The Dragon's Gold

by Alex English

  ‘You can’t have them,’ she said, brandishing Stinger and taking a step forward.

  ‘I… I don’t want them,’ said Grub, flinging both hands in the air. ‘I didn’t want any of this.’ He flinched as gunshot flared up on the volcano’s rim.

  Echo took in his terrified face. ‘Over here,’ she said, scrambling down the volcano slope, out of sight of the pirates, who were all either firing their guns and whooping, or cowering from the dragon’s flames. They found another clump of bushes to hide in and took cover beneath the thorny foliage.

  ‘Are you okay?’ asked Echo.

  Grub shook his head, his shoulders quivering. ‘I’ve always wanted to see a real dragon,’ he said. ‘It makes me sick to see them attacking it like that. Old Gus said he’d have me thrown in the shark tank if I didn’t go down there!’

  There was a faint yell from below and Echo peeked down to the river to see a somewhat singed Old Gus doggy-paddling to the riverbank and dragging himself out.

  Grub looked too and swallowed. ‘I’d better get back,’ he said.

  ‘Are you sure?’ Echo said. ‘You could come with us. Help us save these eggs.’

  Grub licked his lips and paused for a moment, then finally shook his head. ‘I can’t,’ he said sadly. ‘Here, have your aethernet back, in case it comes in handy.’ He carefully pulled the imaginary net out of his pocket and passed it to Echo.

  ‘Thanks,’ she said softly, heat flushing her cheeks.

  ‘Bye then.’ Grub raced back up the volcano slope. Above them, there was the buzz of airship engines, and Echo looked up to see all six of the sky-pirate ships closing in on the dragon. There was the boom of a cannon and something flew past them and crashed into the volcano in a burst of orange flame.

  The dragon spun this way and that, her tail lashing the air, but there were too many ships and too many cannons firing.

  ‘No!’ Echo shouted in horror as she looked back to see Miranda, pistol in hand, silhouetted on the volcano’s rim. Echo’s hand instinctively reached for Stinger, but, before she had time to react, the pirate captain raised her flintlock pistol to the sky, aiming it directly at the dragon’s soft underbelly.

  BANG!

  The whole world seemed to slow as, with a terrible, heart-rending screech, the dragon fell out of the sky like a glittering red stone and plummeted into the river far, far below.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO

  The world seemed to spin round her as Echo stared in despair at the river below. Steam billowed from its surface, and the impact of the dragon’s fall sent waves surging outwards and up the riverbanks. But the dragon didn’t emerge and, after several moments, the truth hit Echo.

  ‘They killed her!’ She turned to Horace in disbelief.

  From the volcano’s crater, there were jubilant cheers and whoops from the other sky-pirate clans. A sick feeling roiled in Echo’s stomach as she and Horace crouched, frozen in the bushes, the two dragon eggs weighing heavy in her bag.

  ‘I can’t believe it,’ said Horace, his face white.

  ‘Moor the ships! Load them with gold!’ Miranda yelled from behind them. ‘Then get back down there and clear the cave out. Every one of you!’

  There were cries of, ‘Yes, my queen!’ and, ‘Certainly, boss!’ as the six ships buzzed lower and landed on Mount Enoc’s crater.

  ‘How could they?’ Echo’s sorrow turned to fury and she reached for Stinger. ‘They don’t deserve that gold. Not a single doubloon of it. I’ll show them.’

  ‘No, Echo.’ Horace stood in front of her. ‘You can’t fight all of them.’

  ‘But we should have fought. We could have stopped them.’ Regret flooded through Echo’s veins and she felt tears build behind her eyes. She sniffed and shoved Stinger back in her boot.

  ‘It’s not your fault.’ Horace shook his head. ‘We would have just got ourselves captured. Or killed.’ He scrubbed his eyes on the back of his sleeve and peered down at the river below. ‘Perhaps she’s just injured. Maybe we can go down there and help her.’

  They scrambled a few metres down the slope and stood for several minutes, staring at the rushing water. But there was not even a glimmer of red scales.

  ‘I think she’s really gone,’ said Echo.

  Horace nodded and let out a big sob.

  The tears that had been building finally slipped down Echo’s face. ‘We’ve failed,’ she sobbed. ‘Miranda has the cutlass and the dragon is dead! Some sky pirate I am.’

