Jonah and the Last Great Dragon (15 page)

There were Night Creatures, hundreds of them, all over the roof. They were crouching on the tiles, dangling from the pinnacles. Little yellow pinpricks, some tiny slits, some round like marbles, shone in the dark, showing that the demons' eyes were fixed on the dragon. The children became aware of an angry sound, like the loud hum of wasps. Then they saw small fiends in the trees surrounding the cathedral as well and, as Ffyrnig passed over the Green again, Jonah noticed some of the little beasts leaping down from the building on to the grass.

‘Erin, look!' he turned and shouted. ‘They're getting ready to attack. They'll be all over the policemen if we aren't quick.'

Erin looked around anxiously. ‘I can't see the angels, Jonah. What will we do if they're not here? If the gremlins get away from Ffyrnig, we'll lose them in the alleys. They'll get into buildings.' Her voice rose with tension. ‘People are going to die.'

‘We are here, Erin,' called Michael's voice and the children swung round to see the Archangel flying upwards to drift beside them. He pointed to where, in the darkness beyond the cathedral, there seemed to be an open space with another large building silhouetted against it. ‘That's the bishop's palace. We have been conferring with him in the courtyard.'

The dark area of the courtyard started to glimmer and angelic forms took shape and flew towards Cathedral Green. Ffyrnig beat his great wings slowly and hovered over the palace, as the angels rose into the air. The children heard a sound, like one enormous sigh, come from the crowded streets beyond the barriers. Saint Michael soared up and hovered by Ffyrnig's head, his robes glimmering in the summer darkness. ‘Are you all ready? Start with the roof, Jonah. Let Ffyrnig destroy all the gremlins up there, before you start on the walls, and the nooks and crannies. We angels will guard the Cathedral Close and try to see that none of the creatures gets past us.'

Jonah swallowed and tried to speak calmly. ‘Yes, we're ready, aren't we, Ffyrnig? You heard what Saint Michael wants you to do?'

The dragon rumbled; yes, he understood. Saint Michael smiled at them, as his golden-white wings beat the air. ‘God bless you tonight,' he said. ‘The other angels are in place now. Hold on tight to the netting and keep a tight watch.' And he swooped away to where Capuchin Lane ran into the Cathedral Green.

The dragon rumbled again.

‘What's Ffyrnig saying?'

‘That all we have to do is watch for Night Creatures. The rest is up to him. And he won't let us fall,' said Jonah. Then to Ffyrnig, ‘OK. Let's go.'

CHAPTER 23

The dragon shot away from the city centre and then turned in a wide arc over the hills to the north.

‘What's he doing?' yelled Erin in alarm.

‘Ffyrnig!' Jonah shouted. ‘Where are you going?'

‘I have to have a long enough flight to power up my flames,' said Ffyrnig. ‘Right. This should do it.'

Drawing his great, taloned limbs up tightly beneath his body, the dragon hovered for a moment. He gulped in huge draughts of air as he stoked up his inner fire. Jonah could feel Ffyrnig's leathery skin beginning to get warmer. Then, with a sudden screeching roar that made the children jump in their harnesses, Ffyrnig hurled himself towards the city. The rushing air tore screams out of their throats. Jonah felt Erin clutching his waist. Ffyrnig banked just before the cathedral, almost coming to a halt in the sky. His massive wings beat hard as he drew in a mighty breath. He shrieked and dived at the roof, aiming a massive jet of fire at the gargoyles. Hovering just above the cathedral, he swung his head from side to side, driving flames across the writhing mass of hideous little bodies.

Some fell lifeless instantaneously and lay like broken ornaments. Others threw themselves over the edge of the great roof, clinging to the guttering and gibbering. The choking fumes made the children cough, and they had to blink back tears. As the dragon passed and re-passed over the roof, emitting jets of flame, the Night Creatures screeched in fury as they scrabbled to get away.

Erin tugged urgently on Jonah's sleeve. ‘Get Ffyrnig away from the roof, Jonah! Now!' She was screaming.

Jonah swivelled round. ‘Why? What's the matter?'

‘Look at the way they are sliding and skidding about. I think Ffyrnig is melting the roof! The leads look red-hot. The cathedral could burn down. Get him away!'

‘Ffyrnig!' Jonah yelled. ‘They're running on to the grass. Let's do the Cathedral Green now.'

