The Secret World of Dragons

by Sandra Harvey

  ‘This dragon,’ he said slowly, ‘looks like Beau.’

  ‘Beau?’ said Emma. ‘You mean … Mirth’s dragon?’

  ‘Yeah.’ Simon traced the curved tail of the dragon with his finger. ‘The resemblance is almost identical, but …’ He shook his head slowly. ‘There’s no reason for a picture of Beau to be in Vanyir’s tower. Besides, dragons weren’t regarded highly enough back then for them to have paintings made, and Beau died too long ago. This picture would be crumbling by now.’

  ‘Wait,’ said Emma quickly. ‘Did you just say that Beau died?’

  Simon looked like he had walked straight into a trap. ‘Yeah,’ he said uneasily. ‘That’s the reason Mirth stopped racing after. He lost his dragon … his friend.’

  Emma chewed at her lip in thought. ‘But I thought you told me that humans and dragons didn’t get along back then?’

  Simon gazed longingly at the painting. ‘Mirth was ... different.’

  ‘Dragons and humans were enemies,’ said Titus quietly from beside the windows of the room, and Emma drifted her eyes from Simon to the seer. ‘The humans enslaved the dragons and the dragons despised the humans in return. Dragons were used against their will to race and transport people, bear heavy loads and carry out the simplest whims of man. Then there were those who hunted the dragons for their meat and scales.’

  ‘Dragon slayers,’ whispered Emma.

  Titus nodded. ‘It was a huge industry,’ he said. ‘Dragon slayers, traders, hunters and the like …’

  ‘Until Lucian came,’ cut in Simon quickly. ‘He changed everything. He convinced the people that the dragons were good, and they believed him. He stopped what could have been a war between humans and dragons.’ Simon snorted. ‘And we all know how that would have ended.’ He drew his finger across his throat and made a squelching noise. ‘The humans would cease to exist.’

  ‘So what happened to Mirth after that?’ asked Emma. ‘He still couldn’t hunt after all that, could he?’

  ‘Well,’ murmured Simon, crossing his arms, ‘technically, Mirth and Lucian existed at the same time, so when Lucian and Vanyir started their war, Mirth was right in the middle of it.’ Simon’s voice lowered. ‘He was killed on the battlefield, or so I learned.’ He suddenly laughed very strangely. ‘I really don’t understand how Lucian and Vanyir were such good buddies though. It doesn’t make sense to me.’

  ‘What about Lucian and Mirth?’ enquired Emma. ‘They were good friends, weren’t they?’

  Simon glanced sharply towards her, and then lowered his eyes to the floor just as quickly. ‘I don’t know. Were they?’

  He was either telling the truth, or he was a very good liar. With knowing so much about his ancestor, Emma had thought that Simon knew the answers to every question she asked about Mirth. She proved herself wrong in this case.

  ‘We should go,’ said Titus, gazing out the window. ‘The others might make it to the end without you.’

  ‘Why’d you pick the left stairway anyway?’ questioned Simon as they walked. ‘If there was no difference, then why choose the left one instead of the right? Why all these exact directions? It’s like we’re following a step by step manual – only we have no choice to skip a step.’

  ‘The left stairway has a side adventure,’ said Titus gloomily.

  ‘A side adventure?’ said Emma uneasily. ‘What kind of adventure?’

  ‘Don’t worry,’ replied the seer, as they emerged into a slightly bigger room than before. ‘It’s my adventure, not yours, and I wouldn’t worry if I were you.’ He gave a grim smile. ‘Odds are … you and I will be the only humans to leave this place.’

  ‘Hear that?’ said Simon. ‘The only humans. That means the whole desert gang leaves with you.’

  Emma suppressed a laugh, but Simon’s smile quickly faded.

  ‘Wait a minute,’ he said. ‘If you and Emma are the only ones who leave then … is that why you put everyone on the right passage? And what happens to me? I’m standing right next to you both!’

  ‘For now,’ agreed Titus, moving forward, but Simon grabbed his arm, clearly angry.

  ‘Listen,’ he said, ‘I don’t like it when you leave your predictions so vague. Why don’t you just tell us what’s going to happen so we can avoid it!’

