Becoming a Dragon (46 page)

"Hopefully not," Jenna muttered when he was out of earshot. "Do we really have to spend all day with him and Daisy again? Don't they want to be alone sometimes? I mean, I know she's all prim and proper, but do they even kiss? No wonder Gerald doesn't bother chaperoning them."

"You know they do!" Crystal said, laughing. "You complain whenever they do, remember? You're never happy, regardless of what they do. Come on, I'm done. Let's go and get ready."

They didn't see John when they arrived, as all of the students were divided into separate groups and having arrived early, he was put in a different group than the rest of them. Any pleasure Jenna could take from that news was short lived as Arthur frustrated her by taking an enthusiastic interest in the site instead of giving all of his attention to her.

"You can spend the rest of the afternoon exploring the rest of the ruins if you wish," Professor Silver told them after the tour finished. "Just make sure you're back well before sunset and leave well before those clouds reach here."

"What clouds?" Seth asked Crystal. "Looks fine to me. Fancy exploring for a bit? This place is actually quite interesting."

"Not you as well," Jenna replied coldly. "Now I'll never get Arthur to leave before the end of the day. It's bad enough his dopey sister encouraging him without you as well."

Crystal laughed at her. "Sure, Seth, let's go explore. Sounds like we're staying for a while anyway. Coming, Jenna? Or do you want to stay here and sulk?"

Jenna pulled a face and reluctantly followed the two of them and the twins.

Crystal was surprised to find that she also enjoyed the ruins, and suspected that Jenna may have done so as well if she wasn't so intent on being miserable. They were quite extensive, and some of the old buildings were remarkably well preserved considering that they hadn't been lived in for over a thousand years. In the end it was Daisy that prompted them to go.

"Those clouds have come in quickly, Arthur; had you noticed? Don't you think we should be leaving?"

"Oh, no. I hadn't. It is getting quite late; I guess we should head off."

"Exactly what I was thinking," Jenna added quickly. "Go and transform and meet us in the air; Crystal, Daisy and I will transform behind this building.

Jenna grabbed Daisy's wrist and dragged her towards a ruin to transform. The wind was starting to pick up, and Crystal realised that the sky had developed a dark, menacing appearance.

"Should we be flying in this weather?" Daisy asked, breaking free of Jenna's grip and glancing at the clouds above. "The wind is really starting to pick up."

"All the more reason to get out of here quickly," Jenna countered as she removed her jacket. "Before that storm hits."

"Hmm, I don't think John would like this," Daisy said, frowning, appearing reluctant to transform. "Perhaps we should find somewhere to stay in the village."

"Well, John isn't here, is he? Stay here if you like. We can send John to fetch you in the morning."

Seth and Arthur had already transformed and strolled around the corner. Arthur gave them an inquisitive look, unable to speak.

"Daisy is being a baby about flying in the wind," Jenna explained. "I'll be with you in a moment. Crystal, come on, let's change."

Daisy reluctantly followed Jenna and Crystal behind one of the ruins, and stripped before transforming. The wind was getting stronger by the minute, and Crystal was relieved to feel her scales forming over her, immediately shutting out the cold.

Are you alright, Daisy?
Arthur asked his sister when she emerged from behind the ruins.

This doesn't feel like a good idea,
she replied uneasily.
That wind is getting stronger.

I know; we should have left with the others. If we're going to go it has to be now. There's not a lot of shelter here. I think we need to chance it.

Oh, alright. If you really think so,
Daisy agreed reluctantly.

Seth took off first, and Crystal and Jenna followed him. Arthur and Daisy followed at the back.

Do you think this is a good idea?
Crystal asked Jenna as they struggled in the turbulence.

Oh don't you start. It's enough having one baby in the group,
Jenna replied scathingly.
We just need to fly quickly.

Easier said than done in this wind,
Crystal observed.
It's throwing us about quite a bit.

Fly further apart,
Arthur ordered from behind.
We'll crash into each other otherwise.

The five dragons spread out, struggling to avoid crashing into each other in the turbulent wind.

This wind is getting too much,
Daisy called out in alarm.
Maybe we should look for shelter?
They were being buffeted and thrown around continuously, and were beginning to lose track of which direction they were flying in. Jenna narrowly avoided crashing into Crystal, and flew to the left to put more distance between them. Suddenly, and without any warning, Crystal, Seth, Arthur and Daisy were swept upwards in a powerful up-draught, climbing hundreds of metres in a matter of seconds, and vanishing into the clouds.

Down below, Jenna found that she was completely on her own.
Crystal!
she called out in alarm.
Arthur!
There was silence, as the others were now too far away to hear her thoughts. She scanned the sky above her, which had grown dark and angry. She descended immediately, scared of being lifted up into the clouds as the others had been. She was flying only twenty or thirty metres above the ground now, and found that the wind was carrying her very quickly. Fortunately it was taking her south, which was close to the right direction; she just had to bear west a little more. She flew as fast as she could, knowing she had to raise the alarm quickly as there was nothing she could do to help her friends. The storm was still above her, although she had managed to fly slightly ahead of the worst of it. She had never flown so quickly, carried along by the powerful winds. Up ahead she could just see the city walls, and flew as fast as she could to the castle. She transformed and ran into the castle to look for the one person that she knew who would know what to do.

