Audun sniffed the air. Could they have captured Owen and Jim while they were helping King Cadmus off the castle grounds? If so, they would be in the dungeon as well, but he couldn’t sense either of the boys, and with such a distinctive odor, Jim would have been easy to smell.
Audun watched the guards as they prepared to leave the cell, taking the torches they’d brought with them. Although three of the guards hurried out of the cell without a backward glance, the new guard paused at the door, letting the light of the torch he carried play over his features. And he winked.
Audun’s jaw dropped. He wanted to ask the guard who he was and why he had winked, but the man was gone before he could get the words out. As the door slammed shut, Audun closed his eyes and shook his head. He’d really messed things up this time. Not only had he not found the girl, but he’d gotten himself locked away, and now he’d have to free himself without revealing his true nature. He was wondering how things could have gone so wrong when he heard footsteps. Light filled the small square window again.
His answer came when two visitors unlocked the door and one of them, a man dressed in a billowing robe decorated with spinning silver stars, jerked his cupped hands into the air, sending a ball of pale, blue light through the cell to bob just above Audun’s head. Ever since he’d seen Olebald in the Great Hall, Audun had suspected that it wouldn’t be long before the wizard knew of his presence in the castle. He had hoped, however, that it would take a little longer than this, and that he might actually be able to leave before the wizard could find him.
As the two men drew closer, he recognized the other man as the one who had greeted Olebald on his arrival, the one he’d assumed was King Dolon. Shorter than his brother, Cadmus, Dolon’s hair had yet to turn from silvery gray to white and his beard was just a fringe on his chin.
“So this is the one who’s come to kill me,” said Dolon, peering nearsightedly at Audun. “He doesn’t look like an assassin.”
Audun’s head shot up. “What? I never tried to kill anyone.”
Olebald snorted and stomped across the filthy floor to glare down his nose at Audun, even though the boy was a good eight inches taller and the wizard had to tilt his head back to do it. “Don’t lie to us, boy. Why else would you be here? You got a job under false pretenses—bribing a court official with a forbidden magical gift.”
“Oh, dear,” said King Dolon. “Is it really forbidden? I was so hoping to get one for myself. I’ve heard those bottomless tankards are wonderful, especially when you plan to entertain, and you know my wife intends to have all her relatives visit now that she’s queen. Those people can drink more in one hour than a ship’s crew the first day in port.”
“Well, of course you can have one, Your Majesty,” said Olebald. “I’ll get you one myself if you’d like.”
King Dolon looked pleased. “Very thoughtful of you, old fellow. I’d like mine filled with mead. I’m partial to it myself, and I don’t see why the wife’s brother can’t drink mead instead of the imported wine he’s always demanding.”
Olebald sighed. “As you wish, Your Majesty. Now, about the boy . . .”
“What boy? Oh, yes. Him. He looks like a nice enough boy. Handsome, too. Just the sort my daughter would be interested in meeting. Do you suppose you can arrange that as well?”
Olebald ground his teeth and, in an obvious effort to remain patient, said, “He’s here to kill you, Your Majesty. That’s why he’s in the dungeon.”
“I told you, I’m not here to kill anyone!” said Audun.
“Then why are you here, if not to overthrow King Dolon and put his brother back on the throne?”
King Dolon nodded. “Someone set Cadmus free last night. Was it you? Because if it was, I’d like to know how you did it. Quite an amazing feat actually, what with the river and the monster and all. I was astounded when Ole-bald thought of so many marvelous traps. I never would have come up with any of them in a million years.”
“That’s why I’m here, Your Majesty,” said Olebald. “To protect you from nefarious scoundrels like him.”
“I’m not here to hurt King Dolon!” Audun said again.
“He certainly is vehement. Are you sure he isn’t innocent?” asked the king.
“Don’t listen to him, Your Majesty. He has to lie about it. It’s part of the assassins’ code. They never admit that they’ve come to kill someone, even under torture.”
“Oh, dear, we’re not going to torture him, are we? You know I don’t like that kind of thing.”
