Crown of Dreams (14 page)

Elphin stopped his horse beside her and put a sympathetic hand over hers. “Let me go in and get Excalibur,” he whispered, dismounting. “Look after Evenstar for me.”

Rhianna gripped her dagger tighter. “I’m not scared,” she said.

He nodded. “I know you’re not, but that little dagger’s not going to be much use against a dragon. I’ve got my harp to protect me.”

“But I’m the Pendragon! I should go.
The dragon won’t hurt me.”

“We can’t be sure of that, Rhia. It stole your sword, remember. And don’t forget Mordred’s wearing the Crown now…”

While they argued in fierce whispers, Cai caught up. He was puffing almost as much as his horse, but he still had the Lance of Truth safely braced on his stirrup.

“Is the beast in there, Damsel Rhianna?” he called. “Do you want me to slay it for you?” His voice echoed around the rocks.

“Shh!” they hissed together.

Too late. The grey mare stumbled over the rocks at the entrance, sending stones sliding down into the lair with a loud, echoing clatter. Cai gripped the Lance tightly so it wouldn’t follow. He stayed in his saddle, but the damage was done.

From inside the hill came a deep, grumbling roar. Sparks fizzed out of the cave, followed by a lick of flame. Alba danced sideways, shaking her mane.
The human boy woke the dragon,
she said.

Rhianna pulled herself together. “Get back!” she warned, as the red dragon that had stolen her sword rushed out of the shadows towards them.

It exploded into the sunset with a glitter of red scales and golden smoke.

“YOU WILL NOT STEAL MY EGGS!” it roared, swinging its great snout at them.

But one wing was torn, and the creature seemed unable to take off. It was limping from a nasty gash in one foreleg, leaving a trail of yellow blood. This gave them a chance to take cover behind the rocks.

“Eggs?” Cai whispered.

“The dragons must be breeding,” Elphin whispered back. “Careful, Rhia – if they’ve got eggs in there, they’ll protect their young before everything else.”

She turned Alba to face the creature and took a deep breath. “I am Rhianna Pendragon!” she called. “You remember me, don’t you? We don’t want your eggs. I just want my sword back. If you let me have it, no one will hurt you, I promise.”

The dragon shook its great head and belched flame at her.

“YOU DO NOT WEAR THE CROWN, PENDRAGON MAID. I DO NOT HAVE TO DO WHAT YOU SAY.”

“Keep it talking, Rhia,” Elphin whispered. “I’ll go inside and find Excalibur.” He shrugged his harp off his shoulder. Playing a gentle tune
to work the invisibility magic they’d used to escape the Saxon camp last year, he disappeared into the shadows.

The dragon blinked at Rhianna and Cai in confusion. “WHERE HAS THE OTHER HUMAN GONE?”

“There are only two humans here,” Rhianna said with a smile. Which was the truth, since Elphin was an Avalonian.

“I SAW THREE OF YOU.”

The dragon limped around the finger of rock to peer behind it. Evenstar misted and reappeared down the hill where Sandy had fled, confusing it still further. It shook its big head and sank down to the ground with a groan.

“MY LEG HURTS. MY WING HURTS. THE OTHER PENDRAGON CALLS US TO FIGHT, BUT I CANNOT FLY.”

Rhianna thought guiltily of how she’d sent the shadrake to its lair, and felt rather sorry for the red dragon. She glanced at the cave. Elphin had still not emerged. At least the dragon had not tried to roast them yet. But she felt so helpless without her sword, and it was getting dark down in the valley. Soon, they would not be able to find their way back down the mountain to the stone circle.

“Come on, Elphin, come on,” she muttered, not wanting to disturb the dragon now it had settled.

Something black flew across the rapidly sinking sun. The dragon raised its head again, distracted. There had been two dragons in the ambush. Had the shadrake killed the other one? Or was it still inside? She looked at the lair again, her heart twisting in sudden fear for Elphin.

Cai gathered up his reins and pointed the Lance of Truth at the injured dragon. The magical weapon glittered in the last of the sunlight. “Go and get your sword, Damsel Rhianna,” he said. “I’ll keep an eye on the beast for you.”

Gratefully, she dismounted and patted Alba. “Stay here with Cai,” she whispered to the mare. “I’m going to see what’s happened to Elphin.”

