Here Be Dragons: Book 1 of the Emergence Series

Fathom was faintly aware that he was staring, but he just couldn't bring himself to stop. A storm of thoughts burned within his mind, ideas flickering in and out of existence as he struggled to reconcile truth and reality.

Where did this human come from? Had she been a member of Pryce’s crew? Or had a second ship already arrived? He discarded that option immediately; Pryce would have heard from the Mainland if that were the case, and the rescue ship had only left a hand of days ago, so it couldn’t be them either, especially when Qnaoro found ‘a’ human, not multiple humans.

It could also be a lie. Someone would have only had to have overheard them, after all.

«...a creature from another land? How can you know that?» Fathom asked, his entire being focused on pretending to have never heard of a "human" before. The others had not yet spoken; they only stared in wide eyed surprise – though likely not for reasons Wheihrn was expecting.

«She said so,» Wheihrn snorted candidly. «It does make sense. I have never heard of anyone describing a creature like her before – forgive me, I should have started from the beginning.» He tilted his head for a moment, evidently gathering his thoughts. «Mohnwa is the one who told me this, and he heard it from Eosmn, who heard it from Xhorhw, who was the one who found Qnaoro with this human. Apparently he has taught her to understand a little of our speech, and he has even learned some of hers – though it sounds very strange – that is how he was able to learn that she came from another land.»

«If she can speak then she must have a name, right?» Celeste asked, her genuine curiosity effectively masking her confusion.

«She says her name is Jay-ng-cah-llan, but I do not know if this is accurate after being told by so many dragons,» Wheihrn answered, flicking his nictitating membranes in bemusement. «Such a strange name.»

«Yes…that is a very odd sound,» Fathom said, doing his best to sound neutral. «I assume almost everyone will be flying over to see this human?» he asked, hoping to learn as much as possible about this human for Pryce’s sake – no other explanation made sense, she had to be a survivor of his crew, though he had not the slightest idea how this could have happened.

«Not quite,» Wheihrn said, shrugging his wings. «Qnaoro had insisted to Xhorhw that he wished to tell everyone everything at the solstice celebration – the one in the fourth province, since that is the one closest to them – and then he disappeared afterwards. No one knows where either or them are at the moment.»

«This sounds like a mess about to happen,» Devotion huffed. «A normal celebration is chaotic enough, I cannot imagine a gathering of hundreds more.»

Wheihrn shifted his wings noncommittally. «It will be, but it cannot be helped. In a few days, every dragon alive will know what I have told you. This might be the largest gathering in thousands of years.» He stared at the others, who had remained oddly silent. «You do not seem very excited, I thought you would be very interested to hear this, Jooral-ǂ.»

«Oh, I was just thinking,» Fortitude replied, half-lying with ease. «These are extraordinary claims, so I would prefer to see this human for myself, but…» she trailed off, ruefully shifting her wings.

«Ah. I did not mean to offend,» Wheihrn said, bowing his head apologetically. «I will be going myself, of course; I can tell you what I learned when I return,» he offered.

«That would be appreciated,» Fortitude said, tilting her head at a polite angle.

«When did Qnaoro find this ‘human’?» Devotion asked. Her tone could have been interpreted as skeptical, but to Fathom it sounded suspicious. He realized that from her perspective, it may have seemed that Pryce had lied about being the only human on this island.

Fathom shifted slightly closer to the cave entrance.

«An entire moon ago!» Wheihrn groused, tossing his head in exasperation. «Qnaoro claimed he did so because it would be easier for everyone to learn about the human once he was able to understand her, but it is still ridiculous that he kept this a secret for so long. I have a feeling we only learned about her at all because Xhorhw discovered them by accident.»

Devotion snorted with convincing disdain. «You cannot expect a lifelong wanderer like him to be very sensible.»

«What are we going to do about this human?» Celeste asked uncertainly. «Do you think we could find out where she came from?»

«I am sure everyone wants to learn that,» Wheihrn nodded. «She cannot have come from very far, as Qnaoro said he found her on a small island. I heard she has strange things that seem to have been created by other humans. Perhaps they were able to make something to float across the ocean? They are very small, so a large piece of wood might have worked,» he mused.

«That…is possible,» Celeste said with a hesitant nod.

«Is there anything else that you know about this human?» Devotion asked.