  Horace flung his arms round her and, for several moments, they both just stood and wept. Gilbert scuttled up on to Echo’s shoulder, his scales blue-violet with sorrow, and rubbed her cheek.

  ‘We did our best, Echo,’ Horace said softly, as they drew apart.

  ‘I suppose.’ Echo bowed her head and her eye alighted on her knapsack. ‘At least they didn’t get her eggs,’ she said. She hefted the knapsack on to her shoulder, then froze at the sound of propellers.

  ‘Oh no!’ Horace paled. ‘Not more sky pirates?’ He ducked behind a rock, pulling Echo and Gilbert with him.

  ‘More?’ Echo frowned. But all six of the rival clans were here already. Could it possibly be…? No, it didn’t sound like the Scarlet Margaret. She peeked out in trepidation and felt her whole body sag in relief at the sight of Cloudcatcher and Lil, zooming towards them.

  * * *

  For a moment, Echo felt a flicker of uncertainty as Lil spotted them and brought Cloudcatcher down in a clearing between the bushes, sending clouds of red dust up into the air. Was Lil really here for her? Or was she after the dragon’s gold, like all the others?

  But, as Lil pushed her flying goggles up on to her forehead and raced over to them, Echo saw the relief and love in Lil’s face and she knew the answer.

  ‘Echo! Horace!’ Lil’s voice shook.

  ‘Mother! You found me!’

  ‘Oh, Echo, of course I did!’ Lil flung herself at Echo and hugged her tight.

  Echo buried her head in Lil’s leather jerkin and breathed in her familiar smell of cinnamon and gunpowder. She finally looked up. ‘They killed the dragon.’

  ‘So I saw,’ said Lil grimly. She stood back from Echo and looked her up and down. ‘Are you all right though?’

  Echo nodded. ‘We’re fine.’ She glanced over at the little gyrocopter and frowned. ‘You got Cloudcatcher back. But… but how?’

  ‘There’s no time for that.’ Lil pointed up at Anaconda and the other ships. ‘There are too many other pirate crews around. We need to get out of here. Come on.’

  She hurried Echo and Horace into Cloudcatcher and steered the little craft across the canyon walls and down to a valley where the Scarlet Margaret was moored.

  When they’d got onboard and Bulkhead had hauled in the anchor, Lil swung the Scarlet Margaret round and they powered upwards until they were beyond the clouds. Finally, Lil took a breath and turned to look at Echo.

  ‘What happened to you?’ she said. ‘I was frantic with worry. After the alliance meeting, I checked in on you both at breakfast time and you were gone!’

  Echo nodded, her face burning, and explained how they’d taken Cloudcatcher to Shark’s Fin Peak.

  Lil nodded. ‘Of course, we thought that was what you must have done when we found out Cloudcatcher was missing. Then, when we went back to Shark’s Fin Peak, we spotted it in that crevasse and we thought… I thought…’ Lil trailed off, her voice breaking.

  ‘But we knew yer must be okay, Echo,’ said Bulkhead, from the ship’s wheel. ‘We hauled up Cloudcatcher and you two were nowhere to be seen, so we figured you must have got away somewhere.’

  Lil nodded and scrubbed her eyes with her sleeve. ‘So we set a course for the Aqualiber Vaults to try to catch up with the Thunder Sharks.’

  ‘Narrowly missing being cannon fodder,’ added Slingshot, with a lopsided grin.

  ‘You put yourself in danger, Echo,’ said Lil, fixing Echo with a steely glare. ‘You disobeyed your captain’s orders.’

  Echo felt her cheeks
burn. ‘I’m sorry,’ she said.

  Lil’s frown dissolved and she hugged Echo again. ‘I suppose there’s no real harm done,’ she said. ‘You’re both back and safe, and that’s the important thing. Now, let’s get as far away from here as possible before Viper Voss returns.’

  Viper Voss! Echo thought back to the conversation she’d overheard all those nights ago on the Scarlet Margaret. Miranda Vossberg was the one Bulkhead had been warning Lil about.

  Echo couldn’t quite meet Lil’s eye. ‘She has the cutlass,’ she mumbled.

  ‘I know,’ said Lil, patting Echo’s hand. ‘Nothing to be done about it now though. For the moment, we get out of the Dragonlands and as far from the others as we can.’

  ‘I suppose.’ Echo slumped down on the gunwale and finally heaved her bulging knapsack down off her back.

  Spud eyed it with a grin. ‘What yer got in there?’

