The True Dragon

by Andy Holland

  Movement up ahead caught Perak's eye. A single Red Dragon was gliding down towards him, probably unable to see Perak sat in the dappled shadows from the trees, but it wouldn't have mattered as he instantly recognised the features and flying style of Jerome. He landed not far away and didn't appear until he had transformed.

  "So, you're here already," Jerome commented casually. "No problems getting in?"

  Perak's eyes narrowed. Did he detect a hint of disappointment in Jerome's voice? "No problems, Jerome. Although arrive late once more and we will have a problem."

  Jerome shrugged. "It's a long flight, and I could hardly leave any earlier. Pick a spot nearer to me if you want me to get here any earlier."

  Perak fumed quietly. He could argue this point, but it held no interest for him. "Have you done what I asked you to do?"

  Jerome nodded. "I've spoken to John. He didn't react as I thought he would. If you were hoping for him to immediately start planning on some noble attempt to kill the True Dragon, you're going to be disappointed. He didn't even seem that surprised."

  Perak found this hard to believe. If everything he had heard about this boy was true, if Jerome had done exactly as asked, John should have been desperate to do something. "Did you tell him everything I told you to? About the reactions of the people in the East? How much damage the creature is doing?"

  Jerome nodded, sitting down on a log and stretching out his long legs. "I twisted it, of course. I could have mentioned that it's mainly killing Blue Dragons, but that would have spoiled the story. Although maybe not for John, he's not like anyone else. I think that information would bother him as much as the deaths of his own people. But no, he seemed to accept that everyone's response was reasonable as if he was expecting it. The problem is that he doesn't believe that he's capable of doing anything about it, so he's not going to try. He's unnervingly rational. He's not without emotions, but he doesn't let them dictate his actions. You have to admire that."

  Perak paced back and forth, saying nothing. He had no interest in Jerome's ridiculous analysis. The boy must be scared, nothing more. This wasn't wholly unexpected, but it was frustrating. It would just take time.

  "Fine, just keep talking to others in the school about it. The more people talk, the more John will feel the need to do something. What about the others? How will you get them out of the city?"

  "That will be difficult," Jerome replied. "Firstly, the twins' parents have restricted their movements. Their mother no longer trusts them, and they have guards with them at all times. They probably couldn't leave the city even if they wanted to and I don't think they'd want to anyway. Daisy wants to persuade her parents to let her marry John and needs to stay on the right side of them. And to be honest, I don't think John would be too keen leaving her in the city for too long. He's very protective of her, even though she couldn't be safer with all of those guards."

  Perak hissed irritably. "Forget the twins then, what about the others? Tell me about Crystal. You told me that she's important to John as well. Can you use her to get John out of the city?"

  "Maybe," Perak replied. "I heard her talking to her cousin about John. I think there's something seriously wrong with him. He might even be dying. We might be able to make use of this."

  Perak's eyes flashed at Jerome. How could this be good news? "I can't have him dying of some common illness! I need to kill him myself."

  "I know," Jerome replied, giving Perak a withering look. His lack of respect had no limits. "But they might be persuaded to leave the city if they thought there was a cure somewhere outside of Furnace. It wouldn't take too much to plant the idea in her head. She's not the cleverest girl you could meet."

  Perak smiled cruelly. Jerome wasn't a complete loss after all. "Good, that might work. Don't give up on John though, but see what you can do with Crystal. Make sure you report back as soon as you have news."

  "Fine," Jerome asked. "What about you? What are you doing?"

  Perak stared at him for a moment. There was no harm in telling Jerome some of his plans, especially as they were going so well. "I'm building up support among my former troops. I've enlisted a few key supporters who are doing much of the work for me. It won't be long before I'm able to challenge Kanesh directly and then I can assume my rightful place as Supreme Leader."

  "Once you kill John," Jerome added. "You'll be able to challenge Kanesh once he's dead."

  Perak nodded. "Yes, exactly. Which is why your work is so important. Don't fail me, Jerome."

  Jerome shrugged, standing as if ready to leave. "I'll see what I can do. I can't promise anything."

