Dragos Takes A Holiday

Chapter Seven

Inside, the museum took the entire ground floor. Aged wooden floors, colorful posters and display cases lured the eye. One section of shelves, lined with books, was roped off and someone had taped a computer-printed closed sign to the rope.

Normally Pia would have been interested in looking around, but at the moment, she was too focused. Flanked by a watchful Eva, she walked through the museum and looked for a curator or attendant while Hugh strolled through the displays.

After some searching, she finally located a dwarf sitting at a desk in a back office, and she paused. The dwarf was dressed in jeans and a T-shirt with the museum’s logo, and had a beard, but that was no indication of gender.

The office also carried a distinct male scent, with a whiff of cigarette smoke. Pia told Eva telepathically, The man from outside has been in here very recently, within the last couple of hours.

The plot thickens. Eva looked happy, but then Eva loved a challenge, and she usually looked happy when something got complicated or went wrong. I didn’t even know we had a plot on this trip.

Pia said aloud, “Excuse me, could you answer a few questions for us?”

The dwarf jumped, knocked a sheaf of papers and exclaimed in a clearly feminine voice, “Gods! You startled me.”

“I’m sorry.” Pia started forward. “Let me help.”

“No, no, never mind.” The dwarf waved Pia away without looking at her. She slid out of her chair and onto her knees to gather up the papers. “Whatever you want, you’ll have to make it quick. I’m very busy today.”

Pia said, “I just wanted to know if the museum might have any historical records or information about an old Light Fae ship named the Sebille from the early fifteenth century.”

“No,” the dwarf replied, her voice flat. She still hadn’t raised her head. She stacked the papers together. “I’m afraid I can’t help you. We don’t have anything.”

Something about other woman’s demeanor seemed off, but her instincts had gone into hyper drive, so for the moment she reserved judgment. “Can you recommend anywhere else in Bermuda where we might research the Sebille?”

“None of the other island museums have anything.” The dwarf’s tone had turned short to the point of rudeness. She rose to her feet and slapped the papers on the desk.

Pia exchanged a glance with Eva and shook her head. That wasn’t just her imagination. Something definitely wasn’t right. “You sound very sure of that.”

“I am very sure,” said the dwarf. “This is the only museum of Elder history in Bermuda.”

“But you’ve heard of the Sebille,” Eva pressed. “You know what ship we’re talking about.”

“Of course I’ve heard of it,” the dwarf replied irritably. “Every couple of years some fool comes through, itching to learn everything they can about the Sebille, and they want to scour the records here for any mention of the ship. I’m going to tell you the same thing I tell all the others.” She finally looked at Pia, and her small, dark eyes were anxious. “Don’t waste your time. Go enjoy your vacation, and play with that cute baby. Stop searching for the ship.”

Pia’s gaze narrowed. She said softly, “Talking about it seems to bother you for some reason. Are you all right? You’re not afraid of someone, are you? Because if you are, we can help you.”

The dwarf drew in a quick breath and lowered her voice. “Wait a minute, I know who you are. Look, there are some men who have been looking for that ship for a very long time—since before I came to Bermuda and took over the museum. I’m not sure how many men, and I don’t know where they live. I don’t want to know. All I know is they spend time at the dockyards a lot, and they frequent bars, and their leader…he’s not a nice man.”

Eva and Pia exchanged another glance. Pia asked, “The leader wouldn’t happen to be a big Light Fae male, would he? Long hair pulled back in a ponytail?”

The dwarf rubbed her chin nervously with the back of one hand and nodded.

“And one of his men was in here earlier to talk to you.” Pia didn’t ask it as a question.

The dwarf nodded again. “Years ago, I used to have a few records that mentioned the Sebille. There was nothing substantial, mind you, just mainly some stuff that has been retold so much it’s turned into legend. A massive storm and strange lights in the sky, that sort of thing.”

“Strange lights.” Eva’s eyes narrowed. “What kind of strange lights?”

The dwarf snorted. “It was probably just lightning in the clouds. A few people claimed that they sighted the ship from the north shore, and then it disappeared.”

Pia felt a thrill of excitement. “So it was sighted here.”

The dwarf threw up her hands. “Apparently so, and people have been looking for it ever since. Like I said, every once in a while they show up here, just like you did. They want to dig for clues. But something always happens to them. Their boats disappear, or they have an accident. Somebody always ends up getting hurt. So I got rid of the records. I burned them. And I tell people I don’t have anything, and to stop looking.” She sniffed. “Sometimes they don’t listen, but I still try.”

“What about the man who was here earlier?” Pia asked. “He didn’t threaten you, did he?”

The dwarf shook her head. “No, they don’t bother with me. I wouldn’t hunt for that damn wreck if my life depended on it. He wanted to know if anybody had been in today to ask about the Sebille. He must have been on the lookout for you.”

Eva said gently, “If they come looking for us, they’re not going to like what they find.”

Dragos flew away from the islands in a bright flood of sunshine. After a short while, he left the shallow reefs behind and soared over deep water. He concentrated on flying thoroughly over a section before going on to the next, searching in a circular pattern around the islands. He made a complete pass all the way around, then moved outward in greater concentric circles.

Most people would have found it tedious work, but he didn’t. He reveled in the solitude and freedom as he soaked up the sun’s brilliant warmth. The air smelled briny and clean over the ocean. It felt good to stretch out his wings and work his body, and good to truly let go of crowded city life. He put away considerations of politics, stocks and profit margins, and let the dragon take over his thoughts.

The vast, tangled mass of land magic that made up the Bermuda Triangle lay to the west. He considered it without much curiosity. A few of the crossover passageways came in quite close to land, but passageways in the ocean were easy to avoid. All he had to do was fly high enough overhead.

