Vedra and Krimon the Twin Dragons (6 page)

“I
CAN'T CONTROL MYSELF,” HE SAID.
“M
ALVEL'S
magic is too strong! I can't beat him, Elenna. I can't!”

“You have to try,” Elenna said. “I'll help you.”

“But you don't understand — What if I attack
you
?”

“You think you can take
me
?” Elenna said, arching an eyebrow. “Don't be so sure!”

Krimon was still eyeing Tom nervously, as though he could sense the evil charm. “Don't be scared, I'm better now,” Tom said, hoping that he would be able to control his rage.

“Come along,” Elenna called to the Beast. “Let's go and find your brother!”

With a snort, Krimon pushed through the open doorway and went trotting along the pathway.

Following, Tom glanced up at the sky. Half of the full moon was visible now over the holly hedges. They had so little time.

They had not been going for long before they came to a wide chasm that stretched across their path. Krimon stood at the edge, peering over to the far side.

Tom stared down into the chasm. It was very deep, and far, far below them he could see flames flickering. He knew the tokens in his shield would protect him from the fall, but that would be no help to Elenna.

“We have to get across,” he said.

“I know. But how?”

While they were still wondering what to do, the dragon took a few steps backward and then leaped across the chasm. His wings spread as he landed safely on the far side. He turned, looking back at them.

“Come back!” Tom called. “You can carry us over.”

Krimon snorted and let out a belch of flame. He clawed at the ground and turned his head, indicating that he wanted them to go with him.

“It's too far!” Elenna called. “You have to jump back and help us.”

But Krimon did not understand; he just stood there watching them with a confused expression. Tom felt tears sting his eyes. He wished that they had not left Epos and Ferno behind; the two grown Beasts could easily have carried them over the chasm on their backs.

Tom fought hard to keep down his anger. It wasn't the baby dragon's fault. But they had to get across.

A thought struck Tom. “If we had a pole, we could vault over,” he said.

“A branch from the hedge might work,” Elenna agreed eagerly.

Tom ran to the holly hedge and hacked at it with his sword. He sliced off the smaller twigs and branches from one long limb, cutting it free and dragging it onto the path. He trimmed the long branch so that it became a smooth pole twice his own height.

He tested it. It seemed flexible enough not to break. “I'll go first,” he said. “Then I'll throw it back for you.”

He lifted the pole and rested it on his shoulder, taking several steps backward, his eyes fixed firmly on the far side of the chasm. He ran forward. The pole hit the ground. It slipped a little on the snow, then held firm. He sprang into the air, twisting in midair, propelling himself forward. He hung in the air over the chasm, glancing fearfully down to see the deep gulf gaping to swallow him. He gave a final jerk of his hips, the balance shifted, and he was safe on the other side.

He threw the pole back to Elenna and she caught it easily. A few moments later she was at his side.

“Let's hope that was the last obstacle,” she said.

They walked on, but Tom quickly noticed that something was wrong with Krimon.

The Beast would falter every now and then, lifting a foreleg and rubbing at his neck with his claw, whining as if in pain. As they went on, Krimon got more and more distressed until finally, at a place where seven paths led off, he fell to the ground, tearing and scratching frantically at his neck.

“What's wrong with him?” Elenna asked.

Tom ran forward and fell to his knees beside the writhing dragon. “It must be the link to his brother,” Tom said, panic rising in him. “Something bad must be happening to Vedra.” He looked at Elenna. “Krimon is suffering the same pain!”

The dragon thrashed about on the ground, crying out in agony. Above the maze of hedges, the moon was rising in the sky, its cold light giving the snow a ghostly sheen.

Suddenly, the fireball over Krimon's head sputtered and went out, and at the same moment the orange glow on his chest disappeared. The Beast stopped writhing. He lay panting for a few moments, then got to his feet. Tom saw the look of loneliness in his eyes. Krimon began to whimper, thrusting his huge head into Elenna's shoulder, fat tears running from his eyes as she wrapped her arms around him.

“The link between Vedra and Krimon has been broken,” Tom said. “Something very bad must have happened to his brother.” He felt desperate. He had failed. This really was the end — without the red dragon to guide them, how would they ever get into the heart of the maze?

“W
HAT ARE WE GOING TO DO?”
E
LENNA ASKED.
Tom could see tears shining in her eyes as she cradled the Beast.

“Why ask me?” he snapped. “I'm not a wizard who knows everything!”

Elenna bit her lip.

“I'm sorry,” he said, breathing deeply. He knew he had to fight against the anger. It would only cloud his mind and make things more difficult. But the whimpering of Krimon was making his head ache.

The dragon cried out again. Tom turned to the Beast, shaking, his hand on his sword hilt as he snarled, “Be quiet!”

“Tom, he isn't making a sound,” Elenna said.

Tom stared at her. “I can hear him,” he said. “He's howling and moaning.”

“No, he isn't.”

Tom looked at Krimon. The red dragon was perfectly still and calm. Then where was the whimpering and crying out coming from?

