Dragon Charmers: #1 Mountains of Fire Read online

CHAPTER NINE - SILVERHORN

  Nobody moved as they stared at the huge white dragon. Logan didn’t know much about dragons, but as he watched the white dragon he got the feeling it was laughing at them.

  ‘I’ll distract it. You climb the nest,’ Prince Myles said in a low voice.

  ‘Forget it,’ Logan replied with a shake of his head and turned to leave the lair. ‘I can’t kill Silverhorn. He is Zared’s friend.’

  ‘Are you backing out? Don’t be a coward.’ the prince muttered angrily, through clenched teeth. ‘We have to save Erik.’

  ‘We’ll find another way,’ Alyxa said, standing beside Logan. ‘Let’s go look for the blue.’

  ‘We can still defeat it,’ Myles insisted, grabbing at both of them to stop them leaving. ‘Charmer, you do your thing and then, while it’s watching you, Logan can run up and finish it off. It won’t even know what happened.’

  ‘No!’ both Alyxa and Logan replied firmly at the same time. Logan felt sick that he had ever considered killing a dragon at all. Alyxa looked just as disgusted by the idea.

  Ah, so Zared has spoken of me, and this must be the charmer I heard earlier. The white dragon, seeing that his challenge was not going to be met, settled back onto the nest and began to blend into the gold again. He stared curiously at Alyxa from only a few inches away. I knew charmers existed, but I’ve never actually heard one before today. It’s really quite beautiful to listen to. It reminded me of something similar I heard a long time ago.

  ‘Thank you,’ Alyxa muttered, looking unsure how to react.

  Tell me, charmer... Silverhorn’s manner had changed again and Logan thought it looked a little angry. Why do you charm them? Why do you rob them of freewill and freedom?

  Logan stepped closer to Alyxa and his hand slowly crept towards the hilt of his sword.

  ‘So they will serve us,’ Alyxa replied a little hesitantly. ‘They might attack us if we don’t charm them.’

  Really? the dragon asked with a hint of sarcasm. It pointed over to the pile of bones. We eat only wild mountain goats, or the odd snake if we’re really hungry. Have you ever heard of a dragon attacking a human?

  ‘The red dragons do,’ Logan said boldly, stepping in front of Alyxa as she looked dazed by the questioning of her beliefs.

  ‘That’s why we need the... well... the white dragon heart,’ Alyxa stammered, backing away a step.

  Just keep out of their way and the red dragons will leave you alone, the white dragon said with a shake of its great head. They have their mountain city and will never leave it. They are no threat to your people. You are too far from their mountains of fire.

  ‘They come to our village all the time,’ Logan corrected Silverhorn boldly.

  ‘And they take children away,’ Alyxa added.

  ‘They took my brother,’ Prince Myles said angrily. ‘We are going to find where they live and rescue him.’

  The white dragon looked a little confused as he looked from one human to the next. I can’t see why they would bother with mere humans. They have plenty already.

  ‘Mere humans?’ Alyxa queried but received no answer.

  ‘We’re not here to argue about why the red dragons took my brother,’ Myles snapped, also looking annoyed at being referred to as a mere human. ‘Since I can see we will have no success in getting the ingredient we came for, we will have to find another way to find the red dragons.’

  I suggest you forget your brother, Silverhorn said a little more sympathetically. Nobody can find their city if they don’t want it found — and, even if you did find it, you would never return. It is a fool who would even start such a quest.

  ‘We have to find it,’ Logan said firmly. ‘We’ll find another spell.’

  Is he your brother as well? The White Dragon looked surprised that his warning had not changed their minds.

  ‘No, but it’s my fault he was taken. It is my duty to find the prince and rescue him. The red dragon had a hold of me and Prince Erik fought to save me. Then he was taken instead.’ Logan watched the dragon’s expression as he explained, and saw that the dragon was very disturbed by the tale. A silence followed which was finally broken by the white dragon.

