by Andy Holland
How is that thing unharmed? Miriam asked in disbelief. Mark hadn't seen her fly up beside him. Gabriel was with her. The bronze one hit it so hard. And yet somehow the bronze one came off worse.
It's still flying without any problems, Gabriel observed. I was hoping they would kill each other. Save us the bother.
Jude flew over to join them, still shaking from his exertion. Gabriel, there are two of them now. We need to leave immediately. Leave and hide. If they turn their attention to us, they will have no problems catching us. We would be lucky if any of us survived.
Fortunately, the two huge dragons currently had little interest in anything other than each other. The bronze True Dragon's injuries didn't appear to have slowed it at all, but it was now more reserved about attacking again. The black one, however, was furious, bellowing repeatedly and flying hard trying to catch the smaller dragon, something that was clearly beyond it.
We should stay, Gabriel insisted. Next time they clash, we should take the opportunity to strike. We may be able to kill them both.
Mark couldn't believe what he was hearing. Gabriel, that would be suicide. We're exhausted, our numbers are depleted, and we couldn't touch the black one when we were fresh. How could we come close to catching that bronze one, let alone kill it? It moves twice as fast as the black.
We won't get a better chance, Gabriel insisted stubbornly. I won't give up this opportunity.
We need ten times as many dragons, Jude replied. We cannot do anything with these numbers. Look at our dragons, they're scattered all over the place. We're just not capable of doing anything other than fleeing.
The black True Dragon let forth an ear-splitting roar before turning away from the bronze True Dragon and flying to the south, having finally given up on trying to catch the smaller dragon. They were both quite far away now, and any thoughts of attacking them were now academic.
We need to notify Furnace, Jude urged. The black one was heading in that direction before it met us. It could easily go there next time.
The bronze one still might, Gabriel insisted. We should go after it.
Mark looked at the creatures disappearing into the distance, still roaring at each other. Whatever Gabriel wanted there was no way they could keep up with either of them. It was a difficult thing to accept, but they just weren't the fastest things in the air any more.
Suddenly, a movement from below caught Mark's eye. The little wood was burning fiercely now, and five small figures emerged on the southern side. That's where they had hidden! They were lucky to have escaped being burnt alive by the black one.
I see them, Jude said to Mark. We should evacuate them immediately. Look, the bronze one has split off from the black one. It may come back here. They need to leave.
Leave them, Gabriel replied. We have more important responsibilities.
Which we've failed to do, Mark replied. Perhaps we can do something useful. Look, there's one of the Browns. Between us we can carry them all.
Ignoring Gabriel's grumbling, Mark and Jude led the group down to pick up the youngsters. The five of them looked quite pitiful, their faces black from the smoke. Mark was surprised they hadn't transformed, but then again he guessed that they were probably more scared of being eaten than of getting caught by the fire.
Don't transform, Jude told him as they neared the ground. Don't even land. We don't have time.
Mark hadn't seen the True Dragons but knew from Jude's tone that at least one of them was returning. He just hoped that they had enough of a head start to get away. He flung open his wings to slow down and stretched out his golden talons to snatch Seth from the ground, causing him to yelp in alarm, or perhaps it was in pain, as Mark had been flying too quickly, but that couldn't be helped. He glanced over his shoulder and saw Jude pick up Jenna, and the Brown Dragon take Crystal, leaving just the twins. Arthur, noble as ever, pushed Daisy forward so she would go next, but she tripped, and Gabriel just missed her with his outstretched claws. Miriam, flying at the back, effortlessly lifted her brother from the ground and flew after them.
Gabriel! You missed her! Mark called. You'll have to go back! Gabriel was flying with the group, clearly having no intention of trying again.
Too late, Jude said grimly. We have company. Everyone, split up!
Mark turned to see that the bronze True Dragon was hurtling towards them at a tremendous pace. While the black one had been around it had shown no interest in them, but that was no longer the case.
She's probably the safest of all of them, Gabriel said as he flew away. Worry about yourself and the boy you're carrying.
But Gabriel couldn't be further from the truth. The huge creature flew straight towards where Daisy was crouched on the ground and pausing for only a second, scooped her up along with a sizeable chunk of the earth beneath her. Without even looking back at them it flew off again, heading towards the west.
"No!" Arthur shouted in despair. "Mark, please, you have to do something!"
But the creature was moving unnaturally quickly, and it was already far away from them. Even without a passenger, Mark wouldn't have a hope of catching up with it. And much as he hated to admit it, Daisy was probably already dead, crushed to death in those terrible claws.
Back to Furnace, Jude called, his words sounding cold but firm. Gabriel may have been their official leader, but the veteran scout was increasingly taking charge. There's nothing we can do here. I'm really sorry, Mark, but she's gone.
