the bowls. "Just gonna look for some clay. The others went for food, but there's a lot of 'em, so I thought I'd take a peek."
   She nodded. "The dragon is on the beach. There might be some sand or clay nearby. We've found some merfolk, as well, if you fancy a chat. Perhaps they have seen what you need?"
   Their eyes lit up, and they zipped past her. She debated going back, but the dragon was there. The hunters might need her more? But they'd talked about it, and he didn't feel comfortable tackling any water beasts.
   Nah, best go back. The merfolk aren't a guarantee of safety.
   She'd Listened for any advice from above, and there was a slight tug toward the water. That probably meant that the dragon could handle things, but it might go more smoothly with her there. If he couldn't handle it alone, the pull would've been stronger.
   Her hunch proved true when the merfolk scattered. There was a predator in the water, and the gryphon had taken notice as well. Their basket was full of wet claysand, which made it heavier than they'd anticipated. They were tugging it back from the water's edge as fast as they could, but the wave was closing in fast.
   The dragon was just getting up. Had she left it to him, he could very well have saved the gryphon, but the basket would've been lost. They could always harvest more basket shells, so she could see why He thought it might be good if she stayed, but not necessarily essential.
   All of these thoughts went through her head as she stooped on the aquatic predator. It wasn't a gator-thing, but some sort of sharkturtle. She couldn't see the evolutionary advantage of a shell that her teeth easily pierced. Perhaps it was a defense against gator-things?
   She didn't kill it right away. Instead, she brought it to the dragon and dropped it at his feet, far enough away that it couldn't flop back into the water.
   "Our teeth go right through the shell, but the head would be more merciful."
   He just stared at her, as though she'd suddenly grown three heads.
   "You must learn these things. Be quick, it is suffocating."
   His eyes widened, but he didn't move. He'd never killed anything in his life. Everything he'd eaten thus far had been someone else's kill.
   She snapped its neck, but did not eat it. "You cannot be soft. Not here. Not when lives are at stake. Eat if you're hungry." She walked away to check on the gryphon, leaving him staring at the dead predator. If he didn't eat it, she would bring it back for the others. Either way, it would not go to waste.