He grew hungry, dove for fish and ate while he flew.

He covered more than a hundred miles in an hour. Within a few hours, he grew convinced that the Sebille had not foundered anywhere near the edge of the shallow reefs bordering the islands, and he headed farther out in a wider circle.

Dragos? Pia said.

Like every other Wyr, her telepathic range was quite limited, but Dragos’s telepathic range was much larger than the average Wyr’s, and he heard her quite clearly.

Yes? he replied. Are you having a good morning?

We’re certainly having an interesting morning. How about you?

I’m having a great time, he told her. It’s beautiful out here.

Her mental voice warmed. I’m so glad.

He banked and wheeled toward the east to start another circuit. Did you find out anything at the museum?

Yes, we actually found out quite a bit more than we expected. Her voice sounded a little odd.

He cocked his head. Tell me.

Apparently the Sebille was sighted off the north shore in a big storm, and then it disappeared again. At least that’s what the curator told us was in old records before she destroyed them.

His interest quickened. If the Sebille was sighted off the north shore, he could try narrowing his search area down by doing some calculations of the currents. He left the area he had been searching, whirled in a big circle and began to follow the ocean’s current north of the island. Why did she destroy them?

Because there’s a group of men who have been searching for the wreck for a long time, and they don’t take kindly to competition, Pia told him. They’ve been scaring off anybody who goes looking for it. The curator said the treasure hunters’ boats sink or disappear, and somebody always got hurt, so she finally destroyed the records. She said their leader is a big Light Fae male, and he’s not a nice man.

Dragos did not bother to snort. He was not a nice man either.

He said thoughtfully, A big Light Fae male?

Yes, and when we got to the museum, there was a man hanging around the building. He left as soon as we arrived. She paused. He had been inside the museum before we got there, and he wanted to know if anybody had been in asking about the Sebille.

Was it one of the men from the bar? His thoughts turned dark and murderous.

I don’t know, but it might have been. Who else would have known that someone would be showing up at the museum this morning? You and I talked about it last night.

I remember, he said. What are you doing now?

We’re going back to the house, she told him. I want to feed the peanut and put him down for a nap.

Okay, let me know when you get there. I’ll be back soon.

Don’t hurry back for our sake, okay? We’re not going to let some pissant local thug ruin our vacation. Eva and Hugh are on alert. We’re fine.

All right, he told her. I’ll still be back soon.

In a matter of minutes he had followed the current past the last of the islands and out to deep sea. Then he continued straight over deeper water.

Almost five miles out from the island, he felt a faint tickle of magic from below. He wheeled around the area.

A moment later, Pia spoke again. We’re back at the house, and Eva and Hugh have thoroughly searched the whole property. Everything is peaceful. Nothing is out of place, and there aren’t any strange scents.

Okay, good, he replied. I followed the current that wraps around the north shore, and I’m about five miles out from land. I found something. I’m going to dive.

That’s fantastic! Good luck!

He folded his wings and plunged headfirst into the waves. This far out, the water was quite cold. He found it pleasantly bracing. He burrowed down, past where the sunlight penetrated, into frigid darkness.

The pressure increased, and he knew he had dived deeper than most creatures could have survived without protection gear. Soon he had passed the limit of most manned submersibles.

Except for submarine canyons, most of Earth’s ocean floors were no deeper than six thousand meters. Still, that was almost 3.75 miles. Aside from the strange marina life that was bred to survive on the ocean floor, very few creatures could survive reaching such depths. The mysterious, powerful kraken could, and so could Dragos, but only for brief periods of time.

To conserve his energy, he swam in complete darkness, following the spark of magic blind, until he sensed that he had gotten close. Then he threw a simple spell and brought light to the dense water.

The light spell illuminated the area roughly twenty-five feet around him in a strange bluish green. The pressure was so intense, he felt like he was digging his way through the water, not swimming. He pushed farther downward, until the light touched on the greenish ocean floor. His lungs had started to burn. He wouldn’t be able to stay for much longer.

He kicked his way along the ocean floor, still searching mostly by his magic sense. A few crustaceans scuttled away from the light.

When the wreck came into view, it did so all at once. It sprawled along the ocean floor with the supporting planks of the hull exposed like the rib cage of a dead animal.

By now, Dragos’s lungs were on fire, but he was unable to pull away. This close, he could tell there were multiple sparks of magic coming from inside the hull. He kicked along the length of the wreck, searching as quickly as he could for some kind of identification. Going by the size and shape of the ruins, it had been a caravel ship, which placed it in the right historical era. The wreck was as long as he was if he included his tail, roughly forty feet in length.

He drew closer to the port side. The wreck had deteriorated a lot over the centuries, but enough remained that he could see a significant, jagged break toward the rear of the ship. Quite a bit of the hull had sheared away long ago, leaving only the ribs curving up from the base of the ship’s spine.

He plunged both front paws into the sediment along the floor, searching for pieces of the hull. As he found fragments of wood, he turned them over and discarded them until he unearthed one piece, roughly a yard and a half in length, that had letters inlaid in silver at one end.

ille.

Triumph surged, but he didn’t have time to savor it. He needed air too badly and couldn’t stay underwater any longer. Black spots danced in front of his eyes. Carrying the fragment of wood, he kicked to the surface to suck in huge draughts of air. As soon as he caught his breath, he launched out of the water and flew back toward land.

In order to have enough room to change, he had to land on the beach just outside the house. Still gripping the hull fragment, he strode up the terraced path.

Pia had been keeping an eye out for him, because he had barely stepped out of the tree line and onto the lawn when the door opened and she hurried out. Her eyes shone with excitement. “What is it? What did you find?”

He held up the piece of wood, letters facing outward, for her to see. “I think I found the Sebille.”