Becoming a Dragon (45 page)

"In which case there's even more reason to be getting out of here," Jenna pointed out nervously. "Can we just go?"

"Don't you see? There's something he's not telling us," Seth argued, regarding John suspiciously. "He knows what happened. He must have seen what happened."

"What happened is that John promised he'd keep us safe, and all but one of the Blues are dead, and the other one has fled," Daisy pointed out. "You should be thanking him, not accusing him."

"Daisy, surely you don't believe John killed all of these Blue Dragons?" Seth asked incredulously. "Even you can't believe that."

"It doesn't matter what killed them," Crystal argued. "Just as long as they don't get us. Let's just get out of here."

"Come on Arthur; surely you see something is off here?" Seth argued.

Arthur nodded. "Of course. But there's nothing that we can do about it from here. Let's report it quickly; both the fact that the Blues were here and what happened to them. I can't see what you expect to achieve by waiting here. Do you really want to hang around to meet something that can do this to six Blue Dragons?"

John didn't wait for any more discussion on the subject and transformed right in front of them. He took to the air immediately and began circling above their heads. He could see that the girls all moved behind trees to do the same, and Seth and Arthur reluctantly followed.

Seth tried to press John for answers as soon as he took off, but John merely insisted that he had to fly high above them, circling occasionally to spy for any potential danger. However, he knew that Seth's suspicions were aroused, and that he wouldn't let this one lie. He had to think of a way to get out of this one…

Daisy never questioned John for a second. The only thing she was concerned about was getting back and raising the alert. There was a larger town not that far away, much nearer than Crystal's home, so they agreed to split up, with Arthur and Crystal flying to the town to report the incident while the others flew home. They hadn't been back very long before Arthur and Crystal returned.

"Well, what did they say?" Seth asked impatiently. "Are they going to investigate? And why are you back so soon?"

Arthur nodded. "They believed us; at least they seemed to, but they aren't going to go there on their own in case the Blues return in larger numbers. They're going to get some help to investigate. They're flying to Black Rock to fetch the city guard."

"They seemed pretty worried about the Blue Dragons," Crystal told them. "They don't usually come this far and when they do it's always by air. This is pretty weird."

"They were probably planning a surprise attack," John told them. "I think they meant to get as close as they could to their target, wherever it was, and then first thing in the morning transform and attack. No one would expect an attack at first light so far from the border and they would probably be able to kill many people while they still slept."

"That sounds terrible!" Daisy cried. "Has that ever happened before?"

John shrugged. "It's never been reported or confirmed, but there have been some very successful attacks on small settlements a long way from the border, which could have been done like this. These were incidents where there were no survivors to report what happened and the attacks looked as if they happened very early in the day and no Blues were killed. They haven't been widely publicised to avoid creating a panic."

"Wow, so we probably saved a whole village," Jenna exclaimed.

"Or rather John did," Daisy corrected, smiling at him proudly. She didn't know how, but she was sure he had something to do with the dead Blue Dragons.

"Yeah, that brings us to the other point," Seth said. "What did they say about all of the Blues dying so mysteriously? Oh, and John, you still haven't told us anything."

"They seemed a little unconvinced," Arthur replied. "I don't think they really believed that part of the story, but they're going to investigate anyway. They'll see what happened when they get there."

"Good," replied Seth. "I guess that means they'll question John. Why don't you save us the time and… where's he gone?"

John had vanished.

"He said he was getting some air," Daisy lied, having no idea where he had gone. "I think he just wants a break from you. Can't blame him, really."

"That's a bit harsh, Daisy; I think we deserve to know what happened."

"I think John deserves some appreciation. Who knows what happened? What we do know is that if he had done nothing we'd all be dead!" Daisy snapped angrily.

"What's up with your sister?" Seth asked Arthur. "Am I being that unreasonable?"

"Just drop it, Seth; the authorities will investigate. That's not your job. We will find out soon enough. Come on, I'm hungry, let's go and eat."

John reappeared after about an hour, calling in on Daisy, who was waiting in her room.

"Where did you go, John? I was worried."

"Sorry, I had to leave for a bit," John said, sitting down on her bed beside her. "You didn't need to worry."

"But I do! We were attacked today. There might be more of those Blues around."

"It's too late in the day for them to come this far," he reassured her. "Besides, this place has far too many people for them to risk attacking here. You'd have been very safe."

