Crown of Dreams (9 page)

Elphin pulled out his harp. Avalonian music tinkled across the hillside, and the dragon-fire soon fizzled out. But the horses were terrified now, bucking and plunging and neighing. The knights had a hard time staying in their saddles.

The first dragon swooped back out of the smoke. Rhianna swung Excalibur at the creature as it passed overhead. It was so close she could feel the heat of its fiery breath on
her cheek. Flames licked her hair. She beat them out with her shield and held on grimly to the sword, its blade shining in the mist.

“Leave us alone!” she yelled. “I am Rhianna Pendragon, and I order you to go home!”

Her voice sounded small compared to the dragons’ shrieks, but they heard her.

“WE KNOW YOU ARE THE PENDRAGON MAID,” boomed one.

“WE MUST NOT HARM YOU.”

“BUT WE CAN TAKE ALL YOUR PRETTY WEAPONS.”

“You won’t take mine!” Cai yelled, raising the Lance of Truth. “This here’s a magic lance, so you’d better watch out. Stay away from Damsel Rhianna, or I’ll skewer you with it and roast you over your own fire.” His new horse did not look so quiet any more, but he
clung bravely to the reins as the grey mare pranced like a warhorse.

Alba pranced too, not to be outdone.
Do you want me to race Sandy again
? the mare asked.

Rhianna’s head hurt with the booming dragon voices, and her right arm ached from swinging Excalibur over her head. For a moment she thought her mare was confused and had forgotten Cai no longer rode the pony. Then she saw Sandy’s tail disappearing into the mist with their prisoner. In the confusion of the dragons’ attack, the bloodbeard had somehow taken control of the reins with his bound hands.

“Sandy!” Cai wailed, noticing the escaped prisoner too.

Rhianna stared after the pony in frustration. “The bloodbeard’s getting away!” she shouted
at the knights. “I’ll be all right – go after him!”

As the knights hesitated, the dragons dived again one from each side. Fire lit up the hillside, showing wild-eyed horses, confused men, and frightened squires clutching their weapons, not sure whether to fight or flee.

Cai’s mare reared, and as he flung his arms around his horse’s neck the Lance of Truth came whistling down across Alba’s nose. The little horse misted to avoid it. Rhianna gave up trying to fight right-handed according to the knightly code, and swapped Excalibur back to her left hand. As she did so, a large claw appeared out of the smoke and struck her arm. The sword went spinning out of her grasp.

With a cry of triumph, the second dragon back-winged and snatched Excalibur out of the air. Weakness washed over Rhianna as
the sword vanished into the dragon’s pouch.

“THANK YOU, PENDRAGON MAID, THIS IS A VERY SHINY WEAPON. WE WILL GO NOW.”

“It’s taking the Sword of Light!” she shouted, dragging Alba’s head around. She stood in her stirrups in a futile attempt to regain the sword. “Elphin,
do something
!”

Her friend raised his harp again, but the music did not have much effect on the dragon, which shrieked a final farewell as it flapped away into the mist. The other dragon swooped one last time and snatched up a few more dropped weapons before flying after its friend.

Elphin’s fingers moved faster and faster as he tried to put out all the fires the creatures had started. Cai had somehow kept hold of
the Lance, but had lost control of his reins. None of the knights were chasing the bloodbeard. They had scattered across the hillside, still fighting invisible dragons. She heard Lancelot’s voice shouting orders from the mist, faint and far away.

“Over here!” Rhianna shouted. “They went that way! Can’t you see?”

But the knights obviously couldn’t see. And without Excalibur to light up the mist, she couldn’t see very much, either. Was that shadow another dragon? Maybe the knights were right, and there were more of the creatures than she thought?

She hesitated a moment longer. The dragons would be weighed down by the weapons they had stolen from the knights, but they could still fly faster than any horse could gallop.

“Race that dragon, Alba!” She dug her heels into the little horse’s sides.

The mare barged past the nearest knight’s horse, almost knocking Rhianna out of the saddle. She saw the man’s wide-eyed look. Then they were plunging off the path and down the rocky hillside after the dragon that had stolen her sword.

