EPISODE 9 - The Raft - Fairies and Dragons, Ponies and Knights
Performed Live June 13th, 2021
Podcast released June 19th, 2021
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“SMUDGE, RUN!!!” yelled Tom. The unicorn was charging Smudge at full speed, and he still hadn’t seen it.
Talora was panicking. “Tom! What do we do, what do we do?”
Tom looked around, as though he thought a solution would magically present itself. “I don’t know, I don’t know what to do!”
Smudge, finally noticing the unicorn, stopped in his tracks, and then let out a frightened howl. Cue: smudge yell He spun around and started running back the way he had come, away from the unicorn, but Talora could see that even Smudge was no match for the unicorn’s speed.
“Can you shoot it?” Talora asked Tom frantically, even though she knew it was impossible.
Tom started fumbling with his bow. ”I… I don’t know if I can shoot a unicorn.” His hands were shaking, but before he could notch an arrow, they felt a great whoosh of air all around them, and a huge, dark shape flew above their heads, blotting out what little light was left in the sky.
“RRRRRRRAAAAAAAAGGGGGGHHH!” Beatrice roared as she swooped down to the earth. She landed between Smudge and the unicorn, blocking Smudge from Tom and Talora’s view. Even in the dim light, the sight of Beatrice, ready to attack, was absolutely terrifying.
The unicorn didn’t slow, or seem at all afraid. It kept charging at full speed. For an instant Beatrice seemed to swell in size, then her neck shot forward, cue: fire and a blast of fire swarmed from her mouth and hit the unicorn, head on. Tom and Talora could feel the heat from where they stood; the light was blinding, and the whole mountainside lit up in an ominous orange glow.
But the unicorn didn’t stop. It kept charging, right through the fire, as if it didn’t even feel the heat. Beatrice clearly was not expecting to see the unicorn emerge from her flame unhurt and steadily approaching. It was almost upon her, its horn aimed directly at her heart. She only had time to shift her body slightly, turning her chest away from the attack, before the unicorn slammed into her. Talora gasped as she watched the long, glowing horn completely bury itself in Beatrice’s shoulder.
“RRRRRRRRAAAAAGGHH!!” Beatrice screamed in pain. She reared back, raised her front leg, and swiped furiously at her attacker, her clawed foot connecting with the unicorn’s side. The unicorn went flying through the air like it had been launched from a catapult, sailing over the nearby bushes and landing out of sight. Beatrice crashed to the ground and was still.
“Beatrice! Beatrice!” Talora couldn’t tell if she was whispering or yelling; hot fury and terror were coursing through her body as she and Tom ran up the slope towards the dragon’s still form. Suddenly, Tom split off and ran into the woods, in the direction that Beatrice had hurled the unicorn. “Tom! Where are you going?” Talora screamed. He didn’t answer, and in a moment he had disappeared into the trees. Talora kept running towards Beatrice.
cue: forest sounds By the time she reached her, Beatrice had shifted her position so that she was curled around Smudge, who was shaking from fright. Beatrice’s shoulder was bleeding badly, and when Talora knelt beside her, she could feel great shudders passing through her body.
“What can I do?” asked Talora.
“Where’s Tom?” Beatrice responded. Her voice in Talora’s head sounded faint, and far away.
“I don’t know. I think he ran after the unicorn.”
“Hmm,” replied Beatrice. “I’ll need your help to close the wound. It’s very deep. Go and find a stick that you can use as a torch, then come back here.”
Talora stumbled her way towards the woods, broke off a dead branch from the first tree she found, and made it back to Beatrice, who was making deep coughing sounds. With one final heave, Beatrice spat a huge glob of something slimy onto the ground. “Smear some of that over the stick, then hold it out for me.”
Without hesitating, Talora stuck her hand into the pale, gelatinous goop, and did as she had been instructed. Beatrice blew a tiny flame onto the end of the stick. The slimy stuff ignited instantly, and then burned softly, without being consumed.
