by Andy Holland
John nodded, realising that if his father had known about the inhabitants of the valley, then it wasn't surprising that other Golden Dragons also knew. "But surely if they knew how to heal me they would have told me at the time. Or we would have learnt it from them."
"That is unlikely," Solomon replied. "There isn't a race that is more secretive than the Worm Dragons. They might not have thought it necessary, after all, they kept you alive, didn't they?"
"But what makes you think that they would know how to heal me now and why would they tell me? If they're so secretive."
"Very few Dragons have ever met a Worm Dragon, let alone been assisted by one. They don't fear us, as far I understand, but neither are they interested in us. I don't know how you and your father managed to get on so well with them, but if they helped you once, they might help again. Now, as to your other question, well that is why I am here. Your brother asked me if I knew anything about why you should feel better in the Circle and I knew straight away that it must have something to do with the Worm Dragons. Before the True Dragons settled there, it was the most important location for their civilisation, and as you must have heard, the place is riddled with their tunnels. There were rumours of a place there where you could be healed of anything, but its location has been long forgotten, and sadly, it wasn’t recorded in any of our history books. Our ancestors asked the Worm Dragons if they could let us know where it was but they were reluctant to share that information. They abandoned the whole area, but the source of healing might still be there. I know it sounds a little hard to believe, but when your brother told me how you felt better in the Circle, I was immediately reminded of these stories."
John agreed that it sounded a bit implausible, but he had reached the stage where he would be willing to try anything. "But if they refused to tell us where it was in the past, why would they tell me now?"
"They still might not," Solomon admitted. "But they all abandoned the area long ago, so I suspect that they would be more willing to share their knowledge. And, as I said, they have both trusted and helped you before, so it's possible they'll do so again."
John nodded, thinking that as an idea it wasn't any worse than going to the New Cities. At least he would know who to speak to, and it was much closer. "Thank you. I think I'll pay the Worm Dragons another visit."
Solomon finished his drink and stood up. "Excellent. I can't promise success, but I don't think you'll find a more promising place to look. I will leave you these books to read. They may not be particularly helpful, but they will improve your understanding of the history of the region. This one I wrote myself."
He passed John four heavy books, three of which looked very old.
"Thank you," John replied. "I will read them immediately."
Solomon nodded confidently as if he hadn't expected anything less. "Good luck, young man. And John, promise me, if you do find out anything about this city, or about the Worm Dragons history in general, please let me know."
He extended his hand, which John shook gratefully. "Of course, Solomon. Thank you again."
As soon as Solomon left, John sat down and picked up the first book. It must have been about a five hundred pages long, and it was the thinnest of the four. He sighed and opened it up, knowing that he may as well start now. The book was old, but the print hadn't faded at all, and the title of the first chapter stood out very clearly, immediately drawing John in. "The Kingdom of the Worm Dragons. The Greatest Kingdom of all time."
Chapter 6: The Black Dragon
The monster was a long way below them, lazily flapping its scaly black wings as it drifted across fields and woodlands, never looking up or indicating that it knew that it was being watched. It probably wouldn't care if it was. This was the black True Dragon, the largest of the three and a creature of such immense size and power that it feared nothing. Jude soared effortlessly above it, kept company by his old comrade, Joseph.
Where do you think it is going? Joseph asked, glancing down nervously at the beast. It hasn't stopped moving for a while now.
There's no way of telling, Jude replied. Maybe it isn't going anywhere in particular.
It seems to be sticking to a pretty straight route, Joseph pointed out. It doesn't turn or meander at all. Looks like it knows where it is going.
Maybe, Jude conceded. It's in no hurry, though. It could fly twice as fast as this if it wanted.
No, I suppose it isn't. But it's definitely flying further from the Circle than before.
True, Jude replied. He had been thinking the same thing, and it bothered him. Previously, the creature had stayed quite close to the Circle, remaining within two hour's flight of the edge of the Circle, but it was about that far away already and was currently flying directly away from the Circle. Who knew how far it would go this time?
Do you think it knows we're up here? Joseph asked. It never looks up.
I hope not, Jude replied. And I hope it hasn't seen any of the others either.
Jude glanced to the left and then the right, catching glimpses of gold in the distance. Two other pairs of Golden Dragons were keeping pace with them, also watching the monster flying beneath them. One dragon flew over to join them, a veteran called Abraham who had served with Jude in the Banshee Wars. Jude liked Abraham, a dragon of few words and someone who could always be relied on to get a job done.
How much longer are we going to stay with this thing? Abraham asked, pulling up to fly close to Jude's right. We'll lose the light soon. And it's going further than expected.
Jude turned to look at the setting sun behind them. They didn't have long; soon it would be dark, and they would need to be on the ground, unable to remain dragons once the sun had set. The True Dragon had no such limitation, which made their job of tracking it so much harder. Each morning they set off at the crack of dawn and immediately spread out in order to try and find it, having no idea where it would have gone during the night. Another six Golden Dragons were ahead of them and another six behind, so the three groups covered a lot of ground quickly but it still took a while to find the creature.
