by Chrys Cymri
‘Yes. Seems we’ve been wasting our time trying to negotiate with what passes for a government in Lloegyr.’ Sue took a sip of her drink, her well-manicured hands cradling the mug as if it were delicate china. ‘We should have spoken to their business people. Much easier to work with. The Consortium and the Enforcer have been most helpful.’
‘You know what they are, don’t you?’ I asked. ‘They’re rat kings.’
‘Penny. Surely you of all people aren’t prejudiced against rats?’
‘That’s not it at all,’ I said, floundering under her steady gaze. ‘I’m just not certain how much they can be trusted.’
Sue smiled. ‘Very little trust is needed. We send the migrants through, and they ensure that those people never return.’
‘Don’t you care what happens to them?’
‘They’ll be given gainful employment,’ Sue said. ‘A roof over their heads. Food. And none of this will cost the British taxpayer a single penny.’
‘But it’s not only people from Lloegyr which you’re planning to send over.’ I watched the minister carefully as I spoke. ‘I understand you plan to send humans through as well.’
A slight frown pulled at the corners of Burrows’ mouth. Sue’s expression didn’t change. ‘It’ll be a much better life for them. Lloegyr isn’t at war, unlike Syria. They’ll be safe over there.’
‘And if they don’t want to go?’
She shrugged. ‘They’ll be sent anyway.’
I shook my head. ‘I told the refugees in Stillbrook that they wouldn’t be returned to Lloegyr. I made a promise.’
‘Well,’ Sue responded lightly, ‘that’s rather unfortunate, isn’t it?’ She turned to Burrows. ‘All this will be accomplished using land-based crossings, Captain, similar to what you and your crew used in Glencoe. But tell me more about your very interesting flight.’
‘The dragon flew us through air-based crossings,’ Burrows said, her eyes flicking between me and the minister. ‘We changed physical location several times, and ventured into different time zones.’
‘All in the air?’
‘All in the air,’ the captain confirmed. ‘And at no time did I experience the horror which affected me and my crew when we used the land crossing at Glencoe.’
‘Were you aware of this, Penny?’ Sue asked me. ‘I know you’ve enjoyed many dragon flights.’
‘Aware of what?’ I hedged, playing for time.
‘That dragons can travel between far-flung parts of our two worlds through short cuts in the air.’
I attempted a laugh. ‘Really? That would be jolly convenient.’
‘Don’t insult my intelligence,’ Burrows snapped. ‘The geology of the dragon settlement is utterly unlike anything in Europe. And the sun was at a different position in the sky than our starting point near Alba. I know about portals. I’ve read the Narnia books.’
I was torn between irritation and admiration. ‘If these sky crossings exist, why haven’t we heard from human pilots about them?’
‘We have,’ Sue said. ‘That must be how my mother ended up in Alba. Her plane passed through a thin place.’
‘Which would explain so many disappearances,’ the captain said thoughtfully. ‘Could be the Bermuda Triangle is littered with these crossings.’
My throat was dry. I gulped down cold coffee. ‘So they’re dangerous. Best avoided.’
‘The dragons know their way through.’ Burrows turned to the minister. ‘The settlement housed at least a couple hundred dragons. The ones which helped us had no problems using the crossings to bring themselves to our location.’
‘So we could use dragons to pilot these short cuts.’ Sue tapped one red fingernail against her chin. ‘I assume, like every creature in Lloegyr, they’re partial to gold? The possibilities for commerce are immense. We could cut so many air and sea miles from the transport of goods.’
‘Let’s not just think of trade,’ Burrows said. ‘What about the military advantages it would give us? We could send through planes, troops, drones, anything without it being tracked by hostile powers.’
For a moment my mind shut down. I stared at them, my jaw clenched so firmly that my teeth were beginning to ache. My head was filled with visions of dragons leading fighter planes from England’s skies to far-away lands. Drones appearing above war-torn cities, dropping bombs on already starving populations. And then other governments would want to discover the secret of Britain’s sudden superiority. Would dragons be painted with the flags of competing countries, perhaps even begin to war between themselves?
