Pete shrugged. "I don't know, but I do know we'll be caught if we stay here too long. We need to keep moving. This hill is a little too exposed. We can transform further down the hill."
They travelled as humans down the hill, trying to stick to the few trees that covered the hill. The trees grew taller and thicker as they reached the bottom of the slope.
"Well that was slow," Anna declared. "Let's not do that too often. Face the other way while I transform, please." They both transformed, and resumed their journey as dragons. Seeing the Blue Dragon flying above them had renewed their resolve, and they maintained a good pace for the next hour, covering a lot of ground. They felt relatively safe within the forest, under the cover of the trees. It had now reached late afternoon, and they hadn't seen any Blue Dragons since they stopped on the hill. Up ahead of them they could that they were approaching a gap in the trees.
End of the forest? Anna asked.
Pete shook his head. I doubt it; we can't have gone that far. Come on, we can't stop here. It's probably just a clearing.
They cautiously headed to the edge of the forest, and found that the break was due to a fast flowing river, with a high cliff on the other side.
I'd forgotten there was a river, Pete commented. That's going to make things a bit tricky.
Can't we just cross it?
Pete shook his head. Look at the water. It's flowing too quickly, and the other side can't be climbed.
Anna pawed the ground impatiently. We can just follow the river till we find a place to cross. It runs from the south east to the north west; let's go right, that's at least towards where we want to be.
Pete hesitated, looking at the cliff opposite them. Alright, but I don't like this. We are a bit too exposed here, and it feels wrong.
Stay and we're dead. We have to keep moving, remember? You keep on saying that, she reminded him.
I know, Pete replied. But it never felt wrong before. I wonder if we should go left.
That would be the wrong way! Right would be quicker. I think I remember this river now. It snakes its way from the mountains. If we follow it north, it will curve to the east. We may not even need to cross it.
Pete nodded reluctantly. It just feels like we're being funnelled into somewhere we don't want to be. They would know this forest well and know that we'd eventually meet this river and bear north. They should be watching this river.
We haven't seen anyone. We must be making better progress than they thought we could make. We just need to keep up this pace to stay ahead of them.
Pete reluctantly agreed and they continued their journey, running as quickly as they could along the edge of the trees beside the river as quickly. Anna was right, the river did curve eastwards, but not for long before bending to the north again, and the cliff on the other side remaining as high and unclimbable as ever. This repeated twice, curving east, then back to north, without any opportunity to cross, before Pete noticed footprints on the ground.
Stop, look at this!
Anna stopped beside him and studied the tracks. What are they? Blues or Red Dragons?
Peter put his foot beside one if the prints. Ours, definitely. Far too big to be theirs.
Anna looked at the trail ahead of them. Damn, that's pretty easy to see. That's what we've been leaving behind us?
Pete nodded grimly. At some point they'll have a look along the banks of this river, and once they see this trail it'll be easy to find us.
Anna looked up at the sky anxiously, looking for Blue Dragons. What shall we do?
Firstly, catch up with the others. They probably don't realise that they're leaving this trail. Then we need to get away from this river bank. Next time it turns to the east we head north east instead. Come on, we need to speed up to catch them.
Pete ran along the bank, moving as fast as he could maintain, letting Anna fall behind a little on the basis that when he caught the others she would catch up. It didn't take long before he caught sight of the others, just around a bend.
Hello! Pete called out in greeting.
Farmer? Is that you? It was Hill, with the two other dragons, who came to a stop and turned to face him.
It is; wow, I didn't expect to see you again. Pete panted hard as he caught his breath, smoke streaming from his nostrils.
Nor I you; after I met up with Butcher and Forest, we assumed that you and West were the ones they followed.
No, Anna is just behind me. So they lost all five of us?
It would appear so. We haven't seen them in ages. Hard to believe our luck. Ah, here's West now.
You caught up with them. Three of them? We all escaped?
We did, Hill replied. You were moving quickly. Did you see something?
Yes, your footprints, Pete replied, gesturing to the ground with a claw. Maybe you haven't noticed, but tracking you along this trail is very easy. As soon as they look at this river bank they'll have us.
Hill looked back at the trail. Well, well; you're right. We should have kept further away from the bank. We were looking for a crossing. We will cut into the forest here. We can travel parallel to the river, and check every now and then if there is a crossing.
Hill led them through the undergrowth into the forest, and they continued at a reasonable pace. Hill checked on the river every couple of miles, but the river was still impossible to cross.
They ran for another hour, and the sun was starting to set, yet they still hadn't found a place to cross the river. The cliffs had been getting lower along the river each time they had ventured close enough to look, so Hill decided they'd have one last look at whether they could cross the river before nightfall.
They had been in a densely wooded part of the forest, with a thick canopy shielding them from view above, and with the light failing felt secure from being spotted. They pushed their way through the undergrowth leading to the river, feeling confident.
Pete emerged on the riverbank beside Hill, who was frozen to the spot. The cliffs had vanished, and the bank on the other side was low and the river looked easy to cross; but resting quietly on the shore opposite them were at least twenty Blue Dragons, watching them as they arrived at the water's edge.