  Echo opened it, gazing sadly at the two dragon eggs she had carried. ‘We need to work out what to do with these.’

  Lil’s eyes widened as Horace opened his satchel too, revealing the third egg. ‘Those’ll fetch a pretty penny. They’re worth more than any gold haul!’

  ‘No, we can’t keep them.’ Echo shook her head. ‘We made a promise,’ she said. ‘To the dragon.’

  ‘Talking to dragons?’ Lil arched an eyebrow. ’I should know by now never to be surprised by you, Echo. What do you need to do?’

  Echo grinned, an idea forming in her mind. ‘Horace and I need to take Cloudcatcher. But we’ll bring her back safe this time. I promise.’

  CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE

  ‘Are you sure this is a good idea?’ asked Lil, her brow creased with worry, as Echo and Horace climbed into Cloudcatcher. ‘You know what happened last time you flew off on your own.’

  ‘We’ll be fine,’ said Echo, fastening her harness. ‘You don’t need to worry, Mother. I promise.’

  Lil shook her head. ‘And you’re sure you know the way?’

  ‘Can’t miss it,’ said Echo, focusing on the smoking crater of Mount Vaal at the other end of the canyon. ‘We’ll come straight back.’

  ‘I think these are securely attached!’ Bulkhead shouted up from where he was working beneath Cloudcatcher. ‘Just pull on this thread here and that’ll release the net.’

  He passed Horace the whisper-fine aethernet thread and stepped back as Echo fired up the engines. With a whirr, the propeller began to spin and Cloudcatcher lifted slowly into the air.

  ‘We’ll meet you back here!’ shouted Lil, above the buzz of the engines. ‘In the meantime, we’ll head back to the dragon’s lair to see what treasure can be salvaged.’

  ‘Once the others have gone,’ added Bulkhead.

  Lil nodded. ‘It’s too dangerous to take on the six other sky-pirate clans as one, but perhaps they’ll leave something behind.’

  ‘Okay.’ For a moment, Echo’s heart was torn. The Black Sky Wolves’ coffers really were empty now. Perhaps they should keep just one of the dragon eggs to sell. It would solve all their money problems after all. She glanced at the three eggs, gleaming red, green and gold as they dangled in the aethernet that hung beneath Cloudcatcher. Then she caught Horace’s eye and flushed. No. She’d made a promise to the dragon. They both had. And they were going to keep it.

  ‘Be careful!’ shouted Lil.

  ‘I will!’ Echo yelled back, and she brought Cloudcatcher higher, past Slingshot, who saluted from the crow’s nest, and up into the air.

  As they left Mount Enoc behind, Echo took a last glimpse over her shoulder. All six of the other airships were moored close to the entrance to the dragon’s lair. Around them, sky pirates swarmed all over the mountain, carrying armfuls of gold back to their ships, while Miranda stood in the centre of it all, the Cutlass of Calinthe glinting at her hip.

  Echo’s belly knotted with regret and she tightened her grip on Cloudcatcher’s controls. Those pirates didn’t deserve any of it. She turned the gyrocopter away and pointed its nose in the direction of Mount Vaal.

  * * *

  Mount Vaal was wreathed in murky clouds, and the further north they flew up the canyon, the darker the sky grew. Soon rain was falling on them, running in rivulets down Echo’s nose and washing the red dust from her skin. As they approached the volcano, the clouds crackled around them and there was a low rumble of thunder.

  ‘Look.’ Horace pointed into the crater, his blond hair plastered to his face.

  Echo blinked the rain out of her eyes and followed his gaze, careful to keep Cloudcatcher steady, and felt her breath catch as she saw the red glow of molten lava bubbling and spitting in the volcano’s mouth.

  ‘Do you really think this is going to work?’ Horace asked.

  ‘Miranda told me dragons were forged in flame,’ said Echo, thinking back to her first day onboard Anaconda. It seemed like a lifetime ago. ‘The eggs hatch in the heat of their mother’s fiery breath.’

  ‘And a dragon’s breath is as hot as a volcano,’ agreed Horace.

  ‘Well, here goes.’ Echo braced herself. ‘On three, okay?’ She steered Cloudcatcher right over the volcano cone, squinting as the plumes of smoke surrounded them.

  ‘One… two… three!’

  Horace wrestled with the aethernet threads as Echo battled with the controls. Sparks and smut flew all around them, turning to sludge as they hit their wet skin.

