“Where are we heading exactly?” Taine asked.
Ash frowned. He wasn’t quite sure himself. “We’re heading north,” he said, studying the position of the sun in the sky. “Is that the way we should be going, Gwaam?”
“For now, yes,” Gwaam said. “Wizard Zadoc lives in the north-east of the kingdom you call Krell. That is where I escaped from. It’s a much faster journey flying, I can assure you. Once we’re over this mountain we can head east.”
As Ash trudged over the dirt and stones, he glanced down. To his left was a sheer drop into a ravine. To his right, a wall of barren grey cliff. With such a narrow path to follow, there was little room for error.
“Now might be a good time to tell us why you came to Icamore,” Rhyll prompted.
“I did not choose your village,” Gwaam said. “I was simply evading two of Zadoc’s Seekers, which he sent after me when I escaped from his castle.”
Up ahead, Trip stopped, whining uncertainly.
“What is it, boy?” Ash pushed his hair from his face to see better. His breath caught in his throat.
“What’s the hold-up?” Taine demanded.
“Shush!” Ash pointed.
Ahead, the narrow path flared out into a platform of craggy rock overlooking the valley below. At the rear of the ledge sat a cave, its dark mouth yawning wide and black. Just beyond the cave, blocking the path that continued up the hill, lay an enormous sleeping dragon, its long tail curled around it’s body. As it slept, the dragon drew deep rasping breaths, like air being forced through a blacksmith’s bellows, each breath shooting coppery flames from its nostrils.
“Is th-that a giant li-lizard?” Taine stammered.
“It’s a dragon,” Rhyll whispered. “They’re in Mother’s book too. So they do exist.”
“Great,” Taine muttered. “I’m so glad we’ve discovered that. This would never happen in Icamore.”
Ash couldn’t help a snigger at Taine’s comment. “It’s huge,” he said, trying to take it all in. He’d never seen a dragon before. He wasn’t sure he wanted to see one right now either. It looked very, very dangerous. “What are we going to do?”
Rhyll was the only one who didn’t seem to be worried. “You boys really should read more. I tell you, the world is filled with strange and mysterious creatures.”
“Which I’m just now beginning to realise.” Ash eyed Gwaam sitting in his basket.
“I want to go home,” Taine whimpered. “Can we turn back? Please?”
“We can’t go back,” Ash said.
“We have to find a way around,” Rhyll said.
“There is no way around,” Taine said. “That thing is blocking the entire path.”
The dragon lifted its massive head and opened its eyes.
“Quick, before it sees us!” Ash whispered.
They slipped into the cave. The dragon sniffed the air then roared so loudly that dirt and rocks from the cave roof pattered down on them. Ash urged the others deeper into the darkness. Looking back, he saw the dragon lower its head to sleep once more.
Crunch! Crunch!
“What’s that noise?” Rhyll said, peering into the depths of the cave.
“Keep still,” Ash said. “You’re making too much noise. You’ll wake the dragon again.”
A sound, like birds chirping, came from the darkness – at first low and soft, then more insistent.
“What’s that?”
“I don’t know, but it’s spooky in here,” Taine said. “What’s your idea for getting us out of this, Ash?”
“Um, probably wait until the dragon goes,” Ash said. “Maybe it hunts at night. Then we can sneak out and make a run for it.”
“That sounds like a decent plan,” Gwaam said.
“Unless it decides to hunt us,” Taine said.
Crunch! Crunch!
“This ground is really rocky and bumpy,” Taine said. “I keep bumping up against boulders.”
The sound came again, followed by more chirping.
“Stop moving,” Ash hissed.
“I didn’t,” Taine hissed back.
“Me either,” Rhyll said.
Trip growled.
“Who touched my hand?” Rhyll said.
“Not me,” Taine said. “I can’t see anything.”
“Hold on,” Ash said. “I’ve got an idea.”
Ash ran outside and plucked a branch from a nearby tree. He tiptoed over to where the dragon slept. He couldn’t believe he was so close to a dragon! As he tiptoed forwards, he tried to steady the wobbling of his knees. Despite his fear, he admired the sheer size of the creature and the beauty of its green scales as they flashed in the sunlight.
