by Andy Holland
"Do we get a choice in this?" Jenna asked, even unhappier about going back in a cave than Daisy.
"Mark!" Noah called from over by the cave. "Get everyone inside the cave. Joseph can finish preparing the food over there, but I want everyone else inside before the sun sets."
Mark turned to Jenna. "You heard the boss…."
They set themselves up deep into the cave, where the light from their fire wouldn't be visible from outside. The cavernous chamber they chose was huge and they set up all of their beds in the same area with plenty of space to spare. After they ate, Crystal asked permission to venture outside to use the toilet.
Noah frowned. "I guess everyone will need to do that. Probably best if everyone goes now and then we can get some sleep. More eyes will make it easier to spot trouble when it comes."
"If it comes," Daisy corrected. "We should be safe here, shouldn't we?"
Noah stared at her. "I meant what I said. Don't take long out there. We have no way of protecting you here, so you just need to get back inside quickly. Everyone! Toilet break. This is the only time anyone goes outside till morning. Let's go!"
Crystal and Jenna walked together, whispering to each other. "He's a bit bossy, isn't he?" Crystal muttered.
"Hmm, yes, I suppose he is. What do you think he meant by when trouble comes? Do you think we're not safe in this cave?"
"They wouldn't have chosen it if it wasn't safe," Crystal replied. "I think we're in danger only when we're outside."
They had just reached the cave entrance and looked out onto the moonlit scene, the stream looking a long way away. They hesitated uneasily before venturing out.
"Do you think we really need to wash?" Jenna asked, straining to see into the darkness. "Perhaps we could find a place in the cave to use as a toilet?"
Crystal shook her head. "Don't be ridiculous; we have to sleep in there. Look, everyone else is going out. Come on, stay with me. I'll keep you company."
Crystal took her hand and led her out to the stream. Jenna hid behind a tree for a moment before re-emerging to wash her hands and face.
"Come on, Crystal, let's get out of here. This place gives me the creeps."
"I thought you didn't like caves," Crystal replied, still washing. "Now you want to rush back to one?"
"Yes!" Jenna replied, a hint of panic in her voice. "There's something wrong out here. Everything is so silent. Listen! You can't hear any animals or birds—it's too quiet."
"It is night," Crystal pointed out. "You don't usually hear many things when it gets dark."
"No, you still hear things. This place is all wrong. It's like a grave. Please, can we just go?"
"Alright, alright," Crystal replied irritably. "I'm ready now. You didn't have to wait that long, did you?"
Jenna threaded her arm through Crystal's and hurried her across the grass back to the cave.
"There's no need to drag me," Crystal objected. "I am coming."
Just then, they heard a loud thud which shook the ground and brought them both to a stop. They looked around nervously. "What was that?" Jenna asked. Crystal could feel that she was trembling.
"I'm not sure," Crystal replied. "It sounded like something heavy."
A second thud was heard, followed by another and then another. "I don't think we should be out here," Jenna whispered.
"I agree," Crystal replied, starting to move again. "Let's get back."
They marched back, meeting Jude and Noah at the cave entrance. Jude was one of the five who scouted ahead and hadn't spoken to them before. He had a hard, determined face and was staring intently into the darkness behind them.
"Good, you're the last," Noah whispered. "Run along; go and join the others."
Jenna needed no encouragement and hurried into the cave, leaving Crystal with Jude and Noah. "Aren't you two coming in?"
Noah shook his head. "Not till we can see what this thing is. We need to know what is out there. None of us have seen a True Dragon. It knows we're here anyway. You should get back inside though."
