The dragon yelled at the ape-man who stood on the platform watching. “Brownie, order one of the tregs to bring some chain!” The small man turned to his monitors and touched the keypad in front of him. Soon one of the tregs rose from where it sat and flew over the cage to the other side of the metal box. It picked up a chain and carried it to the cage where the bird dropped it at the dragon’s feet.
“Morton, my friend,” the dragon said, “come here.”
The old man shuffled over without raising his eyes to look at the dragon. He stood beside Ben with his hands clenched tight.
“Do I have to tell you everything?” the Dragon roared, “Pick up the chain and bind this creature to the cage. We will keep him standing in this spot tonight. Perhaps he has a third gift. I wouldn’t want him to turn into rubber and bounce out of here. Not that he would be any real danger, but I’m too old to play games.” The dragon pulled Ben, now visible, tightly against the fence. Morton picked up the chain and without looking at Ben or the dragon threaded it through the fence and wrapped it around Ben. Morton snapped the padlock shut and dropped the key in his pocket.
“That,” the dragon said, “will give me some time to work out the mystery of what world you are from. By the way, you taste bad. I won’t bother keeping you as emergency rations. I’ll keep you alive until I discover what you are and where you come from. After that I’ll kill you and my birds can have you for breakfast.”
Ben shuddered. The dragon laughed. “This is so much fun. Thanks for dropping in.”
The dragon turned to walk away, but as he went he said, “I will be back later to decide who to have for supper. Will it be Lushakan human? They really are the best tasting. But no, perhaps this is the night for mer? Yes, perhaps mer. It’s not good to be picky and let perfectly good food spoil.”
The dragon took a few more steps and then turned back.
“Good try, Morton, but I will have that key,” the dragon said. The dragon took the key to the instrument panel and hung it on a hook. He then spoke to the occupant of the metal box. Ben heard a sharp, defiant female voice speaking through the bars of the window. The dragon laughed and then moved on to speak to the ape-man who watched the monitors.
“Who is in the box?” Ben asked the old man.
“A dragon,” Morton replied.
“The box is too small to hold a dragon.”
“She came as a dragon, but transformed into a woman. Zork…
“Zork?” Ben interrupted.
“The old dragon became a man and they sat down to eat and drink. He gave her a goblet. Zanderella drank. That was a mistake. Zork gave her something to keep her from transforming. He transformed into a dragon himself, picked her up and put her in the box where she has been locked up ever since. Zanderella cannot transform as long as she is in that box. She has been there for over a month now.”
“How do you know these things?”
“I saw her arrive. She trusted the old dragon. He tricked her. She called out to him for the longest time, calling him uncle. The dragon just moved further away so that he could sleep without being disturbed. Sometimes at night she cries and it is enough to break the heart of anyone but that dragon.”
The man turned and started to walk away.
“Wait!” Ben said. “How long have you been here?”
“Too long.”
“How many people have you seen the dragon eat?”
“Too many.”
“How did you get here?”
The old man looked from Ben over to the dragon, and said, “Enough with your questions.” Morton walked away to sit by himself.
The three Lushakan humans walked over to where Ben was chained to the fence.
Gill stated, “So it’s true. You’re from another world. You should have become invisible and stayed invisible when that bird dropped you into the cage.”
“It seemed rather cowardly when the rest of you had no choice. Besides,” Ben said, “there is a limit to the amount of time I can stay invisible.”
“If I’d known you had those two gifts, I would have told you to turn on the invisibility, climb out of here, get the crown, and run as far and fast as you could. The war needs to be stopped before more of my people die.”
“I don’t think I could get through the barbed wire at the top of the cage, and if I could I don’t think I could survive on this island long enough to get back to the sea,” Ben said.
Gill grunted, “It would be a long shot…a very long shot…even with your abilities.”
“I saw your footprints,” Ben said, “at the stream, by the waterfall. You entered the water, but never left.”
“We were picked up by tregs,” Gill replied.
“I guessed that,” said Ben.
Ben heard the sound of rummaging. The dragon was walking around the pile of goods. Zork picked up a number of items, examined them and dropped them back down. Ben guessed that the dragon was looking at the things the tregs had picked up during the day when the dragon was asleep. After Zork examined everything of interest, he walked towards the cage. The occupants, except for Ben, moved as far away from the dragon as they could.
