George let out a long, slow breath that he hadn't realised he'd been holding in. It immediately froze in front of him as the portly engineer continued.
"All seven miles of the route have been checked for any obstacles that may impede the sleighs, and the two miles inside the cave have been reinforced and lit up. Guards have been posted discreetly along the entire length of the journey."
Letting out a sigh of relief, George addressed everyone.
"You've all done an amazing job. You should be really proud of yourselves. Be under no illusion though, the toughest part is yet to come. Continue what you've started here, finish the city to the high and exacting standards that you're used to. Give the citizens something that will stand for centuries, and help negate some of the pain that they're feeling. Given what WE'VE put them through, they deserve nothing less. Don't forget: be constantly on the lookout for anything unusual, no matter how insignificant it may seem, because if they get him back, this will all have been for nothing, and the consequences will be felt across the planet."
What little light there was in the half constructed building showed a solemn looking group of individuals who fully understood the consequences that George had outlined.
"Let me know if there's anything else I can do," George stated.
Without a sound, the assembled group slinked off into the night, careful to stick to the shadows, all making their way back to the lodgings that had so kindly been provided for them.
Axus remained next to the dragon slayer until everyone else had disappeared.
"Is there any word on how or why he's changed colour?"
"Not so far," replied Axus. "The Council are working hard to try and find out though. They believe nothing like this has ever been documented, but are having libraries across the globe scoured for the tiniest of clues. That includes Rome, and the king's private library."
That caught George's attention. The monarch’s own library. As far as he knew, that was off limits to everyone but the king himself. Things must be bad if they'd got that far. But it was time to go. They'd already been out here too long, and George was worried about pushing his luck too much. So with a friendly slap on Axus' shoulder, the two of them slid out into the darkness.
The following day work continued at a frantic pace, with most of the buildings being finished by early afternoon. Intricate pieces of the totally rebuilt fountain, the square's magnificent centrepiece, were crafted expertly together in the glare of the afternoon sun. Signing off on the engineers taking the two freight sleighs, the mayor then, much to everyone's delight, announced that a feast like no other was to be put on that night, in remembrance of all those who had lost their lives, and as a thank you to their guests for the outstanding work they'd done. A muted buzz of excitement zipped its way around the city as preparations got underway.
Not long before sunset, a visitor arrived on a horse, asking for Axus. Guided through the hectic groundwork of the feast, the visitor dismounted on seeing the rotund engineer and handed him three large cylindrical objects from his saddlebags. Moving in to surround their leader, the engineers gathered, keen to see what had arrived. Axus opened the first cylinder, pulling a large sheet of parchment from it and inspecting the mantra for any irregularities as he did so. Hushed whispers ran around the rest of the group. From this point on, the engineers looked more like a gaggle of naughty school girls than the brains of the outfit. They remained huddled together, whispering, sighing and even giggling uncontrollably at times. This continued for the rest of the afternoon and evening, only pausing momentarily when they went to obtain food and drink from the superbly catered feast.
The celebration itself was a great success. Given the tragic circumstances of a week past, the variety and quality of not only the food, but the drink as well, was staggering and a credit to all of the craftsmen and women of the city and its surroundings. As the singing and dancing began against the backdrop of crackling fires and the tantalising aroma of every different kind of roasted meat, bands from all around filled the warm spring night air with an array of diverse sounds. Flutes, lutes, violins, guitars and tambourines played with unheard of enthusiasm. It was magnificent, and a night that no one there would ever forget. Towards the end of the evening, almost midnight in fact, the mayor gave an emotionally charged speech, naming those who had lost their lives in the attack, praising George's courage in confronting the dragon (much to the crowd's delight) and thanking the new arrivals for their part in restoring the city to its former glory. Before finishing he announced to everyone that George's entourage would be taking the dragon corpse with them when they left the next day.
As the sun rose the next morning, the city seemed to be a hive of activity, with the smell of freshly baked bread wafted down the streets and alleys as people cleaned up from the night before, some looking more the worse for wear than others. Stalls, marquees, and the bandstand in the centre of the square were all being dismantled. Some picked up litter, others were washing shop fronts, or the very streets themselves. It was good to see people take pride in the city that they lived in. George, a little fuzzy headed from too many glasses of beer, weaved his way through the streets, eager to see how much progress the engineers had made. Arriving in the main square he was confronted by a group beaming with pride, but looking very much under the weather after the previous night's merrymaking. Axus appeared off to one side of the group.
"Blimey, that wine was potent last night. My mouth feels like a badger’s bottom."
Some of the newer additions to the group of engineers wondered briefly how he knew what a badger’s bottom felt like.
Bedraggled, and with chunks of meat and bread littering his unkempt beard, he continued.
"Still, could have been worse I suppose. Poor old Hopkins spent most of last night whispering sweet nothings to the two sacks of flour over there, even coming over at one point to tell us that he thought one of them might even be marriage material. Haaaa haaaa! I don't think he's going to live that down for quite some time."
Hopkins, having already thrown up at least half a dozen times this morning, skulked even further back into the shadows than he already was.
"Anyhow," continued Axus, throwing a small chunk of cooked meat from his beard into the air, before gobbling it down like a well trained sea lion at a zoo, "onto more important matters. It's done! One of the mantras sent out did the trick nicely. Both sleighs are as one, and look as though they've always been that way. We've been up all night testing them to make sure they're okay. Only a matter of getting him on there now."
A tiny flicker of movement from across the square caught George's eye as he listened intently to what Axus was saying. From between two shops on the far side of the square, a small boy appeared and started skulking towards the lonely dragon corpse. George stood riveted to the spot, having forgotten all about what his friend was saying. None of the city folk would go anywhere near the beast's carcass; most refused to even look at it.
As the boy got closer, he started to pull something from his belt. That was George's cue. As fast as was humanly possible (and maybe even a little faster) George moved to put himself between the boy and the dragon.
"Can I help you?" he asked curiously.
Looking more than a little sheepish, suddenly realising that not only had he attracted the attention of George, but everyone else in the square as well, the boy did his best to answer.
"Well... um, I, er... my name is Sam, Sam Smithers. My dad is Elron Smithers, the city's best known butcher. I um... thought it would be a waste, you know, what with some of the not so well off people in the city not having enough food and all. I thought it would save you the trouble of having to take it away as well."