A sudden understanding dawned. “It's Vedra!” he gasped.

“I can't hear anything,” Elenna said.

“I can — listen closely. There!” Tom said. He stared around the junction of the seven paths. Facing one of them, he heard Vedra's cries grow louder.

“He's this way!” he said. “Come on — try to get Krimon to follow.”

Tom ran down the path, filled with new faith in himself. Seth had put an evil charm on him to try and make him fail — and now that same charm was leading him to the Quest's end.

Elenna and Krimon followed as Tom ran through the maze, kicking up clumps of snow as he went. His breath was white smoke in the freezing night air. Krimon's voice was loud now — the lost Beast was very close.

The full moon had risen above the hedges and was shining down into the labyrinth of snow-laden holly trees. But they still had a little while before it reached the top of the sky. Time to succeed … or time to fail.

Tom came to a fork in the maze.

“I can hear him now,” Elenna cried, coming up behind him as he hesitated at the junction.

With Tom in the lead, they turned a final bend and came stumbling into a wide circular clearing. Vedra was there in the center — pinned to the ground by thick spiked chains of gold. As the Beast struggled, the spikes tore his flesh, and Tom saw that the injuries were worst around Vedra's neck, where threads of blood ran down his shining scales. Tom realized that these must be the injuries Krimon was feeling.

Standing just out of reach of the dragon was Seth. The boy smiled as Tom and Elenna and Krimon came into the clearing.

“I see you have come to watch the full moon with us,” Seth said with a mocking bow. “My master hoped you would be here in time to see the Beasts corrupted.”

Tom was about to launch himself at the smirking boy, when Krimon ran past him toward his captive twin.

To Tom's surprise, Seth took a sudden sidestep toward Vedra and jerked at the end of his chains. The golden links fell away from the Beast and he rose from the ground.

But Tom could see that something had happened to the green dragon. As his twin ran forward, Vedra reared up, his eyes gleaming with wicked magic. His jaws opened and a burst of fierce red fire spurted toward Krimon. A moment later, Vedra leaped at his brother, roaring with anger, his jaws wide, his claws raised.

Malvel's dark magic was in Vedra's blood — he had already been turned to evil. Tom was too late.

W
ITH A CRY OF RAGE
, T
OM RUSHED TOWARD
Vedra to stop him from attacking his twin. But Seth sprang forward, his bronze sword whirling in the moonlight. “You can't do anything now. Vedra is ours!”

“Try fighting me one-on-one,” Tom challenged his opponent. “No magic tricks.”

Seth grinned, his face pure evil. “I don't need magic to defeat you.” Quick as a snake, Seth struck out with his bronze sword and sent Tom's blade leaping from his hand.

Tom fell back as blow after savage blow rained down on his shield. He stumbled down onto his side in the snow, just managing to keep his shield up. Over to one side, he could see Vedra and Krimon engaged in their own ferocious fight.

Seth straddled Tom, his sword rising and falling.

Tom felt his arm muscles weakening under the relentless assault. He could not think properly and despair and defeat were filling his mind.

Then he heard a high-pitched yell and above the rim of his shield he saw Elenna attacking Seth from the side, wielding Tom's own sword, beating Seth back, trading attacks as she forced him away from Tom.

But even as Tom tried to get to his feet, he saw that Elenna's attack was failing. Seth was too strong for her. He fought back with hard and fast strikes. Using all his strength, Tom hurled the shield, skimming it just above the ground. It caught Seth below the knees, sending him crashing.

Elenna was quick to take advantage of their enemy's fall. She brought her foot down on his wrist, stooping to snatch the bronze sword from his fingers.

“Well done, Elenna!” Tom shouted, scrambling to his feet.

“I've got him,” Elenna called. “Take this — help Krimon!” She threw Tom his sword, transferring Seth's weapon to her right hand and aiming the point squarely at the sprawling boy's throat. Seth glared up at her but didn't try to move.

The noise of the fighting twin dragons was terrifying. Their roars filled the clearing as tails lashed and flame spurted and claws lunged. Vedra was winning the fight, the evil inside him making him fight more fiercely. As Tom ran forward, he saw Krimon tumble onto his back with a howl.

Vedra pounced on his twin with a blast of fire. The snow turned to spurting steam all around them. If it weren't for Krimon's scales, he would have been scorched to death by the blast of flame.

The fact that Vedra's attention was focused on his brother was Tom's only advantage. He knew what he had to do and with the moon high in the sky he had only a few seconds left to do it. He remembered Aduro's words. He had to score Vedra's underbelly with the tip of his sword, marking him with the sign of Good. And he had to do it before the possessed Beast noticed him.

He ran in close, looking for a way to get in under the green dragon's scaly sides. It was impossible! The soft underparts were too well protected.

The moon was a handbreadth from the top of the sky. Tom stared up at the silver disc for a moment, a plan forming in his mind. He hadn't come so far to give up now.

