back.”
“I had to break that much off, because the damage went up that far. Now stay still!”
Sapphire lay down, with angry orange fire in her nostrils; Lee took the twitching tail-tip away to bury it; Helen cleaned the end of the tail and placed gauze over it.
“There. It will grow back, long and blue and spiky. Before midsummer, I’m sure you’ll have a perfect tail again.” Then Helen sighed. “There’s no real rush to get back to Cauldhame Moor, because we don’t have anything to show for our quest. So you don’t have to fly me and Lee back if you can’t carry us, Sapphire.”
In answer, the dragon flapped her wings vigorously, and raised her snout to the sky.
As Helen repacked her rucksack, Lee crouched down beside her, wiping his hands on a swab. He spoke softly, “I’m sorry, Helen. I’m sorry we both said such scary things to open that door, and we haven’t even saved Yann by doing it.”
“The truth isn’t always a good thing, is it?” Helen didn’t look at him. She closed the book and slid it intoher rucksack. “I’m sure you did tell the truth, Lee, and I have a horrible feeling I did too. But if you’re really my friend, please don’t test it out by asking me. Please.”
He stood up and his cloak swirled round him. “I won’t ask you to bring your music to us this spring equinox. Right now, I’m here to help Yann. But I make no promises for after that.”
“Then I promise you,” Helen stood up too, “that I will try my hardest to find reasons to stay here. I’ll find people who value my music here.”
Lee smiled. “No one values music more than we do.”
Helen frowned. He was probably right. But she would fight to stay in her own world, even if what she was fighting was her own desire to play for the most appreciative audience.
Once Helen and Lee were on Sapphire’s back, the dragon struggled to rise into the air, then lurched from side to side, working out how to balance with a shorter tail.
When they were flying, slightly squint, away from the Eildons, with no sign of other dragons in the sky or giants on the ground, Helen called to Lee, “Should we warn someone about all those angry creatures loose around Melrose?”
Lee yelled, as Sapphire grumbled her way above the clouds, “They’ll be safely back in the hill before anyone wakes up. They’re too stupid to come up with another plan to attack Arthur. They’ll hide in that cave for centuries.”
“So where can we search for the scabbard now? Idon’t know any other local Arthur legends.”
Lee replied, “He’s linked with lots of different hills, mostly in England and Wales. He probably left here after he was woken by that horse-trader. The Eildons weren’t secure after that. Perhaps anywhere there is a legend of him sleeping is somewhere he has already left. If Arthur doesn’t stay anywhere once he’s been seen, we can’t track him using stories. I hate to admit failure, Helen, but I don’t think we can find Arthur and his scabbard fast enough to save Yann.”
Helen shivered. “So we’d better hope someone else’s quest is more successful than ours.”
Chapter 13
Frass leant against the crumbling wall, watching his Master try to control the brawling uruisks.
“It’s a risk, Master,” he called out. “It’s been a risk all along, but now so many of the centaur’s friends are involved, they might discover that his injury was the real goal of the unicorn kidnap. Also, I’m not sure it’s wise to trust the Three.”
“Nonsense, you faint-hearted faun,” the Master bellowed as he strode barefoot across the black and white floor. “My plan is unfolding perfectly. I trust the Three to heal my phoenix scars, because they know that once I have my new power and can force the fabled beast tribes to bow down to me, I will cause many more injuries for them to enjoy. And to heal me, they need one of these tokens.”
Frass grunted. “But you could send me to get a token for you. I would do
“I had to break that much off, because the damage went up that far. Now stay still!”
Sapphire lay down, with angry orange fire in her nostrils; Lee took the twitching tail-tip away to bury it; Helen cleaned the end of the tail and placed gauze over it.
“There. It will grow back, long and blue and spiky. Before midsummer, I’m sure you’ll have a perfect tail again.” Then Helen sighed. “There’s no real rush to get back to Cauldhame Moor, because we don’t have anything to show for our quest. So you don’t have to fly me and Lee back if you can’t carry us, Sapphire.”
In answer, the dragon flapped her wings vigorously, and raised her snout to the sky.
As Helen repacked her rucksack, Lee crouched down beside her, wiping his hands on a swab. He spoke softly, “I’m sorry, Helen. I’m sorry we both said such scary things to open that door, and we haven’t even saved Yann by doing it.”
“The truth isn’t always a good thing, is it?” Helen didn’t look at him. She closed the book and slid it intoher rucksack. “I’m sure you did tell the truth, Lee, and I have a horrible feeling I did too. But if you’re really my friend, please don’t test it out by asking me. Please.”
He stood up and his cloak swirled round him. “I won’t ask you to bring your music to us this spring equinox. Right now, I’m here to help Yann. But I make no promises for after that.”
“Then I promise you,” Helen stood up too, “that I will try my hardest to find reasons to stay here. I’ll find people who value my music here.”
Lee smiled. “No one values music more than we do.”
Helen frowned. He was probably right. But she would fight to stay in her own world, even if what she was fighting was her own desire to play for the most appreciative audience.
Once Helen and Lee were on Sapphire’s back, the dragon struggled to rise into the air, then lurched from side to side, working out how to balance with a shorter tail.
When they were flying, slightly squint, away from the Eildons, with no sign of other dragons in the sky or giants on the ground, Helen called to Lee, “Should we warn someone about all those angry creatures loose around Melrose?”
Lee yelled, as Sapphire grumbled her way above the clouds, “They’ll be safely back in the hill before anyone wakes up. They’re too stupid to come up with another plan to attack Arthur. They’ll hide in that cave for centuries.”
“So where can we search for the scabbard now? Idon’t know any other local Arthur legends.”
Lee replied, “He’s linked with lots of different hills, mostly in England and Wales. He probably left here after he was woken by that horse-trader. The Eildons weren’t secure after that. Perhaps anywhere there is a legend of him sleeping is somewhere he has already left. If Arthur doesn’t stay anywhere once he’s been seen, we can’t track him using stories. I hate to admit failure, Helen, but I don’t think we can find Arthur and his scabbard fast enough to save Yann.”
Helen shivered. “So we’d better hope someone else’s quest is more successful than ours.”
Chapter 13
Frass leant against the crumbling wall, watching his Master try to control the brawling uruisks.
“It’s a risk, Master,” he called out. “It’s been a risk all along, but now so many of the centaur’s friends are involved, they might discover that his injury was the real goal of the unicorn kidnap. Also, I’m not sure it’s wise to trust the Three.”
“Nonsense, you faint-hearted faun,” the Master bellowed as he strode barefoot across the black and white floor. “My plan is unfolding perfectly. I trust the Three to heal my phoenix scars, because they know that once I have my new power and can force the fabled beast tribes to bow down to me, I will cause many more injuries for them to enjoy. And to heal me, they need one of these tokens.”
Frass grunted. “But you could send me to get a token for you. I would do
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