The Gift of Charms (5 page)

Y
oshiko backed away with uncertainty.

‘I – I am sorry,’ he said, remembering the rule to keep away from Guya’s mountain. ‘I didn’t mean to land
here
. I’ll leave you. Leave you alone right now.’

‘Go then,’ said Guya. ‘Run away if you like. I have no time for smallings anyway. Especially a smalling who is ungrateful for his good fortune and feels sorry for himself.’

The old dragon had turned and began to plod away in the direction he had come from.

Yoshiko felt annoyed by his words. No dragon used the old-fashioned expression smalling any more, and he felt angry at how the older dragon seemed to be making fun of him.

‘I’m not ungrateful,’ he said to Guya’s retreating back. ‘Things are not easy for me!’

To his surprise Guya stopped and inclined his ageing head.

‘Oh?’ he said. ‘And just what is it that is so difficult for you?’

Yoshiko was unable to stop his tears from welling up again. ‘I am the worst at Fire School!’ he blurted. ‘I can’t really do anything well that a dragon like me should be able to do! And other dragons at Fire School make me feel bad.’ Yoshiko stuck out his lower lip in grief at the thoughts.

Guya remained standing still but did not turn around.

‘Nothing life-threatening then,’ he said. ‘And no one can make you feel bad, without you allowing them to.’ Guya began to shuffle off again and called over his shoulder, ‘All this crying over nothing.’

Yoshiko watched him go, feeling the misery settle back around him.

He mouthed after Guya, thinking the old dragon was too far away to hear the words.

‘I change colour too,’ he whispered to himself. ‘I change colour like a chameleon.’

It felt like a great relief to say it, even if no one heard.

Immediately, Guya stopped in the distance and turned around.

He settled his turquoise eyes on Yoshiko and paused for a long moment. Then he motioned with his claw.

‘Come,’ he said. ‘Follow me.’

Yoshiko looked at him uncertainly.

‘Follow. Follow.’

Guya grunted in impatience and beckoned with his claw again. Yoshiko obeyed, moving quickly to keep up with the old dragon as he disappeared into the distance.

They rounded the mountain path and a large craggy entrance revealed itself, far grander than Yoshiko’s family cave. He stared up in wonder at the lofty opening.

‘Now stop and wait here!’ Guya motioned that Yoshiko should stay at the mouth of the cave. He stood nervously. A smell was coming from the entrance. Yoshiko recognised it as the scent of sorrel juice, but it was more exotic and powerful than he had smelt before. A strange whirring noise followed as though a heavy door had been opened.

After waiting for a few minutes Yoshiko’s nerves vanished and he began wondering what Guya was doing inside. He couldn’t hear the old dragon and was beginning to think he had forgotten him entirely.

Shifting forward slightly, Yoshiko moved so he could peer along the length of the cave entrance.

It was dimly lit and he could hardly see anything except for the long, white candle that Guya was holding. It lit a small room that the old dragon had entered.

Yoshiko continued to move forward and he could make out Guya’s haunches. He was settled as though he was looking at something inside the rocky mountain. Yoshiko leaned further.

Guya was using a single talon to trace something on the cave wall. Something like … pictures. Yoshiko strained to see. It looked as though colourful paintings of dragons had been etched into Guya’s dwelling. But there were some other creatures that Yoshiko had never seen before.

Yoshiko squinted to see. They were much smaller than the dragons, and their shape was different.

Humans, Yoshiko realised suddenly.

Guya’s talon was tapping a picture thoughtfully.

Yoshiko strained to get an even better look. Then the old dragon sat up suddenly, and Yoshiko moved quickly back outside the cave, anxious about what he had seen.

Surely dragons were not allowed pictures of humans in their caves?

He heard Guya shuffle away from the cave wall, but it was several more minutes before his blue scales came into view again at the entrance. Gripped in his claws was a steaming cup of sorrel juice.

Yoshiko watched as the steam from it swirled in patterns like ghosts in the air.

‘Come,’ said Guya, without bothering to explain himself. ‘This way.’

Guya set off ahead and Yoshiko had to work to keep up. As he rounded the corner the old dragon was already vanishing around another curve of the large mountain.

Yoshiko chased behind, not looking where he was going in his haste to keep up, and as he hurried round the corner where Guya had disappeared, he smacked bodily into the bulk of the other dragon.

‘Look,’ Guya said slowly, ‘where you are going!’ Then with an elegant sweep of his talons he gestured out before him as if making an introduction.

