Jonah and the Last Great Dragon (11 page)

The children looked at each other. ‘We heard him yelling at it,' Gethin said uncertainly, not wanting to seem rude.

‘Oh, it was rather more than just shouting.' Michael said. ‘And did you notice how the dragon calmed down afterwards? Well, it's because of Jonah.'

As everybody swung round in surprise to look at him, he scuffled his feet on the grass and flushed with embarrassment.

Michael went on, ‘I've discovered something wonderful about Jonah. I'm just going to tell everybody what I've found out.'

‘What's he done?'

‘It's not what he's done but what he's going to do,' said Saint Michael. ‘Everything is going to be fine because Jonah can control the dragon!' With a slight movement of his wings, he rose above the wall and dropped lightly into the churchyard. The Archangel's face was radiant. He looked even younger now, much more like his Mike Golding self. He stretched out his hand, shimmering with light, towards Jonah.

‘I wondered whether I dared hope for this,' he said, smiling. ‘Jonah, this is marvellous!'

Jonah turned apologetically to the Archangel. ‘I know I shouldn't have said anything. It just sort of came out. I hope I haven't mucked everything up – um – Sir,' he finished lamely.

Michael laughed and the sound made Jonah feel warm. ‘Hey, you can still call me Mike! No, it was not what you said, though it is a good idea. No, I am overjoyed because you said anything at all. Really! Look at the dragon. He doesn't look angry, does he?'

Jonah looked. It was true. The dragon did seem quite peaceful, stretched out over the meadow, with sunlight burnishing his scaly hide. ‘Erm – I hope it's OK,' he said. ‘About feeding it, I mean. You could get some meat, Bryn, couldn't you?' He bit his lip, staring anxiously at his uncle.

Bryn looked across at the dragon. ‘Phew! Bit of a tall order, son. It'll eat a helluva lot, won't it?' He turned to Saint Michael. ‘Please, what did you mean, about Jonah being able to control it? We don't understand.'

‘Ask yourselves,' said the Archangel, ‘why Jonah suddenly shouted at the dragon.' He looked round at the puzzled faces. ‘He shouted because he knew what the dragon wanted. He understood what the dragon was saying.' He laughed. ‘Come to that, none of you could understand the sounds Jonah was making either. Don't you see, everyone? Jonah is the only person, apart from we angels, who knew what the dragon said. Jonah, and possibly only Jonah among human beings, can talk to him.' The Archangel put out a hand. ‘In a moment, I'll go and explain to everyone else, but I think you and your family and friends should know first, Jonah. So gather round. I have something amazing to tell you.'

CHAPTER 17

As he looked up at Michael, Jonah could hear lots of whispering. He couldn't look for long though, because the radiance that flowed from the angel's robes was so bright that it almost made his eyes water. He thought how strange everything had suddenly become. He imagined calling his parents when they could use the phones again. ‘Hi, Mum and Dad. I've just been talking to an angel and there is a dragon in the field by the church.'

‘Mike,' Jonah began, hesitantly. It was no good; he simply could not call this awesome being by such an ordinary name. ‘Er – Michael, can I ask you something?' ‘Of course.' ‘How come the last Welsh dragon speaks English?' The Archangel chuckled. ‘He doesn't.' Jonah looked up in puzzlement. ‘But I spoke English to him!' ‘No, you didn't!' Gethin cried. Michael smiled. ‘Jonah thought he did.' Jonah frowned. ‘But – how can a dragon understand what I'm

saying, anyway? I don't get it.'

‘I know. I'm sure none of you do, so let me try to explain. When I first met you, Jonah,' the Archangel said, ‘I hardly dared to hope that your name meant what I wanted it to mean.'

‘Jonah?'

‘No, your surname. Drake. Do you know what it signifies?'

Jonah shook his head thoughtfully. ‘I expect my ancestors bred ducks or hunted for them, or something like that.' He

looked at Michael. ‘I hate being called Drake,' he added wryly. ‘Jonah Quack-quack? Ducky Drake?' suggested Gethin. ‘You've got it! When I won the Year Eight football prize, they all quacked when my name was called out.'

‘His dad's school nickname was Aylesbury,' Claire put in.

Michael grinned. ‘You will be the one who is laughing now, Jonah. In your family's case, the name has nothing to do with ducks. You have just proved that!'

