Authors: Gill Vickery
The Ruby Quest
To Patrick, the newest DragonChild
Chapter Three: The Horsemaster and the Headwoman
Chapter Six: Bronze Horse, Jade Dragon
Chapter Eight: The Battle of Alda Valley
The High Witches stole the DragonQueen's jewels of power and drove the mighty beasts away. In revenge, a dragon kidnapped the youngest witch's child. Raised by dragons and tormented for being a âwitch-brat', Tia sets out to prove herself a true DragonChild by retrieving the jewels. She is helped by her DragonBrother, Finn, and the jackdaw Loki. Finn can blend invisibly into any background.
Tia has the emerald, which grants the power to talk to animals, the opal, which lets its owner change shape, the topaz, which controls the weather and the sapphire, which can transport the holder anywhere in the blink of an eye.
Finn safeguards the jewels, except for the emerald, which Tia keeps with her so that she can talk to Loki. By accident she made the sapphire take her to Askarlend, ruled by High Witch Hyldi. Hyldi has the ruby, which enables her to stop time.
Tia is alone. Hyldi knows a thief is coming for her jewel. Tia is in greater danger than ever before.
Stop Thief!
As the sun rose over the town of Askarlend everything changed. Light spilling from windows and doors faded and noisy music fell silent. Tia crept through quiet streets lit by faint morning light and an eerie red glow from the ring of volcanoes surrounding the town.
It's like being the only person alive
, she thought.
She hurried down sprawling lanes towards the castle that spread untidily over a low hill in the centre of the town. She had to get into the castle somehow and find where the High Witch Hyldi kept the magic ruby that gave her the power to stop time.
She turned a corner and found herself face to face with a group of people wearing brightly coloured caps and carrying brushes and buckets.
âHey!' A woman pointed at her. âIsn't that the thief girl, Nadya â the one Lady Hyldi's offering a reward for?'
âA reward!' The man next to her dropped his bucket with a clatter and started to push his way through the group towards Tia.
âI saw her first!' The woman tripped the man up with her broom. He fell against her, she bumped into another man and the whole group tumbled down like ninepins.
Tia ran. She couldn't believe she'd been recognised so easily. It was lucky that the people who'd spotted her had been too busy fighting among themselves to stop and catch her. Other people would be cleverer. She had to find a way to make herself less conspicuous before anyone else recognised her.
When she'd left the bumbling group safely behind, she slowed to a walk.
More people wearing the distinctive caps were clearing up the town. There was a lot to tidy away. The night revellers had trailed rubbish and mess everywhere and the sweepers had to work hard collecting all the litter before brushing the flagstones then swabbing them down.
Tia kept to the shadows and planned what to do next. Her DragonBrother, Finn, and her friend,
Loki the jackdaw, didn't know where she was. She'd accidentally used High Witch Skadi's magic sapphire and it had brought her to Askarlend town. It was lonely without Finn and Loki but until they found her she would have to make her own way. She set her mouth in a determined line and headed towards the castle.
In the squares and open spaces of the town people had begun setting up stalls and arranging goods. They chatted and called to one another, taking no notice of Tia as she strolled past, making sure she looked as casual as them.
The castle was a gigantic, sprawling, ugly building, with gaudy pots hung all over the walls. Under the pots, smears of dirty ash streaked with bright colour trailed down the stone. Tia was surprised to see that the colourful splashes glimmered faintly with magic. Servants, scampering up and down ladders, were filling the pots with vividly coloured fire-rock that also sparkled with magic. That must be what lit up the castle at night â magic flashing through the darkness.
Tia pulled up the collar of her jacket to cover as much of her face as possible and walked up to the castle's iron-studded gate, trying to seem confident. The open gate had a poster nailed to it.
To her horror she saw that the poster showed a picture of her face.
Six hundred marks â that was even more than High Witch Skadi had offered in the town of Iserborg. No wonder people were keen to catch her.
She pulled her collar higher still and strode through the gate, her heart beating fast. Once inside, she kept to the shadows under the walls. Even so, a man walking by stared at her, paused and said, âYou â wait!'
Tia knew what he wanted. The six hundred mark reward for her capture. She hurtled through the bustling courtyard, scattering hens and setting a dog barking. She swerved to avoid his gnashing teeth and ran straight into a line of washing. The more she twisted and turned and tugged at the damp clothes, the more she got entangled.
