by Andy Holland
Mark wasn't surprised to learn that. Perak was renowned for this style of warfare and wouldn't let himself get caught that easily. "Do you know what happened? Why they were here, what they wanted, that sort of thing?"
"That I can tell you," the young Prince replied. "They were looking for your brother, apparently, and his friends. They caught two guards, one of ours and one of yours, and interrogated them to find out where John was. They're both dead, sadly, but your one lived long enough to tell us what they were doing here."
"They were after John?" Mark really hadn't expected that. Not with all of the politicians travelling to the summit, who would seem the more logical target. "What for?"
"Revenge, I would guess," Gerald replied. "Seems petty, but I can't think of any other reason. Perak has a bad reputation though, so who knows. He won't get another chance though, they'll send a message back to Furnace, and once your brother knows Perak is after him, he won't take any risks. You know how cautious he is. Look, do you want to get out of here? You're not going back to Assembly anyway. You're going straight to Sanctuary, aren't you?"
Mark shook his head. "Not directly. I'm stopping in Safehaven first." Safehaven was the city built for the women rescued from the Blue Dragon prison camps.
Gerald looked a little confused. "Really? Why would you want to go there? You haven't been involved in any of that work."
"John asked me to visit the place. No one has been able to tell him what has been happening there, so I said I wouldn't mind checking it out. It's not much of a detour. Do you want to come?"
"Why not?" Gerald replied. "It's better than staying here. The convoy won't get going for ages and when they do they'll be travelling painfully slowly. Besides, I wouldn't mind seeing the place."
Following last night's incident, Jonah had been put in charge of security, as the Red Dragon previously holding the position had been killed in the fighting. Mark sought him out to let him know of their change of plans before they left. Jonah had no objection to their decision to go ahead but did have more bad news to pass on. A Golden Dragon had arrived from the New Cities with news from the scouts tracking the True Dragons. The black True Dragon had attacked and killed a number of the scouts, and although replacements were on their way, for the moment, they were unable to effectively track the beast. Jonah advised him to stay alert but pointed out that travelling in smaller groups might actually be safer.
After the night that they had had, Mark couldn't face passing on yet more bad news to Gerald so said nothing for the moment, simply telling him that they could leave immediately. Once in the air, Gerald reluctantly agreed to follow Mark's lead and they ascended high into the sky to take advantage of the strong winds found at such altitudes. He was obviously a little uncomfortable but being a good-natured fellow, he put up with it and said nothing till they arrived at the city of slaves a couple of hours later.
I can't say I enjoy flying that high, Gerald commented as they descended, but I must admit it saves time. If you happen to want to fly in the same direction as that wind.
And energy. Mark replied, gliding effortlessly towards the city. I still don’t understand why more dragons don’t do the same. So this is Safehaven. Not a bad size, is it? Not that they've done much yet.
That was an understatement, something that Gerald didn't hesitate to point out. Haven’t done much? It's just a circular wall! There are no buildings at all, and they’ve hardly begun clearing the vegetation inside. They've done even less than you have in Sanctuary. Wait a minute, what's happened over there? On the far side of the city?
Mark's eyes didn't pick up anything unusual at first, as he wasn’t that familiar with the place, but then his heart sank. A huge patch of the city has been completely burnt away, leaving an immense sea of ash. There was only one thing that could have done this; a True Dragon. Gerald landed in the middle of the ash field, his wingbeats lifting a black cloud that filled the air. Mark landed a short distance away from him. Gerald bent his head close to the ground.
Still warm, he noted. Hot, even. I wouldn't transform. It could get very uncomfortable.
Mark nodded his head, looking around at the devastation. The creature had scorched a vast area, and if there had been any trees in this spot, there was no trace of them now. He could see tents all around the perimeter of the sea of ash; had there been tents here as well? How many of the residents had been killed by this attack? The scorched area was large enough that it could have been hundreds, even thousands. Mark could see people milling about at the edge of the ash, near the tents. Come on, let's speak to them, he said, taking off and flying towards them. They can tell us what happened.
I think we know happened, Gerald replied grimly, but he took off and followed anyway.
Mark reached the tents first and transformed immediately, while Gerald looked for a discrete spot to transform. Most of the girls stayed where they are, eyeing him warily, but two girls approached him, their faces cold and hard.
"At last," the first girl said bitterly. She was a Red Dragon, probably in her mid-twenties. "We wondered if anyone was going to come back."
"When did this happen?" Mark asked, gesturing to the ash behind him.
"The night before last," she replied. "We had no warning before it came. And no one came to see us yesterday."
Mark remembered Jonah's news. The scouts were no longer able to track the True Dragon. Even if this was just a temporary issue, it had already resulted in a massive loss of life.
"Are there no construction workers here? Surely there aren't just you girls?"
"There are our children," the other girl replied coldly, a Brown Dragon who was probably of a similar age to the Red Dragon, but it was hard to tell with all of the ash that was on her face. "Although not all of us still have children. The creature saw to that."
Gerald jogged over to join them. "What happened? Did it kill many?"
