The True Dragon

by Andy Holland

  Crystal stuck her tongue out again. "Very funny. I wasn't late that often."

  "Hello, John," Jenna said rather coolly, standing at the top of the steps just outside the entrance to the school. "So you're really coming back this year?"

  "As I said I would be," John replied. "Why wouldn't I be?"

  Jenna shrugged, turning to Crystal meaningfully. "I thought you might have other things to worry about. Besides, won't it be strange for you now, with everyone knowing what you are?"

  Crystal glared at her. "Thanks, Jenna! So shouldn't I be here either?"

  Jenna coloured immediately, realising what she had said. "Sorry, I forgot! It's hard to remember you're one of them as well."

  "Not for me it isn't," Crystal snapped in reply.

  "Although, to be fair," Jenna argued, "it's not as if you can prove that you're one of them, is it?"

  John laughed, a little too loud for Crystal's liking.

  "Jenna!" Crystal objected. "Are you trying to make it worse? And I don't know why you're laughing, John. You were meant to teach me how to transform, remember?"

  "Yes, I was," John replied, still grinning. "I did offer, I think you'll recall…"

  "Oh shut up," Crystal replied irritably. Crystal had flatly refused to allow John to teach her how to transform for the excellent reason that transforming required removal of all of her clothes and there was no way she would do that in front of him. "Don't you have a stuffy old library to go to?"

  "Yes, thanks for reminding me," John replied. "I'll see you at lunch."

  He bowed politely before marching off towards the school office. Jenna turned to face her.

  "Strange seeing him laugh," she remarked. "I can't remember seeing him do that before. Not even when we were in the West with the twins."

  Jenna had spent most of the summer with Arthur in the West and had spoken of little else since she had been back. She had neglected to mention that John was there, instead going on about the grandeur of the palace and how she had been treated like a princess by all of the palace staff. Needless to say, Crystal was already getting bored of hearing about it. Fortunately, Seth appeared before she could start droning on about it again.

  "Hey, Crystal!" Seth shouted across the hallway, hurrying over to where she and her cousin were both standing.

  "He doesn't waste any time, does he?" Jenna muttered under her breath, referring to Seth's ill-hidden romantic interest in Crystal.

  Crystal ignored her, hoping that Seth hadn't heard her. "Hi Seth, did you have a nice holiday?"

  Seth shrugged. "A bit dull really, after the excitement of last year. I was at my cousin's for most of it, in the West, so there were a lot of parties, but it just wasn't that exciting, not after what we went through. Not that you'd realise we were invaded, looking at this place. They rebuilt everything so quickly."

  "Maybe here in the capital," Jenna replied coolly. "It's a different story in the south. Black Rock was half-demolished by the Blues. It'll take years to repair all of the damage if they ever do. My father is going to have his hands full."

  Crystal suppressed a smile at this. Her father had retired as Commander of the Southern Army at the end of the war, and his brother-in-law, Jenna's father had been named his successor. Although he had been ecstatic at the honour Crystal was certain that he had no idea how much work he was in for and was going to find the job quite a challenge. She wasn't sure that he had ever even had a job before this one.

  "I saw Lord Daniel a few days ago," Crystal added. "He told me that the east is much worse. Obud was utterly destroyed, and many of the other towns aren't much better. Not that anyone is getting any help from the capital."

  Seth put his hands up in defence. "Alright, alright, I hear you. I haven't been outside of Furnace since the end of the war, so I didn't know. I'm not defending anyone, but they have been very busy here. I know it wasn't as bad as other places, but there was a lot of damage to fix. I'm sure they'll send help now that they've finished here."

  "They better do so," Jenna grumbled. "People have long memories. We've always been fiercely loyal to the King in the south. People are starting to wonder if he actually deserves that loyalty."

  "Alright, Jenna," Crystal laughed, "I don't think we can blame Seth for what the King does or doesn't do."

  "Besides, you'd be wise to avoid any public criticism here," Seth warned them, looking around nervously. "People are a little edgy nowadays, especially after that business with the spy. You don't want anyone questioning your loyalties."

