Vedra and Krimon the Twin Dragons Read online

  “Oh! They’re wonderful!” Elenna said, reaching out her arms to the Beasts. The two dragons clambered out of the straw and moved forward unsteadily, their wings scraping the floor, their necks stretching out as they made little sounds in their throats.

  Tom patted the hard, shining scales on Vedra’s neck, allowing the Beast to cuddle up against him. He was aware of a faint burning smell, like the smoldering embers of a fire. He felt awed by the baby dragons, but also strangely protective of them. He knew he had a duty to keep them safe!

  Krimon was standing in front of Elenna, gently nuzzling at her hair, a low rumbling sound coming from his belly, as if he was purring in contentment.

  “They’re so trusting,” Elenna said, looking at Tom with concern. “Malvel mustn’t be allowed anywhere near them!”

  Tom looked at the other Beasts, gathered in the cave mouth.

  He turned to Elenna. “Do you think they know what we have to do?” he said.

  “Even if they do, how are we going to get the dragons to Rion?” Elenna asked. “How far is it — and how will we know when we’re there?”

  Before Tom could reply, he felt a tingling against his chest. Puzzled, he pulled out the magic map Aduro had given him when he had started his very first Quest. It was not flat like an ordinary map; it was alive! Snow-covered mountains rose up in sharp points from the parchment and Tom knew that if he touched the blue threads of the rivers, his fingers would be wet. The map had led the way to all his previous adventures, spinning out paths to guide him.

  There was something new on the map! To the north of the palace, it glowed with a tiny point of golden light. He looked closer. The light was the cave mouth, and from it a slender golden path was spreading out, pointing the way north.

  As he watched, the northern limits of the map began to expand beyond the boundaries of Avantia. New mountains rose up from the white parchment. There were new rivers and forests as well, and Tom realized that the map was changing to show him the snowy land of Rion.

  He frowned. “It’s a long way,” he said.

  “And Malvel could be following us,” Elenna added.

  Tom shivered. How could they possibly hope to get all the way to Rion without the evil wizard tracking them down and putting a spell on the young Beasts? And time was not on their side. The full moon was going to rise tonight — if Vedra and Krimon were not hidden in Rion by then, the Quest would fail!

  Aduro had been right — this was going to be their greatest challenge yet!

  TOM LOOKED AT ELENNA. “WE SHOULD GO — as quickly as possible.”

  “I’ll get the rest of the food and the cloaks Aduro gave us,” Elenna called as she leaped onto Tagus’s back and galloped over to the boat.

  Tom looked at the baby dragons. They were sitting on their haunches, watching him with curious, innocent eyes.

  “Please try to understand me,” Tom told them. “You must come with us. You will be in terrible danger if you stay here.” They blinked at him. “There is an evil wizard who wishes to hurt you!” Tom said.

  Vedra and Krimon shifted uneasily, as though they sensed the urgency in his voice.

  Tom tapped his hand against his chest. “I am here to protect you.”

  “We are here to protect them, you mean,” said Elenna, riding up behind him with the bundled cloaks in her arms. “Well, let’s see if they understand,” she added, hopping off the horseman. “Come on, little dragons — follow us!” She began walking toward the mouth of the cave.

  To Tom’s delight, the baby dragons got up and began to walk along behind them.

  The other Beasts followed, too. They soon arrived at the wide cave mouth and found themselves staring out over a landscape of snow-covered hills and forests. This was a part of the kingdom Tom had never seen before.

  The sky was clear and the dawning sun was low on the eastern horizon. Tom knew they must be a long way from the Royal Palace, but the map showed them that they still had a great distance to travel.

  Tom and Elenna put their cloaks on. Sepron had stayed in the lake, but the other Beasts were congregated around them, as if to say farewell.

  “We have to go now,” Tom said to the Beasts.

  Ferno and Epos stepped forward.

  “What is it?” Elenna asked. Cypher picked her up, and Tartok picked Tom up. Tom’s head spun as he was swung up onto Epos’s feathery back. Elenna was placed astride Ferno’s scaly neck.

  “Of course!” Tom said. “They know we don’t have much time to get to Rion. It would be impossible to fulfill the Quest without them!”

