yes, but no sign of the unlimited wealth of which legend had so generously rumoured.
Here and there were piles of skulls carefully assembled into pyramids. Skulls? Alfric looked more closely. They were skull-sized rocks. Strange.
‘That’s strange,’ said Qa.
‘You read minds?’ said Alfric, startled.
‘No,’ said Qa. ‘I use my eyes. That’s how I saw.’
‘Saw? Saw what?’
‘The red light from yours. Your eyes, I mean.’
‘You must be imagining things,’ said Alfric; then slapped his arms vigorously against his chest, trying simultaneously to warm himself and get rid of some of the surplus water.
‘Oh, I don’t imagine things,’ said Qa. ‘I’m a trained observer, don’t you know.’
‘If you say so,’ said Alfric, squatting down on his hams.
‘I do say so,’ said Qa. ‘I saw you looking at one of my piles of rocks. You wouldn’t be able to do that if you were an ordinary human.’
‘And why not?’ said Alfric.
‘Because it’s pitch dark in here, that’s why,’ said Qa. ‘Then how can you see me seeing things?’ said Alfric. ‘Because I’m a sea dragon,’ said Qa. ‘Sea dragons can see in the dark. Not light, but heat. That’s what they see, I mean. Heat. But I didn’t see heat when I saw your eyes. No. I saw light. Red light. I can see it now. Anyway, enough of that. This debate isn’t getting us very far. Let’s get down to business. You’ve come to kill me.’
‘In theory, yes.’
‘In theory?’ said Qa. ‘What do you mean? You’re going to run away? It’s a bit late for that, isn’t it?’
‘Well, yes and no,’ said Alfric. ‘As I said before, I have a proposition.’
‘Then what say you fetch your horse?’ said Qa. ‘We could eat it here. Share it between us. Have a barbecue. Awfully jolly, what?’
‘As I told you before,’ said Alfric, ‘I don’t have a horse.’
‘Really?’
‘I give you my word of honour as a Yudonic Knight.’ ‘You’re a liar,’ said Qa. ‘After I left you on the beach, I swam along the shore to look for your horse. I found it in the trees. That’s where they always leave the horse.’ ‘You did no such thing,’ said Alfric. ‘You’re just testing me. Consider me tested. I had no horse, and that’s the truth. I walked here with my pack.’
‘If you say so,’ said Qa, mimicking Alfric’s accents.
‘I do say so,’ said Alfric staunchly. ‘And now let me say, with the greatest of sincerity, that I am familiar with your poetry, and admire it greatly.’
‘Oh,’ said Qa, in surprise. ‘Do you?’
And, from the way the dragon spoke, Alfric knew that he really had its interest.
‘Yes,’ said Alfric. ‘I hold your poetry in such high regard that I’ve committed some of it to memory. Would you like me to recite?’
‘Please do,’ said Qa, with the most genuine of enthusiasms.
So Alfric cleared his throat and began:
‘Phenomenological stone.
No lapis lazuli but rock.
Your silence a rebuff to snakes.
In gutterals the wind
Gambles in dialects.
In marshland muds
(Cold codfish their taste, their scent
Deprived of ubiquity)
Stork critiques frog with a skewer.
You wait.
Phenomenological stone.’
‘Marvellous stuff,’ said Qa. ‘Marvellous stuff, though I say it myself.’
‘Such is your right,’ said Alfric generously. ‘After all, you created the stuff, so you’re in the best position to appreciate its intrinsic genius.’
‘So I am, so I am,’ said Qa. ‘But what about yourself? Do you really think you can appreciate it properly? Do you even know what it means?’
A note of suspicion had entered the dragon’s voice, warning Alfric that he had better be careful.
‘What it means?’ said Alfric, striving to keep his teeth from chattering with the cold. ‘Not exactly. But it speaks to me in a - a special way. When I hear those words, I feel as if I’m looking at the world through glass.’
