Dragonfire Read Free

without incident, and he had endured much since leaving Jarishan. Brave of heart and accustomed to being the undisputed master of the skies, he had unhesitatingly taken on all the strange monsters that had crossed his path during his flight and in doing so had donemuch to endanger life and limb. After a near-fatal encounter with a helicopter that had left him short of more than a few tail feathers, he had then taken on an articulated lorry with equally disastrous results. Reduced to a trembling but undaunted bundle of feathers, it had taken him some time to recover but, as a result, his approach to the unknown was now considerably more cautious.
    He looked at the two bridges over the Firth of Forth with deep suspicion and hesitated. Finally, he circled wide to avoid observation, for in front of him lay the glittering vista that marked his destination — Edinburgh!
    Looking in amazement at the swathes of light that lit up the night sky he felt a creeping sense of bafflement and unease. Since leaving Jarishan, it hadn’st taken him long to realize that the world had changed considerably. Grimly he hoped that Edinburgh’s old town would still be as he remembered it; a motley jumble of tall tenements between which ran alleys and ancient closes that hid secrets and, more importantly, offered shelter to the hunted.
    Tired after his long flight and more than a little afraid of being seen, his sharp eyes scanned the grey water below, seeking a resting place on one of the tiny islands in the firth. A ruined abbey showed briefly against the silver water and feathering his wings slightly, he edged towards it. Dark, deserted and safe from prying eyes it would serve his purpose. He landed on a broken ledge and rested gratefully while considering his next move. No longer, it seemed, could he rely on total darkness to conceal him; the unexpected brightness of so many lights was a problem that neither he nor his master had either envisaged or expected but there were other ways of travelling unseen. Silently, he launched himself over the sea, uttering a dreadful cry that echoed dismally over the waves and struck fear into the hearts of some nesting gulls. As he glided low over the water, the sea beneath him began to bubble and froth, giving off a dense white mist that rose and began to roll in billowing cloudstowards Edinburgh.

    Neil and Clara did not notice the mist at first as they were too busy climbing the steep hillside towards the well. They soon realized to their horror that even with their torches on, they could barely see a few feet in front of them.
    “Neil, this isn’t funny,” Clara gasped, looking round at the thick whiteness that surrounded them. “Where’s the well?”
    “A bit to the right, I think. Look, I’ll lead the way and you hold on to my jacket. It’s not that much further.”
    Gingerly they moved forward, step by step, and it was more by luck than judgment that Neil found the old stonework that surrounded the well. They peered through the grating into its depths, but there was little to see apart from struggling clumps of ferns and grasses. The hill was eerily silent with no sound apart from the steady drip of moisture to comfort them.
    Suddenly, Clara grasped Neil by the arm. “I heard something,” she whispered. “No, not from the well,” she muttered as Neil leant over to listen. “Over there … shhhhh … there’s someone over there, in the mist!”
    On impulse she picked up a piece of broken rock that lay nearby; it was a weapon of sorts if anyone threatened them. Shivering with fear, she crouched by the well, and had just pulled Neil down beside her when a roar of sound erupted from its depths. They leapt to their feet in fright at precisely the same moment that Amgarad, talons outstretched and wings flapping, swooped down to land opposite them.
    It is difficult to say who got the greater fright. Amgarad had certainly not expected to meet anyone at that time of night and after the initial shock