stirred the leaves on the trees was just enough to relieve the heat of the day. They could hear the crowd long before they reached the lake. Fairies filled the meadow that ran from the waterfront to the edge of the meandering path, jostling for a place in line or to watch the lucky fairies already riding on the sea monster’s back.
Dasras glared at the fairies in front of them, and sounded annoyed when he said, “You shouldn’t have to wait.”
“I don’t mind,” Tamisin told him. “Look, the line is moving quickly.”
It wasn’t until the fairies in front of them had shuffled closer to the water that they could see the sea monster. It was long and narrow with a head like an enormous dogand a body that went up and down in humps and troughs. A nymph was perched on the monster’s head, controlling it with two of the tendrils that trailed from the monster’s cheeks. More than a dozen fairies sat on the humps behind the nymph, holding on to other tendrils that radiated from the monster’s body.
Fairies shouted and everyone looked up. A squadron of fairy warriors was flying in formation overhead, doing loops and spirals, climbing and diving in ways that a human fighter pilot would have envied. They swung low over the sea monster, and the beast roared; all the fairies on its back clapped.
“What are they doing?” Tamisin asked.
“Practicing,” Dasras told her. “The real show is on Midsummer’s Eve, when it’s dark and all you can see are the lights the fairies’ wings make.”
When the squadron left, the line in front of Tamisin and Dasras thinned out as fairies vied to take to the air and copy the maneuvers of the fairy warriors. Soon it was Tamisin and Dasras’s turn to climb aboard the sea monster’s back. Tamisin sat directly behind the nymph and in front of Dasras. The monster was squishy, and its dark green skin was pebbly and rough. Tendrils trailed past Tamisin’s legs like smooth, wet rope. She reached down and grasped one on either side, wrapping them around her wrists for a better grip. When she looked up, she discovered that she was directly behind a large hole in the back of the monster’s head. They were just starting to move when the monster whuffed and damp, fishy-smelling airblasted Tamisin in the face. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. Maybe this wasn’t such a good seat after all.
Watching the sea monster from the shore, Tamisin hadn’t realized how much it undulated in the water, but as soon as it began to swim, water splashed over her legs and feet. They were making their first circuit around the lake when a new group of fairies took to the air. The sea monster raised its head to look at them, and Tamisin could feel it quiver beneath her. After that the monster swam faster, as if trying to get away from the fairies.
It’s afraid!
Tamisin thought, and her heart went out to the poor beast. She glanced behind her, but no one else seemed to have noticed.
The sea monster had just started its second circuit when the flying fairies began their lowest approach. Then one of the fairies dropped something and it fell past Tamisin, landing in the hole in the back of the sea monster’s head.
The monster lurched to a halt, and half the fairies tumbled off its back. All Tamisin could do was hold on to the tendrils and dig her knees into the monster’s sides, but she could hear fairies shouting behind her. When the monster began thrashing from side to side, Dasras and the rest of the fairies fell off and the voices behind her stopped. Deciding that she’d be safer in the water than on the monster’s back, Tamisin tried to get off, but her feet were trapped in the tendrils. She was jerking at her legs, trying to free them, when the monster tossed its head, sending the nymph who’d been trying to control it flying.
The monster swung its head around to face Tamisin and she shrank back. It snapped at the air only a yard from where she sat, and its doleful eyes looked panic stricken. And
Dasras glared at the fairies in front of them, and sounded annoyed when he said, “You shouldn’t have to wait.”
“I don’t mind,” Tamisin told him. “Look, the line is moving quickly.”
It wasn’t until the fairies in front of them had shuffled closer to the water that they could see the sea monster. It was long and narrow with a head like an enormous dogand a body that went up and down in humps and troughs. A nymph was perched on the monster’s head, controlling it with two of the tendrils that trailed from the monster’s cheeks. More than a dozen fairies sat on the humps behind the nymph, holding on to other tendrils that radiated from the monster’s body.
Fairies shouted and everyone looked up. A squadron of fairy warriors was flying in formation overhead, doing loops and spirals, climbing and diving in ways that a human fighter pilot would have envied. They swung low over the sea monster, and the beast roared; all the fairies on its back clapped.
“What are they doing?” Tamisin asked.
“Practicing,” Dasras told her. “The real show is on Midsummer’s Eve, when it’s dark and all you can see are the lights the fairies’ wings make.”
When the squadron left, the line in front of Tamisin and Dasras thinned out as fairies vied to take to the air and copy the maneuvers of the fairy warriors. Soon it was Tamisin and Dasras’s turn to climb aboard the sea monster’s back. Tamisin sat directly behind the nymph and in front of Dasras. The monster was squishy, and its dark green skin was pebbly and rough. Tendrils trailed past Tamisin’s legs like smooth, wet rope. She reached down and grasped one on either side, wrapping them around her wrists for a better grip. When she looked up, she discovered that she was directly behind a large hole in the back of the monster’s head. They were just starting to move when the monster whuffed and damp, fishy-smelling airblasted Tamisin in the face. She blinked and rubbed her eyes. Maybe this wasn’t such a good seat after all.
Watching the sea monster from the shore, Tamisin hadn’t realized how much it undulated in the water, but as soon as it began to swim, water splashed over her legs and feet. They were making their first circuit around the lake when a new group of fairies took to the air. The sea monster raised its head to look at them, and Tamisin could feel it quiver beneath her. After that the monster swam faster, as if trying to get away from the fairies.
It’s afraid!
Tamisin thought, and her heart went out to the poor beast. She glanced behind her, but no one else seemed to have noticed.
The sea monster had just started its second circuit when the flying fairies began their lowest approach. Then one of the fairies dropped something and it fell past Tamisin, landing in the hole in the back of the sea monster’s head.
The monster lurched to a halt, and half the fairies tumbled off its back. All Tamisin could do was hold on to the tendrils and dig her knees into the monster’s sides, but she could hear fairies shouting behind her. When the monster began thrashing from side to side, Dasras and the rest of the fairies fell off and the voices behind her stopped. Deciding that she’d be safer in the water than on the monster’s back, Tamisin tried to get off, but her feet were trapped in the tendrils. She was jerking at her legs, trying to free them, when the monster tossed its head, sending the nymph who’d been trying to control it flying.
The monster swung its head around to face Tamisin and she shrank back. It snapped at the air only a yard from where she sat, and its doleful eyes looked panic stricken. And
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