"John!" Jenna called frantically as she spotted him talking to a couple of students that she didn't recognise.

"Oh, hi, Jenna. I've been looking for you—"

She cut him off before he could finish what he was going to say. "John, John, the others…" Jenna gasped for breath, struggling to get the words out.

"Slow down, Jenna. What's wrong?" John took her by the arm and led her away from the others.

Jenna shook her head. "I lost the others," she said between breaths. "We were separated in the storm."

John's face turned white. "You flew in this? But the others were back ages ago. I thought you'd be with them."

"I know; we were delayed."

"But why did you fly in the storm? You know better than that."

"I know; I'm sorry. There's no time to explain."

"Alright, just forget it. We can talk about that later. But where are the others? Did they land? Where did you see them last?"

"No, they didn't land; they were swept up. It happened so quickly. They just disappeared."

John's eyes widened. "Show me. Show me on the map. Show me where you were when you lost them." He pulled her towards a large map on the wall.

"I don't know, John. It's hard to say."

"Try, Jenna," he said firmly. "Just try."

Jenna looked up at the map and fussed a little. John remained quiet as she tried to work out where everything was. Finally, he interrupted, having lost his patience.

"Here's where you started, at the ruins, and here's where you are now. How did you get here? Can you trace your path?"

Jenna traced a curve with her finger.

"Right, so you were blown off course to the east. Did you pass any landmarks?"

"I'm pretty sure we passed this river," Jenna replied, pointing on the map. "And maybe this farm."

"And where do you think you were when you were separated?"

Jenna indicated a rough circle on the map. "Roughly here. I couldn't say exactly."

John nodded. "Alright. Go and find another teacher. Tell them exactly what you just told me. They'll raise the alarm for you." He started to run away from her.

"Where are you going, John?" Jenna asked. "What are you going to do?"

John looked back at her and shook his head. "You know exactly where I'm going to go. That's why you came to see me first."

He pushed open the door and disappeared through it. Seconds later, Jenna could hear a loud screech from outside; John was already in the air, and would be flying straight to where she had told him she had last seen her friends. How he would fly after them in this storm she didn't know, but he was right, she did know where he would go, and that was why she had come to find him before anyone else.

While Jenna had been travelling to safety, the others had been dragged higher and higher, having no control as to where they were going.

Grab hold of me!
Arthur commanded his sister.
Seth, hold on to Crystal. Link your claws. We have to stay together!

But how will we fly?
Seth asked.
We won't be able to flap our wings.

We want to drop, not fly,
Arthur replied, desperately trying to close the distance between his sister and himself.
We are much too high. Can't you feel how cold it is? And we have no idea which way we are going.

He caught hold of his sister, and they linked claws. Seth and Crystal did the same, and they slowly began to fall out of the cloud. Both sets of dragons began to spin as they fell, making it hard to keep track of where they were. They fell for a long time before they cleared the clouds.

Let go!
Arthur commanded.
We've fallen far enough.

Seth and Crystal separated and spread their wings to slow their fall and pull out of the spin. They pulled out of the drop a few hundred metres above the ground, easing into a glide. The weather was still terrible, and the rain was making it hard to see.

Where are we?
Crystal called as she flew towards the other three.
Does this look familiar to any of you?

I have no idea where we are,
Arthur replied.
I can see some mountains ahead. Let's land on one of the peaks; it'll give us a vantage point to get our bearings when the weather clears.

The other three followed Arthur to land on top of a small mountain, which proved to be a challenge. The rain was still falling heavily, and although the cold and wet didn't bother them as dragons, they knew that if they had to transform they would need to find shelter or risk dying from exposure.

Do you recognise this place?
Crystal asked the others, trying to peer out through the heavy rain.

I'm afraid not
, Arthur replied.
None of it looks familiar. But it's too hard to see in this rain anyway.

Look, there's an overhanging rock there, on the next mountain,
Daisy pointed out.
Shall we wait there? It will give us some cover from this rain. We don't know how long this weather will last, or whether it will get worse. We could be here overnight.
The others agreed, and the four of them glided to the next small mountain, struggling to maintain a straight line as they were buffeted by the strong winds, but they managed to land next to the overhang.

Do you think anyone will be looking for us?
Crystal asked.

They might not know we're missing,
Seth replied.
And even if they do, they'd wait until the storm passes.

John wouldn't wait,
Daisy pointed out confidently.
He'd look straight away.

Not even John would try and fly in that storm,
Seth argued.
You'd have to be an idiot to try it.

Like us then,
Daisy replied.
Were we such idiots? Funny, because earlier you all thought I was a baby for not wanting to fly in this storm.

The weather wasn't as bad then,
Seth replied.
We were trying to avoid the storm.

Wait, what about Jenna?
Crystal asked anxiously.
Did anyone see what happened to her?

She didn't get swept up,
Arthur said.
She saw us go, but she managed to avoid the up-draught. She would have either landed or descended after seeing that. She will be fine.

Crystal wasn't so sure. There was no way that anyone could tell what had happened to her.

She will raise the alarm when she gets back,
Seth said confidently.
They'll find us soon enough.

And how much trouble will we be in when we are found?
Daisy asked.
Our parents will be furious. The school is bound to tell them. Flying in a storm! What persuaded me to listen to you?
She sounded pretty angry.