Sigurd and Oschu came down to help us. The four of us unfurled the skin, holding a corner each. The width of the tunnel was not sufficient to accommodate it held flat. I met the serpent’s eye. This is what you need. See, we have brought it. Now I ask you to help us take it safely to her. I showed him all of us wading out of the tunnel, stepping up onto the rocks, forming a procession along the shore to the place where Liadan was moored. I showed Svala waiting for us, smiling. I prayed that the creature would not seize the skin in his jaws and back out of the passage, letting the tide enter in his place. I closed my eyes.

A feeling like a great warm smile spread through me. Good. Friend.

The men were getting up, standing along the ledge. Two had spears in their hands; others had drawn their knives.

“Wait,” Cathal said quietly. “Trust Sibeal—she knows what she’s doing.”

The creature moved, rising to its clawed feet. A rush of water came around it, catching me at waist level. I staggered before its force. Sigurd grabbed me and held me safe against the current, and the water subsided. Still I held my corner of the skin, and Cathal and Oschu did likewise. “Roll it up,” I gasped. “We must move on.” Let us move on. Let us take it to her now.

“Move on?” echoed Gull from the ledge. “It may not be far from here, but—”

The creature had half turned, maneuvering his long tail with some difficulty in the confined space. He edged toward the side of the tunnel until a long-legged man could have stepped across with ease from the ledge onto his broad, scaly back. He became still. He seemed to be waiting.

Up on the ledge nobody was saying a word, though I could hear Colm weeping. Down in the water Sigurd, Oschu and Cathal rolled up the skin. I regarded the creature. His head was turned back toward me; his fey eyes looked into mine. What I sensed in his mind was, Come. Come then. Make haste. But he did not move forward. Nobody could pass his bulk.

“Sibeal.” The soft voice was that of Felix. “Could the creature be offering to bear us on its back?”

“Dagda’s bollocks,” commented someone.

Come now. Make haste. The water rises.

It would be possible even for me to step over from the ledge to the serpent’s back, given a helping hand. That back was broad enough to accommodate all of us if we sat close together. Perhaps it was high enough to keep us safe even at peak tide. A creature that could leap right over an oceangoing boat might well be strong enough to withstand the current Gull had described.

“That’s what we must do,” I said. “Sigurd, will you lift me up to the ledge, please?”