As he communicated with the razor dolphins some of them swam away, and then more followed, until he was left with only six looking quizzically at him, their clicks and whistles sounding almost doubtful. But Silus tried to make them understand how important it was to him that they help find the Llothriall. At one point he almost gave up. After all, these were an entirely different species, what possible empathy could they have for a human?

To his surprise, the remaining razor dolphins acquiesced, and soon he was swimming alongside them as they brought their echo location to bear in the hunt for the ship.

Night fell as they swam on and Silus thought he saw the flicker of lightning above, presaging another storm. He only hoped that if the Llothriall had been caught up in it, it hadn’t been torn apart.

When dawn paled the waves, he began to doubt that the razor dolphins would be any help at all. He had no idea if they had truly understood his request. It was possible that they were swimming alongside him merely for the company, or in the belief that Silus could lead them to fruitful hunting grounds, but then he saw something floating above them and struck for the surface.

It was an arm. Silus lifted it from the water, his horror abating when he realised that he was holding wood, not flesh. He recognised the slim hand of the elf maiden who was the Llothriall’s figurehead, and looked around for any sign of the ship. There was a dark shape on the horizon and Silus grabbed hold of the dorsal fin of a razor dolphin as it propelled him towards it.

He was relieved to see, as they drew alongside, that the ship had escaped the storm mostly intact; one of the masts had a hairline fracture and the boom would have to be reset, but they had come through worse before.