  “But what about Vedra and Krimon?” Elenna said. “I know they’ve got wings, but we can’t expect them to fly all the way; they’re far too young.”

  Ferno turned his vast head to where Vedra and Krimon stood and made some deep rumbling sounds in his throat.

  The baby dragons moved at once, Krimon clambering awkwardly up Ferno’s wing onto the great dragon’s back behind Elenna, and Vedra climbing onto Epos’s back, cuddling up into the long, warm feathers just behind where Tom sat.

  With a heavy flapping of wings, Ferno and Epos rose into the air. The snowy landscape fell away beneath them. Ferno and Epos circled the cave mouth once, where the other Beasts stood, proudly gazing up at them.

  “Good-bye!” Tom called, reaching around to check that his shield was firmly in place on his back. The next moment, he needed both hands to cling to Epos’s feathers as the great bird made a long curving swing upward and northward. Tom looked over his shoulder. Vedra was pressed tight onto Epos’s back, his eyes wide with wonder as he stared down at the passing countryside.

  “Malvel won’t catch us now!” Elenna called.

  “I hope not!” Tom called back.

  They flew silently over the wintry landscape, the smooth blanket of snow shining like silver under the sun. It was early afternoon when Tom saw high mountains approaching under a sky thick with snow clouds.

  Soon, they were beneath the clouds, flying through snow that filled all the sky. Their breath came out as mist, but Aduro’s cloaks kept them snug and warm.

  They flew over a jagged-toothed region of hills and crags. Tom pulled out the map and cleared the snowflakes out of his eyes. A golden glow showed their position. They were still in Avantia, but the border of Rion was fast approaching. It would not be long now!

  Then Tom saw something odd on the map. He brought the parchment up closer to his face. One of the mountains on the map was different from all the others. It had a crater that was glowing with a fierce red fire.

  “There’s something strange ahead!” Elenna called.

  Tom lifted his eyes. Right in front of them was the mountain that he had been looking at on the map.

  “It’s a volcano!” Tom shouted. “And it’s erupting right in front of us!”

  Epos let out a croak of alarm as a flood of molten rock and boiling smoke gushed up into the air. Tom saw that Elenna and Krimon were only just able to hold on to Ferno’s back as he swerved away to the left to avoid the scalding fountain of fire.

  A moment later Tom was almost wrenched from his place as Epos tried to avoid the huge flaming lumps of rock that were coming down in a deadly scorching rain. Vedra cried out behind him, clinging on fiercely to Epos’s feathers.

  Tom saw a fiery thunderbolt plunging toward them. He leaned back toward the baby dragon, throwing his shield up above his head in a desperate attempt to save them both.

  Was the Quest going to end before it had begun?

  THE RED-HOT THUNDERBOLT BOUNCED OFF Tom’s shield, hissing and spitting. The magical dragon scale in the shield had saved them! Tom’s arm ached, but he kept the shield steady, while Vedra cowered behind him, shivering and whimpering in fright.

  Tom saw Elenna clutching on to Ferno, the terrified Krimon squawking behind her as the huge Beast struggled to get clear of the volcano. But as Ferno turned, Tom saw Elenna’s bow and quiver of arrows fall, spinning downward until they were lost in the flaming crater.

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nbsp; Epos gave a caw of alarm as she tried to pull away from the fiery mountain. The bird’s body tilted as she swung left. Tom felt himself slipping. He had been so intent on keeping Vedra safe from the rain of fiery rock that he was not holding on tightly enough.

  “No!” he cried as he slipped from Epos’s back. The sky and the mountains wheeled around him. He saw the flame bird above him, her wings beating fiercely.

  I’ve failed, Tom thought as he plunged helplessly downward through the icy air.

  A wild rushing sound filled his ears, like a racing wind. A moment later, all the breath was jolted from his body. Epos had swooped under him, catching him with a triumphant caw.

  Tom gasped, dizzy from his rescue. Dazed, he crawled up to sit between Epos’s wings. “Thank you!” he shouted. He looked over his shoulder. The green dragon was nodding his head and making chirping noises, glad that Tom had been rescued.

  Ferno came swooping close.

  “I lost my bow and arrows,” Elenna called unhappily. “I can’t believe they’re gone!”

