War of Dragons (21 page)

Not if we're low enough,
John replied.
Follow me.

John flew straight out of the tent and over the river, travelling low over the water as he followed the river upstream to the north. The water was low and they were hardly visible from the ground. There were dragons in the air, but none at the north of the camp, as all were coming from the south. They quickly moved away from the camp.

This is working better than I thought it would,
Dinah commented.
It's still pretty open up ahead though. I can't see anywhere to hide.

Open but with no one around. We can follow this river for a long way; it's pretty flat around here. We're bound to find somewhere to hide eventually.

John flew on for a couple of minutes before landing beside the river and then climbed up to peer over the edge of the bank. The camp was quite far away now and it would be hard to spot his head above the tall grass. Dinah climbed up beside him.

Good, we can't be spotted here like this, but we can't stop here either. If they patrol this area on foot we'd be easy to find. Can you see anything ahead?

Nothing,
John replied.
Just endless grassland. The forest to the south would have been a better bet, but it'll be hard to get back there and I'm not sure we have enough time to fly much further. We're almost out of light.

They took off again and flew with greater urgency. As they travelled along the river the bank slowly became rockier, which gave John an idea.

Stop, we're far enough away. They won't come this far.

But where will we stay?
Dinah asked.
There's still no shelter. And we don't know how far they will patrol at night.

We'll make some shelter,
John replied. He landed, transformed into a Worm Dragon, bit into the side of the stony river bank with his powerful jaws and started excavating a hole.

Excellent idea, John,
Dinah said as she landed.
Can I help? I'm afraid I never learnt how to transform into a Worm Dragon.

Move the stuff I dig out,
John replied.
We'll want to keep the entrance small, so only one of us can dig, but we don't want anything to give away where we are. Clear away as much of the rock as you can. I'll grind it as I dig so the river should be able to wash a lot of it away.

John dug quickly, chomping away the hard rock and burrowing deep into the river bank. He tunnelled in about three or four metres before starting to form a circular chamber large enough to accommodate them both. Then he dug a second tunnel, continuing horizontally past the chamber before going diagonally upwards until he just reached the surface.

Just in case the river rises during the night,
he explained to Dinah as she watched what he was doing.
We need to be able to get out.

This is perfect, John,
Dinah said enthusiastically as they moved away the rest of the excavated rock.
And just in time too. I think the light is about to go.
They transformed back to their human forms before retreating into the tunnel. It was pitch black inside.

"Have you a lamp or anything?" John asked.

Dinah laughed. "Of course not! How much do you think I carry in my bag? No, I'm afraid we'll have to live without it. Probably for the best anyway. If anyone walks down the river the last thing we want is them to see this hole lit up."

"Fair enough," John replied. "Do you have any food with you?"

"Not much," she replied. "I didn't think we'd get stuck out here overnight. Do you have any?"

John nodded before realising that she couldn't see him. "Yes, I have enough for both of us. I can share it. Where are you?"

She reached out and touched his arm. "I'm just here. But I don't think this is going to work, trying to eat in the dark. Let's eat by the river's edge; we can have some water from the river and go back in the hole once we're done."

They crawled back outside, carefully looking around the hole before slowly venturing out into the twilight and looking over the edge of the bank.

"There's no one nearby," John whispered. "And they've all transformed back to people now so no one will fly over us, but let's hurry anyway." They ate their food hastily, anxious to get back into the safety of their dark tunnel. John had managed to keep the entrance to the tunnel small, and it would be easily overlooked in the dark.

"Shall we?" Dinah whispered after she wolfed down the last of their provisions, nodding towards their tunnel. John nodded too, and they crawled back into their tunnel and to the chamber he had created.

"Very nice; this is just perfect. I doubt they'll hear us if we talk here," Dinah whispered, "but there's no reason to take any chances. I suggest we just get some sleep now and then we'll be able to wake up fully refreshed in the morning and get going as soon as it's light. Agreed?"

John nodded again, forgetting again that it was dark. "Oh, yes, agreed." He moved his bag so it could form a pillow and tried to make himself comfortable lying on the uneven rock surface. As soon as he managed to establish a sleeping position, he found that Dinah had positioned herself leaning against him.

"Sorry, I hope you don't mind. You haven't made the bottom of this chamber quite as comfortable as I thought."

"Oh, um, I guess not, it's just—I have a girlfriend, back in—"

Dinah interrupted him with a laugh. "John, relax. No offence, but you're just a child. I'm over ten years older than you. Just go to sleep. That's all I'll be doing."

John was glad that the darkness hid his embarrassment. "Of course. Sorry. Goodnight."

Despite it being quite early and the sleeping arrangement being cramped and uncomfortable, John found that he couldn't keep his eyes open even if he had wanted and within seconds they were both sound asleep.

Chapter 13 - Raising the alarm

Mark headed straight for the coast after leaving John; he knew that although the Blue Dragons were happy enough living by the clear, shallow waters of the coast, they distrusted the open ocean and rarely ventured over it. There he would be safe to transform back to a Golden Dragon unobserved, enabling him to fly uninterrupted straight back to his homeland, travelling at speeds even the nimble Dark Browns could only dream of. He loved flying over the sea and dreamed of seeing one of the Sea Dragons in their home environment, knowing that it was nearly impossible so far from the distant islands they hailed from. Despite his friendship with Clay, he had never seen him as a dragon and looked forward to entering his underwater world. Learning to transform into a Sea Dragon was high on his wish list of things to do when he had some free time. He skimmed low over the sea, admiring his shiny reflection in the clear water. But he had no time to indulge; he had to move quickly to raise the alarm. He had abandoned his plan of going to the Dark Browns first—he had no faith in their willingness to act on the information, knowing that they had no reason to do so. No, he had to inform his own government and leave it to more experienced and wiser heads to determine how to communicate this information to not just the Dark Browns, but to all of their neighbours. 

