Earth's Magic (3 page)

She snorted again, filling the confined space with a cloud of smoke. “Treasure! That’s something I sure haven’t been getting much of. Used to be that dragons hanging out near royalty could count on filching a good supply of gold and jewels. But
since you stupid humans nearly destroyed the world, the few of us who are still here are lucky if we blunder into an old trash heap or put together a hoard of pretty rocks.”

“Well, if you’re unhappy with this place,” Welly said indignantly, “why don’t you just go back to Faerie?”

“What, Fat Boy, and miss all the little dramas you humans kick up?” The fiery red snapping in her eyes dropped to a smoldering glow. “Besides, I do drop in on Faerie now and again. On important
secret
business maybe. So if you impudent sightseers don’t mind, I’ll finish up here and pop off on my errand.”

With that, the dragon grabbed the sheep corpse with one set of claws, impaled it on a rock pinnacle, and proceeded to blast it with a stream of flame. At first, the stench of scorched wool was overwhelming. Then that blended into the more appealing smell of barbecued mutton.

When the flame subsided and the smoke cleared, they saw Blanche neatly clawing the charred flesh into strips. These she stuck in various nooks and crannies to hang with the others.

“There, top-quality baby food,” she said, eying her work with satisfaction.

“That’s an awful lot of sheep hanging here,” Welly commented.

Whipping her head around, Blanche glared at him. “Baby dragons have to eat lots and grow fast. Can’t have curious humans or other enemies catching them small and defenseless.”

Snapping up and swallowing a few leftover chunks of meat from the cave floor, she belched hugely. As the noxious cloud settled over the others, she turned to Merlin. “Now I’ll be going, Wizard Boy. I’m counting on you three and that mangy freak fleabag to keep my lair a total
secret
. Right?” Small flames curled from her lips as her red eyes raked the group.

“Blanche,” Merlin replied, clutching his staff and stepping
firmly in front of the others, “I should think we’d all been through enough together for you to trust us.”

She snuffed the flames back in. “Of course I trust you. Don’t get all wizardly with me. But a little intimidation never hurts. Now I’m off. Give my greetings to the Pendragon.”

With surprising grace, the white dragon whipped around and glided out of the cave.

Welly let out a long sigh. “True, we may have been through a lot together, but that hulking great worm still can intimidate me pretty well.”

“A dragon specialty,” Merlin said. “That and collecting treasure. I’ll see if Arthur and Margaret won’t pass on to her some of the less useful baubles they were given as wedding presents. A dragon without much treasure is kind of sad.”

“Well, this looks like some of her present treasure over here,” Heather called from farther back in the cave. “But I see what she means. Not high-quality stuff.”

The others joined her to look at a pile of old rusty metal cans and battered cookware intermingled with faded scraps of ancient plastic. Hearing a familiar whine behind them, they turned to see the two-headed dog crouching behind a small boulder. “Come on out, Rus,” Heather urged. “Blanche is all bluster. She wouldn’t incinerate you.”

“Don’t count on it,” Welly muttered as he examined a tarnished copper chain in the dragon’s hoard before carefully replacing it.

After a few minutes’ more exploring, Merlin called from a far recess in the cave. “Ah, here’s a hoard of pretty stones like she was talking about. Not bad, some of them. Crystals and agates, some nice glittery stones, and some striped ones. Maybe we could be on the lookout for rocks she might like when we’re walking around.”

After the others had examined the rocks, Heather said, “I
wonder what kind of errands dragons go on—other than snatching people’s sheep.”

Merlin shook his head. “Hard to say. Dragons are Otherworld creatures and live by their own rules. And, as such, she has free access back and forth to Faerie through those few portals that still exist. We really should be flattered that Blanche has chosen to remain here when so many of her kind had returned to their Otherworld even before the Devastation. Humans and dragons are not totally compatible.”

“That’s an understatement,” Welly snorted. “But it’s even more amazing that Blanche’s sweetheart, the black dragon we met in China, chose to remain there. I mean, there’s practically nothing left in what was China.”