«No,» Wheihrn tossed his head ruefully. «Like I said, Qnaoro did not tell Xhorhw much about them, and he disappeared when Xhorhw left, most likely to remain unbothered until the solstice.»

They talked for a little while longer, but the red dragon didn't have much else to say. He soon excused himself, saying that he wished to spread this news to other dragons before flying away.

«...he has found a strange creature from another land, one who calls herself a human.»

Pryce had a bad feeling the moment he heard the Draconic word for "news", but he was in no way prepared to hear the word "human" spoken in his own tongue.

He was so stunned that for a few moments his mind simply stopped working, until a deluge of questions flooded to the forefront of his consciousness.

How? Another human – who? No, not possible. Is this a lie?

Too early to be the rescue crew, only one human found(?)

Has to be a survivor – crewmate.

A crewmate has survived – not possible, all confirmed dead except…except the missing bodies.

Someone survived! Someone survived this entire time…alone.

I've…I've left someone alone on this island for three months.

The realization made him nauseous, and he just barely caught himself from making any noises.

Fathom broke the silence by asking something, but Pryce didn't comprehend any of his friend's words – his mind was occupied with one detail in particular.

Wheihrn had said "her".

There was only one woman among the missing crew members.

This could all still be a lie. This dragon could have learnt about humans from Trespasser, who could have learnt the word while spying on them, or maybe another dragon had done so without any of them the wiser.

But if Wheihrn knew her name, then…

Pryce forced himself to listen to their conversation despite his raging thoughts.

«If she can speak then she must have a name, right?»

Pryce froze, and sat as still as a statue. It couldn't have taken Wheihrn more than a second to respond, but it felt like he spent an eternity torn between hope and guilt.

«She says her name is Jay-ng-cah-llan, but I-» the rest of the sentence became a wordless noise as reality came crashing down upon him.

Jane Callan was alive.

How did she survive? She met a dragon? When? Where was she?

…What had she gone through?

He took a quiet, calming breath, and stamped down on his emotions with practiced ease. Even if he ignored his personal responsibility, Callan was still a relatively unknown variable. Her plans might interfere with his own, so finding her was something he had to do, no matter what.

Wheihrn answered questions for another few minutes, during which Pryce attempted to understand what was being said. Under normal circumstances it was usually possible for him to understand the general idea of a sentence, but with so much turmoil in his mind he comprehended less than he would have liked.

In the end, all he was able to glean before Wheihrn left was that Qnaoro – the dragon who found Callan – had disappeared along with her.

Pryce sat in silence as the red dragon said his goodbyes, a plan beginning to take shape in his mind.

“Were you able to understand him, Pryce?" Fathom exclaimed, his tail lashing in excitement. "One of your friends survived!”

He paused when he saw Pryce, the human's face set and unsmiling. “What’s wrong? This is good, isn’t it?” he pressed.

"Yes," Pryce said shortly. "We need to go. Now." He turned to walk up to Fathom's side, but was blocked by Devotion.

“Did you know about this?” she demanded, her eyes narrow and suspicious.

“Of course we didn’t, or we would have already tried to find her,” Fathom shot back, glaring at Devotion.

“I asked him, not you,” Devotion spat, spines raised. “Answer me!” she hissed, forcing Pryce to take an involuntary step back.

“No, I didn’t,” Pryce said, answering quickly before Fathom could escalate the argument. “I didn’t know…Callan was alive…” he trailed off, and left the rest unspoken.

"If you thought she was dead, how is she alive?" Fortitude asked, tapping her partner with a placating wing.

Pryce shook his head. "I don't know. That's what we're going to learn once we find her, and that's why we need to go now,” he repeated, his face a stone mask as he walked up to Fathom’s side and reached for a chain.

“Wait,” Fathom said, and blocked him with a forelimb.

“What?” Pryce asked, his tone flat and almost adversarial.

“We will wait,” Fathom said, gently but firmly. “You are not thinking at all, and she has been alive for a long time, a few minutes will not make a difference.”

Pyrce furrowed his brow. "What do you mean "I'm not thinking"?"

"You didn't understand all of what Wheihrn said, did you?"

Pryce opened his mouth, then pressed his lips into a thin line.

"You also need to tell us your plan," Celeste said, looking faintly confused by his uncharacteristically stilted behaviour.

“...Fine," Pryce sighed. "Tell me everything Wheihrn told you.”

