Dragon Red had been looking forward to another quiet day as he was painting his office a bright red. In fact he had painted everything red. Red floors, red door, red windows, and red ceilings. The only problem of course, was that when he was in his cave he could not be seen, because he too was red all over. Hearing the alarm bell he looked out of his freshly painted bright red window up towards the top of the volcano and the flashing blue light. Dragon Red dropped his brush and can of paint splattering his shiny black ‘Fire-dragon Boots’.
He knew something major was up, as the emergency alarm to his knowledge had never been pressed before. He jumped into his Red Fire truck and sped quickly round to Chief Constable Blue. As he arrived, he could see Dragon Blue was gluing a reward notice onto the blue information board situated outside the main entrance to the Police Station.
In large blue letters on a white background the notice informed.
WANTED 500 DRAEGONIAS REWARD FOR THE CAPTURE OF DANGEROUS FIRE STEALING INVADERS
Seeing Dragon Red approaching after alighting from his fire tank, Dragon Blue put down his glue bucket and brush and explained to Fire Officer Red what had happened and specifically that Dragon White had lost her flame. Dragon Red trotted across to where White was standing and asked her to open wide. He examined Dragon White’s mouth thoroughly asking her to cough and spit some fire. No matter how hard Dragon White tried, she just could not raise a spark let alone a flame. Dragon Red knowingly shook his head, this was the first time he had to re-flame any dragon, but he knew what he had to do. He removed from his tank a white can with the words ‘Highly Flammable’ in red, painted on it.
“Stand back” he said as he poured the special fluid into White’s gaping mouth. “Stand well back” he said again and aimed from his mouth into White’s own mouth a fine narrow beam of very hot flame. Dragon White felt a warm sensation as the heat penetrated the back of her throat. There was a flash and her flame ignited. She roared with relief. “It’s back” she exclaimed, but her euphoria was short lived as her flame became smaller and smaller until with a little puff of smoke, it went completely out.
Dragon Red scratched his head. “Ummn” he declared, “not enough ‘Dragon Fuel’ I think.” He poured the remainder of the fuel into White’s mouth, drenching the residue of the flare fired earlier by George and the bad smelling seaweed she had swallowed. “This will do it.” Dragon Red took a long deep breath and aimed another flame towards White’s gaping mouth. Tears came to White’s eyes as Dragon Red’s flame was unleashed. This time it was far hotter and more concentrated. What happened next took everyone by surprise. From White‘s mouth there exploded a huge ball of fire followed by thick black smoke that enveloped her and everyone else. As the smelly sticky black smoke cleared White could be seen with large tears in her deep blue eyes. She sneezed with thousands of droplets of the sticky black stuff spattering Dragons Blue and Red. White’s black smudged face carried a frown. It was now very clear that her flame had not come back. A flameless dragon - what was she going to do? She had totally ‘Flamed Out’. This was very serious.
Chief Constable Blue and Dagon Red huddled together in quick conference. “Right” Officer Blue said “I will report this to the Council of Dragons, Dragon Red, you take Dragon White to Draegonia Hospital.” Dragon Red opened the roof of the fire truck in order that White could sit upright. She still had black smoke and sticky stuff pouring from her mouth and was violently sneezing; the last thing Dragon Red wanted was for the inside of his bright red fire truck to become contaminated with dirty black droplets splattering everything with each thunderous sneeze.
As they drove off, Dragon Blue took some large keys from under his tiny wing like arms and locked the cave entrance, then charged off for a very important emergency meeting, with the Council of Dragons.
CHAPTER 6
Survival
Grace, George and Joel had watched as the very large white dragon had shaken every droplet of sea water off of its now very dirty greyish white skin. Dragon White had gathered herself together and had disappeared out of sight towards an opening where the beach and tightly packed shrubs and trees met. All three breathed a sigh of relief. It had been a very frightening experience.
“That was close” said Joel. “I thought it was going to eat us” said Grace. George said nothing. “So what do we do now?” Grace wanted to know, looking to her friend and hero George. “I am not sure but one thing we need to do is to get away from here before that dragon and its friends return” George confidently replied. He knew that someone had to take charge and as he was the eldest it was up to him. “Come on stay close and follow me.” As the dragon had slinked off following the edge of the beach where the shrubs adjoined and disappeared into a narrow clearing, George decided that they should perhaps go inland and as far away from it as possible. He knew that the trees would provide shelter and give them some opportunity to hide. “One moment George” Grace shouted with some authority. “We should take with us all the supplies from the life raft. I am sure they will be needed.” Joel had taken this as his job and before his sister had delegated the task had started to run back towards the beached raft.
Zach had been hiding inside the raft and was wondering where the others had got to. He had heard the commotion of the dragon, had felt the shock waves hitting the life raft as the dragon had slid into the sea and from his vantage point saw the dragon limp off into the distance. Now in front of him was his brother Joel.
Zach grabbed the bag that held food, dry clothes, some water bottles and a yellow packet of safety and survival equipment, while Joel put the rest of the life raft’s odds and ends, plus emergency radio, into an orange canvas bag that had two thick straps so that it could be worn as a back pack.