Yoshiko looked out in awe at the Great Waters before him. From this part of Dragor the waters glinted as if they were filled with gold as the sun’s intensity penetrated through the mist of smoke that rose from
the Fire Which Must Never Go Out. The sweep of the liquid seemed endless. He whistled appreciatively and for the first time Guya chuckled.

‘There may be greatness ahead for Dragor,’ he said, ‘if a dragon can master his gifts.’

‘From this angle it makes the water appear so magical,’ breathed Yoshiko.

‘The Great Waters are stunning from many different points. Here you are looking at them in a different way. Very few dragons stop to look. Their lives are so busy it is as if they become blind and never truly open their eyes.’

Guya lifted up his cup of sorrel juice.

‘Many dragons have forgotten the proper way to make sorrel juice,’ he said as the fragrances spread. ‘Always in a rush, looking for a shortcut in so many aspects of life,’ he said. ‘The old ways are the best.’ As if to prove this he took a long gulp with a happy sigh and eyed the younger dragon.

Yoshiko relaxed in the sun’s warmth as he took in the beautiful view over the waters. A slow steady heat seemed to build in his feet and it began to rise through him steadily.

Yoshiko concentrated harder and the luxurious
feeling passed all over, rippling from his forehead to the claws of his feet.

Then he looked down at his body.

His red colour was being washed over with a dark blue; he was turning the same shade as Guya from head to toe. Yoshiko gasped in horror.

Guya looked at him and simply nodded. ‘It is just as I thought.’ Then he rose to his feet as if no more would be said on the subject, and began to walk back to the entrance of his cave.

Yoshiko scrambled after him.

‘Wait!’ he cried, as Guya rounded the curve in the mountain. ‘I need your help!’

Guya stopped and turned. ‘So your scales keep changing colour, little dragon!’

‘Yes,’ said Yoshiko. ‘And I would do anything to discover why the colour change happens and stop it!’

‘Likely you will never be able to change what you are,’ said Guya with a grunt.

Yoshiko’s face fell and his green eyes peered right into Guya’s. ‘Please, Guya,’ he begged. ‘The Herb Doctors down in the valley couldn’t help me; you are a Saiga dragon like them but you are supposed to be extra wise. Surely you can help me?’

Guya paused for a moment, his face softening for the first time. ‘Yoshiko, consider that these dragons pick on you because there is something about you that they want to take away. As for your colour change, well, there may be a solution!’

Yoshiko felt a sudden flush of relief.

But Guya’s face had lost some of its warmth again. He turned away from Yoshiko, and began walking back into his cave.

‘It won’t be easy, in fact I doubt you are up to it at all,’ he said, disappearing into the cave entrance.

Yoshiko shuffled into the cave straight after him but to his surprise Guya was standing upright in the entrance to prevent him from entering further.

Yoshiko tried to keep his voice steady.

‘I need answers!’ he said.

Guya rested a wing on the younger dragon’s shoulder. ‘I sense many things about you, Yoshiko, but right now you are too weak in your mind and body to do what is needed to find your answers…’

Suddenly, Yoshiko felt a twinge under his wing and reached under one of his scales. Heat from the stone the Ageless Ones had given him was burning in his side.

‘Guya, have you ever seen something like this before?’ he asked, holding out the stone.

Guya took the jewel in his claws and brought it closely to his eyes as if inspecting it under a microscope. He straightened up quickly.

‘Oh my! The Dancing Opal!’ he exclaimed. ‘Legend has it that there is just one of these exact stones. It is a callstone!’

‘A callstone?’ enquired Yoshiko.

‘It is a translucent opal and inside it are genies said to help enhance the powers of the twin dragons,’ answered Guya. ‘I had a vision that one day they would speak again – to foretell some great future event and give the callstone to a dragon, so they can summon their great magic when needed.’

Yoshiko’s eyes grew wide as he looked closely at the stone again and could indeed see the tiny genie-like creatures that he thought were just pretty sparkles.

‘Where did you get the stone?’ Guya asked.

‘I was given it at the marketplace,’ replied Yoshiko.

Guya was silent for a moment and then went on as though there’d been no sight or mention of the stone.

‘Come back here early tomorrow and I shall give you a set of tasks to complete. But I warn you they are more
difficult than you can ever imagine.’ With that, he gave a wide flick of his tail, and vanished into the back of his cave.

T
he next morning Yoshiko got up before the sun rose to fly out to Guya’s cave. ‘Where are you going?’ asked Ketu sleepily, eyeing his son pushing down a bowl of peat porridge as fast as he could.