Jonah was looking totally mystified. ‘How?'

‘Do you know any Latin?'

‘Only a few words. I could start Latin next term, if I wanted to, but I think I'll probably go for Spanish.'

‘Well, you might like to know this bit of Latin. The name Drake is an old English surname and comes originally from the Latin word Draco. That means “dragon”.'

‘Really? I never knew that!' Jonah tried to suppress a grin of pleasure.

‘Well I never!' said Gwen.

Michael went on, ‘From ancient times the name Dragon, in any language, was borne by men who had a special bond with the dragon races. If a warrior fought with a dragon and killed it, there would be a feast in his honour and he would be given the dragon's heart to eat.'

‘Yuk!'

Michael grinned at the children's disgusted faces. ‘Ah, but there was a reason for this strange practice. Er – how can I explain? When the men who had killed the dragons digested the hearts and blood, they showed dragon-like qualities. They had dragon spirit, as it were, so there was a special bond between the Heart Eaters and dragons. A human being had to be very brave and very skilled indeed to overpower a dragon, and the beasts knew it. They respected those men.

‘After he'd eaten, the hero could understand and speak all the dragon languages. But, what's more – and this is really important – they would obey him, because they admired him. Do you begin to see what I'm saying?' Jonah shook his head slowly. Surely the Archangel wasn't suggesting that he could have eaten a dragon's heart.

Michael laughed at his bewildered expression. ‘Bear with me a little. The thing is, they could pass on the gift to their sons and grandsons.'

Claire's mouth dropped open. ‘Are you saying Jonah's one of them? That someone in his dad's family fought a dragon once?'

‘Yes, I am.'

Jonah was stunned. Saint Michael patted his shoulder. ‘Hard to take in, isn't it? It's true, though. Anyway, let me go on with the story. As the dragons withdrew to their caverns underground, men began to think of them as legendary creatures. The people who were born with the ability to understand and control them rarely saw a dragon any more. Eventually, most people forgot about the family gift. Very few people realised it had ever existed.

‘But Jonah just proved that the power is still being passed on, even though people like him, who possess it, may not be aware of it. Maybe it has jumped a generation or two, maybe it has leaped over many generations. But the line of descent, however obscure, is unbroken.' He looked round gravely. ‘He is the living proof. You are descended from such a line, Jonah. One of your ancestors must have been a great hero, a Heart Eater. That makes you a Dragoneer.'

Jonah, beside him, looked as if he'd been punched hard in the head and everyone else looked mystified.

Saint Michael laughed. ‘You really should see your faces!'

Emlyn was frowning. ‘What I don't understand is this. If Jonah, who's just a boy – and I accept he's special and all that – but if he can get the dragon to obey him, well, you're an angel, Mike – er, Michael. Surely, it would be safer, if you told it what to do, wouldn't it?'

‘Dad!' Erin rolled her eyes. ‘Mike's explained all about Jonah's ancestor eating a dragon's heart.'

‘Yes, I know but—' ‘Oh, Dad! Just think. Angels don't eat meat.'

Gwen tutted. ‘Erin!'

Erin looked apologetically at Emlyn. ‘Sorry. I didn't mean it to sound the way it came out.' She brightened. ‘Come to think of it, I don't suppose angels have ancestors, either.'

Gwen looked round at the adults with a ‘What can you do?' gesture, while they all tried not to laugh. Jonah could see Michael was stifling a grin.

‘It is true,' he said, ‘that I and my kind don't consume flesh. We cannot take dragon spirit into ourselves, cannot bond with the dragon races in the way the Heart Eaters did. Dragons fear and distrust our power in battle, because we have fought and killed so many. Dragons see angels as formidable enemies.'

The Archangel looked ruefully at the group of wondering villagers. ‘I doubt the dragon would ever trust me, as he will surely trust Jonah. Well,' he said, ‘I'd better go and tell all your neighbours.'

He walked towards the church. Exchanging looks, the children followed him and listened with growing excitement as the Archangel began to tell all the villagers about Jonah and his ancestors.

‘Now you are safe. You needn't be afraid of the dragon any longer,' he finished.

‘But that's only a boy,' an elderly man objected. ‘How can a young chap like him control a darned great thing like that? He'd be but a mouthful for it!'

