War of Dragons (17 page)

"All detailed here," Jerome replied, handing over a bundle of papers. "You'd have thought that they'd be taking greater care of these sorts of details after the incident at the library, but it was surprisingly easy to obtain these documents." Jerome spoke quickly, anxious to avoid any discussion of how he had obtained the information, which had been far from easy. Perak was unforgiving when it came to failure and had made it all too clear to Jerome how important it was to maintain his cover. The last thing he wanted him to know was that he had almost blown it and had to resort to extreme measures to avoid being caught. He tried to put the memory of his bloody hands out of his mind. "Oh, there is one other thing that I should mention, and it's a little strange."

"Go on, tell me," Perak replied impatiently. "And just get to the point. I haven't got time to waste."

"Well, I don't know if I mentioned that there was a boy who works in the military library called John. He was the one who—"

"Saw you when you stole from the library, yes I remember. Go on."

Jerome nodded. "Well, he's volunteered to meet the Brown Dragons and propose a military alliance with them. And they've actually agreed to it."

"Who, the Brown Dragons?"

"No, the Military Council; I mean, they allowed him to go. He left some time ago. About a week ago now."

"And you've waited this long to tell me?" Perak asked incredulously.

Jerome glared at him. "I've waited for nothing. It hasn't been possible to come any earlier. Besides, I can't see how he would slip through."

"Is this boy one of the ones blown over into our territory? You said they were your classmates."

Jerome shook his head. "No, he was the one that flew after them to bring them back."

Perak's eyes widened. "He
flew
into our territory? And made it back?"

Jerome nodded. "Everyone is a little surprised about that story. He flew in, undetected, found the four that had been blown in, and escorted them out. He is an unusually good flier, and I can't overstate that; he really is exceptional. He was the one that intervened during that failed attack on Furnace."

Perak frowned and started pacing back and forth. "The less said about that mess the better. Anyway, so this boy has slipped through and fought with our men before? I think you underestimate him. This plan with the Browns will be treated seriously. Let me know if you hear anything about this boy; even rumours."

Jerome nodded. "I'll keep my eyes open, as always. When do you want the next update?"

"As soon as you can," Perak replied. "I'll send a minion—as you put it—here every day until the invasion. I want regular updates. Come as often as you can."

"As you wish. It's harder to get here than to our old meeting place and it takes longer, but at least it's safe."

Perak ignored him, not caring for his opinion on the location. "Go! I'll leave here shortly, so stay low so you're not seen near here. Leave now!"

Jerome took to the air, glad to be away from Perak. He'd known him for many years, but could never consider him a friend. Perak had once tried to appear as one, but gave up the act years ago and had grown colder and harsher over time. Jerome had asked Perak whether he would be informed in advance of the invasion to ensure that he could get to safety, but Perak had merely replied that disclosing this information would be too big a risk—in case he was caught and tortured. He had begun to suspect that what Perak actually thought was that after the invasion, Jerome would no longer be of any use, and if he was accidentally killed then there was no great loss. No, Perak was not someone to consider a friend or to put any trust in. Far from it.

Chapter 11 - Beginning the invasion

Perak had not been completely honest with Jerome—something that didn't trouble him in the slightest. The invasion wasn't about to start; it had already begun. He stood on top of a raised platform, seven of his division commanders flanking him as he surveyed his troops. Several thousands were standing to attention in front of him, neatly lined up and standing motionless, awaiting the order to depart. He looked up to the sky and saw a single dragon gliding towards him, a familiar and welcome arrival. Perak motioned to his division commanders to make room for it to land and transform. Moments later, he was standing next to General Zygar, the legendary head of the military, and by extension, leader of the Blue Dragon nation.

"Colonel, I see your troops are ready to leave," Zygar commented. "How many do you have departing today?"

"There are four hundred and forty separate missions leaving today, comprising of six hundred and twenty-three squads, making a total of—"

"Four thousand three hundred and sixty-one men," Zygar finished his sentence. "That's a lot of individual missions, Colonel."