  The prince? Silverhorn repeated the words so quietly that Logan barely heard him. The red dragons have a prince?

  ‘I’ve already told you they’ve taken my brother,’ Myles replied irritably, not seeming to sense the dragon’s changed mood.

  Logan stared at the white dragon and frowned; it looked smaller than it had seemed before. Was it just further away or were Logan’s eyes playing tricks on him?

  It never occurred to me that the red dragons might try using a different royal family, the white dragon mused, a sad, distant look in its golden eyes.

  ‘What exactly will they be using him for?’ Prince Myles asked in a cold, angry voice.

  All dragons love the heat, Silverhorn answered softly. Logan nodded, noting again how hot he was in the heavy green cloak. The red dragons love it more than most. They usually live underground, near or in an active volcano. Sometimes they live so deep underground that you could dig for your entire life and never reach their lairs. The ground down there is full of rivers of hot molten rock.

  ‘So why are they up in the mountains?’ Logan asked. Snow covered the mountains all year round, so it hardly seemed the ideal spot for a red dragon to live.

  These are the outcasts of their clan. Troublemakers who have been banished to the surface, the white dragon replied. They can’t go home, so they want to make the surface just like their home — hot, flowing lava, boiling lakes and poisonous gases.

  ‘How do they plan to do that?’ Alyxa looked as worried as Logan felt. He didn’t think humans would be happy living like that.

  They have a crystal which can bring a dying volcano back to life. They have found a way to amplify the energy of the crystal so that it will set off a chain reaction that will disrupt the entire range of mountains. Lava will flow to the surface, mountains will erupt. The snow will melt for as far as the eye can see. Silverhorn paused and looked sad. All the lowlands will flood and become massive hot lakes.

  Logan gulped. That would mean everyone down on the moors would be drowned.

  ‘You still haven’t said how this involves my brother,’ Myles persisted, although he looked rather subdued by Silverhorn’s explanation.

  They need a royal prince to activate the crystal’s energy, the white dragon said quietly. Your brother may well be able to do just that — and it would be the end of this world as you know it.

  The white dragon had definitely shrunk. It was now about half the size it had been when they first saw it.

  Their plan may not work, but we can’t take the risk that it might. We have to rescue your prince. The dragon began to pace up and down the nest.

  ‘But only a moment ago you said it was impossible,’ Alyxa pointed out.

  No, I said only a fool would go on such a quest. We have no choice now but to be fools, Silverhorn replied calmly. The first thing to be done is to find the city. I’ve been there many times — long ago — but now even I would not be able to find it.

  ‘Has it moved?’ Logan asked, confused as to how the dragon would have forgotten the way if he had been so many times.

  It is still in the same place, but it is hidden from all but those they allow to enter. Did you feel a vibration in the air up here? the white dragon asked.

  ‘I did,’ Alyxa replied. ‘I think it’s what undid the charm on the prince’s blue dragon.’

  The white dragon nodded in agreement. It has many layers of purpose. No dragon can be charmed by a human within the range of the vibrations and it masks the exact location of the city. It has other uses, but those will not concern you on this quest.

  ‘The apprentice has a spell to find the city,’ Prince Myles joined in, looking impatient. ‘We find the city, free my brother and go home.’

  ‘But we need a new spell now,’ Logan said quietly and turned slightly away from the d
ragon. ‘Remember we are missing one key ingredient.’

  The prince’s eyes flicked to the white dragon, and the dragon suddenly laughed. A loud burst of mirth, despite the dragon’s reduced size that echoed around the cavern and made them cover their ears.

  You can have the dragon’s heart for your spell, Silverhorn said, barely controlling his laughter.

  All three looked at the dragon as if it had gone mad. Logan was the first to realise that Silverhorn wasn’t offering himself as a sacrifice.

  ‘It’s not a real dragon’s heart is it?’ he asked, taking the small jar from his cloak pocket and holding it up. ‘It’s far too small for a real heart.’

