Thymara listened raptly. Her father did not often discuss Rain Wilds politics with her. She had heard scattered rumours of problems with the dragons, but had not paid much attention to the details before now. 'Why cannot we just ignore the dragons, then? If they are dying off, then soon the problem will have solved itself.'

'Not soon enough, I fear. Those that remain alive are tough, and some say becoming more vicious and unpredictable every day.'

'Seems to me that we can scarcely blame them,' Thymara said quietly. She thought back to the shining promise the newly hatched dragons had seemed to offer on that long-ago day and shook her head over what had become of them.

'Blame them or not, the situation cannot go on. The diggers at Cassarick have refused to try to do any more work there while the dragons are loose. They're a hazard. They have no respect for humans. They've had problems with dragons following the workers down into the excavations, and knocking loose the blocking and supports. One worker was chased. Some people say that the dragon wanted to eat him, others that he provoked the dragon, and still others that the dragon was after the food he was carrying. It all comes down to the same thing. The dragons are both a danger and a nuisance to the people who have moved to Cassarick to develop the digs there. And there has been a series of incidents involving the dead. At a recent funeral, a family was committing a grandmother's body to the river. They let the river take the bound corpse, and as they were casting the wreaths and flowers out onto the river, a blue dragon waded out, seized the body, and ran off into the forest with it. The family gave chase, but couldn't catch up with it. None of the dragons will admit it happened, but the family is virtually certain that their grandmother's body was devoured by a dragon. And, of course, the worry is that while they may begin by sating their appetites with our dead, it may not be long before they eat the living.'

Thymara sat in shocked silence. Finally she said quietly, 'I suppose they are not what I thought dragons would be. It's disappointing to know that they are no more than animals.'

Her father shook his head. 'Worse than the lowest beasts, my dear, if what we are hearing is true. Dragons can speak and reason. For them to sink to those sorts of things is inexcusable. Unless they are deranged. Or simple.'

Thymara unwillingly dragged out her memories of the hatch. 'They did not seem healthy when they emerged from their cocoons. Perhaps their minds are as badly formed as their bodies.'

'Perhaps.' Her father sighed. 'Reality is often unkind to legends. Or perhaps, in the distant past, dragons were intelligent and noble. Or perhaps we have looked at the images the Elderlings left us, and decided to imagine them as other than they really were. Still, I have to agree with you. I think I am as disappointed as you are, to find them such low beasts.'

After a time she asked, 'But what does any of this have to do with me?'

'Well, Gedder and Sindy only had the bones of it, but after much debate, the Council has decided on the obvious. The dragons must be moved away from Cassarick. Selden the Elderling has spoken of a place far upriver, a place where dragons and Elderlings once lived side by side, with plentiful hunting and elegant palaces and gardens . . . well ... it all sounds to me like a tale of a place that might have existed long ago, when both Trehaug and Cassarick were above ground. Several years ago, he proposed an expedition to search for it. No one rose to the bait at the time. Well, who can say that it is not all sunken and buried in a swamp now? But the Council has chosen to believe it is not; evidently the young dragons have vague memories of it themselves, and some have spoken of it longingly. There are even rumours that it was the capital city of the Elderlings, and that their treasure houses were there. Of course, that has piqued quite a bit of interest. The Council wishes the dragons to leave and go there to live. The dragons have agreed to go, but only if they are accompanied by humans who will hunt for them and assist them on the journey. And so, in their wisdom, the Council has cast about for folk it considers expendable. And that is the "offer" that has been made to you, for you to be a dragon tender and herd them upriver to a place that possibly no longer exists, and that definitely has never been seen by any Rain Wilder.' He snorted. 'It will be a thankless, dangerous and futile task. All know that for miles both upriver and down, the area under the great trees is endless swamp, bog and slough. If there were a great city, our scouts would have found it long ago. I don't know if it's a mirage of riches that greed makes us seek, or exile for the dragons under the pretence of sending them to a refuge.'

Her father had become more and more outraged as he spoke. As he did when agitated, he had taken so many puffs on his pipe that Thymara felt she sat in a cloud of sweet tobacco smoke. When he fell silent at last, she turned her head to glance back at him. His eyes were faintly luminescent in the darkness. Her own, she knew, glowed a strong blue, yet another mark of her deformity. She held his gaze as she said quietly, 'I think I'd like to go, Father.'

'Don't be silly, child! I doubt that any such place still exists. As for making a perilous trip upriver past any charts we have, in the company of hungry dragons and  hired hunters and treasure seekers, well, there can be no good end to such an errand. Why would you want to go? Because of things your mother has said? Because no matter what she.says about you or to you, I will always—'

'I know, Father.' She cut through his rising storm of words. As she spoke, she turned her head to look through the network of foliage at the lights of Trehaug. It was the only home, the only world she had ever known. 'I know that I am always welcome in your home. I know that you love me. You must. You must have always loved me, to salvage my life when I was only a few hours old. I know that. But I think my mother is also right in another way. Perhaps it is time for me to go out and find a life of my own. I am not foolish, Father. I know this can end badly. But I also know I am a survivor. If it looks like the expedition is doomed, I'll come back to you, and live out my life here as I always have. But I will have made at least an attempt at one adventure in my life.' She cleared her throat and tried to speak lightly as she added, 'And if the expedition to move the dragons is successful, if at the least we find a place for them, or if we are wildly successful and actually rediscover this fabled city, think what it could mean for us. For all the Rain Wilders.'

Her father finally spoke. 'You don't have to prove yourself, Thymara. I know your value. I've never doubted it. You don't have to prove yourself to me, or your mother or anyone else.'

She smiled and again looked over her shoulder at him. 'Perhaps not to anyone except myself, Father.' She took a deep breath and spoke decisively. 'I'm travelling down trunk tomorrow, to the Council Hall. I'm going to accept their offer.'

It seemed to take her father a long time to reply. When he spoke, his voice was deeper than usual and his smile seemed almost sickly. 'Then I'll go with you. To see you off, my dear.'