"No, I wasn't worried for myself," she explained, putting her hand on his shoulder. "I was worried about you."

"Oh, I see," John looked away to hide his smile. "Well, you have even less reason to worry there. I grew up near a border, remember? We saw plenty of Blues in the air back then and I survived without any problems."

"I know, although I don't really understand how you could fly around safely. Look, what are you going to tell everyone about what happened today? They'll come and ask you. You'll need to have some sort of answer. For the authorities at least, if not for Seth."

John paused and looked at Daisy's troubled face. "I've been thinking about that. I'll tell them that I transformed and took off, trying to lead them away from you and the others. I'll tell them that one of the Blues followed, but the others didn't. We both heard all the noise but didn't see anything, so he turned back and I followed him. He saw the dead bodies and flew off and I landed to see if you were alright."

Daisy nodded. "That sounds alright. They may try to dig a little deeper, but you should be fine. It's not what really happened though, is it?"

John scrutinised her face. "Do you need to know what really happened?"

Daisy smiled back at him and put her arms around him. "I know what really happened. You saved us, didn't you?"

John nodded, still studying her face.

"That's enough for me. Maybe not for Seth, but the others should be fine. They're just happy to be alive."

"Colonel Perak, this is an unexpected call," Zygar said by way of welcome. "What news do you have? I trust the training is progressing well?"

Perak nodded. "The training is going well, but I have some disturbing news to report. To give some of the men real experience, I sent some of them on a simple mission into Red Dragon territory to map out the location of the smaller settlements in the region. This was actually the fourth mission; the others all went as planned. On the journey out they spotted a group of six young reds—all of them about seventeen or eighteen—and immediately set to silencing them. Being children, the Reds ran and hid rather than fought, so then my dragons set about forming a circle around the group before trying to locate them and then kill them. It should have been straightforward."

General Zygar merely nodded, listening patiently. He wasn't a man to waste time with small talk and petty interruptions.

"What happened next was so hard to believe that were it not one of my most reliable dragons who told me, I'd have dismissed it as nonsense. From out of nowhere, he claims that a giant, long necked, wingless monstrous dragon appeared, and before they could take off, killed five of our dragons. A sixth dragon was already in the air, and attacked, managing to strike at the monster's throat. The seventh dragon, the only survivor, stated that this slash left no damage, not even a mark, and the monster then completely engulfed the attacker in flames before crushing it with its feet. He returned alone and told me this tale."

General Zygar nodded. "Very hard to believe, I agree. Tell me, what else did he say about this dragon?"

"It was dark green, long neck, long tail with long black spikes on the end that my dragon claimed it used to kill two of our dragons. Have you ever heard of such a thing?"

Zygar nodded. "Yes, of course. They were very real, but they've been dead for a long time, and they haven't come back now."

Perak nodded. "I know it sounds far-fetched, but this wasn't a dragon who would make this up, or make
anything
up. He has no imagination, sir."

Zygar nodded. "What of the youngsters? Did he describe them to you? Anything remarkable about them?"

Perak paused. "Yes. Yes, he did. He said that at least one of them had golden hair. A girl; she had long golden hair. There was nothing remarkable about the others though."

Zygar nodded. "His story may sound hard to believe to you, but I find it highly credible. That girl was a Golden Dragon. Have you heard of them?"

Perak shook his head.

"Not surprising, seeing as you're from the North. They keep to themselves, and live to the south of the Browns. One day we'll have to fight them, but not for a while, and hopefully not until we have crushed both the Reds and the Browns. They will be our biggest challenge, more than likely. You see, they can take the form of any other dragon; this giant dragon you saw has long vanished, but Golden Dragons will take the form occasionally."

"I didn't even know that was possible, sir," Perak said in surprise.

"Oh it is; they've used this trick to spy on us and probably many other races. We caught and executed two of their spies just sixteen years ago. I doubt they'll send more spies any time soon but the internal army are constantly on the lookout for them."

"Do you think they've allied themselves with the Reds?" Perak asked.

Zygar shook his head. "I wouldn't have thought so. It's not really how they operate. Unless they're attacked they never get involved in fights."

"Like the Rhinos?"