The thuds were getting louder and the three watchers clung closer and closer to the cave wall as whatever was coming approached. As if from nowhere, a large silhouette appeared in front of them, casting a shadow over the cave entrance as it passed by. Crystal retreated a little into the cave and tripped over a rock, screaming briefly in alarm. She could see the silhouette stop outside. It paused for a second before charging thunderously towards the cave. Quick as a flash, Noah and Jude lifted her under the arms and dragged her away from the entrance as she watched a monstrous clawed foot slam into the cave floor where she had fallen. Noah and Jude didn't slow, continuing to run, dragging her with them and Crystal cried out in alarm as a second clawed foot reached into the cave, just missing them as it sunk into the cave wall, digging out great chunks of the rock.
"Silent now," Noah hissed, still dragging her. They had turned a corner and could no longer see the entrance, but could still hear the monster tearing at the rock as if trying to dig them out. Noah and Jude set her down on her feet and the three of them hurried back to the others, where they were greeted by a host of worried faces. Noah silenced everyone with a finger to his lips and she sat down with the others and waited.
The creature continued to dig out the rock for some time before finally losing interest and stopping. The scraping and crashing of falling rocks was replaced by the thuds of the creature walking away. It wasn't till long after the sounds of the creature had faded that everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
"What was that?" Jenna whispered.
"A dragon of course," Levi answered. "What else would it be?"
"At night?" Jenna asked. "I thought that wasn't possible."
"John tried it once," Crystal pointed out. "It almost killed him."
"Why did he do that?" Noah asked, fixing her with a penetrating stare. "He should have known how dangerous that was."
Crystal looked away, embarrassed by the question and remembering how sick John had been after their camping trip.
"That doesn't matter now," Jenna replied quickly. "What I want to know is how does that dragon manage it? And how is it so big? What do you all know about them? I mean, have you seen one before?"
"I've never seen one before, but I know what it is," Joseph replied. "I thought everyone did."
"And I thought you could change into any dragon," Seth added. "Can't you change into one of them and chase it off?"
"It's very different to us," Noah replied. "It's what we call a True Dragon."
"Excuse me?" Jenna objected. "I'm a true dragon."
"Are you?" Joseph asked, looking at her strangely. "Funny, because you don't look like one."
"I mean I can change into a dragon whenever I want."
"Go on then," Noah replied. "Show us how it's done."
"Well not at night obviously."
"Exactly. A True Dragon is always a dragon and never transforms."
"Some people call them low dragons," Jude added, speaking softly. "They're probably not intelligent. We're pretty sure they can't communicate with us."
Noah shrugged. "Maybe, although there's no way of knowing for sure. They attack any dragon they see, so there is no way of communicating with them. And being attacked by a True Dragon doesn't end well."
"Wait a minute," Jenna objected. "But we can outfly it, right? I mean, look at the size of it. It can't be that fast."
"We can dodge it," Levi replied, "but in a straight line it's faster than even the fastest of us. Carrying you we wouldn't stand a chance."
"Could you fight it?" Seth asked. "If you all worked together?"
Noah shook his head. "Not even with an army. It's pretty much indestructible. Their scales are very thick, too thick for our claws and even the claws of a Rhino Dragon and it's totally fireproof. It's fast, strong and incredibly large. It would be like a group of mice trying to take on a big cat."
"And its fire is something else too," Levi added. "So I've heard."
Joseph nodded. "
Huge streams of fire and hotter than anything you could imagine."
"Hold on a minute," Arthur said, looking irritated. "You seem to know a lot about this True Dragon. Did you know it was here?"
Noah nodded. "Of course; I planned the route. I was hardly going to take you somewhere without knowing what was there. Most of these boys didn't know, of course, but they should have expected me to have known."
"I knew," Joseph added nonchalantly. "As did the rest of the scouts. Noah wouldn't have sent us forwards without telling us first. But none of us had seen one before."
Jenna glared at him. "So to sum it up, you've brought us into the home of an aggressive, huge, indestructible dragon that we can't outfly. How was this a good idea?"
"No Blue Dragons," Noah replied simply. "They're scared of it and we had to stop somewhere and there is nowhere else where we could be safe from them. Besides, you're pretty safe from it at night."