“That should last you a little while,” she said. “Now, smear the rest of it over my wound.”
Talora scraped up what was left of the slime and cupped it in her hands. “What is it?” she asked.
“Think of it as a kind of fuel,” said Beatrice. “It coats the inside of our lungs and throat. It is where our fire comes from.”
Talora reached up to Beatrice’s wound and started smearing the goop over it. Talora had never touched Beatrice like this, and was surprised at how hot she felt, hotter even than Smudge when they slept curled together at night. Her wound was ugly looking, ringed with dark red and slightly glowing at the center.
“Good,” said Beatrice when Talora had finished. “Now, take the torch, and touch the flame to the wound. ” Talora looked at her. “Do it, I’ll be fine.”
Talora reached up and gently touched the flame to Beatrice’s wound. The scales ignited immediately, burning softly. There was a sizzling sound, and the smell of burning flesh. Beatrice’s muscles tightened, and she let out a long, low growl.
“Does it hurt?” asked Talora, knowing it did and wishing she could make it stop. Beatrice didn’t respond. Her eyes were shut and she was breathing deeply. Talora looked at the wound. It was turning black, and charred, but the bleeding had slowed to a trickle. A minute more, and the bleeding stopped completely.
“Yes. It hurts,” said Beatrice. “How did this happen?”
“It was an accident. I’m so sorry.” Talora couldn’t help the waver in her voice and the tears that were coming to her eyes as she continued. “Tom, he… he had a kitten in his pack. From the dragon games. It… it got out, and it scared Smudge. So Smudge ran into the woods. We had just found him a minute before you came. But the unicorn….”
“Yes. I was close already, looking for you, and then I heard the whistle. We need to get back to the road. And to the others. It’s too dangerous up here. Smudge. Up! Climb onto my back.”
“Are you sure?” asked Talora. “Can you carry him?”
“I can carry you both. We’re not far, we should fly. You can leave the torch.”
Talora stamped the torch out on the ground. Now it was truly dark. She made her way to Beatrice’s other side and climbed carefully onto her back. Compared to Petra, Beatrice felt huge, her muscles dense and hard beneath Talora’s legs.
“Smudge. Up!” said Beatrice again. Smudge, still trembling, scrambled onto Beatrice’s back behind Talora.
“Wait,” said Talora. She squinted into the darkness around them, took a deep breath, then yelled, “Tom! TOM?” There was no answer. “TOM!!”
“We can’t wait for him,” said Beatrice. “He’ll have to find his way back on his own.”
“Okay,” whispered Talora.
“Hold on,” said Beatrice. She struggled to push herself into a sitting position with only her left front leg. “Here we go.”
Talora leaned forward and extended her arms along Beatrice’s neck, which was far too thick for her to encircle completely. Beatrice’s wings opened, then she leapt up into the air with her powerful hind legs, cue: beatrice wings pumped her wings hard, and lifted them into the dark night sky.
Despite how awful she was feeling, Talora couldn’t ignore the thrill of flying again. And at night, with the stars out, it felt like she was flying right through space. The whole world was cast in a dim, ghostly light from the slender crescent moon and the sprinkling of stars. It was gorgeous. Beatrice’s body felt strong beneath Talora, her wings pumped smoothly, and she let herself feel relief. If Beatrice could fly like this, she would be alright.
It was a short flight; they hadn’t travelled as deeply into the woods as it had seemed. Talora could make out the curve of the river up ahead, then she saw their camp. As they descended, Talora noticed the dark shapes of Azrael, Petra, Lyle, and Edwine on the ground below. They all looked up when they saw Beatrice coming.
“Yay, you found them!” Edwine cried out as they landed. Cue: end wings “Hey, where’s Tom?”
“Mom? Are you okay?” asked Petra, noticing the expression on Beatrice’s face as Smudge and Talora climbed down.
“Mom, what happened?” Azrael was staring at his mother’s shoulder.
