by E. G. Foley
There were none.
The giant knights and princes each turned to consult briefly with their coaches and advisers. Snorri, likewise, turned to the boys.
Archie squinted against the morning sun, studying the angle of the hill. “Watch out for those gopher holes. There are a few patches of mud around the bottom of the hill, too, where your footing could get tricky. And you’re going to have the sun in your eyes.”
“Is it just me, or does my boulder look bigger than everyone else’s?” Snorri asked in dismay.
Jake hesitated, not wanting to upset him, but it did seem true. “Don’t worry about it. You can do this,” he assured him. “Just make sure to keep a good grip.”
“Slow and steady wins the day,” Archie added.
“He’s right. Don’t pay any attention to what anyone else is doing,” Jake advised. “Just focus on your own race.”
Snorri absorbed all their advice with a nod, then tried a few different holds on his massive rock to find the best way to pick it up.
Other giants all down the row were doing the same.
Gorm was glancing around at his competition with a cunning smirk. He seemed to be planning something.
Then the Master of Ceremonies blew the horn, calling the contestants to attention.
It was time to begin.
“Good luck, Snorri!” the boys called, backing away. Snorri gave them a resolute nod.
“On your mark,” the Master of Ceremonies intoned. “Get set…!”
The giants picked up their boulders.
“Go!”
A loud horn blew and, suddenly, all the giants were in motion.
The ground shook as they rushed across the green field in a pack. The boys struggled to stay upright in the earthquake of their pounding footsteps.
As the pack moved farther away, Archie took his telescope out of his tool-bag and held it up to his eye, then passed it to Jake.
Snorri had a good grip on his boulder, Jake observed, but unfortunately their large friend was already behind.
The boys watched in concern, realizing only now that they had failed to warn him about how the other giants might behave.
For example, if the contestants could manage to knock each other out of the competition by making one another drop their boulders, that was perfectly allowable within the rules.
Snorri was going a bit slower than his rivals, but maybe, Jake thought, that was for the best. His lagging behind spared him from getting caught up in the melee of giants trying to bash each other out of the competition as they ran.
The giants in the lead were ramming each other with their shoulders, tripping each other along the way as they heaved their huge stones up the hill.
The peasants cheered wildly for their favorites. King Olaf was clapping and hooting for Gorm; in fact, rumor had it the King had wagered a fine sum of gold on Gorm to win.
As the hill grew steeper, each contestant had to work harder. The competitive knights and princes were growing desperate to win.
Jake could just imagine how all this must look from Princess Kaia’s viewpoint. A dozen red-faced, heaving giants marching up the hill carrying boulders as big as carriages. Seeing them all rushing toward her must have been a slightly terrifying sight.
Prince Gorm was in the lead, but Jake peered through the telescope and saw one of the visiting knights pull even with him. The two were neck and neck.
Gorm glanced over angrily. Of course, he was not about to let anyone get ahead of him, so when his rival started to inch into the lead, Gorm stuck out his foot and tripped him.
The other giant roared and went down with a crash, dropping his boulder.
Jake and Archie gasped as the great rock began rolling back down the hill, plowing into other contestants, knocking them aside like gigantic bowling pins, and causing them to drop their stones, in turn.
Snorri was still marching along at the back, slow and steady, as Archie had advised. But in the confusion of loose rocks rolling by, and angry knights and princes chasing after them, he managed to pass several of his rivals.
The boys cheered to see he was no longer in last place.
The giants who had dropped their boulders in the chaos had to chase their escaping rocks downhill and start over again from the beginning.
But suddenly, catastrophe loomed.
A massive boulder that had gotten away from one of the players was rushing down the hill, heading straight for the group of giant children.
The giant boy, Peter, and his friends and his little sisters were off playing apart from the main crowd of spectators. Engrossed in having their own junior version of the contest, they were not paying the slightest attention to the danger barreling down on them.
Directly in the path of the oncoming boulder, they were going to be smashed!
Jake saw Snorri hesitate as he, too, noticed the danger. The path ahead of him to the hilltop and a possible victory was finally clear. From being in last place, he suddenly had a shot at winning!
But as Snorri looked over at the giant children in jeopardy, he couldn’t help himself.
One of the giant mothers screamed, spotting the disaster about to take place—but she was too far away to help.
Her scream jarred Snorri into action.
Jake and Archie stared in amazement as Snorri turned and ran, carrying his boulder sideways across the hill rather than straight up the slope toward Kaia.
He ran faster than they ever would’ve thought he was able to; and because he was in the back, he was able to block the path of the approaching boulder before it struck the giant kids.
He arrived just in time a few feet in front of the rolling rock to plant his own boulder squarely in front of the oncoming one.
The two rocks collided, and the impact was so great that it shattered both of the great stones. Snorri threw up his arm to shield his face from the hail of gravel.
Pebbles rained down over him—all that was left of his boulder—plus a few fist-sized chunks.
“He saved them!” Archie exclaimed. “But what’s he going to do now? How can he finish the contest?”
