Dragon's Gold

by Pat Judd

  Cassie was beginning to wonder how Moira intended to get over to the island when Jorn let out a yell.

  “Here it comes!” He pointed to a large shiny object in the sky that was getting larger very quickly as it sped towards them. Cassie wasn’t sure just what she had expected a dragon to look like but she was impressed almost as much as she was frightened.

  Its scales glinted in the sun showing all the colours of the rainbow and it flew with a graceful beat of its giant wings. It circled over them with a challenging cry that made the horses rear up in fright and sent Cassie tumbling to the ground. Cassie stood up and was horrified to see it was heading for Moira and Toby.

  Chapter Six - Dragon’s gold

  A long, orange flame belched forward from the dragon as it dove towards its target with its wings folded back. Time seemed to stand still as Cassie watched helplessly. The dragon reached Moira and Toby and a fresh flame of hot orange shot forward but it found nothing to attack.

  Moira grabbed hold of Toby and they were suddenly further down the beach and Cassie breathed a sigh of relief.

  The dragon roared in fury and spiralled up to make another run at its prey. Toby ran up the beach from where Moira was watching the dragon and he started to yell. His words were blown away by the stiff breeze but Cassie saw what he was doing. Bolts of lightening struck the dragons tail causing it to howl in pain and falter in its second attack on Moira.

  With a sharp turn, that seemed odd for such a bulky beast, it turned on Toby. Cassie saw Toby straighten his back as if to show the dragon that he wasn’t scared. At the last second, just before the hot flames reached him, Toby jumped and rolled along the beach out of the dragon’s reach. But where he stood up was a hole and his foot slid in and held him fast. The dragon made a noise that was almost a laugh and landed on the beach. It began walking slowly towards Toby with its great claws sending sand flying as it walked.

  Moira came up behind the dragon and Cassie could just hear her beginning to say a spell, but before she could finish it the dragon’s tail swung around and hit her hard in the chest. Moira flew backwards and landed heavily on her back. She lay motionless and Cassie wished she knew enough magic to help her. Instead all she could do was watch as the dragon turned its attention from Toby to the unconscious Moira.

  It picked her up in one of its giant front claws and then leapt into the sky. Cassie rushed forwards to help Toby but before she got there he had pulled free and was running after the dragon. Toby leapt onto the dragon’s tail just as it lifted into the sky and it didn’t seem to notice. It flew off with Moira limp in its claw and looking nothing like a bossy old magician. Toby was hanging onto the singed tail and Cassie stared after them wishing that she had done more to help.

  “What are you going to do now?” Jorn looked expectantly at her and Cassie didn’t answer for over a minute.

  What was she going to do? What was she capable of doing was more the question. She hadn’t managed to much right so far and she might make things worse.

  She looked over at her basket sitting only a couple of feet from her. She had been longing for it for days so that she could jump into it and go home. Now she had it in reach and she knew that she couldn’t go. She had only known Moira and Toby for a couple of days but she couldn’t just watch them be carried off by a dragon then go home and forget about them.

  Well, she couldn’t stand here and say ‘I can’t do anything’ either. She had to go and help them, but how? If only she could fly like a bird she could get over to the island easily and see what was going on.

  She wasn’t aware that she had muttered some of it aloud and was extremely surprised to find that she was floating on the stiff breeze. She looked down at her legs and saw the gnarled claws of a bird and then lifted her head instinctively as a gust of warm air lifted her higher. It seemed perfectly natural to beat her wings and catch the different air currents as she flew away from Jorn and towards the island. She let out a yell of delight that came out as the coarse crow of the bird she was now.

  It only took a few minutes to reach the island and she flew over in decreasing circles looking for any place that a dragon might call home. At last she saw a cave in the side of a small mountain that would be large enough for a dragon. She spiralled down and perched on a low branch of a tree not far from the entrance.

  She would have to go and have a look inside the cave to see if it was the right one. If someone had told her last week that she would be going into a dark cave in search of a dragon she would have laughed.

  “What are you doing up there?”

  Cassie’s attention went to where Toby was standing beneath her at the bottom of the tree. She realised that she was no longer in the shape of a bird and promptly fell off the branch. She landed with a thud and got up and rubbed her arm.

  “I came to help,” she said and brushed dirt from her jeans.

  “You know you’re a lot better at magic than you think. It’s very hard to change shape like that.” Toby looked impressed and Cassie couldn’t help but smile. At last she had done something properly.

  “Now all we have to do is defeat a dragon and rescue two magicians.” She didn’t mean to sound so negative but it seemed impossible. Neither she nor Toby was as experienced as the two magicians that the dragon had already captured so what chance did they have?

  “Well what are we waiting for?” Toby looked quite excited still and Cassie had to admire his lack of fear. “I jumped off just before it went in there and I was just going to go and have a look inside when you arrived.”

  Cassie followed him as he scrambled up the rocky face and they stopped to one side of the cave entrance.