“It seems you did not know,” Devotion grumbled once everything had been summarized.

Pryce grimaced, and didn’t quite meet her eyes. "No. I did not."

“If you thought she was dead, then how is she alive?” Celeste asked.

“When I…looked for everyone's bodies, there were four who were missing. They must have fallen into the ocean, so I thought they drowned. They should have drowned. It’s not possible, but…”

Devotion tilted her head. “Why is this surprising? Can humans not swim?”

“We can, but humans don’t float like dragons. It’s very easy to drown in the ocean, especially when they must have fallen in during the storm.”

“Then…how did she survive?” Fortitude asked.

“I don't know,” Pryce shrugged helplessly. “I didn’t think it was possible, but it clearly happened. Wheihrn said that Qnaoro found her on a small island, but I have no idea how she ended up there. None of this makes sense. I must be missing something,” he muttered under his breath. “Whatever, there’s something else I wanted to ask: does anyone know anything about Qnaoro? He seems to be keeping Callan safe, but I’d like to know if I can trust him.”

"He is 117 years old," Fortitude stated.

"And a wanderer," Devotion huffed disdainfully.

“I have seen him twice," Celeste offered. "The first time we met he asked me if I liked to explore, which was a stupid question, because there is nothing left to explore on this island.” She paused, then seemed to realize something. "He must have found her while exploring."

"I do not think you should be worried," Fathom added, seeing as how none of these answered his question. "Callan must be safe for him to have a chance at exploring the Mainland, so he will need to protect her."

“That’s good,” Pryce sighed, greatly relieved.

“Wait, is her name Jay-ng-cah-llan or Callan?” Fortitude asked, spines slightly flattened.

“Her name is Jane. Callan,” Pryce said, enunciating the two words. “You can use either name, but I called her Callan. Wheihrn probably heard it as one word instead of two.”

«How mysterious,» Fortitude rumbled. "No one can fly in a storm, and I do not know how Callan could have survived if humans are bad at swimming.”

Devotion lowered her head, her eyes narrowed. “What about your plan? How will this affect our promise?”

“I…” Pryce paused, and sat down on a rock. “I don’t know what to do. The rescue ship is supposed to arrive on day 100, and the summer solstice is on day 102. There’s not much time-”

“Why don't you just find her?” Fathom asked.

"Find her?" Pryce asked blankly. "How? No one knows where she is, remember?"

"Yes, but you're a human. You know better than anyone else what she would be thinking," Fathom pointed out. "If you were her, what would you plan to do?"

Pryce frowned. He didn't see how he could figure out where she would be hiding on this entire island. Humans didn't even know anything beyond the shape of this land, so their destination had been chosen for convenience more than–

"Oh shit." Pyrce widened his eyes at the realization, then just as quickly buried his face in the palm of his hand. "Oh…oh fucking hell."

Fathom blinked in confusion, his jaws still parted in what was a complacent grin. "What's wrong?"

"If you get separated from someone, you either go back to where you last saw them or go to your destination, right?" Pryce groaned.

"Yes, that is what I was trying to tell you. What's the problem?"

"If Callan has the help of a dragon, she's probably already been at our destination before…she might even be there right now." Pryce moved to stand up, but was blocked by Fathom swiftly but gently placing one talon on each of his shoulders, trapping him in place.

"I meant we could start looking in that area," Fathom explained, "but she doesn't have any tools, so she can't know where 22.5 degrees north is, can she?"

"Of course she can," Pryce scoffed. He tried to move, but the talons refused to budge in the slightest. "It won't be easy, but 22.5 is a quarter of 90, so it's not hard to make a good sextant – at least one that’s good enough for us to find her."

"I didn't think of that," Fathom admitted, "but that's good news. Why are you upset?"

"Because she's probably been waiting for weeks!" Pryce cried. "Maybe that's what she was doing when they were found by that other dragon! Or…" He paused as another realization occurred to him. "...or maybe she wanted to be found?"

"What do you mean?" Celeste asked.

"What's the fastest way to spread news on this island? If you were a human, I mean."

Fortitude tilted her head as she caught onto his meaning. "Are you saying she let Xhorhw find her so that news would spread to you?"

