"Oh, when we visited the first time, a few months ago. But you can't tell anyone, okay? Even if the clan leader knows, I don't want to make the other students jealous. Or have them try to sneak off, too. Because then none of us may ever be able to come back here." She paused at the sadness in Emily's eyes—she wanted to see an older dragon too.
Daisy had an idea and clapped her hands. "Although maybe, just maybe, we can talk with Freddie's brother. He's fifteen, and he might shift for us. Then you could see an older dragon, too."
Freddie walked forward, turned, and wrapped his tail around Daisy's middle. In the next second, he lifted her into the air, and she squealed. Not out of fear, but she'd always wondered if dragons could pick people up. "Freddie, Freddie, put me on your back! Then I can say I rode a dragon!"
He rolled his eyes, but slowly put her down on his back. Careful not to scoot back onto his wings, she leaned forward and wrapped her arms around his neck. "Promise me, one day you'll take me up into the sky? Please? It'll be even better, and more exciting, and it'll help me feel like I’m flying."
Freddie grunted, and Daisy patted his neck. "I'll take that as a yes."
"C-can I try?"
Daisy sat up, and at the wonder in Emily's eyes, she thought maybe the other girl wasn't so bad. If she learned to love dragon-shifters, they could talk about them together. Sure, her friend Lucy loved dragons, but her mum didn't let her come near them. And there was something different when it came to talking about dragons with someone else who'd seen them in real life, too.
She said, "Crouch down so I can get off and then I'll help Emily up."
Freddie did as she said. Once she slid down his side—loving how smooth and slick the scales were, most definitely better than any slide in a playground—Daisy rubbed his side a few more times before motioning for Emily to come over. "I'll help you get on his back. And don't worry, it's not that scary. He's not much taller than a horse, after all. And I think you said you liked horses once, in a report for school."
Emily nodded and walked to her. "I love h-horses."
Daisy threaded her fingers together and made a little step. "Right, then it's time to sit on a dragon!"
Just as Emily placed a hand on her shoulder and raised her foot, an older boy said, "Freddie, there you are. We have a Code Black. And no, it's not a drill, either. We need to go."
Daisy turned toward the teenager who had the same dark hair as Freddie. She'd seen him in a picture once and knew he was Freddie's older brother, Alfie. "What's a Code Black?"
Alfie looked like he didn't want to say. However, Freddie grunted and Alfie sighed. "Okay, I'll tell your girlfriend if it'll speed things up. It means there might be trouble nearby and we need to head inside Stonefire's walls."
Normally, Daisy would say she wasn't Freddie's girlfriend. That meant holding hands, kissing, and other things she hadn't done. But she forgot all about that and asked, "Trouble? What trouble? Dragon hunters? Dragon Knights? Something even more scary?"
Emily gasped, and Alfie went to the little girl's side. "It's probably nothing. Don't worry. As long as we're inside Stonefire's walls, we'll be safe. I'm going to take you two humans with me. Freddie, shift back quickly and get dressed. We'll be at the camp's front entrance, near your group's designated bus."
Daisy took one last long look at Freddie, memorizing his dragon form, and said, "Hurry, Freddie. I don't want them to leave without you."
He nodded, and Daisy followed Alfie down a footpath. The entire way to the bus, she avoided asking questions. It was hard, but she knew from other types of drills at school that you could get in trouble for slowing things down.
And with dragon-shifters, horrible people were much worse. She'd even heard about a few of them killing dragons, too.
Not that her mother knew she'd heard those things, but Daisy had found out from her uncle that one time.
So she followed quietly, making sure to take Emily's hand and squeeze it. The dragons would protect them all. Daisy just knew it.
~*~*~
It took almost a full minute for Freddie to change back into his human form. While he knew one day he'd be able to do it in a matter of seconds, he wasn't there yet.
He quickly tugged on his clothes and dashed down the footpath toward the front entrance. As Freddie ran, his dragon spoke up. I wonder what the threat is. It must be big if they're taking us away from the camp.
