The Indigo King - James A. Owen [44]
“Is it still there?” John asked. “The ship? Can you take us to the wreck?”
Anaximander shook his head. “The island is too far to travel to safely and quickly, and even were we to go, the ship isn’t there any longer anyway.
“As they recovered from their injuries, they both cried out for the ship in their fever dreams,” he explained, “concerned for the safety of their father’s vessel. But when I went back with several men to help me pull it aground, it was gone. An old fisherman who appeared near the rocks at the shore claimed to have seen it pulled back out to sea by seven scarlet and silver cranes.”
John looked at Jack. He recognized the description of the scarlet and silver cranes—the sons of Ordo Maas.
“After my duties at Apollonia were discharged,” Anaximander went on, “I offered to bring them here to become my students. But it turned out that I became their student as well—for they have told me many extraordinary things. Things unexpected from men of such youth.”
“And many tales of the Archipelago, I’d imagine,” said John.
“Yes.” The philosopher nodded. “Especially those.”
“Why are you sharing all of this with us?” asked Jack. “If you are from the Archipelago, the sons of Odysseus himself even, what can we possibly tell you about it that you don’t already know?”
Madoc leaned forward, eyes glittering. “You can tell us the most important thing,” he said, his face flushed and earnest. “You can tell us how to go back.”
At once, John and Jack remembered just when they were in history. There were no Dragonships yet. Ordo Maas had not yet built them. His own vessel, the great ark, had only gotten through the Frontier because it carried the Flame of Prometheus, the mark of divinity. And so the only other passages between worlds, like the journey of Odysseus, and Myrddyn and Madoc’s voyage back, were achieved through pure chance.
“We waited a long time to be able to come here, to the land of our father,” Myrddyn said, giving his brother an oddly disapproving look, “but we would like to be able to return home, to the island of our birth. And we would be willing to pay a great price to any man who might assist us in doing so.”
During the course of the discussion, Chaz had begun to pick up enough of the language to at least follow the thread of what was being discussed, and he brightened visibly when he realized there was an exchange of value being proposed.
John translated the words Chaz had missed as the others waited patiently.
“That’s an easy answer,” Chaz said when John was done. “We should just figure out a way t’ get that Dragonship of yours through the portal, and let it take them where they want t’ go.”
Jack slapped his head in dismay. Chaz had just blurted out several things they’d planned to keep to themselves—the ship, the portal … They were lucky that he’d spoken in English, so the philosopher and his students wouldn’t know what had been said.
John and Jack were so focused on Chaz at that moment that they did not see the shadow of fear that passed over the twins’ faces at the mention of the word “dragon.” But the philosopher did see.
Before John and Jack had time to respond further to Chaz, Anaximander pointedly cleared his throat, and Myrddyn and Madoc rose to their feet. “You must forgive us,” Myrddyn said, bowing. “We have enjoyed this meeting a great deal, but we have some responsibilities to attend to. May we continue this discourse in a short while? Perhaps in the morning?”
“Of course,” John said, also rising. “We have much more to discuss, I think. But please be aware,” he added with a glance at Jack and Chaz, “that we are merely passing through and cannot stay past tomorrow afternoon.”
While Anaximander saw the two young men out, John and Jack had an opportunity to quickly relate to Chaz everything else that had been