Jonah and the Last Great Dragon (6 page)

The dragons were all ready to take to the air again. Deerhurst, now without a rider, had come back after Ollie had been taken to the hospital.

‘Right,’ Sam had said to the soldiers. ‘I think we had better go to Hyde Park, don’t you, and hope that there’s something for the dragons to fuel up on before we do anything else.’ He was relieved that Mordiford could get airborne. The wyvern was still in some pain from the nasty gash in his side but had told Jonah he was quite able to get to Hyde Park, thank you.

‘Do you honestly think a wyvern fusses over a little bit of blood? Eh, Master, eh?’ he growled, when Jonah asked if he was well enough to go on to Westminster. Then he half lowered an eyelid and made Jonah laugh. He had not realised that a dragon could wink.

Jonah was hoping desperately that Saint Michael would be at the park or that there would be a message to tell him where the dragons were needed next. ‘I can’t understand it. Mike said the Night Creatures were all over St Paul’s.’

‘Maybe those wolf things arrived and drove them off?’

Jonah considered this. ‘No, I don’t think so,’ he replied slowly. ‘The wolves and the Creatures are all demons. They’re on the same side. I don’t like it, Sam. I feel as if something’s gone very wrong,’ he added, chewing his lip.

Sam told him not to worry. ‘If we go down the river as far as the Houses of Parliament, we can fly right over the Abbey –
and
Westminster Cathedral – on our way to the park,’ he said. ‘We’ll be able to get a clearer picture of just
what’s happening and where the Night Creatures are.’

Jonah was still frowning. ‘But where
are
the angels?’

Sam squeezed his shoulder. ‘If the demons are spreading through London, they will have enough to do. I expect Saint Michael realised the dragons could cope with the sea serpent and just left us to get on with it.’

‘Yeah,’ Jonah sighed, ‘I s’pose that’s it.’

He kept telling himself that some of the most resourceful soldiers in the world were working with him and the dragons, but he still could not help feeling on edge. He knew the dragons’ firepower could wipe out the majority of the Night Creatures but how would they deal with the ones that got away to hide? In Hereford, lots of the creatures had fled into little lanes and alleys, places where the dragons could not follow them. It had needed the angels to hunt them down. It would be much harder to hunt out the toxic little horrors in a huge city like London. He felt a worm of anxiety gnawing away in his stomach as the troopers mounted their drakes. He might be making a bad decision in going to Hyde Park first. Perhaps they should seriously start looking for the angels before they decided when the dragons should be fed.

‘Maybe,’ he began tentatively, ‘we should do a bit of – oh, what d’you call it – rec – rec – something?’

‘Reconnaisance?’

‘Yeah. Reconnaisance. Do we pass over Westminster on our way to Hyde Park?’

‘We do, yes.’

Well, as we take the dragons to the park, couldn’t we fly low over the Abbey and look around a bit to see if we can locate Saint Michael? The angels might be up against more demons than we thought.’

Sam bit his lip in thought. ‘It’s your call, Jonah. This is your show. But, personally, I should feel inclined to give
the dragons a bit of a rest before they start the next phase. They have had a long flight to London and a pretty energetic fight with the serpent, and the next battle we get into could go on for hours.’

Jonah blew a long breath. ‘Let’s go straight to Hyde Park then.’

It was not easy taking off from the path beside the Thames. It had been difficult for the larger dragons to find enough room to spread their wings properly in such a narrow space. They had to take it in turns to pound along the pavement like gigantic geese before floundering into the air, and the bigger dragons had been visibly relieved when their huge wing beats had lifted them up and out over the water.

Ffyrnig was last to go and Jonah’s heart was in his mouth, wondering whether he would have space to lift off. When they had flown along the Thames, Jonah had noticed that small trees were planted in parts of the walkway near the Tate Modern art gallery. If Ffyrnig didn’t manage to take off before he reached Tate Modern, he would run out of space. He would have to turn round and try going in the other direction and, given Ffyrnig’s huge bulk, manoeuvring himself round wouldn’t be easy, Jonah thought, as he hung on grimly. As the Great Dragon thundered along the pavement, the other dragons swooped above him, screaming encouragement.

‘Come on, Ffyrnig. You can do it!’

‘Give it a bit of firepower, Red!’

‘Get on with it, Wales. Can’t fly about here all day.’ That was Mordiford.

With a massive effort, the Great Dragon pushed himself off the ground and punched up through the air, until his outspread wings could relax on the cushioning wind. The other dragons streamed into their flying order and the nine
set off towards Westminster Bridge. Jonah looked around with relief and laughed to see all the troopers giving the thumbs-up sign. Mordiford was on one side of Ffyrnig and Deerhurst, riderless, was on the other side of the Great Dragon, so that Jonah could tell him directly what to do. The Brinsop Wyrm, with Henry riding him, had taken Deerhurst’s place at the rear.

Jonah began to relax. The SAS troopers and the dragons were turning into a wonderful team, he thought. Somehow they seemed to understand each other’s intentions. Look how quickly Newland and Bromfield had reacted, when their riders stood up and began letting down their harnesses to try to reach Ollie. The dragons were amazing!