Mark left the sea, ascending high above the clouds where no dragons other than the Golden Dragons ventured, and travelled without resting, flying as directly as he could back to the capital. It was late afternoon when he arrived, so he flew straight to the Department for Defence. This was a matter that would be addressed by several different departments, but he trusted this one the most. He landed on the balcony, transforming as he did, and ran straight into the building. There was a lady he recognised sitting in the reception, and she looked up at him and smiled warmly.

"Mark, you look like you're in a hurry. Who are you hoping to see?"

"The Blue Dragons have begun the invasion! I've just come straight from there. They're mobilising for a second wave."

Her eyes widened and she jumped to her feet. "Alright, just take a seat. I'll fetch someone." She ran out of the reception hall, leaving Mark standing at her desk. Moments later she returned with a man that Mark didn't recognise.

"Thank you, Eve. I'll take it from here," he said dismissively, gesturing for Mark to follow him. He led him down a hallway to an office, where he took a seat behind a large table and pointed Mark to a chair opposite him. "Mark, I'm Jeremiah, and I report directly to the minister. I'm familiar with your mission and need you to tell me exactly what happened. Please don't leave out any details."

Mark spent an agonising couple of hours detailing every step of their mission—from when they first met Theo and the others right up to this meeting. Mark had exhausted his patience by the time they finished.

"Now what?" he asked. "Time is precious here. If we delay, the war could be over before we have a chance to act."

"Do not worry, we are perfectly aware of the situation and will give this matter the attention it deserves," Jeremiah replied pompously. "But it wouldn't do to rush matters and make mistakes."

Mark glared at him, his frustration beginning to boil over. "It
wouldn't do
to waste time either. I rushed here as fast as I could to deliver this message and you've kept me here for hours already. You haven't answered my question. What happens next?"

Jeremiah puffed himself up, clearly riled by Mark's tone. "Look, young man, remember who you are talking to. There will be no wasting of time. I will convene an emergency meeting of the Department of Defence Foreign Affairs Council tomorrow morning. It's too late to issue any communications to our neighbours; we will issue that first thing in the morning."

Mark stood up and banged on the table. "Too late because you've kept me here instead of relaying the message straight away! You've already wasted enough time. Convene your wretched meeting. I'm going to notify the Red Dragons."

Mark left the office and slammed the door behind him without waiting for Jeremiah to respond. He changed his mind as soon as he left the building. Telling the Reds wouldn't help at all; they were just a group of children far away from their home. He needed someone who could help here, with his own government, so he decided to go and see his father instead. While he was in the capital he stayed in accommodation attached to the Department of Foreign Affairs, and their building was just a minute's flight from the Department of Defence. He transformed and took to the air, flying as quickly as he could across the Government Quarter, before landing on the sixth floor of the Department of Foreign Affairs. The man who worked on the front desk knew Mark and waved him through to the apartments.

"Hello, Mark," Paul said, looking up in surprise as his son entered his apartment. He was sat at a small desk and reading a report. "I didn't expect to see you back here so soon. You're lucky to catch me actually, I was about to leave—"

"The invasion has begun," Mark announced. "I've rushed back as fast as I can to warn our government and have just wasted hours with some idiot who isn't going to do anything till tomorrow."

"Calm down," his father told him as he paced back and forth irritably. "Just tell me what happened."

Mark related the details of his meeting with Jeremiah and how it had ended.

Paul frowned. "Hmmm, probably not the best way to have left it, although I doubt you changed anything. I know Jeremiah; he'll still arrange that meeting and it might be helpful."

"Tomorrow! We need action now! I can't believe how much time he wasted."

Paul nodded. "I agree. It was a shame that you met him rather than one of his colleagues; he is rather particular. But have you thought through what you want done now? It's not enough to say we need action now."

Mark paused; he hadn't really thought this through. "Well, something! We can't just sit here!"

Paul shook his head. "No, we can't, but you need to be clear in your mind what you are trying to achieve. As far as I see it, there are three things that need to be done. Firstly, our neighbours need to be informed, which you're right, Jeremiah should have ensured happened straight away but there's no point worrying about now as it's already too late to relay that message. We can arrange for that message to go first thing in the morning. And we don't need to wait for that meeting; bypassing Jeremiah would be easy—you have enough contacts yourself to spread the word amongst our neighbours. I know there are no Dark Browns in the Sanctuary, but you regularly meet with the Department of Trade and have friends there, do you not? Have them alert the Dark Browns as well as the Sandy and Wasp Dragons."

Mark cursed himself quietly for not having thought of this. "Of course, I didn't think of going through the Department of Trade. How shall we tell them? We need them to act now, before the Reds are destroyed."

Paul sat back in his chair, thinking it through. At that moment Mark was reminded of how alike John and his father were.

"They will act according to their own best interests, Mark," his father told him. "They're all smaller nations than the Reds and are just as threatened by the Blues. I suspect that the only reason that the Blues are going for the Reds first instead of the Dark Browns is to delay a war that brings them to our border. What we do is more important than what the other nations do, which brings me to the second and third tasks, but I will discuss those with you once you've completed the first. I need to speak to an old friend to get his advice and hopefully his support. I'll see you at Immigration House when I'm done."

Mark finally stopped pacing and nodded, although didn't really feel any better. "But what will you do? If Jeremiah is anything to go by, the government won't do anything."

His father closed his report and stood up to leave. "Don't worry about that. You may be right about the government, but they are rarely the answer anyway. Go and see your friends at the Department of Trade; go quickly before they finish work for the day. I'll see you in a few hours."

***