Before she’d gone half a dozen leagues, she was surrounded by dolphins. The sea brothers greeted her by name as they cavorted around her.
“Why did you call me?” she asked in the water-tongue.
“Our brother, our chief, commanded it,” they replied.
Her heartbeat quickened. “Naxos?”
“Naxos, yes. Our brother, our chief,” said one mottled gray dolphin. “He sent us to tell you that we have left the city. We have no home but the sea now. Come with us, Sister! Be consort to our brother, our chief!”
“What has become of the Quoowahb of Urione?”
“They have a new master, but we are free. Come with us, Vixa Dryfoot!”
The pain and fatigue of her journey dropped away like a soiled cloak. Happiness filled her heart. Naxos was calling her. She would be free to roam the oceans, to live in peace. She would not have to fight wars or serve any master but nature itself.
She turned her dolphin body away from the land. “Take me to Naxos,” she said to her brothers.