  Very good, the dragon chortled. It’s the heart of a flower that grows up here in the mountains.

  ‘Show us where it is and we can get on our way,’ Prince Myles ordered, earning himself a mildly irritated glare from the dragon.

  You’re in luck. The moon is bright tonight. Silverhorn unfurled its wings and lifted gently off the nest. Follow me and I’ll lead you to it.

  ‘You can change your size as well as your colour?’ Alyxa asked the dragon as it flew down to hover in front of them. It was now barely as big as the blue dragon which had brought them to the mountains.

  I don’t change colour, I merely reflect my surroundings and blend in. But I do change size. The white dragon had become as grey as the rocks around it as it flew out of the lair and into the dark tunnel. Hurry, in case the moon goes behind a cloud.

  ‘Draw your sword,’ Prince Myles instructed. When Logan hesitated, the prince continued. ‘We need the light to travel quickly through the tunnel.’

  Logan obliged and lit the tunnel brightly ahead of them. They hurried down to the mouth of the tunnel where the dragon was hovering, waiting. It was a brilliant white, reflecting the moonlight and glowing almost as much as Logan’s silver sword. The dragon gave off so much light that Logan slipped his sword back into its sheath as he came out of the tunnel.

  This is the only light which shows my true colour. Under the moon I cannot reflect anything but the moonlight. The dragon pointed up the hill with one of its front legs. The flower is up there.

  It shot effortlessly up the steep incline, but the three humans had to struggle up the rock-strewn hill.

  Hurry humans! Silverhorn urged from up ahead. Clouds have drifted in.

  Logan wondered why it mattered whether there were clouds or not, as the dragon gave off enough light to see by. They were puffing great clouds of steam by the time they reached the white, glowing dragon. It was perched on a large rock at the top of the hill, and it waited patiently as they caught their breath.

  ‘Where is it?’ the prince asked, looking around in the tufts of wild grasses that clung to the rocky hillside.

  Watch where you step, the dragon said calmly.

  The prince froze and looked more closely at where he had been about to stand.

  ‘Is this it?’ he asked in disbelief. Logan and Alyxa came to look. A small cluster of green leaves was peeping out between the rocks and in its centre was a single white flower.

  ‘It looks like a tiny white rose.’ Logan thought it was a miniature of the roses he had created with his only successful spell of late.

  ‘Do we just pick it?’ Alyxa knelt down to look at it more closely.

  Step back and let the moonlight strike it, Silverhorn said, gently pushing a rock away with a tip of a claw so that the moonlight bathed the tiny blossom with its colourless light.

  After several seconds the tiny blossom began to open, but, instead of normal petals, they raised themselves to the sides and extended outwards.

  ‘It looks like a dragon in flight,’ Alyxa said, staring at it in awe. ‘A tiny white dragon.’

  The heart is under the petals, the dragon instructed. But you cannot use the sword of peace. Only the owner of that sword can use it. The prince must use his silver one.

  ‘My sword is not silver,’ the prince admitted with a black look at Logan. ‘The apprentice has the only silver sword.’

  The dragon frowned, if it is possible to call it a frown. The ridges of its eyes lowered and its nostrils flared as it looked at Logan and then at the sword.

  You say the old wizard gave it to you? When Logan nodded in agreement, the dragon sighed. Well, it may work if the sword has been passed to you in a well-meaning way. It could be seen as your sword now.

  ‘It’s all we have, so I have to try.’ Logan bent down to have a look at the heart his huge sword tip was going to have to cut free.

  Be quick. It will cloud over again soon, Silverhorn warned gently. Take care not to cut the petals if they close or it will not grow another heart.

  The white dragon leaned in closer, blocking the moonlight for a few seconds and the petals began to close. Logan drew the sword from its sheath and it began to glow instantly.

  It glows. Silverhorn looked surprised. Yet you are an apprentice wizard.