Talora and Smudge slid off of Beatrice’s back as Beatrice responded. “There was an accident. Talora will fill you in later, but there’s no time right now. Azrael, do you know how to find the plant called dragon’s tooth?”
“Yeah mom, if it’s flowering it’s suuuper easy to find, if not, it can be harder, but I think I can identify it by the--”
“Good,” interrupted Beatrice. “Take Lyle and Edwine, they need to know where to find it too, and come back with as much as you can carry.”
“Okay. Mom? What did this to you?”
“Go, Azrael.”
Azrael nodded to Lyle and Edwine, and the three of them headed into the brush. Beatrice turned to Talora and Petra.
“Talora, would you please take your pot down to the river, fill with water, and bring it to a boil when you return? Petra, you stay and start a fire, I need to speak with you.”
Talora ran to fetch her pot, then made her way down the rocky hill to the river, wondering what Beatrice was telling Petra. Her mind was racing. She couldn’t stop replaying the horrors of the last few hours in her head, again, and again, and again. The look on Smudge’s face when he saw the unicorn and ran, the roar of pain as Beatrice was stabbed, all the blood, and then the flame that had sealed her wound. Tears splashed down her face and hit the full pot of water with soft plinks. If only Tom had never brought that kitten. If only she hadn’t followed him into the woods...Talora wiped her nose on her sleeve, lifted the pot, and headed back up the hill.
When she got back, all the dragons were there, a fire was burning, and Beatrice was eating a pile of plants with slender yellow-green leaves. When Beatrice saw Talora, she began to issue instructions.
“Talora, please put the rest of this dragon’s tooth in the pot as soon as the water boils. I’ll need to drink it in the morning. Then, you’ll need to make more. As much as we can carry. Tonight, eat as much as you can. I must rest now. Talora can tell you what happened, and then you should all get some sleep.” Beatrice paused, and looked into her draglings’ faces. “I love you all. With all of my heart.”
With that, Beatrice limped a short distance away from the fire, near a pile of elk. Smudge followed her. She tore into an elk, sharing it with Smudge, who ate hungrily. Beatrice seemed to be forcing herself to eat. They all watched her silently for a moment before turning to Talora. The draglings were wide-eyed and worried. Petra kept glancing back towards Beatrice and Smudge.
“Talora, what happened?” asked Azrael softly.
Talora told them the whole story. She had never seen any of them so quiet before. When she was finished, Azrael was the first to speak.
“All because of a little kitten.”
Then Lyle shouted, “I’m gonna EAT that kitten!”
Edwine turned on Lyle. “Then I’m going to eat YOU! Don’t you dare touch that kitten. That was Tom’s kitten!” With that, Edwine took off into the woods.
Lyle was almost in tears. “I wasn’t really going to eat that kitten, you know. I didn’t mean that, I was just saying it. Cause… I would never eat Tom’s kitten. Is Tom coming back?”
Talora tried to sound comforting. “I’m sure he will, but he can’t in the dark. We’ll have to look for him in the morning.”
Lyle said, “I will! Okay. I will. I’m going to look for Tom. In the morning, first thing.” He looked around defiantly, as if to challenge anyone who might tell him not to, but no one did.
Finally Petra spoke. Her voice was calm and gentle. In fact, Talora thought, she sounded a lot like her mother. “Okay everyone, you heard mom. Eat, then go to bed.” She turned away and walked to her elk, which lay near the fire. Lyle and Azrael dragged their elk so that they could be near her.
Edwine returned, suddenly, with Tom’s pack in her mouth. She dropped it at Talora’s feet. “Will you open this for me?”
“Wow, how did you find this so fast?” Talora asked as she bent down to undo the straps.
“Humans leave really obvious trails. And I heard it mewing.”
Talora opened the pack [cue: kitten mewing] and Edwine peered inside. “Hi, little kitten. Don’t be scared, mommy’s here now.” The kitten mewed pathetically. “Oh, you’re hungry aren’t you?” The small creature’s eyes were huge as it looked back and forth between Edwine and Talora. Edwine placed her front foot gently into the pack. “It’s okay, little kitten.”