Please don’t wake up, Ash chanted silently. Please don’t wake up.
Ash saw the giant creature’s sides heave in and out as it breathed noisily in its sleep. Whenever it breathed out, a lick of flames burst from its nostrils. Ash lowered the branch until it was near the dragon’s nose, making sure he didn’t touch it. The dragon breathed out. Orange flames pulsed over the branch, almost igniting it but not quite.
Ash moved the blackened, smoking branch closer to the dragon. Its nose twitched, but it didn’t wake. On the next breath, the flames from the dragon’s nostrils ignited the branch. Ash felt a rush of triumph. He gave a little air punch of joy then snuck back into the cave, the burning branch held high.
“Does this help?”
Taine groaned. “Oh, I wish you hadn’t done that.” He pointed towards the back of the cave.
Ash looked around and saw rows of green eggs the size of watermelons stretching far back into the inky cave.
“Dragon eggs,” Rhyll breathed.
“Hundreds of them,” Ash added.
While they’d been stumbling blindly in the dark, they had disturbed the eggs, treading on some and kicking others. Baby dragons clambered out from the broken shells. They waddled over to the torch and stared at it, mesmerised.
“Aren’t they adorable?” Rhyll said.
“Not if they grow into that.” Taine nodded towards the mother dragon still sleeping outside the cave.
Rhyll kneeled down for a closer look. “That one is yawning.”
“Best to keep your distance, I think,” Gwaam warned Rhyll.
A baby dragon was opening and shutting its mouth, blowing out a pungent hiss of air as it did. Soon a miniature choir of yawning, hissing dragons surrounded Ash and his companions. Trip stepped back gingerly, not at all certain of the strange creatures.
“They look harmless.” Rhyll laughed as she stroked a dragon’s head. The creature’s eyes glazed with contentment before it suddenly opened its mouth and blasted fire at Rhyll, setting the end of her hair alight.
Rhyll screamed and beat frantically at her hair. “Put it out! Put it out!”
“Shush!” Ash said.
Ash and Taine rushed to extinguish the flames. Smoke rose up from the singed tips of Rhyll’s hair. The smell of burned hair stained the air.
“I told you so,” Gwaam said smugly from the safety of his basket.
“Thanks a lot,” Rhyll mumbled as she felt her smoking hair, checking it wasn’t alight any more.
“You should keep your voices down,” Gwaam said. “Dragons are very protective of their young. You don’t want her waking and finding us in here.”
“I think he might have a point,” Taine said.
Soon other baby dragons were shooting fire at them, hot orange flames bursting from their tiny mouths. Trip barked and charged at the dragons, but they shot flames at him too, sending him scuttling away.
Ash glanced at the mother dragon outside on the ledge. She stirred in her sleep. “Stop, Trip.” He collared the dog. “Stop that right now.”
“Oh, aren’t they adorable,” Taine mimicked his sister as he batted at the flames shot at him by the baby dragons. “Uh-oh.” He pointed outside.
The mother dragon was awake! Peering inside the cave, she spotted the intruders and roared furiously.
&nb
sp; Ash could feel his terror rising, but he knew he had to get Gwaam and the others to safety. He held his hands over his ears. “Follow me,” he cried, ducking down low and weaving between the dragon’s legs before racing outside.
Taine, Rhyll and Trip followed closely after him.
The mother dragon turned sharply and stood up on her back legs, towering over Ash and his companions. Her talons were poised like butcher’s knives. Behind them, hundreds of baby dragons hurried closer, pushing the friends towards the ravine.
“We’re surrounded,” Rhyll gasped.
Ash threw the basket containing Gwaam to her. “Whatever happens, protect Gwaam and find the wizard. Don’t stop for me. Promise?”
“Promise,” Taine said.
“Good. I’ve got a plan to distract the dragon and it involves her babies. I’m sure she’ll protect them at all costs. Rhyll, you take Gwaam and Trip and get out of here with Taine. Got it?”
Rhyll and Taine both nodded.
“I can’t go without my Keeper,” Gwaam protested.
“Taine and Rhyll will look after you,” Ash said. “Now, go!”
