Silver Hill

by Catherine Cooper

  ‘She doesn’t believe us,’ Charkle called to Nora. ‘And she won’t tell us her name.’

  ‘How does he know it’s a she?’ Camelin whispered to Jack.

  ‘Shhh!’ said Nora, ‘I need to think. Tell her we’re here to set her free, tell her we can take her to another land where she’ll be safe and can have a whole mountain to herself, tell her…’ Nora stopped. She didn’t seem to know what else to say.

  ‘TELL HER WHAT?’ roared the dragon.

  Nora swallowed hard and stepped out from the safety of the tunnel. She looked directly at the dragon and shouted as loudly as she could.

  ‘We’re sorry for what’s happened to you but not all creatures are cruel, some are kind and care for others. We are here to help if you’ll let us.’

  The dragon lowered its head and sniffed the air around Nora.

  ‘And what creatures, who smell like dragonettes but aren’t, would care about me?’

  Nora bowed low.

  ‘Eleanor Druid, Seanchai, Keeper of Secrets and Ancient Rituals and Guardian of the Sacred Grove.’

  Elan stepped forward and also bowed low and introduced herself.

  ‘Elan, Queen of the Fair Folk and Guardian of the Gateways of Annwn.’

  Both Nora and Elan looked at Jack. He bowed but didn’t know what to say. Nora smiled and Elan spoke to the dragon.

  ‘Jack Brenin, Friend to All and rightful King of Annwn.’

  The dragon roared again but this time it didn’t sound as threatening.

  ‘You’ll never be able to free me so you might as well go away and leave me be.’

  ‘At least let us try,’ said Nora. ‘If we can, will you help us?’

  ‘In return for my freedom I’ll help you but you’ll have to open the padlocks that chain me first.’

  As the dragon stood, Jack could see great manacles, secured by padlocks, around her hind legs. The manacles were attached to a huge chain, which was threaded through a metal ring that had been sunk into the rock. Nora stood in front of one padlock and breathed deeply before aiming her wand at the keyhole. Red, green and yellow sparks flew from the tip of her wand and disappeared into the hole. She stood back and waited but the lock remained closed. She aimed at the metal ring on the floor but the sparks hit it and bounced off.

  ‘I don’t understand,’ said Nora. ‘Perhaps if we all try together.’

  ‘It’s useless,’ the dragon told her. ‘I’ve tried melting the metal and my breath is as fiery as they come. Unless you have the right key you’ll never open it.

  Nora went over to the padlock and examined it.

  ‘Come and help me,’ she shouted to Jack and Elan.

  No one else moved out of the entrance of the tunnel but they all craned their necks to try to see what was happening. Jack and Elan moved slowly around the dragon towards Nora. Jack’s heart was racing, at any minute the dragon might lose its temper and strike out at them.

  ‘Concentrate and imagine the lock opening,’ she told them.

  All three pointed their wands and the light from the sparks lit the chamber but the lock remained closed.

  ‘I told you it was useless. The padlocks won’t open without the key.’

  ‘Key!’ said Jack. ‘I’m so sorry Nora, I forgot to tell you, so much has happened and I didn’t mean to keep it but I’ve found your special key. You know, the magical one, the one that opens any lock.’

  Nora laughed.

  ‘There isn’t a special key, that’s something Camelin thinks I’ve got, it’s not real.’

  ‘But it is. Look!’

  Jack pulled out the silver chain. A tiny key, next to the heart-shaped locket, dangled from the middle. An ear splitting sound filled the chamber and Jack realised the dragon was laughing.

  ‘Look at the size of the key, you don’t really think it’s going to open great padlocks like these do you?’

  ‘I do,’ said Jack.

  Nora and Elan also looked at him in disbelief.

  ‘It will change shape to fit any lock. It’s done it before so I don’t see why it won’t do it again. It’s magic, watch.’

  Jack took off the chain and pointed the key towards the great padlock. He concentrated hard and with each step he took nearer to the keyhole, the small key grew. He could feel it tingling in his fingers. The metal sparked and it began to change shape rapidly. When he reached the padlock the tiny key had grown bigger than his hand. Everyone was silent as he slipped the key into the lock. A loud click echoed around the chamber as the lock sprang open; the dragon shook her hind leg and freed it from the chain. Jack moved swiftly to the other padlock and released her other leg.

