He paused before he answered that. “Until we give up, I suppose,” he said.

“And what would determine that?” The itching was starting to burn. She began to walk faster. He didn’t comment on it, but accommodated his stride to hers.

“When it was clearly hopeless,” he said in a low voice. “Until the river gets spread so shallow that not even Tarman can stay afloat. Or until the rains of winter come and make the water so deep and the current so strong that we can’t make any headway against it. That was what I told myself at first. To be honest with you, Alise, this has turned out very differently from what I expected. I thought we’d have dead and dying dragons by now, not to mention keepers that either got hurt or sick or ran off. We’ve had none of that. And I’ve come to like these youngsters more than I care to admit, and even to admire some of the dragons. That Mercor, for instance. He’s got courage and heart. He went right after Thymara, when I thought she was dead and gone for sure.” He chuckled and shook his head. “Now she’s a tough one. No tears or whining. Just got up and shook it off. They’re all growing up as each day passes, keepers and dragons alike.”

“In more ways than you might guess,” she confirmed. She tugged her collar loose. “Leftrin, I’m going to run for the boat. My skin is starting to burn.”

“What did you mean by what you just said?” he called after her, but she didn’t reply. She darted away from him, easily outdistancing his more ponderous stride. “I’ll haul some clean water for you,” he shouted after her, and she fled, skin burning, toward Tarman.

SINTARA STALKED AWAY down the beach, away from the fish that she had rightfully brought to shore when the others were in danger of losing it. She hadn’t even had a bite of it. And it was all Thymara’s fault, for not getting out of the way when the dragon entered the water.

Humans were stupid in a way that Sintara found intolerable. What did the girl expect of her? That she was to be her coddling, enamored pet? That she would endeavor to fill every gap in her gnat’s life? She should take a mate if she wished for that sort of companionship. She did not understand why humans longed for so much intense contact. Were their own thoughts never sufficient for them? Why did they look for others to fulfill their needs instead of simply taking care of themselves?