Jonah and the Last Great Dragon (5 page)

Jonah looked round to catch Sam’s eye, mouthing ‘Ready?’ Then he shouted, ‘Llandeilo first. Ffyrnig, you and Mordiford to the head; everyone else on the body.’

The Great Dragon bellowed the instructions to the wheeling drakes while Jonah pulled himself to his feet, signalled to the dragon-riders and pointed at the terrible head of Jormungandr’s Child. Sam yelled, ‘Go, go, go!’

Llandeilo, shooting out his back legs as he swooped downwards, landed upright on the sea serpent with his talons outstretched. Jormungandr’s hatchling squirmed with shock as Llandeilo pranced swiftly along its fleshy coils, tense and ready to shoot away if the monster lunged. Jonah, looking down from his perch on Ffyrnig’s back, was open-mouthed at the gargouille’s daring.

A spasm ran the length of the monster’s looped body and the hatchling turned blindly this way and that, snuffing the air to search out its attacker. As soon as it turned its head towards him, Llandeilo leaped into the air and landed somewhere else on its body

With a speed that took Jonah’s breath away, Ffyrnig and Mordiford fell from the sky, their wings almost touching. With ear-splitting battle cries, the two dragons dropped until they were almost level with the roofs. Then they sped out over the river with Ffyrnig now in the lead, turned to line up with the serpent’s head and then streaked towards their target like guided missiles. Jonah, thrown back against the webbing by Ffyrnig’s wind-force, found himself yelling as if he were on a roller coaster, while he scrabbled
to yank himself into a sitting position.

As Ffyrnig and Mordiford dived towards the serpent, Llandeilo flew up and perched on the roof of a building close by. Jack was rubbing the little dragon’s neck. Even from a distance, Jonah could see he was grinning with excitement.

Mouth open, Ffyrnig crashed against the hatchling’s leathery body and bit down on the side of its head. Jormungandr’s Child screamed with fury, while Mordiford fastened his fangs in the back of its neck. Beating their wings and scrabbling with their huge talons to keep a foothold, they clung on while the serpent writhed to dislodge them, desperately trying to scrape them against the Embankment’s rails. Dark, greenish blood was pouring from its head and neck, as the two dragons ripped at its flesh.

Suddenly, it threw up a great coil of its middle region, banging Mordiford against the steps up to the theatre, and knocking the breath out of his lungs. Sam, harnessed in the webbing cage, was thrown hard against the wall. Blood started running down Mordiford’s side from a long wound where the edge of a step had gashed him. He seemed stunned and was staggering about, as he tried to pull himself together. The monster’s head whipped round but before it could fasten its mouth on the wyvern, Llandeilo zoomed down and raked his talons across the serpent’s eyes.

As it shrieked and waved its head manically from side to side, Mordiford took a deep breath, pushed himself off the pavement and floundered up into the air above the Globe. Immediately, Ffyrnig, who had noticed a riverside park nearby, left the hatchling and flew slowly beside Mordiford, showing him where he could land. Mordiford sank heavily on to the grass with heaving sides, as Ffyrnig
stood looking at him with concern.

Mordiford turned slowly to look at his side. ‘It’s not as bad as it looks, Wales. That blighter just knocked the stuffing out of me, that’s all. Look, I’m hardly bleeding at all now. That’ll soon heal.’ He turned to grin back at Sam, who had removed his safety helmet and was mopping his face and neck with a bandana. He smiled weakly at the dragons and at Jonah, who was looking down anxiously from Ffyrnig’s back.

‘Don’t worry. I just got winded when the serpent slammed us against the wall. No great harm done.’ He replaced his helmet. ‘Well, shall we get back to the fight?’

The air reverberated with the shrieks of the other drakes as they wheeled around the theatre, taking turns to dive down and attack the monster. Ffyrnig suddenly swung round, his eyes half closed, as he inclined his head in the direction of the theatre.

‘What’s he doing?’ Sam asked Jonah.

