"She's really going to try my nerves," Jenna whispered to Crystal. "I'm not sure how long I can put up with her. Arthur told me she wanted to bring her bodyguards with her, but fortunately he put his foot down. She's such a baby."
Crystal giggled and put her finger to her mouth, noticing Arthur frowning at the pair of them. Daisy ran back out of their apartment, smiling warmly at them all. She followed Crystal and Jenna into a court yard, and removed her clothes and transformed slowly. Hers was the most startling of transformations; it was hard to believe that the shy, nervous girl and the dragon were one and the same. As a dragon she was indistinguishable from any other Red Dragon, and her lack of confidence seemed to vanish along with her human form. Above their heads, they could see Seth and Arthur circling, and the three of them took off and rose up to join them before starting the long journey south.
It didn't take long to leave the capital behind them. Arthur led the way, having carefully studied and memorised the route, a task that no one else could be bothered to do. This was the farthest that any of them had flown on their own before, and they were all both nervous and excited by the journey.
None of the five of them were particularly experienced fliers, although Crystal realised that she was the slowest of the group, but it didn't seem to bother anyone, as they were enjoying the trip. It was late in the year, and although it was a sunny day it was a little cold, even more so outside of the warmth of Furnace, but the temperature didn't bother them as dragons.
They flew for hours, not stopping for lunch, eager to get to their destination. Eventually they could see the valley in the distance, Arthur being the first to spot the familiar shape. It wasn't really a valley, more of a canyon—a great hole in the ground with steep cliffs surrounding the lush vegetation at the bottom. It was much bigger than Crystal expected, and as they descended she realised that the cliffs were hundreds of feet high and impossible to climb, which explained why no one lived there. Arthur guided them over the valley, gliding above the dense vegetation at the north of the valley and following a slow moving river that ran from north to south. The vegetation began to thin, and grassy clearings appeared along with sparkling blue lakes. Arthur touched down in a clearing near one of the lakes.
This will be perfect, he told them. There's a stream just over there so we can get fresh water, and we're near the lake for swimming. We'll set up camp just by these trees; they'll give us some shade.
Won't it be too cold for swimming? Crystal asked. It's nearly winter.
It's warmer down here in this valley, Arthur replied. Much warmer. You can't feel it as well as a dragon, but once you transform you'll see how warm it is. I think you'll be desperate for a swim after a couple of hours in this sun.
Crystal put her bag down and slipped behind the trees to transform. When she emerged, she found that the others had done the same.
"It is warm," she agreed. "I wonder how hot this place is in summer."
"Very hot, I'd imagine," Arthur replied. "But enough about that. I'm starving. Time for lunch!"
***
Back in Furnace, at about the same time that they landed, John came into the library and met the Keeper of Records at his desk.
"Hi, John. How are you?" the Keeper said warmly, putting down his work. "Where have you been all day?"
"I've been shopping, mainly. Don't you remember, you gave me a list of things you needed?" John put down the heavy sack that he had been carrying. "I think I have everything you asked for."
"Oh, that's right. But you didn't have to do that today. You have a long weekend; you should be enjoying it with your friends."
John nodded mechanically, not wishing to invite pity by pointing out his complete lack of friends.
"One of your friends left a note actually. Well, he said he was the brother of two of your friends. Tall fellow, had a military look to him?"
"Prince Gerald?" John asked, a little surprised.
"Ah, Gerald, that was his name. Didn't realise he was a prince. I probably should have known that. Although you would have thought that he would have introduced himself as Prince Gerald rather than just Gerald."
"Daisy and Arthur's brother," John replied cheerfully, remembering the tall, charming older brother of his classmates. Daisy had introduced him once when he had met her after school. Unlike Arthur, he had been genuinely friendly to him. "Heir to the Western Principality. What was the message?"
"Here it is," the Keeper replied, pulling a folded piece of paper from his pocket. "I haven't read it, of course."
John took the folded note and opened and read the hastily scribbled message:
We're going camping. To your valley, with Crystal, Jenna and Seth. It would be nice if you could come, if you can find a tent. I think we're going to the south of the valley. I'm sure you can find us. Hope I see you there.
–Daisy
"How long ago did he leave this note?" John asked, the colour having drained from his face.
"Quite a few hours ago. He didn't say much. Just asked for me to give it to you and then he wandered into the library to have a look around. Anything wrong?"
"Yes, they're being incredibly foolish, and are going to get themselves into trouble unless I stop them. I have to go. I'll probably not be back till tomorrow at the earliest."
"Ah, good," the Keeper replied absentmindedly. "You should spend more time with your friends." The Keeper turned back to his work, not noticing John's worried expression.
John quickly left the Keeper, scurrying to his room, where he hastily packed a few things before going to the balcony, leaping off and transforming. He had to get them out of that valley before nightfall!
***
"What's up, Daisy?" Arthur asked her as they walked through the woods. It was getting late in the day, and they were gathering wood to build a campfire. "You seem a little down."
Daisy smiled at him sadly. "Please don't be cross, but I invited John. I asked Gerald to give him a note telling him where we were going. I hoped he would come, but I guess he didn't get the message in time, or he would have been here by now."
