Dragons of Draegonia

Dragons of Draegonia is dedicated to my four grandchildren, George, Grace, Joel and Zach who listened in awe when very young and growing up into their teens, still wanted to hear more.

Michael W Libra

My thanks go to Ronnie Gunn for his time taken in the editing, Katerina Danailova for her excellent illustrations and my wife Ann for her endless patience and contribution.

The Dragons of Draegonia is a tale of fantasy and make believe. It has humour, intrigue, adventure and suspense. Written specifically for children, the story line nonetheless, should make many adults smile, if their imaginations have not been warped with age.

The volcanic Island of Draegonia was first inhabited in the early 5
^th
Century when dragons fled from across all areas of the world from a growing population of humans’ intent on their destruction. The uncharted island was first located in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. Unfortunately, as time passed, explorers from Spain, France, Portugal and England came very close to discovering the island, placing the dragons once again, at immense risk. The Island originally had some 400 dragons roaming its lush green land but to-day, only half of these have survived.

To maintain their secrecy, a ‘Wizard Dragon’, cast a spell that made the Island invisible and have the magical property to disappear and reappear in different locations of the World’s Oceans and Seas at will. A further spell of the ‘Wizard Dragon‘ created a time anomaly. Seasons and time became stretched compared to that of human time. Fifty days on Draegonia would only be realised as one human day spent.

But no human being had ever visited the Island, until now……….

Chapter
 
 1
 
The Island of Draegonia

Chapter
 
 2
 
The Dragons of Draegonia

Chapter
 
 3
 
The Adventure Begins

Chapter
 
 4
 
All Washed Up

Chapter
 
 5
 
Wanted

Chapter
 
 6
 
Survival

Chapter
 
 7
 
The Council of Dragons

Chapter
 
 8
 
Green with Envy and Black with Spots

Chapter
 
 9
 
In the Pink

Chapter 10
 
Lies and more lies

Chapter 11
 
The Capture

Chapter 12
 
Imprisoned

Chapter 13
 
Green, Envy & More Deception

Chapter 14
 
Green Makes an Arrest

Chapter 15
 
Interrogations and more Lies

Chapter 16
 
Sentenced to Death

Chapter 17
 
The Race is On

Chapter 18
 
The Law Prevails

Chapter 19
 
Finding an Antidote

Chapter 20
 
A Cure for Black Spot & Flame Out

Chapter 21
 
Dragon Black on Trial

Chapter 22
 
Justice

Chapter 23
 
Intervention

Chapter 24
 
The Way Home

Chapter 25
 
Home at Last

Epilogue

Glossary

In an ocean, far, far away, lies an island that no human being has ever set foot upon. It is an island that appears and disappears at will, fading into a sea of mist when ships or aeroplanes come within radar or viewing distance. This strange and mysterious island is the Island of Draegonia.

It is a magical island that changes its location at will, never appearing in the same spot twice and never revealing itself to any other islands or land.

The island is shaped like a large squashed witch’s hat, not quite round and very lumpy in the middle with a stumpy top. The centre of the highest peak conceals the almost perfect round smoky mouth of an active volcano. The highest point of the island, known as Volcano Peak, holds dark secrets, secrets surrounding the disappearance of more than 170 dragons.

The island has two very distinct and differing coastal formations. The bottom part of the island known as South Side, is flatter, with golden sands dashed with small glistening particles of coral that stretch from the lapping water’s edge up a slight gradient to the edge of a tropical forest of tall palm trees, the trunks of which are hidden in part by thick lush foliage of dark and light green shrubs and bushes. In summer these bushes are covered with flowers and blossom of pinks, reds, oranges and yellows and are home to a plethora of insects, numerous birds and small animals.

Travelling from the south northwards, towards the centre of Draegonia, the trees and shrubs become thicker still, entangled with sweeping intertwining vines that look like thick ropes of a spider’s web. The canopy of the palm trees blocking out much of the sunlight and with little air movement, generates enormous heat, resulting in an atmosphere that is shadowy, humid and very eerie.

If you were to move further and higher inland, most of the trees become smaller, thinner, being replaced by thicker more prickly shrubs littering the sides of several steep rough tracks, bordered by large rocks and boulders. These tracks become more rugged and steeper still as they circle the uppermost and more mountainous sector of the island.

It is in this part of the island that the tracks lead to pathways that narrow further, opening onto ledges with steep drops, some difficult to access, others impassable and most hidden from would be visiting eyes.

Although the centre of the island appears jagged, climbs skywards and looks inhospitable, there is hidden from obvious view, accessed from only two points, a large flatter ledge secluded beneath the towering, weirdly shaped, smoky and very old volcano. Here lies the City of Draegonia.

The volcano itself definitely has a life of its own. Sometimes, when bathed in sunshine, it is quiet and docile. It can be seen raising its giant head towards the pale blue skies, making wheezing noises as it puffs out rings of bluish white smoke, just as if it were snoring in its sleep.

