But no matter how much the children learned from their penance and play they found themselves constantly looking over their shoulders or nervously stepping around corners for fear of another appearance from Balthasar. Minders from the castle guard had been assigned to the children. For the most part they stayed out of view but the children knew they were always there. For Niamh and Grady it became a game to try and see where they were lurking and occasionally to try and give them the slip. Their parents had finally relented and let them fly their broomsticks to school each morning rather than take the carriage, but there were never less than three or four guards tracking them closely as they made the trip down to the school grounds. The children both thought it was overkill, but if flying their broomsticks meant putting up with a squadron of guards then they would do it.
Quinn had taken to accompanying them each morning on the short trip. Neither Niamh nor Grady had seen him for a week after running into Balthasar. He had disappeared from school, from the library, and Gilly wasn’t able to shed any light on where the boy had been either. When he finally showed up again his face looked like he had been burnt along one cheek. ‘Got too close to Dad’s forge in the armoury,’ was all he would say about the burns. Quinn had become even more withdrawn if that was possible for a boy who rarely talked much anyway. The only topics of conversation which seemed to excite him were a new passageway he had found in the castle or a new book of lore Gilly had found in the archives. Sports never seemed to interest him, they almost never saw him with his wand out – sometimes they even wondered if he had one – but he never seemed to have any trouble keeping up with them on the broomsticks on the way in to school. If anyone was ever having trouble with a particular piece of magic he had an uncanny way of knowing just where they could go in the library to find just the right book of spells to help them with their problem, even if he didn’t cast many spells himself. At school he was always on the outer and Niamh found herself feeling sorry for him. ‘If you just tried you might actually have some fun with the spells, Quinn,’ said Niamh one day as he sat by the target range at the castle watching the team practise. Quinn didn’t say anything but just smiled and went back to his book.
Bree, Emily and Devin also came along on the daily trips to school and, despite his unbearable rudeness at times, so did Hugh. Grady could never figure out why he came as Hugh always seemed to have his own internal grumpiness generator whenever he flew with them. At lunchtimes though, he and Grady had taken to speeding around the dragon racing course. It was a popular lunchtime exercise and bragging rights came with the fastest circuit of the course for the day. At first Hugh was easily able to beat Grady, but it didn’t take long to reverse the position. Grady quickly became the fastest in his class and gained a reputation for taking the biggest risks on the circuit – cutting bends by racing through trees, and scooting around and under low hanging branches.
‘How did you manage to get so good when you’ve only just learned how to ride a broomstick?’ moaned Hugh one day after being beaten by Grady on the line.
‘Dunno,’ said Grady with a smile as they flew slowly back across the grounds to the school. ‘I think the broomstick helps, and I’m pretty sure my dad used to be a good rider, so maybe I’ve got some of his skills? Doesn’t really matter though. Riding broomsticks is all very well but they won’t let me race dragons yet and that’s what I really want to do.’
‘There’s no way they’ll let you on a dragon yet,’ said Hugh. ‘You won’t get a chance to ride those until you’re at least twelve, so we won’t be able to try out for the team for ages.’
‘I’m hoping Roland might let me have a go on one of his dragons someday,’ said Grady. They hopped off their brooms at the bottom of the steps and headed back up into the school.
‘Fat chance!’ said Hugh. ‘You’re lucky he even lets you near the stables. No one else gets a look-in.’
An evil little grin formed on Grady’s face. ‘Why don’t I see if I can sneak you in someday? Reckon I could get you past the door for a peek at his racing team!’
‘Could you!’ squealed Hugh.
‘Sure,’ said Grady. ‘Let’s try it this weekend.’
And so it was that when Saturday rolled round Hugh and Grady were to be seen sneaking down through the forest and stealthily making their way to the castle stables.
‘He usually takes out the team one by one on a Saturday morning, just for a quick spin. He isn’t gone long – no more than ten or fifteen minutes on each of them, but if we hurry we’ll be able to sneak in while he’s gone,’ said Grady as they hunkered down behind a rock with a view of the stables.