“We could torture him,” said Olebald, “to try to learn if he has any accomplices, but I don’t believe it would work. No, we’ll just execute him quietly, if that’s all right with Your Majesty.”
“Yes, indeed, that’s much better,” King Dolon said, looking relieved. “You’ll handle all the details, won’t you, Olebald?” The wizard nodded, and the king added, “That’s a good fellow. I knew I could depend on you. Now, if we’re finished here, I suppose I’ll be off.”
Olebald ran to the doorway and stood just inside, watching the old king go. “I thought he’d never leave,” he said, once the king’s footsteps stopped ringing in the hall. The old wizard waved his hand, creating a blue cloud that drifted to the door, closed it with a whump! and remained to swirl in front of the window, preventing anyone from seeing inside the cell. Turning back to Audun, Olebald rubbed his hands together, saying, “Tell me what it would take to get you to turn back into a dragon.”
Audun shook his head, not sure he had heard him correctly. “Pardon me?”
“You can either show me your own true self right now, which would save us both so much trouble, or I could show you a way I’ve devised that will change you, whether you want it to or not.”
“What are you talking about?”
Olebald smiled, but in a not-very-friendly way. “Some time ago I came across a spell that would give me exactly what I’d been dreaming about for years. A nasty little witch exiled me to a tropical island where the memories of a group of witches had been kept. Although most of them had been freed, I found one bottle still intact, buried in the sand. I freed the memories in exchange for the witch’s strongest spell, one which will turn me into the most fearsome dragon alive. All I need are a few key ingredients and I’ll never again have to follow the orders of a sniveling king who has no idea how to rule a kingdom. I’ll be the one with all the power and everyone will have to listen to me!”
“Do you honestly think a simple spell is going to turn you into a dragon? There’s a lot more to it than that.”
“Really? Like what?” Olebald said, his eyes lighting up.
“I’m . . . not sure,” said Audun.
“Why don’t you turn into a dragon and show me? I’m sure you’re a most handsome beast.”
“Why do you want me to turn into a dragon so badly?”
“Would you believe—I’m curious?”
“Not in the least. And I doubt it’s because you want to see what I look like while I change. Unless . . . What precisely did the spell say you needed to turn into a dragon?”
“Just a dragon scale, a dragon talon, a dragon eyeball, and a dragon jaw. Nothing you’ll miss too much.”
“Sorry, but even if I wanted to give you the scale and the talon, I believe I’d really miss the eye and the jaw.”
“I wasn’t asking for them,” said Olebald. “I was just telling you what I’m going to take once you change back into a dragon.”
“You’re crazy. Why would I turn back knowing that you want to tear off bits of me? I’m not going to do anything to help you.”
“I can see you aren’t going to cooperate,” Olebald said with a sigh. “Fortunately, my plans don’t depend on your goodwill.” Reaching into his robe, Olebald took out a silk pouch and opened it, revealing a green stone the size of a large man’s fist. Bathed in a pale light, the stone illuminated the cell like an eerie, flameless fire. The moment the stone left the pouch, the ball of blue light that had been bobbing above Audun’s head flickere
d and went out and the silver stars on Olebald’s robe stopped spinning.
Audun recognized the stone, having seen many just like it studding the wall of Nastia Nautica’s underwater cave. What he didn’t understand was what the wizard thought he could do with a stone that wiped out magic.
“This stone has many properties,” said Olebald. “Even the sea witch I acquired it from didn’t know them all, but I’ve been experimenting with it. I believe that while no one can do magic in its presence, if you were to swallow it, it would force you to turn back into a dragon. In essence, it can change your form only from the inside—and then only by returning you to your real shape.”
Audun was incredulous. “You want me to swallow that rock? That thing is huge! I couldn’t get it down, and if I did it would kill me.”
Olebald shrugged and took a step toward Audun. “Great discoveries often involve great sacrifices. I don’t need you to be alive to get the parts I require. It will make it easier for me if you aren’t. Now, open wide and we’ll see if this fits.”