âWhat are you doing, girl?' A tall, strong woman grabbed her in one hand and started to unwind the washing with the other. Tia wriggled furiously.
âKeep still, you're dragging the clothes in the dirt!' The woman shook Tia and the clothes line fell to the ground. She squirmed out of the woman's grasp, grabbed a green cap from the washing and pelted away, cramming the cap over her hair as she ran. At least that would make her look like a proper Askarlian worker.
She darted inside a large wooden stable built against the castle walls. It was cool and shady and smelled of hay. Rows of empty stalls ran down one side, with a big box-stall at one end. The top half of its door was barred and, staring through the bars as though she'd like to bite Tia very hard, was a furious-looking horse.
Despite its flattened ears and swishing tail, the horse was beautiful, with its golden hide and creamy
mane and tail. Tia longed to stroke its velvety nose. She went closer. The horse snaked its head at her.
âAnother human come to annoy me,' the horse said, swirling her tail angrily and showing the whites of her eyes.
âI wouldn't do that,' Tia said.
The horse stamped and backed up a little. âYou can talk to me! You're a witch! Has that High Witch Hyldi sent you?'
âNo!' Tia said indignantly. âI'm only a hedge witch, that's why I can understand you.'
That was a lie. She kept the magic emerald that enabled her to talk to animals and birds tucked under her shirt, on a chain round her neck.
She risked going a bit closer to the bars. âI know about horses because the Traders taught me. My special friend was a grey called Fari. I learned to ride on him.'
The golden mare eyed Tia warily. âYou don't look like a Trader, even though you're wearing Trader clothes.'
âThe Traders found me abandoned and brought me up. They called meâ¦' Tia thought quickly. She didn't want to be known by her false name of Nadya; that was on the posters. ââ¦Sura,' she decided. âWhat's your name?'
âYufa.' The mare tossed her head.
Tia rummaged through her pockets and found an apple she'd bought in Iserborg. She offered it to the horse. âWould you like this?'
âI might,' the mare said.
Tia carefully opened the door and held out the apple. Yufa, still eyeing Tia suspiciously, reached forward and took the fruit with soft lips.
Tia patted the horse's neck. âWhy are you so angry?'
Yufa stamped again and shook her mane. âMy rider, Shandor, brought me to Askarlend to run in the races. When the High Witch saw me she wanted me for herself. Shandor refused. She took him away and brought me here.'
âWhere's Shandor now?' Tia asked.
âI don't know,' Yufa said sadly. âWill you find him for me?'
Helping Yufa would make Tia's task of stealing the ruby much harder and more dangerous. She was going to refuse but the little mare looked so lost without her rider that she couldn't. Tia knew all about feeling lost. Besides, the Traders had always been kind to her. She had to help bring Shandor and Yufa together again.
âAll right, I'll try,' she said.
Yufa butted Tia gently with her nose. âThank you.'
An angry voice outside the stable doors made the mare's head jerk up again and her eyes widen in fright. âIt's her â Hyldi! Hide!' she warned Tia.
Tia quickly shut the stall door, scurried into a corner of the next stall, threw straw over herself and lay still.
The stable doors opened.
Time Bubbles
Tia peered through a gap between the wooden slats and saw two people come in. One was a big, burly man with deep creases of worry crinkling up his forehead so that his eyebrows almost met above his nose. The other person was Hyldi, the High Witch of Askarlend and Tia's fifth aunt.
Tia stared in amazement. The fearsome witch was tiny!
Hyldi strutted towards Yufa's box-stall like a bantam hen, as though swaggering would make her appear taller and more important. Her clothes were in gaudy shades of pink, yellow and purple, all mixed up together, and her fair hair was topped by a huge bun. It reminded Tia of a gigantic honey cake and she had to squash her lips together to stop herself from laughing.
Then Tia stopped laughing. The ridiculous bun was pierced by a golden comb mounted with a huge, shining red jewel. The magic ruby!
The High Witch stamped her foot like a little child. âWhy has no-one been able to tame this animal?' she shouted at the big man.
âShe's a spirited horse and misses her rider.'
âYou should beat the creature into behaving!'
The man shook his head. âBeating won't help. The Traders have a special, secret way with their horses. I'm not sure we can ever tame her.'
