never been a flood in Sultanite, or I’d know.»
«She’s probably jealous that you keep control of all the ships and little boats that sail on the sea. You take tribute from people and collect sunken treasure from the bottom. And Ornella is very greedy. All she talked about was how rich the underwater king was. She and Sephora were friends, but they also quarreled over greed. Ornella started cheating at dice to win Sepphora some of her treasure. Sepphora caught her at it. That’s when they became enemies. You should have seen the magical tournament that ensued between them after another dice game. The whole sultan’s castle nearly collapsed. The floor, walls, and ceiling were cracked. Sparks were shooting out of the fire. Inside the cramped quarters a dragon against a griffin is a terrible force, but Ornella survived. But my entourage and I managed to escape. Right on the backs of dragons! Sephora called her pack and freed us in spite of Ornella. She easily broke all the magical slave collars and now has custody of us. I’ll tell you honestly, being under the patronage of a dragon goddess is sheer heaven.»
«At least everything worked out well for you,» Lilophea agreed.
She and Harisi walked along the sunny shore. The island was a very picturesque place. But what were the creatures carved into the surface of the rocks? Did they still inhabit the island today?
«There used to be a lot of morgens’ invasion,» Harisi lamented. «And there were pirates. Our simple tribal magic could not withstand their firearms. We were taken prisoners, sold in the markets of Pion, the largest slave marketplace in the land. Your admirer Morrin was going to make us a colony of Aquilania, and make himself viceroy of the island.»
That was something Lilophea could safely object to.
«No, he would be not a viceroy. He was going to make you a separate independent kingdom, and proclaim himself your ruler. He boasted of that. Only first he had to drive out the Morgens, who lay siege to your island at night.»
«That’s right! We all jumped out of the huts we were sleeping in at the sound of the underwater horn and hid in the rocks. But not everyone was able to do it. Many of my tribesmen died from the blows of the steel gills. Even my father, he was the head of the tribe. I’m the head now. And Sephora flies in the clouds above us. I am so afraid of one day do not please her and seeing my people eaten alive again by lizards from the sea.»
«I will ask Seal not to touch you again. What is the name of your island?»
«It is Tropic Circle.»
Clever! The island is shaped like a circle, and the faces of the supernatural beings carved into the rocks seem to wash over the land in the circle once more. They must be local gods and goddesses.
«Ask Urun better for us! He is the one who attacks at night most often. He’s the king’s pet, so there’s no use complaining about him. But in case you are closer to Seal than he is.»
Lilophea noticed a creature galloping along the rocks, very similar to those whose images are carved inside the rocks themselves.
«Tell me, are only humans living on the island?»
Harisi was cryptically silent.
«In any case, I’ll support you in any way I can. I don’t want us Morgens to have the reputation of usurpers and tyrants. My earthly father accustomed me to generosity.»
She would probably have given up and told her the myths of the island, but a pack of dragons roared in the sky.
«Sephora had arrived!»
She must have been attracted by the ring of fire. It was too late to take it off. She should have met Sephora and apologized for accepting it as a gift from the hands of a thief and crook. For some reason Lilophea had no doubt that Grant that Ceal had almost frozen was cheating on everyone and everything. A high title does not always guarantee nobility.
«I’ll go to her,» Lilophea saw the silver dragon turn into a girl before she landed at the top of the cliff.
«Don’t!» Harisi tried to restrain her, but Lilophea slipped out of her grasp like flowing water. For a moment she seemed to herself to be made of water. Her body became almost weightless as she climbed the stairs carved into the rocks. Some creepy creature with a beautiful horned head came beneath her feet. It squealed and quickly ducked into a crevasse.
Sephora waited at the top of the cliff. Her colorful flock of dragons hovered over the cliffs like fireworks.
Though the island itself was sunny, the sky above the cliffs was gray and gloomy. The mottled bodies of dragons were the only decorations here. They zigzagged across the sky, curling their tails around each other, shooting jets of fire directly into the sea below. It was dangerous to be near them, but how good they were! Red, yellow, purple, orange, green like malachite, and pinkish like corundum. Their scales sparkled like jewel armor. And they all resembled a flock released from a magic box.
Sephora herself was dressed in brocade and lace, like the ruler of the universe. A long train followed her over the cliff, like a living dragon’s tail. Curls of rich golden hue were arranged in a high hairstyle and intertwined with chains of sapphires and emeralds.
As soon as Lilophea approached, Sephora opened her dainty lips and exhaled a whole jet of fire into the sea. She managed to fry a large shark that was just surfacing from the waves, grinding its teeth on the critters floating in the clouds.
One bright scarlet dragon dived down toward the cliff, spotting the water woman, and tried to grab Lilophea with its claws. Defensively, she put her hand with the ring forward. The attacking dragon was immediately struck by such a powerful fire bolt that it flew several meters away and fell into the sea. He survived, but his chest was badly burned.
«It’s okay. He’ll recover quickly,» Sephora watched the pantomime indifferently. It’s how aristocrats watch a performance in a traveling circus or a floating theater. «Dragons have the ability to heal themselves. Did you know that crafty sorcerers hunt us down and make healing elixirs from our blood and innards?»
«No, I didn’t know that.»
«But your father does. He wanted to use the scales of one of my dragons to make an invulnerable armor against morgens, but his knights were not strong enough to wear such armor. He also wanted to make a potion out of a dragon’s liver that would turn two morgens into humans. It didn’t work either. But they vomited a lot afterwards. Now they drink only human blood.»
«Are they Morena and Lirena?»
«That’s right!» Sephora turned to her, pulling back her train, which turned out to be a living dragon tail. «You don’t look anything like them, by the way.»
«So they say! Why did you let me burn your dragon? You command them. Couldn’t you have told him not to attack?»
Or did Sephora want a feud?
«Now you know how it works,» she explained, pointing to the ring. It still sparkled where it had touched the dragon’s scales.
It was hard to be around Sephora. She herself was white as ice, but she reeked of flame like a furnace. Besides, her majestic beauty was so overwhelming that one wanted to bow down before her.
Did Sephora want the ring of fire back?
«Is
