Jonah and the Last Great Dragon (12 page)

With their spiked necks outstretched, the watching icedrakes peered at Jonah, as he walked towards Kauhu. He remembered clearly what Saint Michael had told him last Friday, when Ffyrnig first emerged from his cavern under the Radnor Forest. He had said that if Jonah looked steadfastly into Ffyrnig’s eyes, and told him with all his heart and will what he wanted the dragon to do, Ffyrnig would obey.

‘There’s a bond between the dragons and families like yours, Jonah,’ the Archangel had said. ‘He will be bound by your will as a Master Dragoneer and, what is more, it will seem to him the right thing to do.’

Now, Jonah straightened his shoulders and forced himself to look into the icedrake’s eyes.

‘My name is Jonah Drake,’ he said clearly in the dragon tongue. ‘I am descended from a Family of Domination. I am a Dragoneer.’

Kauhu’s eyes opened in surprise. The other icedrakes swung their heads towards each other, rumbling their astonishment. ‘He speaks our tongue. The boy really is a dragoneer!’

‘’Did
you
ask the Red Dragon to bring you here?’ asked Kauhu.

‘Yes, I did. The people of the islands where the Red Dragon lives are in terrible danger. The firedrakes tried to help but they couldn’t. Then Ffyrnig told me that you and your kind might be able to help us. Please can I explain?’

Kauhu nodded and motioned to the other drakes to
come closer, so that they could all hear what Jonah had to say. While Erin, terrified that Jonah might be attacked, gazed down from between Ffyrnig’s wings, Jonah told them about the demons, the Night Creatures, which had followed the great firedrake through the passageways that led from the Underworld. He explained how they had first appeared on the roof of the little church of Saint Michael, in the Cascob valley in Radnorshire. He described the battle between the angels and the Night Creatures, and told the icedrakes how the demons had appeared in London, and how the dragons of the Welsh Marches had flown to London and tried to sweep them back to the Underworld.

‘But the dragon fire was too powerful,’ he finished. ‘Part of the city went up in flames. We can’t use firepower against the demons without causing terrible damage to the city, but Ffyrnig thinks that you could destroy them. The demons enter things like statues and gargoyles to use as outer bodies. Ffyrnig thinks that you can breathe ice-crystals over these outer cases, so that they will freeze and crack. Then the Night Creatures would be forced back into the Underworld and the angels could use their powers to shut off the passageways in the Abyss. Please, please would you think about flying to London and helping us?’

He looked round at the icedrakes. Two or three were nodding their heads and Jonah began to feel hopeful.

Ffyrnig ambled forward. ‘Lord Kauhu, I can destroy a demon’s outer body with a little burst of fire, but driving the creatures back underground one by one is almost useless. It’s too slow. As Jonah told you, we tried to sweep whole swarms away fast, but ended by starting a great fire.’

Kauhu gazed at Jonah thoughtfully. ‘Before we consider your request, I have some questions to ask you and the Red
Dragon,’ he said. ‘Also, we are in some danger here. We have a very powerful enemy, who has an army of firedrakes and others to do his bidding. Some of the black drakes want to fight because they have been indoctrinated into thinking that he is a great leader. And he forces other drakes, his slaves, into battle, so that he can conquer all the huge territories around the Arctic seas. If some of us fly to your islands and there is an attack while we are away, the drakes that stay with our young could all be killed or taken as slaves by the Black Lord.’

Jonah stared. ‘Do you mean the Black Lord of Komi?’ he said.

It was the icedrake’s turn to stare. ‘Yes, I do. You know about him?’

Jonah nodded. ‘He has a demon servant called the Wolfmaster. The Black Lord has made him look for men or boys like me, who can con—’
Whoops, careful, Jonah
, he thought.
Don’t say “control”
. He went on, ‘Erm,
speak
with dragons. The Wolfmaster tried to take me down to the Underworld.’

Kauhu looked around at the other icedrakes. ‘You all heard that? I am minded to give help to the people of the Dragoneer. But only the biggest drakes can fly so far without resting. My concern is that those of you left behind will be no match for the Black Lord, if he finds our caverns.’

The Great Dragon took a step forward. ‘Lord Kauhu,’ he said. ‘It is not important for me to return immediately to London. I can’t do much there. If your frost-clan will go to help, I will remain here to protect the smaller drakes. I
am
a match for Zhestokii.’

‘Zhestokii?’ Kauhu hissed. ‘Is that the Black Lord’s name? How appropriate!’

‘It means cruel, brutal, ferocious,’ Ffyrnig said to Jonah. Kauhu turned to the watching frost dragons. ‘You have
heard this young Dragoneer and the Red Dragon. How many of you would be prepared to fly to the isles of Britain and drive the Night Creatures back to the Abyss?’