Arthur shook his head, frowning at her. "You really shouldn't have done that, Daisy. Jenna invited us, and she made it clear that she didn't want to invite John. It wasn't your decision to make. Why can't you try and get along with her?"
"I know, but I feel sorry for him. I don't understand why no one likes him. He's always so nice to me. I thought they might get on better with him if they got to know him outside of school."
"Maybe. But if he had come it would have been awkward for everyone, especially John. It would have been obvious to him that the others didn't want him here and he would have been very embarrassed."
"You're right; I didn't think it through..."
"And Jenna and Crystal would have been furious," Arthur added. "You heard what they said earlier."
"Huh, well they're just being mean. I don't understand why he tries so hard with them," she added bitterly.
Arthur smiled at the obvious jealousy, but wisely chose not to comment. "Well, you must forget about it now. The sun has almost set so he can't be coming. He probably didn't get your note in time." Arthur spoke too soon, for just as he finished speaking they heard a loud screech above them and a large shadow briefly passed over them before John landed in front of them, transforming instantly to stand facing them, his clothes miraculously wrapping themselves around him as they always did.
"John! You saw my note!" Daisy said happily, having immediately forgotten all that Arthur had just said to her.
"I did, but not soon enough. Where are the others and where are you camped?" His voice carried an urgent, worried tone.
Daisy, however, didn't notice his tone; she was overjoyed to see him. "Well, Seth is preparing dinner and the girls were down at the lake having a swim. The water is lovely and warm. Our campsite is just over there. There's a lovely little grassy clearing that we've found. We're going to build a campfire. Do you want to help us gather the firewood?"
"Yes, quite a few. It was very sunny when we arrived so we camped in the shade. I wish you'd arrived earlier. You could have been our guide," Daisy gushed breathlessly.
"I would have guided you away from this place had I arrived in time, but it's too late now. Go back to the camp and find a tall tree to climb. We need to be high off the ground. Go quickly. I will fetch the others."
"Why? What's wrong—" Daisy's words died on her lips as John was already transforming, and within moments he was airborne. She looked at her brother in askance.
Arthur frowned, watching him hurry towards the lake. "I don't know, but he's not one to play games. Something's clearly wrong. Let's do as he says and get back to the camp."
Daisy nodded, and they hurried back with the little firewood that they had collected.
***
Back at the camp, Crystal was drying herself by their fire while Seth was starting to prepare their dinner. Crystal had left Jenna getting changed by the lake.
"I would have thought you'd get more than that," Seth complained, looking disappointedly at their meagre offering. "Were you planning on having a cold meal?"
"Forget that now," Arthur told him, dropping the wood on the ground. "Get some rope. We need to climb a tree. A tall one."
Seth added some of the wood to their dwindling campfire. "Climb a tree? Bit dark for that now, isn't it? The sun will set in a minute. Anyway, what about dinner? I'm starving."
Arthur rummaged in his tent before emerging with a length of rope. He looked about for a suitable tree. "Just forget about all that for the moment. Help me with this, will you?" Arthur attached one end of the rope to a piece of wood before unsuccessfully trying to throw it over a high branch.
"Here, let me do that. You'll never do it like that," Seth scoffed, taking the rope from him. He succeeded on his second attempt. "There you go, although I'd have picked a tree with lower branches myself."
"Being high is the point," Arthur replied as he started to secure the rope. "We need to climb up this tree."
"What is the point? You haven't explained to me yet why we're not having dinner and why our fire is so pitiful."
"John is here," Daisy explained. "He told us that we need to climb a tree."
"John is here?" Jenna's voice sounded from across the clearing. Jenna was walking across the grass towards them, her hair still wet from bathing. She looked angry, and was glaring accusingly at Daisy.
"He just arrived," Arthur told her. "He said he was going to find you and bring you back here."
"He told us we had to climb a tree," Daisy added, unwisely drawing attention back to herself.
"Well, I don't care what he told you to do," Jenna replied pointedly. "What I want to know is why he's here and who invited him."
Daisy's face burned bright red, and she sheepishly looked at the ground.
"I might have known," Jenna declared slowly. She glared furiously at her. "I should have known you couldn't keep your mouth closed."
Crystal glanced at Arthur, but for once, Arthur wasn't going to defend his sister, and Jenna pressed her temporary advantage.
"So. What have you got to say for yourself? I made it pretty clear I didn't want him here, and neither does Crystal. Were you just trying to spoil it for the rest of us?"
A low distant growl saved Daisy from having to reply.
"What was that?" Crystal asked quickly, spinning around to face the direction of the sound.
"Nothing that can trouble five dragons," Jenna replied irritably, still glaring at Daisy, who was squirming in front of her.
"It's almost night," Arthur reminded her. "We aren't dragons now."
A second growl came from a different spot. The group looked about uneasily. "This seems like a really good time to climb a tree," Seth commented anxiously. "Who's first?"
"You go," Arthur replied. "You can help the girls when they reach the top."
"I can climb perfectly well without his help, thank you," Jenna stated indignantly. "And I don't think we're agreed about spending the night in a tree quite yet."