  "What spy?" Jenna asked. "Not the one that John thought he saw? Why are they worried about him? The war is over now. He's probably dead like the rest of the Blues that attacked us."

  "He wasn't a Blue," Seth replied. "It was a Red. Someone was actually helping the Blues."

  "No!" Crystal exclaimed. "Why would anyone do that?"

  "And how could they know for sure?" Jenna asked suspiciously. "John was sure that the man he saw had blue hair, not red."

  "Yes, one man was," Seth replied. "But he never saw the other man's hair. But he was seen again."

  "Was he?" Crystal asked in amazement. "When was this? We never heard about it."

  "Well, you will," Seth replied grimly. "It happened while we were away just before the invasion. The spy stole from the military library again. He was seen fleeing the scene, and he was definitely a Red. But that's not the worst part."

  "Go on," Jenna urged. "Although I don't know how anyone could tell that his hair wasn't dyed."

  "Someone recognised him," Seth replied. "The Keeper overheard someone speak to him and ask him what he was doing. They definitely knew each other. The Keeper saw him fleeing and said he was definitely a Red."

  "Well, couldn't they just ask the person who it was?" Crystal asked. "He must have seen the other person."

  "It was Amber," Seth replied. "But she wasn't going to be able to tell anyone anything. Whoever it was stabbed her, straight through the heart. She was already dead when the Keeper reached her."

  "Amber! How terrible!" Crystal cried.

  Jenna shrugged. "I guessed there were going to be a few faces missing this year. It's hardly surprising."

  Crystal was amazed how cold she sounded. Amber and Jenna had never been close, but they had spent the last year in the same class, and they had seen Amber at most of the social gatherings they had attended. How could she be so indifferent to her violent death?

  "Maybe," Seth replied, "But I think everyone from the school was evacuated well in advance of the attack, so she's probably the only casualty from school. As you keep pointing out, this isn't the south or the east. But this was before it all started. They hadn't even begun evacuating Furnace, and everyone was still at school, so it was a complete shock to everyone. From all accounts, it was a pretty depressing last few days of school. It sounds like we were lucky not to be there."

  "I'm not sure I would describe it as being lucky," Jenna replied coolly. "We came very close to dying on a number of occasions on that journey to John's home."

  "You survived, didn't you," a familiar voice said from behind them. "No one forced you to come along."

  Crystal turned around to see Daisy and her twin brother, Arthur, standing behind them. Daisy was regarding Jenna rather crossly, but Crystal ignored her look and embraced her warmly. "Hi, Daisy! When did you get back?"

  "We arrived yesterday," Arthur replied for her. "John flew with us all."

  "All?" Seth asked. "Who else flew with you?"

  Daisy sighed wearily. "We're not living with Gerald this year. Mother decided that it wasn't safe. She's put us in some ridiculous palace and has sent a whole host of babysitters with us."

  "Guards and servants," Arthur corrected gently. "Which is no different to how things would be at home. I thought you missed having people to wait on you last year. You certainly seemed to enjoy it back home."

  "As a temporary change, yes," Daisy countered. "But not for ever. Mother is just trying to remind me what I would give up if I
stayed with John and you're doing your best to help her."

  "Have you heard much about what's happening in the new cities?" Crystal asked, deliberately trying to change the subject. "Has Gerald been in touch much?" The peace treaty had included an agreement to construct three new cities on land the Blue Dragons had abandoned. The first, Assembly, was pivotal to the long-term success of the treaty, providing a location for an intergovernmental organisation that would monitor each party's compliance with the terms of the treaty as well as facilitating ongoing communication and cooperation between the races. The second city, Sanctuary, was to become a new home to the many races that had lost their homes in the numerous wars over the years, people that had been previously housed by the Golden Dragons but had become so numerous that they needed a new home. The third and final city was Refuge, a home for the former residents of the Blue Dragons' prison camps. These were girls stolen from the Blue Dragons' neighbours over the years, kept alive purely to carry the children of Blue Dragon soldiers. These children had been destined to become the first line in Blue Dragon attacks in their ongoing wars, expendable soldiers whose deaths were almost guaranteed. Now that they had escaped the horror of the camps, they had new fears, principally what might happen to their children if they returned home, as the race of the child was determined by the father, not the mother and it was quite likely that their own people would murder these Blue Dragon children if given the opportunity. Refuge had been built entirely for them. Or at least, that was the plan. It didn't sound like a lot of progress had been made on the construction of the city.