Several great icedrakes swung their spiked heads upwards and roared their agreement. Jonah looked up at Kauhu. ‘That’s wonderful! What do you think, Lord Kauhu?’

Ffyrnig’s mouth opened wide with pleasure. ‘Do you agree to go, my lord?’

Kauhu looked thoughtful. ‘My frost-clan seems eager to help, and your offer to stay and guard the smaller dragons makes it possible for some of us to go. But before I give my answer, there are many things I need to get clear in my mind.’ He turned to Ffyrnig. ‘Do you need to eat? And what about the Dragoneer and his little companion? Shall we talk while we feed?’

Ffyrnig was delighted with the idea of a meal. ‘I hope it’s polar bear,’ he said to Jonah, as they followed Kauhu across the glacier to his cave.

Jonah hoped fervently that it wouldn’t be, and wondered if they might be offered some fish. He thought Erin would probably pass out if the frost dragons produced huge chunks of furry, bleeding bear meat.

‘Are you going to come down now?’ he called up to her, as they came near the mouth of the cavern.

‘Yes. Could you ask Ffyrnig to help me down?’

Erin unbuckled herself and scrambled over the firedrake’s shoulder to slide down his foreleg. ‘What’s happening now?’

‘Kauhu, that’s the leader, wants to talk about how they’ll get to London and that sort of thing.’ He gave Erin a sideways glance. ‘They are going to give us something to eat.’

Erin clapped her hand over her mouth, and stopped
walking so abruptly that she skidded and fell over.

‘Are you okay?’ Jonah took her hand and pulled her to her feet.

‘No! Well, I am, yeah. Not hurt or anything. But, Jonah, we can’t eat
dragon
food! It’ll be raw meat!’

He eyed her sternly. ‘We eat what they give us. Try a mouthful, anyway, and look pleased about it. You’ve got to, Erin. If they think we’re rude, they might change their minds about helping us.’

She gave him an agonised glance, as they prepared to follow Kauhu into his cave. ‘I’m beginning to wish Mam and Dad hadn’t let me come,’ she whispered.

Inside the cave in the glacier it was a bit warmer than outside, but not very much. The icedrakes’ frosty breath made the air misty with ice-crystals. Kauhu introduced the other drakes in the cavern. There were Iso, his mate, and their most recent hatchlings, little Lumi and her older sister, Enkeli.

‘Do young humans eat meat?’ Iso asked Jonah. ‘If not, we have a stash of white fish.’

‘That will be lovely,’ he chirruped back in dragon-speak, and turned to smile at Erin. ‘Cheer up. They’ve got fish for us.’

Erin grinned in relief. ‘Won’t it be frozen solid?’

‘Oh, come on. Like we haven’t got our own travelling barbecue! Ffyrnig will cook it for us.’

Enkeli disappeared into the darkness at the back of the cave and returned with a mouthful of large silvery fish.

‘Gosh,’ said Erin. ‘I think those might be cod. Or haddock. Great! Do you think Ffyrnig can breathe gently enough to defrost them?’

Enkeli dropped the fish at the cave-mouth and Ffyrnig gently blew over them. As the fishes thawed, Ffyrnig’s hot breath melted the surface of the glacier and a small pool of
water appeared.

‘Hey, we could poach them in that,’ Erin said, as she stood watching.

‘Wouldn’t you rather have a sort of barbecue? We can put the fish on a big flat stone and Ffyrnig will do a lovely job.’

While the children sat outside the cave, eagerly peeling the charred skin off and tucking in to the beautiful fresh fish, Ffyrnig joined the icedrakes in the cavern. Jonah and Erin couldn’t help hearing all the noises of tearing, chewing and mumbling, as the dragons fed.

‘Is it polar bear?’

‘I think Iso said they had a walrus and an Arctic fox.’ Jonah whispered.

‘Eugh!’ said Erin.

Kauhu was satisfied. He had asked lots of questions about the journey, the way the Night Creatures behaved and what help the icedrakes could expect from Saint Michael and the angels. Now a group of about a dozen frost dragons stood on the glacier, waiting to begin their long journey to London. Nearly all the clan members had volunteered, but Kauhu had chosen only the largest and strongest.

‘We can’t afford to have any brothers falling behind,’ he had said firmly.

The icedrakes who were staying on Prince George Land clustered round the biggest drakes, saying goodbye and wishing them good flying. Jonah was chewing his lip.

‘What’s the matter now, bach?’ asked Erin. ‘You’ve got Saint Michael all the help he needs, so what are you looking so worried about?’

