 Alake, Grundle and Devon follow Haplo when he sneaks off in the night to talk to the dragon-snakes.Haplo wants the mensch to weaken the Sartan by flooding Surunan with seawater then move in peacefully, because he thinks they couldn't easily survive open warfare with the Sartan.The dragon-snakes discover Alfred has been listening in, because he came to give the dog back to Haplo.