I don't know. Things have been pretty quiet lately. I just hope it's nothing, and the drill was a mistake. Otherwise, the humans will have to go home.
They reached the front area, and Freddie stopped to look and find the right bus. There were a few—the buses were small, more like vans, and there were about thirty kids total plus a lot of adults—and he wanted to stay with Daisy.
He spotted his brother, Alfie, and raced over to the bus at the far end. His brother waved him on the bus, and he scanned the seats.
As usual, Daisy sat at the back. What was different was that Emily sat next to her this time.
His dragon said, Emily should be our friend, too. She even petted our snout and saw our dragon form.
Maybe. Right now, I just want to stay close to Daisy so we don't get separated. I'm not sure when we'll get to see her again after this.
Freddie walked to the back of the bus and sat on the other side of Daisy. She kept her voice low and asked, "Did you learn anything? Like, what's the threat? Or if this means we'll have to go home?"
He shook his head. "I didn't have a chance to ask anyone. Look out the window. The van next to us is leaving already."
Before Daisy could reply, the tall form of Mr. MacLeod—one of Freddie's teachers—got on the bus and clapped his hands. Every eye went straight to the dragon-shifter. He said clearly, "We're leaving and going back to the clan. Whilst the Stonefire students know what to do during a drill, the human ones don't. Basically, we need to get off the bus and file into the great hall as quickly and smoothly as possible. No wandering off or dawdling. It may be nothing, but we need to be careful."
Freddie was sure that Mr. MacLeod looked at him for that last bit, about wandering off.
Not that he would, of course. Drills on Stonefire were very serious. Freddie had only been a baby at the time, but there had been an attack almost ten years ago. One that had hurt quite a few people. Everyone knew about it. And no one wanted to get hurt if it happened again.
The great hall was the safest place on Stonefire, especially the underground rooms they would probably go to.
Mr. MacLeod spoke again. "Once inside the great hall, follow the directions of the adults. We'll be going downstairs, to the special place we use for drills. If any of the human students have questions, turn to one of the dragon-shifter students near you and ask them first. I need to contact a few people inside the clan for a few minutes."
The door to the bus closed and the engine started. It was less than ten minutes to Stonefire.
And Daisy didn't waste any time asking, "Are the special rooms dark? And wet? And full of rats?"
Emily closed her eyes, and Freddie glared at Daisy. "Of course not. And stop scaring Emily."
"I wasn't trying to scare anyone. I visited some old castle once, and the dungeon was scary, dark, and not somewhere I'd want to spend many, many years alone."
Freddie wanted to ask questions about that place—dragon-shifters didn't get to visit many human castles—but didn't want Daisy to make Emily even more afraid. So he said, "Stonefire's great hall is really nice, and there are plenty of lights. It's not the warmest since the underground rooms were made a long time ago and are stone, but it's warm enough. They even have board games, books, and a few other things for us to do, in case the drill lasts for a really long time."
Daisy leaned toward him. "Will they tell us what's going on? I mean, if there was an attack or something?"
He shrugged. "Probably. Although, most of these drills are just to protect us. Nothing really bad has happened on Stonefire for years. Not like the Scottish clan
, who had an attack not too long ago."
Daisy's eyes widened. "What happened on Lochguard? My mum doesn't let me read articles online or even watch the videos about dragon-shifters. I only get the news if I'm lucky, and staying at my uncle's house in Leeds, which isn't very often."
Freddie kept his voice low, hoping the whispers and chatter of the other students would keep Mr. MacLeod from hearing him. While no one had said they couldn't tell the humans about the attacks on the Scottish dragon clan, Freddie wasn't supposed to scare them. Daisy would be fine, but he wasn't sure about Emily.
His dragon spoke up. Don't worry. I think she'll be fine. If not, then maybe she's not as brave as we thought.
Even though it seemed a hard test for the human, Freddie couldn't resist Daisy all but wiggling in her seat, wanting to hear the story.
