by Andy Holland
And of course, it provided the perfect distraction from his real problem, one he had no idea how to solve. He was dying. He might have six months at best. Most people would have gone to pieces, or become angry, or bitter, but John had just focused on his work. If he had been honest, he would have admitted that none of this work really mattered. His government would have happily provided a replacement, who probably would have been better qualified for the job and the school would have been far happier if John had focused on getting better, but he had no idea how to do that. He was completely stumped. He had tried all of the obvious things to do but had come up with nothing. To him it was a simple choice: spend his last days banging his head against a wall in a futile attempt to save himself, or enjoy his last few months alive. It was an easy decision. As far as he saw it, he was lucky to have survived this long anyway, and he should be grateful for the time he had and make the most of it.
So John was particularly pleased to learn of his brother's impending visit. It would have been even sweeter if both of his two brothers were coming, but he had long ago accepted that his younger brother had little interest in seeing him again. But Mark clearly wanted to see him, and as luck would have it, his work was going to bring him back to the Red Dragon capital yet again.
It had been some time since John had seen Mark and his brother couldn't have come at a better time. Much as he loved Crystal, every time he saw her, her tearful face made him feel guilty about his decision to accept his fate. She had taken to continually urging him to explore endless new and pointless avenues of investigation. She meant well, but she was just too poorly educated to come up with anything that had any chance of success. Still, he admired her persistence and who knew, maybe she would stumble across something of use. He hadn't managed to think of anything yet.
But regardless, Mark would both cheer him up and distract Crystal. Mark was the sort of person John wished he could be. Mark was at home in any social setting, was charming, funny, confident and for want of a better word, fun. John was none of these things but wished he could be. He had his own merits: loyalty, bravery, honesty, but then Mark had those as well. John often wondered how he would have turned out had he grown up with his brother instead of just with his father. He was sure that he would have done better with Crystal.
Still, things could have turned out worse. He couldn’t imagine being happier than he was with Daisy and still found it hard to believe that he had ended up being with her. After all, she was a princess. Obviously, his condition did cast a shadow over everything, but she loved and respected him enough to accept his decision regarding searching for a cure. He might only have a few months left, but they might turn out to be the best months of his life.
His excellent relationship with the headmaster meant that was granted a considerable degree of latitude when it came to using his time, and he didn't even need to notify the Headmaster that he was taking the morning off to fly to meet his brother and the convoy he was travelling with. Of course, he did let him know in advance, as was his way, but the Headmaster reminded him that it was really wasn't necessary, and if he wanted, he was free to take more time off whenever he liked.
John was someone who preferred mornings, and he took to the air as soon as the first rays of sunlight hit the city. His condition varied from day to day, and at times he could barely manage the climb up the stairs to his office, but as a dragon, he always felt as fit as ever, and he flew hard through the cool air, ascending to high above the volcanoes that encircled the Red Dragon capital. It was a glorious day, and from here he could see for miles, almost to the border between the Centre and the Eastern Principality. He flew into the wind, but it did little to slow him, and it didn't bother him, knowing it would speed the convoy along. Being very early there were no other dragons in the air, no one to distract him from enjoying his flight. He wondered if perhaps he should really spend more time in the air as it might slow the deterioration in his health. But doing so would mean spending less time with Daisy, so he dismissed the idea.
Despite the headwind he travelled quickly, flying across the Centre and into the Eastern Principality. This was an area that he knew well, having spent a long time here before moving to Furnace. Just as in the Centre, he could see that the process of rebuilding was in full swing, but the damage was much more extensive, and it would be some time before the scars on the land had healed. He wished it could happen faster: the longer it took, the harder it would be for the population to fully accept the peace treaty. But he would just have to be patient. Just as in the capital, where they had rebuilt so quickly, they would rebuild everywhere else, and they would leave no trace of the damage that the Blues had left behind. It was just a matter of time.
He caught first sight of the convoy late in the morning, midway across the Eastern Principality. It was a big group and consisted of quite a number of different races, each of them flying in their own little groups. The group was flanked by squadrons of Red Dragons, presumably a military escort rather than representatives of the new cities. There were quite a few Reds in the main group, but they were far from being a majority. Browns, Sandy Dragons, Wasp Dragons, a few races he barely recognised and even two giant Rhino Dragons were in the convoy, but it was the Golds he was looking for. He saw their scales glinting in the sun, their forms tiny compared to their Red Dragon escorts, but he couldn't recognise any distinguishing features from this distance. Then one dragon broke from the group, effortlessly leaving the convoy behind despite the squawks of objection from the escort.
John, his brother called enthusiastically. I knew that could only be you!
Mark! It's good to see you, brother! John turned around to fly in the same direction as the convoy. How are you? Had a good flight?
