Becoming a Dragon

by Holland, Andy

  Shut up, Jerome, Joel snapped, angry wisps of flame appearing from his nostrils. That's just one win. It's still best of three.

  They returned to their space, and Dee and Daisy faced each other again. Dee came at Daisy more quickly this time, swiping at her twice with her right as she advanced, before rearing onto her back legs and rushing at Daisy, swiping at her with her left and then her right, catching Daisy's neck with the second blow.

  That would be a win, Nicola observed. Are you two ready to compete? Some of the others are already swapping equipment for the second set of bouts.

  I'm ready, Dee replied confidently.

  Alright, Daisy replied reluctantly. We can begin.

  Dee approached Daisy much more aggressively now, her confidence buoyed by her small victory, repeating her previous strategy and rushing at Daisy swinging. Daisy dodged the first few attacks before catching a glancing blow on her nose.

  Stop! Nicola called. Two points for Dee! Come back to the middle.

  You're doing fine, John said quietly to Daisy. Block those swings with your forelegs if you need to, and when she rushes at you, remember you can sidestep as well. She'll be coming too fast to stop.

  Daisy faced Dee again, and Dee immediately began as she had before, rushing at Daisy. Daisy blocked the first few blows, and swiped back at Dee tentatively, a blow that Dee took on the foreleg. Dee rushed at Daisy again, and Daisy sidestepped, but Dee managed to catch her again on the nose.

  Four points! the other girl shouted. One more to win. Back to the middle.

  Sorry, Daisy, John apologised. I thought that would help.

  Daisy nodded curtly before moving back to the centre to face her opponent. Dee immediately reared onto her back legs and advanced forwards, but this time, instead of backing off, Daisy lunged toward her with her forelegs raised to protect her head. Dee landed a blow on Daisy's left arm, but before she had a chance to swing at her with her own left, Daisy locked her jaws onto Dee's exposed neck, just beneath her head. Daisy gripped hard before slamming Dee's head down onto the ground with an audible thud.

  A win! Nicola called loudly. Second bout; back to the centre.

  Well done, Daisy! John said proudly. I guess you just needed a little more aggression.

  Daisy didn't wait for Dee this time around and flew straight at her, immediately landing a blow on her exposed belly as she reared up.

  Three points! Nicola called. Two more points to win the match. Face each other! Fight!

  Daisy could have won the fight with a simple head blow, but went for the neck again, and within a second had her jaws on Dee's throat again. Dee frantically tried to swat at Daisy's head to force her to release her, but Daisy twisted her head to the side before slamming her head down onto the ground again.

  Very good, the headmaster said as he passed by them, watching as Dee stood up, looking a little dazed. Although, technically, you just need to bite at the neck; there is no need to smash your opponent into the ground, as I thought I made clear at the start. A win all the same though.

  Daisy wins! Nicola called. Change over.

  John helped Daisy remove her equipment from her claws and teeth. Excellent, Daisy! he congratulated. You're a natural at this.

  Thanks, John, Daisy replied. I thought she was going to beat me. Do you think I hurt her banging her head on the ground?

  Well, probably, but she'll recover. Our heads are pretty tough.

  Well, your turn, John, Daisy replied. Go on, you can beat her.

  John faced Nicola and waited for her attack. Having learnt from Daisy and Dee, she rushed at John, swinging her forelegs wildly. John casually sidestepped her attack, and seized her right leg with his right, pulling it across her body before striking her just under the throat with his left. The whole movement was executed very smoothly.

  Win! Daisy squealed. Nice one, John.

  Back to the centre, Dee said coldly, still irritated.

  John faced Nicola again, waiting for her attack. Just before she sprang at him, another dragon behind him stepped backwards, pinning John's tail and immobilising him. John tried to move but found himself trapped, and took a strike to his own neck.

  Win! Dee shouted triumphantly. Face each other again.

  Hey! That wasn't fair! Daisy protested. The other dragon interfered with John's movement.

  It was a good strike, John countered. The mistake was mine. One all.

  But that boy stood on your tail; it wasn't a fair fight.

  When it's real it's never a fair fight, John replied. Don't think of this as a game. It's a bad habit to get into. You should never concentrate on just winning points, but fighting as if your life really depended on it.

