“Let me look at that.” Tadg set down his stake and snatched the book. “ ‘When Maedigan lay the gifts out before Lochmordra, he stilled, and the two looked at each other as equals. She took aim. Though she had never missed her mark before, her trident grazed his stomach and sank into his limbs. She left and never returned.’ ” Tadg scowled. “I don’t like this version. In the one my dad told, Maedigan cut off one of Lochmordra’s tentacles and kept it as a trophy.”

“But Lochmordra’s home must mean the Isle of Roane, right?” Barclay asked. “Why wouldn’t Maedigan have reached it if she’d sailed?”

“I don’t know, but we should ask the others.”

“They’ll probably say that it’s just a story.”

Tadg glanced grimly back to Munsey, where the makeshift tents of refugees dotted the streets. “It’s the only hope the Sea has left.”

After they finished their fishing for the day, Barclay and Tadg sent messages to the other apprentices via a postal Fwisht to meet at Maedigan Cove. But even an hour after sunset, no one else but the two boys had arrived.

“What are they all doing?” Tadg asked, jabbing a stick into their puny fire. “If I’d known we’d be waiting all night, I would’ve made you take a bath.”

“Made me take a bath?” Barclay said.

“You smell like fish.”

“So do you.”

“Well, your stench bothers me more.”

It figured that Barclay would have to spend his entire birthday with Tadg. He’d rather be in the library.

“Croak!” Toadles bellowed, appearing uninvited on Tadg’s shoulder. The sound of him echoed throughout the cave.

Croak! Croak! Croak!

“You again?” Tadg said flatly. He’d gotten so used to Toadles’s sudden arrivals that he no longer screamed each time they happened. “You’re not supposed to be out, you know. What do you want?”

“Croak!” Toadles responded, which was followed once again by Croak! Croak! Croak!

For some reason, the echoes struck Barclay as very funny. He snorted. And, surprisingly, Tadg snorted too.

“Croak!” Tadg repeated, mimicking the Beast’s throaty voice.

Croak! Croak! Croak!

The two boys glanced at each other. Then suddenly both of them were laughing. Barclay laughed so hard he got a stitch in his side, and tears streaked down Tadg’s cheeks.

“You know what’s funny?” Tadg said. “Dad would’ve loved Toadles. He would’ve thought he was a great mystery, with his all his powerful, secret Lore.”

Tadg wiggled his fingers in front of Toadles’s face like a magician. Toadles stared back at him blankly.

“I think Toadles is worried that we’re onto him,” Barclay said.

“Oh, we’re onto him, all right. We know all about his evil plans.” Tadg poked the stone in the center of Toadles’s forehead. “Do you have any power at all? Or do you just keep it all hidden on purpose?”