“Come on Zach” Joel commanded picking up the bag and struggling with what appeared to be the heaviest items. Turning back towards where George and Grace were standing, Joel urged Zach to be quick.
Zach knew that the tide would be coming in and that if they were not to lose the raft it would be necessary to pull it further up the beach. He was strong for his age but could not budge it. By now it was half full of water and was rubbing along the soft waters edge, making it very difficult to shift. “Here let me give you a hand.” It was Joel. Seeing Zach struggling had placed the bag back into the raft and was yanking at the rope tied to its front. Both young lads heaved and strained and with great effort managed to drag the raft all the way up to the top of the beach and into the undergrowth.
“What are you two doing?” Grace demanded. “We haven’t got time to play with life rafts, why didn’t you just leave it on the beach?”
Both boys smiled with Zach letting out an enormous sigh. “Phew, if we had left it where it was it would have been washed out to sea and we just may need it to get off this place.” Joel nodded in support and covered the raft with some fallen palm leaves.
Grace grabbed the orange back pack and with her nose in the air stormed off. The three boys continued to smile at each other, each taking an item from the raft and made after her, for they knew that once Grace had decided that she was going to be the leader, it would be far simpler for all to follow her.
The sun was now high in the sky with its rays protruding through the gaps of the rich leafy canopy of the trees. “Did you hear that George?” Grace said “It sounded like an alarm bell.” George and Joel both heard the muffled yet distinctive sound but did not say a word. Zach cocked his head to one side. “I think it’s coming from up there,” he said pointing to the tip of the glowing volcano that could clearly be seen in the distance. What was now on their minds was where exactly did the noise come from, what was making it and was the pulsating beat made by friend or foe?
The ground started to get steeper and rougher in parts, with the odd boulder protruding from the foliage. The trees were thinning out and it was getting hotter as they moved further inland. The four very hot children stopped for a rest sitting on one of the larger rocks and taking water bottles from Zach’s
bag, each had a well earned drink. “Don’t drink too much,” George said, “at least not until we find more water.” Grace nodded but continued to drink. Joel put his bottle in his pocket whilst Zach sipped the last droplet. “You’ll be sorry Zach,” said George, “especially if we cannot find any more!” Zach just grinned, for he knew that his brother Joel had plenty and he could always share with him. Joel almost knew what Zach was thinking and patted his bottle to make sure it was safe.
In the distance they could see the top of the volcano and what appeared to be a blue flashing light. Joel, peering into the distance, said very thoughtfully, “I wonder what the sound of all that clanging and that flashing light means?” Grace said nothing. She was just finishing off the last drops from her water bottle. “I am not sure,” George replied, “but we have nothing to lose by going towards it. At least it shows there is some form of life there.”
“Well let’s hope they know how to deal with dragons” Grace retorted, as she gathered herself together and once again, taking the lead, conducted the trio of boys further towards the centre of Draegonia and closer to the lair of dragons, who were holding an emergency meeting in the prestigious central cave. This contained the all-important Great Hall of the Draegonia Dragons.
CHAPTER 7
The Council of Dragons
The Great Hall of Draegonia was the most important meeting place in Draegonia. Housed in the very centre of the largest group of caves it represented the authority of Draegonia, passing and implementing all laws. The vast meeting hall had several openings, many hidden in the dimly lit corners with corridors leading to other caverns. It was said that one such exit led to a secret tunnel where Black disposed of those who he considered a threat, but this had never been sighted or proved to exist. The Great Hall contained the seat of power, a throne made of solid gold raised on a platform of dark grey granite where Dragon Black was now crouched.
He presided over the ruling Council of Dragons, each identified by different coloured sashes laid diagonally across their chests. The sashes designated the seniority and position of each dragon, although seniority and position counted little when dealing with Dragon Black.
Dragon Blue was now joined by Dragon Red and both were immediately surrounded by several other dragons who were thrashing their tails snorting out fire and generally arguing amongst themselves. “A complete search of the island is called for.” “Yes I agree,” several of the dragons were overheard to mutter, as they gestured their approval.
Amongst the cacophony of sound, Dragon Black slowly eased himself up from his golden throne. As he did so he brushed his head on one of the silver-grey stone arches that supported the high carved out rock ceilings. Black’s body curved forward, his eyes piercing all beneath him in the dimly lit cavernous hall. Black looked angry and formidable and it was clear to all that he was not in a good mood. His eyes glinted fiery red, his large mouth opened displaying scores of sharply pointed teeth each with razor-saw like edges. Blasts of yellow and red flames shot out of his mouth, grey plumes of smoke snorted from his nostrils. He growled, “These intruders are to be found and dealt with. We cannot have trespassers on our island, especially ones who are so dangerous that they are able to extinguish our flames.” A murmur of agreement came from a group of dragons encircling Dragon Black. “Who is going to deal with them?” The Mayor Dragon Gold demanded, “We have no real army, just our small in numbers, dragon police force.” All eyes turned towards Dragon Blue who, embarrassed by the attention, coughed and was just about to respond when he realised that his flame too, was getting smaller and smaller. Not wishing to draw any more attention to himself he raised his head and with his paw like claw just covering his mouth coughed and in an authoritative voice informed the gathering that he had no doubt that the trespassers would be arrested and charged within the next 48 ‘Dragon Hours’.