“True,” Merlin said, “but dragons view things in very long time spans. I guess he has hope that—”

Merlin was cut short by a sudden jolt of the earth. Then, as rumbling filled the air, it felt as if the ground under them had turned to water and was racked by violent, rolling waves.

“What—?” Welly and Heather yelled together.

“An earthquake!” Merlin shouted over the noise. “Strongest I’ve ever felt.”

Dust and rock flakes began showering down on them. Overhead, rock creaked and groaned.

“The eggs!” Heather cried. “We’ve got to protect the eggs!”

Dodging falling rock, they all pelted back toward the nest. Already the hollowed stone bowl had split and the eggs were rolling in three different directions.

Seeing the silver one bouncing off to the right, Merlin leaped after it. The rock floor underfoot heaved. From overhead he heard a shattering crack. Rock splinters rained around him as Merlin threw himself over the egg, shielding it. But nothing shielded him from the chunk of rock that smashed down on his head and back.

H
ATCHINGS

M
erlin awoke to a tongue licking his face. “Go away, Rus,” he mumbled, struggling to open his eyes.

What he saw was not either of the two slobbering dog heads. Tiny red eyes gazed into his, and a little red tongue forked out and licked his nose. Trying to focus, he saw that eyes and tongue belonged to a silver dragon the size of a kitten. It was sitting amid a scattering of silver eggshell.

“Earl, are you all right?” Heather’s concerned voice sounded above him. She knelt down. “Oh!”

“I was trying to protect the egg and clumsily must have cracked it instead.” As he struggled to sit up, the little dragon jumped on him and walked up his chest, digging in needle-sharp claws. Settling onto Merlin’s shoulder, it snuggled its head into his sparse beard and began purring.

“Oh, how cute!” Heather exclaimed.

Merlin grunted. “Unfortunate that I should be the first thing the poor creature saw.”

“Better than it getting fixated on an old rusty can or something,” Welly said, limping up to them.

Merlin realized that the earth had stopped shaking, though with his aching head, he felt as dizzy as if it still was. Dust sifted through the air and hung in a glittering cloud around them.

“I just managed to save the bronze-colored egg,” Welly said. Then he stared at Merlin’s shoulder. “Wow, the silver one hatched!”

“That leaves the gold egg,” Heather said, standing up, ineffectually brushing chips of rock off her dusty clothing. “I hope it didn’t get smashed.”

Welly looked at the reddish egg in his arms, uncertain what to do with it. Then he gently placed it on the ground next to Merlin, who was still looking groggy and rubbing a knot on his head. “Here, watch this. I’ll help look for the other one.”

He and Heather scrabbled through different piles of rock debris until Heather called, “Over here! Rus has found something.”

Making sure the bronze egg was securely wedged between stones, Merlin fumbled for his staff, then got shakily to his feet. The silver dragonlet clung securely to his shoulder as he staggered to where Heather and Welly were clustered around Rus.

The dog was digging frantically in a pile of rock dust and chips. As the others knelt down to help him, Rus suddenly yelped and jumped back. A very small golden dragon came tottering out of the rubble. With a squeak, it leaped up and landed on Rus’s shoulder between his two necks, then contentedly nestled into the shaggy fur. Both of the dog’s faces looked totally bewildered.

Welly laughed. “Rus is a daddy!”

“Looks like Earl is too,” Heather pointed out.

Earl frowned. “I hope this little fellow will form a better attachment soon. But we’ve got to get out of here. Now. Earthquakes often have aftershocks, and another one like that could bring the whole mountain down on top of us.”

Welly rushed back to the one remaining egg, folded up his tunic like a sling, and tucked the egg into it.

Heather knelt beside Rus, scratching both his heads. “Come
on, Rus,” she whispered, “you’ve got a big responsibility now. You’ve got to protect that little fellow and help get us all out of here.” Gradually the look of confusion on the dog’s faces faded. With two determined yaps, he trotted off toward the cave entrance.