Looking at the huge creature disappearing into the distance, Mark knew he was right.
Chapter 23: Captured
Daisy was amazed that she was still alive. She had watched helplessly as the huge creature closed in on her, clinging to the remote possibility that it hadn't actually seen her, knowing that there was nothing she could do if it decided to attack her. As it grew nearer, she could see that it was looking straight at her, and there was no doubt that it was coming for her, but yet she was still frozen to the spot. When it had reached out with its gigantic claws to grab her, she had felt strangely calm, almost relieved that this was the end. Since learning that John was dead, nothing had felt real, as if she was just an observer in a horrible dream. Death held no fear for her, and although she had no real wish to die, it didn't bother her either.
But instead of tearing her to pieces, or crushing the life out of her, the creature had carefully lifted her from the ground, as delicately as if she were a flower to be picked. Well, it actually lifted the ground beneath her, scooping out a great chunk of earth and grass which she was still sat on, cradled in the creature's giant clawed feet. It was treating her the same way she might treat a butterfly she had managed to catch, holding her very gently and carefully, but keeping its claws tightly together so there was no way she could escape.
Daisy could tell that the True Dragon was flying very quickly, but she had no idea where it was going or why it had her. She held onto one of the claws, bracing herself against any unexpected movements, but the journey was surprisingly smooth. Would it really take this much care if it merely intended to eat her? Daisy doubted it.
Cradled in the creature’s giant claws, it never really occurred to her to try to escape. The True Dragon’s feet were just too massive and its scales far too thick for her to be able to harm it. Indeed, if she had tried to attack its claws, it was doubtful that it would even feel it. She could have transformed, but that really would be dangerous. As a dragon, she was definitely a potential meal but like this? She was so tiny in comparison to it that she was surprised that it had any interest in her. Maybe it just wanted a pet.
They flew for hours, the creature never stopping to rest despite travelling at such an incredible pace. At least, it felt very fast, but then again, she couldn't see anything outside other than the thin slivers of light between the creature's claws. But now she could see that the light outside was beginning to fade. Of course, that wouldn't trouble the creature as True Dragons could fly at night, something that still amazed her. She guessed that they we
re heading to the Circle, where else could it be going? Travelling at this speed, she was surprised that they hadn't already reached it. What would it do with her when they got there? She had no way of knowing but was certain that she wasn't going to be on the menu when the creature finally reached its destination.
She wasn't sure at first, but as they flew on, she became sure that they were approaching the sea. She had grown up by the sea so recognised the alarm calls of seabirds as they flew by. Then she could hear the sound of the waves, just briefly, and then came the familiar smells of the sea. Which coast had it taken her to? The West Coast was the nearest, but that was the opposite direction to the Circle, so didn't seem likely. She didn't worry about it, having resigned to accepting whatever her fate might be, but she was curious as to where she was being taken.
They flew for some time across the ocean, which surprised her and made her question whether they really were flying above the sea, as there was nowhere near the coast that they could be heading towards. Maybe it wasn't the West coast after all. But then, if it was another Coast how could it have arrived so quickly? It was fast, but travelling those sorts of distances in such a short space of time was beyond even this remarkable creature.
Quite abruptly, the creature slowed down, the wing beats ceasing as it glided silently along. She could actually hear the lapping of the waves below her. Were they nearing their destination? Then the creature beat its wings twice before coming to a halt, its rear legs hitting the ground softly. It lowered its claws gently to the ground before carefully loosening its grip and letting in the golden light from the setting sun. Daisy remained seated on her patch of grass and earth and allowed her eyes to adjust to the light before examining her surroundings. She had been deposited on a small hill that was as isolated a spot as she could imagine, sitting in the middle of a tiny island that was surrounded by endless ocean. The island itself was unremarkable. The hill was covered with low-lying plants and grass and she could see a couple of beaches on one side of the island, but other than that there were no distinguishing features, not even a tree. She was in the middle of nowhere and utterly alone.
Well, not completely alone, Daisy thought to herself, turning her attention to the True Dragon. The huge creature was sat down quite close to her, watching her intently as if waiting for her to do something. What did it want from her and why had it brought her here?
Whatever it wanted her to do, the last thing she was going to do was transform. They didn't have long before the sun set, and it was a long flight to get back to land, assuming that she knew which direction to fly in. She decided that she may as well stand up as there was no point remaining seated for ever, and she needed to stretch her legs anyway, having been sat in the same position for far too long. She just hoped that it wasn't going to hurt her. But it didn't move at all as she got up and stretched her legs. What were they doing here? Surely it couldn't live here, the Circle was its home. She looked up at it in wonder.
