The Dragon in the Library

by Louie Stowell

  “Oh,” said Faith. “This isn’t good. It means wild magic is being released. It’s making the books leak. Salt must have started the spell!”

  “But how are the aliens—”

  “I’ll explain more later. When we’ve definitely survived,” said Faith.

  Facing them was a row of octopus-like creatures, each with a beak-like mouth and a tangle of tentacles emerging from their slimy heads. They were making a horrible hooting sound.

  Kit saw a flashing light and felt a blast of heat right by her cheek. She flinched, bumping into Alita, who hugged her close. “We’re being attacked by aliens armed with LASERS!” yelled Josh. “If I wasn’t terrified, this would be AWESOME!”

  Faith was muttering something, cupping her hands together, then spreading them out.

  There was a WHOOSH of air and a bright flash, and suddenly the aliens sounded very far away.

  “Shield spell,” explained Faith. “It’ll hold them for now. You have to go! There isn’t much time. Stop Salt without me. I have to stop these—”

  “Aliens,” said Josh helpfully.

  Kit felt a well of panic in her stomach. “But you said I couldn’t… That I’d do the fireball spell wrong?” said Kit. “What if I blow up the library?”

  Faith looked at her, still holding her hands up to maintain the shield. Alien laser blasts were pinging off the outside. Kit thought she heard a slight tearing sound…

  “You can do this, Kit. The illusion will remain for a few minutes without you doing anything, so you can fire off the odd fireball. You can do anything if you try,” said Faith. She looked around at the others. “You all know your jobs. Now GO! Say the home spell!”

  “Hus!” said Kit.

  And they appeared in the wood beneath the library, beside a book trolley that Kit had left behind, with the dangerous animals book on it.

  They could hear a loud, droning male voice above them, coming from the centre of the library. Salt was beginning his spell.

  “We haven’t got much time,” whispered Kit.

  Salt was standing in the library. He felt tingly all over. He was also feeling very sweaty. Doing magic was hard work.

  “I think it’s working, Jenkins,” said Salt. He’d only spoken a few lines of the spell, but he could already hear rumbling beneath him. A sense of power surged through his body. “It’s working!”

  “Yes, sir,” said Jenkins, who was holding the spell book open while Salt read. They were in the centre of the library, beneath the skylight. Salt held the Stone of Eek in his hand. Was it his imagination or was it starting to glow?

  He read on.

  “On wanre nicht kam draconis,

  Issy macht die wak…”

  A rumbling sound was building beneath the library. Smoke was wafting in between the shelves, as though someone was burning a fire somewhere nearby.

  Salt felt a deep throbbing beneath his feet.

  “Are you sure about this, sir?” asked Jenkins. “Waking the dragon, I mean? What if it’s angry when it wakes up?”

  “Do I want to wake the dragon?” scoffed Salt. “Do I want to become a powerful wizard and rule the world? What a ridiculous question. Now, turn the page.”

  Jenkins swallowed and blinked, then turned the page. Salt read a sentence or two more. The rumbling sound grew.

  “Master,” came a young voice. “I am here to help you.”

  Salt stopped reading. Jenkins dropped the book in surprise.

  A small, dark-haired, brown-skinned girl with her hair in long plaits appeared from between two shelves, dressed in long flowing robes. “You are the master of the library,” she said. Her face was serious and very intense. “The dragon sent me to you.”

  Salt puffed out his chest. “Master of the library today – tomorrow, the world!” He turned to Jenkins. “Did you know she’d appear?”

  Jenkins shook his head. “No. But the man who sold me the book didn’t tell me much. Just that you have to hold the stone and read the spell.”

  “The spell summoned me. I have come to take you to the dragon,” said the girl. “I am the High Priestess of this library,” she said. “I serve the dragon. He came to me in a dream. He told me that you were too powerful and in possession of the Stone of Eek, and so he decided it was best that I brought you to him, so that you could wake him more peacefully. Without danger. He surrenders.”

  “I should think so too!” Salt raised an eyebrow. “But … a little girl? A High Priestess? That’s not very impressive. High Priestesses should be tall and imposing and at least eighteen years old.”