  ‘Well that was a surprise,’ said Nora. ‘We’ll talk about it later, but now we need to find a way to escape.’

  ‘That won’t be a problem if you can find my tail shield,’ the dragon informed them as she shook her legs and brought her tail around for them to see.

  ‘Tail shield!’ said Nora. ‘You mean they exist? They’re not a myth?’

  ‘What’s a tail shield?’ asked Camelin.

  Charkle flew over to the tunnel.

  ‘Don’t you know anything? A tail shield gives dragonairs invisibility. How do you think they survived for so long without people seeing them?’

  ‘I told you about them,’ said Jack. ‘There was a whole chapter in the Dragon Lore book, a dragonair is given one at birth, it has its name inscribed on it. Only dragon’s breath can reveal the name on the shield. Once it’s in place, on the tip of its tail, the dragon becomes invisible.’

  ‘Do you have your tail shield?’ asked Elan.

  The dragon sighed and the force of her breath sent the rats rolling backwards down the tunnel. She slumped down in a heap on the floor and started to explain.

  ‘Dragon’s have always lived inside Silver Hill. This cavern was home to my family. A long time ago we were free and happy and of course, with our tail shields, invisible to the outside world. I’m the only one left now. I never expected creatures to invade the hill. They captured me, tethered me with those cruel chains and stole my hoard. It took my family hundreds of years to collect all the silver, gold and jewels. It was easy to protect when there were lots of us. I got careless when my family had all gone and I used to fly around the caverns inside the hillside. One day, when I returned to my lair, the hoard was gone. The Spriggans had taken it down one of their tiny tunnels where I couldn’t follow. My tail shield was in the hoard along with every tail shield that ever belonged to my family. Find the hoard and I’ll be able to escape. Without my tail shield I can never leave this place. They might have melted the shields down by now and made them into something else. Even if you could find the tail shields you’d need to find the right one. I can’t get into the tunnels and it takes dragon’s breath to reveal the name.’

  The dragon sighed again and its eyelids drooped.

  Jack saw movement from the tunnel entrance. Motley stepped out and bowed to the dragon.

  ‘We are at your service. If there’s something needs finding, rest assured, my Night Guard will find it.’

  Snook flew over to Nora.

  ‘I know where the Spriggans keep their gold, we only need to know the right name, I’m sure we can find it. We won’t have to bring them all out. If the rats can find them we can breathe on them and reveal the names.’

  A great tear fell from the dragon’s eye and splashed onto the floor.

  ‘You really mean it? You’re all going to help me?’

  ‘We are,’ said Nora. ‘Once we’re out of here we can take you into the Otherworld, you’ll be free and can have your own mountain but we really could do with your help once we get to Annwn.’

  ‘Free me and I’ll help you in any way I can.’

  Motley coughed.

  ‘Your name?’

  ‘Ember Silver Horn the Magnificent,’ the dragon replied.

  ‘Right men,’ commanded Motley, ‘let the search begin.’

  ESCAPE

  Motley began organisin
g them into three groups, each led by a dragonette.

  ‘Jack, you can go with Fergus, Berry and Raggs. Camelin join Morris, Lester and Podge. Midge, Timmery and the Dorysk can come with me.’

  The other rats fell in behind the Night Guard. Before Jack joined his group he pointed the huge key he was holding at the small keyhole on his locket. The key shrank immediately and once the chain was safely round his neck again he followed the rest. The dragonettes swooped down and each collected one of the big crystals to light the way. Snook flew over to the head of Motley’s group, Norris joined Camelin, and Charkle circled in front of Jack.

  ‘Follow me,’ shouted Snook as he set off at speed down one of the smaller tunnels.

  The rats were able to scamper quickly after the little dragonette but it wasn’t long before Jack and Camelin were struggling to keep up. The further behind they got, the darker the tunnel became. Soon it would be pitch black.

  ‘Any idea why we had to come?’ asked Camelin.

  ‘To help,’ panted Jack even though he couldn’t see what use they were going to be.

  ‘You might have brought a crystal with you,’ Camelin grumbled. ‘That would have been helpful.’

  Jack lifted his wand and made the tip glow. There wasn’t much light but there was enough to see that the small tunnel was about to branch in three different directions.