  "A fair bit," Arthur replied. "Your father must have told you a lot as well, surely?"

  Since retiring as Commander of the Southern Principality's Army Crystal's father had been appointed as the Red Dragons' Ambassador to the new cities. Their first ambassador anywhere, in fact. "Some," Crystal replied, "mainly politics, but nothing about the Blues and how they’ve been involved. Have you heard anything about them?"

  "Not a lot," Arthur admitted. "Some general called Kanesh is in charge now. He’s living up to his side of the deal. But he's not particularly popular, and there's some other general called Perak who is stirring up trouble. Apparently, he has a strong claim to be their leader, and he's no fan of the peace treaty."

  "I've heard of him," Jenna said. "My father has mentioned him. He's meant to have killed one of the True Dragons if you can believe that. I think he's a bit of a hero to the Blues."

  "He's also a lot of trouble," Daisy replied darkly. "He organised all of the surprise attacks against our towns and villages before the cities were attacked. He's probably responsible for more deaths than any other Blue Dragon."

  "Great," Crystal replied. "And he's the alternative to this Kanesh? What are we doing to help Kanesh?"

  "He might not need our help," Daisy replied. "Mark told John that this Kanesh is pretty ruthless. He used to be in charge of their military police. If anyone can find Perak, it's this Kanesh."

  Crystal wasn't convinced by this. John wouldn't want Daisy to be worried and might not have told her the whole story. After all, he had hidden the extent of his medical condition from them all. The school bell sounded, preventing them from discussing this any further, but she resolved to press John on the matter later.

  She didn't have long to wait for an opportunity, as John decided to join her and Jenna for lunch.

  "Where's Daisy?" Jenna asked as John sat down on the table opposite Crystal. "Don't you normally eat with her?"

  "Busy," John replied. "Some relative from the North is in town, and her mother has asked Daisy to meet them for lunch. She won't be back for the rest of the day."

  Jenna raised her eyebrows at this. "Trying to keep you two apart, is she?"

  John shrugged, focussed on cutting up his meat. Crystal noticed that he was no longer eating packed lunches but was eating the school food, something he couldn't afford to do last year. He swallowed a mouthful before replying. "Arthur has gone as well, didn't he tell you?"

  Jenna bristled at this, but the icy look was quickly replaced by a cold smile. "Yes, of course he did, I had just forgotten. I'll be seeing him tonight at their palace. I told you about their palace here, didn't I Crystal?"

  Jenna was dying to tell Crystal all about the twins' luxurious new accommodation yet again, but Crystal was now thoroughly bored by the topic. "Yes, sounds lovely. John, tell us about this Perak? What do you know about him?"

  "Perak? Why do you want to know?" John was avoiding looking at her, which was usually a sign that he was hiding something.

  "Because he's a threat to the peace treaty," Crystal replied, "which means you will almost certainly know all about him. Come on, no more secrets."

  John shook his head, putting down his knife. "Look, this might surprise you, but I don't know a lot about him. He's actually quite young. Maybe only five years older than us. He was a bit of a star in their army and rose up the ranks very quickly, Perak and some other Blue called Tarek. Both of them made General about the same time as did this Kanesh, although Kanesh is about twice their age. Tarek was the mastermind behind the destruction of the Stonehouses and Perak was the one behind the night attacks on the villages and towns. The success in these two operations earned them their promotions to generals."

  "So hardly anything," Jenna commented drily.

  "Shut up, Jenna," Crystal retorted. "Go on, what else do you know about him? And what about this Tarek?"