‘I’m not sure that Ffyrnig and I have really been able to explain how to get to Westminster. They will find Britain okay, but they aren’t used to cities. They have hardly seen any places with more than a few houses. They might not be able to pick out the cathedrals from all the other buildings. And I’m worried that they might lose their way once they are flying over England. They might follow the wrong river or…’

‘Stop a minute,’ Erin cut in. ‘You have made me think. Look, we’ve got a Sat Nav, haven’t we? I know you’ll stay with Ffyrnig but what if I rode back with the icedrakes?’

‘But you aren’t able to talk to them! And I imagine the Sat Nav still won’t be working once you get near the UK.’

‘But I won’t need it then, Jonah.’

‘But…’

‘Listen. Instead of the icedrakes flying overland from the north of Scotland, I could guide them down the east coast. It will be easy to spot the Wash, and then I’ll just have to keep a look out for the Thames Estuary. Easy-peasy!’

‘We-ell,’ Jonah scuffed the ice with the toe of his boot. ‘How would you make sure you didn’t get the dragons to fly up the wrong river?’

‘The mouth of the Thames must be by far the biggest inlet. And if I do take them up the wrong river, it’ll soon become obvious. Then we’ll just turn round, go back to the coast and keep flying south till we do find the Thames.’ Erin beamed at him. ‘Now, come and tell Kauhu, and see which dragon will let me ride. And let’s sort out a way I can make them understand me. A thump on the left or right, and pointing up and down ought to be enough, don’t you think?’

Sliding and skidding on the ice, the children hurried over to Kauhu and Ffyrnig to tell them about their plan. Kauhu was cautious at first but, when Jonah explained how they would attach the safety harness so that Erin couldn’t fall off, the frost dragon decided that it was a good idea for Erin to ride with them. He called to an enormous young drake.

‘Pelata, the young girl is coming with us as our guide. She is quite small. Will you carry her?’

Pelata nodded his head from side to side, so that the sun glinted on his spikes. ‘Certainly. She won’t weigh much. I shall hardly feel her on my back.’

They worked out a few signals for Erin to use, so that she could keep them flying in the right direction.

‘And I need one that says, “Land as soon as you
safely
can”. It’s got to be one that they can’t misunderstand.’

‘Okay.’ Jonah wondered why she was so concerned about it. He suggested to the drakes that Erin could stretch out her arm and make very strong downward movements with her palm held flat.

‘Why is that so important?’ Ffyrnig asked.

Jonah turned to Erin. ‘Ffyrnig and the others want to know why that particular signal matters so much.’

‘It’s because I’m a
girl
. You’re a boy. You don’t have to worry so much about where you go to the loo. I don’t want to have to hang on till I’m, like, desperate, before they find me somewhere. And after what happened in that forest in Norway, I really, really need the place to be safe.’ She pretended to glare at Jonah. ‘You boys just don’t know how lucky you are!’

Ffyrnig showed Pelata how to help Erin clamber on to his back, and then the icedrakes spread out across the glacier, with Kauhu at the front, then his mate, Iso, with Pelata, followed by the other dragons. Majestically, they spread their wings, extended their tails and began to thunder across the ice. Erin waved frantic goodbyes as they rose into the air. The sun lit their wings, which glowed sometimes pink and then sky-blue. Jonah was yelling with excitement as, like huge white butterflies, the frost-clan soared towards the sea.

After the dragons had vanished into the blue sky, Jonah turned to Ffyrnig.

‘What now?’

‘We wait for them to return. You need to make sure you keep warm. It’s risky for you little humans in these icy places.’

Jonah grinned at the great red firedrake. ‘Don’t worry. This gear keeps me toasty-warm, actually. Will you cook me some more fish for supper?’

Ffyrnig gave his spike-toothed grin. ‘There’s a lovely joint of narwhal. Wouldn’t you like some of that?’

‘Er, no, thanks all the same. I think I’ll stick to cod.’

Jonah began to yawn and realised it was getting late, even though the sun was still high in the Arctic sky. Enkeli brought another large cod from the family’s store and watched with interest, as Jonah took out his pocketknife and cut off its head and tail.

‘You keep a big tooth in your pocket?’ she asked.

Jonah laughed and opened his mouth to show her how small human teeth are. Enkeli was shocked. ‘How
do
you manage with those?’

As Ffyrnig started to grill Jonah’s fish, Kauhu’s family gathered round, fascinated to watch the Great Dragon’s fiery breath.

Valkea, the oldest hatchling still in the family cave, sniffed the aroma. ‘ Smells good. Does it make the fish taste different?’

‘Here. Try a bit.’ Jonah held out a large piece of cod.

Valkea rolled it round his tongue and nodded his horned head from side to side with pleasure. ‘I can see fire-breath has its uses! Can the others try some, too?’

Several more codfish were cooked on the stone for the icedrakes to taste, before Jonah pulled his sleeping bag deep into the cavern, away from the light of the midnight sun, and settled down for the night.