The Storm Dragon

by Paula Harrison

  The moon had come out from behind a cloud, flooding the sky with pale light. A dark shape was moving closer. At first it seemed like another cloud, but as it grew Sophy saw that it was a huge flight of dragons…

  Contents

  Title Page

  Chapter One: The Golden Songbird

  Chapter Two: Crash Landing

  Chapter Three: The Bad Knight

  Chapter Four: Dragon Hunt

  Chapter Five: A Trail of Cake Crumbs

  Chapter Six: Furry Friends

  Chapter Seven: A Whirlwind in the Castle

  Chapter Eight: Dragonweed

  Chapter Nine: The Magic in the Stone

  Copyright

  Chapter One

  The Golden Songbird

  Sophy hurried out of the castle door carrying a heavy wooden chair. She stopped at the bottom of the steps to get her breath back. Her arms ached from lifting things all morning!

  A gentle breeze blew across the castle battlements, ruffling her wavy golden hair.

  “Hurry up, Sophy! There’s no time to dawdle.” Mrs Ricker marched down the steps, her eyes bulging behind her spectacles. “And tie your hair back at once. I don’t want the queen to see you looking so messy.”

  Mrs Ricker was the Royal Housekeeper. She was the kind of person who could spot untidy hair or a dirty apron from miles away!

  “Yes, Mrs Ricker.” Sophy searched her apron pocket for a hair bobble and quickly plaited her hair. Her parents had died when she was little and she’d worked as a maid at Greytowers Castle ever since. She was used to the housekeeper’s strict ways.

  Mrs Ricker went back inside. Sophy picked up the chair again and walked across the wooden drawbridge. The castle was circled by a moat filled with water and the drawbridge was the only way to get across.

  When she reached the other side, Sophy set down the chair and gazed around. Greytowers Castle stood on a hill and the view from the top was amazing.

  The Kingdom of Arramia stretched out in every direction, with its thick forests, bright rivers and majestic, snowy mountains.

  Two planets hung together in the sky, a green one and a smaller purple one. Sophy loved the story of how the planets grew by magic in the air.

  Storytellers visiting the castle would often tell the tale and she would hide behind the door to listen. Sometimes the storytellers would talk of magical animals like unicorns, star wolves, cloud bears and dragons. Then Sophy would promise herself that one day she’d leave the castle and go to look for the creatures in those stories!

  She shaded her eyes to peer into the distance. Beyond the fields was a huge forest that stretched for miles. Away to the west, a silver river wound along the valley. Sophy had heard of many magical animals but she’d never seen any of them! Could there be a star wolf in that forest … or a unicorn by that river? She was too far away to see and it wasn’t likely the creatures would ever come closer to the castle.

  Not everyone was kind to magical animals, although Sophy didn’t really know why. The queen’s favourite knight, Sir Fitzroy, had once declared he thought it was wrong for creatures to have magical powers at all.

  Sighing, Sophy dragged the chair round the corner to the gatehouse. The ground was covered with tables, chairs, wardrobes and boxes. Queen Viola had decided to get rid of some palace furniture, along with the old king’s belongings. King Rupert had died the year before. He’d been a great collector, so there were an awful lot of things the queen wanted to throw away!

  A boy with a freckled face leaped out from behind a wardrobe. “Hey, Sophy!”

  “Tom!” Sophy gasped. “Don’t make me jump like that!”

  “Sorry!” Tom grinned and wiped his hands on his muddy trousers. “Is there much more to fetch?”

  “No, that’s it.”

  “Good. I don’t think I’d be able to fit anything else on the cart.” Tom went off, whistling.

  Sophy walked around the mountain of stuff. The old furniture was going to Ingleton village to be sold at the market. Tom, who worked in the gardens, would be taking it there in the cart. Among the worn-out chairs and tables, Sophy could see the old king’s belongings. There was a pile of rolled-up maps and a huge telescope, and towers of old books with titles like Paths Across the Heskia Mountains. It made Sophy feel sad seeing the unwanted books piled up on the ground.