D
ARK
T
RAP

M
ordred ripped the Crown from his head with a shaking hand. It burned his forehead every time he put it on. He dared not wear it for long periods.

Dragon wings still flapped in his ears, and he could hear the echo of their booming voices. He stared around the shadrake’s lair in alarm. The knights had escaped the ambush and were coming this way! At the sight of his men dozing around the fire instead of keeping watch at the tunnel, his alarm turned to panic.

“Mother!” he yelled. “Mother, help me!”

The witch glimmered into view, looking
serene and beautiful in the glow of the green jewel. She frowned at his trembling hand. “Pull yourself together, boy!” she snapped. “Don’t drop that crown. What’s wrong this time?” Her voice turned sickly sweet, taunting him. “Your cousin send you another nightmare?”

“Worse,” he reported, clutching the crown. “She’s coming down here!”

Woken by his yell, two breathless bloodbeards appeared at his alcove, weapons drawn. He waved them away with a scowl. “I thought I told you to keep watch! Get back to your posts. Can’t you see I’m busy?” The men took one look at his mother’s spirit and backed out again.

He lowered his voice. “I sent the dragons to ambush the knights like you said, but
the stupid creatures won’t obey me. They abandoned the attack, and now Rhianna’s bringing Arthur’s entire army to murder me! I thought you said they wouldn’t all leave Camelot? Sir Lancelot’s leading them and that bully Sir Bors is with them too. I’m sure I spotted Sir Agravaine and Bedivere as well… If they trap me down here, I’m dead.”

The witch sighed. “Arthur was never such a coward, even before he wore the Crown. I suppose you’ve lost contact with the dragons?”

“Stupid things flew off with the Sword!”

“Excalibur?” the witch said, eyebrows raised.

“Of course Excalibur,” Mordred said, rubbing his temples. “I wouldn’t have given myself a splitting headache getting them
to steal some ordinary sword. I’ve plenty of useless old blades down here already.” He cast a scathing look around the piles of treasure.

His mother sighed again. “Didn’t I warn you not to try anything tricky with that Crown until you’ve dealt with Arthur’s jewel? Dragons are difficult enough to control, as it is.”

“They were meant to bring the sword to me, not fly off with the thing,” he muttered.

To his surprise, she chuckled. “Still, it was a good try. Without Excalibur, the girl will be vulnerable. She’s coming this way, you say? Is she alone?”

Mordred calmed down a bit and started to think more clearly. “She was when I last saw her. But the knights won’t be far behind.”

The witch smiled. “Leave the knights to me. You concentrate on the damsel. Do you
think you can handle her on your own, or do you need my help for that, too?”

Mordred brightened up at the thought of his cousin trapped in here with him. He put the crown back on and went to rouse his men. “Make yourselves useful and find a strong chain!” he told them. “Fix it to the wall over there. We’re making this place ready for a princess.”

R
hianna galloped blind into the mist. She could not see much past her mare’s white ears and soon lost sight of the dragons. She heard someone call her name and glanced
back to see Elphin urging Evenstar after her. Cai’s horse followed him, the Lance of Truth swinging wildly.

Too embarrassed about losing her sword to face her friends yet, she urged Alba faster. They crossed a river, galloping over the surface of the water in a sparkle of Avalonian magic, raced up the hill on the other side and plunged into the next valley. Now she couldn’t hear the dragons ahead or her friends behind.

Alba’s neck foamed with sweat as she dodged through the trees. Rocks flashed under the mare’s dainty hooves. Then a mossy stone loomed out of the mist right in front of them. Rhianna had been watching the sky, so did not see it in time to swerve. Alba threw up her head at the last moment and
misted
.

She grabbed desperately for the disappearing
mane, knowing she was going to fall off, just as she used to before she carried Excalibur. She prayed it would be a soft landing, and her head would not hit a rock. Trees and sky whirled around her as she rolled in wet leaves and came to a stop against another stone.