  ‘Oh great!’ said Jack. ‘I’ve no idea which way to go now.’

  ‘But I do,’ a tiny voice said from above.

  Jack looked up and saw Charkle flitting around overhead.

  ‘Motley sent me back to look for you. I’m supposed to tell you how important it is to keep up with the rest.’

  ‘It’s easy if you’ve got four legs or the tunnel’s wide enough for you to fly through,’ complained Camelin.

  ‘It’s not that far, this way.’

  They followed Charkle into the middle tunnel and soon Jack could hear lots of scampering feet and Motley giving commands. The tunnel ended in a small cave. Even in the dim light, the contents sparkled and twinkled. The cave was filled with gold, silver and jewels. The pile was so high it almost reached the top of the cave.

  ‘It’s vast, it’s going to take ages to search through all this,’ groaned Camelin.

  ‘It’s going to be noisy rummaging around. What if someone hears?’ said Jack.

  ‘Camelin, keep watch,’ Motley ordered.

  ‘Do this, do that,’ mumbled Camelin as he shuffled back to the opening.

  Jack couldn’t begin to estimate how much the contents of the cave would be worth. He sank knee deep in a pile of silver coins as he tried to make his way over to the middle.

  ‘What we’re looking for is huge,’ Jack told them as he tried to describe what he’d seen in Nora’s Dragon Lore book. ‘It’s a triangular piece of gold, one that will fit over the tip of Ember’s tail. It shouldn’t be too hard to find something that big.’

  They began to try to dig down through the coins but it was impossible to make a space. The mound slid and moved each time they moved an object. Jack could see coins of all shapes and sizes, jewellery, plates, cups and strange objects, but nothing like the size and shape they needed. The rats frantically tried to burrow into the hoard but their tiny paws weren’t big enough to move the heavy objects. It occurred to Jack that he might not be able to lift the tail shield even if they could find it.

  ‘This is useless,’ panted Fergus, ‘the pile’s too big. It’ll take us weeks to get down to the bottom.’

  Jack knew the little rat was right. He’d come to the same conclusion himself. The only place the great tail shields could be was on the bottom. He was about to go and tell Motley they needed Nora’s help when a sudden thought struck him. He’d been faced with an almost impossible task before, when he’d looked inside the key drawer in the herborium. He’d asked for the right key and it had come to the top of the pile. Maybe he could try to do the same again. It was worth a try.

  ‘Motley,’ he called, ‘I’ve got an idea.’

  Jack made his way over to the left-hand side where Motley’s group were busy searching. All the rats looked tired. Jack held up his wand.

  ‘Can I try something?’

  ‘Step aside men,’ Motley ordered.

  By the time Jack reached the mouth of the cave everyone was behind him.

  ‘Is it time to go?’ asked Camelin.

  ‘No not yet,’ replied Jack, ‘I want to try something and if this doesn’t work Timmery will have to go and fetch Nora.’

  Jack concentrated hard. He visualised the size and shape of the triangular shields and directed all his energy into the tip of his wand.

  ‘Where are the tail shields?’ he commanded.

  A bright light from the end of his wand lit the chamber and when the light faded the precious hoard began to erupt. Gold coins rose into the air like a fountain. Jack watched in amazement as the pile began to ripple until the tips of gigantic triangular objects appeared. The little dragonettes flew around the cave.

  ‘Look!’ cried Norris, ‘over here.’

  ‘And here,’ called Snook.

  ‘They’re everywhere,’ said Charkle, ‘we just need to find the right one.’

  Jack hoped Ember’s was going to be there. He concentrated again but he couldn’t get the tail shields to rise any higher out of the heap.

  ‘That’s the best I can do,’ he told them.

  ‘Not to worry, not to worry, said Motley as he leapt into action. ‘One at a time men, one at a time, help to pull them out.’

  The rats surrounded the nearest golden object. Some began digging down while the others pulled. Jack went over to help. With a lot of effort they managed to free the triangular piece of gold. Jack stood back to get his breath and looked at the tail shield. It was beautiful. It wasn’t two flat pieces joined together as he’d expected. The side he was looking at had been beautifully worked into a curved shape and engraved with circles. Near the top was a plain solid area but no name was visible.

  Charkle swooped down low.