“Furball. Tom named it Furball.”
“Ohhhh Furball, what a nice name. Do kittens like elk?” Edwine looked over at Talora anxiously.
“Yes, I’m sure they do,” Talora replied gently.
“Okay, come on then, you little fluffy fluffer-nutter. Let’s get some elky treats for you,” cooed Edwine. The kitten put out a paw and touched Edwine’s clawed foot. Then it poked its head out of the pack and looked around. It seemed suspicious of Talora, but after a moment happily climbed right onto Edwine’s arm, up her neck, and finally perched on top of her head. “Heehee, that tickles!” exclaimed Edwine. She went off to grab her elk, dragging it near to the others. As soon as she stopped moving, Furball jumped down and started biting at the elk ravenously.
Talora saw a remaining elk near the fire. That must be for her and Tom. She took her knife and carefully cut off as much meat as she could eat now, and as much as she could carry in her pack for later, and cooked it on the fire. She was starving, but eating was hard. She felt sick to her stomach when she thought of Beatrice, and Tom. Why had he run off? What was he doing right now? By the time she was finished eating, everyone was asleep. Since Smudge was sleeping with Beatrice, and Talora didn't want to disturb them, she grabbed her cloak and went to lie down near Petra. Her mind was racing. Ever since she had met the dragons, everything had been an exciting adventure. But nothing felt exciting right now. And if this was adventure, Talora didn’t want it.
“Psst. Talora,” whispered Petra. “Are you awake?”
“Yeah.”
“Me too.”
After a long pause, Talora asked, “What did your mom say?”
Another pause, longer. Finally Petra responded, “She said she won’t wake up in the morning.”
“What??” asked Talora, sitting up.
“She said she wouldn’t be dead, but she won’t wake up. She said she could feel some kind of poison, or magic, spreading through her from her shoulder. The dragon’s tooth will slow it down, put her in a deep sleep, almost like a hibernation. Sleeping like that will give her a few extra days. She said--”
Talora interrupted “A few extra days! What can we do? How do we help her?”
“We have to find the ponies, Talora. Quickly. Mom says they have magic that might save her life.”
Talora felt dizzy. “I don’t understand. I know it’s a bad wound, but she’s so big, and it was just in her shoulder.”
Petra shook her head. “Wounds made by unicorns are really serious. They are very powerful, and magical. They can easily destroy much larger creatures.”
Talora’s head was spinning. “Okay. So we have to get her to the ponies, then. How are we going to move her?”
“She said you would think of something. You will, won’t you?”
Talora stared into Petra’s trusting eyes. It was her job to think of something? Petra was so calm; she seemed to be handling this far better than Talora was. “Did she say anything else? Any other...tips?”
“Not really,” replied Petra. “She said I was in charge. Of the dragons anyway, I guess you can do what you want.” She paused for a minute. “You’ll think of something, right?”
Something about Beatrice’s confidence that Talora could solve this gave her some strength, and Petra’s calm resolve was helping to soothe her nerves. “Yes. I’ll think of something.”
Petra nodded. “Good. We should try to sleep. You can lie against my side, if you want, like you do with Smudge. If you’re cold.”
“Okay, thanks.” Talora scooted closer to Petra and curled herself along the length of Petra’s smooth, warm side. She immediately felt better. The two of them together could handle this.
“Talora?” asked Petra. “Do you have a nickname? That your friends call you? Like, Lora maybe? I keep forgetting to ask.”
Somehow the surprise of this question broke through Talora’s misery and anxiety, and almost made her laugh. She considered. “No, I think I like Talora best. Thanks for asking.”
