He awoke to the creaking of the hull, something that hadn't bothered him for weeks now. Something was off, but he was having trouble placing it. A gentle tug brought him awake the rest of the way and to his feet. He glanced around in the darkened hull. Meg was crouched over something near her bunk, a small mage light hovering gently over her shoulder. He must have made too much noise, because she jerked upright almost immediately and stared at him. Abruptly, he realized that she was fully dressed and changed out of the pajamas that they had loaned her shortly after her arrival.

"What are you doing still awake?" Joshua hissed.

It was apparently the wrong thing to say, because she darted out the door and down the length of the ship to the stairs leading up and out of the ship. Joshua ran after her, but he lost sight of her as she leapt over the edge of the ship and into the village. The link he'd established with her as a precaution was still holding strong, but he wouldn't have very long before she got too far away for him to follow. He ran back downstairs, grabbed his pack and a pair of shoes, and headed after her in earnest. He couldn't help but admire Grace's demand that the crew keep their belongings neatly packed away at all times. All Grace had wanted was a clear path through the tiny, cramped quarters, but it would serve him well now.

He wondered idly why no one stopped him, or why he didn't see any of the first shift that was supposed to be on guard, but recapturing Meg came first. She didn't appear to be moving very fast, and he was surprised, but pleased, to discover that he was rapidly gaining on her. She'd apparently made it through the village and into the forest behind it. He caught up to her at last when she hit an open clearing not far inland and grabbed her arm. She struggled for a few minutes, but not well enough to stop him from slapping down a spell on her to immobilize her. She stumbled to her knees and glared up at him.

"Was that really necessary?" she blurted out.

"Apparently," Joshua replied. He could feel her testing her limits. She was doing everything in her power to punch a hole through his spell. So far, at least, it was holding steady. "It's no good," he told her. "I can see what you're up to, and I'm not dropping the spell until you start to behave yourself."

Meg just continued to glare at him. Her tests became more methodical and less frantic.

"So I take it we'll be here a while," Joshua mused aloud. He glanced up through the branches of the trees up above. It was pitch black, without any stars or light to see by. There wasn't much hope of getting a glimpse at the horizon from here, to see if the sun was about to rise, but he was sure that someone would be sure to notice their absence soon and send out a search party. All he had to do was hold out for a few more hours at most. Of course, he could always knock her out, sling her over his shoulder, and drag her back to the ship that way. He studied Meg carefully, trying to guess how much she weighed. She must have noticed the change in his expression, because she stiffened suddenly, and her glare turned suspicious.

"Why are you looking at me that way?" she demanded.

"I'm trying to decide how much you weigh," he admitted.

She tossed her head and looked away. "Jerk," she muttered.

There was a crashing noise that came from somewhere behind him, and Joshua turned in time to see Eric stumble into the clearing, a small mage light bouncing erratically overhead. Eric's face broke into a grin when he saw them, and he walked quickly to Joshua's side. A few minutes later, Rachael appeared behind him and did the same. The three of them were quickly reunited in front of Meg's kneeling figure in no time at all.

"You have no idea how glad I am to see you guys," Joshua said in relief. "How far behind are the others?"

"I don't think they're coming," Rachael said.

"That was brilliant work you did," Eric added. "How'd you cook up that distraction on such short notice?"

Joshua glanced from one to the other and back again. "What distraction?" He glanced over at Meg to spot her reaction, but Meg looked just as surprised.

"When you made your escape, you cast that illusion. If I didn't know any better, I'd have said those soldiers on that ship were real. The entire ship was abuzz with it when we left. No one noticed when we snuck ashore. I have to say, though, you could have done a better job hiding your trail."

Joshua was too surprised to say a thing. Rachael saw her chance and broke in, "Why'd you do it, Josh? Was it what Cray said? I'm sure we could have talked him around, given a few more days."

"I didn't cast any illusion spells," Joshua protested. He'd completely forgotten about the argument he'd had with Cray that morning. "Wait, you thought I was running off?"

"Well, yeah," Eric said in surprise. "You don't have to pretend otherwise. Rachael and I ran away too, to join you." He gestured at Meg, still kneeling on the forest floor. "I don't get why you brought Meg along, though. Isn't she a bit of a liability?"

"I didn't run away," Joshua explained. "Meg did, only I spoiled her chance by waking up too soon. I ran after her so that I could catch her before she escaped. Now that you're both here, you can help me get her back to the ship where she belongs. If you're lucky, Grace won't strangle the two of you in the morning when she hears about this."

"But Josh, if you're here and you didn't cast the illusion spell, then who did?" Rachael asked.

"Don't look at me," Meg said as they all turned to stare at her. "If I had that much magic at my disposal, do you think I'd still be here, or worse yet, stuck in your ridiculous spell net? Don't be ridiculous. I would have been long gone, with no one the wiser."

"I do not doubt that at the height of your ability, you would be a fearsome opponent," Joshua mused, "But you are hardly there yet. You're still going about it all wrong. Stop reaching like that. You're just going to strain something."

Rachael and Eric were too distracted to notice what Joshua was saying. In just a few short seconds, they had been forced to reevaluate the events of the past hour in an entirely new light.

"We'd best hurry back," Joshua told them. "If there really are soldiers about to overrun the ship, shouldn't we be there? I mean, three of the four of us are mages, at least. Well, alright, Eric and I might be able to do something. Sorry, Meg, but you're not getting your magic back yet."

Joshua gestured for Eric to grab onto Meg. They lifted her up between them, and when she was steady on her feet, Joshua dropped the spell. "March," he ordered. "We don't have much time to lose, and the last thing I want to do is drag you behind me."