He leaned even closer and whispered, "Well, there were some bad dragons who left Lochguard and later came back to hurt them…"
As Freddie told the story of the Lochguard attack at the hands of both dragon-shifters and humans, it also distracted him from worrying if the drill was real, especially since Mr. MacLeod kept frowning and talking a lot on his mobile. And Mr. MacLeod didn't like to talk much unless he was giving a lesson. Or with his mate.
Maybe they'd finally find out what was happening once they were inside the great hall.
Chapter Three
Daisy barely noticed Emily's tight grip on her arm as they entered the huge, underground room below the great hall on Stonefire.
The walls had lots of things hanging on them. Some sort of pictures, but they weren't in frames; instead, they were almost like rugs. Pretty rugs, but still rugs.
And then there were strange, old-looking objects on shelves, too. Pretty cups, large bowls, and even some statues. The statues were her favorite since almost all of them were dragons.
She really wanted to ask if they all had names and if not, could she name the dragon statues? But the students and adults from her bus were still walking, and the teachers had said not to ask questions until they reached their assigned room.
Since Emily's pace slowed even more, she pointed at the statues. "See? Aren't they brilliant? They're in every color and every type of material. Glass, stones, and even some types of things I don't know. Which is your favorite? I like the one made of purple rock."
Emily finally looked up. As Daisy had hoped, the other girl loosened her grip a little and gasped. "They're p-pretty."
"Right? Which is your favorite, though? You must have a favorite. I don't believe people who say they like them all. They just don't want to share their answer."
Emily took a second and pointed to one at the far side. "The mama dragon with her two babies."
Daisy found the statue and nodded. "It's almost clear, but I'm sure if the sun hit it, it'd turn into rainbows. Just like the crystal hanging in my bedroom window back home."
Before Emily could say more—Daisy didn't mind that it took her a while to reply sometimes—they filed into a different, smaller room off the bigger one.
While there weren't statues on the walls, there were still those pretty rugs. Although this time, instead of large battles of dragons, it had lots of big dragons with little ones. Daisy liked the part where they played in a lake, splashing each other.
Mr. MacLeod motioned with his hand for them to sit. She sat in between Freddie and Emily, and tapped her feet. If she needed to stay quiet when she'd rather be asking lots of questions, she had to tap her feet. It was a trick she'd learned at school.
The tall dragonman teacher spoke up, his deep voice echoing a little in the room. "This is where we're staying until the drill is over. If you need the toilet, let either me or Miss Fletcher know, and we'll have another adult take you."
Daisy was ten and didn't need an adult to take her to the toilet. Normally, she'd frown. But maybe she could pretend to use the bathroom and meet a new dragon-shifter. And maybe they'd tell her a little about the drill.
Or, they might answer some questions Freddie would never answer. He sometimes said they were secrets, but she thought he truly didn't know.
But adult dragons should know everything about their kind.
Freddie elbowed her in the side, and she frowned at him. When he motioned toward the teacher, Daisy almost sighed. "They called on me, didn't they?"
Mr. MacLeod replied, "Yes. You're the only one who didn't say she understood the rules."
"Um, I would say yes. But I was busy thinking of what was happening right now, outside. So I didn't hear what they were."
The tall dragon-shifter teacher blinked. Freddie always told her he never did that. But he always did with Daisy. She had to be special.
Mr. MacLeod cleared his throat. "I appreciate your honesty. Basically, stay in here unless you have an adult escort. Can you do that?"
"Oh. Sure. I can do that."
He studied her a second before nodding. "Right, then feel free to use the games and books inside this room. Just because we're underground doesn't mean we can't still have fun at camp and get to know each other."
As the students moved into groups and started talking, Daisy stood so she could face both Freddie and Emily. Since they were stuck underground, she wanted to find a way to make sure she could come back to Stonefire, just in case they had to go home early. That meant using Freddie's idea from earlier. Except now, she wanted to make it true and not just a dream. "I know how we can use this time best."
