Authors: Andy Holland
Whether Henry could hear Daniel or not, Crystal couldn't tell, but he had no problem with the simple controls. He swung the crossbow into position, and lazily lined up the sights with the target before releasing the trigger. The bolt sailed through the air before striking the target with an audible thud, earning him polite applause from his classmates.
"Well done!" the captain said enthusiastically. "We rarely get any students hitting the target on their first go. Reckon you could do that again, boy, or was that just beginners luck?"
Henry shrugged before lining up the crossbow and firing again. This time the bolt struck the target very near the centre; a nearly perfect shot.
"Fantastic!" the captain shouted enthusiastically. "Nothing lucky about that, and I'm guessing you're not a beginner. Used one of these before?"
Henry nodded as he shuffled over to the wall to wind up the mechanism again. "My father made me practice over the holidays. We use these more in the North."
"In the North? You're not Lord Lance's son, are you?" the captain asked. Henry nodded. "I thought I recognised those facial features. We had your sister here last year and she hit the target first time as well; only one out of the entire group, if I remember correctly. Excellent work anyway. Look, I have to see the third group now, and unfortunately we're missing a man today. John, it sounds like you're sort of a teacher; do you mind if I leave you in charge? One go per person. Henry can be your deputy. I'll be back soon."
Daisy looked at John very proudly as he stepped up to the front and started organising the class, getting them all to line up and take turns. None were as accurate as Henry, and despite taking a while to line up his shot, John was no more accurate than the rest of the class, and if anything, Crystal thought that her shot was nearer to the mark than his was.
"Henry," John called. "Please, could you demonstrate again? Could you talk us through what you're doing? Maybe it'll help us improve."
Henry shrugged and returned to the crossbow, mumbling a bit as he explained how to make sure you hit the target.
"Can we have another go?" Ben asked.
"Of course," John replied. "Shoot twice this time. Henry, can you watch, and tell him what he's doing wrong before he takes his second shot?"
"Should we be doing this?" Jenna asked doubtfully. "He told you to give us just one go each."
"He also left me in charge," John replied casually. "Same order as before; off you go, Ben."
Henry slowly warmed to the idea of coaching people and the classes' accuracy picked up noticeably. The class had almost finished their second go when the captain returned.
"Sorry, class; the third group was hopeless. I think they've got the hang of it now, at least I couldn't take watching them any more. I see you've decided to have another go each."
"John told us to," Jenna replied quickly. "He told us to have two turns each instead of one."
"I'm glad he did," the captain replied irritably. "This isn't a tour, young lady. I want you all to get some practice out of this. Good shot, young man! I see young Lord Henry is giving you all some tips. Good to see you step up, young man. You're a credit to your father."
The Captain watched them for a while before telling John to let them all have five shots a time next time around, and then to break for lunch. It took a lot longer this time around, as the students found winding the mechanism five times quite difficult. When it was John's turn, Crystal noticed that he winced in pain as he wound the mechanism.
"What's up with John?" she asked Daisy.
Daisy glanced at him. "Nothing, I think. Why do you ask?"
Crystal shook her head. "No reason, I thought he looked like he was hurt when he turned that handle."
"Oh, that. He does that sometimes. Arthur thinks it's indigestion. I don't think the food he has at the library is all that good. Anyway, John told me it's nothing to worry about."
Crystal frowned, wondering if he was still suffering from the injuries he suffered on their camping trip. It didn't seem likely, considering how long ago it was. It was her turn next, so she put it out of her mind, and managed to hit the target three times, outdoing John. At last she had managed to do something better than him. She turned to him proudly, very pleased with herself and hoping to rub his face in it a little, but John merely gave her an encouraging smile. It was hard to take any pleasure from beating someone who had so little interest in competing.
Almost all of the students managed to hit the target at least once this time around, and quite a few were managing to hit the target three or four times out of five, although none were anywhere near as skilled as Henry. When they broke for lunch, they were all a little tired, but in an excellent mood, having done far better than they thought they would do at the start of the day.
"That was a nice thing you did for Henry," Daisy said to John as they walked back from the tower towards where the rest of the students were gathered.
"I owed him," John replied simply. "But I'd have done it anyway. He was far better at it than any of us and the captain was too busy to really help us, so it made sense to use him. He was a pretty good instructor as well—a far better teacher than I had expected. I doubt any of us would have done as well without his help. Come on, time for some food."
After lunch, they continued practicing for a couple of hours before getting ready to leave. None of them were likely to be asked to take responsibility for a tower based on their current level of skill—apart from Henry—but all of them in Henry's group had made excellent progress over the day.
Professor Silver insisted that everyone flew back to the school, rather than travelling directly back home which would have made far more sense. To Crystal's irritation, John agreed with him, although he was officially in charge and could have overruled him. When they got back, John flew off with her, taking advantage of the short day to have an additional lesson.
What's the subject for today?
Crystal asked as they flew.
