Jonah and the Last Great Dragon (13 page)

The dragon looked uncertain but blew carefully, and rumbled with pleasure as blood began to seep into the grass. He nosed at the pieces of meat and then started swallowing the portions eagerly. Gethin started forward with some more packages. As fast as the boys unwrapped them, the dragon gulped down the food. Gethin, pulling a joint from its plastic wrapper, turned round to find Ffyrnig's great horned head almost on his shoulder. Jumping hastily backwards, he tripped and the piece of beef flipped out of his grasp. Ffyrnig thrust his neck forward and caught it neatly, swallowing it whole. The children cheered and the watching crowd, beginning to lose their fear, started clapping and laughing. Ffyrnig, delighted by his audience, began showing off. He caught some linked sausages with his forefeet and, with a sweeping lunge that almost tore a hawthorn tree out of the hedge, twirled them round and round in the air before flinging them up and swallowing them. His audience yelled and laughed and clapped, until their hands were sore.

‘That's it,' said Jonah. ‘You've finished the starters, Ffyrnig. But there'll be a proper meal for you soon.'

Erin and Gethin were giggling again.

‘What's the matter?' Jonah wanted to know.

‘You. Gossiping away with a big lizard,' Gethin said.

Jonah grinned. ‘OK, you talk to him then.'

‘Tell him the next meat won't be frozen,' said Erin, but when Jonah did, she collapsed into giggles again.

‘You're hopeless, you two,' he said good-naturedly, and turned to explain what the joke was to Ffyrnig.

The dragon squeezed his eyes nearly shut, which Jonah had begun to realise was his way of showing pleasure. ‘They won't laugh when they see what you can do,' he said. ‘Climb on my back and I'll take you for a ride. You'll be quite safe,' he added, as he noticed a hint of doubt in Jonah's eyes. ‘My back isn't at all slippery, and you can sit on my shoulders between my wings and hold on.'

Jonah's face was eager but he was still slightly hesitant. He didn't want to look like a show-off.

‘Come on, Master,' coaxed the dragon. ‘I won't fly very high!'

Jonah bit his lip.

‘You're a Dragoneer, Master. You ought to know how to ride on my back. What if the angels need help somewhere else?'

Jonah could not resist any longer. What Ffyrnig had just said made sense. He ran forward, stepped up on to Ffyrnig's thigh and pulled himself up on to the dragon's back. It was unexpectedly easy. He settled himself in the narrow space at the base of the dragon's huge wings and held on to the thick, tough edges, with his legs gripping Ffyrnig's spine. He was surprised how comfortable it was. The dragon's scales were warm and it was rather like sitting on a very, very large heated leather saddle.

‘Ready?' asked Ffyrnig.

‘Yes!' Jonah replied in a voice taut with excitement. He could hear cries of alarm from the churchyard as Claire and Bryn realised what was happening, but he tried to ignore them. I know he'll look after me. It will be all right.

‘Hold tight!' The dragon turned towards the corner of the meadow on the far side from the lane, rose high on his legs, ran forward a few steps at enormous speed until he was almost on the other side of the field and then launched himself upwards into the air. A great yell burst out of Jonah's mouth. He held on tensely but soon realised Ffyrnig had been right. His back wasn't at all slippery. Jonah felt completely safe, gripped between the dragon's shoulder blades.

Ffyrnig flew lazily up the Cascob valley and out over the Radnor Forest. A warm wind blew Jonah's hair back and he could smell the not unpleasant smokiness of Ffyrnig's breath, as it streamed past him. Looking down, he could see the dragon's huge shadow passing over a green carpet of trees, and then they were out over hilly uplands.

Hanging on tightly, Jonah peered down at the sunlit meadows below them. Riding the dragon was more exciting, he thought, than even the best funfair ride. Better even than ‘The Big One' at Blackpool Pleasure Beach. Ffyrnig dipped and swooped freely through the air, and Jonah wanted to shout aloud. As they began to glide back, down towards Cascob, he could not help feeling thrilled that Ffyrnig had woken up. In spite of the terrible things that the Night Creatures might do, now that they could escape from the Underworld, it was still exciting to be with a dragon.

I'm riding the Last Great Dragon of Wales, he thought, and I am his Dragoneer. Wow!