"You've brought me here," she said timidly. "Now what?"
The creature bowed its head as if nodding. Wait a minute, did this thing actually understand her? Weren't they meant to be dumb animals? It stood up and took a few steps backwards before nodding again as if beckoning her to follow. She'd seen pet dogs do similar things, so perhaps it wasn't quite so surprising that this huge creature did the same, but it was still unexpected. She stepped forward cautiously. If it wanted to force her to move, it could do so, and she was now very curious to see what it wanted from her, so she slowly followed the huge creature.
The creature continued walking backwards, never taking its eyes off her, and Daisy obediently followed behind. The island was small, so wherever they were going, it couldn't take long to get there. There was a sandy beach up ahead, which had to be it. Sure enough, when the creature reached the edge of the beach, it stopped and sat down, its claws sinking into the soft sand. So this was their destination. It was a pretty little beach, but she couldn't see why it would want to show her this place.
"Now what?" she asked. "What do you want me to do?"
The creature turned to the beach and unless she was very much mistaken, actually gestured to the beach with its claw. Did it want her to swim? The water would be pretty cold at this time of year, and she had no clothes to change in to, so that was out of the question.
"What do you want me to do?" she repeated, starting to believe that it really could understand her. It gestured to the beach again, so she reluctantly stepped onto the sand. It was delightfully soft and powdery, and she doubted anyone had ever walked on this beach before, other than this creature. No one was going to come and rescue her anyway, so she had better do what this creature wanted.
"Now what?" she asked. "You don't want me to swim, do you?"
The creature actually shook its head, confirming what she had found almost impossible to believe.
"You can understand me, can't you?" Daisy asked in amazement.
The creature nodded and yet again gestured to the beach.
Daisy almost laughed with delight. If this creature could understand her, then surely it couldn't hurt her. But why had it brought her here? Was she to remain its prisoner? "Why have you brought me here? Are you going to hurt me?"
This time the creature shook its head vigorously as if that couldn't be further from its mind. It pointed to the beach again.
Daisy breathed a sigh of relief. But she still wanted to know why she was here and communicating just with nods and shakes of the head was going to be frustrating. She wondered how much it understood. It was time to test it. "If you can understand me, nod your head twice," she commanded.
The creature nodded its head twice and gestured to the beach, yet again.
"Excellent," Daisy said happily. "But how am I going to understand you? You can't speak, can you?"
The creature shook its head and gestured to the beach yet again, blowing a tiny cloud of smoke from its nostrils, as if getting impatient.
"Fine, I'll go to the beach," Daisy said. "But I'm not swimming." She couldn't understand why it would want to bring her here, as it was a small beach and there was nothing on it but sand. But then she saw what it wanted to show her. This wasn’t just a random location, but a place that it had been before. In front of her, carved into the sand in huge letters were three words. Three words that caused her to gasp and drop to her knees, unable to believe what it said. In front of her was a simple statement that brought tears of joy to her eyes: I AM JOHN.
Chapter 24: Third trip to the Valley
Crystal hardly remembered the flight back to Furnace. If she or her friends had been able to think clearly, they would have objected to having been carried at all and would have flown themselves, heading in the opposite direction towards the relative safety of the Western Principality. Mark and the other Golden Dragons probably weren't thinking clearly either. If they were, they would have realised that bringing them here was a terrible plan. It was no longer a question of if the True Dragons would attack, it was a question of when.
But no, no one had been thinking clearly. All Crystal had been able to think about was Daisy and how that creature had carried her off. Arthur had looked utterly devastated, and there would have been no point telling him that she might be alright as no one could believe that. These things didn't take prisoners; they weren't here to negotiate anyone's surrender. They were hunting for food, and to them, that's all that Daisy was, another meal. To think that she had argued that it might not be dangerous! Still, she hadn't been right in the head ever since John's death. None of them had been the same, not really. It was hard to believe, after all, they had faced over the last year and survived, that at this time when they were at peace with their neighbours for the first time in history, two of their group had died so suddenly.
The Golden Dragons left them near their school, Mark and Jude pausing awkwardly just to say goodbye and explain that they had to get back and regroup. It was then that she discovered that Natan had failed to deliver the message
about John's death to Mark. Admittedly he wasn't very reliable, but Crystal had a bad feeling about the reasons why he would have failed to deliver the message. She had hoped to have avoided this unpleasant job, but there was no way around it. She felt numb as she explained what had happened, but he took it very well as if he had been expecting it. He said that he couldn't have believed that there was any other reason that John would have let them fly alone at a time like this and at least he didn't have to see what had happened to Daisy. The conversation was very awkward, and Crystal was glad when it was over.