Ben the Dragonborn by Dianne E Astle

the lily pad to talk to Jared. 
    “The outsider has escaped.  Have you seen him?” Ratore asked.  
    “I haven’t seen anyone,” said Jared. “How did he get away?”
    “He disappeared from the meeting place.  One minute he was there and the next he was gone.  We all had our eyes on him.  I’ve never seen anything like it.”   
    “He’s not here,” Jared said, looking around.  “At least, I don’t think he is.” 
    “He was real concerned about this fish and I think he might want to help it,”   Ratore stated.
    “He was right about the Orca,” Jared said. “It’s not doing so well.  It needs to be in water.  Did the council say anything about it?  Can we release it now?”  There was a note of hope in the last question.        
    “We never got a chance to discuss the companion fish before the stranger disappeared,” a man named Sueska responded.  
    “I think we should let it go,” Jared said, his voice pleading.
    “I think we should kill it right now,” said Ratore.  “The council would be happy to be spared the problem of making a decision.”  Ratore stepped forward menacingly. Jared stepped between him and Akca. 
    Sueska replied, “Ratore has a point.  The council will not make this decision easily.  By the time they do the fish will likely be dead.  Its death now would not be a bad thing.  Rations are short now and that will only get worse if there is a war.  Who knows, we might acquire a taste for the companion fish.” 
    “But they are different.  They can talk.”  Jared protested. 
    “They have never talked to me.” Ratore stated.  “Have they ever talked to anyone else here?” There was silence. “Well, have you ever had them talk to you Jared?” 
    “No, but…”
    “Perhaps they really can’t talk.  We only have the word of the mer for that, and their word can’t be trusted.”    
    “But, but…we have an agreement not to eat mer fish friends.”
    “In times of war, agreements no longer hold,” Sueska responded.    
    From behind Ben, a voice called out, “Have you seen the stranger? Has he come back here?”  
    Ben had a problem.  Two people were walking towards him.  They could not help but run into him if he stayed where he was.  They were walking side by side on the narrow walkway.   Sueska and his companions stood at the bottom of the steps in such a way that Ben could not slip by them onto the lily pad.  
    Ben had made progress in undoing the rope around his wrists.  He bent his head and pulled frantically with his teeth.  The two searchers were close enough to touch Ben when the rope slide from his hands.  The rope became visible as it fell to the ground.     
    “Did you see that?” one of the men demanded.  “That rope came out of nowhere. The changeling must be close by.”  
    The group took another step forward.  Ben took the only option available to him.  He stepped off the walkway into the water.  Ben found himself once more in water over his head.  He went under briefly, but quickly surfaced.  Above him a voice shouted, “What was that?”  Ben looked up. Two men were staring down at him.  Ben was still invisible, but they could see the unusual hole in the water where Ben’s body was. Sueska said, “Something’s down there.  Take a couple of boats and investigate.”  Ratore and three of the other men took two of the boats out, which left only Sueska and Jared on the lily pad. 
    Ben knew he needed to get out of the water before a boat came around beside him.  They might not be able to see him, but they would be able to see where he was as long as he was in the water.  Ben’s attempts to swim had always been accompanied by a great deal of splashing as he thrashed about in the water.  This time he gently kicked his legs and slowly moved his arms out and back towards himself in the water.  It was the first time he had tried such a movement and it was surprisingly