  John faced Nicola again, who advanced more slowly at him, swinging cautiously while John backed away, avoiding her strikes until he suddenly advanced and struck her with his right, hitting her hard on the nose.

  Two points! Dee and Daisy shouted in unison. John merely nodded, and moved back towards the centre.

  Fight! Dee shouted, and again, Nicola advanced on him aggressively, trying to strike at his head and neck. Suddenly, the two sparring behind John burst into their space yet again, knocking John forwards and into the path of Nicola's wild swing, which hit him hard in the neck.

  Win! Dee shouted triumphantly. That's two to one.

  Now wait a moment, Daisy objected angrily.

  Well done, John said gracefully to his slightly surprised opponent. Now you'll face Daisy.

  But John, Daisy protested. That's not fair. You should get another go.

  I'm inclined to agree with the princess, the headmaster intervened, who had been watching their bout. The points shouldn't stand.

  John shook his head. Sorry, sir, but I disagree. This isn't a real situation, but we shouldn't encourage anyone to think of this as just a game with set rules. One side is always going to have some sort of advantage, such as terrain, or maybe numbers, or having the sun behind them. The best way to prepare yourself for a real fight is to forget about what is fair. If that had been real I would have been killed, and that's all there is to it.

  Or perhaps you don't want to fight the princess, the headmaster commented. Either way, it's of no concern to me. Hurry up with the next match; everyone else has finished already and were starting the next round of bouts.

  Daisy was in no mood to let Nicola off easily after unfairly beating John, and the first bout lasted just a few seconds, ending with Nicola lying upside down on the ground nursing a sore head. The second bout was just as short, Daisy having intimidated her opponent and easily landing a winning blow.

  Well done, Daisy, Arthur commented, a little more impressed than he was prepared to admit, having watched the match along with a number of other dragons. But don't get too cocky. You're against Jerome next.

  What about you? John asked. Had much luck?

  Arthur shook his scaly head. I beat Seth, then I beat Jenna who had beaten Crystal, but I lost to Kal. He's really good, unfortunately. I'd have quite enjoyed bouncing his head off the ground.

  Princess Daisy, the headmaster called out loudly. You're competing against Jerome. Come forward now, yours is the last of the third rounds.

  Unfortunately, Daisy didn't do as well against Jerome. She managed to get two points for clipping his nose at the start, which in itself was quite an accomplishment as he was very fast and very skilled, but he then went on to beat her with ease. He was clearly exceptionally well trained. His next opponent was Kal, and the match was quite close and would have served better as the final as the two of them were clearly the best in the class, but Jerome triumphed yet again. He went on to beat two more opponents to be declared the overall winner at the end of the lesson and strutted about very smugly on the way to lunch, making sure everyone knew who had won.

  "Just think; I was beaten only by the overall winner," Daisy told her brother as they listened to Jerome boasting. "I could have come second if I hadn't faced Jerome so early."

  "Or Kal could have flattene
d you as he did your brother," Seth pointed out.

  "Or as I did you," Arthur retorted.

  "It was two-one," Seth replied. "And you never flattened me. It was hardly even a convincing victory. You never landed a straight win, just lots of feeble two pointers that shouldn't count, if you ask me."

  "Which we're not," Jenna replied. "So, Daisy, John went out in the first round. I guess you weren't expecting that. Not good at everything after all, is he?"

  Daisy glared at her irritably. "He didn't lose properly. He was much better than that girl and those points shouldn't have stood. Even the headmaster said so."

  "And he also said that John didn't want to face you," Seth replied. "We were watching the match. He couldn't bear the idea of having to hit his little Daisy."

  "Shut up, Seth; he knows I can take it. No, John would only do what he did for a good reason. I just don't understand what it is."

  "Of course," Jenna said smugly. "While you ponder that, I'll have lunch. Coming, Arthur?"

  With that, Jenna walked off with Arthur, her nose held high, leaving Daisy to go find John.