Perak nodded proudly.  "It is. Each one meticulously planned down to the last detail."

"This is the third day we've sent these men out," Zygar said. "How many troops were there on the previous days?"

Perak smiled at the test. He knew all these answers off by heart, having reviewed each mission with his division commanders.

"Five thousand eight hundred and twenty-four the first day and three thousand six hundred and sixty-one the second day, so a total of one thousand three hundred and fifty-five squads have already been sent out on a total of four hundred and fifty-two missions."

Zygar nodded. "So, much smaller targets for the men leaving today?"

Perak nodded. "Lots of small hamlets with just a handful of residents. The sort of thing that would normally be overlooked. I plan to overlook nothing. All the attacks will occur simultaneously and when they do, we will sweep away all traces of the Red Dragons from the countryside surrounding their towns and cities. When Colonel Tarek leads the main attacks on the cities, there will be no surprises from behind, no forgotten groups of Red Dragons that strike at us when we least expect it. And there will be no advance warning as we approach, no one to see us until we are very near—when it is too late."

Zygar smiled. "Very good, Colonel. Is it time for them to leave?"

Perak nodded and walked towards the edge of the platform to give the signal to depart, an almost imperceptible nod to one of his division commanders. A loud bell was sounded, and every man began to transform. Perak watched as the grassy plain in front of him rapidly turned blue. Within ten seconds, all dragons were lined up and standing to attention. Perak signalled again and as soon as the bell sounded, all of the dragons took off, squads flying in unison and filling the air with the sound of flapping wings. From here groups of dragons would head for points all along the border where, when night fell, they would sneak into the Red Dragon's territory and begin their long treks towards their targets. Within a few minutes, they were all out of sight.

Zygar turned to face him. "Excellent work, Perak. Have we had any return yet?"

"None, which is far better than I expected. Unless whole squads have been caught and killed, which is unlikely, all have remained undetected. Of course, they are still three days away from their targets, but I am still very pleased with the progress."

"Excellent. Keep me updated if anything changes."

"Of course, sir. How are the rest of the preparations going?"

"Very smoothly. Colonel Tarek is as organised as you and will be ready ahead of time. Colonel Kessick… well, he will be ready."

Perak sneered at the mention of Kessick. The pleasure of catching up with Tarek and becoming a colonel had been soured by the knowledge that Kessick had also been promoted. He still couldn't understand how Zygar thought that buffoon deserved to have been made a division commander, let alone a colonel.

"Have you despatched another messenger to your spy?" Zygar asked.

"Yes, sir. We're sure the last one didn't make it, which was unfortunate timing. We should have an update tomorrow evening."

Zygar nodded. "Very well. It is less than ideal but not totally unexpected. I will be here for that."

"Journeying so deep into their territory was always going to be risky," Perak admitted. "But it has been worth it; without the spy we would not have known all that we do know about their city defences."

"Nor would we have been aware of the plan to bring in the Brown Dragons."

"A plan that may not come to much," Perak replied dismissively. "We have had no news of any attempt to cross our borders and even if they did try, I doubt they would succeed. We know where he was due to try to cross the border, and we've had many dragons camped near there for some time. They would have spotted him."

"Maybe, although I suspect that was a ruse; we know that the boy was aware of the spy; he could have given the Council a false route. Indeed, I would be surprised if he had not. I would not rule out the Browns."

Perak shrugged. "They will not act until the war has begun; by then, we will have destroyed half of the Red cities."

Zygar smiled. "I applaud your confidence and I look forwards to reading your spy's report. Spare no effort to ensure that we hear from him this time. Till then, Colonel."

"General, till then."

Chapter 12 - The Rescue Mission

"It's been decided," Mark said, walking into Arthur's room without knocking, John trailing behind him. "Both John and I will be going to the Blue Kingdom to find this prison camp.  Believe it or not, John has the most direct experience with Blue Dragons in the country."

"We've had no spies there for years," John explained. "Anything we knew about them is likely to be very out of date."