They didn’t have to wait long. Roland soon appeared, leading one of the dragons out to the front of the stables. After taking a few moments to check the harness and girth on the sleek-looking animal, he jumped astride its back much more nimbly than Grady thought he would have been able to for such a gangly man. With a twitch on the reins and a couple of strides the dragon soared up into the sky, wings beating with a sound like the cracking of whips. Dragon and rider swooped around the stables before plunging out over the side of the hills and soaring out towards the harbour.
‘Quick,’ said Grady. ‘Follow me!’
The children raced out from their hiding place and ran into the stables.
‘Uurgh. That smell is horrible!’ said Hugh, wrinkling his nose. ‘It’s much worse than the smell down at the school stables.’
Grady shrugged. He was used to the smell these days. ‘It’s probably the special coal Roland has shipped in. It’s especially strong and burns really hot.’
As they stepped into the stables the dragons, as usual, all stopped and stared at Grady. ‘Morning all!’ said Grady in a cheery voice. The staring lizard-like eyes didn’t worry him anymore. Dealing with the dragons on a daily basis had totally changed Grady’s perception of them. He felt they were more like Labradors than wolves.
‘Wow,’ said Hugh, looking around. ‘These guys are awesome! They’re nothing like the ones we have at school.’
‘Yeah. Roland is really proud of them – especially this one down here,’ said Grady, pointing to the end of the stables. Behind an especially high stone wall a pair of deep red eyes stared out. ‘That’s the mountain viper Roland is trying to train. Want to take a look?’
‘A mountain viper? Is he mad or what? It says on the cards I collect from the Weeties packets that they can’t be trained and they’re lethal! I’m not going near him!’
‘Suit yourself,’ said Grady, feeling brave. Taking a deep breath Grady decided to show off a bit to Hugh. He liked being the only one who was able to help Roland with these dragons and though he hadn’t really been close to the mountain viper he had a feeling the vicious-looking creature wasn’t as dangerous as he seemed. Grady confidently walked towards the viper’s pen and the waiting set of eyes. Low rumblings came from the dragon as Grady stepped closer. Reaching the entrance to the pen, Grady hesitated and took a deep breath before stepping up to the beast.
‘Watch it, Grady!’ yelled Hugh as Grady disappeared around the edge of the wall.
The dragon’s head dropped down below the stone and, for a few moments, Hugh could see and hear nothing. Then a low growl from the dragon rumbled around the stables followed by some indeterminate sounds, and then the unmistakeable clank of chains before everything went very very quiet. ‘You alright Grady?’ said Hugh.
Grady grunted and said – ‘Yeah, I’m ...’
His words were cut off abruptly as the wall in front of Hugh suddenly exploded under the torch of the viper’s blue hot flame. Hugh ducked for cover as pieces of stone whistled past him. Rocks tumbled along the floor and the stables disappeared behind a veil of thick dust and smoke. The rest of the dragons roared in panic at the explosion of noise and fury. Chains rattled in their stalls as the beasts reared up fighting against their tethers. Hugh coughed and sat up, looking back through the gloomy dust-filled interior of the stables. For a moment he could see nothing before he
let out a yell of horror. As the dust thinned he saw the charging form of the viper with Grady clinging desperately to its back. A long yell of terror came from Grady’s mouth and the viper hissed at Hugh before bounding past, springing through the stable doors, and out into the freedom of the skies beyond. Grady could only hang on as the viper accelerated away from the ground. The whip crack of his wings sounded like machine gun fire as it climbed up into the clear sky. The beast roared again as it climbed away, muscles bunching and wings beating powerfully. There was no hope of trying to steer the beast – it was off on its own mission as it spiralled and swooped into the sky. Suddenly Grady heard a word echo through his head, though it did not enter through his ears – ‘Freedom!’ it said. A feeling of deep elation and contentment washed over Grady as the word bounced around inside his head.
‘I’m scared!’ said Grady to no one in particular.
‘Don’t be,’ said the voice. ‘You weren’t my captor.’
‘Take me down,’ said Grady. ‘I don’t like this.’