Geography,
John replied, making Crystal's heart sink. This wasn't a favourite subject of hers.
We'll need to go past the library first though. Just wait for me outside while I go and get something from my room. There's no need for you to transform.
John wasn't gone for very long, and when he came back he was carrying a long bag, which he put down while he transformed back into a dragon.
Come on, we'll fly to your house. It should be safe to look at this there.
Safe?
Crystal asked curiously.
Why? What is it?
Wait and see,
John replied cryptically, refusing to answer any of her questions until they had landed, transformed and were sitting in a secluded spot in the grounds of her house.
"So, tell me what you have," Crystal demanded impatiently. "You're being very secretive."
John opened his bag and pulled out a large book. "This is something that is a little risky to show you. Well, it's probably not so risky for you. But for me, it would be hard to explain how I came by it, and I can't leave it with you, as you couldn't explain how you came to have it. Unless you can find a very safe hiding place for it. Do you think you could find a safe hiding place?"
"What's the book about?" Crystal asked, ignoring his question.
John opened it up, turning to the middle of the book. "This is a map," he told her, "of the whole of this continent. Not just the Red Dragon kingdom, but everywhere. Have a look."
Crystal's eyes widened as she looked at the map laid out in front of her. In the north east corner was the Red Dragon Kingdom, and surrounding it to the east and south was the Blue Dragon's territory. The Green Dragons were not on the map. To the south, only just bordering the Red Dragon kingdom, an area was labelled Rhino Dragons, and to the south east of the Blue Dragons, there was a large area marked Brown Dragons. The map was much more detailed than any map she had seen before.
"What are these other places?" Crystal asked. "Who lives there?"
"Wasp Dragons, Sandy Dragons," John replied. "See, it's written on there. There's a desert here, just to the south of where the Green Dragons were. To the south there are lots of smaller territories, and here, well this is a sort of swamp land, which you'd expect to be uninhabited, but there are dragons that live there as well."
Crystal looked up at John. "Well, it looks very nice, but this can't be real, can it? I mean, how would anyone know any of this?"
"It's all real, Crystal. It's all accurate as well. Turn to the next page."
Crystal turned the page and saw another map nearly identical to the first. "Hey, this one has the Green Dragons on!"
"It's an older map," John replied. "Approximately one hundred years old. The next page has one that is two hundred years old. It goes back three thousand years."
Crystal flicked through the pages, her eyes widening as she looked at the maps. "This is real, isn't it?" she asked in amazement. "These old maps showing the Red Dragon kingdom, they're accurate, aren't they? Well, at least to be the best of my knowledge they seem to be, and don't comment on that, thank you. How could anyone have put this map together? This is incredible!"
"Go to the front of the book," John replied. "Have a look at some of the pages before the maps."
"Dragons!" Crystal gasped. "So many different types!" She flicked through the pages, seeing dozens of different types. She settled on a picture of a Blue Dragon. "Blue Dragons," she read out aloud. "A large, flying dragon from the north east. Darker on the back and wings than underneath, with numerous short spines on the back. Broad wings with a wingspan of approximately ten metres and a strong flyer, although not particularly fast, and with limited manoeuvrability... And look, here's a picture of how they look as people. They're not that different to us, are they? Not if you ignore the hair and the skin colour." She flicked through the pages, reading some of the detailed descriptions of the different dragons.
"John, is all of this real?" she asked, finally tearing herself away from the book. "There are so many different dragons described here. How could anyone know any of this?"
John shrugged. "It has been collected over a very long time. Look, you know I can't tell you the answer to your questions yet, but would you like to hang on to this?"
Crystal's eyes widened. "Really? You would trust me with this?"
John nodded. "Of course. Just keep it very safe. Get to know the geography as well as the pictures of the dragons and their descriptions. It's all real. Please trust me on that."
Crystal turned back to the book, now entranced by what she was reading. John smiled at her. "Alright, Crystal, I think perhaps I'll end the lesson here. Another short lesson, but I think I've given you enough to work on for the moment. You can study this on your own. Just keep the book very safe, alright?"
Crystal nodded, but was already lost in the book. The maps were interesting, but it was the pictures and descriptions of the dragons that had captured her attention, and she quickly flicked from page to page, admiring the colourful illustrations and scanning through the detailed descriptions. She didn't even notice John leave as she searched through the long list of dragons, trying to find the one thing that John hadn't been able to tell her about. The pictures of the dragons were amazing, and she found it hard to believe that many of them could have ever existed, but it was the descriptions of their human forms that she concentrated on the most. She failed to find what she was looking for. A race with her hair colour.
"Hi John, what's up? Aren't we having our lesson today?"
John had just arrived at Crystal's house with Daisy in tow. Daisy looked down at her feet sheepishly and Crystal wondered what she was doing there.