"Not really, no. They take an interest, just not in the combat. I suspect she's a spy; probably acting in self-defence. The Reds are an ignorant lot and probably don't know of their existence. Still, it may be worth alerting your own spy to this. See what he can find out for us."

"Of course, sir. I'll have a message sent. Should I ask him to eliminate the threat?"

"No, not yet. As I said, she's probably spying on the Reds, and we may even be able to use that to our advantage. Either way, there is no point in risking our spy's cover just yet. Keep me up to date on this, Perak. It's a long time since we've heard from the Golden Dragons. I'd like to know what they're up to."

"You've come across them personally, sir?"

Zygar shook his head. "Not personally, but I recall the details of when we caught the last two spies. They had been dying their hair blue of course, to disguise their true nature. Both had managed to get into civilian roles within the central government, and probably discovered a number of our secrets. I wasn't involved directly unfortunately, as the internal army took care of the whole matter, and did so far too quickly for my liking. The husband was killed straight away when he tried to escape, but the woman was given poison to ensure her death was slow and painful. She fled as well, and made it to the border with the Reds before she died. I'm sure the Golden Dragons would have heard about it from their spies in the Red Dragon kingdom. His body was dumped near their border with the Browns with a nice little note for them, in case they didn't hear about her death. Something to discourage them from spying on us again."

Perak nodded. "I'll send you an update as soon as I hear from my spy."

"Very good, Colonel, and ensure he knows not to do anything rash. Golden Dragons are dangerous, and need to be handled carefully. Dismissed."

"Oldcastle," Crystal said as they walked to school, thinking out aloud. "Strange name, don't you think? I mean, when it was built, it wasn't old, was it? Why did they call it Oldcastle?"

Jenna groaned. "You attend the same lessons as me, have extra tuition from John and still you ask stupid questions like that? It was renamed, wasn't it? Several times, if I recall correctly. It was the original capital city, established by King Cornelius, who renamed it when he named himself King, then it was renamed yet again when Furnace was built and made the new capital by King James I, then it was renamed to Oldcastle when Newcastle was built by King James III."

"What were the original names?" Crystal asked.

"I don't know and I don't care," Jenna replied irritably. "Ask John. He'll probably know the entire history of the place. We'll have to go on long boring tours and listen to some dull guide tell us all that stuff anyway though, so I can't see why you'd bother."

"It'll be fun though, don't you think? It's as if the holiday has started a week early. We won't have any lessons for three weeks now!" The trip was going to take up the whole of the last week of term. They were going to spend the entire first day flying, and then three days in Oldcastle and the surrounding region, then fly back on the fifth day.

"I'd prefer three weeks holiday personally," Jenna replied. "I suspect Oldcastle will be pretty dull. Just look at our class. Lauren, Ben, Alex, Dale, Tara and Elena are the ones from the North. I know Lauren always goes on about how much time she spends socialising at home, but she's hardly a party person here, is she? And the rest of them? If the people up there are anything like that bunch, this trip is going to be unbearable."

It was Crystal's turn to groan. "Come on, Jenna. They're not that bad. Besides, we'll spend most of our time with our classmates, not the locals."

They caught a glimpse of Daisy walking with her brother up ahead. "Don't remind me," Jenna told her. "Yet another trip with Daisy to spoil it. I thought when she started seeing John I'd see less of her, but if anything I see her more. It doesn't help that you're spending so much time with them both. I can hardly avoid the two at all now."

Crystal laughed. "Perhaps there's a lesson there; why not try to learn to like them? She's really sweet when you get to know her, and John is not so bad once you give him a chance."

Jenna pulled a face. "You're only spending time with him out of guilt and misplaced gratitude. You've learnt to tolerate him, not like him. Personally, I can't see why I'd waste my time doing that. Besides which, every time we go away with John it ends in disaster."

"That's hardly John's fault! I thought you were over that incident with the Blues now. It's been a month now."

"Three weeks," Jenna corrected. "Anyway, changing the subject, has your father told you anything about the Green Dragons?"

"No," Crystal lied. "Why do you ask?"

"I'll take that as a yes then," Jenna replied. "And you know exactly why I'm asking. Gerald told Arthur about it, who told me, but I wasn't sure whether to believe him. So they're really all gone? They've been wiped out?"

Crystal shrugged. "That's what my father told my mother last night. They sent a group over the border to have a look, and found that there are Blue Dragons living there now. The Greens have all vanished. Hard to believe, isn't it?"