The Red Dragon girl turned to the sea of ash. "This was full of tents. There were quite a few wooden buildings in the middle as well. They were meant for the workers, but it's been so long since any have been here that many of the girls had moved into them. I suppose some made it to the underground shelters, but probably not many. Not there were enough tunnels for them all."
"It only attacked this part of the city?" Gerald asked. "Did it leave the rest untouched?"
"City!" the Red Dragon girl said with a hollow laugh. "Does this look a city to you? This is a burial ground and nothing more."
The other girl ignored her response. "It just landed here and torched this area. It didn't stay that long before leaving. We all fled into the tunnels as quickly as we could so we couldn't see what it was doing, but we could hear it screaming."
"It and its victims," the Red Dragon girl added. "Once they stopped screaming it left."
"So how many died?" Gerald asked. "Has someone made a count?"
"Who would do that?" the Red Dragon girl asked scornfully. "We've been abandoned. No one has done any construction work for weeks. We receive food drops every few days but that's it. You've brought us here then left us to die."
Mark turned away. He was glad that John wasn't here to see this. Unfortunately, this city had been lowest on everyone's priorities, so construction had been progressing slowly, but he didn't realise it had completely stopped.
"It's been hard to convince people to send workers with the monster still active," Gerald explained. "We just had a summit in Furnace to address the issue. The Eastern Principality has committed to building a road to connect this city to their border towns and the other Principalities have all committed to sending construction workers soon."
"Here?" the Red Dragon girl asked. "In Safehaven? Or the other cities? The more important places. We've only seen Golden Dragons so far, other than those who drop food and leave without even landing. They built the wall and dug the tunnels, but haven't been back since they finished the tunnels."
"They were needed to dig tunnels elsewhere," Mark explained. "The creature has be
en ransacking settlements all over this region. They've had to dig shelter tunnels in all of them. They will be back."
"Will they? When? And how long will it take them to finish this city with just the Golden Dragons?"
"I don't know," Mark admitted. "I can't answer for the other nations, but I promise you that we will send more dragons to help. At least I will do what I can to send more help."
"What about you, Prince?" the Red Dragon girl sneered. "You do speak for a Principality, don't you? Heir to the Western throne. Not many of the Red Dragons among us are from the west, but one or two are. What are you going to do to protect your own? Or would you rather forget us and hope we just faded away?"
"Shush," the Brown Dragon girl cautioned. "They're here, aren't they? No one else has come."
"It's alright," Gerald replied gently. "It's a fair question. But I don't speak for the West yet, and my grandfather isn't likely to send many people until the monsters return to the Circle. It will just be a handful, I expect. I'm sorry, but that's just the way it is."
"You're sorry!" the Red Dragon girl replied. "We're the ones left to die!"
"How old are you?" Gerald asked, fixing her with a hard stare.
"Twenty-eight," she replied. "Why?"
"And how many of you in that camp were over thirty?" Gerald asked.
The Red Dragon girl glared back at him. "Don't patronise me, boy. You might be a Prince back in the West, where you're kept safe by the rest of us, but you're not in the West. I know what was in store for me if I had stayed in that camp. But do you think I should be grateful to you for bringing me out? I was there for ten years before anyone came for us. Ten years! I had four children in that time, three of which I will never see again and because of your prejudice towards the fourth, I can never go home. It wasn't you who got me out, it was a bunch of Golden and Brown Dragons. If it had been left to you, we would still be there. You had forgotten us and were doing nothing to help us, which is pretty much what you're doing now."
Mark put his hand up to silence the Prince before he said something he might regret.
"I helped though," he told her, speaking softly. "I was in the rescue party, along with my younger brother, John. I'm sure you'll remember him. I didn't stay for the whole thing, but I was involved and helped. I would have stayed, but we believed that your people would need our help to defend Furnace against the Blue Dragons, so I went and fought for you there, with this Prince and we saved your capital. Then after the war, I helped draft the peace treaty that established this place. The Prince did as well and without his help, the treaty would have never have included this city."
"This isn't a city," the Red Dragon girl repeated, but her tone had softened a little.
"Not yet, no," Mark agreed. "But it will be. Your government might not be doing much but there are those of us who won't give up until the job is finished."
"I remember John," the Brown Dragon girl said. "He led the rescue and he refused to abandon us when there weren’t enough of you to carry us all."
"But he hasn't visited here, has he?" the Red Dragon girl added. "Are we to expect a visit from him any time soon?"
"No," Mark replied. "He probably won't ever come here. He is very ill. But he hasn’t forgotten you. He asked me to come here so I could tell him how the construction is progressing."
"We're very sorry to hear that he’s ill," the Brown Dragon girl replied. "I hope he gets well soon."
The Red Dragon girl's face hadn't softened in the slightest. She fixed Mark with a hard stare, leaving an uncomfortable pause before speaking again. "So when can we expect the next dragons to visit? Will construction start again soon?"
Mark shook his head. "I doubt it. Flying in materials was just too slow. They'll finish the roads first and then start the building again. It will be quicker this way."
"But when construction does restart it won't just be Golds, we will be there too," Gerald promised.
The Red Dragon girl shrugged. "If you say so. But I won't hold my breath." She turned to her companion. "Come on, let's leave them to it."