  “The old one got eaten,” said the little girl. “The dragon does that sometimes.”

  Salt gulped.

  “Come,” said the little girl. “Do you have the Stone of Eek?”

  “Of course. I keep it with me always.” He held out the stone. “Can’t have it falling into the wrong hands.”

  “That’s sensible,” said the little girl. “There are some bad people out there. Now, it’s time to go.”

  The little girl led him and Jenkins to a bookcase and pulled one of the books. Salt could’ve sworn he heard a whisper from behind the shelves. Then the bookcase began to revolve, and the little girl beckoned them inside.

  “I must get one of these for my office!” said Salt. “That would impress people a lot. Although perhaps once I’m a powerful wizard I can just programme their minds to worship me. That would save all the trouble of actually having to do impressive things.”

  “Hush,” said the High Priestess. “You don’t want to wake the dragon before you use the stone, or she will eat you.”

  Salt shut up. Possibly for the first time in his life.

  They walked down a dark corridor, emerging into a forest. Salt couldn’t believe his eyes.

  He hated forests. They had no towers, no fluorescent lights, no cars … nothing of interest to him at all. But he could soon bulldoze this wood. That could wait.

  “Where’s the dragon?” he asked.

  The High Priestess put a finger to her lips and pointed. Ahead, between the trees, was a glittering shape. They walked closer … and he realised it was a dragon.

  There was something oddly furry about it. But it was definitely a dragon. It started to move, flapping its wings, although its eyes were closed. A puff of smoke emerged from its nostrils.

  “Good dog! STAY!” said the High Priestess.

  “Did you just say ‘good dog’?” asked Jenkins.

  “No,” said the High Priestess. “I definitely didn’t. You misheard. I said ‘dragon’.”

  The High Priestess looked nervous. Salt assumed it must be because she was about to wake the dragon.

  “I will now begin the spell,” said the High Priestess. “You must hold the stone. That will transfer the dragon’s power to you.”

  Salt clutched it so hard his knuckles went white. He couldn’t wait. He could just imagine the power flowing into him, making him the most powerful man in the universe. Enabling him to do whatever he wanted, without pesky human laws getting in the way.

  The High Priestess began to murmur words in a strange language. A spell, perhaps?

  Salt held the stone and waited for the dragon to awake…

  There was a rumbling sound. The dragon’s eyelids began to flutter. Its eyes blinked open. It rose up and roared. Fire burst forth from its jaws and Salt leaped out of the way, falling on his bottom.

  “I HAVE AWOKEN!” came a booming voice. “I AM THE DRAGON. WHO DARES DISTURB MY REST?”

  ‘S-S-Salt’. My name is Salt. But you can call me … Master,” said Salt.

  The dragon smiled, showing glinting teeth. “I WILL CALL YOU NOTHING OF THE KIND, MORTAL. I WILL CALL YOU DINNER.”

  “What?” Salt stepped back. He looked at the High Priestess … but she was gone.

  “YOU HAVE BEEN TRICKED. MY PRIESTESS BROUGHT YOU TO WAKE ME, FOR NO WIZARD WOULD EVER DARE … BECAUSE NOW I AM FREE!”

  “But … the stone?” said Salt. “In all the books
Jenkins found, they said it would drain your power and give it to the person who held it!”

  “DON’T BELIEVE EVERYTHING YOU READ,” boomed the dragon.

  “Well, I don’t accept this! JENKINS! I need another spell.”

  Jenkins started leafing through the heavy spell book.

  “Er…” said the dragon, sounding ever so slightly uncertain. “RUN, MORTAL! OR FACE MY WRATH! RUN AND NEVER RETURN!”

  The dragon breathed out an enormous fireball. It shot across the top of Salt’s head, singeing his hair.

  “Eeeek!” shrieked Salt, swatting at his head to put out the fire. But he stood his ground. He wasn’t going to let this dragon win, even if he couldn’t have its power. “I need a spell to crush this dragon. NOW, Jenkins!”