“Oh no,” Arno said. “It’ll likely be you or me, Gill.”
“It’s going to be O.K.” Gill said. “There are still five tregs to come in. They will bring food for the dragon.”
“I’m coming to get you,” said the dragon, laughing. “Time to barbecue.” Fire erupted from the dragon’s nostrils, aimed at the occupants of the cage. Ben felt the fire’s heat on his right side as flame shot through the wire towards the three Lushakan humans who were standing in a group. Brina sat off by himself and Morton stood with his back to everyone on the far side of the cage.
The dragon spread his wings and made a flying jump to the cage and landed close to where the three Lushakans stood. The occupants of the cage ran across to the other side. “Oh, don’t play hard to get,” said the dragon. “I really don’t feel like eating any of you for supper tonight. Let’s have a story while we wait to see if my birds bring something delicious to eat. If they bring something I like, you might all live to see another day. Now, who has a story for me?”
The occupants of the cage were silent.
“No one has a story? Then we’ll skip it and go right to dinner.”
Gill stepped forward and said, “I will tell you a story. Long ago, it is said that the mer and human Lushakans were one people. Both races were equally at home on land and sea.”
“Heard it already!” the dragon roared. “You’ll have to do better than that! Besides, I’d like to hear from the one who tastes so strange.”
Ben’s mind went blank. He did not know what to say. Finally he began to tell a Robert Munsch story that his grandmother read him years ago. It was the story of a princess whose castle was destroyed by a dragon. The dragon took the prince the princess was to marry. Ben told of how the princess defeated the dragon by flattery, wearing nothing but a paper bag.
The dragon stared at Ben in puzzlement. Finally it said, “I do not like that story.” A puff of smoke came out of the dragon’s mouth with each word. “I tire of this game. Ready or not, here I come.” With that the dragon rose into the air and hovered above the occupants of the cage. They could feel the movement of air as its wings beat above them. They heard his voice saying, “Einie, meenie, miney mo, one of you will have to go.”
The occupants of the cage cringed in fear. Then, there was a screech as three tregs came into the valley from a day of hunting. Two of them carried sheep-sized rabbits. Another carried a large fish. The dragon took the fish and ripped it apart. He threw the largest part into the cage where Arno picked it up. Arno handed out portions of the fish to everyone but Brina. No one had enough to satisfy their hunger. Ben looked at the piece he was given and wished it was at least twice as much. He never dreamed the day would come when he would gladly eat raw fish.
The ape-man came to stand near the dragon with his head bent. It did not look up. The dragon threw the remains of the fish at his feet. The ape-man did not look at the dragon as he picked up the fish. The brownie took the fish over to the coffin box where he cut the fish in two parts and held the smallest part up to the window in the metal box. Ben saw a hand reach out and take it.
Before he turned away from the cage the dragon said, “Make sure you feed the mer this time, I don’t like to have emergency rations go bad before I get a chance to eat them. Mer taste bad enough, let alone when they are nothing but scale and bone.” Arno took the fish out of Ben’s hand, tore it in two and reluctantly threw the smallest piece into the merman’s lap. Brina took hold of the fish as if he feared it would disappear. He shoved the whole thing in his mouth, lay back and closed his eyes as he chewed and swallowed. Ben realized that this was the first food the merman had seen since being taken captive. Ben tossed his fish into Brina’s lap. Brina opened his eyes and said, “You sure?”
Ben replied, “You need it more than I do.”
Brina took as big a bite as he was able. He was fearful that Arno or Gill would come and take this food away. When the fish was gone he said, “Thank you! You have my undying gratitude. Of course, that might not last very long.”
The dragon had turned its attention to the two animals the tregs had brought. Zork breathed fire which caught the animals as they ran. They died quickly. The fire burned away the creature’s fur and roasted them at the same time. The dragon ate them and afterwards the tregs swooped down to pick the flesh off the bones the dragon discarded.
After he finished eating, the dragon stopped by the cage. “You were all very lucky today.” Zork said. “You have one more day to live. Tomorrow, Chosen of the guardian, if I can’t figure out which world you come from, I will make you tell me before I feed you to the tregs.