  "Tarek survived the war but was badly injured and is back in their capital recuperating. Perak has disappeared, but we know that he survived and has built up quite a following. It's strange, as before the war he was reputed to be unpopular. He's completely ruthless and has executed a number of his own troops and his methods of attacking at night were regarded as dishonourable. But killing that True Dragon elevated him in the eyes of the Blues. He's revered as a legendary warrior now. Apparently, he is skilled with all number of weapons, and his followers are chiefly drawn from the troops that he trained to attack your settlements at night. He's done very little so far, but Kanesh is being very cautious, knowing that Perak could easily attempt a coup by night."

  Crystal paused to take this all in. "So, what are your people doing? Our people, I mean."

  "That I don't know," John replied. "Quite possibly nothing. We have a long history of avoiding getting involved in these sorts of things, even when we really should have done so. But with Kanesh in charge, we might not need to do anything. Blue Dragons society is very different to the one you have here. Your military commanders inherit their positions. Blue Dragon commanders earn them. And Kanesh earned it the hard way. He rose through the ranks of the military police, which according to our experts is an unusual route to take as the military police are seen as a necessary evil. This is partly why he isn't popular either, but he's probably feared as much as he is detested. He'll be just as ruthless as Perak."

  "What a wonderful ally," Jenna commented. "How reassuring you are."

  "The Blues aren't our allies," John replied. "I hope they will be one day, but at the moment they're your defeated enemies and are following this peace treaty just because they have to. But the longer it stays, the harder it will be for anyone to break the peace and eventually, they might actually appreciate it. We just have to hold firm."

  Crystal nodded glumly, having heard a similar line from her father. She noticed someone sat opposite them was eating alone, clearly listening to their conversation. "Hi Jerome," she called out. "What are you doing, sitting on your own? Why don't you come and join us?"

  Jenna rolled her eyes. "Really, Crystal, haven't you given up on him already," she muttered.

  Crystal frowned and shook her head dismissively. She had no interest in Jerome but felt uncomfortable with his eavesdropping. "Come on, Jerome, join us."

  Jerome stood up and smiled politely, before moving his plate and placing it beside John. "Of course, thank you. I was just enjoying this fantastic weather, but I'd love to join you. How are you all?"
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  "Good, thank you," Crystal replied. "I couldn't help notice that you were listening to us. Do you have a particular interest in the Blues?"

  Jerome nodded, smiling charmingly back at her. "Who hasn't? But no, I am more interested in these so-called monsters. I was wondering if our two Golden Dragons guests had any information about them."

  Crystal was puzzled at first, before realising that he was referring to her and John. Before she could answer, John replied.

  "No, not really, I'm afraid," he replied. "No more than anyone else. The black one still flies outside the Circle but moves too quickly for anyone to keep up with him."

  "Even Golden Dragons," Jerome replied, still smiling his dazzling smile. "I hear they have attacked a lot of villages, is that true?"

  "That's right," Jenna replied. "My father told me all about them. It completely destroyed one in the south about a week ago."

  Crystal shook her head. Her cousin really ought to know better than to repeat everything her father told her in confidence.

  "How terrible," Jerome sympathised. "So John, I hope you're not feeling too bad about having awoken the creatures. You couldn't have foreseen what was going to happen."

  "Feel bad!" Crystal objected. "If he hadn't, the Blues would have destroyed us!"

  "Of course," Jerome replied soothingly. "You don't need to tell me about that. But you must have heard what people have been saying, surely. Why, people's lack of gratitude is shocking, I know, but I've heard a number of people complain that the True Dragons are going to be worse than the Blues ever could have been and that they'll wipe us all out if this carries on. Unfortunately, people are starting to blame John for it. At least, that's what I've heard from my people in the East."

  "That's ridiculous!" Jenna retorted angrily, making Crystal feel very proud of her cousin. It would have been impossible to imagine her sticking up for John just a few months ago. "The Blues would have wiped us out without those creatures."