The dragons stamped their feet and pounded their huge paws together in thunderous applause. Smoke and flames bellowed out of their nostrils and mouths, their heads swaying from side to side. The gathering of dragons looked awesome, and the heat from their flames and thickening smoke from their nostrils made for a most frightening scene.
Amongst the clatter of self congratulations, one softly spoken but quizzical voice could just be made out. The dragons ignored the question - “How?” The question again was raised by Dragon Brown, an old warrior, who was one of the oldest and wisest of dragons on Draegonia. “HOW?” Dragon Brown demanded, but this time raising his voice for all to hear.
The hullabaloo of growls and snorts died as both Dragons Black and Gold spun round and glared at Dragon Brown. “What do you mean HOW?” demanded Dragon Black. “Well,” Brown continued, “firstly, HOW are you going to find the invaders? Secondly HOW will you capture them and thirdly HOW are you going to protect us from invaders that seem to have weapons that can snuff out our fires?”
The Council of Dragons looked at each other, some scratching their heads, others rolling their eyes and all looking rather stupid. “YES, HOW are you going to apprehend these culprits Dragon Blue?” demanded Mayor Dragon Gold.
Dragon Blue sank back on his haunches, looked at all the dragons that were all staring hard at him and thought for a moment. “I really don’t know” he exclaimed “we have never been invaded….” Before Dragon Blue could finish, a confident loud voice was clearly heard above the all the snorts and sighs.
“We must first gain as much intelligence about them as possible, what they are doing here, how many of them there are and what are their weaknesses?” The statement came from Dragon Brown who had now moved towards Dragon Black. “Sir” Brown continued, “many years ago, before I came to Draegonia as a tiny dragon, my father was known as the bravest and fiercest dragon of a place called Britannia. The gathering of Dragons became silent as Brown continued with his story. “Unfortunately my father was badly wounded by a dragon slayer called *Saint George a knight of the realm, but before my father died, he carried me to this island of Draegonia and during our journey, taught me all his secrets of battle and one important lesson in particular, to know all about your enemy.” The dragons peered at Dragon Brown in awe and amazement and started to chatter amongst themselves. Dragon Brown was well liked and respected and although recognised as a soldier, few dragons had seen him as a leader and none had thought of him as a defender of Draegonia. In fact, none of the dragons had dared to assume any position of authority not bestowed on them by Dragon Black, in fear, that he would take it as a threat to his own power.
Dragon Black had ruled Draegonia under an umbrella of fear. It was rumoured that those who had contested his leadership had mysteriously disappeared. Black was also directly responsible for the fact that the dragons could no longer fly, as at their fifth Dragon Birthday, all dragons had their wings clipped. The law was introduced by Dragon Black so long ago that only the eldest of dragons could remember the days they could fly. Now, as they had all lost the power to fly they were stuck on the Island of Draegonia and unfortunately stuck with Dragon Black.
Dragon Black stared hard at Dragon Brown who he had thought for some time might cause him trouble. Black was disturbed that the council were now giving perhaps too much reverence to him.
Black thumped the floor with his giant tail bringing the uncontrolled chatter to an abrupt halt. Looking straight at Brown he said. “We will appoint you as Commander in Chief,” Black growled. “You will take Dragons Red and Blue to assist you. Also, have Dragons White and Cream search Draegonia for these trespassers and you may appoint any other dragon necessary to end this assault on us.” Black paused for a moment, then placing his head close to Brown’s he said menacingly, “Make sure you do not fail, because if you do!!!”
All the dragons gasped, looked at each other and anxiously towards Dragon Brown, as a tremendous vibration ran through the floors and walls of the hall, as Black thumped the ground three times with his mighty tail, signifying that the meeting was over and that he had made his decision.
As the f
inal thump of Black’s tail resonated throughout the chamber, there was one dragon, hiding in the shadows, with a sly smirk on his bright green face.
He was Dragon Green, a dragon that was not that well liked as he always wanted what others had. He was known to be a jealous dragon envious of everyone. His bright green scaled skin now glowed in the gloom of where he was hiding. He had heard of Brown’s appointment to Commander in Chief. Why had he not been chosen? Why was he, not asked for his help?
Green was now extremely envious of Brown’s appointment; his green skin was getting brighter and brighter by the minute as he became uncontrollably jealous. Green had made up his mind that he was going to show them all that the Council of Dragons had made a big mistake in entrusting their safety to Dragon Brown.
Slinking further back into the shadows, Green began formulating a plan that would make him the hero and Brown an incompetent fool. But first, he had to be the one to bring important news to Dragon Black and the Council of Dragons. Green needed to be seen as the saviour of Draegonia, this was his golden opportunity. Devious thoughts rushed through his wicked brain. Grabbing a flaming torch affixed to the rocky wall, he headed for a side exit and into a dimly lit corridor that climbed up towards the lookout post. This had the advantage of visibly covering all the southern part of the island.
Dragons of Draegonia Page 3