“Wait, Heather,” Merlin said. “We’ve got to collect as much of this dried meat as we can. Blanche laid in a big supply for her babies, and we don’t know what else they might eat.”

They had quickly gathered almost two armfuls of the smoky-smelling meat strips when the ground under them shook like a wet dog.

“Enough!” Merlin cried. “Out of here!”

Hurriedly they joined Welly and Rus at the cave entrance. Before them stretched a changed landscape. The cliff they had scaled was no longer there. Instead, a slope of raw earth and rock scree spread down to the valley floor. Overhead, the sky was shading from gray to purple as the sun set behind the hills to their west. In the southeast, the great comet streaked its silent, frozen arch along the horizon.

“Earl,” Heather whispered, “when you were talking about omens, you mentioned earthquakes as well as comets.”

“I know. And I don’t like it. It feels like something is building, almost like a great storm is coming.” He continued to stare into the sky for a moment, then shook himself back into focus. “Omens can wait. We’ve got to get off this mountainside before it’s totally dark.”

He tucked the hood of his cloak over the little dragon still perched on his shoulder, then, firmly grasping his staff, he began picking his way down. Heather followed and then Welly, who first stopped to tie his shirt more securely around the reddish egg. Rus scampered ahead with the gold dragonlet clutching one ear from each head and squeaking excitedly.

They reached the bottom as the last light faded from the sky. A few brighter stars shone hazily through the high clouds but couldn’t compete with the brightness of the comet.

They marched quickly toward the lights of Keswick twinkling in the growing darkness. As they neared the town, they saw a small, darker figure scuttling toward them.

“Oh, Great Wizard, you safe!”

“Troll!” Merlin called in greeting. “You were worried?”

“Troll always worry when not there to guard Great Wizard. Then ground shake, and Troll worry more.”

“Well, we’re fine. A little shaken up, but fine. We were visiting Blanche—and her babies, it turns out.”

Troll stared at the thing creeping out from Merlin’s hood, and his large eyes grew even larger.

“Eeek! That little lizard thing grow into fierce dragon?”

“In time. Now we need to get back and get them out of the cold.”

“Them?”
Troll wailed. “A gaggle of dragons! Woe is us!”

Oversized hands and ears flapping, Troll scurried ahead of them. As they neared the outskirts of town, another figure came running toward them.

“Welly!” Takata cried happily. “I didn’t mean for you to go away and
stay
away. The girls just need a strong female role model, that’s all.” She stopped. “Oh, hello, Merlin and Heather.” A look of concern crossed her face. “Welly, why are you all doubled up like that? You aren’t hurt, are you?”

“No, I’m fine. I’m just carrying something precious wrapped up in my shirt.”

In the dark, Heather smiled to hear the tone in Welly’s voice. Clearly he was pleased to see that Takata had been concerned for him.

Even though it was evening, people were still swarming
about Keswick’s streets like ants on a disturbed anthill. The earthquake had scattered bricks and building stones about and toppled the façades and chimneys of several buildings, both pre-Devastation ones and later buildings that had been constructed of older rubble. People and animals were nervously milling about, afraid to go inside in case of more aftershocks.

Partway to the King’s manor, they ran into Arthur and Queen Margaret, who were walking through the streets by torchlight, calming people and learning where help was needed.

“Merlin!” the King called when he caught sight of them. “We were getting worried about you all. Any ideas, old wizard, about what all this means?” His gesture seemed to take in the shattered buildings as well as the comet smearing the sky.

“Not very useful ones. But to be more immediate, we did deliver your message to Blanche, though it’s not as relevant now. I’ll explain when you get back to the manor. We have some rather odd cargo to deliver first. Do you need us to come out and help afterward?”

The King shook his head. “No, rebuilding will have to wait until daylight, and there were remarkably few injuries. Our healers seem to have that in hand.”