They all stared up at the sky, watching as, one by one, a dragon would hover above the Globe and then hurtle down again. The hubbub was deafening. Above the roars of the drakes, there was the piercing whistling hiss of Jormungandr’s Child. Ffyrnig and Mordiford were listening intently.

‘There!’ Mordiford rumbled. ‘Hear that, Wales? Is that what I think it is?’

Ffyrnig nodded his great red head in excitement. ‘I think so. Yes.’

‘What? What?’ Jonah was bouncing with suspense.

Sam screwed up his forehead, as he stared from one to the other. ‘Jonah, what’s exciting them?’

Ffyrnig raised a foreleg. ‘Jonah, listen. Can you hear that?’

There was a shuffling, scraping sound, as if huge sacks
were being dragged slowly across tarmac. Jonah turned to Sam and began to grin.

‘I think they’ve done it! The hatchling is on the move.’ He scrabbled round and stared up at the sky, watching the drakes flying low towards the river and back to the theatre again. ‘Yeah, that’s what it is! Let’s go and help,’ he said to Ffyrnig. ‘Mordiford, are you staying here? Have a bit of a rest, eh? You’ve done your bit.’

Mordiford nodded slowly, his yellow eyes half closed. ‘I think I will,’ he said. ‘I shall be in the way if I can’t manoeuvre quickly enough.’

‘Sam,’ Jonah said, ‘Mordiford’s going to rest for a while. Do you want to ride with Ffyrnig?’

The captain looked eagerly at the Great Dragon but then shook his head. ‘I’ll stay with Mordiford,’ he said and gave the wyvern’s shoulder a sympathetic rub. ‘Let us know when it’s all over.’

Quickly, Jonah scrambled up Ffyrnig’s foreleg and buckled himself into the cage. Ffyrnig, tail held as high as possible, backed across the gardens as far as he could go.

‘I don’t like this, Jonah. There’s not much room for takeoff. Oh, well, Here goes!’ He filled his enormous lungs with air, raised his body and tensed his legs. Then, with a thunderous sound that made Jonah’s head ring, he plunged across the grass towards the river, ploughing through the trees and straight across the road that divided the gardens. Jonah ducked and pulled down his visor, as branches slashed at his head. For one heart-stopping moment, he thought the Great Dragon would not get airborne, but then he felt Ffyrnig leap and he gasped as the cold rush of air blew round his neck. The tremendous wings beat above his head, he saw water rippling just below Ffyrnig’s body and then they were out over the Thames. Ffyrnig turned to the east, beating his wings with
all his might and slowly, laboriously, they rose into the air. Jonah felt Ffyrnig’s side heave and then there was a loud rumbling as the Great Dragon began to laugh with relief.

‘Yes!’ Jonah looked down towards Shakespeare’s Globe and shouted with excitement, as he saw that the other dragons really had driven Jormungandr’s Child closer to the railings in front of the theatre. As he peered this way and that between the wheeling dragons to look at the Embankment below, he could see that there was a yawning gap in the railings where a section had collapsed under the hatchling’s weight. A part of the wall in front of the theatre had crumpled, too. Then he couldn’t see any more because Ffyrnig flew downriver to give himself time to gain height and put airpower beneath his wings.

Once they were high above the City, Ffyrnig relaxed and was able to fly normally. Relieved, he wheeled round to go back to the attack and Jonah could see what was happening. Below them, there were crowds of people massed at the police barriers, their faces turned up to stare at the flying dragons. Jonah swivelled round as far as he could, within the safety straps, staring out over the river and the London rooftops. Where was Saint Michael? Why hadn’t the angels come?

The dragons took it in turns to harry the serpent, as it slithered along the walkway in front of the theatre. Its body was slashed and torn, and it left a trail of dark blood on the pavement. As the dragons screamed overhead, it kept rearing up, gurgling wetly in its huge throat, as it turned from side to side, trying to grab one of its tormentors in its gaping jaws. Ffyrnig hovered, waiting for a signal from one of the other drakes that he should drop down. For a few moments, all the dragons had soared out of reach as the monster lunged, desperately trying to grab one of them out of the air. Then the Brinsop Wyrm tried something new: he
landed on the pavement in front of the hatchling, groaning, and pretended to be wounded. He was thrashing his tail from side to side, while his rider, Henry, struggled to stay upright, as he was thrown about. Eagerly, the sea serpent hauled its monstrous body towards Brinsop, who inched along the pavement ahead of it, wailing and hissing, trying to lure the creature into the Thames, while the other dragons whirled overhead.