Still a bit shaky, she picked herself up and caught Alba’s rein. She was furious with herself for losing Excalibur. Her friends could easily have been hurt by those dragons. Now she couldn’t even protect them if the creatures attacked again, because she had lost the Sword of Light.

I am sorry I misted
, Alba snorted.
Please do not be angry
.

“I’m not angry with you, silly,” she said, patting the tired mare. “I should never have tried to swap sword hands back there, and
I didn’t look where I was going again, did I? Who put that thing in such a stupid place, anyway?”

She scowled at the stone that had caused her fall. More mossy stones loomed out of the mist nearby, reminding her of the stone circle where they’d taken the magical spiral path north to catch up with the knights in the summer. But some of them leaned at strange angles, and others lay broken in the ferns.

She started to worry about her friends. What if they’d been hurt trying to keep up with her? Cai had the Lance of Truth to carry, and he wasn’t that good a rider yet.

“Don’t worry, my darling,” she said to Alba, trying not to think about the dragons. “I expect they’ve stopped at that river. Cai’s horse can’t gallop across water.”

Evenstar can gallop over the river
, Alba reminded her.

“Elphin would stay to help Cai. We’ll go back and find them, and then we’ll look for that dragon together.”

She began to lead the mare back the way they had come then stopped, her neck prickling. Ahead, a rider waited in the mist between the trunks. The horse looked about the right size for Cai’s new mount, but its rider did not carry a lance. Had he dropped it?

“Cai?” she called, leading Alba towards the horse.

The rider turned his mount and trotted away into the trees.

“Cai, you idiot – it’s me!”

She caught movement out of the corner of her eye and stopped again. Another horse
trotted through the trees nearby.

“Elphin…?” she said, less sure now.

It is not Evenstar
, her mare said.

Rhianna’s stomach clenched. The knights looking for her, maybe? “Sir Bors?” she whispered. “Sir Bedivere? Is that you?”

The second rider raised a bow, and a black-feathered arrow thudded into the tree beside her.

Heart pounding, she vaulted back into her saddle and urged Alba into a gallop, ducking branches and swerving around trees. Her neck prickled as more arrows zipped past her ears.
I’m wearing my Avalonian armour
, she reminded herself. Then she remembered how the last time she’d been hit by a bloodbeard’s arrow, before she’d got Excalibur out of the lake, she had fallen off. She fumbled for the
Pendragon shield that was strapped to her saddle and raised it over her head.

This meant she could not gallop so fast, but fortunately her attackers could not get a good aim through the trees, either. Then the air around her shimmered green, and the stones loomed back out of the trees – she must have ridden in a circle! As she slowed Alba, confused, the bushes in front of her erupted with dark shapes. Alba misted again, and she grabbed for the mane in desperation. She almost stayed on this time, but she still felt dizzy from her earlier fall and lost her balance.

She rolled at the feet of her assailants, while her mare galloped off. A sack went over her head. She struggled and kicked, but it did no good. There were at least four of them, and they were grown men, stronger than her. They took
the shield, pinned her arms to her sides, and wound a rope around the outside of the sack.

“Damn little wildcat!” one said, sitting on her legs. “Near had my eye out. Get hold of that white pony of hers, before her friends come down here looking for her.”

“Nah, they’re too busy with those dragons.”

“I only saw two of the beasts, and last I saw they was flapping off home. Prince Mordred’s obviously not as in control of them as he thinks he is.”

“Stop chattering and take her boots,” snapped a new voice. With sinking heart, she recognised it as belonging to the bloodbeard captain who had escaped earlier. He bent down to whisper through the sack. “Time you found out what it feels like to be alone among enemies, Princess.”

“Let me go!” she said, angry with herself for riding straight into his trap. “I’m King Arthur’s daughter! His knights will hunt you down, and this time they’ll kill you for sure. My friends are right behind me, they’ll be here any moment… they’ve got the Lance of Truth… and Elphin’s a prince of Avalon… he can do magic…”

She got a mouthful of sack as the bloodbeard pushed her head down into the leaves. He chuckled. “Then we’d better get you somewhere safe where they can’t find you, hadn’t we?”