  “Yes, I saw,” Tom shouted. “It can’t be helped. Let’s get away from this volcano — then we can take a rest and figure out what we’re going to do.”

  They flew on until the red glow of the volcano was far behind them. Tom peered down, scouring the rugged landscape for somewhere to land.

  “Down there!” he called, pointing to a large flat slab of rock on a low ridge between the mountains.

  Epos and Ferno circled down and landed. Tom spotted something at the far end of the slab of rock — something small and curled up. A sleeping animal, maybe.

  He jumped down from Epos’s back and went over to investigate. Elenna followed. “What is it?” she asked.

  “It’s a boy!” gasped Tom, stopping in surprise a few steps away from the curled-up shape. “What’s he doing here all on his own?”

  “Let’s find out,” Elenna said, running ahead of him.

  “Be careful,” Tom warned. He could hear an uneasy rumbling in Ferno’s throat, and Epos was cawing nervously. Vedra and Krimon were staring at the boy and shivering. Something was wrong. The boy was wearing only light clothing, but the wind was raw and cut to the bone. How could he be sleeping in such a remote place as this? It didn’t make sense.

  “I don’t think you should wake him,” Tom said, coming up behind Elenna. “We have to get going.”

  But Elenna crouched at the boy’s side and shook his shoulder.

  “Hey! Are you all right?”

  The boy’s eyes snapped open and he jumped to his feet, his ice blue eyes strangely alert. Elenna stumbled back in surprise at the sudden movement. The boy stared at Tom, a thin smile spreading across his narrow pale face.

  Tom looked at him. Those eyes were oddly familiar. As they stood staring at each other, cold threads of mist curled across the barren rock, making Tom shudder.

  “My name is Seth,” the boy said, his smile widening as he thrust out a hand toward Tom. “Who are you?”

  Uncertainly, Tom reached out his own hand. “I’m Tom, and this is —”

  He got no further. The boy’s eyes flashed and the smile turned to a grimace as he lunged forward, grabbing Tom’s arm with both hands.

  Tom let out a yell of shock as the boy half-turned, pulling Tom’s arm so that he staggered off balance and was thrown headlong over the boy’s shoulder.

  He came crashing down on his back onto a rock with a cry of pain. He felt dizzy and disoriented and his eyes swam. He heard Elenna shout something.

  He stared up at the white sky, gasping for breath. The boy loomed over him, and now Tom saw that he had a bronze sword in his hand, the point aiming for Tom’s throat.

  “And now that we have been introduced,” the boy snarled, “I’m going to kill you!”

  Tom stared up, helpless, as the blade rose and then plunged down toward him.

  TOM TWISTED TO ONE SIDE AS THE POINT OF the bronze sword struck the rock close to his head, filling his vision with sparks. Seth grunted with frustration as he stumbled forward. Tom sprang quickly to his feet, drawing his own sword and turning to face his foe, his shield up to defend himself.

  “Why are you attacking us?” Tom asked, but Seth had spun on his heel. Bringing his blade up, he lunged forward with a snarl.

  Tom used his sword to turn aside Seth’s blade so that he could come in under the boy’s arm and throw him off balance with a thrust from his shield. But Seth was too good a swordsman to be defeated by such a simple strategy. He bounded back, swinging his sword in a wide arc.

  More sparks flew as their swords met with a clash, the noise echoing among the mountain peaks that surrounded them. Tom was aware of Ferno moving closer and of Epos watching with bright, angry eyes.

  “Watch out!” Elenna shouted as the bronze sword came slicing through the air at neck height. Tom fended it off with his shield and thrust hard with his own blade. Seth leaped to one side, beating at Tom’s weapon, almost smashing it from his grip.

  Tom realized that Seth was his equal in strength, and also a very dangerous fighter. He would have to do something unexpected if he was going to win.

  Tom risked everything in one big gamble. He let Seth beat him back step after step across the rock. He could hear Ferno rumbling in concern as he gave the impression that he was weakening. Epos cawed and Elenna let out a cry as Tom stumbled and fell onto his back.

