"A serpent made of fire?" Baron Hanrahan said, momentarily shaken to the core as he wondered if the trumpet blast had come from the singular, impossibly long throat of a serpent so large that it could be seen from the castle. Eventually, however, his mind caught up with him, and he snorted disdainfully both at the young knight for saying something so ludicrous and himself for believing it in his moment of panic.
"Preposterous," Ian snorted. "There are no beasts that large, and there haven't been since ancient times. You," he said sharply, rounding on a nearby page and pointing a thick finger at the startled boy. "Run to my study and fetch my perspective glass! And someone, open up a window. I want to see this 'Fire Serpent' for myself."