Sam had suggested that when they reached the Houses of Parliament they should take a good look to see whether the demons had already infested them. Peering down from the dragons’ backs, the soldiers scanned the buildings and courtyards with field glasses.

‘This is weird,’ Jonah said to Ffyrnig. ‘There’s nobody here. I can’t see any demons, let alone Members of Parliament.’

Mordiford drew closer. ‘Shall we take a look?’ Sam shouted. ‘Or do the dragons need to eat straightaway?’

Ffyrnig was sure the dragons could all go a bit longer without a meal, so the two gargouilles quickly leaped down to the roofs and scoured the pinnacles and arches. Jonah watched Llandeilo and Bromfield as they hopped around, searching for anything that moved. But there was nothing. The Members of Parliament seemed to have gone. The courtyards were empty; the roof areas clear even of pigeons. They could see that nothing moved in Parliament Square and there was nobody at the barriers placed at the entrance to Westminster Bridge, unless you counted a number of fire engines parked along the road. It was
impossible to see if there were firemen manning them. Jonah couldn’t understand what had happened.

The SAS troopers exchanged puzzled looks. Surely, if the demons had not been seen here yet, there would have been people at the barrier and looking out of windows? And if the Night Creatures
had
appeared, what had happened to them? Had the angels won the battle, then? Had the demons been driven away already?

Jack and Toby, on the roof of the House of Lords, waved to the riders swirling above them and signalled that the patrol should fly on. They scrambled onto their gargouilles and, as the dragons moved into flying order again, higher in the air, the squadron of drakes turned towards Hyde Park. As they flew over Westminster Abbey, everyone became aware of a curious buzzing noise. The troopers exchanged inquiring looks but Jonah knew at once what the noise was. He had heard it before, in Hereford.

Jonah turned in his webbing cage, put up his visor and cupped his hands to his mouth. ‘Night Creatures!’ he shouted.

He saw that the men were all gazing down with horrified expressions. Jonah looked down too, to see what they were staring at. The roofs and grounds of Westminster Abbey were heaving with bodies. Demons danced and cavorted, chasing each other out into the road or up the drainpipes. Jonah caught a glimpse of a strange, grey lion sniffing the grass by the railings and guessed that the demons had made good use of the abbey’s carvings. He thought he could hear screams coming from inside the building but couldn’t be sure, because the sound of the dragons’ wings and the rushing air were loud in his ears.

Beyond the Abbey, in Victoria Street and all the side roads, was a horde of Night Creatures, spreading out through Westminster and Victoria. Jonah had never imagined anything as terrible as the actual scene below them. As far as the eye could see, the demons hopped and skittered on the roofs, and ran about wildly in the streets, searching happily for more victims. Outside a large department store, several big gargoyles were closing in on a group of policemen and a few yards away, a couple of soldiers were yelling and kicking as two massive horned apes dragged them across the road.

There was carnage. There were abandoned Army vehicles and police cars strewn over the highway, and more bodies, several of them in Army and police uniforms,
were lying in the road and on the pavements. Some people were struggling to move, but many others were lying perfectly still and seemed as though they might already have died. Jonah looked round in horror at Sam, who managed to make him understand that they should spread out to search. Jonah pulled himself upright and planted his feet firmly on Ffyrnig’s rolling back.

‘Spread out,’ he yelled at the dragons, throwing his arms wide. ‘Look for the angels.’

To make sure that all the dragons had heard, Ffyrnig bellowed the order to Mordiford and Brinsop, who passed it back. There came an answering roar of enthusiasm and billows of smoke. The dragons were literally fired up to attack. They circled out over the Thames, arranged themselves again in a V-shaped flight formation, sucked in their breaths and then swooped downwards. They moved apart, spreading out over Westminster, flying low above the roofs as their eyes raked the buildings and back streets. There were a lot of people running away from the area. When they caught sight of the wheeling dragons, they screamed, and scrambled to huddle against shop windows and in doorways.

Ffyrnig passed slowly above Victoria Street until he reached the railway station. Just then, a cloud of dazzling light shimmered and crackled in front of them and Saint Michael appeared by the Great Dragon’s back. As the other drakes caught sight of the golden silhouette glimmering in the air, they drew closer, while the Archangel gravely acknowledged the soldiers.

‘I am so sorry,’ he said, ‘that you couldn’t find us. We have great problems here. The Night Creatures are swarming up to the surface faster than we can deal with them. I daren’t leave the fight to come to the river but I felt confident that the dragons could deal with the serpent.’

‘Yes, they did. They were amazing.’ Jonah said. ‘But why weren’t there any Night Creatures at St Paul’s? Had you driven them off?’

Saint Michael shook his head. ‘No. I don’t really know what happened! They suddenly left the Cathedral and, in the next moment, the Abbey and Westminster Cathedral were swarming with them. It’s my guess that the demons couldn’t find enough people round St Paul’s to amuse themselves with but, of course, the streets in this area are always busy. What with shops, the railway station and all those restaurants, the Night Creatures are finding masses of victims.’