The Deerhurst Wyrm, who was finding it difficult to keep his long, snakelike body hovering in one place, needed to relieve the strain and glided a little lower. As he flew over the hatchling, it caught a trace of his odour and suddenly reared up, snatching at him with its monstrous mouth and, as its jaws found Deerhurst’s side, it bit down hard, catching the webbing cage and snagging the safety harness on one of its fangs. Ollie threw himself sideways and, as he did so, one of his long harness cords ran across the creature’s tongue. It snapped its jaws shut, pulling back on the harness and furiously shaking its head to get rid of the fabric in its mouth. Roaring with anger and rearing backwards in a frenzy to rid itself of the webbing caught round its teeth, it dragged Ollie hard against the cage. The webbing bands were cutting into his face, neck and chest, and he was struggling to breathe, as the monster worried at the harness. Deerhurst, terrified of injuring his rider, was battling to hover just above the hatchling, occasionally having to touch his tail down on the pavement to bounce himself up in the air again.

Jonah could see that other riders were staring in horror. Because they could not talk to the dragons, they could do nothing to help. All the dragons, on the other hand, were looking at him to see what to do. He knew he did not have the time to work out a plan, and make the drakes and soldiers understand it. He took off his helmet and unfastened
his harness.

‘Ffyrnig,’ he shouted desperately. ‘Set me down.’

Ffyrnig turned to look at him anxiously. ‘But, Jonah—’

‘It’s all right, Ffyrnig. Just put me down! Quick!’

Ffyrnig sighed but obediently swirled towards the walkway, while Jonah, with fingers that were suddenly all clumsy, frantically tried to unbuckle his safety harness. As the Great Dragon alighted on the pavement, Jonah freed himself, slid down Ffyrnig’s foreleg and ran towards the hatchling. When he was a few yards away, he stopped and looked round wildly for something he could use to defend himself. He knew that he had to wound the serpent first, so that it got flustered, or it would attack before he had time to help Ollie get free from his harness. The crumbling wall of the Globe caught his attention. Perhaps he could throw bricks at the monster. But he realised that if he did, it might rear back, tightening the webbing and crushing Ollie’s chest.

His running steps brought the serpent’s head round. For a few seconds it stopped worrying at the harness in its teeth to search for the source of the noise. It peered about and then one beady eye caught sight of Jonah. For a heart-stopping moment, boy and sea serpent stared at each other. Then the hatchling hissed in anger and shot its head towards Jonah, stretching its terrible mouth. All he could see before him was a fleshy tunnel edged by dripping fangs. Ollie’s harness was caught around one of the huge teeth in its lower jaw. The serpent’s every movement forced Ollie against the webbing, which cut into his chest, and pulled the harness so tight that it threatened to crack his ribs. The hatchling’s gaping throat gave Jonah an idea.

He backed off and ran to the ruined wall, bending low
to keep clear of Deerhurst’s beating wings. He was searching frantically for something sharp, when Isaac, who was the Stinchcombe firedrake’s rider, was suddenly beside him.

‘Come on, let’s take the biggest piece of stone we can carry,’ Isaac urged. Together they heaved up a jagged block from the top of the theatre wall and then, carrying it awkwardly between them, they staggered towards the serpent. They glanced at each other and took a firm hold on the heavy chunk. Then they each took a deep breath and Isaac yelled, ‘Swing it back, Jonah. Ready. Steady. Now!’