Slow, Mark replied. But you didn't have to come and meet me, and you didn't have to fly halfway across the country to do so. You must have been up at first light. Aren't you meant to be taking it easy?
Flying is good for me, John replied, quite truthfully. It's the only time I feel completely well. But let's not discuss that. I have enough nagging from Crystal.
A Red Dragon had also broken from the group to approach them, and for a moment John thought they were going to be reprimanded until he recognised who it was. Prince Gerald! I didn't realise you were coming.
Gerald flew up beside them and kept pace with them. Come on, just Gerald, please. It's good to see you, John, I didn't realise you were coming to meet us. Well, meet your brother anyway, you wouldn't have known I was coming. That was a late decision. This summit has turned into quite a big event.
Daisy will be pleased, John replied. You'll have to come and visit her tonight.
If we ever get there, Mark added. These Rhinos fly so slowly. We should have sent them ahead yesterday. Do you think we could get away with ditching the convoy?
I don't know, Gerald replied doubtfully. I'm as happy to disregard protocol as the next Dragon, but it wouldn't look great. It would be good, though. We might not get there before nightfall at this rate.
Then do the opposite, John suggested. Slow down and tell them to go on. Use my health as an excuse if you like. Then once they're out of sight, detour and speed up.
There was a shocked silence for a few seconds, broken by Gerald. Yes, I heard about your condition from Daisy. I was very sorry, I mean I am very sorry….
Of course, John interrupted. So, are we doing this?
Why not? His brother replied. Descend a little so they can fly over us. I will tell them what is happening.
Ten minutes later they were speeding home, travelling to the east of the convoy to avoid being spotted. John listened with great interest as the two young men explained what had been going on in the new cities. Neither could tell him much about the city of Freedom, where the former slaves had been resettled, but they spoke enthusiastically about Sanctuary and Assembly. Both of them very proud of their cities but were frustrated with the slow pace of construction. Indeed, the whole purpose of the visit was to hold a s
ummit to present the case for more resources in an attempt to speed up progress. Gerald was very aware of Prince Henry's opposition but was still optimistic about their chances. The King and the four Princes were going to be present at the summit, so his negative influence was going to be greatly reduced. Gerald's grandfather represented the richest Principality and was, therefore, the most influential and like Gerald he had no time for Prince Henry.
They also discussed the True Dragons at length, which was hardly surprising as it was the primary cause of their current problems. Neither had seen any of them since the end of the war, but they had seen the destruction that the black one had brought. When John told them of the rumours that people were starting to blame him, they dismissed them out of hand, almost too quickly for John's liking.
Naturally, Gerald slowed them down, but he did agree to ascend into the powerful winds that carried them towards Furnace, and they made good time, arriving in the middle of the afternoon. Gerald had offered to host Mark, so they went directly to his apartment.
"This is very nice," Mark commented as they entered. "Not what I would have expected though. I thought you'd live in some great palace. This is far better."
"That's what I think," Gerald agreed. "Sadly my mother doesn't agree and has insisted that the twins live in some monstrosity on the outskirts of the city, far away from where anything interesting happens. Shame, I used to enjoy having them around."
"But you're never here anyway," John pointed out. "And they're not that far from the centre."
"If you fly," Gerald replied. "Which is not an option at night when everything interesting happens. Much easier to be here."
"Talking about the twins," Mark interjected, "didn't you want to go and see them?"
"Yes, of course," Gerald replied brightly. "I will just have to do a couple of things first. Wait for me here."
He went off, presumably to speak to one of his servants, leaving the brothers alone. Mark turned to John, his face now quite serious.
"John, tell me, how is your heart? Any improvement?"
John hesitated. He had felt fine all day, but only as he had been a dragon. Now, standing in the apartment, he had felt a significant amount of discomfort, and although he had tried to hide it, Mark had probably noticed.
"So that's a no, then," Mark said. "What are you doing about it? I thought you were looking in the Circle for a cure."
"Don't you start," John replied. "I get enough of this from Crystal. I spent a long time in the Circle, but we weren't getting anywhere. No one knows how to treat this, and by rights, I should be dead already. I can either spend my last days with those I love or grasping at straws in the middle of nowhere."
Mark nodded, pausing before answering. John had expected him to argue, but he seemed quite calm. "And Crystal thinks that you're just giving up? What does she want you to do?"
"Anything and everything. Mainly things I've already tried. But mainly she wants me to go to Assembly or Sanctuary to see if I can find a dragon that knows more about this than Red or Golden Dragons. She thinks that another race might know how to fix this. I've agreed to go there with her and the others after the summit, but as I've tried to explain to her, there's really no point. She just doesn't understand how much we have already learnt from the other races. If they knew anything, our doctors would already know."
Mark rubbed his chin. "Yes and no. There are some races that we've encountered but learnt very little from. Her idea might not be so terrible."