"Maybe, maybe not," Pryce shrugged. It seemed like the reckless sort of thing Callan would suggest. "She doesn't know what happened to our ship, so she doesn't even know if there's anyone to find. Qnaoro could talk to other dragons and find out none of them have heard of a human, so she knows there are either no other humans on the island or that they've met a few dragons who haven't told everyone else."

"You have not answered my question," Devotion rumbled irritably. "What is our plan?'

"We go to 22.5 degrees north, same as we already planned," Pryce answered. That was the easy part – everything important is going to be happening there, after all. "After that we look for Callan, she might have left some signs-"

"It would be a good idea to check the…«landmarks» for messages," Celeste suggested. "«Landmarks» are places with strange rocks or trees. We use them to know where we are."

"Good idea," Pryce nodded. "And those are "landmarks"."

"And after that?" Devotion pressed.

"If we find her then we look for the rescue ship just as we planned before. If we can't, then…we do the same, except maybe one of you can fly around and hear what dragons are talking about. We'll make new plans based on what we hear. Worst case we'll only be able to find her when she's speaking to all the other dragons on day 102."

"I will do that," Devotion unexpectedly stated, causing Pryce to look up at her in surprise. “You only need two dragons to patrol, yes? The solstice celebration of the fourth province will be at the Plateau – that is a large flat mountain. I will ask questions, and they will tell me more than they will tell these two,” she reasoned as she gestured to Fathom and Celeste with a wing. “It is an obvious solution.”

“Sounds…good," Pryce frowned, uncertain if she was the best candidate for information gathering. Then again, her actions had proven her to be far from a brute. "Have you planned anything else?" He asked curiously.

"Yes," she nodded curtly. "I get information from dragons who we trust. When I am done I will bring them to you."

Now that got his attention. "I thought you didn't want to tell anyone else? What happened to all the reasons you had?"

"That was days ago," Fortitude chimed in, as if that explained everything.

His confusion must have been apparent, for Celeste elaborated, saying, "There are only 7 days left until the solstice. It would not matter very much if other dragons found our ship 6 days from now, so it is not a bad idea to start gathering allies now."

"Makes sense," Pryce nodded. "How many dragons? And do you have anyone specific in mind?"

Fortitude waved the palm-joint of a wing in a dismissive manner. "We are still thinking about this. We will tell you our choices tomorrow."

"Do you have a plan for what we will do if we cannot find her?” Devotion asked.

"Not yet," Pryce admitted. "I don't think the other dragons will just let you bring her back to the ship."

“Why not?" Devotion asked. "I do not need to only bring her. I can bring everyone to you, is that not what you wanted?”

“Yeah but…I didn't think it was going to be hundreds of dragons at the time,” Pryce said flatly. If the rescue crew arrived two days late then they would be greeted by a literal horde of dragons. Not the most gradual of introductions.

“If that happens, then you can just talk to them, like you talked to me,” Fathom said, apparently unbothered by this possibility. “That was what we had planned anyway, before you learned there was a rescue ship coming.”

“I guess that’s...more or less true,” Pryce sighed, though he sincerely hoped it wouldn’t come to that. “Wheihrn seemed polite, is there a reason why we can’t get his help?”

“He has only been our neighbor for a few years, so we do not trust him much,” Devotion answered.

“He also killed our previous neighbor,” Fortitude added. “We did not like him much either, but at least Wheihrn is smart enough to respect us.”

Her partner snorted dismissively. “That is not being smart, that is being not stupid.”

Pryce rubbed his eyes. “If you don’t trust him, then let’s just stick with the plan I mentioned.” He looked up at Devotion. “A large flat mountain is a Plateau. First, we need to figure out where that is, then we can have a better idea of what we're going to be doing.”

[JOURNAL ENTRY]

Callan is alive.

Current location: 16.82 degrees N, eastern coast.

Daybreak arrival location: 22.5 degrees north, eastern coast.

Fourth province solstice celebration location: ~24 degrees north, ~10 kilometers inland of the eastern coast. (Location estimated based on information provided by the dragons)

New plan:

Depart for 22.5 degrees north.

Devotion leaves for the solstice gathering, approx 230 km away. Should take ~6 hours to get there.

Celeste and Fathom patrol, covering 250 kilometers every day.

Fortitude stays on deck with me.

We leave once we finish packing Fortitude’s valuables. Trip expected to take ~16 hours.

