Doomraga's Revenge by T. A. Barron Page B

their necks to lift their heads out of the water. He swam toward the cave entrance, towing them to shore as a larger boat might pull three smaller boats into harbor. Dumping them safely on the barnacle-covered rocks, he gazed at them thoughtfully.
    “Well,” he muttered, “so much for no battles.”
    Turning away from the unconscious guards, he sailed into the mouth of the cave. He did not notice, protruding from the waves a short way out to sea, the top of another dragon’s head. Its eyes, a richer, luminous blue that glittered like water-washed azure, watched his movements closely. As he entered the cave, the hidden dragon followed.
    To Basilgarrad’s surprise, the cave didn’t grow any darker as he sailed deeper. Quite the opposite: The farther he swam into the tunnel, the brighter it became. Then, all at once, it expanded into a vast, high-ceilinged cavern bathed in pearly light. The source of that light was an array of torches suspended from the rock walls. But these torches differed from any he’d ever seen. Instead of bearing flames, they held clear bubbles of seaglass filled with phosphorescent water from the ocean depths.
    Lit by the gleaming torches, the cavern’s walls arched high overhead. Iridescent paua shells, shimmering with violet and blue, lined all the lower surfaces. On the shells’ protruding edges sat dozens of loons, terns, egrets, and flying crabs—all cooing, whistling, and snapping. On the ceiling, sea stars of gold, blue, green, and red had been arranged into a mosaic of many scenes: dragons sailing bravely out to sea, water birds wheeling through misty skies, nets of woven kelp hauling loads of fish, and an enormous dragon wearing a crown studded with undersea coral and jewels.
    Bendegeit , thought the green dragon as he swam toward the center of the cavern. His nostrils flared. Mixed with the dominant smells of water birds, algae, sea salt, kelp, and barnacles, he detected one more smell. Elusive but unmistakable, the smell seemed as rich and deep as the sea itself.
    He nodded grimly. It was the smell of dragons—one dragon in particular. A dragon who had made this cavern, like this undersea realm, his own domain.
    The water before him began to roil, churning with conflicting currents. All at once, a huge head rose out of the surface, rivers of water pouring off its immense snout and brow. A crown of golden coral, studded with diamond and emeralds, topped the head. More jewels, mostly rubies, had been set within barnacles that lined the toothy jaws. But none of these jewels glowed as bright as this dragon’s eyes. Unlike the azure blue eyes of the dragon who had followed Basilgarrad—and who continued to watch him closely from the far side of the cavern—this dragon’s eyes glowed orange with flecks of scarlet, as if they were aflame.
    “You darrrrre to enterrrrr my caverrrrrn?” he rumbled. “The lairrrrr of Bendegeit, highlorrrrrd of the waterrrrr drrrrragons?”
    “I do,” answered Basilgarrad, holding his own head high. Although he was even bigger than the highlord, it wasn’t by much; never before had he met another dragon so close to his own size. “But I come in peace, at the request of Merlin.”
    “You know the wizarrrrrd, then?” The water dragon’s finlike ears, lined with blue scales, swiveled at the rim of his crown. “You must have used Merrrrrlin’s magic to elude my guarrrrrds.”
    “Not exactly.” Basilgarrad’s tongue played with the gap between his front teeth. “They seemed . . . a bit tired. Especially Scarface. So I merely persuaded them to take a midday nap.”
    The fires of the highlord’s eyes flared with new brightness—whether from anger or amusement, it was impossible to tell. “Tell me then, grrrrreat brrrrringerrrrr of naps, what is yourrrrr name and purrrrrpose? Then I shall decide yourrrrr fate.”
    At the far side of the cavern, the hidden head of the azureeyed dragon rose a bit higher from the water. The head’s ears tilted