  Then she noticed something else and caught her breath.

  On the grass, under a table, was a small black chest with a silver lock. Sophy recognised it straightaway. The king had collected crystals and kept them in that chest. She’d only seen them once, when the king had opened the box as she was passing by. She’d never forgotten the dazzling beauty of the stones inside. Surely the queen hadn’t thrown them away?

  Heart thumping, she climbed over two chairs and scrambled under the table to get to the chest. Her apron was really grubby now but she didn’t care. Her fingers struggled with the silver catch but eventually she opened it and pulled up the lid.

  Crystals of every colour from ruby red to emerald green and sapphire blue gleamed inside the box. Sophy took out a deep-blue one and held it in the palm of her hand. This was the colour she’d always imagined the sea might be.

  A fluttering noise made her look up. A golden songbird flew down and perched on the back of a chair, watching her with beady black eyes. Sophy put the blue crystal back, suddenly feeling as if she was doing something wrong. The bird fluffed up its golden feathers and let out a trill of beautiful music.

  Sophy had never heard anything so lovely. She hoped the bird might sing again but instead it fluttered down beside her. Then it hopped on to the edge of the chest and tilted its head, eyeing first Sophy and then the crystals.

  “They’re beautiful, aren’t they?” said Sophy.

  The songbird hopped right into the middle of the crystals and flapped its wings, scattering stones out of the chest and on to the ground.

  “Stop!” cried Sophy, trying to catch the spilling crystals. “We’ll lose them if you do that.”

  But the songbird went on beating its wings, sending more stones flying. At last it stopped and pecked at the remaining crystals. Sophy leaned closer. It was trying to get at something beneath the stones. The bird had a piece of purple material in its beak, and it pulled and pulled. Finally it let go of the cloth and gave an impatient trill. It was almost as though it was asking her to help.

  “What have you found?” Sophy took hold of the purple material and pulled it free of the crystals. She found herself holding a small cloth bag that had something heavy inside. The songbird fluffed its feathers again and watched expectantly.

  Sophy’s fingers tingled as she undid the drawstring bag and reached in. Her hand brushed against rough stone. The purse was full of small pieces of rock. She took one out and studied its lumpy, grey surface.

  The bird gave a final burst of song, then without another look at the bag or Sophy, it flew off.

  Sophy frowned at the rough stone. All that fuss about a bumpy piece of rock? She’d thought the songbird was trying to show her something … but why this?

  A swirl of wind lifted her hair and a shaft of light beamed down on the stone’s rough edges. Sophy felt a strange tumbling in her stomach as if something was about to happen.

  “Sophy!” Mrs Ricker’s footsteps pounded on the drawbridge.

  Sophy quickly crawled out from under the table. She’d lost track of the time! She dropped the little stone into the bag and put the bag in her apron pocket. Then she scooped the crystals back into the chest and climbed over the furniture.

  “Coming, Mrs Ricker!” she called, rushing off towards the castle.

  Chapter Two

  Crash Landing

  Sophy was so busy that afternoon that she didn’t ha
ve time to think about the golden songbird or look inside the little purple bag in her apron pocket. She swept the floor in the Throne Room, polished all the queen’s crowns and helped Cook to decorate a huge chocolate cake that would be served to Her Majesty at teatime.

  After that, Sophy went to gather apples in the orchard. She worked quickly, picking all the ripe fruit on the lower branches and then fetching a ladder to reach the apples higher up.

  She’d just filled a second basket when she heard shouting on the other side of the garden. The wind suddenly blew strongly, making the apple trees sway. Sophy’s ladder rocked too and she held on tight to keep her balance.

  A purple shape zoomed overhead and a terrible screech sent a shiver down her back. The awful cry ended in a thump followed by the sound of cracking branches. Something had hit one of the apple trees!

  Sophy quickly climbed down the ladder and hurried through the orchard. Broken branches lay on the ground not far away and leaves were floating to the floor. Setting down her basket, she went closer. Had a bird crashed into the tree? It must have been a pretty big one to cause so much damage – maybe a raven or an eagle. The poor thing could be badly hurt.