‘Don’t worry,’ came the reply. ‘You’ll be fine.’
Grady wasn’t too keen on trusting the voice but realised there wasn’t much he could do. ‘What do you want?’ Grady asked.
‘Space, air, the feel of the sky,’ the voice said as the dragon spread its wings and sculled lazily through a turn. It was lower now and its wing tips almost touched the treetops. Grady could see the way the air played over the leathery skin rippling the trailing edge of the wings. The dragon was making tiny adjustments from moment to moment to trim the shape of the wing like a sailor trims the sails on a boat to get the most speed he can. The dragon barrel rolled as Grady clung on for dear life. With a few more lazy beats of its wings they gathered height, leaving the mountain top and castle below it. The viper let out a roar and flamed the air in front of it. Grady could sense the delight of freedom through the dragon as he held tightly to the reins. For a moment he felt less scared – the dragon was not going to hurt him, but he really did not know how he was going to get down. The beast was totally in control.
Suddenly a blaze of light flashed across Grady’s vision. A dark shape sped underneath the viper and Grady realised Roland had just cast a firebolt in front of the dragon. The viper turned sharply looking for the source of the spell and saw Roland arcing around to make another pass. With a twist and spin the viper turned almost on the spot and accelerated towards Roland. Grady was truly terrified now. The speed of the viper was beyond anything he had ever experienced. Grady could feel the anger the beast felt towards Roland and knew it wanted blood. The two dragons rocketed towards each other. Grady could see Roland winding up for another firebolt but before he could cast the spell the viper let loose one of the blue bolts of fire which had destroyed the stable wall earlier. With a flash the bolt hurtled towards Roland but the dragon master was good – with a flick of his wrist he spun his mount upside down and the bolt passed harmlessly. As the two dragons shot by each other Roland flicked his wand and another firebolt blossomed just to the right of the viper. Grady suddenly realised he wasn’t shooting to kill – just to drive the dragon down. Two more blooms of fire exploded above Grady – close enough to stop the dragon climbing but far enough above that no damage was done. Looking down Grady saw four more dragons climbing through the sky towards them. They looked like they were the special castle guards who had swooped in to spirit Grady and Niamh away from school.
‘You must go down,’ said Grady, suddenly realising the viper was in danger. He had no doubt the castle guards would shoot down the dragon rather than risk it making off with Grady.
‘No,’ said the voice. ‘They are no match for me.’
‘Please?’ said Grady. ‘Don’t risk it. I don’t want anything to happen to you.’
The viper turned its long neck and stared at Grady for a moment. Then it turned back to the closing squadron of dragons before letting out a roar and suddenly plunging downward at the oncoming guards. The guards had no time to react. In seconds the viper had sailed through the middle of the squadron, screeching at them as it did so. It closed its wings in to its sides as it dropped arrowlike towards the stables. As the earth rushed up to greet them Grady found he was the one screaming, but again the voice found its way into his head – ‘Hold on. I won’t have much time.’ The dragon suddenly spread its wings into two enormous parachute-like shapes. Dragon and rider slowed as if caught by an anchor and just before plummeting into the ground they swooped low over the turf before the dragon’s talons dug in and brought them to an abrupt halt.
‘Off. NOW!’ said the voice. Grady didn’t need another telling and leapt from the dragon’s back. ‘I brought you back because your type never ask.’
‘My type?’ said Grady.
‘You magical folk think we are just dumb animals – enslave us with chains. But you set me free and didn’t demand anything. And you, you can hear us speak.’ The dragon looked up at the descending guards and dragon master. ‘You also said please, which is good manners in the dragon world. You would do well to remember that. Roland could learn from you.’ The dragon spread its wings again and sprang back into the sky, sculling the air as it seemed to float just a few metres off the ground. ‘If you need me, just call,’ said the voice. Then, with blinding speed, the viper rocketed skyward again sending a blast of fire through the middle of the descending dragons to clear its way before disappearing through the gap.