She waited until the dragon looked up at the sky again, and made a dash for the cave. This time she did not let herself stop at the entrance, though her heart beat faster as the rock closed around her. She broke into a sweat under her armour and wondered what would happen if she took a wrong turn in the dark.

No, don’t think of that.

She felt her way around a turn in the tunnel, which led down steeply. Her feet dragged slower with every step, but worry for her friend overcame her fear. Then her armour began to glimmer, showing her a dark pile of treasure reaching almost to the roof of the lair.

“Elphin?” she called. Was he digging through it?

At the sound of her voice, the glittering pile she’d thought was treasure stirred. A bright eye opened and blinked sleepily at her. She caught her breath and stumbled backwards, clutching her dagger.

The second dragon!

“I’m Rhianna Pendragon!” she said quickly. “I won’t hurt you. I just want my sword back.”

The dragon sighed and lifted its head. “THE DARK DRAGON HURT MY
MATE,” it said. “BUT WE DID NOT LET IT STEAL OUR EGGS.”

Rhianna felt bad again. She’d been responsible for bringing the shadrake here.

“The dark dragon didn’t want your eggs. It was looking for my sword. If you let me have Excalibur back, you’ll be safe and we’ll leave you in peace.”

Where had Elphin got to? Her heart began to pound again. Avalonians could not die, but they could be hurt in the world of men. If he’d been burned by the dragon’s fiery breath, she didn’t know what she would do.

She was about to ask the creature if it had seen him, when there was a rattle from the back of the cave and she heard the tinkle of her friend’s harp. She breathed easier as the dragon lowered its head again and its eye closed.

“Move slowly, Rhia,” Elphin whispered. “I can’t play my harp and look for Excalibur at the same time. I can keep this one quiet, but I can’t do much about its mate outside. Is Cai all right out there?”

“He’s fine,” Rhianna said, edging around the sleeping dragon. As she joined Elphin at the back of the cave, the sweat came again. The dragon’s bulk looked exactly like the rocks that had blocked the tunnel in the shadrake’s lair and trapped her inside…

“I’m here, Rhia,” Elphin said softly, touching her arm.

She gave him a grateful smile as the memory faded.

She concentrated on looking for Excalibur, rather than thinking about the rock above her head. With Elphin’s music filling the lair, it
wasn’t too bad. She wondered what they’d do if the sword lay beneath the eggs the dragon was sitting on.

Then her armour brightened again, and she saw Excalibur’s white jewel poking out from under the dragon’s tail. She breathed a bit easier, closed her left hand about the hilt and gave a firm pull. The jewel flared silver under her hand, and straightaway she felt stronger.

She grinned at Elphin. He grinned back.

Then they heard the flap of large wings followed by a yell from outside the cave. “Cai!” Rhianna said, running for the exit.

T
hey hurried out into the sunset to find the tops of the mountains on fire. A black-winged silhouette swooped through the orange smoke, terrifying the horses.

“The shadrake!” Rhianna gasped, gripping Excalibur tighter. “Where’s Cai?”

She looked anxiously for Alba. The two mist
horses and Sandy shivered behind the finger of rock. She couldn’t see Cai’s grey mare with them and peered over the cliff edge, afraid she might see her friend’s broken body far below.

Then Elphin pointed to the far side of the peak, where the boy bravely sat his horse in front of the injured red dragon, which pressed itself to the ground and hissed at its enemy. “Looks like that shadrake got more than it bargained for,” he said with a smile.

Cai’s horse reared as the creature swooped towards it. The squire lowered the Lance of Truth and set his heels into the grey’s sides. He galloped across the plateau, yelling a challenge.

The human boy is brave
, Alba said.

Rhianna shook her head. “He’s going to get himself killed, you mean! What does he think he’s trying to do?”

The shadrake had caught Cai’s glittering lance in its talons, and the squire was lifted out of his saddle as he refused to let go. He clung determinedly to the shaft with both hands, his short legs kicking wildly in the air. The dragon flapped strongly, but could not get much height because of its awkward burden. The grey mare galloped off in panic.

“Hold on, Cai!” Rhianna shouted, scrambling over the rocks. She made a grab for the boy’s dangling feet, but missed.

Cai shouted something at her. Elphin ran his fingers over his harp, but the music was drowned by the shadrake’s roars. He shook his head. “Sorry, Rhia. My magic still doesn’t work very well against creatures of Annwn.”