They all heard a much louder growl, which made them all jump. "No, I think we're agreed," Crystal said nervously. "Seth, get up that rope."
She watched Seth climb the rope, which he did quickly before hauling himself from the rope to the thick branch.
"Ok, so who's next—"
Seth's words were cut off by a loud snarl, much nearer now, and they all turned to face the source of the noise: a large, menacing cat-shaped creature that had emerged at the edge of the clearing, glaring threateningly at them. It was a tailless, muscular beast, about the size of a small horse and covered in short, dark red fur. It looked like it was powerful enough to trouble them while dragons, let alone as unarmed humans. When it snarled again, it revealed two vicious-looking fangs.
"Quickly, Crystal. Climb the rope," Seth instructed, his voice anxious. Crystal was frozen to the spot, staring in terror at the beast, so Jenna grabbed the rope ahead of her and began to climb as fast as she could. She had barely left the ground when a second, slightly smaller cat emerged. Jenna was dangling from the rope between her friends and the two beasts, struggling to climb to safety.
She was never going to make it. Suddenly and without any warning, the two cats launched their attack. The larger one ignored Jenna and raced straight towards Crystal, Daisy and Arthur, while the smaller one sprinted towards Jenna, moving surprisingly quickly for such a large and heavy creature. She desperately tried to climb out of reach, but the beast was just too fast. It leapt up towards her, front paws outstretched with long dark claws protracted and ready for the kill. Out of nowhere, a large red, scaly foot appeared, striking the creature mid-air and sending it careering into a bush and out of sight. It was John, but as a dragon, despite the sun having already set!
The larger cat hadn't noticed John appear and continued to charge towards the others. It had almost reached them when John caught hold of its rear left leg in his jaws, stopping it less than a body length short from reaching Daisy. It swiped at the girl with its massive paw, but she was just out of its reach.
The creature snarled loudly in fury and turned its attention to John. It was smaller than he was, but was heavily built and very angry. The cat spun about on the spot and swiped at John's head. John let go of the creature's leg and quickly withdrew his head, dodging the cat's counter attack, but the cat struck again and managed to catch John's leg with its long dark claws, leaving deep scratches across his red scales.
"Quick, Crystal!" Seth called frantically. "Climb the rope!" Her cousin had reached the top and Seth was helping her onto the branch. Crystal ran, grabbed the rope and frantically climbed for all that she was worth. When she reached the top, gasping for air, Seth lifted her up on to the safety of the branch. Still gasping, she followed Jenna onto the branch she was sitting on, watching the chaos unfold below them. John and the larger cat were still circling each other, engaged in a vicious scrap and trading strikes with their claws, while Daisy and Arthur were still on the ground at the bottom of the rope. John seemed slower than normal, and his feline opponent was surprisingly agile and had landed some nasty scrapes on John's forelimbs. Crystal could see the deep puncture wounds on the creature's rear left leg where John had bit him. The contest looked much more even than she expected; why didn't John just incinerate the thing?
Daisy was now climbing the rope, and was about halfway up when she screamed in terror. The second valley cat had summoned enough courage to return and was sprinting to reach her. This time John was too far away to intercept the attack with his claws; instead he was forced to use his only other weapon, and shot a ball of fire at the creature. It screamed in pain as the fireball engulfed its head, and collided with the rope just below where Daisy was climbing, tossing her in the air. Daisy screamed again as she lost her grip and started to fall but John was fast enough to catch her. He turned around just in time to hit the larger cat
with a second burst of flame before it was able to take advantage of his distraction. The cat caught the fireball in the face and howled loudly in pain before rolling around on the ground, trying to put out the flames with its paws.
With both cats now distracted, John leapt into the air, flapping his wings to get a bit more height before depositing Daisy on a branch. He dropped back to the ground, and then leapt yet higher again, transforming in mid-air before landing on the same branch as Daisy. His landing seemed to lack his usual grace and control, and he fumbled with his clothing, allowing Crystal to catch a glimpse of more of him than she wanted to see. John sat down heavily next to Daisy, who was now in floods of tears from shock. John quickly put his arm around her to comfort her, and pulled her close to him. Arthur, in the meanwhile, had caught hold of the rope and climbed to safety, pulling the rope up as soon as he reached the branches as if the cats might be able to use it to reach them high up in the tree.
For a moment, everyone was quiet except for Daisy, who was sobbing hysterically into John's shoulder. He sat motionless, his eyes closed, with his arm around the frightened girl who clung to him. Seth sat on a higher branch next to Arthur, both of them breathing heavily and flushed red from exertion. Crystal and Jenna gazed down at the quiet darkness below them, searching for signs of the beasts.
"Have they gone?" Crystal whispered.
Jenna turned to her. "What are you asking me for? I don't even know those things were. Do you know what they were?"
"I don't know. Maybe some sort of cat? I do hope they can't climb."
"Whatever it was I hate it," Jenna declared. "It came that close to killing me! John should have just fried it; that's what I would have done. They shouldn't be allowed to live here."
Crystal murmured her agreement and gazed down at the ground again, expecting to see the creatures reappear. The tree they were in was huge, and they were very high up, so they should be safe.
Becoming a Dragon Page 23