  Echo spat ash from her mouth and wiped grey water from her goggles. ‘Have you done it?’

  ‘It’s got tangled somehow!’ Horace shouted.

  ‘Now?’

  Horace shook his head. ‘It’s stuck!’

  Cloudcatcher bucked on the currents of hot air and a bolt of lightning fizzed through the sky. Echo felt a thrum of energy from Stinger. Of course!

  ‘Hold these!’ she shouted, swivelling the controls over.

  She drew Stinger from her boot, feeling the familiar warmth spread up her arm with a zing. She reached down, rain soaking her back, and swiped at the net with her sword.

  And, with a swish, Echo sliced through the aethernet and the three eggs, red, green and gold, went tumbling through the air and into Mount Vaal’s hungry red-glowing mouth.

  ‘Has it worked?’ Echo steered Cloudcatcher out of the fiery winds of Mount Vaal and dropped into a holding pattern once they were a safe distance away. ‘Can you see anything?’

  ‘Not yet.’ Horace put the spyglass to his eye and squinted through the rain.

  Gilbert climbed up on to Echo’s head and peered out too, his crest raised in anticipation.

  ‘How long will it take them to hatch?’

  ‘I don’t know!’

  Echo clenched her fists on the controls in frustration. It had to work! Otherwise this had all been a huge waste of time. Fear washed over her. They could have sold the eggs. The Black Sky Wolves would never have had to worry about money again. Had it all been for nothing?

  Horace lowered the spyglass. ‘It was a risk, Echo,’ he said. ‘We didn’t know for a fact they’d hatch in the volcano.’

  ‘But you said volcanoes are as hot as dragon’s breath.’

  ‘Maybe I was wrong,’ said Horace.

  ‘Shall we wait a little longer?’ asked Echo forlornly. A vision of the dragon’s elegant ruby-red body crashing so heavily into the water flashed back before her eyes and sadness settled in her stomach. ‘It has to work,’ she whispered.

  ‘We tried, Echo,’ said Horace. ‘We did our best.’

  ‘I suppose.’ Echo pushed the wet hair out of her eyes, her heart heavy with disappointment. ‘We should go back to the others.’ She pulled on the handles and began to wheel Cloudcatcher round

  ‘Echo, wait!’ Horace grabbed her arm. ‘I thought I saw… Yes!’

  ‘What?’ Echo followed Horace’s gaze and her heart soared with relief as three baby dragons, one red, one green and one gold, burst out of the volcano, roaring and spitting flames.

  CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR

  It was much later, when the sun was just a s
carlet flare on the horizon, that Echo landed Cloudcatcher back on the deck of the Scarlet Margaret to the cheers of the waiting crew. Echo took in their expectant faces.

  ‘Well?’ said Lil. ‘Did you manage it?’

  Echo nodded, unable to speak for a moment.

  ‘All three of them flew,’ said Horace. ‘We saw them. It was spectacular!’

  ‘Well done.’ Lil flushed with pride. ‘I’m proud of you both. We all are, aren’t we?’

  Another cheer went up from the rest of the crew, and Bulkhead lifted Echo on to his shoulders. Horace let out a squeal as he was hoisted into the air by Slingshot and Beti.

  ‘You’re a true Black Sky Wolf, Echo,’ said Lil. ‘You fought for good.’

  Echo grinned from ear to ear as the Black Sky Wolves marched down to the main deck, where Spud and Skillet had arranged the tables in a ring, set with candles and tankards of grog.

  She scrambled down from Bulkhead’s shoulders and took her place at the table between Horace and Lil.

  ‘I’d like to raise a toast,’ said Lil. ‘To being a true sky pirate. To fighting for good.’

  ‘And to dragons,’ said Echo and Horace at the same time.

  Gilbert chirruped in agreement from Echo’s shoulder.

  ‘And to dragons.’ Lil raised her tankard.

  ‘TO DRAGONS!’ The cheer went round the table as everyone clinked their glasses together.

  In the flickering warmth of the candle glow, they settled down to eat. ‘I’m afraid it’s only grilled starfish and seaweed crackers tonight,’ said Spud. ‘That’s all we have left from the store. There’s nothing much to forage around here.’

  Echo’s grin slipped for a moment. No food left! What would they do? She turned to Lil. ‘We didn’t get any of the gold, did we?’

  Lil shook her head. ‘No. They’d cleared it all out by the time we got back into the caves.’