Rhianna stood on the highest rock and raised Excalibur so that the blade flashed red in
the last of the sun. “Let him go!” she ordered, wondering if her cousin was using the Crown to spirit-ride the beast.

The shadrake circled clumsily, then came back. The trailing lance rattled against the rocks. Cai still clung to it, looking terrified.

“Let go, Cai!” Rhianna yelled. “Jump! Don’t worry about the Lance. I’ll make the creature give it back.”

This got the shadrake’s attention. It made another clumsy turn and peered down at her. Its eyes glowed in respect.

“YOU SPIRIT-RODE ME.”

“Yes,” she said, shivering at the memory.

“LIKE THE OLD PENDRAGONS USED TO.”

She smiled. “That’s right. Let my friend go.”

The shadrake circled in confusion. “THE
OTHER PENDRAGON SAYS I MUST BRING HIM THE GLITTERING SPEAR AND THE SHINING SWORD.”

“The other Pendragon is not here,” Rhianna pointed out. “Is he calling you? He’ll be angry if you don’t go to him right away. And my friend’s fond of his food – it’ll be hard work carrying him across the sea. And if you drop the lance in the water the other Pendragon won’t be able to find it again.”

“THAT IS TRUE.”

The creature opened its claw, and both the lance and Cai fell.

Too late, Rhianna realised she should have told the dragon to land first. The shadrake circled once more, spooking their remaining horses. Then it gave a final shriek and flapped off into the dusk.

Elphin and Rhianna raced over to Cai, who lay in a crumpled heap at the base of the rocky finger. Elphin reached for his harp. But as they approached, the squire scrambled to his feet and gave them a shaky grin.

“Worried you that time, didn’t I?” he said.

“Cai!” Rhianna scowled at him. “You could have been killed! Why didn’t you let go of the Lance?”

“Because that shadrake was trying to steal it, of course! Besides, Merlin told me the knight who carries the Lance of Truth can’t die. So I had to hold on to it, didn’t I? Otherwise the beast would’ve iced me, for sure.”

“You mightn’t be able to die when you’re carrying it, but you could still have fallen and broken your neck!” Rhianna said. “Look at Mordred. He’s not dead, but he’s missing
a hand and has a crippled leg. What good would my champion be, if he can’t fight duels for me? And now you’ve lost your horse.”

“Well I wasn’t hurt, was I? And we’ve got Sandy back, so I can easily ride him again until we find the mare. My boots just got a bit singed when the beast flew over the beacon, that’s all.” Cai looked at her feet in their filthy rags and grinned again. “At least I’ve still
got
boots.”

Rhianna grimaced at the reminder, then realised what else Cai had said.
When the beast flew over that beacon
. She looked at the fiery sky in horror. “Those are the druid beacons, aren’t they?” she said. “If my mother’s lit them to call for help, Mordred must already be across the Summer Sea!”

Cai nodded. “They go all the way across the water to Camelot,” he said in awe. “I’ve
never seen them all lit up before.”

“Then we’ve no time to waste. Is the Lance of Truth all right?”

“It’s one of the four Lights, remember?” Cai said with another grin. Then he sobered. “I would’ve killed that dragon for you, Damsel Rhianna, if my silly horse hadn’t galloped off. Sandy’s not scared of dragons. Do you want me to kill the other one?”

She frowned at the red dragon, which they had all forgotten in the excitement. It crouched at the entrance to its lair, watching them warily. Elphin played a gentle chord on his harp. The dragon stretched out its torn wing with a sigh and lowered its snout to the rock.

“No,” she said, still feeling sorry for the creature. “It’s not the dragons’ fault that Mordred sent them to ambush us and steal my
sword. Whoever wears the Crown of Dreams controls the dragons, so when we get it back we should be safe enough. Besides, its mate is sitting on eggs in there. I don’t think it’ll follow us… will you?” she asked the red dragon.

“OUR CHILDREN ARE MORE IMPORTANT TO US THAN HUMAN BATTLES,” it said. Then its eyes closed and it began to snore gently, letting out puffs of smoke.

The dragon dreams of eggs
, Alba snorted.
It is silly. Apples are much nicer.

“Half of Dragonland will able to see those beacons,” Rhianna said, her stomach twisting with fresh anxiety as she mounted Alba. “We’ve got to get back to the stone circle. I just hope the knights haven’t tried going back by road.”