And just as they heaved the stone up, the serpent shot its head forward, its wet mouth gaping, striving to clamp its jaws on one of them. With all their might they swung the block of stone straight towards the back of its throat. There was a second’s stillness while Jonah, Isaac and Jormungandr’s Child stared at each other. For that terrible moment, Jonah thought that the stone was going to slide down the creature’s throat with no effect. Then the hatchling twisted its neck uneasily, and its throat began to ripple. Streams of foul saliva ran from its jaws and splattered their feet, while it moaned and thrashed its head from side to side, repeatedly jerking Ollie’s webbing. They could see that the soldier was in agony.

Gently, his wings spread wide, the Deerhurst Wyrm lowered himself on to the walkway, getting Ollie’s cage as close to the monster’s head as possible. He was facing it, ready to bite down on its back if it started to pull away.

‘Can you climb up, Jonah?’

Jonah looked up frantically at the webbing cage, which was being tugged over to one side as the hatchling struggled to cough up the lump of stone. Ollie was pulled up hard against the serpent’s side, breathing in shallow little gasps. Deerhurst pressed himself hard against the
serpent to help Ollie as much as possible but that left no space for Jonah to edge between the serpent and the dragon. He turned to run along the pavement on Deerhurst’s other side but the Wyrm had landed on the riverside of the walkway, at the very edge, completely covering the pavement above the water.

‘No, Jonah, this way.’

Isaac was beckoning from what was left of the Globe’s brick wall. Jonah ran to him but, before the soldier could pull him on to the parapet, a shout and the sudden rush of beating wings made him look up. Newland and Bromfield were hovering above his head, so that Max and Toby could lower themselves on ropes towards Deerhurst’s back. Even though it was flinging its head about and retching, the sea serpent became aware of the new smell, as the two soldiers swung downwards. It gave a rasping hiss that reverberated around the buildings along the Thames and suddenly lunged upwards to bite at Toby, who was nearest. It missed and screamed in fury, spraying the pavement and walls nearby with its saliva.

Instinctively, Jonah leaped back to avoid the sticky slobber and dashed back along the walkway to get out of the creature’s reach. Isaac was scrambling along the ruined wall, trying to reach Ollie without the hatchling scenting him. Jonah saw that Bromfield and Newland had flown higher, taking Toby and Max well above the creature’s head. But Ollie, his cheek and chest pulled tight against the webbing as the creature reared back, was not moving at all. Jonah was frantically trying to think what he could do. Even though the monster was choking and spluttering on the stone, it would still attack anyone it could reach, but they had to make it move forward, so that the webbing wasn’t pulled so tight. Ollie might be dying. He had to try to do something to help and he could only think of one
thing.

Yelling as hard as he could, Jonah pounded towards Jormungandr’s Child and skidded to a stop just before he ran into the puddles of drool. The serpent bellowed and snapped at him, ropes of spittle dangling from its jaws. Jonah backed off a bit, dancing and shouting, luring the creature on. Laboriously, but still frighteningly fast, coughing and roaring, it hoisted its monstrous length towards him. Jonah jumped around, screaming at it, all the while glancing down at his feet. If he slipped and fell now, the hatchling would be upon him instantly; there would be no time to pick himself up.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Isaac jump from the wall, well behind the monster’s head, just as Toby and Max lowered themselves on to Deerhurst’s back. Jonah capered about, shouting and teasing the serpent, until the soldiers had cut Ollie free and secured his safety harness to Toby’s rope. Then Toby put his arms around Ollie and the two dragons gently flew higher, lifting the men away from danger. Deerhurst took a great breath of air and flung himself into the Thames. He beat down with his great wings, driving himself through the water, and then his serpentine body rose into the air, as if he were an enormous swan. With relief, Jonah turned to run but, just at that moment, the hatchling coughed and sprayed a great curtain of spittle all over the walkway and over Jonah. As he flung up his hands, clawing at the foul-tasting gooey mess on his face, he felt his feet slide in two different directions, wobbled backwards with his arms flailing and crashed down on to the pavement. The breath was knocked out of his body. He couldn’t move.