‘That was brilliant!’ said a voice from the stable doors. A dusty-looking Hugh came running out to Grady. ‘Wait’ll I tell the kids at school about that!’ he said, practically picking Grady up off the ground. ‘You’ll be famous, mate!’ Grady smiled for a moment before glancing over at the landing squadron of dragons. Roland had leapt off the second they touched down and was running across the ground towards them. The look on his face made Grady realise that famous or not with his school friends there was no WAY he was going to be able to talk his way out of this one with his parents!
Chapter 20
The Counsel of Friends
‘So let me see if I understand this,’ said an exasperated-looking Merritt. ‘First, you decided you would unshackle what you knew would be a dangerous dragon ….’
‘No, Dad,’ interrupted Grady. ‘First I saddled him up and mounted him and THEN I unshackled him. I’m not totally mad.’
‘Oh, good. Thank you for clearing that up,’ said Merritt. ‘First you saddled him, mounted him, and THEN decided it was a really good idea to unshackle what you knew would be a dangerous dragon. Is that correct?’ Grady looked at his feet while trying to find a good answer to this one. The trouble with dealing with adults is sometimes they could be just so damned logical about things!
‘Well … yes. But Dad …’ Grady started to respond but then got “The Hand” from his father. When “The Hand” came up it meant – to quote his father – “This is not a discussion point.” Grady knew this was a point for listening to and not responding, this was a point for being really REALLY smart, overcoming nature and genetics, and saying absolutely, unequivocally… nothing. He hated those sorts of points.
‘What I’m really fascinated to understand, Grady,’ said Merritt in measured tones which Grady knew hid a really, really angry parent, ‘was what you thought would happen once you had unshackled him? Did you think he would be so eternally grateful that he would allow you to be the first to ride him? Or was it just showing off to one of your friends? I’m sure I’m going to be absolutely thrilled with your response so take your time before answering me on this one.’ Merritt slouched back into his chair crossing his arms and directing a volcanic look at Grady – a sort of Yellowstone National Park geyser look, seething away quietly and then without much warning erupting dramatically. Grady knew trying to talk his way out of it was only going to pour water into the boiling mud pools and a retreat to the safe grounds of apology was his one route out of this without losing all his privileges for the next year.
‘I was just showing off, Dad,’ said
Grady, in the most contrite voice he knew. He could tell immediately it was the right answer. Merritt said nothing for a few moments before letting out a deep sigh and leaning forward, elbows on thighs.
‘What you don’t understand about this world, Grady, is it is unbelievably dangerous compared to Avalon’s End. That dragon you were riding isn’t just some creature out of a book or a movie – it’s practically deadly. It’s like you trying to pick up a redback spider or a scorpion. You wouldn’t try to pick up one of those, would you?’
‘No, but ….’ The Hand came back.
‘No, you wouldn’t. So that’s something you need to learn here. Just because you’ve shown some talent with the dragons, that does NOT mean you can abuse the privileges you’ve been given through the relationship you have with Roland and McHavering.’ As if on cue there was a knock on the door and the two dragon masters stepped into the library room at the castle. ‘Ah. Good. There you are. I think Grady has something he wants to say to you,’ said Merritt.
Grady searched for a spell which could let him disappear from the room or at least shrink down to invisibility. The haranguing he just had from his father though, made him feel like it would be difficult to find a spell which could make him feel much smaller than he already did. ‘m sorry …’ said Grady very quietly to the patch of carpet he was focusing on with intensity.
‘Y’what?’ said McHavering in a booming voice.
Taking a breath Grady raised his head up and stared at the Scotsman. ‘I’m sorry for taking a dragon I shouldn’t have taken.’
‘It’s no me y need tae be apologising to, laddie. In fact, I dinnae know why I’m here tae be honest,’ said the dragon master.
‘You’re here to stop me …’ Roland started to say as he pulled out his wand and started advancing on Grady. As he did so, McHavering’s hand shot out and picked the skinny Roland up by his coat collar and held him off the ground. ‘As I was about to say … you’re here to stop me killing Grady for letting my pride and joy go!’ said Roland, dangling with his feet off the ground in the grip of the big Scotsman.
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