Dragon Valley Trilogy Read online

  “I wonder what they’re up to,” Toby said and pointed at the small cluster of men gathered around the back of the wagon.

  “Looks like a very suspicious group,” Sanelle agreed and after a thoughtful look she made a pattern in the air and this time Toby caught the word ‘Sapphire’ as she muttered it. She rested her hand lightly on Toby’s shoulder and he felt one eyebrow lower in a small frown, he much preferred holding her hand.

  “Are we invisible?” Toby saw a young girl walking nearby and as she neared the tree she suddenly changed direction and hurried off, looking nervous and scared. “I don’t think it worked.”

  “I do know a few other runes, you know.” Sanelle got up and pulled Toby up without letting go of his shoulder. “To them we look like the most despicable, untrustworthy pair of robbers they’ve ever seen.”

  “Oh.” Toby realised that holding hands would not look right considering their disguise. He was about to ask why they looked like that when the boy who had been talking to the travelling healer came up to them.

  “Wanna earn some coin?” he whispered, not getting too close. By the way his nose wrinkled Sanelle must have added a very bad smell to their disguise. Toby was glad he was immune to it.

  “What’ve we gotta do?” Sanelle’s voice slurred in a perfect imitation of a drunken low-life.

  “Catch a dragon,” the boy replied in a whisper

  “Dragons are pretty dangerous.” Sanelle appeared to be thinking it over and rubbed her chin with her free hand. “How much coin?”

  “Go see the healer.” The boy backed away and then ran off, peering into alleyways and tavern windows.

  Toby and Sanelle wandered slowly over, people clearing a path for them as they passed through the market, and stopped at the side of the small, but ugly, group of men.

  “How much you payin’?” Sanelle called just loud enough to draw attention to them. Disguise or not, she had guts and Toby was impressed.

  “Two brass each if you get the dragon, nothing if you don’t,” Healer Chilton offered, looking them up and down and Sanelle nodded in agreement.

  “Will it fit in the wagon?” Someone asked and Healer Chilton frowned as he sized up the inside of his wagon.

  “I hear it’s twice that size,” one man offered.

  “Nah, it’s no bigger than a dog,” another argued.

  Finally, after much arguing, they decided that the wagon was probably big enough and Healer Chilton broke up the meeting.

  “Meet me at the fork in the road just out of town after dark. We’ll be done by moonrise.” He went into the back of his wagon and dropped the flap, whistling tunelessly to himself.

  Toby and Sanelle wandered back to the tree and Sanelle drew a quick sign in the air.

  “It cancels the spell,” she told him when he raised an eyebrow in question. “So what do we do about that lot?”

  “They won’t get past the guards. They’re no threat to Klel,” Toby assured her, but it worried him that people would actually try to steal Klel.

  “Still, I think we should go along with them tonight just to make sure,” Sanelle decided.

  **

  It was dark when they arrived by the fork in the road. The moon wouldn’t be up for an hour or so yet and they saw the small group of men already gathered just off the road in a small gully. Healer Chilton wasn’t there yet and Toby and Sanelle joined the misfits.

  They were all muttering amongst themselves while they waited. Some were saying it was foolish to try and steal a dragon, but were obviously desperate for coin or they wouldn’t be there. It was a clear night and it didn’t look likely to snow for some time but it was also cold. Toby cringed as he stood in a deep drift of snow and sank up to his knees.

  They only had to wait a few minutes before the sound of a wagon drew them all out of the gully. The healer lifted the flap and pushed them all in. Toby had to keep close enough to Sanelle for her hand to rest on his shoulder or back. If she let go now he would be in real trouble, stuck in the middle of a wagon full of thieves and cut-throats.

  Healer Chilton drove the wagon up the west side of the castle on a little used track that led past the castle and on up to the ruins of an old castle on a small hill. The healer had obviously bought some information about the castle because the west wall was the least guarded as it backed onto the rubbish heap. The smell could be awful if the wind was in the wrong direction so the guards tended to miss that part of the courtyard wall as they did their rounds. Who had told the healer to come here?