Meg was apparently ready to resign herself to her fate, and they made good time getting back to the shore. Unfortunately, there was no sign of the ship.

"We weren't gone long," Eric said in alarm.

Rachael pointed to one side and everyone turned to look. There was a large mound blocking their view of the river further downstream. "Let's look from up there."

They scrambled up the hill and stopped dead in their tracks. There was the ship alright, along with two others in hot pursuit, and the mages on board all three ships, including Grace's, were exchanging spells at a frenetic rate. The light from it was blinding.

"Oh no," Rachael moaned. "We never should have left the ship."

"What, and stick around to get caught?" Joshua asked. "No thank you."

"What do we do now?" Eric asked in alarm. The look on his face was one of sheer panic. "Cray and Grace and Shara are still on board, aren't they?"

"Can anyone here swim, besides Rachael?" Joshua asked.

"I can't swim," Rachael protested. When Eric stared at her, she shrugged. "Just because I know my way around a ship, you shouldn't assume that I'm a good swimmer. I mostly sink."

They continued to argue back and forth about what they should do. All the while, the three ships were drifting further away with every passing moment.

"If I help you, will you let me go?" Meg interrupted them all. One by one, everyone turned to stare at her.

"Why would we let you go? You'd just run back to your father and tell him everything," Rachael blurted out.

"And Joshua did just catch you trying to run away," Eric added.

Meg glared at them. "Look, if you won't let me go, will you at least help me get my magic back?"

"You're willing to admit that you're an artisan mage?" Joshua asked.

"If it gets me back to where I used to be, fine. I can't go back to him until I learn to pass for normal again, anyway. If he's this willing to cross the entire continent just to catch you and your friends, he wouldn't stop at killing his own daughter."

Eric's expression softened at her words. "He couldn't possibly do that."

"I think I know my own father better than you do," Meg said calmly, "And it's not like he doesn't have a dozen other potential heirs."

Eric shuddered at the thought, but he let it go.

"What did you have in mind?" Joshua asked.

"I specialize in fire weaving," Meg explained. "If I can construct something big enough to distract those two ships, your friends can escape."

"I never knew that," Eric said.

"Mages aren't supposed to have specialties," Meg explained. "Besides, fire weavers don't actually exist. At least, I didn't think they did, and I've never met another one, but fire spells always felt the most comfortable to me. Even now, with my head screwed on sideways, I'm sure I could do it." She glanced at Joshua and glanced away. "I might need your help," she admitted to Joshua.

"I can boost whatever you do," Joshua assured her. He studied her for a moment, considering his options. "All right, I'll drop the shield," he said at last.

Eric and Rachael gave him a startled look, but they didn't protest. They didn't have much time. Meg stepped forward and closed her eyes. Joshua stood right behind her, ready to feed her more magic if she started to falter.

It started out small, just a small ball of flame. It wasn't that different from Eric's fireball spells, but this one grew rapidly and began to float upwards, above their heads. Meg opened her eyes and watched it. She began to gesture rapidly with her hands, and the flames moved to follow her commands. As it continued to grow, it was clear that the fire was filling out into the shape of some sort of creature. Some faint shouts from across the water told them that they had been spotted, but Meg took her time and kept her concentration on her work.

"It's a dragon," Eric blurted out at last. At the same time, Meg's hands dropped to her side. It certainly looked like the pictures they'd seen in children's books, only this one was made out of flame.

"This is as far as I've ever gotten," Meg admitted. "I didn't think I could get it that large." Her voice sounded strained, and her face was losing its color. Joshua stepped closer and rested his hands on her shoulders.

"Can you push it out over the water?" Joshua asked. "I think it should look as if it's moving in to attack."

Meg cupped her hands under her mouth and blew across them. The dragon swept across the water towards the ships, its tail flicking back and forth while its wings beat up and down in a steady rhythm. The army's ships cut back their sails and the men on board rushed to the side nearest the dragon, weapons drawn. All of Joshua's attention was on helping Meg, but out of the corner of his eye, he saw Eric making his own familiar gestures. When he'd finished, fireballs leapt from the dragon's head to hit the ships below. One of them hit and started a small fire.

"Smart work, Eric," Joshua gasped. He turned his head ever so slightly just in time to see Grace's ship slip around the bend and out of sight. The plan was working. More fires were starting wherever Eric's fireballs hit.

"I think we're going to make it!" Rachael exclaimed. Just then, a geyser of water rushed upwards at the dragon, missing its tail by inches. The fire dragon darted upward, but the first geyser was followed by several more, each closer to its mark than the last. Meg just wasn't capable of moving her fire dragon fast enough.

"We're not going to be able to dodge many more like that," Joshua cautioned in her ear. "I think it's time to retreat. See? Our ship's already broken away."

Meg showed no sign that she'd heard, but she put her hands together, palm to palm, and wrenched them apart. The dragon split into two identical, yet smaller dragons. With another gesture, the dragons dived, one to each ship. She didn't let up, either, letting them crash into the decks. Both ships instantly erupted into flames. Even at their distance, they could hear the screams and shouts of the men on board. They all flinched at the sights and sounds, all except Meg. She just stared at her handiwork in surprise.

"Now we 'retreat,'" Meg murmered. She turned to say more, but instead she slumped to the ground and fainted dead away. Joshua bent to help her, but the sudden movement made his own head swim. The last thing he remembered as he fell to his knees was the sight of the two remaining ships sinking below the surface of the waves.