‘And there are all the carvings on the churches to use, and even on the Houses of Parliament!’

‘You’re right. Now, there is no time to waste. We angels will deal with the churches while the dragons try to clean up the rest of the district. Are you all ready?’

Jonah looked down at the terrible scenes below them and knew they could not wait another minute. He wished there weren’t any human beings in the streets but, if they concentrated firepower on the roofs, he hoped it would be all right. He pulled down the visor on his fireproof helmet and the troopers adjusted theirs.

‘Very well. I must go.’ The Archangel moved away from Ffyrnig, drew his sword and plunged towards the Abbey.

Jonah signalled to Sam, “Go in now?” and swivelled in his harness to see what the captain wanted the dragons to do. Sam stood up on Mordiford’s back, drawing clear, concise signals with both hands. Pointing round at the rooftops, Sam showed that they should concentrate on clearing the demons off the roofs. They couldn’t pour flames over the Night Creatures in the streets; there were too many people around.

He thumped Ffyrnig’s shoulder. ‘We’re going to knock
them off the roofs. Tell the others.’

Ffyrnig bellowed to the Mordiford Wyvern, and the word passed back down the dragon line. They soared high into the air above Westminster and got into flying formation. Jonah looked round to see that everyone was in place and ready.

‘Go!’ he yelled, and the drakes drew in their breath, swooped down towards the streets of Victoria and hurled a gigantic sheet of fire across the rooftops. They just had time to hear the shrieks and see, through the smoke and flames, ugly, grey bodies falling to the ground. Then, as they whirled above Victoria Street, Jonah caught sight of a priest, wearing a long black hooded robe, hurrying across the open space in front of Westminster Cathedral. There were a couple of big dogs slinking after him. It seemed odd that a priest would have dogs with him in the middle of London. He peered down but the man disappeared round the corner of the cathedral. Suddenly a terrible idea struck him: could it be that the Wolfmaster was hunting for him again?

He was so shaken that he was only vaguely aware of Sam throwing his arms wide.

‘We’re doing the roofs again,’ Jonah shouted to Ffyrnig, who hurtled upwards and circled, leading the other drakes, and getting ready to dive again. Once more, the dragons fell upon the Night Creatures, sweeping over the streets and scorching the roofs with great waves of flame. Jonah, breathing hard, gripped the webbing between Ffyrnig’s massive shoulders and clung on for dear life, as the Great Dragon swooped over the tightly packed buildings. As the dragons poured fire across the tiles, gargoyles ran, shrieking, until their grotesque bodies blackened and burned. Abandoned carcasses lay on the tiles or tumbled to the ground.

Still thinking about the robed figure, Jonah became aware that Sam’s whistle was blowing to get his attention. He looked over his shoulder and saw Sam gesticulating at a narrow lane that turned off Victoria Street at an angle.

Jonah screwed up his forehead.
What is it?

Urgently, Sam pointed again and Jonah, swivelling in his harness, gasped as he saw smoke and flames billowing above the roofline behind him. The small street was ablaze. Flames, pouring through cracked windows and blackened doorframes, leaped from building to building. In the warm, dry weather, the onslaught from the dragons had been too much, for the old timbers. Rapidly the fire was growing out of control.

Jonah could feel a rush of panic rising in his chest. He stared at Sam, while his body seemed to freeze. For a moment he felt quite unable to move.

Up
, Sam’s pointed finger thrust skywards,
fly up
.

Trying to pull himself together, Jonah thumped Ffyrnig.
‘We’ve
started a fire. We must draw off.’

With great strokes of their leathery wings, the nine dragons rose into the sky, and flew in circles, looking down at Westminster. Plumes of smoke were rising into the air and flames were running from office to office, from apartment buildings to shops. Here and there, people came running out, jumping over the carcasses of broken gargoyles and weaving around the overturned vehicles. Sam was staring over his shoulder towards Westminster Bridge, obviously straining to listen for something. Then his face relaxed slightly and Jonah heard the sound of sirens wailing. There had been firemen on board the engines after all but, as he gazed down at Westminster burning, Jonah didn’t get much comfort from knowing the fire engines were on their way.

He felt sick with misery and guilt; it was his fault that
the fire had started. Why hadn’t he worked it out properly? The terrible mistake they had made was all down to him.
He
was the one who knew that Ffyrnig had almost melted the lead tiles on Hereford Cathedral. The SAS soldiers had never actually seen how powerful dragon breath could be. He knew he shouldn’t have led an attack with all nine dragons in one area. They should have been much further apart before they flamed the roofs. Why on earth hadn’t he started the fire-strike with just one, or at the most, two dragons, and found out how much heat the old buildings would stand. If that had worked safely then, one by one, more drakes could have joined in.

He heard Sam shout and, flushing with shame, turned to see the captain cup his hands round his mouth.

‘Hyde Park,’ Sam shouted. ‘Let’s go to Hyde Park, Jonah. Watch me and I’ll point out the way.’

Miserably, Jonah thumped Ffyrnig’s shoulder and relayed the message. He wished he was anywhere but flying on a dragon above London, as Victoria burned.