No one spoke or moved; there was an eerie silence. What do we do? Butcher asked, speaking for the first time.
Hill shook his head. We can't cross. There's too many to fight and we would be at a disadvantage coming out of the water. Why don't they attack?
The Blue Dragons had hardly reacted at all to their arrival. They were all sat on the opposite bank, watching them carefully, as if they were waiting for them to make the first move.
Could we run? Anna asked. These trees are quite closely packed. They'd find it hard to attack us from the air.
Run and we'll be attacked from behind on the ground, Hill replied. They can fly across this river, remember?
Not in a few minutes, Pete replied. The sun has almost set. That river looks easy to cross as a dragon, but not as a human. If we wait for a couple of minutes we may be safe.
Hill shook his head. They must know that. Look, they've been waiting for us. They must be up to something.
A shriek overhead let them know that the Blue Dragons on the bank were not alone. At least ten were in the air, circling low over their heads. One of the Blue Dragons on the shore stood up and turned to the others, presumably giving them instructions, as half of them rose to their feet, before taking to the air, landing fifty metres away from them along the bank. The ten above them also landed, on the same side of the river as them but on the other side of them, leaving them trapped between the two groups of ten.
They've left it too late! Forest said triumphantly. Look, the sun is almost gone. We'll all have to transform!
Forest was right, and as soon as the sun disappeared every dragon transformed back to their human form. Five red-haired individuals stood on the bank, facing ten blue-haired young men opposite them, and ten on either side. Pete suddenly realised that all three groups were armed with shor
t spears.
"They haven't left it too late," he said in dismay, "this is what they've been waiting for. They were afraid to face us as dragons; they want to attack us when we're human and unarmed.
"Afraid?" called the blue-haired man opposite them, who had given the orders. "I'm sorry to disappoint you but my men were itching to attack you before. They obey orders though, which is why they've waited."
He barked an unintelligible order to his men and the two groups advanced on them. Hill picked up a large stick and approached the group to their right.
"Come on then, show me what you can—"
He didn't finish his sentence; one of the men lunged forwards quickly and shoved a spear straight into his stomach. Hill swung at him weakly with his stick, but one of the other blues easily blocked it with his own spear before plunging it into Hill's shoulder. He screamed in pain, dropping the stick. The first man drove his spear even further into his stomach, and it emerged from his back. Hill dropped to his knees, and the men walked past him, ignoring him as he knelt on the floor, his blood flowing into the river.
Pete pushed the two women behind him, futilely trying to shield them. The leader on the other shore shouted an instruction to his men, and they responded immediately, two of them throwing their spears straight at Forest. Pete couldn't see where they hit him, but he fell silently into the river and didn't reappear above the surface. Pete was left with Anna and Butcher, facing two groups of armed Blues. The two groups closed in on them, and he searched around desperately for a weapon with which he could fight them, but none were to hand.
"Pete!" Anna screamed. Two blue soldiers had seized her roughly by the arms and hair and were pulling her away, a third approaching her with a rope.
He ran towards them, hitting one on the jaw with his fist and knocking him back, but before he could do anything more a blow on the side of his head knocked him to the ground. The last thing he saw before he blacked out was several blue-haired soldiers closing around him.
Chapter 23: Uncertainty
As expected, John didn't show for school on the first day of the following week. Arthur had already told the Keeper of Records that John had fallen ill on the camping trip and was staying with a friend until ready to fly back, so he told the school the same story. Professor Silver accepted it with complete disinterest.
However, explaining this to Crystal and the others was much harder. He hadn't told them the full truth about John's condition, and when they realised he was holding back they finally had the truth out from him.
"Arthur! I can't believe you kept this back from us," Crystal complained. "You said that he was just resting and would be fine."
"He made me promise," Arthur protested. "The wish of a dying man. How could I tell you?"
"A promise that you've broken anyway, so you could have told us this two days ago," Jenna retorted.
"What about Daisy, does she know?" Seth asked, clearly peeved that Arthur hadn't even told him.
"Of course not! Do you think I'm crazy? She's been bad enough as it is. I'm dreading what will happen if he doesn't come back."
Crystal had found Daisy very hard to be around since they returned to school. She hadn't deliberately tried to make anyone feel guilty, which she could have done, as the only reason they were in this situation was because they'd excluded John. His predicament was solely due to his coming to their rescue. She looked as if she could burst into tears at any moment, and kept glancing around, clearly hoping to see John at any moment. Even Jenna couldn't bring herself to say a word against her when she was like this.
"So what else did he say? No final words? I can't believe he'd risk going out without leaving some sort of goodbye note," Jenna declared. "He can't have been as unwell as he made out."
"Well he did, um, leave instructions if he didn't come back," Arthur muttered. "But I can't tell you till mid-week. That promise I won't break."
"Instructions? What, like a note? Who to?" Jenna asked.
Arthur's silence was sufficient confirmation. "He left me a note, didn't he?" Crystal asked. "Come on, out with it. I want to read it."
"No!" Arthur shouted. "I don't have it with me, and even if I did you aren't having it unless he...unless he…"
"Unless he dies," Jenna finished the sentence for him. "Just think, Crystal. If he does die, the last thing you'll have said to him sounded like you were disappointed that he hadn't died in the night. I bet you wish you hadn't said that!"