They didn’t speak any more, but Talora couldn’t sleep. She had to think. She had to think about how to transport Beatrice if she was unconscious. It was impossible, surely. As she puzzled over it, a plan slowly began to form. It seemed ridiculous, but she didn’t have anything else. She would share it with the draglings in the morning and see what they thought. Cue fade out night sounds fade in morning sounds
Before she knew it, the sky was turning a muddy blue. Petra stood up and stretched, looking anxiously towards her mother. “Did you sleep?” Talora asked.
“No, did you?”
“No. I couldn’t. I think I have a plan, though.”
“Okay, good,” said Petra, unsurprised. “We need to wake everyone up, we can’t waste any time.” Petra started nudging the other dragons. They all slowly woke up, shook their sleep off, and regarded Petra with a bit of confusion. Furball, who had been curled between Edwin’s front feet, trotted over and started picking meat off of the leftover elk. Beatrice and Smudge were still asleep.
“How come you’re waking us up so early?” asked Lyle.
“I need to talk to you,” said Petra.
“What’s wrong?” asked Azrael.
“Mom didn’t tell you guys this last night, because she wanted you to sleep, but… she’s not going to wake up this morning. She’s not dead, But… Her unicorn wound has some kind of poison in it that will kill her if we don’t get her to the ponies in time. That dragon’s tooth she ate will help slow the poison down, but it’s also going to knock her out. She put me in charge, and Talora has a plan. Also. Don’t wake up Smudge, he’s going to lose it. Also- no one else lose it. We have work to do.”
Talora winced. Petra was not one for softening the blow. Lyle, Edwine, and Azrael stared at their sister, dumbfounded. They all looked over at Beatrice. Her chest was moving up and down with her breathing. Thankfully, Petra’s blunt attitude had the desired effect on the other dragons. They didn’t lose it.
Azrael looked at Talora. “Okay Talora, what’s the plan?” All of the draglings turned to look at her, so much trust in their eyes that Talora felt a surge of love, followed by a surge of fear, followed by a surge of confidence. She could do this. She must do this.
“Can you guys knock down trees?”
Azrael looked at the others, then said, “I think so. We can try. How many do you need?”
“We need a lot. As many as it takes to fit your mom onto. We’re going to build a sled, or a raft. Well it’ll be a sled, then a raft, you’ll see.”
The dragons didn’t seem to think this was a strange plan at all. They immediately got to work. After some trial and error, Azrael developed a good strategy: cue: knocking down trees he and Petra blazed the trunks at the base while Edwine and Lyle sat in the branches up top, rocking the tree back and forth. They lit the whole tree on fire a few times, but they eventually got it right. After the first tree crashed successfully down, they all cheered.
The crash and the cheering woke up Smudge. He uncoiled himself from Beatrice and groggily teetered over to the other dragons. This was a perfect distraction for Smudge. He thought it was a terrific game, and tried to help by blowing his smoke at the trunks and ramming the trees repeatedly. When they had felled twelve trees, Talora eyed them thoughtfully, and decided they had enough.
They walked back to camp to eat more before the next phase of the plan. Smudge noticed that Beatrice was still asleep, and scampered over to her. Petra whispered to the others, “Get ready.”
Smudge nudged Beatrice vigorously. She didn’t move. He started swiping at her nose with his claws, looking confused. He stared at her for a long moment, then turned and looked at his siblings, who were watching him with their breath held. Cue: hope 1 Then, somehow, full understanding reached Smudge. His grief was instant, and complete. He let out a long, loud groan, and melted directly into the ground, coiling into the tiniest ball he could manage. This reaction seemed to pierce the hearts of his siblings, breaking their own resistance to the grief and worry they all were feeling.
Edwine broke into a sob and ran towards Smudge, calling, “It’s okay, Smudgie! It’s going to be okay!” Then they all found themselves running to Smudge, nuzzling him and nuzzling each other, all sobbing uncontrollably. Talora stood nearby, tears pouring down her own cheeks, watching the grieving draglings. Finally, Petra pulled herself away.