"Well, we've been doing these lessons for a few weeks now and after every lesson, Daisy wants me to tell her everything that I tell you," John explained. "I find myself repeating almost everything I say the next day, except somehow it takes even longer the second time around. I've decided that it would be easier to just bring you together. You'll benefit from each other's questions, and as Daisy is keen to learn, she's happy for us to meet three times a week, if that's alright with you."
Crystal was a little taken back by this. Wasn't the whole point that she was special—that this information was just for her? What of the risks to her safety that John had mysteriously alluded to? Wouldn't this put both her and Daisy at risk?
John seemed to read her mind. "I'm guessing that you're wondering why I'm doing this, and you're probably also wondering about the final lesson. Everything I've told you so far and up to that lesson I see as being of medium risk. If either of you were to repeat any of these things, questions would be raised about how you heard about them, and I think you're both realising that we're breaking some taboos by discussing these topics, but I don't think you'd get in much trouble. The main risk is to me, not to you, and I'm perfectly comfortable with that."
"That still doesn't explain why you're bringing Daisy though," Crystal argued. "No offence Daisy, but I thought this was about who I am, and about my mother."
John nodded. "Fair point, but it's also about who I am. You probably think that we're crazy to even be discussing this so soon, but as it has come up, I've explained to Daisy that even if her family did allow it, she might not want to marry me if she knew everything about me. She can't accept that at the moment, but she wants to understand why I think that. Some of what we will cover will help her understand. She doesn't understand what I mean when I tell her that you're special, which of course neither do you, but she does accept that I have to tell you some things first, so the final lesson will be given to you before her. How does this sit with you?"
Crystal wasn't sure how she felt about this, but nodded anyway. "Fine. And yes, I can manage three times a week. If
she
can."
Daisy opened her mouth to respond but John didn't let her. "Don't goad her. I don't mind you being rude to me, but not to her. She doesn't deserve it. Not once has she complained about the arrangement we've had or made any unpleasant comment about you. If she has been at all resentful about the time I spend with you, she's always hidden it very well."
Crystal flushed, a little embarrassed. She had been feeling jealous when if anyone had the right to feel that way, it was Daisy. Daisy was looking down at the ground, clearly feeling a little awkward. Crystal decided to act decisively. She reached forwards and took both of Daisy's hands and squeezed them.
"Thank you," she told her. "And I'm sorry. Still friends?"
Daisy looked up at her shyly, and then smiled and nodded. "Still friends," she replied warmly.
"Let's not stand here in the hall," Crystal told them. "There's a spot outside where we won't be disturbed." She led them out into the grounds, into the area with all of the statues, where she had learnt to transform. "So, what will we cover today?" she asked.
"Well, firstly, something you've been asking me about for a while now," John replied, opening his bag and pulling some clothes out. They were his old flying clothes, still a little stained with ink.
"You've kept these?" Crystal asked in surprise.
John nodded. "They were a present from my mother. I don't have many clothes, so I can't just throw them away."
Crystal bit her lip, feeling a little embarrassed, remembering how his clothes were spoilt. She would throw away a garment if it had a tiny mark on it, let alone if it was covered in ink stains.
"Right, so you've asked how I can transform so quickly, and how I manage my clothes while I transform. Being able to transform quickly is mainly down to practice and being taught well, but managing the clothes comes down to clever design. These clothes are a little different to the ones you are used to. Just like yours, they are designed to come off without tearing when you transform, but they have these drawstrings added. When you transform, you'll notice that two small spikes on your chest appear along with another two on your hips. They're quite small, so you might not have noticed them, but these draw strings can be attached to those four spines if you are careful, and as you transform, the strings are stretched out and the clothes are pulled into a neat bundle. Hold on to these two strings and I can demonstrate."
Crystal picked up the two strings John offered her and held them still as John pulled on the other two and the clothes were pulled into a neat little bundle.
"Very clever," Daisy marvelled. "But how do you get them all back on?"
"With lots of practice," John replied, releasing the strings and allowing the bundle to spring open again. "But this will be of little use to you unless you can transform more quickly."
"Which you're not going to be teaching me," Crystal pointed out.
John shook his head. "Nor Daisy. She also has a reputation to maintain. I will give you some practice tips every now and then as transformation is one of the ten lessons, but that will be the extent of what we cover. So, on to today's lesson. A topic that we've only scratched the surface of: Red Dragon politics and culture."
Crystal groaned. "Really? Can you tell me why we have to do this? I can't think of anything duller. What is the point?"
"Well, we will discuss this topic with the aid of that book," John replied, "to compare Red Dragons to other races."
Crystal's eyes widened. "Do you mean
that
book?"
John nodded. "Daisy knows about the book—don't worry about that—and she's very excited about seeing it. One thing you've always been taught is how advanced and civilized you are compared to other races, and you'll find that every race teaches their children the same thing, but of course they can't all be right. By the end of today, you'll have a better understanding of how fair our society really is, and how it compares to the others. Let's begin with the Blues…"