"Jenna!" Crystal was aghast. "That's a horrible thing to say! You know I didn't mean that." At times, Crystal really hated her cousin.
Jenna shrugged. "Sounded like that. Still, I guess you're no worse than Arthur. Why didn't you send someone back? You may as well have killed him yourself having left him there." Crystal's jaw dropped at this comment, as Jenna was never rude to Arthur. Perhaps she was feeling as bad as she was.
"He made me promise! Besides, we'd never have found him. He'd hidden in the valley and didn't want to be found." Arthur didn't sound completely convinced by his own argument.
"Since when do we listen to John?" Jenna asked. "We should have ignored him and just sent someone back. If he was fine, it wouldn't have mattered, and if he wasn't he wouldn't have been able to object anyway."
"It's too late now," Seth replied. "If we told someone today they wouldn't get there till late in the day, and wouldn't be able to search for him until tomorrow. It'll have been three days by then. They'd never find him."
"You mean if they find him he'd probably be dead already, and then we'd be blamed," Jenna replied acidly. "I can't believe you've made me feel sorry for someone I don't even like. Anyway, so when are you going to produce this note? Did he give any indication of how long you should wait?"
Arthur nodded miserably. "If he's not back by mid-week then we shouldn't expect him back at all. Considering how he looked and sounded, I don't think he was exaggerating."
"So that's it, isn't it? John told you that if he's not back by mid-week he'll almost certainly be dead, and you're to give Crystal this note. Right?"
Arthur nodded. "You may as well give up asking me for the note. I haven't got it with me, and if I did, I wouldn't give it to you. The least I can do is keep that promise."
Jenna nodded. "Fair enough. Crystal, perhaps this once we respect what John wants."
Crystal looked at her in amazement, knowing she had no control over her curiosity or patience. Jenna winked at her, obviously intent on trying to get the information from Arthur later. Crystal didn't smile back, still annoyed at her cousin's earlier comment, but she stopped interrogating Arthur.
Jenna had no success, however, and had to report failure to Crystal at school the next day. Apparently, Arthur was resolute and not only would he not let Jenna read the note, he clearly hadn't read it either and had no intention of doing so. John still hadn't returned to school, and as tomorrow would be the middle of the week, Crystal wondered if she might be getting the note anyway. It wasn't a very cheerful thought so she tried to push it from her mind. Jerome was being charming again, so she tried to take her mind off the situation by talking to him.
Daisy, however, didn't make this any easier. She was even worse at school that day than she had been previously, and they were all rather relieved when she decided to go home at lunchtime saying that she had a headache. None of the four of them had let on what had happened to anyone, but a morbid air hung over all of them and it was clear to all of their classmates that something was wrong. Jerome was particularly perceptive, and did his best to coax the story out of her, but Crystal couldn't face even talking about it.
It fell to Arthur to visit the Keeper to see if there was any news about John. He told the others that he meant to go there straight from school, and would let them know what happened when he saw them tomorrow. A couple of hours later, in the evening, Arthur walked through the front door to his brother's apartment with his heart heavy after having had a fruitless visit to the military library. The Keeper had seemed to be indifferent
to both having a visit from Arthur and his contingent of bodyguards and the fact that his assistant was still missing. The man appeared to only vaguely know who Arthur was, and was more interested in returning to his work than discussing John, and cheerily dismissed Arthur's concerns, insisting that he was sure that John would be back sooner or later.
Arthur was far from reassured, knowing that at some point soon he would have to tell Daisy what he suspected. He walked to her room to see her, hoping that she had decided to take a nap, but had no such luck.
"Has there been any news? Did you see the Keeper?" Her eyes were wide, searching his face for any signs of hope.
Arthur sat down next to her on her bed and shook his head. "I saw the Keeper, but there was no news. He promised to ask John to come and see us when he gets back."
Daisy's disappointment was written all over her face. "It's been so long, Arthur. I'm scared what to think. Everyone keeps telling me the same thing: that no one could survive what happened to him. The teachers told me that no one can survive if they transform at night for even a minute."
"You haven't told them what happened, have you?" Arthur asked in alarm.
Daisy shook her head. "No one except Gerald. I just asked them about transforming at night in general. I don't want to give up hope, but it doesn't look good, does it?"
Arthur put his hand on her shoulder to reassure her. "Let's just wait a little longer before giving up hope."
Daisy shook her head again. "We should have gone back for him, or sent someone to get him. Is it too late to do that? Gerald could probably find a hundred dragons to look for John if we asked him."
"Hello!" a voice called from the front door followed by a slam. "Anyone in?"
"We're in here," Arthur called in reply.
Gerald stuck his head around the door, smiling at the twins cheerfully. "You two look very glum. Are you up for some company? I have a friend here."
Arthur shook his head sadly. "Later; I don't think Daisy is in the mood at the moment."
"Shame," Gerald replied. "I found this one loitering outside, and he was hoping to see you both. Shall I send him away?" Gerald opened the door wider to reveal John, who was standing behind him.
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