We'll land in a few minutes, Jude replied. Let's slow down; we can let him get ahead of us. We don’t want him to see where we land.
Sounds good, Joseph replied. Let's hope he sleeps again tonight. It'll make him easier to find in the morning if he's still nearby.
And he'll have caused less destruction in the night, Jude thought to himself. They'd been following him for two months now and had seen many burnt-out villages and towns, destroyed by the creature during the night. They had no idea why he did it as there were no dragons for him to eat at night. During the day he was even worse. Their job was to track him and give warning to towns that he was heading for, so people could prepare for his arrival and hide. But doing so was nearly impossible; most of the time he flew too quickly for them to get ahead and he would change direction without warning. All they were really doing was recording where he had been as if the trail of smoking settlements wasn't evidence enough.
The other two pairs of dragons joined them as they slowed down, the group descending gradually as they watched the huge black dragon fade into the distance. Even though it was far, far ahead of them, Jude knew that they could never relax in its company. He glanced back at his five dragons. He had gradually come to know these five individuals, having patrolled with them for some time now. Joseph he had already known well and was the only one he would call a friend, a term he reserved for very few people. They had served together for many years now, and although he respected him as a warrior, they would never be close. Asher was another captain, someone who had served as long as Jude as a scout but had somehow avoided flying with him before. He was very smart, competent, but impatient, outspoken and prone to making scathing remarks whenever the opportunity arose and Jude found his company difficult to tolerate. For his part, Asher respected him as a Captain and although the same rank, had no issues obeying his commands. He also recognised that Jude preferred his own company and gave him
a wide berth when they were on the ground, which suited Jude fine. Zane, who was flying with Abraham, was the youngest in the group, having recently turned nineteen which was very young for someone to be accepted as a scout, but he was an able flier and was calm and composed even when they had had close calls with their quarry. He was a pleasant young man, although unfortunately was frequently the subject of Asher's ferocious wit. The last member of their group was Carmen, the only female in the group. Jude had never been fond of mixed groups, especially small groups such as theirs that were forced to spend so many days alone together. Jobs such as theirs were particularly dangerous, and any distractions were unwelcome in his eyes. Dragons such as Carmen posed a particular risk in his eyes, being young, single and attractive and he frequently noticed Zane's eyes wandering in her direction at their evening meals, which was why he never assigned the two to fly together. Fortunately, as dragons, it was easy to forget she was female.
Time to land, Joseph said just as they started skimming across the treetops. Where are we now? Is this Blue or Brown territory?
Brown, Jude replied after a moment's hesitation, trying to remember where the borders had settled. But we're near the border. It should be uninhabited.
Let's hope so, Joseph replied. Less chance of that thing finding people to kill.
Jude didn't reply or even nod his head. He always felt that human gestures such as nodding or shaking one's head were unbecoming for a dragon, with their ability to communicate telepathically. And he didn't want to talk any more about people being killed. The creature was relentless, attacking every settlement it found, too often with fatal consequences. The people in the immediate area had been prepared; thousands of Golden Dragons had been flown in to help dig underground shelters for them to hide in when the creature approached, and there wasn't a single hamlet within three hours flight from the Circle where there weren't sufficient tunnels for people to use. But these people had to carry on with their lives; farmers mainly, with a few people who cut timber and a small community of miners in the Red Kingdom. They couldn't stay by their tunnels all the time and when the creature arrived, unannounced, more often than not it would find at least one dragon desperately trying to fly back to safety. They had tried to help, bravely flying in to try and distract the creature in the hope that their superior agility would enable them to escape with their own lives but it was a vain hope. After the third Golden Dragon had been killed they called a stop to such tactics and resigned themselves to having to watch as the creature murdered its helpless victims. The best they could do was hope that it flew slowly and took a straight path, as it did today so that their advance group could provide some warning to the settlements that it was heading towards.
There are tunnels over there, Jude said, noticing the tall signposts. They always made sure these tunnels were easy to find, knowing that it could mean the difference between survival and becoming the creature's next meal. They had dug many all over the area surrounding the Circle, so they were never that far from one. To the left. No need for any digging tonight.
Yes, I know, we've slept here before, remember? Joseph replied. Just over two weeks ago, maybe. We dug them then. It had just turned back towards the Circle, and these were the furthest tunnels from the Circle. We didn't think it would get any further than this.
I wasn't with you, Jude reminded him. I was on leave. But I suspect we will need to dig a lot more tunnels at this rate. Jude landed outside the dark holes, transforming immediately and crouching in the tunnel entrance. Jude was always a little cautious when first entering these tunnels, in case some animal had adopted it as its home. There were a few aggressive inhabitants in this area, none which could trouble a dragon but like this he was vulnerable. He examined the dirt carefully but could see no traces of tracks of anything of any significant size.
"Looks like it has stayed dry," Joseph commented. "We slept in one a few weeks ago and the idiot who had dug it hadn't given any thought to what would happen if it rained. It actually began to fill up with water while we were in it. We all slept outside in the end."