  Perak hissed angrily. Jerome's lack of respect was going too far. "Don't forget who you are talking to, Jerome. Remember I know all of your little secrets. Including how you killed that little girl."

  Jerome's head snapped around quickly, the surprise registering on his face. "What!"

  Perak laughed mockingly. "Oh yes, I know what you did. You thought you could hide that from me. Even more blood on your hands, eh, Jerome? That's the second time you've killed a Red Dragon now."

  Jerome gave him a look of pure hatred and clenched his fists. "You ordered me to do that. I didn't know I was a Red Dragon. If I'd known what I was and who she was…"

  Perak laughed mockingly. Jerome had no idea how true this was. "But you weren't ordered to kill that girl, were you? She was one of your classmates, wasn't she? Amber, that was her name, wasn't it. Much harder to explain that one away."

  Jerome glared at Perak, hatred in his eyes, but Perak didn't fear him. Even if Jerome wanted to harm him, he was unarmed and no match for Perak, as a man or a dragon. Besides, he would have been a fool to think that Perak hadn't taken steps to ensure that Jerome's secret was let out if he did anything to Perak.

  "I'll get them out of the city," Jerome said through gritted teeth. "I'll find a way."

  "Good," Perak said smugly, walking away from Jerome. "That's more like it. Wait till I leave before transforming, you wouldn't want our meeting to be discovered, would you? And remember, I demand results, and I do not forgive failure. Till next time, Jerome."

  Chapter 4: Frustration

  Crystal was surprised how quickly they settled back into their regular rhythm at school. They did the same subjects as before, went to the same parties and everyone talked about the same dreary social topics as they had done before the war, namely who was partnering up with whom. For many of the students, the main point of the school was to help them secure a marriage with someone from an influential family, and the war, peace treaty and threat of the True Dragons had done nothing to change that.

  For Crystal, however, now she knew who she was, finding a husband held even less interest for her than it had done last year. Even if she wanted to get married, no well-connected young Red Dragon was going to be interested in having Golden Dragon offspring. But that didn't bother her. What interested her now was the subjects that John had tried so hard to interest her in last year - politics, other races and most importantly how to transform into a Golden Dragon. Sadly, she was making very poor progress on that front and her weekend lessons with Leah were beginning to run out of steam.

  "I'm sorry, Crystal," Leah said as she reappeared in a shimmer of golden scales. "I'm running out of ideas on how to help you. Believe me, I've written to many instructors back home, and I've tried everything that they have suggested, but you're just not getting it."

  Crystal pulled her clothes back on and sat down on a stone bench, ready to give up for the day. "I know. I'm grateful for what you're doing. I just wish I understood why I can't do it."

  Leah sat down beside her and put her hand on Crystal's shoulder. "I'm sorry, but it could be that you're just too old to learn this. We normally start when we're very young."

  Crystal stared morosely at the ground. The same thought had occurred to her on more than one occasion. "Maybe. I'm not quite ready to give up yet though. I want to keep on trying."

  Leah managed a weak smile, barely disguising her l
ack of confidence. "You should, but I'm not sure how much longer I'll be staying to help you. I may have to leave Furnace soon. But you can continue to try without me."

  "Oh, what's next for you?" Crystal asked, trying to hide her disappointment. "You're ready to leave so soon?"

  Leah shook her head. "I'd be happy to stay here longer, but there's a job in the city of Assembly that I've been put forward for. I like Furnace, but there are more opportunities in Assembly. I can't say no."

  Crystal nodded, not really understanding. "Well, good luck. I'll miss you when you go."

  Leah shrugged. "It doesn't have to be for that long. You should come for a visit. Maybe you could even work there when you leave this place. You have to do something next year. Why not work for our government? Remember, you are one of us."

  Crystal thought about this for the rest of the weekend. She wasn't a Red Dragon, and everyone knew that now. Maybe working in one of the new cities wasn't such a bad idea. But could she face living with Golden Dragons if she couldn't transform into one?

  "How was your weekend?" Jenna asked as they sat down for registration at school. "I didn't see you at Mia's party. I thought you were going to come."

  "I was going to," Crystal replied. "I spent all day trying to transform and was exhausted by the evening. I just stayed at home with mother."