  “I’ll go first,” Toby said and promptly disappeared into the cave. Cassie cautiously put just her head around the corner and saw that the cave looked empty, except for Toby. Then as her eyes adjusted to the bad light she saw that the cave opened up at the back and that there was a dull light coming from there. She hurried to catch up to Toby who stood motionless and was staring deeper into the cave. Cassie followed his gaze, and saw a huge pile of glittering gold. Some looked like smooth rocks made of gold, and others were deformed and lumpy and hard to see what they were.

  For several seconds Cassie just stared then Toby pointed to where Moira lay next to the pile of gold.

  “There’s Moira but I don’t see any sign of the other magician,” Toby whispered.

  “Where’s the dragon?” Cassie cringed at how much their whispers were echoing in the cave.

  “On top of the gold,” Toby said and Cassie froze. The lumpy bits of gold suddenly moved and Cassie saw that the dragon’s scales had reflected the gold light and he had seemed like part of the pile. Now his great head swung around and huge green eyes glared angrily at them.

  “What now?” Cassie whispered so quietly she wasn’t sure that she had even said it.

  “I’ll distract him and you get Moira out. Then look for the other magician.”

  Toby made it sound so easy but Cassie had no time to object as Toby suddenly began jumping up and down and yelling at the dragon.

  “Come and get me you big lump.”

  Then Toby ran out of the cave and, with a roar that shook rubble down from the roof, the dragon scabbled awkwardly off his pile of gold and followed. He passed Cassie without noticing her. Toby was either very brave or mad to actually want a dragon to chase him.

  As soon as Cassie was sure that the dragon had gone she rushed around the huge pile of gold to where Moira lay. She sighed with relief when she saw that she was still breathing. She had to get her out of here before the dragon came back. She put her hands under Moira’s shoulders and began to drag her across the floor. For a little old lady she wasn’t particularly light and Cassie had to stop halfway to rest.

  Moira made a small noise and Cassie bent closer to hear what she was saying.

  “Galo... He needs our help...”

  “Where is he?” Cassie asked gently but she wasn’t able to keep the sense of urgency
from her voice. “We have to find him quickly.”

  “Don’t hurt him... He needs our help...”

  With that Moira collapsed again and Cassie started to drag her slowly out of the cave. She would get Moira to safety and then come back to look for Galo. Why would Moira think that Cassie would hurt Galo? It didn’t make sense but then again Moira had been knocked out so she was probably confused.

  She reached the main entrance to the cave and looked out into the bright sunlight to see if it was safe. She could see the dragon circling the small thicket of trees at the base of the mountain. It was screeching loudly in frustration and Cassie guessed that Toby was hiding somewhere in the thicket.

  A huge log came flying up from the trees and struck the dragon in the chest and then another one hit it on its front leg. Toby must be throwing them with magic, Cassie thought, and hoped he would be able to distract it for a bit longer. Just as she finished thinking that it would be safe enough to get Moira out unnoticed she saw the dragon fly high up into the sky. What was it up to? Had it given up and was going to go away?

  Cassie’s hopes died as it turned and started a downward dive towards where the last log had come from. A large flame belched from its mouth and Cassie cried out in horror. Toby. He wouldn’t stand a chance against that in the middle of all those trees. She had to help, but how? What would possibly have a chance against a dragon?

  Suddenly Cassie knew the only thing that could defeat the dragon and she concentrated hard on what she had to do.

  Cassie left Moira sitting up against the wall just inside the cave entrance and went quickly outside. She stared hard at the dragon up in the sky noticing all the details that she could see from this distance. She closed her eyes tight and then opened them. Had it worked? She looked down at her hands and smiled as much as a bulky awkward dragon can do. It had worked.

  She tried to walk forward and found that she had made the claws too long. Also the legs seemed far too short but Cassie knew that she didn’t have time to worry about the small details just now. She had to get the dragon’s attention and draw him away from Toby. Just how she was going to get rid of the dragon once she had his attention she wasn’t really sure but she would think of something.

  With a downhill run on her short stubby legs Cassie, the dragon, launched herself into the sky. The wings didn’t seem natural to use as the birds had done and they were much too large to control properly. Cassie narrowly avoided a nose dive into the ground and finally managed to pull herself up over the trees. She headed straight for the diving dragon and flew directly underneath him.

  Well that had certainly done the trick. The dragon’s attention was no longer on Toby and it executed a mid-air stop that Cassie thought amazing considering how much difficulty she was having controlling her direction at the moment. She attempted to turn and face the other dragon but couldn’t slow down enough to do it. She turned her large head to look behind her and saw that the dragon was following her. Now who was the mad one getting a dragon to chase them?

  Cassie beat her wings as fast as she could and managed to keep a reasonable distance in front of the dragon. She circled the island wondering what she should do next. She briefly considered using her new form to defeat the other dragon but even if she could learn to manage the turns and stops she wasn’t sure that she could bring herself to kill it.

  After two times around the island Cassie could see that the dragon was getting closer and she would have to do something soon. She was also getting very tired and her arms, well her wings, were aching terribly. Cassie flew over the cave entrance and saw Toby carrying Moira slowly down the rocky slope towards the safety of the trees. He must be stronger than he looked.