"That seems to be remarkably stupid," Jenna commented. "I mean, they're the largest and most aggressive country. Surely you should be putting more spies there than anywhere else."

John and Mark looked at each other before bursting out laughing.

"Jenna," Mark said between laughs. "Please tell me, how many neighbouring countries do you have?"

"Three," she replied. "No, two."

"Yeah, exactly. Are you sure you're in a position to criticise our foreign intelligence?"

Jenna coloured quickly and glared at him. "Whatever. See how much you're laughing when you're there and haven't a clue where you're going."

"Thanks, Jenna," Mark replied. "So encouraging. Has anyone else got any words of wisdom before we head off to try and save you all from annihilation?"

"You're going now?" Daisy asked, looking at John in alarm.

"No time like the present," Mark replied cheerfully. "The invasion could happen any day now based on what you told us. The sooner we find this camp for the Dark Browns the better."

"But what about your preparation?" Crystal asked. "Do you know where you're going to look?"

"Well, as Jenna so helpfully pointed out, we don't know much about the Blue Dragons any more and this particular region was never well known to us," Mark replied. "In fact, two of the members of our team are there primarily for their ability to accurately produce maps. The government sees it as an opportunity to increase our knowledge of that area."

"Great," Arthur commented. "Glad they're taking it so seriously. No specialists in rescue missions?"

"Well, the government hopes to have six after this mission, but currently there aren't any," Mark explained. "It's not as if we have had to do any rescues before."

"John has," Daisy corrected. "He's had to rescue us lots of times."

"Yes, Daisy, although I'm not sure that's something I'd be boasting about. Anyway, there you are, Arthur. We do have a specialist."

Arthur shook his head in despair. "You really aren't filling me with confidence."

"I must admit, I'm not too happy about this," Crystal agreed. "You seem very relaxed. Aren't you worried? Just six of you wandering into Blue Dragon territory. What would happen if someone worked out who you are?"

"We'll be fine," Mark replied dismissively. "It's better to have fewer of us anyway. Less chance of someone being caught. Besides, we'll be flying as Blue Dragons. It'll be very safe." One glance at Daisy told him that she wasn't at all convinced and Crystal still wasn't at all happy either.

"I guess it's not like John hasn't sneaked in before," Seth pointed out. "And he brought us out last time."

"That was different," Crystal argued. "John was avoiding Blue Dragons last time. He'll be looking for them this time."

"They need to go as soon as possible," Arthur pointed out. "The Brown Dragons won't enter the war until they do. The invasion could start any day now. It's worth taking the risk."

"Easy to say when you're not the one taking the risks," Crystal replied.

"We'd better be going," John interrupted. "We just came in to say goodbye. I'm sorry, but we do need to leave straight away."

"I'll walk with you to the balcony," Daisy said a little sadly, getting up and taking John's hand.

"Shall I give you two a few minutes?" Mark asked with a smirk. Daisy pulled a face as they left the room.

"Right, well, have fun while we're gone," Mark said, addressing the rest of them. "Crystal's cousin will look after you, I'm sure."

"Look after yourself, and John," Crystal said, kissing him on the cheek. She really did look quite concerned.

"John can look after himself," Mark replied with a cheeky smile. "You should know that by now. Considering your track record, he's probably safer over there than he is back here with you."

Crystal pulled a face. "Very funny."

"Good luck," Arthur said, extending a hand to Mark. "We really do appreciate what you're doing."

"Thank you. Right, let's go and interrupt those two. I think they've had long enough to say goodbye. See you all in a few days!"

Mark left the room without further ado and hurried after his brother. Daisy looked like she was nearly in tears when he found them on the balcony, but she didn't say anything to try and dissuade them from leaving. He urged John to transform immediately and then they took off and left, heading to the north-east. They were to travel alone to the border, where they were due to meet the other four members of their little group. When they arrived, they found the others had beaten them there and were enjoying their lunch. They landed and transformed before joining the group. One of the group, who looked a little old for this mission, approached them, waving and smiling warmly.