Rhianna felt them tug off her boots. As the rope went around her ankles, she sucked in a final breath. “Find Evenstar, Alba!” she called through the muffling sack. She heard the thud of small hooves fading and went limp with relief. At least they hadn’t caught her mist horse.

“Sorry, sir,” one of the men muttered. “Crazy animal nearly trampled me.”

“Let it go,” grunted Rhianna’s captor, hauling her up. “We can’t waste time chasing it now. Nice and quiet, I said. You made enough noise to wake the dead.”

“The dead
are
awake, sir,” said one of the men in a nervous tone. “I’m sure I saw Mordred’s witch-mother back in that lair.”

“They’re on our side, don’t worry.”

The captain chuckled and lifted Rhianna across a saddle. She started to kick again, then felt a pony’s muzzle sniff her bare feet and realised it must be Sandy. She lay more quietly, glad of his familiar bulk beneath her.

“That’s right, Princess,” the bloodbeard said, mistaking her limpness for fear. “You lie nice and still and you won’t get hurt. Prince
Mordred wants to talk to you about a jewel.”

Prince Mordred wants to talk to you about a jewel.

All through that jolting, smothering ride, the bloodbeard’s words churned in Rhianna’s head. Did that mean Mordred had found the crown? If he had got hold of it, he would use it to attack Camelot, and without Excalibur she’d not be able to stop him.

At first she hung limply over Sandy’s back, sick with worry for her friends, unable to think straight. Then she realised that if Mordred
had
found out how to use the crown’s magic, he wouldn’t need to talk to her. He’d simply have told his men to kill her. She remembered Merlin saying no impostor could take the throne while Arthur’s jewel was safe, and breathed again
inside the sack. Thank goodness she hadn’t brought the pendant with her to Dragonland.

She tested the ropes again. But they were not going to come off in a hurry, and the bloodbeards had taken her boots so she would not get very far running in the woods. They were trotting fast, and she didn’t want to fall from Sandy’s back trussed up like this. She lay still, saving her energy for when she met her cousin.

Eventually, the pony slowed to a walk. They went downhill. She heard hooves splashing in water, and the roar of a waterfall. The pony lurched up and over what sounded like some rocks, and freezing spray drenched her feet. Then things went dark on the other side of the sack.

The horses’ hooves echoed, so she knew
they had gone underground. There was a strong smell, noticeable even through the filthy sack. A chill went through her – dragon stink.

Finally the horses stopped, their snorts loud in the cave. The bloodbeards, who had grumbled and cursed most of the journey, went quiet.

“What took you so long?” a voice called.

Rhianna tensed as she recognised her cousin’s sly tone.

“Had a bit of trouble,” said the captain. “Her horse kept disappearing in the mist.”

“Avalonian tricks,” Mordred hissed. “Where’s the animal now?”

“I don’t know, Master,” said the bloodbeard. “It ran off. You told me to grab the girl, not the horse. We got the Pendragon shield too.”

“So I see. I’m glad you managed at least one
of the tasks I sent you to do.” He paused at her feet, and Rhianna’s skin prickled. “I hope you haven’t damaged her? She’s remarkably quiet.”

Rhianna’s breath came faster. She heard the tap of a crutch as her cousin limped nearer.

When she judged he was close enough, she jerked out her legs. She was rewarded by a grunt of pain. The bloodbeard captain chuckled.

“What are you laughing at?” Mordred yelled. “You almost ruined the whole operation, bringing Camelot’s knights with you to Dragonland! What were you thinking of? If I hadn’t sent those dragons to ambush them, you’d still be snivelling in their clutches now. All right, get the girl down off that pony and take her inside. The men know where to put her. I’ve got something to take care of out here. Then, my brave cousin…” He limped round
to the other side of the pony and touched her cheek through the sack, making her shudder. “You and I are going to have a nice little chat, and you are going to tell me what you’ve done with that jewel your father took out of the Crown of Dreams.”

“I’m not telling you anything!” Rhianna shouted through the sack, and he laughed.

“I see you know what I’m talking about. Good, that’s a start.” He limped away before she could swing her legs around to kick him again.