  “What about this one?” said Jenkins. “It creates an explosion that the spell-caster is protected from. Or this one, that turns bones into dust. Or there’s one called ‘Evil Begone’ – the description says it’s a spell to defeat evildoers. That should cover dragons, shouldn’t it? Apparently it makes them so afraid they run away and never come back.”

  Salt could have sworn he heard small, childish voices whispering from behind the trees. Then the dragon boomed out.

  “WHATEVER YOU DO, PLEASE DON’T USE THE EVIL BEGONE SPELL. THAT ONE IS PARTICULARLY PAINFUL FOR DRAGONS.”

  “HA!” crowed Salt. “Idiot dragon! That’s exactly the spell we’ll do. You pathetic giant lizard, you’ve sealed your own fate!”

  Jenkins passed him the book and he began to read. He was relieved to see that it was in English for once.

  “Evil begone. Evil flee.

  Evil feast on fear and fly!

  The one whose heart is full of hate

  BEGONE! If you do not, you’ll die!”

  As soon as he had finished, Salt suddenly felt a wave of terror wash through him. He’d never been more afraid in his entire life. He felt an urge to run. An urge to scream.

  He did both. Jenkins was just behind him. They ran and ran and screamed and screamed, through the wood, up the dark tunnel, until they were back in the library, then back out on the street, then halfway down the road. They ran until they were panting for breath. They ran until their legs felt like jelly and they couldn’t walk, never mind run.

  “What do we do now, sir?” gasped Jenkins. “I feel this enormous urge to run away and keep running.”

  “We’re leaving. Pack everything up! We’re going to build a shopping centre very, very, very far away from here.”

  “But what about the dragon?” said Jenkins.

  “We’re never going to mention it again, you hear me? There are no dragons. Dragons don’t exist. I’m a businessman. I do business. I don’t fuss about with mythical creatures. That’s for little kids and girls. OK? Got it?”

  Jenkins nodded enthusiastically.

  Salt wasn’t sure why his spell against the evil dragon hadn’t worked, but he knew that he never wanted to be anywhere near that terrifying library or that horrifying beast again.

  Down in the stacks, Kit exhaled. She was standing behind a tree and her brain hurt. Keeping the dragon illusion spell going for so long had been very hard – especially as she had to alternate it with creating fireballs. She wanted to dunk her head in a bath of cold water. She shook away some of the feeling.

  The illusion was fading. Dogon was sitting in the clearing, looking confused. Alita, still in her High Priestess robes, came and fussed at him, stroking his fur and murmuring, “Good Dogon! Good Dogon!”

  “That was great, Alita!” said Kit.

  Alita blushed. “Thanks. I added a spell from Danny Fandango, just to make it more convincing.”

  “I thought I recognised it!” said Josh. He came out from behind the tree where he’d been hiding, coughing. “That dragon voice was hard to keep up. I think I need to gargle.”

  “It was very good though,” said Kit.

  “So was your dragon illusion!” said Josh.

  “And I think we can all agree that the fireballs were brilliant, and no one got their faces melted off even a bit,” said Faith, stepping out from behind a tree.

  “Faith! How long have you been there?” asked Kit.

  “Just long enough to see how well you all did.” She smiled. “When Salt didn’t run away at the dragon illusion, I almost stepped in. But then I heard you three whispering, and suddenly you’re persuading Salt to use the one spell in the book that would backfire on him!”

  “That was Kit’s idea,” said Alita.

  Kit grinned. “Salt didn’t think for a second that HE might be the evildoer in the room.”

  “Evil people do tend to think they’re the heroes of their own stories,” said Faith. “Well done, all three of you.”

  “Four!” said Alita, stroking Dogon, who was looking sleepy and dazed but perfectly content.

  “So … we’ve saved the library?” asked Kit.

  “And the world?” asked Josh hopefully. “Just like Danny Fandango?”

  “Just like Lara Fandango, you mean?” said Alita.

  “Just like all the heroes in all the books,” said Faith.

  Kit sighed with relief. She felt like she’d been holding her breath for hours. Maybe days.

  “Speaking of books,” said Josh, “why were those aliens in the dangerous animals book? They were aliens, right? From another book?”