“Enough, everyone, enough!” She crouched low so that she was eye-to-eye with her youngest brother. “Smudge. Listen to me. Mom will be okay. But she’s sick, and she needs our help. In fact, I know how you can help mom right now. Do you want to?” Petra waited a moment. There was no response from Smudge. “Do you want to help mom, Smudge? There’s something you can do better than anyone.” Smudge turned his head away from Petra, and the blank look on his face scared Talora. She could tell Petra was scared, too, but she continued bravely.
“Do you remember the baby bird game, Smudgie?” Smudge lifted his eyes to Petra’s and nodded slowly. “Good. Well, mom needs to take some medicine, so this time she’s the baby bird. Do you think you could be the mommy bird, Smudgie?” He nodded again. Petra looked at Talora. Talora understood. She ran to grab the pot of dragon’s tooth, which had steeped in the water all night. She scooped out the soggy plants, leaving just the potent-smelling water. When she returned, Petra continued. “Okay Smudgie, we’re ready. Here’s the medicine. You need to put it in your mouth. Don’t swallow it. Then you need to ‘mommy bird’ it to mom, okay? Are you ready?” Smudge nodded, his eyes looking brighter now.
Azrael broke in softly. “Petra, are you sure he can do this? What if he swallows it?”
Petra, not taking her eyes off of Smudge, shook her head. “He’s got this, Azrael. He can do it.” Petra carefully held up the pot to Smudge’s mouth and fully committed to the game. “Oh mommy bird, mommy bird, quick, baby bird needs her medicine! Oh look, mommy bird knows just what to do. First, mommy bird slurps up the medicine, careful not to spill a drop.” Smudge slurped up the dragon tooth tea, and held it in his mouth, watching Petra intently. “Now, mommy bird will carefully give the medicine to her baby. Oh no…. baby bird is so sleepy, she can’t even open her mouth! Mommy bird needs help from her brother and sister birds.” Petra looked fiercely at the other dragons and Talora, who were all mesmerized by this game and how well it was working on Smudge. They quickly understood and jumped into action. Azrael grabbed onto two of Beatrice’s top teeth and pushed up, as hard as he could. and Petra quickly helped him, so that Beatrice’s mouth hung open.
Lyle and Edwine crouched down and let Smudge climb on top of them. Talora pulled down on Beatrice’s lower jaw to open it as wide as possible.
“Okay, mommy bird,” Petra said. “Your baby is ready, you can give her her medicine now!” Smudge, his cheeks bulging, stuck his whole head in Beatrice’s open mouth. He carefully released the liquid, then hopped out, and Talora pushed up on Beatrice’s bottom jaw, wedging her shoulder against its huge weight. Petra and Azrael lifted as high as they could. They all watched anxiously until they saw Beatrice’s throat make some swallowing movements. They’d done it!
“Ohhhh what a good mommy bird! She knows just how to take care of her baby!” Petra and Azreal lowered Beatrice’s head back down. “Okay, mommy bird. You have a new job. Your new job is to guard your baby bird, okay? The rest of us birds have work to do, and we can’t watch her. Can you do it for us?” Smudge nodded yes, looking much more cheerful, and curled up next to Beatrice to show he understood. Petra turned and looked at everyone else. “Okay, let’s move.” she said quietly. “What’s next?”
Talora glanced around the clearing at the twelve huge trees scattered messily around. “Get all of the trees lined up, side by side, okay?” Petra nodded and the four draglings got to work. Talora ran to her pack to fetch the rope that Captain Li had given her, whispering fiercely, “Oh sun and stars, please let this work, please let this work, please let this work, please let this work.” Once the trees were assembled in a line, Talora was pleased to see that they would certainly be wide and long enough to hold Beatrice. Now, to get them fastened together. She unwound Captain Li’s rope, noting gratefully that it was much longer than she’d thought. She wound it over and under each trunk, lashing them together. She’d have to cross her fingers that Li was right about this rope being stronger than most. It had to hold.