Then a peace spread over me, like the certainty I’d felt when walking away from my parents’ funeral, James’ hand in mine. ‘Dragons certainly value gold,’ I found myself saying. ‘And they’re not above hiring themselves out. As you both know, I’m good friends with a dragon. I’ll talk to him. He can tell me whom we need to speak to at the settlement about your plans.’
Sue studied me. ‘I must say, Penny, I didn’t expect you to be so helpful.’
‘I know where my loyalties lie,’ I said firmly.
After a few general comments about the weather and the importance of families, I was escorted from the building. The rain had reduced to a thin drizzle. I managed to walk a few hundred yards away and turn a corner before I had to lean against a fence. The coffee was burning in my throat, and I thought I might lose my breakfast. I took in deep gulps of cool air.
I pulled my coat tight around my shoulders and made my way to the nearest underground station. Only once I was on a train back to Northampton did I allow myself to relax. The carriage was mostly empty, and I rested my head back and closed my eyes.
Hi God, it’s me, Penny, I found myself praying. This is a right pickle, isn’t it? How can I prevent dragons from becoming weapons of mass destruction? Okay, right, more like navigators for weapons of mass destruction, but it’s not much of a difference.
The train swayed slightly as we clicked over the rails. I decided to look out of the window. We had left London, and the English countryside swirled past. Field after field, all cultivated to help feed the huge population of humans. Whereas Lloegyr still had forests and meadow lands, and many more birds and butterflies.
Nor had the country known war. I rubbed my forehead. For the first time, it occurred to me that all of the land thin places I’d used had been formed by a tragedy which had happened on the Earth side. The only one which had been formed in Lloegyr, in Llanbedr Cathedral, had come from the peaceful death of a saint.
So, God, what am I going to do? Let Lloegyr, or even all of Daear, become some sort of staging post for Earth’s wars?
We were now passing an industrial site. The grey walls of the units huddled under the wet skies. Chimneys nearby spat white smoke into the air. I thought of the factories I’d seen in Caer-grawnt, and the conditions in which the employees worked. Would rat kings worry about the health and safety of refugees sent to slave in their factories? And could this become a vicious circle, more wars on Earth, more displaced humans sent to labour in Daear?
As we pulled into Northampton, I decided that there was only one solution. All of the thin places between Britain and Lloegyr had to be destroyed.
Chapter Twenty-Eight
‘We can’t allow this.’ Morey stood stiffly on the kitchen table, back arched, tail a bushy exclamation mark. ‘I'm not having your dirty weapons passing through my world.’
Mid-afternoon sunshine gleamed across the back garden. I looked at my uncut grass, the sagging fences. The sound of a lawn mower came through the open window, along with the mixed smells of grass and flowers. Starlings were singing from nearby rooftops. I brought my gaze back to the room. Clyde sat on Morey’s left, his body nearly black. Skylar was out, as was James, and I assumed Jago was with my brother. There was no sign of Bastien.
‘Find Taryn,’ I told Morey. ‘Both of you go through to Lloegyr and stay there. Clyde, have all the snails gone to the Community?’
‘Yes.’
‘Then
I suggest you join them.’
The snail said something short and rude in Welsh. Then he added, ‘With you.’
I smiled. ‘Okay. I’ll collect your carry case.’
‘What’re you planning to do?’ Morey demanded.
‘Stop this. I hope.’ I shook my head as he opened his beak again. ‘No, don’t ask me.’
‘I’m your Associate--’
‘And I’ve watched too many spy films.’ My longing for a stiff shot of whisky was almost overpowering, but I knew I needed to keep sober. ‘In case you’re caught or something, you can’t tell anyone what you don’t know.’
Morey sniffed. ‘You’re just being paranoid.’
‘It’s not paranoia if you know everyone’s out to get you,’ I said. ‘Do you know where Taryn is?’
‘With Peter, of course,’ Morey grumbled. ‘Wherever that might be.’
I slid my iPhone from my pocket. ‘I’ll send him a text.’ My fingers hesitated a moment. Then I pushed through the chill in my chest and typed, Morey needs to see Taryn. Where are you?