  Cassie looked back and saw that the other dragon had also seen what was going on below and it stopped following Cassie and headed towards Toby and Moira. Cassie told herself crossly that she hadn’t helped at all. All she had done was put both Toby and Moira in trouble. She gave a piercing cry that she hoped sounded like a challenge to the other dragon but all it did was briefly look her way and then ignore her. It obviously knew that she wasn’t a threat and Cassie had to quickly think of another way to get his attention.

  The coins in her pocket. They looked like they were made of gold. Maybe she could distract him with those. She felt for her jeans pocket and realised that it wasn’t there. She would have to change back into her own form to get at them but that could be tricky way up here. Cassie headed for the nearest tree and held her wings out to slow herself down. She landed on it with a crunch and felt the branches breaking under her weight. She quickly thought of herself dressed in her t-shirt and jeans and suddenly she was herself again.

  Quickly she put her hand into her pocket and pulled out the coins. She held them up and twisted them to get the sun to reflect off them. The dragon immediately turned his head towards the coins and Cassie threw them as high as she could.

  The dragon was totally focused on the coins and didn’t notice the tree until it was too late. With a terrific crash the dragon slammed into the tree and fell heavily to the ground. It landed not far from Toby and Moira and Moira opened her eyes and looked in horror at the fallen dragon.

  Cassie felt the branches breaking underneath her and changed to a small bird as she began to fall. She landed by Toby and resumed her own shape. Moira stood up and ran over to the dragon sobbing. Why was Moira so upset to see the dragon knocked out?

  Just as Moira reached the dragon its form shimmered and changed and seconds later it was gone leaving the thin form of a man aged about thirty.

  “Galo,” Moira cried over the man as she knelt by him.

  Galo? Cassie was confused and she could see that Toby was too. Galo regained consciousness and he sat up and touched his head carefully.

  “That hurt,” he commented and then he turned to Moira. “It’s nice to see you, mother.”

  Mother? Somehow Cassie had never really thought of Moira as being anyone’s mother.

  “You didn’t seem very pleased to see me earlier.” Moira’s voice sounded sharp but her eyes were gentle and Galo looked embarrassed.

  “It was the gold,” he explained. “I was down on the beach a few days back and I stumbled on a spell that changed the rocks on the beach into gold. Well once I had all that gold I became worried that people would try to steal it from me. I changed into a dragon thinking that it would make everyone leave me alone. When I saw you on the beach I thought you had come to take it all away from me. I’m sorry.”

  Moira simply nodded her forgiveness and put her arms around her son. “What will you do now?”

  “Do?” He questioned.

  “With the gold.”

  “I’m taking it all back with me of course....” He trailed off and then went red with embarrassment. “I guess that’s not such a good idea is it? I’ll leave it all here as a reminder of what greed can do.”

  “But won’t you be tempted to make some more?” Cassie asked.

  “I think I’ve learnt my lesson,” Galo replied and turned to his mother. “Who are these two? I didn’t know there were any other magicians here. They’re pretty good too.”

  “This is Cassie and Toby. I’m not too sure where they both came from but I have a few suspicions and you’re right they are pretty good.”

  Cassie and Toby blushed at the compliments and Cassie wondered what suspicions Moira had about where she came from.

  “So I guess you’ll be going back to your village,” Moira said to Galo and he shook his head.

  “They probably won’t have me now when they know what I did. I attacked my own friends as well as my mother.”

  Galo looked very unhappy and Cassie felt that he had suffered enough.

  “Why do they have to know? We won’t tell them,” she said and wondered if she should be interfering.

  “Neither would I,” Toby agreed. “I’m sorry I threw those logs at you.”

  “I deserved it but do you think I could go back after what I’ve done?” Galo looke
d hopeful and Moira nodded.

  “I’m sure you can find ways to make it up to them,” she assured him and he smiled.

  “Let’s get you home,” Moira suggested and Cassie felt a little homesick at the mention of home but she didn’t say anything.

  “Well I’m too tired to fly back,” Galo said and grinned at Cassie. “You wore me out.”

  It was agreed that they would go back by boat and Toby promptly supplied the boat. When they reached the shore Jorn was still there waiting and he was overjoyed to see them all again. He had rounded up the horses that had fled from the dragon and Cassie and Toby shared a horse on the way back.

  The whole village turned out to welcome Galo home and Cassie noticed that one girl in particular was very pleased to see him back. Cassie had not been able to take her eyes off the basket ever since they had arrived back from the island and she hesitated when Moira told her it was time that they went home too.

  Cassie waved goodbye to Galo knowing that this was the last time she would see him. As soon as they got back to Moira’s house she was going to demand her basket back and go home. She even missed Bobby. The ride back was slower and it took three days instead of two. As they got closer to the town Cassie got more excited about going home but also sad about saying goodbye to her new friends. Moira also spent more time alone muttering to herself and by the time the old run down house came into sight Moira was back to her snappy old self.

  “There’s nobody here to greet me,” she snapped. “Why can’t the people here treat me like in my son’s village?”

  “You don’t seem to have time for them,” Cassie ventured not sure that Moira had really wanted an answer.

  “Of course I haven’t got time for them,” she said impatiently as she stormed through the old house and into the cave she called home. Cassie and Toby both followed and Cassie watched where she put the basket this time. “I’ve got to find that spell.”