  Chapter 32: Spy in the city

  "I really enjoyed today," Daisy told John as they left school together. "I must admit, I didn't really understand at the time why you dropped out of the competition, but I do now. I guess it's hard for me to take the threat of the Blue Dragons as seriously as you do. We're a very long away from them in the West."

  "But you've already seen the Blue Dragons attack the city," John pointed out. "Even here you aren't safe. We can never afford to treat combat as something as trivial as just a game. And you are good at it; I'm convinced we'd have been much more evenly matched than you think. A few months of training and I'm sure you'll be better than me."

  Daisy smiled shyly. "You really think so? Jerome managed to beat me very easily."

  "Jerome was excellent, but he's been training for a long time—that much was very clear. As I've said, I haven't done much training, but I've done enough to tell that Jerome was using techniques that were quite advanced, way beyond what I've been taught. I wouldn't feel bad about losing to him. Wait till you've done a term of training, then we'll see how well he does against you. He definitely won't find it easy, whatever the outcome."

  Daisy smiled proudly, pleased with the praise. "Hey, why don't you come over for dinner? It'll make the perfect ending to the day. You haven't been over since the holidays. I'm sure Gerald would like to see you."

  John shook his head sadly. "If only I could. I have a long report to write for the Keeper and I'll probably have to work quite late as it is. Another night perhaps?"

  Daisy nodded, looking a little disappointed. "Do you mind that you have to work to stay here when everyone else can just do what they like?"

  John shrugged. "I don't think about it. It's my duty to work for the Keeper, and generally, I enjoy it. He's a nice enough man, and is always grateful for the work I do. Why, does it bother you that I have no money?"

  Daisy smiled and shook her head. "I don't think about money. I've never needed to. I never really even used it before I came to Furnace, as I had a maid with me at all times, so if I needed something, she'd always get it for me. Even here, I rarely use it. I still have a maid, and when we're out, my guards carry money with them and buy things if I need them." She paused to look at John. "You know, I could pay for you to be here, for your school fees. Then you wouldn't have to work…"

  John laughed and shook his head. "I think you'd have a hard time explaining that to your parents! Anyway, I'd better get going. See you tomorrow Daisy." He briefly kissed her goodbye before transforming and taking to the sky. He glanced back to see Daisy waving up at him, before turning away to walk home, her bodyguards trailing a few metres behind her. He wondered why more of the students didn't just fly to and from school as he did; walking was so slow and unnecessary.

  Within a few minutes he was back in the library, sitting at his desk and ready to start work. The Keeper was in the building somewhere, but John hadn't actually seen him yet. This was far from unusual, and they could spend an entire evening in the same building and not bump into each other, but that suited John right now. When he first arrived, he felt quite lonely and liked to talk to the old man more frequently, but now he appreciated the freedom it gave him. The Keeper would give him money every now and then for provisions, and leave him notes telling him what needed to be done, but other than that they didn't interact that much at all.

  He looked at the pile of boxes in front of him and wiped the dust off the top box. It probably hadn't been opened for at least thirty years. He sighed, opened the box and took out the first report, and was relieved to see that the hand writing was perfectly legible. So many of these old reports were written in flowery cursive text that was nearly impossible to decipher. He scanned through the Keeper's notes to see what he needed to do.

  Review the last thirty years military budgets for each of the principalities and the capital, focussing on expenditure on city defences, in particular maintenance and improvements in the towers.

  John shook his head, trying to work out which idiot had asked for this information. He thought back to his conversation with Daisy; generally, he did enjoy the work, but definitely not all of the time and at the moment, he was wondering what the point of this task was. The chances were that one of the Council members had requested this information merely to sound as if they were fully engaged, but had no interest in the report whatsoever, or any of the Council's dealings for that matter. Many of the members had inherited their positions, and were completely unsuited to their roles. Still, there was no point dwelling on that at the moment. He opened the reports for the north first, figuring that he may as well start with the hardest and get it out of the way. The north had the most sophisticated and extensive set of defensive towers and therefore probably spent the most.

  He worked non-stop for several hours, neglecting to eat dinner or even take short breaks, determined to finish this dull task in one evening. The Keeper hadn't asked for that, knowing it to be unreasonable, but John's tendency to get these tasks done quickly had led the Keeper to expect him to do them quickly; John didn't like disappointing him.