And he whooped, as they came gently down towards the meadow, and he saw all the upturned faces waiting for them.

CHAPTER 20

An early supper was just finishing in the big old kitchen at Maesglas Farm. Claire had asked the Morgans and Rhodri to eat with them. In fact, Gwen had been at Maesglas all day, while Bryn and Emlyn, Rhodri and Ted had worked together on the jobs that had to be done on both farms. Jonah and Erin had spent most of the day with the dragon, and there was a constant stream of onlookers up and down the lane to watch Ffyrnig munching the huge pile of joints the Knighton butcher had brought for him. Nobody could settle down to an ordinary day. They wanted to talk about the Last Great Dragon and the demons, and exclaim about seeing real angels in the sky and how amazing it was to find out that Mike was really the Archangel Michael.

‘Please come and eat with us,' Claire had said at the end of the long, hot afternoon. ‘You'll be doing Jonah a kindness.' She rolled her eyes at him. ‘It might just stop me hammering him to a pulp.'

‘Oh, Claire! I've said I'm sorry. About a million times!'

‘Yes,' said Bryn. ‘Leave it alone now, love. He has said he's sorry you were worried. And, in any case, what boy his age could have said “no” to a ride on a dragon? Give me the chance and I'll have a go! Ouch.' He threw up his arms to cover his head as Claire, laughing, hit him with a cushion.

‘Hopeless,' she said to Gwen. ‘How can I stop Jonah riding the dragon, when all these chaps want a go on it, too? It's probably a good thing that we can't get a phone signal because I don't know what I'd say to Jonah's mum. My sister will be frantic when she hears that he's been riding around the sky on a creature that she thinks just exists in stories. She'll say I'm mad and, what's more, totally irresponsible as an aunt!'

Everyone was laughing when Rhodri held up a hand for quiet. ‘Was that someone knocking just now?'

‘Yes, it was,' said a voice and Mike Golding walked into the kitchen. At least, he looked like Mike Golding but, of course, they all knew who he really was. Everyone stopped talking and Emlyn Morgan stood up and pulled out a chair for him.

‘Thanks,' said the angel. He looked round at all the respectful faces and began to grin. ‘Please, everybody, try to forget you have seen me with wings! Just treat me like you did before. Yes?'

‘That's, like, impossible. No one could forget how big your wings are. And when you have them, it's hard to look straight at you, too. Did you know that you glow?'

‘Erin!' Gwen shushed her fiercely.

Mike laughed. ‘No, Gwen. Erin is right. I know I'm asking a lot, but I would like it very much if you all just treated me as a friend. However,' Mike turned to Jonah, ‘I do come as an angelic messenger, I'm afraid. Something terrible is happening in Hereford.'

‘What's that?' Rhodri asked.

It seemed that the Night Creatures were beginning to swarm into Hereford. They had appeared suddenly in the morning, descending on the cathedral, and more were arriving, getting bolder all the time. They were leaping about on the cathedral roof and scurrying around Cathedral Green. The creatures had even gone as far as the beginning of Capuchin Lane, the little alley that led to High Town, where they were terrifying those shopkeepers who lived on the premises.

‘The police have closed the roads into the centre of Hereford,' said Mike, ‘and they are stopping people from walking into the area round the cathedral. When the first gargoyles started hopping about on the roof, lots of passers-by stopped to stare, and the creatures loved that!'

Jonah and Erin both started to speak.

‘Did many come down on the ground?'

‘Did anyone get hurt?'

‘Quite a few, yes,' Mike replied to Jonah. Then he turned to Erin. ‘I'm afraid some people have been injured. Of course, nobody could understand what sort of creatures they were looking at. Two of the cathedral staff went to investigate and were mauled, and a policeman who went to help them was seriously wounded. Other onlookers soon realised they had to keep well away. The clergy still don't know exactly what they are dealing with, so there could be more accidents. The bishop needs to know that we can help.'

‘What I can't understand,' said Bryn, ‘is why demons should want to be on the cathedral. You'd think that was the last place they would go.'

Mike nodded. ‘Well, the thing is, they want to keep you away from it. They don't want human beings to gain strength by going to church together. And don't forget that they might inhabit the Underworld now, but they lived in Heaven once, before they fell from grace. They are mad with longing for what they have lost.'