Jake shook his head grimly. “I don’t know,” he murmured.
“He’s going to be eliminated,” Archie said in worry.
Snorri seemed nonplussed. He looked at the ground, unsure of how to proceed, nor did he seem to hear the villagers cheering for him. He started picking up the pebbles and chunks and putting them in his hand so he could at least try to continue the contest.
Unfortunately, it was already over. Gorm had won.
Setting his boulder down at the top of the hill, Gorm snatched the flag out of Kaia’s hand and held it high, waving it back and forth like a proper champion.
But because of the wind’s direction and his distance up the hill, it took a few seconds for him to hear the villagers booing him.
His arrogant grin faded as the sound reached him.
“Boo! Cheater! Look what you did, look at the trouble you caused!”
“We all saw you! Those children could have died!”
“This was your fault!”
“Snorri should be the winner!” yelled one of the giant mothers, whose child he had saved.
Snorri looked over in surprise.
“He saved our lives!” Peter shouted. The other kids joined in, yelling their agreement.
“I’m sorry, but rules are rules!” the Master of Ceremonies said. “All those who lost their boulders during the race are eliminated, including Snorri the Shepherd!”
“No fair!” people yelled.
“Let Snorri stay in the tournament!”
“His rock is shattered! He didn’t complete the competition, therefore, he is disqualified!” the Master of Ceremonies insisted.
“Boo!”
The whole village began booing the Master of Ceremonies, and Gorm was beginning to look concerned.
Jake could understand why. Based on what he’d overheard Gorm telling his followers at the feast last night, his sole
reason for participating in the tournament was to become the next king. But Gorm desired the admiration of the people; he did not wish to start out his future reign by being despised by his own subjects.
“Snorri! Snorri! Snorri!” the people were now chanting.
Snorri looked around at them, rather dazed.
Gorm tried to hide the worried look on his face as he carried the flag back down the hill. The closer he came to the people, the more they jeered at him, making faces and blowing raspberries at him.
“Boo, Gorm! Cheater! We want Snorri! Let Snorri back in the contest!”
Gorm did his best to ignore them and approached King Olaf, who was sitting in the shade of a striped canvas canopy. “Well done, champion,” said the king.
Gorm bowed in respect. “Thank you, sire.”
King Olaf’s gaze trailed across the booing crowd. “Our people don’t sound happy.”
“Sire,” Prince Gorm said loudly, making sure the people heard him and realized how generous he was. “As the winner of the first round, I would like to request that the shepherd be allowed to continue in the contest—even though he ought to be disqualified, according to the rules. Perhaps we can show mercy, under the circumstances,” Gorm said with a grand flourish.
The people stopped booing to hear the king’s response.
“Snorri did have a good reason for his failure,” the king admitted. “But perhaps now the shepherd sees that this is a contest for warriors! Now that he’s seen for himself the deadly seriousness of our endeavor, maybe he would be glad to be freed from it. Round Two will be even worse than this—the test of courage does involve a dragon, after all.” King Olaf looked skeptically at Snorri, expecting cowardice, perhaps. “Shepherd, you have done a noble thing today. But do you really wish to continue?”
Snorri had a hapless look on his face, a crestfallen slump to his shoulders. He did not look at all enthusiastic about facing down a dragon.
Surely he was tempted to seize this dignified out he had been offered and flee back to the safety of his farm.
But then he glanced at the people who were cheering for him, probably for the first time in his life. He frowned mistrustfully at Gorm and glanced up the hill at Princess Kaia. “Yes, Your Majesty,” he answered bravely. “I’ll continue, if you will allow me.”
The crowd cheered.
“Done! And you may thank Prince Gorm for his magnanimity,” King Olaf added, nodding at his favorite.
Snorri did not appear to have the least idea what magnanimity meant, and for that matter, neither did Jake.
If Dani were here, she could’ve told him. He rather wished she were, for the carrot head would not have believed her eyes at all this. Meanwhile, Princess Kaia beamed to hear that Snorri was still in the running. The first round of the contest for her hand in marriage was over, and against all odds, her one true ally had at least managed not to get himself killed.
The Master of Ceremonies ordered the field to be cleared. Everyone would take a break for lunch, and then the second round of the tournament would continue in the afternoon.
The test of courage—against the dragon.
CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
Old Smokey
“Now, as we all know, dragons are great hoarders of gold and treasure,” the Master of Ceremonies announced to the six remaining contestants, who were all rather sleepy after a heavy lunch.
With the afternoon sun climbing into the sky, they had gathered in a clearing in the woods, well beyond the village and its surrounding fields.
Of course, there was no audience for the second round. It was much too dangerous to allow spectators this close to a dragon’s den.
Aside from the contestants and their coaches, the village elders had come to serve as witnesses, and of course, King Olaf and Princess Kaia, surrounded by their giant Viking guards.
Of the ten players who had started out in the tournament, six now remained—one of which had only been invited back in by the skin of his teeth.
Jake had no doubt Gorm was still angry about that.