  As she got nearer, she saw that half of the tree’s branches were snapped off and there was a long black mark across its trunk. Something wriggled under one of the broken branches and a puff of grey dust drifted into the air.

  Sophy spun round to call for help but a whimpering noise stopped her. That didn’t sound like a bird at all! Her heart began to race. Maybe that puff of grey wasn’t dust at all. Maybe it was smoke. An amazing thought popped into her head as she crept right up to the damaged tree.

  Hardly daring to breathe, she crouched down and lifted up the broken branch. The creature hiding underneath was a purple colour. Its skin looked soft but it had bumpy ridges running down its back and along its tail. Another puff of smoke rose from its nostrils as it coughed. Then it rolled over on to four clawed feet, shook its web-like wings and looked at Sophy with wide amber eyes.

  Sophy knew what it was. She’d listened carefully to many tales about these magical creatures.

  This was a dragon.

  “Are you real?” Sophy whispered, reaching out to touch the creature.

  The dragon gave a snort of alarm and jumped backwards. Its amber eyes narrowed, fixing on Sophy. A gust of wind rustled the leaves on the trees.

  “It’s all right! I won’t hurt you,” Sophy said gently. The creature was smaller than she’d thought a dragon would be – a little shorter than the gardener’s dog. The roundness of its cute purple snout made it look a bit like a puppy.

  The dragon crept towards her and sniffed her hand, swishing its long purple tail.

  “That’s it – I won’t hurt you,” Sophy repeated.

  The dragon came even closer, till she could feel its warm breath on her face. Then it gave her cheek a long slobbery lick and sat back on its haunches.

  Sophy laughed and tried to wipe off the slobber. She glanced at the broken apple tree. “I guess you didn’t mean to land here. I wonder why you crashed.”

  The little dragon sniffed the air and then tried to stretch out its webbed wings, but its left one wouldn’t straighten. It tried again, but the left wing dangled uselessly by its side. At last it gave up and a large tear rolled out of its eye and dripped on to the ground.

  “You poor thing – you’re injured!” cried Sophy. “Does it really hurt?”

  The little dragon sank to the ground, still crying. Sophy patted its bumpy back, wishing she knew what to do. The creature’s sobbing was mixed with a dragonish growling – as if it was trying to talk to her. The wind rose again, bending the trees and sending leaves skittering along the ground.

  “Oh dear! I wish I knew how to help you,” said Sophy. “It must have been horrible crashing like that.” A lump came to her throat. Kneeling down, she threw her arms around the creature and kissed its pointy ears.

  The dragon stopped sobbing. When Sophy drew back she realised her apron pocket felt very warm. She reached inside for the little bag of stones she’d almost forgotten about. When she lifted it out, she knew at once that something strange was happening.

  Fingers trembling, she opened the bag and poured the rough, grey stones on to the ground. One of them wasn’t grey any longer. It had turned a deep, glowing orange – the exact same colour as the dragon’s eyes.

  Sophy picked it up and watched the stone grow brighter in the palm of her hand. It became hotter too – so hot she didn’t think she could hold it any more. Yet somehow she didn’t want to let go…

  Crack! The stone broke into two pieces.

  The orange glow faded, until the two parts of the stone were grey and ordinary again. Except… Sophy looked closer. The stone was hollow. Inside each part was a tiny cave filled with purple crystals. She gazed at the two pieces of rock in turn, studying the little forest of crystals inside. They glittered in the sunlight like hidden treasure.

  “It’s really beautiful!” she said to herself.

  “Pretty!” agreed the dragon.

  Sophy’s mouth dropped open. “What did you say?”

  “It’s pretty!” repeated the dragon, but then his eyes welled with tears again. “But my wing hurts.” He tried to flap his crooked wing.

  Sophy took a moment to get her breath back. “You’re talking!” she gasped. “That’s amazing! I think this stone must be magic.”