  “Over this way.” Healer Chilton pointed to some trees and Toby wondered if they were going to climb the trees and jump over the wall. The healer didn’t appear to have any rope to scale the wall, and once inside how was he intending to carry Klel out?

  “Sanelle, look!” Toby whispered, shocked and horrified to see that an old metal gate, sealed off years ago, stood partly open and allowed them access directly into the large courtyard where Klel’s shelter was.

  There were no guards in sight and Toby knew then that stealing Klel was a real possibility. Everyone froze as the lantern of a patrolling guard came into sight but to Toby’s horror the guard missed out the west wall completely.

  “We’ve got to do something,” Toby hissed at Sanelle.

  “What, like this?” Sanelle asked and suddenly the sky was full of exploding coloured lights.

  “What is it?” Toby asked over the booming noise of the explosions.

  “Mother calls it a light-show, it’s her special trick. It won’t hurt anyone but it will get their attention.” Sanelle leaned close to his ear so that he could hear.

  All around the courtyard heads appeared at the windows. People started coming out of every door and the courtyard was filling fast.

  “We’ll come back tomorrow,” Healer Chilton said with a scowl and headed back towards the gate.

  Toby allowed himself to be pushed out the gate and then he and Sanelle moved off into the shadows. Everyone else piled into the back of the wagon but Healer Chilton kicked them out.

  “There’ll be people out on the roads with this in the sky. I’ll not be caught with the likes of you lot sitting in the back of my wagon,” he told them. “I’ll leave the wagon here. Meet here the same time tomorrow night.”

  The thugs and thieves melted into the darkness, shown up every few seconds against the white snow by the lights that still exploded so prettily in the sky. Toby and Sanelle slumped down by the wall of the castle and watched them retreat.

  “They could have done it you know,” Toby commented as she let go of his shoulder and he saw her make the sign she had made earlier to undo her spell.

  “I know.” Sanelle looked as worried as he was. “We have to get him out of there.”

  “We’re going to steal Klel?” Toby asked in an amazed voice and then they both jumped as the solid metal gate banged shut just a few feet from where they sat. Healer Chilton obviously had inside help.

  “No, we’re going to set him free,” Sanelle corrected him.

  “Do you have to turn that off?” Toby pointed to the lights in the sky.

  “No, it lasts for about half an hour and then just fades away,” Sanelle replied and then pointed up the hill, away from the castle. “What’s that?”

  In the flashes of light Toby saw she was pointing up towards the old castle, abandoned nearly thirty years ago.

  “The old castle. The king thought it was too small so he had a new one built,” Toby replied and then yawned. It had been a long day.

  “We’ll spend the night up there and come back to set Klel free in the morning,” Sanelle told him. She was obviously used to making decisions and Toby didn’t have the energy to argue.

  “Look.” Toby pointed over at the wagon. “He didn’t even unhitch the poor horse.”

  They released the horse and Sanelle fed it an apple from the bag of food in her pack.

  “Is there a well up at the old castle?” Sanelle asked and Toby nodded. “We’ll take him up there for a
drink, he looks like he could do with one. That healer ought to be ashamed at treating an animal this badly.

  They walked the horse slowly up the hill and stopped in the front courtyard of the ruins to look back down on the castle. The light-show was still exploding high above the castle and there appeared to be no standing room in the courtyard. On top of Klel’s shelter, Toby could see the pale golden outline of his friend, snout raised to the sky and obviously enjoying the show. The moon was just rising and Toby stared at it, seeing that it was over half full; time was running out for Sanelle’s mother.

  “Hold on Klel. We’ll come and get you in the morning,” Toby whispered, a cloud of mist rising from his breath, then led the horse over to the well.

  CHAPTER TEN

  A NEW MASTER

  Toby hurried up the steps of the tumbling-down tower. One wall of the top floor was missing and loose rubble lay strewn across the floor, victims of the gusting wind, which battered the ruins in winter. Today the wind was resting and the snow was still not falling. From here Toby could see the entire castle at the bottom of the hill.