Zork walked slowly back to where he was when Ben first saw him. The dragon sat down on his haunches and lowered his head to the ground. The sun was disappearing behind a mountain as the dragon fell asleep.
17. THE DRAGON WAKES
As night wore on Ben could hear Jared and the other two Lushakans whispered conversation. Eventually they fell asleep and there was silence, except from the center of the valley where the dragon lay. The dragon was muttering in its sleep, its scales rubbing against one another as it moved restlessly in the night. A dark shadow slid up beside Ben. Morton’s voice whispered, “You had better hope that Zork does not wake up, for his mind is troubled about you. He does not sleep soundly this night.”
“You know much about this dragon,” Ben stated.
“We have a long history together. Once he was a Chosen of the Guardian. We were friends. Now he is the enemy of those who serve the Guardian. The other dragon’s name is Zanderella. She is a Chosen. She is also Zork’s niece. Zanderella made the mistake of thinking Zork would listen to her, because of the bond of affection that once existed between them. She let him trick her. That was the last time that Zork has been a man. He grows more distant from humankind with every passing day.”
“The medallion the dragon has belongs to a Watcher, doesn’t it?”
“Yes.”
“Which world is it from?”
“The same world the dragon is from. Zargon is in great peril as long as the medallion is missing. No one can leave that world, and the Guardian cannot send anyone to it.”
“How did Zork come to have the Medallion?”
“He took it from the Zargonian Watcher.”
“Why would the dragon want the medallion?”
“He is growing old and is afraid of death. The medallion will prolong his life. With it he might cheat death for many centuries. The Medallion also enables him to hide on this world. This mountain is a blank spot to Lea Waterborn: partly because of the medallion, and partly because Zork brought Zargonian soil to this place long ago. Even then, he knew a day might come when he would need a place to hide.”
Ben was silent for a moment and then asked his next question. “Are you the watcher of Zargon?” There was no response. Morton had drifted off into the night.
The chains held Ben tightly against the fence. He could turn his head, but nothing else. He was tired but too uncomfortable and afraid to sleep. He was desperate to stretch and move. As the night wore on and everyone else was asleep, he heard faint sobs coming from the metal box. His heart went out to its occupant. What would it be like to be locked in a box for weeks? Like the rest of them, the dragon girl was trapped with no way out. However, her box did have a door. If someone was willing to do so they could release Zanderella from her prison.
The cage he was in had no door. The only way out was up. The only ones capable of flying them out were the dragon or the tregs. And the only person with any chance of climbing out was chained and could not move. Thinking these thoughts, with the heartbreaking sobs in the background, Ben’s own eyes filled with tears.
Words flowed out of Ben’s mouth. He said, “Guardian of the Six Worlds, if you know of our troubles, send help…please.” Shortly after speaking these words, Ben’s eyes closed and his head dropped down towards his chest.
Ben woke up when someone shook his arm. The first morning light was just beginning to penetrate the darkness when Ben opened his eyes.
“Ben, wake up,” a voice whispered.
“Charla!” Ben’s voice was loud in the quiet of the night. Charla and Ben stood silent, both afraid that his voice had awoken someone or, worse yet, something. Indeed it had. On a mat near the treg control center, eyes opened in a furry face. Ben spoke again, more quietly this time. “Charla, how did you get here?”
“I followed the stream up. It goes underground for quite a ways. You could not have come that way. Neither could Jared. Only one who is Waterborn can travel that way, or those Chosen with the gift of breathing under water. The stream takes many routes. I followed many dead ends as I looked for a place large enough to pass through. I finally found a place where it was possible to squeeze through, but anyone bigger would not have made it. So I am about to rescue you once more, but I can’t find the door to this cage. Where is it?” Charla spoke so quietly that Ben could hardly hear her.
“There is no door.”
“There must be.”
“Why? Tregs and dragons don’t need a door.”
“There’s a dragon!” Charla said much too loudly.
“Shhh!” Ben whispered. “There is.”
Charla fell silent as she digested this bit of news. Meanwhile the creature near the treg Control Panel watched undecided. He feared the dragon. The dragon had many ways of making one afraid. But he also hated the dragon more than anyone or anything. He had never willingly helped the dragon.
“The dragon,” Ben continued, “says he is going to kill me. He knows that I am a Chosen. The people here are his emergency rations. One of the prisoners has seen him eat Lushakans: both human and mer.”