To my relief, the response was nearly immediate. At the station. Desk work. Hope it’s not serious?
Everyone’s fine, I reassured him. ‘They’re both at the station.’
‘And what reason do I give for Taryn to abandon her post?’
‘Find one,’ I said grimly. ‘Please, just go. Get yourselves over to Lloegyr and stay there.’
Morey glared at me. Then he hopped down from the table, pushed through the cat flap, and was gone.
‘Thin places?’ Clyde asked me.
‘That’s what’s putting your world at risk, yes,’ I said. ‘And so that’s what I need to sort out.’
‘You?’
‘Yes, me.’ I went up to my bedroom to change from my best clothes into something more suitable to dragon flight. The backpack I used for overnight trips already contained basic toiletries. I added a few more items, including the small photo of my parents. Back downstairs, I retrieved my jacket and Clyde’s soft-sided case.
My hiking boots sank into the soft grass as I marched across the garden. The backpack jounced against my back and Clyde’s case rested against my left hip. I took a deep breath, pulled out my penknife, and opened the blade to its full length.
I was just beginning to sweat when Raven’s green-black body appeared over the vicarage. He hovered for a moment, a few wisps of red flames trickling along his jaws. I lifted a hand, and he dropped down to the garden. ‘What’s wrong?’ he asked, ears and horns swivelling.
‘Plenty.’ I hurried to his side and climbed up to his neck. ‘I need you to take me to the settlement.’
‘My glorious Penny, am I not enough dragon for you?’
‘Usually you’re more than enough.’ I adjusted my backpack and the carry case. ‘But I need more than just one search dragon.’
Raven turned his head to look at me. ‘I haven’t yet paid them for the last rescue.’
‘No rescue, not this time.’ I pointed at the bushes near the back fence. ‘Could you please seal those thin places?’
The dragon’s eyes narrowed. ‘Tired of snail sharks?’
‘Never.’ I reached down to touch the carry case. ‘Clyde says they’ve all gone home, so we can close those crossings.’
Raven muttered under his breath. Opening his long jaws, he ran one sharp tooth along his forefoot. A quick shake flung drops of red blood through the air. ‘Done.’
The kitchen door squeaked open. James stepped outside, looking smart in his dark business suit and red tie. ‘An adventure, an adventure!’ Jago called out, hopping up and down on my brother’s shoulder. ‘Can I go on your adventure?’
‘You’d better say yes, Sis,’ James said as he walked over. ‘Otherwise he’ll just hang around moping while I edit PowerPoint slides.’
I hesitated for a moment, wondering what to say. Then I swallowed and held out my hands. Jago climbed across and scurried up to my shoulder. ‘You might want to drop down,’ I told him.
‘I can see better from up here,’ the gryphon replied. ‘And I’ll hold on tight.’
‘You do that,’ James said. ‘Come back safe and sound.’
I looked down at my brother’s smiling face. The decades fell away. I was standing at his side, my hand on his shoulder as he waved goodbye to our parents as they drove away for a night out. Little did we know that we would never see them alive again. ‘We will,’ I said. ‘I promise.’
His eyes narrowed at my tone. ‘Well, okay, so long as you promise.’ Then he stepped back as Raven prepared for take off.
A rain storm in our third crossing convinced Jago to seek shelter behind a neck spine. I slid Clyde’s case under my jacket and blinked to keep my eyes clear. The next thin place allowed us to dry under a warm sun. I unbuttoned my jacket. Otherwise I paid little attention to our progress. The search dragons might only give me one chance to convince them of the danger they were in. I practiced my arguments over and over again.
My wristwatch informed me that we’d been flying for around forty minutes when we emerged over the search dragons’ volcanic island. Although it was mid morning, the sun was partially blocked by a scattering of clouds. The temperatures felt lower than back home, and I tightened my coat around my shoulders.
Raven took us over the lava fields and past the smouldering volcano. The sharp scent of sulphur made me grimace and Jago sneeze. I glanced down to check on Clyde, but he had dropped into his case.
‘Auntie Penny?’ Jago’s voice was subdued. ‘This isn’t an adventure, is it?’
‘No,’ Clyde answered, his voice muffled.