“They wouldn’t leave us behind, Damsel Rhia,” Cai said. “They’ll come, don’t worry.”

“That depends if they can read what you wrote,” she said. “Are you sure you explained Elphin’s going to open the spiral path to take everyone to Camelot using the stone circles so we can catch up with Mordred?”

The boy bit his lip again. “Sort of… at least, I expect they’ll guess the magic path will be quicker. You said not to write a song about it, Damsel Rhianna.”

“You did, Rhia,” Elphin said with a smile. The night breeze lifted his curls and the flames lit half his face, making him look very Avalonian.

“It isn’t funny!” she snapped, tired and sore now that the action was over. “It’s all right for you. Mordred’s never going to take an army of ghosts through the mists to Avalon and steal your father’s throne! I bet you don’t
even care what happens to poor Arianrhod, do you? Don’t you understand? I left my father’s secret jewel with her, the one Mordred needs to destroy before he can rule Camelot, and she’s locked in the dungeon so she can’t even
run away
.”

Her voice had risen. The red dragon’s tail twitched, and its talons clutched at invisible prey.

The dragon dreams of eating horses
, Alba said nervously.
Maybe we should go now?

“Then we’d better hurry,” Elphin said, echoing her mare. Calmly, he bagged his harp, helped Cai up on Sandy, and mounted Evenstar. “Don’t worry, Rhia, we’ll stop him.”

Rhianna sheathed Excalibur, suddenly very weary. At least the fiery sky would light their path.

They rode back to the stone circle in silence. Seeing no sign of the knights at the shadowy stones, she tried to persuade Elphin to open the spiral path immediately and take them back to Camelot. But he shook his head.

“We should at least give them until morning, Rhia. They mightn’t be able to follow Merlin in the dark. If we go back through the stones, and the knights do come here looking for us, then they’ll be even longer getting back. Besides, I’m not sure I can open the path without Merlin’s help. This circle’s very old, and there are echoes of dark magic here. I don’t want to send everyone to Annwn by mistake, and anyway, you need some sleep before you face Mordred again.”

She knew he was right, but it didn’t make the waiting any easier.

Cai found firewood and whistled happily as he made a camp for them inside the stones. He’d brought along a burning brand from the last beacon, and used it to light their fire. He gave Elphin a proud stare. “See? We knights of Camelot can do without magic tricks,” he said.

The Avalonian boy smiled. “What do you think lit that beacon?”

“Er… magic tricks?”

“Exactly. That’s why Merlin went with the hawks, isn’t it? So how would you have lit it on your own?”

“I’m not on my own, am I?” Cai said.

There seemed no answer to that. Rhianna leaned back against a stone and unwrapped the rags from her feet. She touched her blisters
and winced. She hoped the knights would bring some spare boots with them, because she didn’t fancy fighting Mordred and his army of ghosts with nothing on her feet. She bit her lip and started to wrap them back up again.

A six-fingered hand stopped her. The first trill from Elphin’s harp made her stiffen. But then her feet stopped hurting and she felt warmer.

“Better?” her friend whispered.

She smiled at him. “I didn’t mean to snap at you, earlier.”

“It’s all right. You’re worried about Arianrhod. I am, too. We don’t know very much about her, do we? I know you smashed the dark mirror, but what if she’s still helping Mordred? Do you think she’ll give him the jewel?”

Rhianna frowned. “No. At least, not willingly.”

Cai gave up trying to tie his cloak between the stones to make a shelter and joined them. “I know I called her a witch’s maid before, but Arianrhod’s on our side. She kept Excalibur hidden back in the summer, remember – when we swapped the swords so I could take the wrong one to Mordred. If she were working for the dark knight, she wouldn’t have done that.”

Elphin nodded. “I agree, but there’s something strange about Arianrhod. I sensed it when I played my harp for her the day she tried to take your pendant. I think she might have more to do with your quest than we realised. Why did King Arthur really take that jewel out of the crown, do you think?”

“To stop Mordred using it if he got his hands on it, of course. Merlin told us the Crown’s magic wouldn’t work properly without all the jewels in place…” Her voice trailed off.

“Mordred’s already using the Crown. He’s summoned an army out of Annwn. You wore it yourself, and you used it to spirit-ride the shadrake when it was trying to kill us, so the magic obviously works well enough. No Rhia, I think your father and Merlin were trying to hide a secret, and it must be a secret too dangerous for any man to know.”