The Death of Addor 2 (special preview)

Darius returns to the map. “How do you know that?”

“Addor was my best friend,” she replies. “It isn’t science,” she scoffs. “There must be a fresh water source the dragons and creatures there rely on. If not, they would have to come to the mainland in order to find it. But since dragons are vanishing-”

“There must be water there,” Darius whispers in alarm.

“That’s why the dragons attack ships nearing too close,” Chiyo says with a wide smile. “Because they’ve gotten too close to ‘the path’.” She turns to Darius. “All the ships that were attacked, can you-”

Darius rushes to his journal. “I’m already on it.” he runs back to the map where he starts marking the locations from his journal directly onto the old map.

Chi and I come closer, seeing that all the ships have gone near the same location. Just off the coast where there is a path just before the Garden of Whirlpools in the southern sea. Darius connects the dots of the ship attack and from it he’s able to select an area of the coast where ‘the path’ could be.

“You’d have to be a raving lunatic to go there to see if it were true,” Darius whispers.

“I’ll do it,” I say, stepping forward.

Darius turns and looks at me. “Did you not just hear me?”

“Addor taught me his magic. I’m a dragon mage,” I say with urgency. “They would mistake me as one of their own!”

Darius looks me up and down. “You look nothing like a dragon.”

“But they would sense one,” I throw at him. “If they sensed one coming then maybe they wouldn’t attack the coast until we were sure!”

Chi takes my hand and squeezes it. “We can’t risk you like that.”

“I can risk it!” I snap at him. “What have I got to lose? If I die there then I die on the same ground as Addor!”

Chi stares down at me with pain in his eyes. “But there are people who don’t want you to die,” he urges. “Addor included! He wouldn’t want you risk your life for a goodbye.”

“What would you do if it was your mother? Your father?” I snap at him. “Wouldn’t you do anything to be there with them?”

Chi goes silent for a moment.