All this and more said Alfric Danbrog. None of it
Here and there were piles of skulls carefully assembled into pyramids. Skulls? Alfric looked more closely. They were skull-sized rocks. Strange.
‘That’s strange,’ said Qa.
‘You read minds?’ said Alfric, startled.
‘No,’ said Qa. ‘I use my eyes. That’s how I saw.’
‘Saw? Saw what?’
‘The red light from yours. Your eyes, I mean.’
‘You must be imagining things,’ said Alfric; then slapped his arms vigorously against his chest, trying simultaneously to warm himself and get rid of some of the surplus water.
‘Oh, I don’t imagine things,’ said Qa. ‘I’m a trained observer, don’t you know.’
‘If you say so,’ said Alfric, squatting down on his hams.
‘I do say so,’ said Qa. ‘I saw you looking at one of my piles of rocks. You wouldn’t be able to do that if you were an ordinary human.’
‘And why not?’ said Alfric.
‘Because it’s pitch dark in here, that’s why,’ said Qa. ‘Then how can you see me seeing things?’ said Alfric. ‘Because I’m a sea dragon,’ said Qa. ‘Sea dragons can see in the dark. Not light, but heat. That’s what they see, I mean. Heat. But I didn’t see heat when I saw your eyes. No. I saw light. Red light. I can see it now. Anyway, enough of that. This debate isn’t getting us very far. Let’s get down to business. You’ve come to kill me.’
‘In theory, yes.’
‘In theory?’ said Qa. ‘What do you mean? You’re going to run away? It’s a bit late for that, isn’t it?’
‘Well, yes and no,’ said Alfric. ‘As I said before, I have a proposition.’
‘Then what say you fetch your horse?’ said Qa. ‘We could eat it here. Share it between us. Have a barbecue. Awfully jolly, what?’
‘As I told you before,’ said Alfric, ‘I don’t have a horse.’
‘Really?’
‘I give you my word of honour as a Yudonic Knight.’ ‘You’re a liar,’ said Qa. ‘After I left you on the beach, I swam along the shore to look for your horse. I found it in the trees. That’s where they always leave the horse.’ ‘You did no such thing,’ said Alfric. ‘You’re just testing me. Consider me tested. I had no horse, and that’s the truth. I walked here with my pack.’
‘If you say so,’ said Qa, mimicking Alfric’s accents.
‘I do say so,’ said Alfric staunchly. ‘And now let me say, with the greatest of sincerity, that I am familiar with your poetry, and admire it greatly.’
‘Oh,’ said Qa, in surprise. ‘Do you?’
And, from the way the dragon spoke, Alfric knew that he really had its interest.
‘Yes,’ said Alfric. ‘I hold your poetry in such high regard that I’ve committed some of it to memory. Would you like me to recite?’
‘Please do,’ said Qa, with the most genuine of enthusiasms.
So Alfric cleared his throat and began:
‘Phenomenological stone.
No lapis lazuli but rock.
Your silence a rebuff to snakes.
In gutterals the wind
Gambles in dialects.
In marshland muds
(Cold codfish their taste, their scent
Deprived of ubiquity)
Stork critiques frog with a skewer.
You wait.
Phenomenological stone.’
‘Marvellous stuff,’ said Qa. ‘Marvellous stuff, though I say it myself.’
‘Such is your right,’ said Alfric generously. ‘After all, you created the stuff, so you’re in the best position to appreciate its intrinsic genius.’
‘So I am, so I am,’ said Qa. ‘But what about yourself? Do you really think you can appreciate it properly? Do you even know what it means?’
A note of suspicion had entered the dragon’s voice, warning Alfric that he had better be careful.
‘What it means?’ said Alfric, striving to keep his teeth from chattering with the cold. ‘Not exactly. But it speaks to me in a - a special way. When I hear those words, I feel as if I’m looking at the world through glass.’
All this and more said Alfric Danbrog. None of it
Similar Books