Carefully, they nudged the sled as close to Beatrice as they could and attempted to move her up and onto it. Finally, with much tugging, pulling, and flapping from everyone, they slowly rolled Beatrice onto the sled, and carefully settled her in a way that didn’t look too uncomfortable.
Talora, breathing heavily, grinned at the draglings. Despite her fear and exhaustion, she was beginning to feel more confident. “Okay, everyone,” she said. “Eat up and pack up. We have to get going. Lyle and Edwine, we’ll need your help getting your mom down to the river. Then, you two need to go find the ponies. Knight Morgan said that the Grasslands of Shasborough began where the Crystal River leaves the mountains. Fly and follow the river. Once you get to the grasslands, keep your eyes out for any sign of the herd. Azrael, Petra, and Smudge - the four of us will float this raft all the way down the river, out of the mountains, into the grasslands. Once we’re there, we’ll pull out and set up camp. Lyle and Edwine, that’s where we’ll meet you. Any questions?”
“What about Tom?” asked Edwine.
Talora frowned. She had been certain that Tom would appear at some point this morning, and had tried not to think about what would happen if he didn’t. Now she had to face it. “Tom ran into the woods for a reason. We have to trust that he knows what he’s doing. We don’t have time to wait for him, or to look for him. But he knows where we’re going, and he knows how to get back to Durga, so he’ll be fine.” Edwine hung her head, but didn’t protest. “Okay!” Talora said, trying to sound cheerful. “Let’s go!”
While the dragons ate the last of the elk, Talora packed up both hers and Tom’s packs. She thought about leaving Tom’s pack for him in case he returned, but she would need his supplies. She settled on leaving some essentials under a rock where his pack had been. Where was Furball? She’d need to get him back in Tom’s pack as well. To her surprise, she found him sleeping on top of Beatrice. She coaxed him down and packed him up.
Getting the sled down the hill to the river was harder than Talora had anticipated, and it took all five draglings and Talora to maneuver the giant sled around rocks and trees, while keeping it steady.
About halfway to the river, Edwine started singing. “We’re gonna save our mom, we’re gonna save our mom, we’re gonna save our mom, today - ay - ay. We’re gonna save our mom, we’re gonna save our mom, we’re gonna save our mom, hooray - ay - ay.” No one told her to stop. In fact after a few rounds they all started singing with her. “We’re gonna save our mom, we’re gonna save our mom, we’re gonna save our mom, today - ay - ay. We’re gonna save our mom, we’re gonna save our mom, we’re gonna save our mom, hooray - ay - ay.” It seemed to make the struggle with the raft easier, and before they knew it, they’d reached the water. Captain Li’s rope had held. They pushed the raft slowly into the water, past the shallows and out into the deeper middle. It floated, and everyone cheered.
Petra looked at Lyle and Edwine. “You know what to do?” Lyle and Edwine both nodded solemnly. “Okay, go find those ponies! We’ll meet you in the grasslands.”
Cue: hope 1 Lyle rushed to Petra and wrapped his neck around hers in a kind of dragon hug. Then Edwine joined, and Azrael. Smudge rushed forward and butted his way into the center of his siblings. Petra looked at Talora, and Talora joined in too, wrapping her arms up and around Lyle and Azrael’s necks, and pressing her cheek against Edwine’s smooth shoulder. They stayed there for a moment, silently intertwined, before Petra broke the spell. “Okay. Time to save mom.” Edwine and Lyle turned around, leapt into the air, and flew away. Smudge and Talora waded out into the river and climbed onto the raft with Beatrice, while Petra and Azrael flew overhead. Talora settled Tom’s pack upright, against Beatrice’s side, and checked on Furball, who was curled on the top, now staring wide-eyed around him. The plan was working. Talora felt dizzy. She couldn’t tell if it was from lack of sleep, or a strange sense of exhilaration, or both. They still had a long way to go, but Talora knew they were going to save Beatrice. They had to.