“Mmph!” said Audun, pressing his lips shut and turning his head to the side. He struggled as Olebald grabbed his head and tried to pry his jaws far enough apart to shove the stone between his lips. Unable to use his magic in the presence of the stone, the old man had to rely on his not-so-great strength and was losing the battle when the cell door burst open, admitting a slender, young, blue and white dragoness with lovely green stripes.
“He hasn’t hurt you, has he, Audun?” asked the dragoness. Audun wondered how this stranger knew his name. Only four feet long, she was probably about the same age as Loolee. Audun was certain that he had never seen her before.
“Mmph!” said Audun, still trying to keep his mouth shut.
“Get away from him, you horrible monster!” the dragoness roared. With one beat of her wings, she landed on Olebald and knocked him to the floor. She was so small, however, that once he was down, he was able to fend her off with one arm while the other clutched the stone to his chest.
“If I can’t get . . . what I want . . . from one dragon,” Olebald said, grunting with exertion, “then I’ll get . . . it from . . . another!” The old wizard shoved the little dragoness to the ground, pinning her beneath his knees. She flailed at him with her wings, batting the stone to the floor where it rolled well out of reach. With both hands free, the old wizard tried to rip one of her scales loose. The dragoness screamed and snapped at him with her sharp baby teeth.
Audun groaned. If only the stone had rolled in his direction, he might have been able to toss it out the door and turn back into a dragon. Now that the little dragoness was in danger, he had to become a dragon to save her. Whoever she was, she couldn’t possibly know the danger she now faced.
Audun dragged at the chains that bound him to the wall and for the first time noticed that they were new and not like the chains he’d seen in the cells while looking for King Cadmus. These were made of bright, shiny metal with no sign of rust; it was all he could do to bend them, let alone break them.
While Audun thrashed around, jerking at the chains, he called out to the dragoness, “Hold on! I’m coming!” When the dragoness let out a pitiful mew, he threw himself against the chains. With no scales to protect him, the metal cut into his skin, making the manacles slippery with blood.
Audun turned his head as the floor shuddered under the pounding of heavy feet. Suddenly, an enormous dragon head filled the doorway, its mouth open in a roar that shook the walls of the cell and made dust sift through the stone ceiling. Olebald looked up from the dragoness, his eyes as big as platters and his face turning pale. Snarling, the dragon thrashed its head from side to side as it fought to work its way into the room. With a sickening grating sound, the mortar that held the stones of the doorway crumbled and the dragon staggered into the cell.
The dragon was more than twice Audun’s normal size, with burly muscles and a ridge as sharp as blades. When he roared again stones fell from the ceiling and screams of terror echoed from the neighboring cells. Audun had never been so happy to see anyone as he was to see Frosty-breath at that moment.
Olebald cowered against the floor with his arms crossed in front of his face as if they could protect him. The little dragoness looked just as frightened as she crawled toward the wall, away from both the wizard and the dragon.
“So you thought you’d get away,” Frostybreath growled, thrashing his tail behind him as he strode toward the wizard. His tail hit an ancient skeleton, knocking it across the cell where it shattered against the far wall. “Did you really think I wouldn’t find you again?”
The old man stammered, powerless against the dragon without his magic. He scuttled backward until he reached the wall and couldn’t go any farther.
Frostybreath turned to Audun and shook his head, saying, “You certainly know how to get yourself into a mess.”
The little dragoness’s ridge was raised in anger when she flew at him shouting, “Don’t you hurt my friend!”
“Who is this?” Frostybreath asked, as he caught the little dragon with his talons. She fought, scratching and biting.
Audun shrugged. “I don’t know, although she seems to know me. Would you mind,” he asked, pulling his arms as far from the wall as he could get them.
Frostybreath grunted. Stretching out his neck, he breathed on the chains, making them so cold that they became brittle. He was reaching out to break them when Olebald got to his feet. While the big dragon turned back to the wizard, Audun lunged against the chains, snapping them. He didn’t hesitate, but dashed to where the green stone still lay and snatched it up from the floor. Running to the door, he pitched it down the corridor where it skidded through the dust and debris and finally disappeared through a hole in a grate to the water below.