"I'm pretty sure it's up and about," Crystal pointed out.
"Yes, but it's not so likely to attack you while you're a human," Levi replied.
"Why is that?" Daisy asked.
"Less to eat!" Joseph added with a cold laugh.
Crystal turned to Noah, looking shocked. "Is he serious? It eats other dragons?"
Noah nodded, frowning disapprovingly at Joseph. "Any creature it can catch really, but dragons are thought to be preferred as they're bigger than anything else. It would probably still eat you like this, but it would prefer it if you transformed first."
Jenna looked horrified. "When were you planning on telling us this? Didn't you think to ask us?"
Noah shook his head. "Not really. There were no options that were that appealing. This route was quick and as long as we could avoid one huge, angry dragon, then quite safe. The way you came was far too long and all other routes involved a much bigger chance of meeting Blue Dragons."
"Oh, and this monster is better, is—"
"Enough!" Arthur interrupted. "We haven't been caught and we needed to get back as fast as we could. They made the right choice. They're doing all the flying so it's their decision as to the route."
Jenna opened her mouth but caught sight of Arthur's face and said nothing. Crystal wasn't happy about this plan, but decided to keep quiet as well.
"We're safe enough here," Noah told them. "I recommend getting an early night. Get some sleep if you can. Tomorrow is when the real challenges begin. Getting in here was one thing, but that creature knows we're here now. It's not going to make it easy to leave."
Chapter 22 - Flying the prisoners home
Once again, John found that he wasn't the first to wake up. Daphne was still asleep, lying against his chest, her hair full of leaves and twigs. All around him, people were tiptoeing around in the moonlight, trying not to wake those still sleeping.
"Hey," John called quietly to a young man, one of the Browns who was passing by. "What's happening?"
"Oh, it's your deputy," the young man replied. "He's getting everyone organised."
John sat up, letting Daphne drop onto the ground, where she woke with a disgruntled squawk.
"My deputy? What are you talking about? I have no deputy."
"The young Gold, the one with the curly hair. I don't know his name. It's nearly light, so he's asked us all to wake all of those that can fly, but to leave the rescued prisoners to sleep. He said to let you sleep until the last minute as well."
John shook his head. "Natan? Natan is organising people? Are you sure?"
The young man shrugged. "If that's his name. Now that you're awake, I can take you to him if you like."
John nodded. "Give me a moment." He turned to Daphne. "Are you alright?"
Daphne nodded. "A bit stiff. I'm not sure that was the most comfortable sleeping arrangement. Or the warmest. I look forwards to having an actual bed again."
John nodded. "Look, we're about to go. I guess this is obvious, but can you... can you tell everyone that they need to keep really quiet and stay as well hidden as you can? I'm guessing most of you have never transformed, or you wouldn't be here in the first place, but when you're a dragon, your hearing, your sight, it's just hard to explain how much better it is, how much more detail you see, how well you can focus on sounds, how far away you can hear, how much you can smell. We know all this, but you don't and I worry that you're going to let your guard down and get caught."
Daphne smiled at him. "I think everyone knows, but I'll pass it around anyway. When do you think you'll come back for us?"
"I'd like to say fairly soon, but really, I don't expect to be back for quite a while. We have to fly back towards the prison for at least an hour, probably nearer to two, and then we will take the other girls all the way home before coming back here, assuming nothing goes wrong. I would guess that it would take at least ten hours."
Daphne nodded. "I've been inside this country for months already. Ten more hours isn't that long to wait."
John smiled back at her. "Thanks, Daphne. We'll get back as soon as we can. Time to go and see my deputy."
He winced as he pulled himself from the ground, his muscles stiff from sleeping on the hard, uneven forest floor. Everyone was heading towards the stream so he joined the flow of bleary-eyed young men and women and followed them there. It was still fairly dark, so no one noticed him walking in their midst until he reached the stream.
"Morning, John," Natan said brightly. "How'd you sleep?"
