The Testimony of Taliesin Jones (30 page)

T
he dr
agon was
th
eir fa
ther's fi
ctitious
cr
eation
-th
e s
upp
osed
l
ast
dr
agon i
n W
ales,
inhabit
ant o
f th
e ca
ve. H
e e
ncouraged hi
s so
ns t
o
beli
eve
f
ervently
in it
s e
xistence, fu
elling t
heir bel
ief wi
th b
edtime s
tories f
eaturing
th
e
h
eroic
br
others Ta
l
a
nd J
on
.
But
w
hen, durin
g a
p
articularly Co
n
vi
ncing run, T
aliesin
f
ell a
nd
c
hipped h
is
t
ooth,
h
is
m
other s
uggested th
at
it
was
t
ime
t
o g
ive up the
se s
illy
ga
mes b
efore so
meone
go
t
serio
usly hurt
.

H
e ca
n h
ear
hi
s
m
other
n
ow,
tellin
g
him t
o g
ive up hi
s c
hildish
fa
ntasies,
w
hile h
is fa
ther tri
es
t
o e
ncourage him. Hi
s
m
other's voice is se
nsible; hi
s fa
ther's
vo
ice h
alf-jesting.
Hi
s
m
other ge
ts
c
rosser. H
is fa
ther l
aughs a
t h
er se
riousness
.
And
o
n th
ey a
rgue th
eir
un
iversal
ar
gument,
his f
ather e
njoying b
eing a
d
evil's a
dvocate, hi
s
m
other ge
tting
mo
re
i
mpatient.

A
l
ine o
f b
eech t
rees b
orders
th
e e
nd
o
f th
e
fi
eld
a
s
if
g
uarding
a sec
ret. Th
e w
ind h
as go
t t
o
th
eir
l
eaves a
nd
a
lmost
stri
pped
t
hem. Th
e
tr
ees
f
orm a
n
a
rboreal w
all
b
ehind
whi
ch
th
e
l
and
d
rops down i
nto th
e go
rge flush
w
ith f
erns, sc
ree
a
nd
dead woo
d n
ow t
urned
go
ld
.
L
arge
bould
ers
li
e a
round
as if ra
ndomly th
rown by a
n
ira
te
g
iant. Th
e en
trance t
o
th
e cave is co
nspicuous
but
aw
kward
t
o ge
t t
o.
At
a c
ursory
g
lance
t
he
o
pening l
ooks
n
o
m
ore
th
an a
min
or
r
ecess,
but
w
ith
e
nough li
ght a
nd
c
uriosity
a
ny
ex
plorer
co
uld
see
th
at t
here's
some
thing th
ere. T
hey cl
imb
th
e
l
edge an
d hi
s
f
ather s
tretches
ou
t hi
s
h
and a
nd p
ulls
him up
.

'
We'll
need to ma
ke
so
me
ste
ps h
ere,'
h
e says
.

He
shines the torch ahead and the beam creates dancing shadows against the
green-tinged rock. A horizontal passage lies ahead, clear and eerily virgin.
Taliesin 's father has to crouch like an ape to enter and it narrows and cools
with e
very
s
tep
t
aken i
nto it
.
Soon th
e
b
eam
p
icks o
ut p
atches
o
f
wa
ter
a
nd drippin
g c
alcium.
Then th
e
tunnel wid
ens a
nd
on e
ither
si
de
sma
ll
s
talactites
a
ppear
g
ripping to th
e ce
iling
a
nd drip
ping to
th
e
flo
or
wh
ere sta
lagmites
g
row up to m
eet
th
em
in
ano
ther millennium
.
A
n ivo
ry
s
keletal f
orest
fill
s
th
e cave
rn, dr
ipping
w
ith
ti
me.
T
he
roc
ks mu
st
b
e Ca
mbrian, hi
s
a
tlas of th
e
w
orld
s
howed
mos
t
of
W
ales as a
purpl
e
Ca
mbrian. He tries to r
ecall t
he r
est o
f th
e
nam
es:
Pr
e-Cambrian;
C
ambrian;
Ord
ovician;
Siluri
an; Devo
nian;
Ca
rboniferous
a
nd P
ermian.

'I
thi
nk
p
eople
w
ill p
ay
t
o
see t
his,' h
is fat
her
says
.

'I'm
free
zing,'
Ta
liesin
says.

'W
e'll
h
ave
to put
a
h
eater
in h
ere
.
Ju
st
h
ere
b
y the entra
nce.'

Un
consciously
th
eir
v
oices h
ave
dropp
ed
t
o a w
hisper
as
if
in
a c
hapel
o
r
a c
hurch. E
ven
th
eir
wh
ispers
a
mplify and
s
himmer
w
ith
ec
ho.
'H
ello,'
h
is fa
ther
ca
lls.
'
Hello, h
ello,
h
ello.'
Th
e
w
ord
b
ounces a
nd
chases
it
self a
round th
e
cave
. Th
ey wa
it
fo
r
t
he
si
lence t
o
r
eturn.
T
aliesin
kn
ows
th
at
th
ere
i
sn't any
thing h
ere
.
N
ot a so
und com
es
from th
e
cave;
n
o
r
eply
t
o t
he
ca
ll. N
ot so
l
ong
ago
he would h
ave ex
pected
a
b
ooming
ro
ar
o
r
s
pouting fl
ame
t
o
dri
ve
th
em away
but now h
e
h
ears
only
s
ilence
a
nd
dri
ps. He
was
runnin
g
f
rom n
othing
but
h
is
im
agination.
Th
e
d
ragon
i
s
r
etreating
fas
t
i
n h
is
mind
,
runnin
g
fro
m th
e
in
evitable
a
ppearance o
f
m
aturity
a
nd
se
nse
.
H
e ca
n't r
ecall
th
at
c
ruel
sy
mmetry
wi
th th
e sa
me cl
arity.
Th
e
h
ead-ripping
red h
as
f
aded,
th
e jagge
d,
a
ir-slicing
wi
ngs
a
re limp
,
h
is
fl
ame
is
a
d
amp s
quib, unabl
e
t
o si
nge th
e
kn
ight's charge
r,
a
nd th
e
t
ail
s
piralling d
evilishly to a
h
arsh
tip
is
fl
accid an
d br
oken.

T
he d
ragon
i
s
n
ow a
n id
ea
th
at has a
trophied. It
'
s j
ust
an
id
ea si
tting
in
th
at
d
eep,
we
t
cavern breat
hing
s
lower
t
han
a g
randfather
,
l
istening
to
th
e
dr
ips a
nd
t
o
th
e w
hispered
rum
ours o
f
i
ts
ex
tinction, un
able
t
o
m
uster
m
ore t
han
a
fain
t
moan which
people mistake for the wind. Taliesin know
s
now that he doesn't have to run any more and that if he
turned around there would be no amethyst eyes beading down on him
.