  Titus shrugged off Simon’s hand and moved towards the window, shaking his head. ‘If I told you that the future wouldn’t be very pretty,’ he replied. ‘But I can tell you one thing.’

  ‘Oh, and what’s that?’ snapped Simon. ‘Am I going to die? Is that why I don’t come with you both?’

  Titus only smiled in response. ‘Tell Matt to take care of Sheena, no matter how much pain it puts him through.’

  ‘W-what?’

  ‘And tell Flynn that I’m sorry,’ continued Titus. ‘Tell him that it was my entire fault.’

  ‘You can tell him that yourself,’ said Simon gruffly, ‘and what did you mean –’

  ‘And also,’ interrupted Titus loudly, now looking at Emma, ‘when looking for a lost name, I recommend talking with the people who can still remember it – people from the past, if you understand me.’ He inhaled deeply before adding, ‘If you remember what I told you before – down in the cavern – you’ll find it in you to face your greatest fears.’

  Simon sighed angrily and threw his hands up into the air. ‘What are you talking about!?’

  ‘You’ll see,’ said Titus quietly.

  Not a single second after Titus had spoken the wall behind them exploded into a rain of stone. Dust poured out from the crash like an angry wave. Emma coughed and tried to see through the gloom. She swung out her hand and touched the glass of the window. Other than the coughing of Simon, she heard another noise – a frightening noise. It sounded like heavy breathing. Panicking, Emma dropped to her hands and knees and crawled across the room until she reached what looked like – through the dust – a column. She stood up and hid behind it, waiting until the dust cleared a bit.

  Emma saw Simon lying on the floor on the other side of the room, struggling to his feet and holding his head. He must have gotten hit by one of the flying stones. Titus was still by the window, but it was hard to see which way his grey eyes were looking. Emma did not need to figure it out though, because the terror was standing in the room with them. A large drayskul and its rider emerged from the hole in the tower wall. First seen were its sharp claws as it tried to climb its way in through the opening. (Emma guessed they flew up through the hollow centre of the Black Fortress, past all the stairways, and somehow detected exactly which room they were in.) Then the beast thrust its body forward and slid into the room the same way an animal would come to a halt on ice – only in a more fluid sort of way. The black monster stretched out its neck and roared tremendously.

  Without warning, the drayskul turned on a dime and flicked its monstrous tail, whipping it around the room like crackling lightning. Half of the column that Emma was hiding behind snapped from the impact of the beast’s tail, and she ran across the room – not without being noticed – to join Simon.

  ‘Titus!’ she called, motioning to him with a wave of her hand. ‘Come on! Over here!’

  Yet the seer did not budge from his spot by the large, full-length windows. He stood there – unmoving and without brandishing his weapon – until the drayskul’s terrifying head swung his way, the eyes of the monster rolling until its dark pupils were fixed on Titus. The beast snorted.

  ‘You idiot!’ shouted Simon. ‘Get over here before it eats you!’ He sighed angrily and then looked towards the rider on the drayskul’s back. ‘Well, what do you know? If it isn’t Rais again, poking his nose into other people’s business.’

  ‘This is his fortress, Simon,’ said Emma quickly, while trying to rack her brains for a plan. ‘He has a right to be here and we don’t. Getting rid of intruders is part of his job.’

  ‘I’d like to know how he discovered us in the beginning,’ muttered Simon. ‘There was no way!’

  No way unless someone
told, Emma thought, but she could not think of anyone who would betray their group. Matt was the only one who had been absent from the team, but he was not a traitor. He couldn’t have been. Sheena was safe because of his quick thinking.

  Rais pulled up on the massive chain reins about his steed’s neck and swerved the beast around to face Emma and Simon. Titus remained where he was.

  ‘I knew this was the work of you meddling racers,’ growled Rais, glaring at Simon. ‘I bet you’re in league with that Wheeler brat.’

  Simon smiled. ‘You mean my brother, Matt?’

  The Dark Rider’s mouth fell open in surprise. He narrowed his eyes in sudden anger. ‘You’re his brother!’ He stopped to think for a moment and then said, ‘Well, I guess I’m going to have to kill you now.’