Pryce sat in silence as Fathom flew him back to the Horizon. The five of them had refined their plan until there were no further objections to be heard. It was still far from satisfactory, but no plan could be given such a distinction under these circumstances, and these concerns paled in comparison to what truly plagued him.

“Are you…okay?” Fathom asked as he flew, the words laced with an undertone of worry. “It is not your fault that you did not know.”

“I know,” Pryce sighed. “But-”

“But you don’t feel that way,” the dragon huffed.

“...yeah.”

Fathom flapped his wings, giving Pryce a few moments to think as he clung onto the makeshift harness. When he spoke, it was into the relative silence of the wind.

"There was no reason for us to have left any earlier, and there was no reason for me to believe she had survived…but that won't make it any easier if it turns out she died while I was sitting around doing nothing." His grip around the chains tightened as he spoke, and he found it impossible to keep a note of bitterness from creeping into his tone.

Fathom only rumbled in reply, and spoke no further on the matter. It seemed uncharacteristic to Pryce, but he supposed there wasn't much else to say on the matter.

Soon they landed upon the deck, and Pryce went to work bringing the ship to the beach.

“You can see, right?” Fathom asked, not for the first time.

It had taken longer than he’d expected to load Fortitude’s most valuable things, as this description included a solid majority of her belongings. She also insisted on having them in sight, so the cratefuls of non-human artifacts had to be fastened upon the deck of the ship, further prolonging their time of departure.

Night had fallen by the time they were done, but the crescent moon provided enough light for him to use a compass. Outside, he could see that the ocean was calm enough to reflect the starry sky above.

“Yes, I can see. Go and get some rest, you’ll need to fly far tomorrow,” he said as he left the wheelhouse. The ship was on course, and it would be fine without him for a few minutes.

“I’m not sure if I can sleep well with the ground moving under me,” Fathom grumbled, tossing a baleful glare at the deck. The other dragons also had not bothered to sleep yet, especially Fortitude, who was still amazed by the speed of the great vessel.

“What is she doing?” Pryce asked. The crippled dragon stood at the nose of the ship, one wing extended while the other quivered like a half-open umbrella in the wind. She stood motionless as the air rushed beneath her wings – she was emulating the sensation of flight, Pryce abruptly realized. The Horizon did travel at speeds comparable to that of a gliding dragon, after all.

Devotion eyed her throughout this process, and she slowly stood up to do the same. For a time, they were silent, and then Fortitude murmured something to Devotion which Pryce could not hear.

«This feels strange…" Fortitude murmured. "Different from standing on a cliff and facing a gust of wind.»

«Yes, it does feel somewhat like gliding,» her partner said, answering the question she did not ask. «Though it is strange to have your feet on the ground. Does it feel at all familiar?»

«I am…not sure,» Fortitude murmured uncertainly. «It feels like an echoing dream, where some things might be different, but you never know what.» She finished her musings with a sigh, signaling the end of their conversation.

Still and unmoving, they stood like statues outlined by the light of the moon.

Seeing as their conversation was over, Fathom leaned over to quietly translate their dialogue for Pryce.

“...interesting. Humans have those too, though we call them ‘recurring dreams’,” Pryce said. It was an interesting idea, to refer to them as echoes.

“I have had a few of those, sometimes they are weird, sometimes they are…not good.” Fathom’s spines flattened at the recollection, but then his eyes lit up and he asked, “Do humans know what dreams are? Some dragons think we are seeing the past or future, and some even think we are seeing the lives of other dragons, but that doesn’t explain why some dreams are ridiculous.”

Pryce shrugged. “No one knows,” he said, but Fathom looked so disappointed that he felt compelled to add, “We think it is the brain resting and organizing memories. Think of it like bringing home a pile of treasures, except it’s your brain moving memories around. Dreams don't make sense, because they don't need to make sense.”

“That is…a bit boring,” Fathom hummed. “But it sort of makes sense. Do you have any recurring dreams? You do not have to answer, if they are not pleasant,” he added, seeming to that such a question might have been insensitive.

Pryce felt a faint smile tug at his lips. “I’ve never told anyone about them before. I think…it will be good if I talk about it.” Fathom looked a little puzzled at this, so he elaborated. “Just because humans talk a lot doesn’t mean we share everything. Some things are personal. Some things you don’t want to tell other people, especially when they…depend on you.”