Jude nodded. He was tired of sleeping in cold, dark holes, and his mind was already back home in his cottage just outside the capital. His shift was almost at an end, and he would have two weeks rest at home before he would have to come back. He looked up to the sky, looking out for both the black True Dragon and any sign of his replacement. With any luck, he would find them this evening, and he could head home first thing in the morning. But he was to be disappointed and as the light slowly faded so did any hope of an early departure.
Still, he had just one more night. He took one last look into the distance in the direction that the True Dragon had flown, before giving the order to light a fire so his unit could begin preparing their evening meal. They would cook just outside their tunnels, no more than a few metres away from an entrance. You could never be too careful in this job.
As was the case every morning, they woke early, well before sunrise. This morning, it was the pleasant smell of bacon that roused them. That was one advantage of being on the same shift as Joseph, he was an excellent chef. Sadly it was only for half of Jude's shift, but it made it far more bearable. Zane, always keen to please, brought him a plate as soon as he emerged from his tunnel but knew better than to try and engage him in conversation, instead, wandering over to sit on a log next to Carmen. Asher was talking in a low voice to Abraham and Joseph near their small fire, and they all left Jude alone to eat his food in peace. This was just as he liked it. Even on his best days, he was never much of a conversationalist, and today he was even more troubled than normal. He hadn't been completely honest with Joseph, he had noticed a pattern, a rather worrying one, but he didn't want to share it with anyone other than his replacement. It would probably be Magda if he recalled the roster correctly. He didn't know her well, but she was competent, and that was all that he needed to know.
It was still dark so they couldn't fly yet, but the True Dragon could already be in the air if it had even stopped flying. Sometimes it slept during the day, and it could be a day or two before they found it again, despite its huge size. He was a little impatient to be in the air, always feeling more comfortable as a dragon than a human. His heightened senses gave him a greater sense of security, knowing that it would be that much harder for the creature to take him by surprise. He would just have to be patient.
When the sun finally peeked over the horizon, the six of them transformed and took off immediately. This was the moment that they were at their most vulnerable and Jude could sense the tension in the group as they frantically searched all around them for any sign of the True Dragon. It was nowhere to be seen. They ascended rapidly, now confident that they were safe, at least for the moment.
Begin the search, Jude commanded. His team of dragons spread out immediately, as they did every morning, searching in a widening spiral pattern until they met the other two groups of six dragons. Often, this was the one time in the day that he spoke to the other two captains. He suspected that Magda probably spoke to them more regularly, but he didn't see the point.
Captain Jude, one of the other captains greeted him. Any sign of the True Dragon?
None, Jude replied. I assume neither of you has seen it?
Not yet, the other captain replied. Hopefully, it has headed to the Circle.
If it hasn't, we're too exposed, the first captain added. There are no tunnels in this area. If it decided to chase us, we would have nowhere to hide.
I know, Jude replied. We will need at least a hundred new tunnels if it going to come this far regularly. I will put the request in today.
Do that, the first captain replied. Head east, Jude. It'll make it easier for Magda to find you. I will search to the north.
And I will search to the west, the second captain said. Good luck, both of you.
As Jude and his dragons began to search to the east, Jude found himself wishing that Magda would find them before they found the True Dragon. He had an uneasy fe
eling about today as if his shift had been just one day too long.
When they finally found the creature, it was already mid-morning. It was sound asleep, lying in a cornfield not far from the blackened remains of a Brown Dragon village. Jude hoped that the inhabitants had had enough warning to take cover. In many cases, they had not.
Take no risks, Jude reminded them. The creature is further from the Circle than anyone expected it to be and there are no escape tunnels in this area. Stay as high as you can.
Should we dig one? Zane asked, as keen as ever. Do you want me to land?
Seriously? Asher asked scathingly. You would dig a tunnel within earshot of that thing? With its hearing? How do you think that would work out?
Asher began to mutter an embarrassed response, his telepathic words barely coherent but Jude cut him off. No, we will not dig any tunnels. We would need many to be safe, and that's just not possible. But there are three settlements near here that need to be prepared. Asher, do you know where they are?
Of course, Asher replied. You want me to alert them?
Yes, Jude replied. Take Zane and Joseph. We will need to contact the other two teams, but the settlements take priority. Meet back here as soon as you're done.
The monster was asleep, which was good, but it also meant that they had no idea which direction it would fly in once it woke. The only thing they could do was alert everyone in the area that it was here and that it could be heading in their direction. Fortunately, this was Brown Dragon territory. Small and swift, not only were they best designed to evade the True Dragon if it found them, they would also take responsibility for spreading the word that the True Dragon was here. Zane and the others would be back very soon.
Other than the lack of escape tunnels, this was a scenario they had faced on an almost daily basis. Jude gave the order and his remaining dragons spread out across the sky, soaring high above the ground as they waited for the creature to wake and begin its next journey. What drove it Jude couldn't tell, but he just prayed that it would turn around and go home soon.