Jenna shook her head. "Impossible to believe. Are they going to announce it?"

"Don't ask me. I was listening in when they thought I was asleep. I couldn't ask questions. What did Arthur say?"

"Not much, other than to keep quiet about it. Gerald didn't even tell his dopey sister. Speaking of who—"

"Hi Jenna, Crystal," Daisy said brightly as they approached her as she waited at the school gate with Arthur. "Are you looking forward to the trip?"

"Of course," Jenna said with a big smile, taking Arthur's arm. "It'll be nice to spend a few days out of Furnace. I guess you'll enjoy having John away from his work at the library for a few days, won't you? Being able to spend each evening together should be nice, shouldn't it?"

Daisy nodded, smiling shyly. "It will be; although John's told me I shouldn't neglect my friends. We'll make sure we spend a lot of time with the rest of you as well."

Crystal covered her mouth to hide her snigger as Jenna tried to conceal her irritation. She was saved from having to answer by Seth appearing from inside the school.

"Thought I'd find you lot loitering out here. Come on, let's go in. Don't want to give Silver another chance to put you in detention, Crystal. We'll be leaving soon."

Sure enough, everyone from their year was gathered in the school hall, grouped into their five classes, where their tutors were about to call the registration. Professor Silver glared at them as they arrived, and Crystal wasn't sure if it was because they were a little late, or because they weren't late enough for him to punish them.

"May I have your attention, everyone?" the headmaster called once registration had finished. "I know you've all been fully informed about this week, but I'd like to remind you of a few things before we leave. Firstly, the journey there. We'll all be travelling together, led by the three class teachers, and ably assisted by Professors Silver, Easthill, Newt, Hedley and White. Your flying tutor, John, will be accompanying me, and we'll be overseeing the whole group. We'll be flying at the speed of the slowest, so please try and keep up, or you'll delay everyone. There'll be a break at about midday of one hour in the market town Hamilton, where you will be provided lunch. Make sure that you are back in good time to avoid unnecessary delays, thank you. Then we'll continue flying till we reach Oldcastle, which we should do long before sunset, giving you all plenty of time to relax and dress for dinner.

Secondly, a few reminders about rules over the week. For many of you, this will be your first time away from your parents or guardians, and there's always a tendency for students to get a little carried away. This isn't a week for partying, and although some of you are now old enough to drink legally, that won't be happening on this trip. Girls' and boys' rooms are in separate wings of the castle we will be staying in, and I don't expect to see anyone getting confused as to which wing of the castle they should be in."

Crystal glanced at John, who was listening attentively to the Headmaster. She doubted that obeying this rule would be a problem for John or Daisy. Jenna on the other hand…

"Now, some of you seem to be under the impression that lessons finished last week and therefore this is the first week of the holidays. I'm sorry to disillusion you, but this is a school week and in addition to learning a lot, we'll be testing you at the end of the week. I highly advise you not to fail.

But please, remember, this week is going to be fun as well. We want you to enjoy Oldcastle, as it is a very important city for our nation, being the first capital and having a rich and exciting history. Just remember why we're there, and what's expected of you, and you'll find that you'll go away with happy memories of this trip.

Professors, please take your classes and have them transform, and we'll see you all in the air above the school!"

"I'm not sure he understands what fun means," Seth muttered to Crystal, catching the eye of Professor Silver, who looked as if he was daring them to utter another word.

Getting one-hundred-and-twenty-five sixteen and seventeen-year-olds to transform and take to the air was no easy feat, and Crystal was impressed how quickly Professor Silver and the other four class tutors organised them and had them take off. She glanced up to see John and the headmaster flying high above them, keeping watch over the entire group. It was strange, the headmaster was probably older than John's father, yet as dragons you couldn't tell who was older.

They adopted a similar flying pattern to the one they used when they had their last school day trip to the practice towers, except this time Professor Silver was at the front and Professor Easthill at the back. Crystal was glad to have Jenna flying next to her, and spent the entire morning chatting to her, paying little attention to the changing scenery below.