  “Need some help?” Sanelle asked as she came up behind him.

  “I think that’s Blaise down in the courtyard near Klel.” Toby squinted, trying to be sure.

  “Try this.” Sanelle handed him a small black tube and when he looked at it with confusion she added. “Look through it.”

  “Whoa, they’re big. Is this magic?” Toby could see that it was definitely Blaise walking towards Klel’s shelter.

  “No, just glass. My father is an inventor, he calls it an eyeglass,” Sanelle told him. “See if you can see the princess.”

  Toby looked everywhere he could with the eyeglass but he couldn’t see Princess Kaylene. “She must be inside.”

  “Then we’ll go inside the castle and find her,” Sanelle said firmly.

  “And we just rip the gems off her neck and run?” Toby didn’t mean to sound sarcastic but even if they were invisible she was sure to notice if her necklace suddenly disappeared.

  “If I can get close enough I can make her take them off. Then we need to get the talisman.” Sanelle said thoughtfully and then turned to face Toby. “We’re going to have to get down there without being seen so I can save my magic for getting the necklace. It doesn’t last forever and I have to rest it every now and then.”

  “Easy,” Toby told her with a smile. “Follow me.”

  He led her down into what had been the cellars of the old castle. He grabbed hold of a tarnished brass ring set into a large stone in the corner and pulled. The stone came up easily and revealed a ladder leading down into darkness.

  “I found it years ago when I was playing up here. It leads all the way into the cellars of the new castle. It must have been an escape route,” Toby explained to Sanelle who was already at the top of the ladder and starting to climb down. “They knocked down an old stone cottage to build the new castle so I figure they used the existing cellar as part of the castle and forgot about this tunnel.”

  Toby lit an old lantern that was hidden behind the door and followed her. Less than five minutes later they pushed up a trap door at the back of an unused storeroom.

  “How will we find her?” Toby wondered aloud.

  “I can feel the gems already,” Sanelle told him and left the storeroom after making them invisible. “This way.”

  It was odd walking through the castle knowing that nobody could see him. They passed right by Marc as he hurried about his duties.

  When they reached the more populated area they saw three well-dressed, men heading their way. The men were very excited and they were talking loudly as they hurried down the corridor.

  “I just can’t believe it!” one man said happily.

  “Nor I,” another man said with a sigh of pure contentment. “Just think of all the money we’ll make off our villagers with these.”

  “And he only charged us a year’s taxes for each one!” The third man seemed as delighted as the others and pulled something from his pocket.

  Toby just stared, and almost let go of Sanelle in his shock. The man had a dragon scale! The pale golden colour of it told Toby that this was one taken just a few days ago. Then he saw all three men had one! It wasn’t like king Herat to let anyone have a dragon scale, at any price.

  They went up another floor to where the royal guests’ suites were but it wasn’t until they arrived outside the guests’ sitting room that Toby’s fingers began to tingle.

  Toby looked in through the open door and saw Princess Kaylene sitting at a needlework frame, looking bored and unhappy. Two other young ladies sat at similar frames and their fingers flicked back and forth as they worked.

  “Now to make her take it off,” Sanelle whispered.

  Seconds later the princess began to scratch at her neck and rubbed so hard that she left red marks on her lily-white skin.

  “What’s wrong Kaylene?” one of the other girls, with black curly hair, asked.

  “My neck is itchy,” she replied with a whine in her voice that irritated Toby instantly.

  “Take off the necklace, maybe the glass has a chip on it,” the other girl suggested.

  Toby saw the look of doubt pass over Princess Kaylene’s face as she removed the necklace.

  “A dragon scale would heal those welts.” The girl with black hair paused in her needlework to look at Princess Kaylene’s neck.

  “I’m getting one tomorrow, Hana,” the third girl added a little smugly.

  “So am I,” Hana replied quickly.

