Cold Hearted Son of a Witch (Dragoneers Saga) Read Free Page A

said that finding a coin at the bottom of the sea was easier than finding Vax Noffa.
    Zah smiled at Jenka brightly. She was patting the cushion, indicating that she wanted him to sit there beside her, instead of across the table where he normally sat. He took the place, and under the table squeezed her hand. She squeezed his back, but the sharpness of the gesture worried him. He didn’t have time to question his concern because Linux was already tapping a long pointer on the map that had been unfurled before them. In the king’s voice, but with a precise articulation that didn’t belong to the huge body, the druid commanded the room’s attention.
    “You’ll see that the destination island has been added to this map, here.” Linux tapped a thumb-sized horseshoe-shaped blot of ink that was darker than the markings on the rest of the map. It was a long way east from Fisherman’s Isle, which was a longer way south from Gull’s Reach. “It has been written, by early explorers and ship captains, that the serpent who claims the bay of this atoll is a stupid creature. The last herb-gathering expedition succeeded by landing on the outer shore and then hiking overland to the island’s interior. Then, on the cusp of morning, they combed the beaches and gathered the precious mushrooms we seek.”
    “Why don’t we just buy some from them?” Rikky asked.
    “That was sixty years ago, boy!” the king bellowed with Linux’s not-so-heavy voice. “Listen.”
    Jenka couldn’t tell if Rikky’s expression was a smirk or a cringe. Zahrellion gave the boy a look that showed her distaste over his interruption. Rikky rolled his eyes and shrugged.
    “Them folks were lucky,” said Mysterian. “The witches say that the coral wyrm feeds at night, then it slithers across the beach polishing its scales on the sand.” Herald nudged her with an elbow and made a face, but then shrugged at the others. “It leaves its scat just above the tide line,” she continued. “That’s where the mushrooms grow.”
    “You need mushrooms that grow in serpent refuse to save my son?” King Blanchard asked incredulously.
    “Moonlit,” his wife corrected. “Only the mushrooms that form under a full moon will be potent enough to pull the poison out of our Richard.”
    “So what we need only grows in moonlit serpent shit?” Rikky asked with a chuckle.
    Zahrellion let go of Jenka’s hand and grabbed Rikky by the ear. Jenka hadn’t known about the coral serpent. He would have worried about it more if he weren’t enjoying seeing Rikky squirm under Zah’s sharp twist. He decided it wasn’t a concern or more would have been said about it. He’d seen Zahrellion nearly blast a huge fire wyrm out of the sky with her druidic magic. He had no doubt she could handle a stupid, overgrown sea snake. Still, the added danger gave him more to think about than his emotions.
    “If you have to stay any length of time on the island,” Linux went on. “You should stay on the ocean side of the land. That coral beast destroyed an unprepared exploratory ship back when the Expansion first began. You might be able to see its remains out in the bay.”
    “Why would we have to stay?” Rikky asked.
    “You have to harvest the caps under the light of a full moon,” Mysterian repeated the queen’s statement. “Zahrellion and I have been over it.”
    Rikky didn’t like being dismissed that way, but since Mysterian was a real witch of the Hazeltine, he didn’t dare argue. Jenka understood his young friend’s concern. He also knew Rikky was far more capable than any of them gave him credit for. Rikky was the best of them as far as Jenka was concerned.
    “The first caravan of King’s Rangers left here this morning. They will be at Midwal soon and then continue out into the frontier. Jenka, you will be flying guard over them when they move beyond the barrier midday tomorrow. You will stay with them until they reach Three Forks, then you will return to escort