The Reverend Vaughan also looked dubious. ‘Forgive me for seeming to doubt,' he said gravely to the angel, ‘but how could Jonah possibly make the dragon do what he wants? It seems quiet now but think of the devastating amount of damage it can do, if it becomes angry – or just hungry. How can we believe that young Jonah can stop it from killing us all?'

Saint Michael looked amused. ‘I think most people in the Radnor Forest found it hard to believe in my existence until this morning,' he said gently, and held up his hands as a clamour of apology and denial broke out. ‘But I do understand. Naturally, it is difficult for you to believe that the dragon will obey Jonah Drake. It's hard for Jonah!' The Archangel looked sympathetically at all the people. ‘I understand your doubts,' he said. ‘Of course I do. But even though he was unaware of it, Jonah was born with this power. And now we'll prove it to you!' He turned and beckoned Jonah forward. ‘He is going to show you, aren't you, Jonah? He's going to go over and command the dragon.'

Jonah's knees felt wobbly and there were a thousand butterflies tumbling around in his stomach. He had never felt so scared. What if the dragon got angry and burned him? Worse still, what if it tried to eat him? He looked at the Archangel apprehensively. Would Michael be able to save him if something went wrong?

He swallowed hard. ‘Yes,' he croaked. ‘I'll have a go.'

The church ministers were shaking their heads and Bryn looked appalled.

‘Sir,' he remonstrated, striding over to the Archangel. ‘With great respect, we can't put someone as young as Jonah in a situation where he might be killed!'

There was a cry of protest from somewhere in the crowd and Claire pushed through, followed by the Morgans and Rhodri.

‘Saint Michael, please listen to my husband.' Claire was wild-eyed. ‘I'm sorry, but please don't ask me to let Jonah do this. He is my responsibility while he's staying with us. How would I face his parents, if anything happened to him?'

Bryn looked at the Archangel sombrely. ‘Forgive us, my lord, but my wife is right. Jonah shouldn't face the dragon. He is still a child.'

‘Bryn!' Jonah flushed. A child! As if! He'd be a teenager in a few weeks! Even though he was frightened, he didn't want everyone to see how nervous he felt, and he certainly didn't want to let Saint Michael down. ‘I'll be all right,' he muttered to Claire, but even to himself his voice sounded small and shaky.

Now Rhodri stepped forward. ‘Sir, I used to be a soldier. Let me have a go. If the worst happened, well, I'm not married now. I haven't any children. If anything should go wrong, it would be better that it happened to me and not to Jonah.'

Michael smiled at him. ‘That's a brave offer. But you are not descended from the Families of Domination. You cannot command the dragon. If Jonah's father were here, it is possible that he could. But he's not here, so it seems only Jonah has the power.' He looked around at Claire and Bryn kindly. ‘Have no fear for Jonah. The dragon will obey him. Watch, and you'll see.'

Claire's mouth trembled and she looked near to tears but she daren't argue with the great Archangel.

Michael turned and touched Jonah lightly on the arm. The spot he touched seemed to glow with warmth and immediately Jonah felt better; the butterflies subsided and he felt quite calm and determined.

‘Come on, we will go back across the lane.'

‘How shall I get him to come to me?'

‘Just call him by his name. From now on, wherever he is, he will hear you.'

‘Michael, what did you call him? It sounded like “Ferny”.'

‘His name is Ffyrnig – wild as a furnace.' The Archangel spelt it out.

‘Is it all right to call him that? It's not too casual, is it?' Jonah felt anxious as they went out of the churchyard. ‘I mean, he's so important – the Last Great Dragon of Wales and all that. Ought I to say ‘my lord' or something? Won't he think I'm being a bit, like, pushy?'

The Archangel began to laugh. ‘Jonah, you have to realise that however mighty Ffyrnig seems, from now on you will be much more important. You can make him obey you; he won't be able to control you.'

‘But he's huge. I still don't see how I can possibly make him do anything he doesn't want to.'

Michael gripped Jonah's shoulders. ‘Well, if you look steadfastly into Ffyrnig's eyes, and tell him with all your heart and will what you want him to do, he will obey. There's a bond between the dragons and families like yours, Jonah. He will be bound by your will as a Master Dragoneer and, what is more, it will seem to him the right thing to do.'