  "Sounds fun," Jenna replied, rolling her eyes. "How is your transforming going?"

  "Badly," Crystal replied. "I can transform quickly now but not into a Golden Dragon. It's getting pretty annoying."

  "I can imagine," Jenna replied. "You didn't miss much though. It was quite dull. I even ended up spending a lot of time speaking with John and Daisy."

  Crystal sniggered. Jenna was clearly becoming fonder of both of them but refused to admit it. "Oh, what did you talk about?"

  "Same old thing," Jenna replied. "Politics mainly. Daisy had just received a letter from Gerald, and apparently, the new cities aren't going that well. Sounds like they're spending most of their time arguing about what to do about the True Dragons. Of course, they were both very interested to find out how much my father knew about the situation."

  Probably very little, Crystal thought to herself. As much as her cousin loved her father's elevation in society, surely she couldn't believe he was actually doing very much work.

  Unfazed by Crystal's lack of response, Jenna continued. "Of course, my father hasn't seen one, but it's a regular topic in the Military Council meetings."

  "Which should be highly confidential," Crystal pointed out. "You shouldn't be repeating anything he tells you. And he shouldn't be telling you anything in the first place."

  "Maybe my father trusts me more than Uncle Robert trusted you…"

  Crystal snorted, fixing her cousin with an icy glare.

  "So, you don't want me to tell you what he said then?" Jenna asked coyly.

  "Just tell me," Crystal replied. "I can tell you're dying to do so."

  Jenna bent her head closer. "He said that the Prince is almost pleased about it all. He never liked the peace treaty, and this gives us an excuse to ignore most of our obligations. The creature is mainly attacking Blue and Brown villages, which is fine as far as he is concerned."

  "The Browns are our allies," Crystal pointed out. "How can he be happy about it?"

  "Through necessity," Jenna replied. "He has probably never spoken to one. And the whole concept of allies is very strange to him. We've never had them before, and he'd be happier if we could go back to how things were before. The True Dragons help him. While they're active, we can stop helping the new cities. If Assembly is never built, then the treaty will just die."

  None of this surprised Crystal. Her father had never been keen on Prince Henry, and although he was more discrete than his brother-in-law, he had indicated as much on several occasions. "What did John think about all of this?"

  Jenna shrugged. "Difficult to say. He was quite hard to read, even for him. He looked quite unwell. I think he's getting worse."

  Crystal's heart sank even further. She had managed to put John's health out of her mind for a while as it was a painful subject.

  "Hey, what's up with you two?" It was Seth, who sat down behind them. "Why do you both look so miserable? Hey, Crystal, where were you this weekend? We didn't see you at Mia's party."

  "Sorry, I was too tired," Crystal replied.

  "Your cousin was there," Seth continued. "She did that trick with the scales, you know, where she partially transforms…"

  "Yes, we know," Jenna said, glaring at him. Leah could stop her transformation so that her scales just covered the bare necessities, like a bathing suit made of golden scales. The effect was quite impressive. "I noticed you drooling over her at the time."

  "Arthur looked pretty impressed as well," Seth taunted. "Has she taught you that one yet, Crystal?"

  Crystal looked down, embarrassed about her lack of progress. Jenna saved her from having to reply.

  "No, and she won't be teaching her. She's not here to teach her party tricks to amuse silly little boys."

  Before Seth could respond their teacher arrived, signalling the beginning of the lesson. "Settle down, class, let us begin…"

  Crystal was glad that she didn't have to speak to anyone during her morning's lessons as she was feeling a little despondent. She found a secluded table for lunch so she could avoid everyone else, but Jerome managed to stumble onto her.

  "Hi Crystal, fancy seeing you here," he said, taking a seat. "I didn't think anyone else used these tables. Most people don't even know they're here. They're good when you want to have a break from everyone."

  "Yes, they are," Crystal replied. "That's why I'm here."

  Jerome didn't say anything for a second before realising what she meant and jumping to his feet. "I'm sorry, how thoughtless of me. I will leave you be."

  He picked up his lunch tray and started to walk away before Crystal relented. "No, sorry, please stay. Really, it's fine."