Ash ran back into the cave. Dodging the flames of the baby dragons, he snatched two unhatched eggs. As he bolted back outside, he screamed at the others to get going. Rhyll called Trip, but the dog wouldn’t leave Ash.
Taine and Rhyll ran up the path away from the dragon’s lair, taking Gwaam with them.
“Here!” Ash threaded through the dragon’s legs once more and ran towards the ravine ledge. Trip followed, yapping loudly. “You want your babies? Go get them.”
Ash hurled the eggs over the edge, one after the other. The dragon shrieked with rage then threw herself off the cliff after them.
I knew she wouldn’t let anything happen to her babies, Ash thought.
But as the mother dived into the ravine, she clipped Ash with her tail and sent him flying dangerously close to the edge where he landed with a thud.
Taine raced back down the mountain. He waded through the baby dragons to help Ash up, pushing them out of the way with his feet.
“You broke your promise,” Ash said, although he was secretly glad he hadn’t been left behind.
“You didn’t really think we’d leave, did you? Don’t worry Rhyll has Gwaam.”
The boys broke through the teeming mass of baby dragons, using their arms to protect their faces from the shooting flames. They sprinted for the path with Trip bringing up the rear. The baby dragons clambered after them, but they were unable to gain a foothold on the steep slope and soon fell behind, scrabbling and fighting noisily among themselves.
The mother dragon swooped up out of the ravine, eggs clutched in her strong talons. She deposited her eggs inside the cave then wheeled towards Ash with a furious roar. Taine picked up a rock and hurled it down at the dragon. She barely noticed it glance off her shoulder. Taine threw another rock. This one hit the dragon square on the nose. She shrieked in pain then recoiled, ready to leap up to attack Taine.
“Quick, up the path!” Ash said.
Clambering higher up the mountain, they soon found themselves on top of a narrow ridge flanked on both sides by scrubby bushes and rock that fell away to nothing.
“Keep going along the ridge,” Ash shouted, taking the basket from Rhyll.
Rhyll and Taine took off with Ash and Trip close behind. They heard a shriek from above. As one, they gazed up and saw the dragon hovering over them. It roared as it swooped downwards. Far below, a dark ribbon of water glinted.
“We’ll have to jump,” Ash puffed.
“I can’t swim,” Taine said.
“Never mind swimming,” Rhyll said. “The fall will kill us.”
Before Ash could reply, the dragon pounced.
She snatched Ash and Taine in one claw and Rhyll and Trip in the other.
“Woah!” Ash shouted as the dragon launched off into space. He grasped the basket to his chest, hoping Gwaam was all right inside.
“Put me down!” Taine cried, struggling against the dragon’s vice-like grip. “Put me down.”
It was no use. They were trapped. Soon the dragon was flying low over the valley, carrying them with her.
“Hold on, boys,” Rhyll shouted from the dragon’s other claw. “I have an idea.”
Ash and Taine watched as Rhyll writhed with all her might until her arms were freed from the dragon’s grasp. She tugged her bow from its holster then an arrow.
Ash held his breath as Rhyll drew the arrow back and fired it into the dragon’s skin. The dragon shrieked in pain and opened her claws, sending Ash and his friends plummeting into the river.
9
ALIZARN
Ash woke to the sound of Trip growling. Ash lay halfway up the rocky shoreline, just out of reach of the water that lapped the river’s edge. He was soaked through, but the afternoon sunshine on his back felt deliciously warm. Ash lifted his face from the pebbles, opening one eye slowly. His head hurt, his side ached and he had no idea where he was.
“What’s up, Trip?” he groaned.
Beside him, Rhyll and Taine stirred.
Ash laid his head down again, willing himself to go back to sleep.
“Ah, Ash,” Rhyll’s voice came to him through the haze inside his head. “I think you should see this.”
“Rhyll?” Ash said groggily. “What are you doing here?”
He forced himself to open his eyes once more. The sight of his bedraggled companions brought everything rushing back. The dragon. Their fall. Swimming to land, Rhyll helping Taine while Ash swam in circles, searching for the precious basket. Where was Gwaam?
“Ash!” Rhyll called again.