The dragon swept over the trees, raking the lawns with flame. The scorched grass was covered with broken bodies as the demons left them and fled, vanishing into the night to find their way back to the Abyss. In Capuchin Lane and at the barriers, angels were swooping on gargoyles that had escaped Ffyrnig's fire. Golden swords flashed through the dark, as the angels dispatched the creatures. The children saw Saint Michael swing his sword down on a gargoyle's neck, severing head from body. Erin yelped as the grotesque head bounced into Capuchin Lane.

Jonah hammered on Ffyrnig's shoulder. ‘That was great!' he coughed. ‘Let's go back to finish off the roof.'

Ffyrnig hovered over the cathedral nave, beating his wings slowly as he peered down to look for any movement. The roof was strewn with bits of the broken stone images the Night Creatures had used. It looked as if the demons had all fled.

‘I think we have finished here, Master,' the dragon boomed. ‘And, in any case, I can't hover for much longer.'

‘Why? What's wrong?'

Ffyrnig's wings were beating more slowly and the children could feel him taking great gasping breaths.

‘At this height there isn't enough volume of air to hold me up. I am too big.'

Jonah patted Ffyrnig's shoulder. ‘Oh, I see. Go on, then.'

Ffyrnig rose higher and they wheeled slowly around the city centre. Jonah looked down. Below them, two angels shone out of the darkness as they floated above the courtyard of the bishop's palace. He saw one raise his sword and heard a demon howl.

As the dragon turned, Jonah glanced to his right up the road that ran in front of the cathedral. Out of the corner of his eye, he caught a movement at the end of Broad Street, beyond the press of people at the barriers. A tall figure in a long robe was crossing the road. It was the whisperer in Jonah's nightmare visions; he was sure of it. The figure turned its hooded head towards the cathedral and, just for a second, Jonah got the impression that there was just blackness where its face should be. He shuddered, and then it had gone. As his eyes adjusted to the thicker darkness away from Cathedral Green, he noticed dark shapes speeding along the road.

‘Erin! Look down there! Wolves. There are the wolves!'

‘Where?' she yelled, leaning out over the webbing cage. ‘Oh, no! They'll go for all those people!'

Helplessly, the children stared down as the wolves raced down Broad Street. People at the back of the crowd turned as they heard running feet and then the wolves were upon them. There was pandemonium as people fell beneath the creatures' weight or tried to break away. Jonah grasped Erin's arm.

‘That's weird,' he shouted. ‘Look. They're not actually attacking.'

‘Totally weird. They are just pushing through.'

Jonah screwed up his eyes to gaze down. He watched as the biggest wolf knocked a policeman down and realised Erin was right. The creature took no notice of the man but just scrabbled over his body and leaped across the barrier, while screaming people scattered, and let the rest of the pack through. The wolves streamed on to Cathedral Green and then milled about, running up and down, rooting about among the gargoyle bodies. As Ffyrnig wheeled over the cathedral again, the pack leader raised its muzzle and howled. All the people who had been crowded at the barriers were retreating down the three roads that met at the Green, and the children, looking down, saw heads turn in alarm at the mournful wail.

‘What's up with it?' Jonah said.

‘I think it didn't find what it was looking for.' Erin sounded scared. Jonah, puzzled, turned towards her. ‘What do you think it was looking for?' ‘You,' she said, in a tiny voice.

CHAPTER 24

Jonah turned in his harness and stared at Erin. She gazed at him anxiously from under her helmet.

‘I think you've been the target all along.'

‘But – but why?'

‘I don't know. It's just, like, a feeling I have.' She bit her lip.

The wolf pack had moved past the cathedral's north door and disappeared in the darkness at the other end of the great building. Some of the crowd were running back up Broad Street, but Jonah saw that others had pushed the barrier over and clambered over it, venturing cautiously on to Cathedral Green.

‘Oh, the idiots! Don't they realise how dangerous it is?'

Erin pointed down towards the east end of the main cathedral building where a couple of wolves were casting about, sniffing the ground, and looking around in search of something.

‘Jonah, do something!' she gasped. ‘There are too many people round the cathedral now. When those wolves don't find you – if it is you they're looking for – they'll get angry, and then they might start killing people.'

He stared round at her in desperation. They both guessed that dragon fire might destroy people as well as the demon wolves.

