Rogue Currents

Chapter Ten

Lamprey bowed before Queen Dolphin, mind whirling. What if I make a mistake? What if she doesn't believe me? What if she thinks I'm spying for Stingray? What if my telling her doesn't do any good, and Stingray gets control of the tribe anyway?

The queen's voice interrupted his mental panic. "Humpback tells me you have information about the attacks, Lamprey," she said.

Lamprey stood. "Yes, Your Majesty." His voice was clearer than it had been, though still a bit raspy. "Prince Stingray survived the battle. He's alive, and plotting to overthrow you and take the throne for himself. He's been orchestrating the attacks so the SeaWings would be more willing to accept any change in leadership, even him."

One of the members of the queen's council stepped forward with a sneer. "Ridiculous! Stingray is dead. I was there when it happened. I saw his body. Throw this dragonet out of the palace!"

Dolphin silenced him with an annoyed expression. "Oyster, if I thought this dragon was a liar, I would hardly have agreed to meet him. If you do not want to listen to him, you're free to leave."

She gestured with her wing to the exit from the Summer Palace. Oyster clenched his teeth, but stepped back.

Dolphin turned back to Lamprey. "How did you learn this?"

"Some of his dragons kidnapped me, Your Majesty. They thought I was one of your dragonets. I assume they were planning to blackmail you. When they found out I wasn't, I pretended to agree with what they were doing."

"Will they come looking for you?"

"I doubt it, Your Majesty. I believe they think I'm dead."

"Is there any chance Stingray would know you are still alive?" the queen asked.

Lamprey question for a moment. "Well, it's possible, but I think it's unlikely. The dragons who were chasing me towards the end lost track of me, and I don't think they would want to admit to Stingray that they had failed."

"How many dragons does he have who follow him?"

"I saw several dozen, but there may have been more."

"When does he plan to attack?"

"I don't know, Your Majesty, but I do know where he is. He's hiding in a cave in the side of a trench a few hours' flight from here."

A pale green dragon with a long tail stepped forward. "Your Majesty," she began. "If we have an opportunity to cut off the attacks at their source, before Stingray has a chance to attack us, I would highly recommend it. If we can catch Stingray by surprise, he may not be able to rally his troops in time to stop us."

Dolphin turned to face Lamprey again, looking expectant.

"I'm not sure what would work, Your Majesty," he admitted. "It's true that Stingray's forces focus mainly on ways to attack the Summer or the Deep Palace, but nearly every second when his dragons aren't hunting or sleeping, they're training. They expect a battle, a very violent one. I don't know that they'll be easy to defeat."

"Your Majesty, I must insist that you have this dragon removed," Oyster said again. "Even if he is not lying, he is clearly not in his right mind."

The queen ignored him. "Did they have weapons, armor, of any kind?"

"Not that I saw, Your Majesty, though it's possible he had some hidden away in a cave I never saw. I never saw his whole hideout."

The light green dragon stepped forward and placed a map on the floor of the pavilion. "Is Stingray's location somewhere on this map?" she asked.

Lamprey studied the map. It showed all but the very outer reaches of the Kingdom of the Sea. Lamprey thought for a moment, then tapped an area slightly south of a trio of islands. "They're at the southern end of a trench around here, in a series of caves on the western wall. They're not far below the rim of the trench."

"Your Majesty!" Oyster burst out. "This is clearly a trap! In such a place as this, our forces will not be able to maneuver well enough to remove the threat Stingray poses. This dragon was clearly sent to lure you and your soldiers into an ambush. He has betrayed us!"

Lamprey's patience broke, and he took a step towards Oyster. "If I were a –"

He was cut off by the tip of Humpback's wing pressing over his mouth. "Oyster," the old publisher said in an almost-too-polite tone, "First you're saying this fine young dragon is lying, then you said he was crazy, and now you're saying that he's a traitor. Forgive me, but I am getting to be an old SeaWing and all these contradicting opinions you're giving are a bit confusing for me. Would you mind clarifying exactly what it is you believe?"

Lamprey had seen an angry SkyWing once, one who had had smoke rising from her snout. Oyster looked like that SkyWing by the time Humpback had stopped talking. The queen was stifling a smile as Humpback turned to her. "Your Majesty, this dragon told me that he had hidden from Stingray at the bottom of a ravine. This dragon found me at sunset, yet he was squinting as though it was the middle of the day, and his voice was hoarse, as though he hadn't spoken aloud in a long time. I can't imagine many dragons would do that simply to sell a lie."

"Thank you, Humpback," the queen told him. Humpback nodded respectfully and stepped back again. Lamprey bowed his head.

"I apologize for my outburst, your Majesty."

Dolphin waved her talons dismissively. "It's fine. He sometimes annoys me, too. But he's good at his job, so I tolerate him."

Now it was Lamprey who was struggling to keep a straight face at the Oyster's outraged expression.

Over the next few weeks, Lamprey spent a lot of time with Thresher, the light green dragon from his meeting with the queen. He sketched the rough layout of the caves Stingray had occupied, and explained where most of the dragons had spent time. He gave her all the names he could remember having heard, and did his best to describe the dragons who had seemed like they were in Stingray's inner circle. He taught Queen Dolphin's soldiers about the battle moves Stingray's forces had used, and the patterns of coral around the trench. Finally, the queen announced that they would attack Stingray's outpost the following day. Many of the soldiers cheered, but Lamprey just felt tired. His fear of Stingray and his forces had dominated his life for a long time, and he found himself wondering what he would do when the cruel SeaWing was gone.

As the crowd dispersed, Lamprey landed tiredly on a stretch of sand. He hadn't meant to fall asleep, but was soon breathing deeply amidst the sounds of waterfalls.

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Ah, Humpback was fun to write here.

Let me know what you think!