Far Horizons: Tales of Sci-Fi, Fantasy and Horror. Issue #19 October 2015 | Page 19

Ella glanced at the box, then back at the boatman.
Before she could speak, the box shook and rattled the
few coins within it.
“I... I didn’t bring any coins,” Ella said.
The box disappeared back into the folds and a
long pole lifted from the water. Sliding it back in, the
boatman made to push off the dock.
Ella’s stomach rolled and her hands got cold.
“Wait! Wait!” she begged.
Ella.

The boatman stopped and twisted towards

Reaching into her cloak, Ella clasped the hilt
of the dagger. She stood motionless as the boatman
started to turn away again.
“I don’t have any coin, but I do have this,”
she said as she pulled out the dagger. Ella held it out
before her in her open hands. “It’s gold, mostly.”
The boatman leaned closer to the queen and
reached out for the dagger. Ella resisted the urge to
pull away at the sight of the hand that emerged from
the robes. Most of it appeared to be covered in small
dragon scales and three of the fingers were tipped with
long wicked claws.
Ella stood as still as stone while the boatman
grasped the blade and pulled it into his cloak. She
held her breath, and her heart beat heavy in her ears
before his hooded head nodded and motioned for her
to board.

the boat push away from her.
“How do I to get back off?” Her voice echoed
frighteningly loud.
A strange growling chortle originated from
deep within the folds of the boatman’s robes.
“If you survive, I will be here,” the half-dragon
answered in a deep voice.
Ella felt faint and wanted to be sick again.
Instead she turned away from the water and stared at
the jungle before her.
“How am I supposed to do this?” Ella poked
around the shore, peering into the jungle wherever she
could.
She pulled the bow from her back and grabbed
for an arrow. Unable to seize one, she pulled the
quiver around to find it empty.
“Oh, no, no, no no no!” Ella searched around
the beach for her lost arrows, but, unable to find them,
she slung the bow back over her. “Why didn’t I bring a
sword?”
Further down the beach Ella spotted a clearer
path into the foliage. She stared into the dark of the
jungle, waiting for anything to happen. When nothing
did, Ella took a deep breath, tightened her jaw and
willed her legs to carry her in.

Stepping unstably into the wooden craft, Ella
took a seat at the bow. The pole rose again and pushed
the boat out into the water, toward the Dragon Islands.

The path was wide and free of debris, burnt
back in many places. Ella moved easily through the
jungle because of it. Coming up to fresh mud, Ella
found out why the path was so clear. Before her, halffilled with water, was a three-toed reptilian footprint as
large as her chest.

#
A strange silence greeted Ella and the boatman
as the small boat knocked against a dock in worse
shape than the one they left from. The island’s thick,
dark, jungle emanated no animal sounds from within.
Ella stepped onto the dock carefully, turning to the see

Drawing in a deep breath, Ella continued along
the trail. Her eyes darted to every shadow and she
jumped at any movement she thought she saw. Soon,
Ella’s laboured breathing and sore legs told her that
the path had started climbing the mountain some time
ago.

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