the building.
"This is Clay," Mark said as a young man emerged from inside. He was rather unusual-looking and had very short hair and grey skin. "He's a Sea Dragon and is almost a permanent resident here in the Sanctuary."
Clay raised his hands to protest. "I wouldn't go that far, Mark, although I do spend a lot of time here. I take it these are the Red Dragons we've all heard so much about."
The four Red Dragons looked at each other in surprise, scrutinising each other for hair that had fallen from their hats. "Oh, your hats fool no one, I'm afraid. News of new arrivals always travels quickly in the Sanctuary and we can all spot a newcomer from the way they walk around the city. You have that look of wonder which residents never have."
"Leave your hats on anyway," Mark murmured. "Let people work it out slowly."
"Why do you live here, Clay?" Daisy asked, smiling politely at him. "Your people live on an island, don't they?"
Clay smiled and nodded. "Yes, very good. I didn't expect a Red Dragon to know about our home. Do you know how we ended up there?"
Daisy nodded. Crystal and her had been tutored by John for several months and knew a lot about the different races, but the others knew about very few races.
"No," Jenna answered.
Clay nodded. "I see. Then let me explain. We used to live on the mainland, but we lost our original home a long, long time ago. We were attacked by our neighbours; first the Brown Dragons, and then the Blue Dragons and most of us were killed. We can't fly, you see, and we were completely unprepared for an attack, so we didn't stand a chance. Our home was a stretch of coast that is now completely in the Blue Dragon Kingdom. The Golden Dragons evacuated an entire village of our people and moved us to their coast, where we lived for a long time, with a few of us staying in their capital.
Anyway, much as we appreciated the hospitality, we wanted our own home, and eventually the Golden Dragons found an island, some way off their coast—almost a day's swim from land. We'd have never found it of course, as we only swim as far as you can reach in half a day, as we need to get back to dry land before nightfall. We moved there about two hundred years ago. It's a small place, so we've run out of space, hence a number of us still live here."
"But you've built another island though, haven't you?" Daisy asked. "Reclaiming land from the sea?"
"Very good," Clay commented. "You are remarkably well informed. I always understood you Red Dragons to be an insular lot, completely unaware of our existence. I apologise for my mistake."
"I suspect that is my brother's teaching," Mark noted.
"I hope he put as much effort in teaching Crystal as his girlfriend," Leah commented. "It seems he may have forgotten where his responsibilities lie."
"No, he didn't," Daisy snapped. "John invited me to join Crystal's lessons, that's all. He hasn't taught me anything he hasn't taught Crystal."
"Leah," Mark began, "what did I say earlier—"
"Excuse me," Arthur interrupted, changing the subject. "How did you build a new island?"
Clay smiled brightly. "This was the ingenious idea of my grandfather's. It started as just a modest undertaking to extend our land into the sea where it was shallow. Then he suggested exploring the seas to find another shallow area, and reclaiming land there too. We can dive very deep and stay under for over an hour, so we've been mining the sea bed for years, cutting large blocks of rock from the deep, and then piling them up till we formed a new island. We broke the surface about ten years ago, and island number two been growing ever since then. There are over a hundred people permanently living there now."
"How long did that take?" Jenna asked in disbelief. "That's like building a mountain one rock at a time."
Clay nodded sadly. "Oh, I know, it's a never-ending task. Everyone has to spend one day a week working on the expansion. You're either cutting rock at the bottom of the sea, carrying it to
"This is Clay," Mark said as a young man emerged from inside. He was rather unusual-looking and had very short hair and grey skin. "He's a Sea Dragon and is almost a permanent resident here in the Sanctuary."
Clay raised his hands to protest. "I wouldn't go that far, Mark, although I do spend a lot of time here. I take it these are the Red Dragons we've all heard so much about."
The four Red Dragons looked at each other in surprise, scrutinising each other for hair that had fallen from their hats. "Oh, your hats fool no one, I'm afraid. News of new arrivals always travels quickly in the Sanctuary and we can all spot a newcomer from the way they walk around the city. You have that look of wonder which residents never have."
"Leave your hats on anyway," Mark murmured. "Let people work it out slowly."
"Why do you live here, Clay?" Daisy asked, smiling politely at him. "Your people live on an island, don't they?"
Clay smiled and nodded. "Yes, very good. I didn't expect a Red Dragon to know about our home. Do you know how we ended up there?"
Daisy nodded. Crystal and her had been tutored by John for several months and knew a lot about the different races, but the others knew about very few races.
"No," Jenna answered.
Clay nodded. "I see. Then let me explain. We used to live on the mainland, but we lost our original home a long, long time ago. We were attacked by our neighbours; first the Brown Dragons, and then the Blue Dragons and most of us were killed. We can't fly, you see, and we were completely unprepared for an attack, so we didn't stand a chance. Our home was a stretch of coast that is now completely in the Blue Dragon Kingdom. The Golden Dragons evacuated an entire village of our people and moved us to their coast, where we lived for a long time, with a few of us staying in their capital.
Anyway, much as we appreciated the hospitality, we wanted our own home, and eventually the Golden Dragons found an island, some way off their coast—almost a day's swim from land. We'd have never found it of course, as we only swim as far as you can reach in half a day, as we need to get back to dry land before nightfall. We moved there about two hundred years ago. It's a small place, so we've run out of space, hence a number of us still live here."
"But you've built another island though, haven't you?" Daisy asked. "Reclaiming land from the sea?"
"Very good," Clay commented. "You are remarkably well informed. I always understood you Red Dragons to be an insular lot, completely unaware of our existence. I apologise for my mistake."
"I suspect that is my brother's teaching," Mark noted.
"I hope he put as much effort in teaching Crystal as his girlfriend," Leah commented. "It seems he may have forgotten where his responsibilities lie."
"No, he didn't," Daisy snapped. "John invited me to join Crystal's lessons, that's all. He hasn't taught me anything he hasn't taught Crystal."
"Leah," Mark began, "what did I say earlier—"
"Excuse me," Arthur interrupted, changing the subject. "How did you build a new island?"
Clay smiled brightly. "This was the ingenious idea of my grandfather's. It started as just a modest undertaking to extend our land into the sea where it was shallow. Then he suggested exploring the seas to find another shallow area, and reclaiming land there too. We can dive very deep and stay under for over an hour, so we've been mining the sea bed for years, cutting large blocks of rock from the deep, and then piling them up till we formed a new island. We broke the surface about ten years ago, and island number two been growing ever since then. There are over a hundred people permanently living there now."
"How long did that take?" Jenna asked in disbelief. "That's like building a mountain one rock at a time."
Clay nodded sadly. "Oh, I know, it's a never-ending task. Everyone has to spend one day a week working on the expansion. You're either cutting rock at the bottom of the sea, carrying it to
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