  They were getting dragon scales too? Toby frowned as Sanelle led him quietly across the room to where the princess had put her necklace.

  “Then I’m going to get one too!” Princess Kaylene pouted as she rubbed her neck again.

  Toby frowned as Sanelle grabbed the necklace and they crept from the room.

  “Now we just need the talisman,” Toby said as they walked along the corridor. “We could wait for Blaise in the corridor just before his suite. It’s quite narrow and if we put out some of the oil lamps we should be able to ambush him easily.”

  “That sounds like a good plan,” Sanelle agreed with a nod. “But we’ll take these to Klel first. He’ll need to regain some strength before we can set him free.”

  They made their way to the courtyard and crept quietly past the guards patrolling the area. The courtyard was swept clean of snow and the air was quite warm. Spring was definitely on the way.

  “Klel,” Toby called softly as they approached the shelter but received no reply. Toby saw his friend curled up in his sleeping corner, a murky shade of brown again.

  “My magic is going!” Sanelle said as she pulled Toby around the back of the shelter. “Blaise must be nearby.”

  They crouched behind the shelter and peered through a gap in the stones.

  “I can see him,” Toby whispered. “He’s coming this way with Master Groomer.”

  “Shhh….” Sanelle hissed at him.

  Toby and Sanelle both watched as the red-haired prince and the overweight groomer came closer.

  “Take a look at the dragon,” Blaise commanded bluntly. “It’s gone a funny colour.”

  “I ain’t no dragon doctor,” Master Groomer muttered as he shuffled through the straw on the ground and bent over Klel. He made a clucking noise with his tongue as he inspected the wounds and then stood up and shook his head.

  “Well, is it getting better or not?” Blaise demanded.

  “No, Your Highness. The wounds are healing but it’s dying. I’ve seen it before when horses just give up after an injury.” Master Groomer was shaking his head sadly. “Poor thing.”

  Toby felt his mouth drop open. He had to get the gems to Klel, and soon. Blaise looked annoyed by the news and his face went red with anger.

  “But it has to live!” he exclaimed loudly. “I need those scales!”

  “I’ll give it something to make it go to sleep and never wake up again, Your Highness. It’s the kindest thing
to do.” Master Groomer was about to walk off but Blaise stopped him.

  “Will the scales still heal even though they have turned brown?” Blaise had a desperate look on his face that made Toby shake with rage. He could tell what Blaise was thinking and it made Toby want to be sick. “I could remove them before it dies.”

  “I don’t think that’s a good idea, Your Highness,” Master Groomer said with a shake of his head.

  “I didn’t ask if it was a good idea… I want to know if the scales will heal as the golden ones do.” Blaise looked about to explode and Master Groomer took a step back out of his immediate reach.

  “I suppose they would, Your Highness.” Master Groomer obviously didn’t approve of what Blaise was intending to do. “But to remove the scales now would cause it great pain and suffering.”

  “It’s going to die anyway,” Blaise snapped back at the groomer and looked hard at Klel.

  Toby realised with horror that Blaise was actually counting Klel’s scales.

  “The king would not approve…” Master Groomer left off the prince’s title and then with a withering look at the prince he stormed out of the shelter, heading towards the castle at a pace that Toby had never seen him achieve before.

  “There should be enough…” Blaise was talking to himself as he finished his count.

  “We can’t let him take them,” Toby whispered as softly as he could. He was ready to tackle Blaise right there and then but by the time he turned back to the small hole in the wall, Blaise was heading out of the shelter.

  “He’s probably going to find someone to do the dirty work for him,” Sanelle said with a glare of pure hatred at her brother’s back.

  “We have to stop him!” Toby whispered urgently.

  “Don’t worry, Toby. We’ll all be out of here in a few minutes. I’ll come back for the talisman later.”

  Toby couldn’t answer. He wasn’t sure he would be so selfless if it were his mother in the talisman.

  “My magic is working again now,” Sanelle said as she grabbed his hand and they hurried around to Klel.