by Sean Tulien
“O, mighty and sneeze-y dragon,” he said. “Wouldst thou be so kind to give me a few pieces of thine gold nuggets?”
Thermy wiggled his wings. “Such a gentleman!” he said. “How could I say no?”
Blunder did a little dance.
Thermy scratched his head with a claw. “These nuggets are old, though,” he said. “Do you want newer ones?”
Blunder shrugged. “Why not!” he said.
Thermy waddled over to a corner of the cave. “Coming right up,” he said over his shoulder. He squatted low to the ground and closed his eyes. His whole body tightened.
Thud raised an eyebrow. “Thermy . . . what are you doing?”
“Making new ones,” Thermy said.
“What?” was all Blunder said.
PLOOP! A golden nugget fell from the dragon’s rear. The beast picked it up, waddled over to Blunder, and held it out to him. “Here you go,” Thermy said.
Thud started laughing.
Blunder looked at the nugget. He looked at Thermy. “That came from your butt,” he said.
Thermy dropped the nugget at Blunder’s feet. “Well, yeah,” he said. “Where else would it come from?”
Blunder scratched his head. “I . . . don’t know,” he said. “I figured you’d just been collecting them for years.”
“Years?” he said. “These are just from the last few days of being sick. It hurt to move, so I didn’t get up to go to the bathroom.”
Thud laughed even harder.
Blunder bent over and picked up the gold nugget. “Treasure is treasure,” he said, shoving it into his pocket.
While Blunder pocketed more nuggets, Thermy stretched his neck out toward Thud. “Your friend is weird,” he whispered.
Thud smirked. “Tell me about it.”
“NEIGHHHHH!” Just then, Eliot burst through the cave’s mouth. As he pawed the air with his hooves, Thud saw he was wearing magical Unicorn Battle Armor!
“Nice armor, Eliot!” Blunder cooed.
Thud walked over and patted the hornless unicorn’s flank. “Is that why you left earlier?” Thud asked. “To get ready for battle?”
Eliot nodded proudly. He pawed the ground with a hoof, ready to charge Thermy.
“Whoa, there,” Thud said, holding him back. “Thermy’s a friend!”
Eliot snorted out a sigh. He cantered outside and turned around, waiting for them to follow.
“I guess our ride’s here,” Thud said to Thermy.
Thermy smiled from wing to wing. “Thanks again,” he said. He waved his Holy Hanky at them. “Safe travels!”
Just then, Thud spotted something in Thermy’s pile of treasure. She walked over and picked up what looked like a spikey weapon. She rubbed her chin. “Hey, Thermy,” she said. “Can I have this?”
Thermy wiggled his wings. “Sure,” he said. He pointed at Thud’s hammer. “But why? You already have a weapon.”
“It’s not for me,” Thud said. “And it’s only a weapon if you use it like one.”
“Good point,” Thermy said. “Who is it for then?”
Thud walked over the hole in the cave, held the spikey object over it, and then let go. She leaned down and cupped her hand to her ear. She listened to it tumble DOWN,DOWN, DOWN, until . . .
Talk About the Tale!
The people of Village Town all thought Thermy was evil. How do you think that made Thermy feel?
Thermy had piles of gold nuggets in his cave. Why do you think he never shared them with the people of Village Town?
What did the old man tell Thud and Blunder to make them think the dragon was evil? Should they have believed him?
Write About the Adventure!
Blunder marched into the cave without thinking and got hit by Thermy’s fiery sneeze. Have you ever done something without thinking first? Write about it.
Think about the Holy Handkerchief. Make a list of words or phrases that describe the handkerchief. Try to list at least five things.
Thud gave the Lava Baby a rattle, but it still didn’t have its blankie. Do you think the Lava Giant went back to Thermy’s cave to try and steal the Holy Handkerchief again? Write a story where she does just that.
GLOSSARY
adventurer
—anyone who looks for adventure and danger and Evil, with a capital E
canter
—to run kind of fast, between a trot and a gallop
destruction
—what happens when a great and terrible red dragon burns things with its fiery breath
fearsome
—frightening or scary, like a great and terrible red dragon with fiery breath
gallop
—to run so fast that all your legs leave the ground at once—wee!
handkerchief
—also called a hankie, for short; a square piece of cloth used for wiping boogies from your nose
slay
—to kill, which is what adventurers try to do to a great and terrible red dragon with fiery breath
smirk
—to smile in a knowing, silly, or annoying way
steed
—an animal that someone rides, most often a horse or camel, but possibly a hornless unicorn if you are an adventurer
whimper
—to make, quiet, crying noises; not something you’d expect a great and terrible red dragon with fiery breath to do
ABOUT THE CREATORS
ABOUT the AUTHOR
Author Sean Tulien works as a children’s book editor in Seatle, Washington. In his free time, Sean likes to read, eat sushi, exercise outdoors, listen to loud music, play with his quirky bunny, Habibi, and his curious hamster, Buddy, and spend time with his brilliant wife, Nicolle. When he’s not doing all that stuff, Sean loves to write books like this one.
ABOUT the ILLUSTRATOR
Illustrator Pol Cunyat was born in 1979 in Sant Celoni, a small village near Barcelona, Spain. As a child, Pol always dreamed of being an illustrator. So he went to study illustration in Escola De Còmic Joso de Barcelona and Escola D’Art, Serra i Abella de L’Hospitalet. Now, Pol makes a living doing illustration work for various publishers and studios. Pol’s dream has come true, but he will never stop dreaming.
Thud and Blunder is published by Stone Arch Books,
A Capstone Imprint
1710 Roe Crest Drive
North Mankato, Minnesota 56003
www.mycapstone.com
Copyright © 2017 Stone Arch Books
All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced in whole or in part, or stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without written permission of the publisher.
Cataloging-in-Publication Data is available at the
Library of Congress website.
ISBN: 978-1-4965-3220-6 (hardcover)
ISBN: 978-1-4965-3224-4 (paperback)
ISBN: 978-1-4965-3228-2 (eBook pdf)
ISBN: 978-1-4965-3232-9 (eBook)
Summary: Village Town is in flames and a red dragon is to blame! Thud and Blunder take up arms and march up the mountain to slay the dreaded Deadly Dragon, Thermathraxxitalicus (or “Thermy” for short). But when they come face-to-face with the fiery beast he bursts into tears! Can Thud and Blunder figure out what’s wrong with this whiney dragon before their entire town is turned to ash?
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