  Jerome put his tray back and sat down opposite her again. "Well if you insist." He took a bite of his lunch before interrogating her. "So, who is bothering you? Have you fallen out with your cousin? Surely not John or the Princess?"

  Crystal smiled and shook her head, thinking how hard it would be to argue with Daisy. "I haven't fallen out with anyone. I'm just a bit down, that's all."

  "Oh, I see," Jerome replied, taking another mouthful of food. "Is this because your other cousin is leaving? She's here for another two weeks, isn't she?"

  How on earth did he know about that? Crystal thought to herself. Even she didn't know when Leah was going. She shook her head, determined to hide her surprise and irritation.

  "Or is it John's heart?" Jerome asked, his face full of sympathy.

  "How did you know about that?" Crystal burst out, this time unable to hide her amazement. Was there anything he didn't know?

  Jerome shrugged almost imperceptibly. "You may think no one can hear you when you whisper, but none of you is that quiet. I'd be surprised if many people in our class didn't know."

  Crystal didn't believe that for a second. Jerome was just trying to hide the fact that he had been eavesdropping yet again. But at least he did appear to be genuinely concerned. She nodded without replying.

  "Is there really nothing that can be done? It seems as if you have all given up already. I mean, just a few months ago you all flew across our borders into the unknown on the vague promise of an alliance with races we'd never heard of. I'd have thought you'd do almost anything to save your friend."

  Crystal glared at him angrily. "Of course I would, we all would! But what can we do? If John can't work it out what could we do?"

  Jerome shook his head and sighed. "I can understand your hero worshipping, I really can. But he's not infallible. And maybe he's not as motivated as he should be. If it were you or Daisy, he wouldn't stop until he succeeded or you had died."

  "What? You think John wants to die?" Crystal couldn't believe that.

  "Of
course not, but he's frequently done things to risk his own life. Do you think he sees his own death as something as bad as losing one of his friends? Do you really think he couldn't do more to save himself?"

  Crystal said nothing. She couldn't contradict him, as she had thought the same thing on more than one occasion. It was as if John was giving up.

  "I can see that you agree with me. So, if John isn't doing all that he can, don't you owe it to him, to yourself, to do all you can, until you work out how to fix this. After all, you're a Golden Dragon as well, aren't you?"

  "But what can I do?" Crystal asked. "I'm not a doctor. And I don't know where to look for a cure, and I'm not an expert on the Circle."

  "Neither am I," Jerome replied. "But I wouldn't let that stop me."

  He turned his attention back to his food, waiting for her to respond. He was right, she had given up. They all had. They had looked up to John for the last six months, but in many ways, he was diminished now. Why should his willingness to accept his fate affect her?

  "You're right," she said slowly. "I am a Golden Dragon. I can do this."

  "Of course you can," Jerome replied encouragingly. "That's the spirit!"

  "But where should I start? None of our doctors knows what to do, neither Red nor Golden."

  "Then start elsewhere," Jerome replied. "There are other races and you've met them. You know where to look, don't you?"

  It suddenly dawned on her. "The new cities. That's where I have to go!"

  Jerome smiled and stood up to leave. "I knew I could cheer you up. It's never as bad as it seems."

  For a moment, Crystal forgot how easily he had dismissed her last year and how he had eavesdropped on her private conversations. He had encouraged her when she needed it. "Thanks, Jerome. You've helped me put things into perspective. You've been a good friend. I won't forget this."

  Jerome smiled his usual, dazzling smile. "For you, Crystal, any time. Any time at all."

  Chapter 5: Welcome visitors

  For John, it had felt reassuringly comfortable settling back into a routine at school. Some things had changed, of course, as everyone knew who he was and what he had done, but for the main part, things were remarkably similar to last year. Last year he reported to the Keeper, but largely he did whatever projects he thought were the most important. Now he reported to the headmaster instead, and he had a clearly defined scope of work, but he had done most of the definition, and just like last year, he was trusted to do what was best. Academic work suited him just fine. He was terrible at reading people and would always struggle in an environment where political considerations were important. But working through a complicated muddle of information, sifting through and organising data, developing a curriculum for students to study, he was in his element.