"Good morning, deputy Natan," John replied with a smile. "I slept very well, thanks. Thanks for not waking me. I needed that sleep."
"Thought I'd have a go at organising everyone this morning," Natan replied cheerfully. "They seemed to have no problem taking orders from you yesterday, so I thought they might believe that a seventeen-year-old could be your deputy. Reuben thought it was amusing and didn't object."
John nodded. "It is pretty funny. So, did anyone light any fires last night? I closed my eyes and just passed out."
"Hmm, I noticed that," Natan replied with a smirk. "Looked like you had someone to keep you warm. Would your Daisy mind that?"
John glared at him. "Never you mind. What about the fires?"
Natan laughed. "No fires, John. Everyone behaved themselves. Well, with regard to fires anyway. I couldn't vouch for whether they all behaved themselves in other ways."
John frowned. "Alright, I don't want to know what you're talking about there if it doesn't relate to any activities that might make them easier for the Blues to find. Does it?"
Natan smiled. "No, it doesn't."
"Good, let's move on. What have you told them all about today?"
"Nothing, just that we need to move at first light and that we're going to go back and get the others."
John nodded. "Good, that's exactly what you should have told them. Is everyone up?"
"They are indeed. We left you till last."
"Well, thank you again for that. I guess we just wait for the light now."
"I guess we do. Do you want me to lead them into the air?"
"No, deputy. I think I can manage that. I'd like you to make sure that they all take off. If we leave people behind, then the whole thing will fail as we won't have enough to bring them all back."
Natan saluted. "Yes, sir!" He laughed. "I'll go and do a walk around the area, to check there's none of them still asleep. I might wake some of the girls to get them to help."
John left Natan to conduct the check and headed towards the stream. The forest canopy was thick above them, but above the stream there was a narrow gap in the trees where the dim light broke through. John reflected that Reuben did well to find this place; the girls should be well hidden while they were gone. He studied the sliver of sky visible from the bank of the little stream; he could see that the light was improving and that they would be able to take off very soon. He closed his eyes and thought back to the previous day, visualising where they had left the first group; would they still be there when he returned? Their hiding place wasn't as good as this one and
being nearer to the camp they would be in more danger anyway. He reprimanded himself; there was no point dwelling on this as there was little else he could have done and they had had no time to waste hunting for better locations.
A golden beam of light appeared between the trees, lighting up the bank, and John responded by immediately transforming, taking to the air before his claws had even fully formed. He climbed quickly, leaving the Brown Dragons way behind him, none of them able to transform as fast as he could, but he knew that they would be following shortly. All was peaceful above the tree canopy, the sun rising on another fine day, the only sounds being that of the forest birds. They were a long way from any settlements and as the sun had just risen, no one else would be in the air yet. John circled higher and higher, encouraging the Browns to follow him. He knew there were Sandy and Wasp Dragons below as well, but they always seemed to fly at the back. Slowly the entire body of dragons emerged from the forest, with Natan's golden form finally appearing at the back. It was a marvellous sight, so many dragons appearing and flying beneath him and following him. He could see why the prisoners were amazed that he could be leading this army. He checked his thoughts; impressive as the group appeared, the Blues could easily summon enough dragons to destroy them—if they could find them. He put his mind back to the task and turned towards the north, leading the group back towards where they left the others. Even when the Blue Dragons did begin their search, they would start nearer the prison site and would probably spread out their numbers in order to cover as much ground as possible, therefore posing little threat to them all at the moment.
Barnabas, John called over to the nearest Golden Dragon. Fancy venturing ahead to make sure we aren't going to meet any Blues? I'm feeling good about this so far, but the longer it takes to get back, the more likely we are to run into trouble. Even if we outnumber them I'd prefer to avoid them rather than try and take them on. Even if victory was certain, if one Blue Dragon managed to hide and then get away to raise the alarm it would be disastrous.