'Is it food?' Fente demanded angrily.

'Depends on how hungry you are,' Veras replied. 'Small boats full of people. They're pulling their boats up onto the bank now.'

'I smell meat!' Kalo announced, and before he had even voiced it, the swarm was moving. Sintara shouldered Fente aside. The nasty green female snapped at her. Sintara gave her a lash of her tail in passing but didn't bother with any further retaliation. Being the first to the food was much more important than any vengeance right now. Sintara gathered her strength and made a springing leap over Veras. Her withered wings opened reflexively but uselessly. Sintara snapped them back close to her sides and continued her lumbering gallop down to the riverbank.

The cluster of young humans on the shore huddled together in fear. One yelled and ran back toward the beached boats. As the dragons advanced, three others joined him. Other people were emerging from the narrow beaten trail that led back into the forest and to the ladders that went up to their tree-nests. Sintara caught the familiar scent of one of their hunters. The man raised his voice and shouted at the boat-humans. 'It's all right. They smell the food, that's all. Stand your ground and meet them. It's why you're here. We've got meat for all of them. Let us feed them first, and then you should move among them and let them greet you. Stand your ground!'

Sintara could smell the fear on them. She noted in passing that the humans from the boats were mostly youngsters. Their voices were raised to one another, piping questions and squeaking warnings. Then the other hunters emerged from the path, pushing their barrows. Each wooden barrow was heaped high with meat and fish, a generous pile surpassing what they usually held. Sintara chose the third barrow as hers and pushed Ranculos aside to claim it. He roared, but swiftly chose the fourth barrow instead. As they always did, the barrow pushers quickly left the area to stand well back in the trees. They'd reclaim their barrows and trundle them away when every dragon had finished eating.

Sintara sank her muzzle into the heaped carrion. The meat was still, the blood dried and the muscles stiffened. The deer in it had probably been killed yesterday or even the day before. The smell of the offal was rank, but she didn't care. She seized and gulped, seized and gulped, eating as swiftly as she could. Even though there was a barrow for each dragon, it wasn't uncommon to have to fight for the last pieces of her carrion if some other dragon had already finished his share.

She overset her barrow in her haste, spilling the final pieces of meat. The last piece of river carp was covered in dust: it stuck in her throat and she had to shake her head to get it down. It still stuck. Ignoring the others, she went to the drinking hole. The water that seeped in from the sides and filled it was less acid than that in the river itself. She sank her muzzle into it and drew up a long draught. She lifted her head skyward, pointed her nose up and swallowed. The fish was still caught in her throat. Another long drink and it finally slid down. She belched in relief. She was startled when someone asked her, 'Are you all right now? You looked as if you were choking.'

Sintara slowly turned her gaze downward. Standing at her shoulder was a thin Rain Wilds girl. The faint trace of scales on her cheekbones glinted silvery in the sunlight. Sintara said nothing to the human, but rotated her head to look over the mud plain by the river. Some of the humans still clustered near their small boats, but several of them had ventured away from the group to mingle with the dragons. She gave her attention back to the girl who had spoken to her. The human barely came to her shoulder. She smelled of wood-smoke and fear. Sintara opened her mouth and breathed in deeply, taking in the girl's full scent. Then she breathed out and saw the girl flinch as her breath streamed past her. 'Why do you ask?' she demanded.

The girl didn't answer the question. Instead, she pointed toward the forest and said, 'The day you hatched, I was there. Up in that tree. Watching.'

T didn't "hatch" here. I emerged from my case. Are you too ignorant of dragon ways to know the difference?'

The skin of the girl's face changed temperature and colour as her blood beat more strongly there. 'I'm not ignorant. I know that dragons begin their lives as serpents, hatched on a beach far from here. To say that you hatched here was just a manner of speaking.'

'A careless use of words,' Sintara corrected her.

'I'm sorry,' the girl apologized.

'I'm sorry,' Thymara said hastily. This dragon seemed very testy. Perhaps she had made an error in choosing her. She glanced over at Tats. He was trying to approach a small green female. She didn't seem to be paying any attention to him, other than to hiss threateningly when he stepped too close to her barrow of meat. Rapskal already had his arm around a runty little red dragon. He began scratching her head near her neck fringe and the dragon leaned into him, thrumming with pleasure. An instant later, Thymara realized he was dislodging an entire colony of parasites from her. Leggy little insects were falling in a shower from the dragon as he diligently scratched at her scales.

Most of the other dragon keepers still huddled by the boats, watching them. Greft had announced his claim as soon as the boat touched shore. 'The big black one is mine. Everyone stay back and give me a chance to talk to him before you approach the others.'

Perhaps some of the others were swayed by Greft's assumption of leadership. Thymara wasn't. She'd already seen the dragon she wanted to care for. The female was a gleaming blue with glittering silver markings on her dwarfed wings. Consecutive scaled frills draped her neck like ruffles on a rich woman's dress. She was one of the better-formed dragons, despite her diminutive wings. A survivor, Thymara had judged her, and been so bold as to approach her immediately. Now she wondered if she'd made a poor choice. The blue dragon didn't seem especially friendly, and she was large. If the way she'd devoured the barrow of meat was any indication, keeping up with her appetite was going to be a challenge. No, an impossibility, she realized with dawning dismay. What she had seen as feasible back at Trehaug was now revealed to her as a hopeless task. If she was going to be any dragon's sole feeder, that dragon was going to be hungry a good part of the time.

This dragon's temperament didn't seem very kindly even with a belly full of meat. What would she be like when she was hungry and tired after a day's journey? Thymara reluctantly scanned the other dragons, seeking a better prospect for herself. This one obviously didn't like her at all.

But the other dragon keepers had found their courage and were already fanning out through the herd of dragons. Kase and Boxter were approaching two orange dragons. She wondered briefly if the two cousins always made similar choices. Sylve, hands clasped shyly behind her and head bowed, was talking quietly to a gold male. As Thymara watched, he lifted his head, revealing a blue-white throat. Jerd stood close to a green female with gold stippling. As the other keepers spread out through the herd, Thymara did a quick count. There weren't enough keepers. There would be two extra dragons. That could be trouble.

'Why are you here? What is this invasion about?'

There was irritation in the dragon's tone, as if Thymara had insulted her. The girl was startled. 'What? Didn't they tell you we'd be coming?'

'Didn't who tell us?'

'The committee. There was a Rain Wilds committee to look into solving the dragon problem. They decided it would be best for all if the dragons were moved upriver to a better place. Somewhere with open meadows, dry ground and plentiful game for you.'

'No.' A flat denial by the dragon.