The Master of Ceremonies smoothed his long, official robes and continued with his explanation. “The object of this challenge is to prove your courage as a possible future leader of our people. To do so, you must go through these woods—” He pointed at the trail into the forest. “Find the mouth of the dragon’s cave, and sneak inside. It’s still daylight, so Old Smokey should be sleeping. Obviously, you don’t want to wake him.
“Sneak past the dragon, find his hoard of gold,” he continued, “and from his treasures, choose a special gift for Princess Kaia. Whoever brings back the best gift for Her Highness wins. But be warned, anyone returning empty-handed will be eliminated.
“Those who remain will advance to the third and final round of the tournament tonight—the test of wits. Good luck, gentlemen,” he added. “And remember, if anyone should wake the dragon, follow the evacuation procedures we discussed earlier. Unless you wish to be barbecued.”
The other knights and warriors turned to discuss these instructions with their coaches. They seemed awfully cool about it all. Most of them must have already had some experience with dragons, Jake thought.
Snorri, on the other hand, was looking rather green around the gills. “I shouldn’t have had that second helping at lunch,” he rumbled, rubbing his round stomach. “I don’t feel so good.”
“It’s only nerves,” Archie said. “Try not to worry.”
“I wish I was home taking care of my sheep. If anything happens to me, who will look after them?”
“I’m sure Princess Kaia will see they’re well kept, but look on the bright side,” Jake offered. “This is your chance to really impress her, show her how much you care!”
“If you say so.”
The Master of Ceremonies came along, holding up a handful of straws. “Pick one,” he told Snorri.
Snorri pulled a long piece of straw out of his grasp.
As the Master of Ceremonies walked away, Jake realized the players were drawing straws to see who would have the bad luck to go first, and in what order the rest of them would take their turns to sneak into the cave.
While the others drew their straws, Jake and Archie discussed strategy. Earlier contestants had a clear advantage: There was more treasure to choose from, and with each new player who ventured into the cave, the chances went up that someone would make a noise that would bring the dragon fully awake.
But while going second or third or even fourth would be desirable, nobody wanted to go first, for there was no telling what sort of mood in which they might find the dragon. Yes, it was daylight, but what if the beast was only dozing?
The first player would be the one to find out.
The only worse position had to be last place, for by then, with so many intruders traipsing in and out of the cave, the last man to go surely had the highest chances of getting eaten.
When all the rivals’ straws were compared, they found that Snorri would go fifth.
“Not too bad!” Jake assured him. Second or third would have been better, but at least he didn’t have to go either first or last.
Prince Gorm, unluckily, had drawn the longest straw: sixth place.
Dead last.
But Gorm, if he was anything, was brave, and according to the tales he liked to tell, he was an expert on dragons.
They would soon find out if this was only idle boasting, but he seemed to welcome the challenge. He went around grinning at his rivals and holding his straw up proudly, then sticking it between his teeth like a farmer, as if this brush with doom was just a lark.
Snorri shook his head at the daredevil. For his part, the poor shepherd looked scared to death.
In any case, with everyone’s turns decided, there was no more putting it off. One of the visiting princes had drawn the shortest straw and so, had the unfortunate honor of going first. He put on his helmet, lifted his shield, took a deep breath, and marched off into the woods alone.
Kaia covered her ey
es with both hands and put her head down.
Jake could tell she wanted to scream to see men being forced to risk their lives all because of her. Not that any of this was her idea. When she lowered her hands from her face and forced herself to watch, she glanced at her father in obvious fury for putting these men through this. But King Olaf was just enjoying the show.
Everyone waited in pulse-pounding suspense to find out if the dragon would come charging out of the forest or if the first prince might make it back alive.
Irritatingly, as mere “dwarves,” Jake and Archie could not see anything behind all the towering giants.
Jake tapped Archie on the shoulder, then gestured toward a nearby tree. His cousin nodded eagerly and they both began climbing a massive spruce tree nearby.
When Archie’s footing slipped and left him dangling several yards above the ground, Snorri quickly came to his aid, giving him an easy boost up onto the thick branch, where Jake joined him.
The boys made themselves comfortable and immediately Archie took his telescope out of his tool-bag again and lifted it to his eye.
“What can you see?” Jake prompted.
“He’s almost to the mouth of the cave...” Archie paused, scanning. Then he suddenly gasped. “I can see the dragon! He’s sleeping! I can see his snout, just inside the cave. Great Euclid, Jake… he’s huge.”
“Can I see?” Jake asked eagerly.
Archie looked a little shaken as he handed him the spyglass. “I’ve never actually seen one before. Egads.”
“Too bad your precious Mr. Darwin isn’t here.”
“You’re right. I should take a picture of this to show him.” Archie reached again for his tool-bag to get his camera.
“Why bother? He’d only think it’s a fake.” Jake brought the telescope up to his eyes and searched the woods until he found the cave.
When he spotted the sleeping dragon, he nearly laughed aloud in amazement, so shocked by the sight that he could’ve fallen out of the tree. He had never seen anything like the beast before.
