Becoming a Dragon (49 page)

John paused to think.
At this rate they will. But I could outfly them. Crystal, Daisy, if you were willing to transform in mid-air, I could carry you ahead, and give you a head start, and then come back for Seth and Arthur.

No, John. I won't leave my brother behind,
Daisy replied firmly.
Think of another plan. You can take Seth and Crystal ahead if you like.

Daisy, you should go with John—

No Arthur; and I won't discuss it. Assertive enough for you, John?

John didn't respond, appearing unsure what to do.

John, we're running out of time here. What are we going to do?
Seth was starting to sound frantic.

Alright, here's what you're going to do. Fly straight, don't look back, and just hold to this route. Fly as fast as you can. Leave nothing in reserve. You just need about five or ten minutes of flying, and then you can slow down. I'll buy you some time. Alright?

What are you going to do?
Daisy asked.

Don't worry about me. Just do as I ask. Can you all do that?

The four murmured their agreement. Without another word, John ascended rapidly, falling behind the group as he gained altitude and leaving them on their own.

Some distance behind them, the Blue Dragons following them noted John's manoeuvre.

Squadron leader, one of the reds has broken from the group. He's climbing as if to attack.

He's no threat; they all fly poorly,
the Squadron Leader replied dismissively.
Concentrate on the main group. He's intent on fleeing, not fighting. We'll let this one go.

Suddenly, John turned in the air, wheeling around to face the oncoming Blue Dragons and rushing towards them quickly. He flew straight at them, closing the distance surprisingly fast, and just when he was within fifty metres, blew flames at the group before wheeling to the north and diving. The flames barely reached the squad, but they shrieked in rage at his half-hearted attack.

Kill him!
the Squadron leader screamed angrily.
You two! Dive after him! Catch up once he's dead!

Two of the seven broke off and dived after John, who had barely a couple of hundred metres head start on them. The other five held their course.

Crystal couldn't watch, terrified at what might happen, and desperate to fly as fast as she could.

He's trying to lead them off
, Seth said, glancing over his shoulder as he flew,
but it's not working. Five of them are still on our tails and they're gaining on us. What shall we do?

Exactly what John told us to do,
Daisy replied staring ahead intently.
We said we'd do as he asked.

But his plan hasn't worked Daisy. They're going to catch us. And they're probably going to catch John. He can't help us now.

What are you suggesting Seth?
Arthur asked.

We should split up,
Seth replied.
Two groups. There are five of them. Chances are they'll have to pick just two of us. At least two of us will make it back, and we have to get back to warn the others.

John told us to fly straight and fast,
Daisy objected.
We should do as he asked.

Look, Daisy, I'm sorry to say this, but John's probably already dead,
Seth told her
. You saw how close he was when they dived after him. The most important thing now is getting the message back. Crystal, what do you say? You and I go one way, these two another?

Crystal paused.
Sorry, Daisy, but I think Seth is right. We can't take the chance. If they catch all of us no one will know what they're doing.

I agree,
said Arthur.
We'll continue on this path; you two head to the south. I think you should be heading towards a town that way.

No, Arthur, this is wrong. John told us—

You don't have a choice, Daisy,
Seth interrupted.
This is too important. Good luck, you two.

Seth and Crystal veered off to the south west, continuing to fly as fast as they could. Within a couple of minutes Arthur and Daisy were far away.

What are the Blues doing?
Crystal asked, unwilling to look. Her wings were tiring and she didn't know how long should could keep up this pace.

Seth glanced backwards.
Oh damn, they've all followed us! Just our luck. At least the twins will get back and raise the alarm. They're really close. I'm afraid this is it, Crystal.

Crystal glanced backwards and was shocked to see how close the five Blue Dragons were.

They're almost on us! Shall we try to dive?

I don't know,
Seth replied.
Neither of us are that good at it. John only covered it once. We could split up again?

I don't think it will make any difference this time around. They'd just split into two groups. Just fly faster!

Seth and Crystal were both terrified, and tried to fly as fast as they could, but the Blue Dragons continued to gain on them. They were now within fifty metres, then forty, then thirty. Crystal looked back desperately, hoping they were keeping ahead.

Oh no, Seth
—

Suddenly, ahead of them a small, fast moving golden shape appeared, heading straight at them.

What is that?
Seth asked.

The approaching shape reflected the sun behind them, glimmering gold, and sped towards them with alarming speed. They were now trapped between the Blue Dragons and this new threat.

It's going to hit us!
Crystal cried out in terror. Just before it reached them, it appeared to fire two fireballs at them, only missing them by a tiny distance. They heard an angry scream behind them, and turned to see that they hadn't been the target after all. The golden shape flew straight between the two of them and into the pack of five Blue Dragons, forcing them to scatter. One of the Blue Dragons fell behind, flying erratically, its wing slightly torn. It managed to control its flight, but had to turn back.

It's a dragon!
Crystal said.

She glanced behind her and saw that the four remaining Blue Dragons had regrouped and were continuing their pursuit. They had fallen back a little, but were starting to close the gap again.