‘Off to do some practice,’ said Yoshiko. ‘I heard some from school do early training so they have a better chance of being Guard Dragons.’

‘I remembered doing something similar at your age,’ Ketu replied smiling. ‘Don’t give yourself scale-ache, Yoshiko,’ he said, presuming he was off to the Fire Pit.

Having finished his breakfast, Yoshiko stretched his wings and launched off into the dark morning.

He had never been out of the cave this early, and the air of Dragor’s dawn was refreshing as it rushed over his wings. Already some of the Alana dragons were at fishing spots on the edge of the Great Waters, eager to bring in the best catch of the day.

Yoshiko wheeled in the sky, taking in the various scenes as he headed for Cattlewick Cave.

He landed to find that Guya was already waiting outside for him.

‘Good morning, Yoshiko. I have your three tasks to give to you.’

‘I am ready for them,’ Yoshiko replied, trying to sound braver than he felt.

To his surprise Guya started laughing. ‘They cannot be completed in a morning, little dragon,’ he said. ‘In fact there is a big chance that you will never achieve them!’

He beckoned with his gnarled claw.

‘Follow me,’ he said. ‘I will show you the first.’

Obediently, Yoshiko trotted after Guya to the right side of the cave.

Guya pointed to a large pot. It rested on the ground directly beneath the outer rock face.

‘This is a very special pot!’ Guya announced.

In front of Yoshiko was an enormous red clay vessel. It was almost as big as he was.

‘Into this pot comes rain straight from the sky, it pours in through a hole in the rock,’ explained Guya. ‘It is special water, very pure to make exceptional sorrel juice.’

Yoshiko eyed the big pot with concern.

‘Your first task,’ said Guya, ‘is to lift that pot. But that time will be long from now,’ he added, his gaze dropping.

‘Let me try!’ said Yoshiko.

Guya shrugged. ‘Then try.’

Yoshiko approached the pot curiously. The red clay was nothing he had ever seen before, the outer coating was as if it had formed its own scales.

Yoshiko bent down and flinging his arms around the pot, he made a loud heaving sound as he tried to stand. But the vessel didn’t even wobble.

He tried again, this time using every ounce of strength in his body, and a bead of sweat rolled down his face.

Again the pot didn’t move a bit.

Yoshiko looked up to see that Guya was grinning.

‘As I said, you are not strong enough, little dragon,’ he said. ‘That is called a Goadah Pot. I imagine you have never seen one before.’

‘No, I haven’t,’ Yoshiko replied. ‘Although I have
heard of them. Kiara told me a story when I was younger called “The Magic Goadah Pot”.’

Guya nodded. ‘Yes, a very popular tale. Now, as you see, the pots actually do exist in real life too, although their magical powers are doubted by many,’ he said. ‘There are only a few of these pots in Dragor; each one is unique and very precious, and as you witnessed they are even heavier than they look,’ he added. ‘This one was made just after the Battle of Surion. You are clearly far from ready to lift this pot. Maybe in three winters you will, little one.’

Yoshiko was outraged. ‘I’ll have been laughed out of Fire School by that time.’

Guya shrugged. ‘If you want to spend your days feeling sorry for yourself it could be ten winters.’

‘What are the other tasks?’ Yoshiko asked impatiently.

Guya smiled. ‘The other tasks are equally difficult.’

He extended a talon to count off on three claws. ‘First, the little dragon must be strong enough to lift the Goadah Pot. Second, the little dragon must have the wing strength to fly around Dragor seven times.’

‘Seven times?’

Guya nodded and Yoshiko felt his heart sink. Only the fittest Guard Dragon could do so much flying.

‘What is the third task?’ he asked, the dejection sounding in his voice.

‘For the third task, you must stand in a fire pit of my making for the time it takes a cauldron of sorrel juice to boil.’

Yoshiko was horror-struck. It sounded impossible. He had no idea how he could ever be strong enough to lift the pot, let alone fly around Dragor seven times, but he felt a burning need to prove Guya wrong.

‘I told you it would be difficult! If I were you I would just not bother trying these tasks! They are great challenges, clearly too great for you,’ said Guya, but there was a certain sparkle in his eye as he said it.

‘I shall complete your tasks,’ said Yoshiko firmly. ‘And I’ll be back sooner than you think!’

With that he spread his wings to head for Fire School. ‘Oh, and one more thing, Guya,’ Yoshiko added. ‘Perhaps when I return you will be so kind as to stop calling me a little dragon!’

As Yoshiko flew off Guya chuckled to himself.