  Seth yelled in triumph and raised his sword high. But Tom had been faking his weakness. He twisted, scissoring his legs, slicing Seth’s feet from under him. Seth fell with a howl and Tom was up and on him in a moment. He kicked the bronze blade out of Seth’s grip and stood over him, panting as he pointed his sword at the boy’s throat.

  “Oh! Well done, Tom!” Elenna shouted, running up to them. She stared down at the grimacing boy angrily. “Why did you do that? We weren’t going to hurt you!”

  The cold fire faded from Seth’s eyes and a look of bewilderment came over him. “I’m so sorry!” he gasped, bringing his hands up over his face. “I didn’t mean to hurt you. I didn’t know what I was doing.”

  Tom glared down at him. “What are you talking about? You attacked me for no reason!”

  “I was half-crazy with hunger and fear,” said the boy. “I’m lost in this terrible place, and I haven’t eaten for days. I thought you were a demon coming to murder me.” He wiped his hand over his face. “I am truly sorry.”

  Tom frowned, confused by Seth’s change of behavior. “You really expect us to believe that you didn’t know what you were doing?” he asked.

  “Please,” begged Seth, “I’ve been hallucinating with hunger. I meant you no harm.” He looked so pathetic and frail at that moment that Tom and Elenna exchanged a wary nod, deciding to give him another chance.

  “You poor thing,” Elenna said. “Wait there. We have food and water.” She ran over to Epos and pulled down their bag of provisions. Tom, still not quite certain that Seth’s story was the truth, picked up the bronze sword and slipped it into his belt before he allowed Seth to get to his feet.

  “How did you get here?” Tom asked, eyeing the boy warily as he ravaged through the food that Elenna had brought.

  Seth chewed hungrily, speaking with his mouth full. “I was with a hunting party — we were looking for the wild goats that live in these mountains. They make good eating. But a heavy fog came down and I got separated from the others. I’ve been surviving on rainwater and scraps of plants for days now.” He looked gratefully at Elenna. “I thought I was going to die up here, all alone on this barren rock. You saved my life.”

  “You’re welcome,” Elenna said. She looked questioningly at Tom.

  “I hope you find your way home safely,” Tom said. “But we have to go now.”

  Seth gazed at the Beasts. “You fly on the most extraordinary … birds … I have ever seen,” he said, his voice amazed. “At least, one of them is a bird, I think — huge though it is. But surely the other is a dragon?” A sudden light of understanding came into h
is eyes. “These must be two of the legendary Beasts of Avantia. They’re real! Are you their Master?”

  “No,” Tom said, flattered that Seth might think that he could be the Master of the Beasts. “But I am their friend.”

  A smile spread across Seth’s face. “I always thought in my heart that the legends were true,” he said.

  “No one is supposed to know,” Elenna said. “The Beasts should never be seen.”

  Seth nodded. “Of course not,” he said. He put his hand to his heart. “Don’t worry,” he said. “I promise that I will never tell anyone about what I have seen in this place. On my word of honor!” He looked from Tom to Elenna. “But … I don’t know how to get down the mountains from here. If you leave me, I’ll die.”

  “We can’t take you with us,” Tom said. “We’re on an important Quest.”

  “We have to find the land of Rion,” Elenna added.

  “I live in Rion, in a small village beyond the mountains,” Seth said. “Take me close to my home and I promise not to speak of these magnificent Beasts to a living soul!”

  Tom and Elenna looked uneasily at each other. Could they trust him? On the other hand, Tom thought, could they be so cruel as to leave him all alone in the mountains?

  “You may ride with us,” Tom said, making sure to add: “But only as far as your home village.”

  Seth bowed his head as if Tom were King Hugo. “Thank you.”

  They went over to where the Beasts were waiting. Tom climbed up onto Epos’s back and reached down to help Seth up in front of him. He wanted to keep an eye on the mysterious boy. Krimon looked at the newcomer with curiosity. Seth reached out his hand as if to touch the Beast, but the red dragon belched a little fire and Seth snatched his hand back.

  Soon they were airborne again, flying high over the mountains with the cool wind in their hair. Tom saw the landscape begin to change beneath them. The mountains gave way to rugged hills cloaked in snow-laden pine forests. Blue lakes glowed in the valleys and gushing rivers leaped from rock to rock in white waterfalls.