For a second, the world seemed to stop. He waited for the monstrous jaws to clamp on his body and swallow him down. The serpent’s screams pounded his eardrums but
then he realised the creature had not come any closer. He became vaguely aware of an uproar in the sky above him and the rush of air from beating wings. Painfully, he lifted himself up on his elbows and turned to look. Six enraged dragons were diving on the hatchling, ripping and tearing at its hide, then wheeling around to dive on it again. Little Llandeilo swooped in front of its flailing head, slashing at its eyes with his wicked claws while the others mauled its back repeatedly. The troopers were yelling encouragement.

Groaning, Jonah pushed himself into a kneeling position and, holding his side to ease the pain, staggered to his feet. Suddenly, the blue-green Stinchcombe drake thrust down his rear legs and landed on the hatchling’s back, digging in his talons and beating his wings hard to keep himself upright. He bit viciously into the back of the serpent’s head. Isaac was yelling encouragement at the top of his voice. The hatchling screamed and shook itself violently to try to get rid of Stinchcombe, whose claws were jabbing into its flesh. Quivers ran along the huge length of its body and then, quite suddenly, it gave up and lurched towards the river, maddened by pain. It dragged itself over the broken railings towards the water, while the dragons drove it on.

As the serpent’s head slipped beneath the Thames, the Stinchcombe drake leaped away from its back and soared into the air. There was a wild roar of jubilation from above. The troopers and the dragons were ecstatic. As the rest of its body slid into the river, the monster’s blood turned the water a dirty greenish-brown. Stinchcombe swept down to the cobbles again while Isaac came pounding along the pavement.

‘Jonah! Are you all right, son?’

Jonah gave a huge smile, clutching his side. ‘I’m fine. I think I’ll have some whopping bruises but I don’t care, so
long as that thing’s gone!’

Isaac whooped. ‘It’s gone OK. You were brilliant, son! That took a lot of grit.’

Stinchcombe nodded his shining greenish head approvingly. ‘If you had not been so quick-witted, Master, Deerhurst’s rider might well have been killed.’

Jonah felt his cheeks going red. ‘Thanks. But you were all fantastic.’ He turned to Isaac. ‘Is Ollie going to be all right?’

‘I think so, yes,’ Isaac said. ‘Max’s dragon took him to where the barriers have been set up. They had ambulances already waiting. Listen. You can hear the cheers.’

Llandeilo, with Jack on his back, was now perched at the top of the steps leading up to the theatre. Newland, Brinsop and Bromyard were flying up and down the river, revelling in the shouts and cheers of the crowds who had massed at the barriers.

‘If Ollie were seriously hurt,’ Isaac said kindly to Jonah, ‘I doubt that people would sound like that.’

Ffyrnig, who had put his great body down, very carefully, on to the walkway, opened his mouth in his familiar spike-toothed smile.

‘I think that went rather well, Jonah,’ he remarked.

Jonah hobbled over to the Great Dragon and grinned up at him.

‘We’ve done it, Ffyrnig!’ He felt himself bubbling with excitement. ‘We’ve driven it into the Thames. It won’t come back, will it?’

Ffyrnig stretched luxuriously so that the red-bronze scales rippled from his shoulders to his tail, glinting in the early evening sunlight.

‘I haven’t flown like that for – oh, hundreds of years. It
was
good to be back in an air battle again.’

‘Look at the sun on him,’ Jonah heard Jack say to Isaac.
‘Magnificent or what? No wonder they made him the symbol of Wales.’

Jonah translated and Ffyrnig shut his eyes with pleasure. Then he turned to Jonah. ‘Sorry, Jonah. You were saying…?’

‘I just wanted to know if you thought the hatchling might come back. After all, we didn’t actually destroy it.’

‘No, but it is badly hurt. I expect it will seek its lair in the ocean depths, far away from Britain. I don’t think it will surface here again for many years. I wonder what evil prompted it to swim up the Thames? There must be more devilry waking in the world than we thought.’ Ffyrnig swung round to look at Jonah. ‘And, Jonah, Jormungandr will have other hatchlings. Britain might not be safe from the Serpent, yet.’