  ‘What?’ Simon gaped and held his swordstick securely. He tried to put on a brave face, but it looked less than convincing. ‘What exactly do you have against Matt?’

  ‘You won’t live long enough to find that out,’ grunted Rais.

  Emma’s heart raced. This was why Mystic was so afraid to leave her back at the stairway. He was worried that something like this might happen! Yet Titus had said that no one would die. Did he really lie, and the reason Simon would never leave the fortress is because Rais would kill him?

  If the future is set, thought Emma, then –

  ‘Emma!’ shouted Titus. ‘What are you doing!’

  She had moved in front of Simon, blocking Rais’s steed from snapping her friend up with its massive jaws. If she was to leave this place then it was impossible for her to die here.

  ‘Stand aside!’ ordered Rais, trying to keep his steed under control. Slaver hung from the drayskul’s mouth.

  ‘Listen to him, Emma!’ said Titus sharply.

  ‘No way!’ yelled Emma. ‘You said Simon wasn’t going with me when I left! How can I stand here and watch him die!’

  ‘Emma …’ said Titus slowly, ‘I didn’t say that you couldn’t die here … not while acting so reckless.’

  Something seemed to click in Rais’s head at that moment, for a puzzled look came across his face and he spun his drayskul back around to face Titus. Simon took this opportunity to grab Emma’s hand and drag her to the other side of the room.

  ‘There’s no way I’m dying here!’ he said angrily, climbing over the rubble of the fallen pillar. ‘We’re going to meet the others – right now!’

  Emma pulled against his grip. ‘What about Titus!’ she exclaimed. ‘We can’t just leave him!’

  Simon looked apprehensively over his shoulder. ‘Didn’t he say that he would make it out alive? We don’t need to worry about him.’

  That was not enough for Emma. She was sceptical of the whole prophecy business and so she yanked her hand free from Simon, stumbling back across the room.

  ‘You’re the seer,’ she heard Rais quietly say, and then saw the drayskul’s dark eyes shift towards her. She ducked down behind the fallen column before the beast noticed.

  ‘You don’t sound surprised …’ Titus said, and Emma noted that he was the one who seemed astonished.

  Rais snorted. ‘Who do you think kept that thieving girl alive all this time,’ he said bitterly, ‘while searching the world for the real thing? Yes, I knew she wasn’t the seer all along, and now I’ve finally found you. Lord Vanyir will be most pleased with what I’ve done today.’

  Titus frowned. ‘I don’t understand,’ he said, perplexed. ‘You lied to your master to keep the girl alive – and I thank you for it – but isn’t that called double-crossing?’

  Emma looked up just in time to see Rais jump from his steed. He marched towards Titus, freeing his swordstick with a swift flick.

  ‘Ah ... I see I’m onto something,’ murmured Titus, keeping his position. ‘The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree.’

  ‘No,’ snapped Rais, ‘it doesn’t. But then it rolls all the long way to the deep, dark bottom of the hill … where it rots.’

  ‘Huh,’ said Titus, raising an eyebrow. ‘Interesting … are we talking about the same apple here?’

  ‘Shut up!’ snarled Rais, jabbing his blade lightly against Titus’s chest. ‘Or Vanyir won’t have a seer at all!’

  ‘I plan on it,’ said Titus quietly, looking past Rais’s shoulder.

  Emma followed his gaze – as fast as her eyes would allow – and caught sight of a pair of golden eyes in the same hole Rais and his drayskul had climbed up through. Being discovered, the strange, golden-eyed beast leapt up through the opening and into the room.

  ‘Whoa!’ exclaimed Simon from behind. ‘That’s – that’s Ghalgaun!’

  The golden-eyed dragon was larger than any racing dragon Emma had ever seen in this world. He was almost as large as Flyer, but not quite. His thick scales were covered with a brilliant silver shine and a black streak ran from his throat, under his smooth belly, and to the end of his tail. The claws on his feet were curved and sharp, just like the horns beside his pointy ears. His muscles were strong and his stance noble. A growl rose in his throat.

  ‘Ghalgaun,’ repeated Emma quietly. ‘It’s just like in the legend.’