John looked at him in surprise. "Who? I thought you knew all of the races in the Sanctuary very well. What secrets could they have?"
"Plenty," Mark replied. "The Magpie Dragons, for example, are almost a complete mystery to us. Remember that they aren't fire-breathers and we can't take their form, and we have no idea where they're from. But I wasn't thinking of Sanctuary, or at least not the Dragons there. I recently met someone who is a bit of an expert on this sort of thing, and I’d like you to meet him. He’s one of us, a Golden Dragon, that is, and he is coming up for the summit. You won't be able to see him before, but I will make sure you meet him before he leaves."
"Who is he?" John asked.
Mark shook his head. "I won't say any more now. And I won't say anything to the others, just in case he can't help. But, just keep an open mind. It's what you'd encourage your friends to do, isn't it? The cure might still be out there…"
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Much as John would have liked to spend as much time as he could with Gerald and his brother, he was constrained by his health. He flew back before the sun went down, knowing that walking home wasn't going to be possible for him and being too proud to allow Gerald to arrange for transport to take him home. He had been very interested in what they had to say about the upcoming summit, but at the same time was disappointed that he couldn't be a part of it.
Over the next few days, John saw quite a lot of both Mark and Gerald, who took every opportunity to spend time with him and his friends. Progress at the summit sounded painfully slow, but they both seemed upbeat about the prospects for success. Mark hadn't said any more about his mystery friend and John had almost forgotten about it when one morning, while he was working hard in his office, he was surprised to hear a knock on his door. When he answered it, he was surprised to see an elderly Golden Dragon waiting patiently outside. He had long white hair and if it weren't for the golden patches in his long beard John might not have been able to identify him as a Golden Dragon.
"John, I take it," the old man said, extending his hand. "Solomon. Mark asked me to come and visit you."
"Yes, yes, come in," John mumbled. "Sorry, he didn't tell me when you were coming. Would you like something to drink?"
Solomon nodded, following John into his office and taking a seat by the window while he waited for John.
"So, John," he said, taking the hot drink and putting it on the small table beside the window. "Your brother told me a little about your condition. I must admit, I'm both impressed and surprised that you survived. Normally transforming at night would be fatal. Did you understand the risks?"
"Yes," John replied. "But the risks from not transforming were even greater. Tell me, are you a doctor?"
Solomon laughed politely, a twinkle in his eyes. "Ah, no, I'm afraid I'm not good with the sight of blood. I could never have made a good doctor. I'm an academic, which, from what I understand, gives us something in common."
"Yes, I suppose so," John replied, not really agreeing. "But how can you help me? If you're not a doctor?"
"A very good question, and I may not be able to help at all. My expertise is in history and my area of speciality is in the races that inhabited what we refer to as the Northwest. Now it is just Reds, Blues and Rhinos, at least on the surface, but there used to be many races living in that region."
"Yes, of course. My father taught me a lot about the region. He thought it was important to understand the Red Dragons history if I was to live there."
"And he was right," Solomon replied enthusiastically. "But the history of this region isn't just their history. They were just one of many small races at the start when this place was first settled. In fact, there were much larger, more dominant races occupying the land if you go back far enough."
"I'm sorry, I know very little about the time before the rise of the Greens, Reds and Blues. We focussed on more recent history and just skimmed across the earlier periods."
"Ah, then you've missed one of the most fascinating parts of history. You really should study it."
John nodded politely, wondering what this had to do with his health.
"But it is a broad and complicated subject," Solomon continued. "We could discuss it for months if we were so inclined. But you don't have months, do you, John?"
John shook his head. "No, sir, I do not."
Solomon smiled, nodding. "Then you must be focused. You do not have the luxury of time. Tell me, who has lived in this region the longest?"
John hesitated
briefly. The Greens were here before the others, but they were all gone now. The Rhinos history was vague, but historical records from other races indicated that they were here long before the Reds and of course the Blues only expanded into this region relatively recently. "The Rhino Dragons. The Reds emerged as a race before them but grew slowly and started further to the east. They didn't capture these lands till much later."
Solomon shook his head vigorously. "You've forgotten someone. Someone who is still here."
John was confused. Only three Dragon races lived in this region. Who was he referring to? Then it dawned on him. "You don't mean…"
"Go on, say it," Solomon urged.
"Worm Dragons?" John ventured cautiously.
"Yes!" Solomon replied excitedly, now quite animated. "Of course there were many races of Worm Dragons, but there is just one that has survived the test of time and one that has been dominant throughout history. For many people they are all people think of when you speak of Worm Dragons."
"But they have all gone, haven't they, sir?"
Solomon laughed. "We both know that isn't true, but I am glad that you can be trusted to keep their secret safe. I know about the valley. Indeed that is where you had your fateful accident, is it not? I assume that they played a part in your recovery."