But at other times, especially when the weather is bleak and the seas become violent, throwing up huge amounts of cascading water all around the island, the volcano grumbles, bellowing out huge amounts of thick greyish black smoke from its cavernous round mouth, propelling tongues of red and white flames, high into the stormy skies.

On the western side of the volcano, two deep indentations reflect powerful yellow, blue and red flames, as though the volcano has two very scary, bloodshot eyes. The volcano violently vibrates when it becomes angry, shifting boulders from its sides with protruding angular rocks that look like large muscular arms.

Close to the bottom of the volcano, beneath numerous, smaller, and narrower ledges, there is a labyrinth of many passages. Some lead to Draegonia Central, the homes of the islands sole inhabitants, the dragons!

Dragons have lived on the Island of Draegonia for well over 15 centuries. Most are friendly but all fear the wrath of one particularly evil and most frightening dragon of all times,
Dragon Black.

Dragon Black, like all the other dragons of Draegonia, is named after the colour of his skin. His skin is thick with a smooth armour plated scaly surface. Like his temperament it is very dark, in fact it is jet black. All dragons fear him and have had to accept him as the unelected King of Draegonia and their one and only leader.

Dragon Black rules with an iron claw, sets the rules, passes the laws and makes all the decisions.

Black is both fierce and very bad tempered. He is always in a bad mood and especially dislikes anyone disturbing him. His presence is felt even when he cannot be seen. He breathes out vast volumes of fire from his nostrils and as he moves his huge, now very overweight, body from side to side, his large black claw feet, drive massive foot prints into the ground, sending shock waves all around him. Dragon Black’s fearsome looks and size and awesome fire power has guaranteed a life of luxury, being waited on by all around him.

Dragon Black was once the only dragon that could fly - an attribute he had engineered - but because he has put on so much weight, Dragon Black is now grounded. However, his wings when fully extended make him look a most frightening and fearsome creature. Dragon Black spends most of his days sitting on the magisterial throne situated in the Great Hall. He presides over the Council of Dragons, snarling out orders, thrashing his long tail to confirm his authority.

Dragon Black is lazy, fearsome, a bully and very dangerous. Those who dare to contest his authority seem to just disappear, never, to be seen again.

Not all of the dragons are like Dragon Black. There are two sister dragons, Dragon White and Dragon Cream. They always have a smile and usually never get angry. Dragon White and Dragon Cream have very important jobs. They are the lookout team and beach cleaners of Draegonia. Dragon White patrols the beach to the south of the island and Dragon Cream, who is a little heavier, (She also eats far too much) patrols the bleakest and rockiest top part of the island called North Island. Here the seas often cascade with thunderous noise, shooting sprays of angry white foam into the air. The sandy beaches were replaced long ago by the cooled down molten lava spewed out over decades of activity from the island’s volcano.

Of course Black, White and Cream are not the only dragons on the island. There is Dragon Green, a most jealous dragon who envies all others. He believes he should have had the job of patrolling the beaches that Dragon White and Cream have. He also wants to be Mayor, he wants recognition. Dragon Green always wants what others have and never does anything helpful. Green is not trusted by many of the other dragons, especially Dragon Brown.

Then there is Dragon Pink, the youngest of all dragons. She is very pretty and petit and glides around the Island of Draegonia smiling at everyone and everything. She loves playing with the animals in the wooded areas. In fact Dragon Pink is the only dragon that appears far friendlier and less frightening. That’s why her best friends are the small animals of Draegonia who rarely venture too close to the other dragons, but love to play with her.

Dragon Pink is also comical to look at. She wears a shiny silver skirt that has many layers of soft tissue, material that puffs up when she spins round, very similar to that worn by a ballerina. The animals love to watch her dance and join in with her as she sways to music created by the wind blowing through the rustling leaves of bushes and trees, accompanied every so often by the sound of cascading waves.

Two other dragons, who also live on Draegonia, close to the centre of the town, are Dragon Red and Dragon Blue. These two are employed by the Mayor of Draegonia, Dragon Gold, who has always suspected Dragon Black of evil crimes, but is in constant fear of him.

Dragon Red is in charge of the Fire Service. Not putting fires out but starting them. You see, when dragons get ill or have a cold, it is possible for their flames to die. This is called ‘Flame Out’ and that’s when Dragon Red of the Fire Starting Brigade (FSB) comes to the rescue. His amazing flames have never gone out and his role is to breathe new life into those dragons that may have dying flames, requiring what is called, reheat. Dragons who are unable to regain their flames eventually die, thus a dragon’s inability to spit flame is life threatening. Flame Outs, however, rarely occur and thus Dragon Red is not kept busy. In fact he has not been called upon for Dragon Centuries. Although very important himself, Dragon Red looks up to the wise and peace keeping Dragon Blue.