"Fia! Fia! Fia!" The sailors had started a chant of her name, pressuring the dragonette to start the fire. Tacuma kicked her heels against the half-full barrel like a drum. All the while Fia stood with her eyes squeezed shut.

I don't wanna get in trouble, Fia bemoaned. Viliant will be back with the captain at any moment. They shouldn't catch me starting a fire. Like this, Fia resisted the urge to comply with the men's demands. Her head spun with the racket. She flapped her wings over her head to cover her ears.

The sailors' chant quieted down. Pako crouched near Fia, so that she saw his face when she peeked past one wing. "Are you okay, Fia? We can strike some flint if you don't want to."

"Thanks. I'd rather go with Viliant—" Before she could finish and slip away, Viliant returned with the captain.

"What's all this about?" Captain Ulatu boomed, loud enough that all the men could hear him. At the same time, the captain waited only for Tacuma's response. His eyes seemed to shine and lips smile behind his beard.

"Hi, Papa!" Tacuma reached for her father who picked her off the barrel and swung her in his arm. The girl sat happily on her father's bicep, sturdy as a tree branch. Her legs never stopped swinging.

She's the captain's daughter? Fia realized, gaping. Oh no! I broke the toy that her father made for her. Her attempts to distance herself from the kid and stay out of trouble actually was the thing to get her in trouble. More than ever, Fia wanted to disappear from the center of the crew.

"Do all you lubbers think our voyage is a party?" Captain Ulatu shouted. His voice lowered to a grave note as he crouched to take a seat at the foot of the brazier. "Let me remind you of the fiend that lurks in these waters: the ghost pirarucu!"

The grown men gasped. Tacuma yelped and hopped out of her father's arms. The mood of the crew shifted to regain some sobriety. Viliant slipped next to Fia's side, settling in to listen for a while. Everyone held their breath as the captain delved into his legend of the ghost fish.

"The pirarucu is all around us, watching every moment, just waiting for the perfect moment to strike." Captain Ulatu growled about the fish as though it were his bane. "The ghost pirarucu is not bound to water nor land nor sky. It has grown bigger than our ship, even wider than the river! With its shadow magic, it can swim through all things and hew our boat like an axe to papaya bark."

A large branch snapped, a sharp sound which caused everyone to flinch. Shortly after, a girl's giggle rang out. The crew had been so enthralled in the captain's story that Tacuma had slipped away to add to its effect.

The captain had already barked his warning, but he did not leave it at that. His attention shifted to the two dragonets to make sure that they understood. "And the scales of the ghost pirarucu are nigh impenetrable. Even metal mages can hardly pierce its scales. The fish's jagged teeth can crack dragon scales like tururi nuts!"

The telepathy between Fia and Viliant allowed them to remark on Captain Ulatu's story without appearing rude. Although it instilled terror in Fia, Viliant sneered, Some fish tale.

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The men around them started to murmur. Some of their sidelong glances flitted to Viliant, gaining new doubts that their hireling was up to the job.

"But we will not cower in the shadow of this fish!" Captain Ulatu yelled, rising to stand in front of the brazier. "Not when we have our own power of shadow and fire on our side."If the ghost pirarucu thinks it can haunt us, we'll send it back to its watery grave!" The captain's singular voice beckoned to the dark night.

"Aye!" The sailors all leaped to their feet and cheered. The crew jostled each other to toast their mugs. Some of the contents sloshed out, spilling their beverage.

Meanwhile, Captain Ulatu swept his arm out to the pile of wood in the brazier. "Get this fire lit," he ordered Fia.

If the captain told her to do so directly, Fia had no qualms with lighting the fire anymore. Her billowing flames rushed from her maw and flared around the brazier. With the fire dancing on its own, the crew began to do the same.

The dragonets watched the outlandish display of human gaiety. Fia stuck by Viliant's side. Both kept their tails curled around their legs, making sure their shorter stature did not cause them to get stepped on. We can call it a night, right? Fia asked. The pink dragonette felt the most uncomfortable as the smallest one.

Let's go. Viliant tried to walk Fia out of the crowd, but Pako begged them to stay.

"It's our first night on the water," Pako reasoned. "We have to keep the pirarucu away! At least until our mast points to the moon." His finger pointed up to the sky. The white globe had yet to make its appearance between the trees, but by midnight, it would shine directly overhead.

"I'll stay," Viliant huffed. His eyes darted to Fia. You can leave if you want to.

Fia snorted a puff of smoke in his face. I thought you needed me to rescue you from the humans! What if they bother you again? I don't wanna leave you alone.

I'm fine. His emerald eyes rolled around in his head. Viliant admitted, I don't actually mind the way they treat me… most of the time.

Still skeptical, Fia refused to depart from the party without Viliant. She decided to crawl underneath the brazier where the fire warmed her back against the chilly nighttime air.

Viliant retook his place near the center of attention. One of the men tapped a mug, overfilling with froth, onto the deck in front of the dragonet. Viliant turned his head to the side, observing the alcohol with distrust. His nostrils flared, and he flicked out his tongue to sample it. "Ugh. It tastes bad."

Fia widened her eyes. This was the first time that she had ever seen Viliant dislike a food. She crawled on her elbows to pull her front half out from under the brazier. "Can I try it?"

Before Viliant could shrug his wings, Pako crouched by Fia. "How old are you?"

"I'm seven!" Fia replied. A chink of anxiety made its way through her scales, forcing her reassess how long she had been away from home. Not so much time had passed that another season of Fia's hatching had come and gone.

"That's… what?" Pako scratched his head, trying to remember how a dragon's years reflected their maturity. No one had bothered to check Viliant's age, considering how if he was old enough to work alongside the sailors then he could drink with them too. "Is this your first taste of pulque, Viliant?"

"Yeah."

Pako raised his brow. "Are you that young?"

"No," Viliant snapped. He tucked his wings around himself, glaring at Pako and any other humans who gave him a look. "Why?" Still too small for his age, Viliant worried that he looked young—even among the smaller species of jungle dragons in Malakow.

"I thought dragons made a ceremony out of their first, real pulque."

As soon as Viliant heard this was a right of passage that he might have missed, he stuffed his muzzle into the mug. The dragonet gulped down its contents.

Fia whined, unhappy that she could not join him. I wanna try it too! I'm jealous. If she knew how alcohol affected one's judgment, then she would have knocked the mug from his claws instead.