Look to the north!
Seth yelled.
What is that thing? And how fast is it moving?
The newcomer had wheeled about and was flying quickly back towards the two groups. Whether the Blue Dragons had seen it or not she wasn't sure, but they were still focused on catching them, and right now it looked as if they just might succeed. They were less than twenty metres behind them now, and shrieked in triumph at the prospect of catching their quarry. Crystal looked back just in time to see fireballs strike the heads of two of the Blue Dragons before the Golden Dragon struck at the squad again. This time it struck with lethal force, and two of the Blue Dragons fell from the sky, one flapping a ruined wing frantically, the other limp and lifeless, killed instantly by the attack. The two remaining Blue Dragons shrieked again, but with no confidence this time. Distracted by the attack, they had dropped back and were twice as far away as they were a moment ago.

Look ahead,
Seth cried.
Reinforcements!

Sure enough, about ten Red Dragons were flying straight towards them. The Blue Dragons could not possibly reach them before the others would join them, and they shrieked in rage as they wheeled away, now becoming the hunted rather than the hunters. The ten Red Dragons flew straight past them in hot pursuit.

I can't believe we made it!
Crystal cried.
I thought we'd had it then.

That was so close!
Seth agreed.
Did you see how far away they were just before that thing appeared? I think they were literally as near to us as we are to each other now. Maybe a second longer and they'd have had us.

When they shrieked at us it was so loud
, said Crystal.
They were virtually on top of us. I don't think I've ever been so scared.

It was over so quickly. I don't think I had time to be scared,
Seth lied.

What was that thing though?
Crystal asked.
It came out of nowhere.

And did you see how fast it moved?
Seth asked excitedly.
It must have been twice as fast as us, if not faster! How is moving that fast even possible?

It looked small
, Crystal recalled.
Smaller than the Blue Dragons. They looked so scary in the air; I thought they were bad enough on the ground.

They stood no chance against that thing though. I think it could have taken them out on the first pass if it had wanted; I think it was just giving them a warning. It dropped the next two so easily. I'm glad it wasn't interested in us.

Where did it go after it hit them the second time?
Crystal wondered out aloud.
I couldn't see it at all
.

No idea,
Seth replied.
It just vanished back into thin air, where it came from. I can't wait to tell the others about it. I bet even John hasn't seen one of those
.

Do you think anyone will believe us?
Crystal asked.
I find it hard to believe and I saw it.

What about those other Red Dragons?
Seth retorted.
Wouldn't they have seen it as well? They'd back us up.

I think they were too far away to see. How will we explain this? We were saved by a small Dragon, which appeared out of nowhere, flying straight towards us but ignored us completely, and chose to attack a group of five Blue Dragons, all on its own, and disabled one and killed two others. It fires twin fireballs, with pinpoint accuracy, flies twice as fast as us, and is a shiny Golden colour. We have no idea where it came from, and just before anyone else got near enough to see it, it disappeared. There isn't a single thing about that story that is credible.

Hmm, when you put it like, it does sound a bit unbelievable. Perhaps John will know about them. Oh, wait, I forgot about John. Sorry, Crystal. I know he was your friend.

Yours too surely,
Crystal retorted.
How many times has he saved your worthless hide?

Hey, that's a bit mean, Crystal, but yeah, I guess I liked him too. I never really disliked him, not even at the start. I just found him a bit dull. I knew you all disliked him so couldn't be bothered to make an effort with him.

Inspiring, Seth. You'll make a great leader one day,
Crystal replied bitterly.

What's got into you? It's not my fault what happened to him.

I know; I just can't believe he's gone.
Crystal couldn't believe that this had happened. John had seemed to be so sure that he knew what he was doing.

Seth broke the uncomfortable silence.
Let's just get back, alright? He may have escaped for all we know.

Crystal thought that it was impossible, but didn't say so.
Do you know which way we're going?

Yeah, I know. It shouldn't be too long now, thank goodness. Flying that fast is pretty tiring. I doubt I could go on that much longer.

Seth and Crystal continued flying for another half an hour before they reached the outskirts of Oldcastle, where they had been staying. They landed outside the courtyard, and after transforming, ran into the main hall, looking for teachers. They met the Headmaster first.

"Seth, Crystal, thank goodness you're back," he began. "We thought that something terrible might have happened to you."

"Sir, there's no time to explain. We have to raise the alarm!" Seth said.

"Don't worry," the Headmaster assured him. "Daisy and Arthur have already told us everything. They've been back for a while now."

Crystal breathed a sigh of relief. They were no longer responsible for what happened next.

"Sir," Seth began, "there's one thing that they wouldn't have told you."

"What's that, Seth?" he asked cautiously.

"When we left Daisy and Arthur, the Blue Dragons followed us. They ignored the twins."

"Yes, we know. They told us. How on earth did you escape them? Did you meet one of the patrols? We've had a lot of them in the air since you went missing, but we had no idea where to start looking."

"Yes, we did meet a patrol, but afterwards. It wasn't them who stopped the Blue Dragons."

"Oh, so what did happen? You're not going to try and claim credit for fighting off five Blue Dragons are you, Bragon?"

"No, sir, although that may seem more believable than what actually happened. Another Dragon appeared. Not a Red or a Blue Dragon, but one we've never seen before. It attacked the Blue Dragons, killed two of them, and clipped the wing of one of the others, so it could only just fly. It then flew off."

"Another Dragon? Well, what sort of Dragon?" The Headmaster regarded the two of them suspiciously.