‘I suppose,' said Claire, ‘the churches we've built seem like a kind of paradise to them. So, although the cathedral frightens them, they'd still like to turn us out and take it for themselves.'

‘What you might call a love/hate relationship,' Erin commented brightly.

Mike's lips twitched as he looked at her.

‘You might well say that,' he replied drily. ‘And, of course, the cathedral is where the gargoyles are. The demons enter them to use their shapes, and then they cling together, getting used to the atmosphere of Upper Earth, I suppose. Then, when they are ready, I'm afraid they will start coming down en masse to attack people.'

Claire was looking puzzled. ‘Mike, you said there were swarms of the things. There aren't enough gargoyles on the cathedral for them all, are there?'

Mike shook his head. ‘No, but we all know that one evil begets another. Some demons don't need a stone gargoyle to inhabit. That kind seem to have more power and are able to assume an earthly body at will. They just copy the look.'

Erin made a face. ‘The demon as fashion victim!' she murmured to Jonah. Her father shook his head at her, warningly.

‘The gremlins have completely messed up the telephone and radio systems, so the whole area is cut off from the rest of Britain. Nobody knows what's going on and there's growing panic. I'm afraid that before we can stop it, armed police will be brought in. The Night Creatures won't be injured, of course, but they will get really maddened. That will make a bad situation worse.'

Erin looked puzzled. ‘Mike, why aren't the angels getting rid of them like they did this morning?'

‘Well,' said Mike, ‘I've left the others trying to drive them back into the Abyss but, like I told you, we can only fight them one at a time. That will take ages and, even then, it would be quite possible for some of them to hide from us.'

There was silence in the kitchen for a moment, and then Mike patted Jonah's shoulder and turned to Claire. ‘Ffyrnig's fire power is so intense, he could sweep hundreds of gremlins away with just one or two passes over the cathedral, leaving the angels free to turn them out of the lanes and search out any hiding places. But we need Jonah to tell him what to do.'

Claire drew in her breath and Bryn put a steadying hand on her arm.

Mike nodded gravely. ‘Yes, I'm sorry, Claire, but we can't do without the help of the Great Dragon and that means Jonah too.'

‘Yes, I see,' said Claire reluctantly. ‘But it'll be so dangerous for Jonah if the police start shooting!' She shook her head. ‘No. I'm sorry but I really can't allow this!'

‘Claire!' Jonah reddening with anger, shoved back his chair. ‘You can't say that! How can Ffyrnig manage, if I don't go?'

‘And how can I tell your parents, if you get shot?'

Rhodri pushed back his chair and stood up. ‘We can make sure that doesn't happen. I'll go down to Credenhill and explain everything to one of the officers. If they speak with the police and help take charge—'

‘But the SAS will never believe you,' Emlyn objected. ‘They'll think you've gone off your rocker.'

‘Not if I go with him,' said Mike. ‘I will show them who I am.'

They all exchanged looks, imagining the scene at the Credenhill barracks, as Mike revealed his real self.

‘Brilliant!' exclaimed Jonah, after a moment. ‘And I've just thought of something else. If the Vicar of Knighton went to the cathedral, he could explain everything to the bishop, couldn't he? Until you could get there, I mean.'

Mike thought this was a good idea. ‘It's best for everyone at the cathedral and the police station to be prepared for the dragon, before you actually arrive. Otherwise, he'll cause such a commotion, that the Night Creatures will be able to get among the crowd and fan out into the city streets.'

Claire gave Jonah an apologetic smile. ‘I don't mean to treat you like a little kid, you know.'

‘I do know,' he said quietly. And then he grinned. ‘You wouldn't be much of an aunt if you said, “Well, you might get shot, but don't let it bother you,” would you?'

Emlyn said he would drive to Knighton and speak to the vicar. ‘And if he's not there, I'll find another clergyman who was at Cascob this morning,' he said.

‘Shall we go with Dad?' Gwen asked Erin.

Jonah looked across at Erin. She was nodding at her mother but Jonah felt awkward. Here he was, the centre of attention again, going to help fight the demons, while Erin would have to learn what happened from other people. It didn't seem fair. After all, it was Erin who had taken him to Cascob and told him all about the Last Great Dragon of Wales. He touched Gwen's arm.

‘Please,' he said, ‘I really need Erin to come with me.'