“Hey!” he shouted above the roaring of the dragons. He struck Vedra's foreleg with his sword. The metal rang uselessly on the emerald scales, but the green dragon's fiery eyes turned toward him.

He leaped aside as a blast of flame burned the ground where he had been standing. He had to act quickly. He angled his shield, tilting it just so — holding its burnished face up to the sky so that the reflection of the full moon was caught on its shining surface.

He tilted it just a little more, seeing a flash of brilliant silver light strike Vedra in the eyes. Dazzled and blinded, the Beast reared up, his wings stretching wide. His jaws opened to spew a fountain of flame into the night sky.

Tom did not hesitate. He sprang forward, seeing the soft belly of the dragon revealed. He used the very tip of his sword, carefully scoring the sign of Good into the yielding flesh.

“No!” He heard Seth howling, but in an instant his voice was swallowed by a whirling sound like a thousand hurricanes. Tom stood firm, his eyes blinded by the racing winds that blasted across the clearing, his ears filled with the noise.

And then there was a long, deep silence. Tom opened his eyes. The maze of towering holly bushes was gone. He was standing on a plateau of deep, smooth snow. Vedra and Krimon were beside him, blinking and shaking their heads in confusion. Elenna was nearby, but Seth and the bronze sword were gone.

“You did it!” Elenna shouted.

“
We
did it!” Tom said with a grin.

The twin Beasts were recovering now, rubbing fondly up against each other and crooning. Vedra was cured of the evil — he would carry the mark of Good on his belly forever, and Malvel's evil would never be able to harm him again.

But Tom knew this wasn't his last battle with the wizard — Malvel would return!

Laughing with joy, Elenna ran up to the dragons. “You're safe now!” she called. She looked at Tom. “Do you think they understand what we did for them?”

“I'm sure they do,” Tom said. “But what do we do now? Where exactly are we?”

“Check the map,” Elenna said.

Tom brought the magic map out of his tunic and unrolled it. A golden dot showed where they were. “It's the middle of nowhere!” Tom groaned. “How are we going to get back home without Epos and Ferno?”

“We won't have to,” Elenna said. “Look!” She pointed into the southern sky. Tom saw with a jolt of relief that Ferno and Epos were winging their way toward them over the snowy forest.

“Well done, Beasts!” Tom shouted, waving to the Beasts as they drew closer. “We'll get to ride home after all!”

Vedra and Krimon made welcoming chirping noises as Ferno and Epos landed gracefully on the snowy plateau. Tom ran toward Epos.

“You're better!” he called. “I'm so glad!”

Epos cawed loudly, her wings reflecting the moonlight as she spread them to show she was fully recovered. Ferno lumbered toward the twin dragons with kindly eyes. The twins' wings flapped and their heads bobbed as they rubbed up against the Beast's huge sides.

Ferno made a series of low rumbling noises and Vedra and Krimon began to climb up onto his back.

“He's telling them something,” Elenna said. “I wonder what.”

“I think he's letting them know that he's going to take them somewhere they can grow up safely — somewhere in the mountains of Rion.”

The great dragon took to the air, the twins clinging to his back as he rose in majestic spirals into the night sky. He turned, his black silhouette flying across the face of the moon as he headed south into the mountains.

“Epos? Will you take us home?” Tom asked the waiting flame bird.

Epos cawed loudly.

Tom looked again at the map, and saw a golden thread spinning out southward across Rion and down into Avantia — showing them the way home.

A moment later, a shimmering face appeared on the map. It was Aduro the wizard, and he was smiling.

“Well done, my brave friends,” he said, his voice echoing as if it was coming from many miles away. “And you are right, Tom — Ferno will take the twins to a place of safety, and he will remain by their side and teach them the ways of Good and protect them until they grow strong. Now, my friends, climb up on Epos's back and come home to the palace.”

“We won the fight against Malvel,” Elenna said sadly. “But I lost my bow and arrows.”

“Fear not — I retrieved them from the volcano with my magic,” the wizard said. “They are waiting for you in the palace.”

Elenna gave a yell of delight as the face of the wizard faded away.

Tom furled up the map and he and Elenna climbed onto Epos's warm and feathered back. Tom felt exhausted but he was in high spirits.

He clung on tight as the bird launched herself into the night sky.

“I wonder how Storm and Silver have been managing without us,” Elenna said.

“They'll be disappointed to have missed the Quest!” Tom replied with a smile.

“We'll tell them all about it as soon as we get back,” Elenna said.

Cool winds blew through Tom's hair as they sped southward over a snowy landscape that shone like silver under the full moon. Tom smiled. He had succeeded in his Quest and Avantia was safe. He didn't know if he would ever see Vedra and Krimon again, but at least there were two new Beasts who would be taught how to protect the kingdom; two pure and noble Beasts to join the battle against Malvel. And as for Seth …? Tom shivered, knowing that they would meet again. Only time would tell when that would be.

But for now, Tom was going home.

Home to Avantia.