In The Beginning, Gail Daley [red white royal blue .TXT] 📗

the voice of reason, said. "Maybe we shouldn’t get ourselves all het up over what may prove to be a case of puppy love? She could do a lot worse though."

In the meantime, the Captain had brought restoratives for both Talkers. She was answering questions from the Patrol leader who boarded the boat as cleanup and rescue squads restored order to all five ships. Riverwitch, as the lead boat, had taken the brunt of the damage, but the others had all had to contend with falls and bruising due to the waves of water making their decks slippery.

The Patrol Captain informed Genevieve that the watersleds had been stolen in Port Recovery two days ago and the thieves had been creating trouble all along the channel. The Patrol had been chasing them since the sleds had been reported stolen. He had fewer officers than when he started because he had left officers behind to render aid and take reports whenever they found a place the thieves had raided.

"They don't have any clan affiliation I can find, My Lady," Patrol leader Esther informed Genevieve. "Perhaps lord Gideon or Lord Zack could look at the ones we caught to see if they recognize them?"

"I don't remember seeing any of them before," Zack told Gideon. "Do you know them?"

"No, I'm pretty sure they didn't come out on the Dancing Gryphon."

"I thought I saw Darla Lister on one of the sleds that escaped," Katherine offered.

Two days later, the boats reached Glass Harbor. The first O’Teague had called it that in honor of the enormous glass-like boulder stretching almost the length of the outside edge of the bay that sheltered the harbor from the ocean.

"Isn’t it beautiful?" asked Genevieve proudly, turning to Gideon as they coasted gently through the mouth of the port into the natural bay and caught their first sight of Glass Castle.

The great stone had been worn smooth by years of erosion from the fierce winds coming in off the sea. Today under the brilliant sunlight it glowed green and blue reflecting the sea and sky. The harbor itself was shaped in a circle with a narrow opening at its mouth providing a gateway into a cove probably twenty miles across. Dockyards and marinas lined the waterfronts in front of the Glass rock, which had been hollowed out on the side away from the ocean to provide living quarters for the Laird and immediate retainers. Colorful Domes for warehouses and shops crowded each other along the shore. Others that were obviously residences led away from the docks back into the town proper. Behind the town, farmlands could be seen rising up into the hills. In the misty distance rose high snowcapped peaks.

Taming A Sand Dragon

THE NEXT morning, Katherine, Zack and the children set off for Veiled Isle on a Fisher. Corrine’s main seat was a large island a half days journey from Glass Isle. Corrine and Vernal expected to follow Katherine, Zack and the children with the rest of the new immigrants and the Lodge’s share of the imported goods and building materials.

Corrine's great grandfather had named it Veiled Isle because of the translucent half crescent of Glasslike stone hanging partway over most of the largest cove that served as a seaport for the small fleet of fishers attached to the Lodge. He called the port Hooded Beach because two-thirds of the bay was underneath a shelf that rose high above sea level. The water in the cove was deep enough below the hood to accept a four-masted sailing ship at its wharf.

The Clan used the open areas of golden sand to the west of the docks for recreation. The left side of the wharf was used to process the catch from Fishers affiliated with O’Teague. A series of steps led from the dock to the top of the cliffs and the family landing where a small dome held carts for transporting people or goods to the main house and barns. The Lodge was about a half mile inland. In the back of the dome were three rooms set into the cliff itself. These led into the access to the tunnel leading to a heated underground lake and caves. The lake and caves were used for shelter during the Swarm and Storm seasons.

Further along the recreational side of the wharf was a wide-open space with white beaches. This area occasionally drew Sand Dragons in the birthing season. Sand Dragons were related to but not the same species as the water Dragons and spent a larger portion of their time upon land than did the Nessies.

Katherine had just directed the waiting retainers to take their luggage on up to the house, when she noticed that Violet had taken off toward the open side of the beach.

"Wow, what’s that?" asked Rupert, pointing towards what Katherine identified as a Sand Dragon. The creature was about the size of a large horse. It had a thick round body and four short legs. It stood upon webbed feet, the talons on its five toes digging into the sand. Rudimentary webbed flippers that might once have served as wings appeared about midway up its shoulders. Large wide set eyes appeared above a short, blunt snout and small flaps covered its ears. The neck and shoulders, shorter than the Nessies, fit smoothly together. The dragon was covered from head to toe with shiney scales. The scales looked hard, but were quite smooth like the tops of fingernails.

"A Sand Dragon", Katherine said. Touching her crystal pendant, she reached out with her talent and felt both hope/pain/fear from the beast.

"It’s all right," she murmured, stopping Zack from reaching for his weapon. "Everyone, that is a cow Sand Dragon, and she wants our help. We’re going to all walk slowly towards her, Okay?"

The dragon was a pretty creature, and despite the obvious signs of exhaustion, she watched them carefully. Like the Quirkas, Sand Dragons were chameleons and usually appeared the same color as the sand or water around them. Each iridescent