Freddie searched her gaze, his eyes flashing to slits and back. Normally she'd ask about his dragon, but she didn't want to forget her idea and get distracted. She definitely forgot things easily. "And just listen first, Freddie. Since we're stuck in this room, let's come up with ideas for that party you mentioned, the one for all our parents. That way, we can corner the teachers—there's nowhere else for them to be right now—and convince them it's a good idea."
"Do you think we can do it so quickly?" Freddie asked. "Sometimes the drills don't even last an hour."
She shrugged. "I think so. We'll work extra fast. Our goal is to convince the teachers we have to do this party. That way, even if something bad happens today, we'll get them to promise that we come back for sure."
Freddie stood and nodded. "Right, I agree. We don't need to think of everything, but a few fun things for grown-ups would be good. Maybe two before we talk with the teachers, or maybe just one really brilliant activity."
Excitement made her stomach flip and do somersaults. Daisy looked at Emily. Three people working together would probably make everything go quicker. "Want to help us?"
The other girl stood. "Okay."
Looking around, Daisy saw some paper and pens. "How about you take notes for us, Emily? You're always so much better at writing than I am."
Emily didn't hesitate to get a pen and paper. Daisy knew she loved writing stories. And while their party wasn't a story, it might give her ideas.
Maybe they could even make a story for the parents. Emily could write it, and she and Freddie could act it out. That way, they all helped, and Emily wouldn't get shy or embarrassed about stuttering.
As Daisy told them about her play idea, the other two jumped in with brilliant suggestions. Before long, they had a little play. One that the parents should love.
Now they just needed to corner the teachers and convince them it was good, too.
~*~*~
Once the basics of their play were done, Freddie had been volunteered to talk with Mr. MacLeod since he knew him best. However, he hadn't quite reached his teacher when Stonefire's clan leader, Bram, walked into the room.
He stopped in place and said to his dragon, I don't know if it's good or bad that he's here.
He's not frowning. So I say good.
Since Bram whistled and the room went quiet, Freddie raced back to his seat next to Daisy. Bram said, "First, I want to say thank you for following directions and doing such a good job at staying in here. I know it's not the same as being outside, especially for a dragon—we
love the sky, since all the human students are probably wondering—but sometimes it's necessary. However, I have good news."
"We can go back to the camp?" one little boy asked.
Bram smiled. "Very soon. I'm going to tell you what happened first, and why it was so important to come here, to this room."
At Freddie's side, Daisy leaned forward, her long curly hair tickling his arm. Bram had met Daisy before, so he wondered if he was explaining things to avoid her questions. Because she would most definitely jump up and ask them if he didn't explain everything.
His dragon said, It's not a bad thing. If not for her excitement, Bram may not have thought of the camp. And it'll probably help with our party idea for the grown-ups, too.
I agree, but shush. I want to hear what happened.
His dragon fell silent, and Freddie focused on Bram's words as he spoke again. "There was a drone flying over the human-dragon camp. If you don't know what that is, it's like a small helicopter-type toy that someone controls from far away. While it's a toy for many people, it's been used to hurt some of the dragons on Stonefire before. So we had to be careful."
Daisy asked, "But no one was hurt, right?"
Bram shook his head. "No, Daisy. It was a human news agency, looking for a story. The Department of Dragon Affairs is talking with them now, and no one else should break the rules like that again from that news agency."
"So do we get to stay for four more days, like planned? Please say we can," Daisy begged.
"All of the important parties—the schools, me, and the DDA Director—have agreed to let you go back to camp. There will be more adults watching everyone, and it'll be more important than ever to follow the rules and not break them. Do you think you can do that?"
While Freddie didn't think Bram was asking only Daisy, it kind of sounded that way. Especially since the clan leader also glanced at Freddie.
Bram knew about the afternoon. So much about being careful.
The Dragon Camp (Stonefire Dragons Short Book 2) Page 2