  ‘Allow me,’ he said as he breathed onto the metal.

  Strange writing began to appear but too faint to read and it soon disappeared again.

  ‘I think you’re all going to have to breathe on it at once,’ called Jack.

  The three little dragonettes hovered above the tail shield and blew a strong steady breath over it.

  ‘Here it comes,’ said Jack excitedly as he watched the strange writing appear. He’d never seen anything like it before. The letters were all capitals, some had more lines than usual but all of them were straight. They looked as if they’d been etched into the gold with a sharp object. Jack wondered if the claw of some dragon had scratched the words on long ago. The words weren’t too hard to decipher, the letters were different from those Jack was used to but not impossible to work out.

  ‘BRYNOG LONG TAIL THE INVINCIBLE,’ Jack read as the letters became clearer.

  ‘Try another one,’ ordered Motley.

  They pulled the next tail shield free and Jack waited for the dragon’s breath to reveal the name.

  ‘WYGRYM SHARP CLAW THE FEARLESS, this isn’t it either,’ called Jack, but he remembered the name. It was this dragon’s shed skin that Nora had used to bind her book.

  The next shield revealed the name ZACYRY JAGGED TOOTH THE MIGHTY and the next PETRYN LONG BEARD THE BRAVE. Jack began to worry that the one they were looking for no longer existed. It was hard work and there were still lots of tail shields to pull out. He could see the rats were tiring.

  ‘What’s this one say?’ asked Motley as he nudged Jack.

  ‘EMBER SILVER HORN THE MAGNIFICENT,’ read Jack. ‘This is it! We’ve found it.’

  A great cheer filled the cave. Motley at once took charge and started giving orders. He directed groups of rats to stand along each side of the shield. He waited until everyone was in position.

  ‘Heave!’ he ordered.

  Jack held the tip and lifted with all his might. The tail shie
ld was heavy but between them they managed to get it off the top of the pile. It was easier once they reached the tunnel and had a flat surface to walk on. Norris and Snook flew at the front with the crystal lights while Charkle and the Dorysk flew behind. Timmery flitted around Jack’s head.

  ‘I can see without the lights, I’ll go on ahead and tell them the good news.’

  Jack felt pleased. They’d found the tail shield and everything was going to be alright. The rats were chattering happily together too as they progressed along the tunnel. Jack hadn’t expected Timmery to return.

  ‘Shhh!’ Timmery cried as loudly as he could. ‘We’ve got to be quiet. The Draygull’s found Pyecroft and the sleeping Spriggans. Nora’s worried we might be discovered. Not a sound and don’t go into the barbecue pit until we know it’s safe.’

  In all the excitement they’d not even thought about the noise they’d been making. Jack began to worry. He hoped the Draygull’s hearing wasn’t as good as a dragon’s. If it was they were in trouble.

  Jack could see light coming from the great cavern not far ahead. He stopped and signalled for the rats to put the tail shield on the ground and then tiptoed to the entrance of the tunnel. He knew if he stayed in the shadow he wouldn’t be seen. Ember was slumped in the centre of the pit. No smoke came out of her nostrils so Jack presumed she was pretending to be asleep. The rest of the cavern was empty. Jack looked at each tunnel entrance in turn to see if he could locate where Nora and Elan were hiding. Everywhere was quiet. Jack began to feel better. Maybe the Draygull was just cross when he found the sleeping Bogie and Spriggans. He might not be suspicious at all.

  An ear-piercing screech came from the tunnel leading to the platform. It filled the cavern and bounced off the rock, the echo lasted long after the screeching stopped. Jack’s heart began pounding. The sound had been terrible. All the hair on the back of his neck stood on end.

  The silence that followed was broken by the sound of running feet. If the Spriggans swarmed into the cavern and searched the tunnels they’d all be discovered. To Jack’s surprise the footsteps stopped and were replaced by loud shouts. Something must have happened to stop the Spriggans getting any closer. The screeching began again and the sound filled the cavern. This time, when the screeching finally died down, there were no pounding footsteps. Jack thought he knew why. The Spriggans must have discovered that all the tunnels were dark. It was pitch black from the great hall to the platform. It wouldn’t matter to the owl-like man, who could probably see in the dark, but it would be a big problem for the Spriggans.