They stopped at Hamilton at midday, as planned, where the school had prearranged their meals. It was a large trading town, and looked quite interesting, but Professor Silver made it quite clear that they weren't to leave the inn to explore. Crystal sat with Seth for lunch and noted that John had been invited to eat with the headmaster and Professor Easthill, and Daisy had managed to join them, which Crystal considered more of a punishment than a privilege. Jenna caught her eye, sat next to Arthur, and smiled triumphantly as she motioned to where Daisy and John were sitting, as if she had anything to do with their seating arrangements.

Jenna stayed with Arthur when they departed, so Crystal flew for the rest of the day with Daisy, and found she was as easy to talk to as Jenna—if not easier, as she was more inclined to listen than Jenna was; Jenna only really enjoyed conversations that revolved around her. Despite their regular sessions with John, she realised that this was probably the first time she had spoken to Daisy on her own for any length of time, and resolved that she would do so more often.

It was late in the afternoon when they arrived in Oldcastle, and their accommodation was in the castle the city took its name from. The city was a little shabby, but retained some charm and Crystal enjoyed flying over the city to the castle.

"Not bad this place is it," Seth said, sitting down next to Crystal for dinner. They were dining in the main hall of the castle, which was almost too large for the group of students and teachers. "It's different, but pretty cool."

"I like it," Crystal agreed. "It feels as if it's been here for thousands of years."

"It has," Jenna pointed out bluntly.

"I know, but although it's not much older than Furnace, somehow it feels much older. It's hard to explain."

"Dilapidated is the word you're looking for," Jenna replied. "Neglected. Can't see what's so great about it." Crystal felt that Jenna was being a little harsh here; the castle was very old but had been well maintained. It could just do with a little redecorating, and perhaps a little dusting.

"This place is full of history," Daisy said, sitting down. "This is where everything began. I'm sure John will love this place."

"Yes, I'm sure," Jenna agreed, rolling her eyes. "Where is our special teacher?"

"Discussing something with the headmaster," Daisy replied. "Some of the students found it hard keeping up this afternoon so John stayed back to look after them. He's only just arrived."

"Babysitting, eh?" Jenna asked. "I'm sure John didn't mind that."

Daisy glared at her coldly, but was denied the opportunity to respond as the headmaster called for everyone's attention before beginning to explain what would happen over the next few days.

After they were finally allowed to leave the main hall and go to their rooms, it transpired that there was to be a party that evening; a very low key affair with about twenty students present, including Jenna, Arthur, Seth and Crystal. Crystal wasn't sure how but Jenna had managed to persuade Arthur to come without Daisy. It was held in an old dungeon, a dark, dismal looking set of rooms, but somewhere where the students were sure that the teachers wouldn't find them. Seth had procured some vile drink, which Crystal refused to touch, still scarred by her painful memories of his last party. She made an excuse and left early, in order to avoid the inevitable bust up by the teachers.

Despite leaving early, Crystal still found Jenna at breakfast before her, looking as immaculate as ever. They were eating in the main hall of the castle again, and the castle staff had laid on an impressive buffet for them. "So, what's the plan for today?" Crystal asked as she sat down. "I wasn't really paying attention when the headmaster was speaking yesterday."

"You surprise me," Jenna replied caustically. "We're flying north today. Only about an hour. Some dull village which is meant to be the oldest settlement in the kingdom. From what I understand, it's mainly ruins."

"Stonehill," John added, sitting down next to them, smiling pleasantly at Crystal. "The ruins are all outside of the main village, it's a bit like an open air museum. The ruins are from three separate settlements, only one of which was a Red Dragon settlement, the other two being—"

"Yes, yes, lovely," Jenna interrupted sarcastically. "Perhaps the tour can wait till we actually get there?"

"Will you be flying with the class?" Crystal asked.

John shook his head. "No, unfortunately. The headmaster has asked me to look after a few students who were lagging behind yesterday, and we'll be leaving ahead of the rest of you so they don't miss out. It's not difficult to get there so I think the rest of you are going unaccompanied, so as long as you get there by mid-morning you can leave here when you like. I'll be bringing that group back early as well. I have to leave in a few minutes. I just have time to grab something to eat then I'll have to go." John stuffed some sliced meat into a couple of rolls and wrapped one in a napkin.

"Don't let us keep you," Jenna commented rudely.

Crystal slapped her on the hand. "Ignore her, John. She's just grumpy this morning."

John nodded. "Oh, alright. But she's right, I should be getting along. Have a good trip; hopefully I'll see you when you get there."