A Land of Shrouded Mist

Dragonspit

When the party arrived at the dragoncaves, Kvethe was hit by the stench of meat and meat that had been processed into dung. There were at least fifteen dragons in the caves, meaning copious amounts of faeces.

'We'll try Ekja first,' Rokan said aloud.

Ekja was an elderly male ice-dragon who didn't mind donating spit. He was perched on the sunning rocks when the group clambered up to him, Rokan in the lead.

'Ekja,' he murmured, prompting the dragon to open his clouded blue eyes – each the size of Kvethe's dinnerbowl. 'Would you mind giving spit to the fern-people?'

The dragon paused for a long moment, before grunting and inclining his head.

Rokan breathed a sigh of relief. 'Thank you.'

Ekja waited patiently as Rokan squeezed saliva out of each of his back fangs into a trio of vials from his satchel. Once he was finished, Rokan dipped his head respectfully and handed the bottles to Maeda.

The woman gritted her teeth and uttered a reluctant 'thank-you' before turning away.

'Maeda,' Rokan started, catching her attention just as she began the descent down the rocks.

She swivelled towards him. 'Yes?'

'Keep safe.' His eyes glittered with emotions Kvethe recognised as love and pain.

Rokan likes Maeda, Kvethe realised. That was why he had been so kind to her.

She felt sadness twinge inside her ribcage. They could never be together, unless they were willing to defy law. Each Chief had commanded their people to stay away from those of other island heritage, unless they eloped.

Love seemed like a hindrance, Kvethe thought to herself as they made the long journey back to the forest. Love seemed to create more loss than gain; she hoped that she would never have to experience it.

After they had collected their game and set it down in the cooling-hut, Rokan took the team back to the feasting-circle and dismissed them one-by-one. Lakina and Kvethe, being younglings, were dismissed last.

'Well, that was...eventful,' Lakina remarked as she and Kvethe began to amble away.

'Yes,' Kvethe responded, 'very much so.' She paused. 'Do you want to go and hunt for crabs on Ny'bah Beach?'

Lakina nodded. 'I'm starving, but middle-meal is another handspan away.'

Fat wyverns wheeled lazily overhead as the pair tiptoed onto the beach.

'Over there,' Kvethe muttered, jerking her head towards a cluster of large red crustaceans perched on a rocky outcrop.

'I'll go in from the left,' Lakina responded, and together, they skulked ever-closer to the rock.

As they were about to lunge, a wailing noise sliced the air, echoing from the ocean. Lakina's head shot up, causing the crabs to scuttle away.

'Ak'pah,' the girl swore, partly because she had scared off the crabs, but mainly because of what she could see on the ocean.

'What?' Kvethe growled.

'That,' Lakina whispered, pointing to the giant white ship anchoring just beyond the reef.

An Outworlder ship, by the looks of it, Kvethe thought, every hair on her neck prickling with fear.

'We need to tell the Chief,' Kvethe hissed. 'Outworlders haven't come this way in seasons.'

Lakina paused. 'What are they even doing?'

Kvethe squinted at the boat, taking in its strange angles that were nothing like the hand-sculpted canoes they owned. If she stared hard enough, she could make out the figures of the Outworlders mulling around, brandishing strange equipment she couldn't understand, and –