  The light outside faded quickly and John continued working, using the light from two lamps on the table and ploughing slowly through the reports. Reviewing the budgets for the North alone took over two hours, and rather than risk not finishing the task and break for supper, he decided to continue straight into the next toughest of the regions, the eastern principality, and started straight away on their reports.

  John wasn't sure of the time, but he guessed it must have been about nine when he heard the noise downstairs. He had been working for about four hours without a break. As soon as he heard it, he couldn't explain why, but he knew it wasn't the Keeper. Although he rarely saw the old man, he had become accustomed to the way he walked around the library, the familiar pattern of the creaks in the floorboards, the soft thuds as he closed doors, and this new sound just didn't sound right. The old man wasn't loud, but this sound was unusually quiet, as if someone were trying to sneak around without being heard. John put his pen down and listened carefully. Perhaps he had imagined it, the strain of long hours working without food or water getting to him. Then he heard it again. Very soft footsteps, moving more rapidly than the Keeper did, coming from downstairs directly beneath him in a room that the Keeper rarely visited. A room that if they were diligent about security, should be locked, as it contained some of the most sensitive documents that they possessed.

  John stood up and crept across the room, moving soundlessly, knowing where to place his feet to avoid making the old floorboards creak. The sounds beneath him had stopped. Had he imagined it after all? He waited for a minute and heard nothing, but decided he would investigate anyway, if for no other reason other than to take a break from his work.

  His door always squeaked, even when he opened it carefully, so John opened it quickly, hoping that it wouldn't make too much no
ise. He could have sworn that he heard a gentle thud from below as soon as he opened the door. He carried one of the lamps from his desk and debated whether maybe he should leave it, in case it alerted the intruder to his presence. He wondered if the Keeper would be alarmed if he found John wandering around the library in the dark and worry that John had gone mad. Then John heard another sound from the other side of the library; it was a window being opened. He put down the lamp and hurried downstairs, trying to move as quietly and as quickly as possible before dashing across the library to the room he had heard the sound come from. Just before he entered, he heard the window close and saw a shadow move away from the building. John cursed himself for delaying, and ran to the window, looking out to see if he could see anyone. Hurrying away from the building, he saw a hooded figure carrying a small package, heading towards the main street.

  John didn't hesitate now, knowing that there had definitely been an intruder and that he had probably stolen something from the library. He ran to the front of the building, unlocked the main door and ran towards the main street. It was never particularly busy near the library, and when he reached the street there was not a soul in sight. A slight movement caught his eye. A few hundred metres away, he saw the figure walking quickly along the street, heading south. He crossed over the street without looking back and turned down a side road that would lead him to the south east. John sprinted after him, knowing that the hooded man wouldn't be able to see him now so he could run without having to hide. John reached the turning within a minute, gasping for breath as he peered cautiously around the corner. He saw the hooded figure walking quickly down the deserted street. John followed after him, trying to stay in the shadows, aware that if he turned around at the wrong moment he would easily spot John, but reluctant to hang back and risk losing him. The street took a number of turns, so John waited at each corner, making sure he couldn't be seen before advancing.

  John continued like this for some time, and the hooded figure didn't turn around once to see if he was being followed, oblivious to John's presence. Eventually the street reached the inner city wall at the unguarded south eastern gate. This was the least used gate into the city, and subsequently was rarely manned by the city guard. The hooded figure quietly walked through the abandoned gate unobserved by all except John. Outside of the gate, the inner city wall was ringed by a long, continuous park that ran from the base of the volcano at the north east of the city all the way around to the next volcano at the south east of the city. From here, the intruder could go anywhere. John ran after him, stopping to peer around the corner to see if the hooded figure had changed course. John could just see him disappear along a path that headed south through the park, clearly avoiding the main paths that ran parallel to the wall. The park was completely deserted at night, situated in one of the least populated but wealthiest parts of the capital, and the man had begun to jog, comfortable that no one would see him. John ran after him, finding himself wishing that he was a little fitter as he struggled to keep up with his quarry. Before the camping trip he would have found this easy, but he still hadn't fully recovered, and his chest throbbed painfully.