  Faith nodded. “Martians, in fact. Or rather, in fiction. They were from a book called The War of the Worlds, by H. G. Wells. The wild magic released by Salt’s spell was making the books bleed together. We’re lucky it wasn’t something even MORE dangerous that got into our book.”

  “How did you fight them off?” asked Kit. “The aliens, I mean. Did you kill them?”

  “No. I can’t risk damaging the books by killing their characters off,” said Faith. “But I remembered that they don’t have any immunity to earth diseases. So,” she grinned, “I pretended I was going to sneeze, and they ran away long enough for me to escape back to the library.”

  Kit giggled. “You defeated the aliens with … snot?”

  “Imaginary snot,” giggled Alita.

  Faith was shaking her head and smiling at them. “Well, I think,” she said, “there’s time for a cup of ginger tea before you go back home. I have some coconut ice too. I imagine your parents might be expecting you home soon. I have to call the Wizards’ Council. They should have sensed that the dragon has settled by now, but just in case they’re about to do a powerful spell for no reason I should let them know!”

  “Can I meet them soon?” asked Kit.

  “Soon,” said Faith. “But in the meantime I have a lot of tidying up to do. Hopefully Greg has picked all the books out of the skip by now,” said Faith. “Then tomorrow, back for more training?”

  The children nodded their heads.

  When Kit got home, her mother was still busy with Baby. Josh and Alita said a quick goodbye then scurried off home.

  The world was saved. And Baby was being noisily sick.

  Just then her brother and sister came in through the front door, arguing.

  “You’re not going to tell Mum,” said Bad Boy Older Brother.

  “What’s in it for me?” said Perfect Older Sister.

  “I could promise not to take your favourite—” began Bad Boy.

  They both stopped and saw Kit in the kitchen, holding the garden book.

  “Wait… Kit … are you READING?” asked Bad Boy.

  “A book? On purpose?” asked Perfect Older Sister.

  They both shook their heads.

  “Something weird is going on,” said Bad Boy.

  Kit shrugged innocently. “Just reading. No big deal.”

  But that was a lie. She’d just saved the library and the world. It was, even if she was going to be modest about it, kind of a big deal. Her brother and sister were staring at her. “Go away. I’m reading,” she said.

  And her shocked brother and sister backed away and left her alone.

  T
hat, surely, was true magic.

  ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

  Some of you might not know how much you helped me write and publish this book. Surprise! There are more who I will inevitably remember the second this goes to print.

  Karen, my wife, my first reader, my co-creator. This book would not exist without you, and my world would be a far less magical place.

  My parents, for giving me dragons, wizards and libraries early on in life.

  Polly, my agent. A guide, champion and editor all in one.

  Tom, my editor, fellow frost fan, shaper of the library.

  Davide, who brought Kit’s library so perfectly to life.

  Elisabetta, design maestro, champion of neon.

  The Nosy Crow team, for your expertise, enthusiasm and trusting me not to steal your dog.

  The Girls. For your faces, always.

  Robin Stevens, for sneks and puppies.

  David Stevens. You know what you did.

  Mel, for all your cheerleading.

  Gus and Margot, who have so many stories ahead of them.

  Clan Roberts, who are morally obliged to buy my books.

  Mariam and all of Feminism 2.0, for making me think.

  The pocket friends, for snark and kindness.

  Buffy (the dog), without whom Dogon would not exist.

  Buffy (the show), without which I would have no wife, dog or fascination with things lurking beneath libraries.

  Samantha, Virginie, Ammara, Mel (again) and Louisa D. Thank you for making my book better.

  Zoey D and Matt F, for knowing libraries are portals to other worlds, and worlds in their own right.

  Milla, Alex SB, Mason, Mac, Dan V, Rob Deb, Dave S, Rob W, Katherine S, Beatrice, Beth and Onika: true originals and inspirations for so many years.

  Aisha and the newbies, for your bottomless support and support via pictures of bottoms.

  Laura, chairman of Biznis.

  Chloe, for the DMs.

  Shannon; not a librarian, but gets books to the children as a matter of urgency.