He scrambled to his feet, slipping and scrabbling over the wet pebbles. Taine and Rhyll drew closer, as if bunching together gave them greater protection from what stood before them.
“Who are you?” Ash asked.
“I am Garamel.”
“You’re a unicorn,” Rhyll said.
The unicorn bent his head. “Correct.”
“Believe Mother’s book now?” Rhyll asked her brother.
“Yes, well, the evidence is certainly mounting.” Taine shook his head. “This would never happen in Icamore.”
Rhyll groaned. “Would you stop saying that? I think we already know we’ve left safe old Icamore way behind.”
“Worse luck,” Taine grumbled.
Ash couldn’t stop staring at the black shaggy creature with its blood red eyes and shining ruby-like horn, tangled beard and spiked mane. “I don’t think there’s much point arguing about what is or isn’t in that book any more,” he said. “We need to forget everything we’ve ever been told.”
“I’m assuming you children don’t get out much,” Garamel said, with a bemused tone, glancing from Ash to Taine to Rhyll and back again.
“Er, no.” Ash soon recovered enough to introduce himself and the others. From the corner of his eye he spied Trip jogging along the shore towards them. In the dog’s mouth was the basket.
“Thank heavens you’re all right.” Ash bent down to pat Trip. When he saw Gwaam tucked up safely in the basket he breathed a sigh of relief. “Good dog.” He took the basket from Trip and motioned for Gwaam to stay silent, unsure whether he could trust the unicorn.
“You are in our realm without permission and cannot stay here,” Garamel said. “However, we are more than happy to offer you safe passage through Alizarn. Come, you may meet my companions.”
“I thought unicorns didn’t like human company,” Rhyll said. “At least that’s what I’ve read.”
“What you say is true,” Garamel agreed. “You are the first humans seen here for some time so you will be a curiosity. Any more questions before we go?”
Taine raised his hand. “I have one.”
“Yes?”
“Aren’t unicorns meant to be white?”
Garamel gave a low chuckle. “How many unicorns have you seen before?”
“Ah, you’d be the first,” Taine replied.
>
“Then how do you know what unicorns look like?”
Taine frowned. “Good point.”
“Very well, let’s be off then.” Garamel herded the friends up the beach, his hooves clip-clopping noisily on the smooth rocks beside the shoreline.
Moments later they stepped into the dense forest that grew alongside the river. Ash smelled the scent of pine needles. It was dark and musty in the forest and very cool. He shivered and rubbed his arms to warm himself. Very little sunlight reached through the thick branches overhead. Their footsteps were muffled by the carpet of dead pine needles lying on the forest floor. Ash couldn’t help noticing how quiet it was. He thought it was strange that there were no bird calls. No sign of any animal life.
“It’s so quiet here,” Rhyll said, as if reading Ash’s thoughts. “Perhaps too quiet.”
“That’s the way we like it,” Garamel replied. “The peace and silence offers us opportunity for reflective thoughts.”
Taine leaned close to Ash. “Do you think he’s strange?” he whispered.
“What, a talking unicorn, strange?” Ash put his hand over his mouth to stop himself from laughing out loud. Somehow it didn’t seem right to laugh in such a serious, silent place.
“No, I mean there’s something about him,” Taine said. “He’s so stiff and formal, don’t you think?”
“How do you expect a unicorn to be?” Ash asked.
“I don’t know, as loose as a goose maybe? I mean, he’s a unicorn. What’s he got to be all uppity about?”
Ash shook his head. “You’re an idiot.”
The boys’ conversation was interrupted by the appearance of four more unicorns. They were all different shades of grey and black, with the same red horns and eyes as Garamel.
“I thought unicorns lived alone,” Rhyll said.
“More book knowledge, is it?” Garamel said. His voice sounded mildly teasing, but his expression held no sign of amusement.
Rhyll nodded, looking a little unsure.
“I can see you’re a clever girl,” Garamel said. “However, books can’t teach you everything. Things have changed these last few years. Once, we did live alone. But now my companions and I have found strength and safety in numbers. We have often been hunted, you see, so we discovered the best way to protect ourselves is to stick together. That is why we flourish here in Alizarn.”
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