‘Ffyrnig, we've got to find Saint Michael,' Jonah shouted urgently. The dragon swung away towards the bishop's palace, passing carefully over the cathedral while the children anxiously searched for the Archangel. Ffyrnig flew as low and as slowly as he dared, close to the pinnacles that decorated the cathedral roofs. Jonah felt a tug on the webbing as Erin twisted to look round and then, without warning, a big, grey, leathery arm shot out from behind one of the ornamental pinnacles and yanked her out of the webbing cage.

Next moment, Erin was dangling in the air, shrieking with terror. A huge gargoyle was gripping one of her arms, while her body was still attached to Ffyrnig by the safety harness. Horrified, Jonah saw that, with all the noise and confusion below them, the dragon hadn't realised who was screaming. If he flew on, Erin would be ripped out of the harness, and either savaged or dropped to her death.

‘Stop, Ffyrnig. Stop. It's got Erin!' He was thumping on the dragon's back, yelling to him to stop moving. Ffyrnig swung his head round, saw Erin hanging from the demon's claws and drew in a great breath. Gingerly, he edged nearer to the roof of the nave, beating his wings as slowly as he could, so that he could hover there.

‘Master,' he panted, ‘tell her to keep still. If she fights, the creature might drop her.'

‘Erin, don't fight. Don't fight.' Panic made Jonah's voice sound high and squeaky.

The Night Creature, which looked like a deformed, horned ape with wings, chuckled as it swung Erin backwards and forwards. It dropped her down suddenly, pretending to let go, and then yanked her upwards again. Even in the dark, Jonah could see that she was white with terror. He twisted round, desperately searching for Saint Michael and then jumped with shock as Ffyrnig sent a great jet of fire down to the ground.

‘What are you doing?' Jonah yelled.

‘Hot air helps me hover for longer.'

Turning back to Erin, he saw the gargoyle ape was starting to pull her on to the roof.

She'll be torn in two! Jonah saw at once what he had to do. He took a deep breath and fought down the panic that was making him shake. He reached over and began to free Erin's harness from the netting. His fingers felt like clumsy sausages as he struggled frantically with the buckle. At last it was undone. Even if the gargoyle dragged her away or, worse still, threw her over the parapet, at least she wouldn't be ripped apart.

The creature had both its skinny claws round her arm, and was dragging her up and over the guttering. She grabbed at the parapet with her free hand and the demon, face contorted in fury, jumped on her and savagely bit her neck. Erin screamed with pain. The demon began to pull her up the scorching leaded roof. Jonah knew he had to do something fast. Ffyrnig couldn't help; if he burned the demon, he would burn Erin too. And they could not wait for the Archangel. Jonah gritted his teeth and began to unbuckle his own harness.

‘I've got to get on the roof, Ffyrnig! Can you go closer?'

Cautiously, he stood up, holding on to the webbing cage. The dragon beat the air with slow, massive strokes. Jonah stepped out of the cage and crouched down, out of the way of the dragon's wings. He edged carefully down Ffyrnig's back until he thought it was safe to stand up again. Then he straightened, balancing with outstretched arms. He could tell that Ffyrnig was straining every muscle in a huge effort to keep in one place without jolting him off. Even so, standing on the dragon's back felt like riding a skateboard with particularly loose wheels. He dared not look down, in case he felt giddy and fell. He fixed his eyes on the guttering, took a deep breath and jumped. He clawed at the hot stonework of the parapet, and hung on, legs frantically scrabbling for a foothold. Gasping with relief, the dragon shot away and soared upwards.

The gargoyle screeched and laughed. It had pulled Erin up to the top of the roof, where she lay like a rag doll on the hot shingles. The creature shook its fists at Jonah, glaring first at him and then back at Erin. It seemed to be wondering whether she could escape. Dare it leave her in order to rush at the boy? For the moment, it looked from one to the other, grimacing vilely, while Jonah heaved himself up and over the parapet on to the leads. They were unbearably hot.

He pulled himself upright against a pinnacle and leaned against it, hopping from one foot to the other. Thank goodness Claire had made him take the Abracadabra charm. Leaning against the stonework for support, he fumbled inside his shirt to make sure it was there, while the demon leered and snarled, making little mock runs towards him, and then turning back to crouch over Erin. Any minute now, Jonah knew, it would leave her to attack him.