The two girls wandered off to one of the larger tents and disappeared inside. There was nothing more for them to see or do here, so they decided to press on.
Well, that was fun, Gerald commented as they took to the air.
It was horrendous, Mark replied. And I have no idea how to help.
What do you mean? Gerald replied. We carry on what we are doing. Pushing our governments to honour their promises and build these cities. However reluctantly, they will do it eventually.
You think so? Mark asked. I'm not so sure.
Come on, how can you doubt that? Gerald asked. Your government is already doing a lot, you can't question their commitment. Mine takes a while to get going, but they will get there in the end. I mean, the summit was a success, wasn't it? Building those roads will be a massive help. It might not feel it to them now, but once they're completed, you'll see great road trains of horse-drawn carts bringing in building materials. Then they'll see real progress.
Look back at that city, Mark told him, now that they were high above the ground. She is right. It is just a wall surrounding a campsite and still that thing went for them. Yes, everyone has signed up to do more, but how quickly will that stall when they see this, or worse, when it attacks one of the other two cities?
Gerald blew a stream of fire from his nostrils, clearly frustrated. I guess you're right. Dammit, why won't that thing just go home? This could be so perfect.
Well, probably not perfect, Mark replied. Our governments are involved, remember? But it could be something special. If only that monster could be stopped.
Couldn't it be stopped? Gerald asked. I mean, that Blue Dragon, Perak, he brought down one on his own, didn't he? Surely a group of you Golden Dragons could manage it.
I don't know, Mark replied, thinking back to their encounter with the True Dragons on their journey to Furnace. I've seen how fast they can move. I've seen it kill as well.
Come on, it must be possible, Gerald countered. Do you know how Perak did it?
No, if he even did do it, Mark replied. He thought back to the tall, arrogant Blue Dragon they had met last night. Just his name made him simmer with anger. At least John and his friends would now know that Perak was after them. It would be inconvenient, but until he was caught, they would have to remain in Furnace. They'd be perfectly safe there.
He did it, Gerald maintained. Remember, your brother told us that he saw him do it and he doesn't make things up. I'm not sure he even knows how to.
Mark had forgotten that. That is true. I suppose he must have done so, but it just seems impossible. Then again, if he did it…
It can be done, Gerald finished. And if it can be done once it can be done again. And if it can be done…
Gerald’s logic was hard to dispute and despite the impossibility of the task, he knew it had to be done. You're right. These stupid summits and political manoeuvres won't achieve anything if we ignore this. The building of these cities, the safety of everyone in this region and the future of the whole peace treaty, they're all dependent on eliminating this threat. There's only one thing that can be done.
Say it, Gerald urged. What has to happen?
Mark knew he would regret this even before he answered, but he said it regardless. The only thing that can happen. The True Dragons have to die.
Chapter 10: The Plan
It had been a few days since they had returned from their trip to the valley and John had been evasive about his plans to return to the Circle, refusing to give Crystal any details of what he was planning on doing. Usually, John joined them for lunch at school, taking a break from his work on the history syllabus, but he had made excuses for the last two days and eaten alone in his office while working. Crystal was determined not to be put off and dragged Jenna with her to his office at lunchtime.
"Why do I have to come?" Jenna asked irritably as she followed her up the stairs to the tower. "Surely Daisy would be
better company."
"For him, yes," Crystal replied. "But she won't be any help in interrogating him."
"But why do we want to interrogate him?" Jenna asked. "Isn't it his business what he does?"
"Ha! As if you've ever taken that view!" Crystal retorted. "If he's planning on going he should tell us before he goes."
"Fine," Jenna replied in defeat. "Just as long as you don't expect me to go with you both."
"I didn't say I was going," Crystal replied. "I just want to know what he's planning."
"Whatever you say," Jenna replied, rolling her eyes at her cousin.
Crystal didn't bother contradicting her. She knew how hollow her objections would sound and was content that her cousin wasn't going to try and stop her. They had reached the top of the stairs in the tower. This particular tower had been out of use for the last few years, and she had only been up here once, at the start of the term when John had been assigned this room. At the time they had been quite impressed that the school had given him his own office to work in until they saw the poorly maintained attic that they had chosen. From the stairs, it didn't look like much had changed.
"You'd have thought he would have cleaned up a bit," Jenna commented, frowning at the dirt on her hands from touching the bannister.
"Not really John's job, though it is?" Crystal replied, although privately thinking the same thing. "Let's go in."
They didn't bother knocking, just strolling into the dusty office. John was hard at work and looked up at them in surprise, clearly not expecting visitors. "Crystal, Jenna, what are you doing here?"
"Good question," Jenna muttered, looking around the dark room in disapproval.
"We've come to see you," Crystal replied brightly. "We've hardly seen you for the last two days. You've just picked up your lunch and come back up here. We thought you might like some company."
"Oh, yes," John replied, sounding rather uncertain. "I have rather a lot to do. There's something I need to finish…"
His voice trailed off, as if reluctant to tell them what he had to do, but Crystal wasn't going to let it lie. "Like what, John? The headmaster would never make you work this hard. What's so important that you have to miss lunch?"