“That can’t be.”
“It’s true,” Ben said, his voice once more too loud. “The best thing you can do is grab the crown and get out of here as fast as you can. Go back to Lea Waterborn. Tell her of the situation, perhaps she can do something.”
“I don’t understand. Lea Waterborn should know there is a dragon. This is her world. She’s the Watcher of Lushaka. This just shouldn’t be.”
“She doesn’t know because the dragon has stolen a Medallion from the Watcher of Zargon. He has also scattered Zargonian soil in this valley. This mountain does not exist to Lea Waterborn.”
Charla was stunned, silenced by what she had heard. Then she said, “What of Jared? Is he here with you?”
“Yes,” Ben replied.
“And Brina?”
“Yes.” Ben was struck by the fact that it was Jared who Charla asked for first.
“There is no way I am leaving any of you here. Getting off this island would take at least a day, if I made it at all. By the time I got to Fairwaters and came back with help anything could happen.”
“Charla,” Ben said urgently, “You cannot take on a dragon and a couple of dozen tregs all on your own. The best thing you can do is take the crown and go. And if there is a choice between your life and the crown, go without it. That is the only thing you can do for us. You must save yourself. Jared and Brina would tell you the same thing. You will give us hope by taking word to Lea Waterborn.”
Charla and Ben jumped when a voice whispered near them. “Boy, you just asked the Guardian to send someone to help you and when the Guardian does you want to send her away.” Morton poked Ben and then spoke to Charla, “There is something you can do mer girl. There is a metal box over there. Our only hope is in that box. Open the door and let Zanderella out. And then you get out of here as fast as you can. Do as the boy says. Take the crown and get word to Lea Waterborn. Go without the crown if you need to, but stay alive and go.”
Ben looked toward the box. It stood as a dark shadow in the night. He doubted that letting the dragon girl out would make their situation any worse. “Morton may be right. Do it Charla. Open the door. Then get out of here as fast as you can. If you end up in this cage there is no hope for any of us.”
Charla moved off into the dawning light towards the metal box. The small furry creature, moved to the control panel. He saw that all but one of the tregs was asleep. All he had to do was push a button and they would all be awake. They would see the girl and put her in the cage with her friends. Brownie put his finger over the button.
Ben looked up to the cliff tops anxiously. One of the tregs was awake. It was staring down into the valley, but not at the cage. Its attention was on the center of the valley where the dragon lay sleeping.
Ben turned his attention to what the treg was looking at and his heart sank. He could hear muttering. It was not the intermittent muttering that was part of a troubled sleep, but it was the sound of someone talking to themself. The pile of assorted goods was being shifted. Then the dragon let out a great roar, “Here it is. This is from Earth. The Guardian’s Chosen is from earth! Why does he not taste like an earthling?”
The rustling sound of dragon scales could be heard coming closer. There was the sound of wings moving air. The dragon landed in front of Ben on the inside of the cage. Zork was holding Ben’s gym bag.
“Who are you?” the dragon roared. “Who is your father? Answer quickly or I will start by cooking your feet and move upwards. You will answer me for the pleasure of a quick death.”
Ben decided that nothing was to be gained by refusing to answer. “Andrew Taylor,” Ben whispered.
“Who?” The dragon roared. The occupants of the cage and the girl in the metal box woke up. The sleeping tregs also woke up, stretched their wings and rose into the air. They wove in and around each other shrieking loudly, unsure of what was expected of them. The air vibrated with their shrieks.
Brownie moved his finger off the button. There was no need to bring the birds now. Brownie moved closer to the metal box. Charla looked up at the sound of his footsteps and their eyes met. Above them, a treg screeched. Charla reached over her shoulder and pulled out her spear. She stood with the spear held in front of her, her back against the metal box. The first bird came at her from the side. She lunged forward and slashed the bird across its right leg. The treg’s cry of pain pierced the air as it veered left. A second and a third bird dove towards Charla. She stood ready to lunge at whichever one reached her first. Brownie was impressed by her courage. He did not want to see her die in front of him. He quickly moved back to the control panel and pushed buttons. The two birds stopped their dive in mid-air and began to climb. Soon there was not a treg in sight as they all flew away to begin the daily search for food and treasure that Brownie sent them on.