  The creature blinked and forgot to cry. “Well, it is very shiny!”

  Sophy smiled.

  “Maybe you see magic all the time but it’s never happened to me before! I’m Sophy.”

  “So-fee!” said the dragon, trying out the name. Then he coughed and a little flame shot out of his mouth. “My name’s Cloudtwister, but everyone calls me Cloudy for short. I’m a storm dragon.”

  Chapter Three

  The Bad Knight

  “A storm dragon?” Suddenly Sophy realised why it had become so windy in the orchard. “Are you doing that?” She pointed to the swirling leaves.

  Cloudy nodded, pleased. “I’m still learning, though. I can only make little breezes!”

  “Oh, so you’re a young dragon!” That must be why Cloudy was so small, Sophy realised. He was just a baby.

  Cloudy pricked up his ears. “What’s that noise?”

  There were voices not far away and the clanking of armour. Sophy remembered the shouting she’d heard just before the dragon crash-landed. “I think someone must have seen you fall into the trees and they’re coming to look for you.” She bit her lip. “Oh dear! I should tell you … not everyone likes dragons.”

  Cloudy’s eyes widened in alarm and a sharp gust of wind buffeted round them. “My wing hurts and I can’t fly away. Help me, Sophy!”

  The men’s voices were getting closer. Sophy tried to think quickly. “Don’t worry! I’ll find somewhere for you to hide until they’ve gone, but you have to stay really quiet. Can you do that?”

  “Yes!” Cloudy’s purple tail swished eagerly. “Very quiet!”

  Sophy put the hollow stone in her pocket and scanned the orchard. Where could she hide him? There was nothing here except apple trees. “I’m going to pick you up. Are you ready?”

  She took hold of Cloudy and held him tight. It was like carrying a squishy puppy with wings. The dragon’s feet dangled below her waist and his breath felt warm on her cheek. She hoped he wouldn’t cough or sneeze. If he did, she might end up with scorched hair and that would be really hard to explain to Mrs Ricker!

  Sophy carried him back to the tree where she’d been picking apples and carefully climbed the ladder. At the top, she pushed the leaves apart and squeezed Cloudy on to a branch. The little dragon perched in the crook where the branch joined the tree trunk, completely hidden by leaves.

  “There you go! Try not to make a sound,” she whispered. “I’ll come back to get you when it’s safe.”

  Climbing down, she gathered up the rest of the stones and the bag, which she’d left on t
he ground. She put everything into her pocket, taking one more look at the two pieces of stone with their crystals before she hid them with the others.

  Heavy footsteps sounded and three men marched through the trees. Sir Fitzroy, dressed in silver armour, arrived first with two guards following behind.

  Sophy stifled a gasp. Why did it have to be him? Everyone knew Sir Fitzroy hated creatures with magic. Cook had told her that long ago, when the knight was a boy, a unicorn had injured him with its horn and he had detested magical animals ever since. Sophy couldn’t help thinking that an animal as lovely as a unicorn wouldn’t have hurt anyone without a very good reason!

  “You there!” snapped Sir Fitzroy, looking down his long nose. “What are you doing?”

  “I’m just picking apples, sir,” Sophy told him. “Cook wants them for a pie.”

  “Then why are you standing a long way from your apple basket and right next to a damaged tree?” said Sir Fitzroy. “Tell me everything you’ve seen or you’ll be punished!”

  Sophy swallowed. Sir Fitzroy was known as the meanest knight in Arramia and the way he glared at people made her shiver. She mustn’t be scared, she told herself. She’d promised Cloudy that she’d help him and nothing was going to stop her doing that.

  “I didn’t see anything at all,” she said firmly. “I was over there picking apples and I heard a noise. Then I came down the ladder and saw that this tree was broken.”

  Sir Fitzroy leaned forward, his eyebrows drawn low. “You mean to tell me that you were right here and you didn’t see the beast that caused this destruction?” He turned away before she could answer. “Honestly, girl! You need to learn to keep your eyes open.”