“That is easy to understand; no one wants to be seen as weak,” Fathom muttered, quietly for once. His gaze drifted over to his daughter, who sat with the others at the far end of the ship. “Sometimes I dream about the time I broke my wing. I see the storm forming, but it is not strong yet, so I go hunting anyway. The storm gets worse, the winds get stronger, and I fall. I wake up before I hit the ground, but then I remember that the dream already happened.” He paused, hesitating. “There are…others dreams, about Abyss and Celeste, but I have not had them in a long time,” Fathom shrugged, though the gesture didn't quite have the dismissive effect it usually had.

“That…sounds similar to human dreams,” Pryce said, unsure of what else to say. “Do you get the first kind anymore?”

“No,” Fathom said, shaking his head – that gesture still looked a bit awkward on a dragon, no matter how many times he saw it. “Now I just dream about you saying something very bizarre, and then proving it,” he said a little plaintively.

Pryce wasn't sure if that was meant to be humorous or not, but he probably would have laughed if not for the serious nature of their discussion. As it was, he could only find it within himself to give a faint smile before taking a moment to gather his thoughts.

“You know what happened with John – my friend Wright’s son. I worked as hard as I could, did everything I could, but he still died.”

Fathom opened his mouth, closed it again, then simply nodded and waited for Pryce to continue.

“In my dream, the same things happen. People get sick. I work as hard as I can. A friend tells me John is sick. I work harder. John dies, but I have to keep working, because thousands of people are dying." He paused for a moment to collect himself. "Sometimes the dream is different. Sometimes I remember how to make the medicine, but it never works, at least not until it's too late.”

Fathom blinked. In the dark his pupils were wide and glossy like an ocean at night. It was surprising how small a change could so drastically alter his expression. “You were not too late for me.”

“...No, I wasn’t,” Pryce agreed.

A few moments of silence passed, where Fathom looked away before asking, “What did you mean when you said, “It will be good if I talk about it?””

“Sometimes it feels nice to talk to someone about something that you could never tell anyone else. Don’t you feel better?”

“Not really,” Fathom said, narrowing his eyes a little. “Do you feel better?”

“Yeah, I feel better…a bit lighter, if that makes sense?"

"I'm not sure if I understand," Fathom rumbled doubtfully. "But I'm glad if it makes you feel better." The dragon sounded a little awkward, though Pryce wasn't entirely sure why.

Pryce furrowed his brow as he recalled how Fathom immediately understood why he had never talked to anyone about his nightmares. The dragon must have felt the same, yet he'd shared his nightmares regardless.

Pryce felt a stab of guilt at this realization – it wasn't even the first time his friend had acted out of concern for him today. What was he doing, being so ungracious?

Pryce looked up into the dragon's eyes – the deepest dark surrounded by thin red rings. “You're a good friend, Fathom. Thank you for making me feel better. I’m also sorry about earlier – I never said thank you, for calming me down and making me think things through.”

“You don’t need to thank me for that,” Fathom huffed, though the dismissive action was belied by the self-satisfied way in which he held his head. “You were being stupid, and I just made you stop.”

“Well…thank you anyway. I needed to hear that.”

Pryce felt like there was something else that had to be said, awkward though it may be. Still, it was the truth, and that made it all the easier to say.

“I’m glad – very glad that you were the first dragon I met.”

“Oh,” Fathom said, sounding a little surprised at this sudden compliment. “I am…also very glad that you were the first human I met,” he said, nodding with a gracious air. Then he blinked, and his eyelids shot open as he remembered why Pryce had been alone in the first place. “W-wait, I didn’t mean-”

“Pfft.” Pryce couldn't help himself – the haughtily offended look on Fathom's face only elevated his snickering to full blown laughter. "Sorry, sorry," he coughed. "I've just never seen you trip up like that, and the look on your face-" laughter bubbled up despite his efforts, and he doubted the rest of his sentence was intelligible.

“Are you done?” Fathom growled, nearly a full minute later.

“Yes,” Pryce coughed, and cleared his throat for good measure. “Sorry.”

"Hmph," Fathom snorted. “At least you had fun. I’m going to sleep now.” He turned away and laid himself down, muttering something that probably wasn’t a goodnight.

"Were you laughing? It sounds weird," Celeste said, having been drawn over by his outburst. "Did something funny happen?"

"No, nothing important," Pryce said, wiping the smile off his face. "Go to sleep, we have lots to do tomorrow."