Still in the doorway, Audun closed his eyes and turned back into a dragon. Hearing a gasp behind him, he turned around and saw the little dragoness looking from him to the blue cloud that had formed between the wizard and Frostybreath. The big dragon looked stunned. Audun didn’t know why until he saw tendrils reaching from the blue cloud to wrap themselves around the dragon’s throat.
The wizard had his back to Audun, who knew that he had only seconds before Olebald used the blue cloud against him as well. Without making a sound, Audun launched himself at the old man, knocking him to the floor. The impact stunned Olebald for a moment, which was just long enough for the cloud to falter and fall back in on itself. Released from the cloud, Frostybreath snarled and stalked toward Olebald. The old man was shaking his head when the big ice dragon breathed on him. A look of horror stiffened on his face as Frostybreath froze him as solid as an ice cube. The blue cloud imploded with a small pop! leaving the room too dark for a human to see. Fortunately, it wasn’t too dark for dragons.
“I should have done that the last time,” the big dragon said, sitting back on his haunches.
“You’re a dragon!” breathed the little dragoness, staring at Audun.
He noticed that one of her front fangs was chipped. She reminded him of someone, but he just couldn’t remember who. “Yes, I am,” he said, still studying her face. “Thank you for coming to my rescue, but do I know you?”
The dragoness nodded and a moment later Jim stood in front of him, looking up at him with the same worshipful look that the dragoness had been giving him. Audun gasped and said, “Jim?”
“It’s Gem, actually,” she said, after turning back into a dragoness. “My parents raised me among humans. They were going to take me to the dragon stronghold in a few months. My big sister is already there, waiting for me. When I was just a hatchling they taught me how to pass myself off as a human. They said I’d be safer if people thought I was a boy, so I started dressing like one when they brought me to Aridia.”
“Why did they bring you here?” asked Audun.
“My parents were King Stormclaw’s representatives to the king of Aridia. Ice dragons have mined the gems under the desert for centuries. We give some to the Aridian ki
ng and take the rest to the dragon stronghold. It’s a big secret among the humans. My parents said that the king tells his son on his deathbed, but no one else is supposed to know. We were good at keeping secrets. King Cadmus and my father were friends, but even the king didn’t know that my father was a dragon.”
Frostybreath ruffled the crest on Gem’s head with his talons. “What happened to your parents, little one?”
“Everyone knew my father was a gem merchant. Soldiers broke into our house, looking for the gems, but my father had hidden them all. The soldiers killed my parents when they couldn’t find what they wanted. I hid until they left, then King Dolon’s men found me and brought me to the castle with all the other orphans. When the king asked us for the names of our relatives, I told him that I didn’t have any in Aridia, which was true, so he made me work as a servant. I didn’t mind too much. It was better than being locked in the tower like the other orphans.”
Audun nodded. If any girl didn’t belong at the castle, it was Gem. “Let me guess—you rolled in muck to mask your dragon scent, didn’t you?”
“It was the only thing I could think of,” she said. “My parents used a lotion to cover their scent. I didn’t need it when I was young and now that I do I don’t know where to get it.”
“You’re a very clever dragoness,” said Frostybreath. “Your parents would be proud of you.”
“And what about you?” Audun asked the bigger dragon. “You were the new guard, weren’t you?”
“Figured that out, did you? I followed Olebald here after he escaped from the stronghold. I’m supposed to take him back with me so King Stormclaw and his council can pass judgment on him. He did some nasty things to a few dragons before he left and he’s going to have to answer for that.”
“Did you know that he was coming to Aridia?” asked Audun.
“Not until I got here, and then I was afraid he was coming after you.”
“I met Jim my first day here, but I didn’t know she was a girl,” Audun said, before turning back to Gem. “May I accompany you to the dragon stronghold? You said that your sister was there, waiting for you. I bet she’ll be happy to see you. What is her name? If I don’t know her, I’m sure Frostybreath will.”