‘Why do you say that?’ I asked.
‘This doesn’t feel like an adventure.’ His crest rested flat against his back. ‘It feels far more important than that.’
‘Because it is.’
Raven landed in a trot, making all of us bounce in varying degrees of discomfort. The watch dragon, which emerged from a gap in the obsidian wall, wasn’t one I recognized.
‘The priest wants to talk to everyone in the settlement,’ Raven told the dragon in Welsh. ‘What do you think are the chances?’
She snorted. Although a third smaller than Raven, her body was well muscled, and scars from hunts, or fights, gleamed across her green-black hide. ‘Gallwch chi geisio. Oes aur ynddi?’
‘There might be gold,’ I responded in Welsh. ‘But no one will know unless they come outside to listen to me.’
‘There will be gold for you,’ Raven told her, ‘if you can convince everyone that they must come.’
As she scurried off, I asked Raven, ‘How many dragons live here, by the way?’
‘Never counted.’ He turned us to face the entrance. ‘Two hundred?’
‘And,’ I continued, trying to sound casual, ‘how many thin places are there in Great Britain? Land and air?’
‘Several hundred, some only the size of an ant, others large enough for a dozen dragons to fly through, side by side.’ Raven glanced back at me. ‘What are you expecting to use British thin places for, circumspect Penny?’
‘I’ll explain everything when the rest of the dragons are here.’ I leaned forward to lay a hand against his warm neck. ‘I hope I’ll have your support.’
‘Always.’
‘You haven’t heard what I have to say, yet.’
‘That doesn’t matter. You will always have my support.’
Jago’s eyes widened in wonder. His sharp claws caught at my coat as he climbed up to my shoulder. Clyde popped the top off his case and rose onto his foot, extending his tentacles over the sides.
Dragons began to emerge from the settlement. The first to arrive had to make way to accommodate those who followed on their heels and, in true draconic fashion, snarls and snaps filled the air. Raven backed away, making more room. As more and more of the settlement dragons emerged, I began to realise I’d made a miscalculation. ‘Raven, there’s no way I can raise my voice enough for all of them to hear me.’
‘The fr
ont ones will pass the message on,’ Raven replied confidently. ‘The ones behind will insist on it. They won’t want to miss out.’
Never had I seen so many dragons in one place. They spread out along the obsidian wall and across the hard ground. Although all were search dragons, their colours varied from pale green-grey to a green so dark that they looked nearly black. Sizes and ages also spanned a large range. Muzzles white and thick with age swung alongside dragons who looked to have only recently fled their birth mothers. As I looked down at the pufflings, noting the healing wounds on their young bodies, I wondered how many more never managed to escape.
When several minutes had passed without any further dragons coming out to join the throng, I took a quick gulp of water, slid the bottle away, and straightened. ‘I’m going to speak in English, because that’s my first language. Please translate to other dragons, and pass on what I’m going to say.’
Murmurs spread through the group. I waited a moment, then continued, ‘You all find and use the thin places between my world and yours. I know this gives you a great advantage over other races, and even other dragons. Until now, this search dragon talent has been kept secret in my country. But this has now changed.’
Another pause while my words were passed on. Jago gaped his beak at me, and I poured some water onto my palm so he could have a drink. I pointed the bottle at Clyde, but he drew back his tentacles. The snail was fine. The cloud cover and cooler temperatures probably helped.
‘The government of my country now knows about your ability to find air crossings.’ I swept my gaze along their proud ranks. ‘And they plan to use you to exploit these.’
‘For what purpose?’ one grizzled drake demanded.
‘Could be trade,’ a draka answered. ‘Those humans love to buy and sell goods.’
‘Wouldn’t that be welcome?’ a thin-looking drake asked. ‘We could earn gold by guiding tacsi dragons through.’
‘Or even become tacsi dragons yourselves,’ I said mildly. As I had expected, this brought a hiss from those who had heard me directly. The sounds of disapproval spread as my words were translated and passed on. ‘But it’s not trade that worries me. We have people who want to use your talents to pilot weapons from one part of my world to another. Weapons which can cause great destruction.’