  Logan nodded, and the dragon moved back. A cloud had drifted in and with it the flower was closing even more. Logan steadied his hand and held his breath. He could see a tiny white stone in the centre of the flower and he gently prised it out with the tip of his sword.

  ‘Put it in here,’ Alyxa said, hovering next to him with the stone jar, cork off and extended towards him.

  Take care, the white dragon cautioned. The heart can explode if not handled carefully.

  Logan withdrew the sword, tipped it sideways and watched with relief as the tiny stone rolled gently into the jar and shattered into dozens of flakes.

  The cloud moved on and moonlight bathed them all, reflecting brightly off the silver sword. Sparks of blue and white began to run up the blade of the sword, and Logan almost dropped it with fright. Small snapping and crackling sounds burst forth as the miniature lightning bolts continued to course up and down the blade.

  Silverhorn raised his wings, blocking the moonlight, and the sparks stopped instantly. With hands shaking, Logan quickly slipped the blade back into its silver sheath and looked at the others in surprise.

  ‘What was that all about?’ Alyxa asked a little nervously.

  So, it thinks you are the true owner of the sword after all, the dragon said in a thoughtful tone. That’s interesting.

  ‘We need to find my blue,’ the prince said, looking around in the moonlight as if expecting it to be nearby.

  I will fly you back to your village in the morning, Silverhorn said calmly. It was staring at Logan with a keen interest. I have need to speak with Zared. You might as well get a few hours’ sleep before then. I think we’ll all need it tomorrow. Climb on my back and I will take you back to the cave.

  ‘Shouldn’t we go now?’ the prince argued hesitantly, looking off into the blackness.

  You need sleep and so do I. Morning will be soon enough, the dragon assured him.

  The prince had the good grace to nod his appreciation, although it looked hard for him to do. The white dragon seemed to grow larger as it settled onto the ground next to them, allowing the rock on which it had been perched to serve as a mounting block.

  ‘I wonder if Zared remembered to shut the curtains,’ Logan muttered to himself, looking out into the blackness of night as the moon faded behind a cloud again. The only light was coming from the fading whiteness of the white dragon, yet he did not fear the darkness as he had thought he would.

  The shadow dragons do not search any more, Silverhorn rumbled. His voice seemed deeper as he grew larger. They have found what they searched for — or so they think.

  Logan looked at the dragon, which was shimmering dully, and frowned. He had thought Zared had imagined the shadow dragons, but now he wasn’t so sure.

  ‘So they’re real?’ Myles asked, looking suspicious. ‘I thought they were a children’s story.’

  No, they’re not real, in the sense of being alive, Silverhorn explained with a shake of his great white head. There is a dragon who can use the shadows to see great distances. If what he seeks steps in
to a shadow he will know where it is, no matter how far away it is. He has trained other dragons to search also. Only travelling across a large body of water will hide you if they are searching.

  ‘Maybe the old man isn’t so crazy after all.’ Alyxa gave Logan a nudge and handed him back the stone jar.

  It took only a few seconds to glide down the hill, and the dragon swooped into the entrance at a speed that had Logan scrabbling for non-existent flying straps.

  As soon as the dragon had landed, Logan slipped dizzily to the rocky floor of the lair. He would never get used to flying.

  Silverhorn looked curiously at Logan’s reaction, and Alyxa explained. ‘He doesn’t really like flying.’

  I’m not surprised, Silverhorn replied cryptically. I wouldn’t either if I were him.

  Logan looked at the white dragon in surprise, waiting for it to explain its comments, but Silverhorn simply walked off to its nest.

  You’ll find blankets in there if you’re cold, the dragon said, turning to point to the alcove that they had seen earlier. I will wake you shortly before dawn.

  Alyxa took the narrow bed and Logan and the prince laid their cloaks on the floor to soften the stone. Logan wouldn’t have believed that he could sleep, but the combination of warmth in the cave and relief at finding the dragon’s heart had him asleep within seconds of lying on his green cloak.