  The silver dragon snorted in Emma’s direction and – rising on his two hind legs – he threw himself against the drayskul. They locked claws together and bit at each other’s throats, vividly reminding Emma of a lion fight. Ghalgaun’s tail swept the area, destroying what columns were left, and soon the whole room was crumbling, rubble and dust drifting down from the ceiling. Chips of the fortress were flying through the air and Emma heard the sound of glass shattering. She peeked up over the fallen pillar to spot out Titus. He was still with Rais, and the Dark Rider had no intention of freeing his captive, even with a legendary dragon in the scene.

  The drayskul forced Ghalgaun back towards the hole in the wall, a perilous drop below, and Emma doubted the central room was wide enough for Ghalgaun’s wingspan. But the silver dragon was not done yet, and he dug his claws against the floor and charged forward, knocking the drayskul towards the full-length windows.

  It all happened so fast in Emma’s eyes. At first she relaxed, thinking both the fight and their troubles would be over, and then it all suddenly went wrong.

  Titus and Rais were still by the windows, and both were so mesmerized by what was going on that neither realized that they were in the way.

  Ghalgaun’s front legs fell out before him and his head came crashing down onto the floor, while the drayskul just kept stumbling back towards the windows. It turned – almost gracefully – on one leg before its wings emerged half-way and smashed out the glass. Both Titus and Rais were knocked aside by the drayskul’s fall, tumbling out over the side of one of the destroyed windows, nothing but the ground below waiting for them.

  ‘NO!’ cried Emma, rushing towards the window. She was suddenly oblivious to the growling drayskul, its claws stretching out towards her as she ran. ‘Titus! TITUS!’ She clamped both hands on the sides of the broken window and looked down over. She swooned at the limitless height and pulled away from the opening. Her palms stung and she stared down at her hands to see blood seeping out from two deep gashes.

  Simon’s arm was around her shoulders, and he pulled her away from the window and further into the tower, leaving the two oversized creatures behind.

  ‘There’s nothing we can do,’ he said quietly as they ran.

  Although she felt the pain in her hands throbbing, Emma felt a deeper pain rise up inside.

  Titus was dead.

  ~ Chapter Twenty Three ~

  Matt’s Darkest Secret

  They did not stop running until the sound of growling and fighting had ceased. Simon was wide-eyed and panting, while Emma was lost in distress. She moved away from him and sunk down against a wall, drew her knees up to her chin and sobbed in her hands. But the deep wounds in her palms stung and she held them away from her face, terrified.

  ‘M-my h-hands,’ she said with a trembling lip.

  Simon silently sat beside her, cut a sma
ll strip from the bottom of his shirt using the blade of his swordstick, and tore it into two pieces.

  ‘T-Titus is d-dead,’ sobbed Emma. ‘We s-should h-have helped him.’

  Simon took up one of her blood-covered hands. ‘We didn’t know what was going to happen,’ he said, as he wrapped one strip of cloth around her hand. He spoke as though he had seen death more than once before. ‘I honestly believed that he couldn’t die … not with that prophecy hanging in the air, anyhow.’

  ‘But … why?’ whispered Emma, wiping her eyes with the back of her hand.

  ‘Death happens to us all,’ replied Simon quietly. He paused, ‘Eventually.’ He tied Emma’s other hand up. ‘There, all better.’

  Emma studied her bandaged hands. ‘Thank you,’ she said softly. ‘I - I don’t know why I grabbed the glass.’

  ‘It’s okay,’ said Simon quickly. ‘You were in shock. We do stupid things in situations like that.’

  He stared at the opposite wall for a long minute, until the silence grew awkward. Emma sniffed and dried the rest of her tears from her cheeks.

  ‘Here,’ said Simon hastily, removing his gloves and passing them to Emma. ‘They’ll keep your bandages in place.’

  ‘But … they’re your riding gloves,’ said Emma quietly.

  Simon sighed. ‘If Titus was telling the truth about that prophecy, then I won’t be riding any time soon.’

  Emma shook her head. ‘It must not have been true,’ she said. ‘Remember … he said that he would get out of the fortress too.’

  ‘True,’ agreed Simon, but then he exhaled deeply and leaned his head against the wall. ‘Ahh … I get it now.’