‘No bandits could do what I saw,’ said Lindal. ‘And some of the people hurrying with me to the camp said they had seen a huge shadow in the sky, flying east. It looked like a dragon of old, they said.’
She shrugged. ‘I told them they were dreaming—that there had been no dragons in Deltora for hundreds of years. Then I reached the place, and found the message on the tree. And now I do not know what to think.’
‘I do,’ muttered Barda. ‘I know very well what to think.’
Lindal’s face did not change, but she watched him closely.
Barda swung around to Lief, his fists clenched.
‘Lindal of Broome may as well know the truth, Lief, for soon everyone will,’ he said bitterly. ‘We have roused something we cannot control. The golden dragon lied to you. It deceived you utterly, with its talk of borders and oaths. As soon as it had regained its strength, it came after us, hungry for blood.’
Lief’s heart was pounding. Lindal’s words as she described what the people of Ringle had seen were still ringing in his ears.
… a huge shadow in the sky, flying east.
Why would the topaz dragon fly east? Why, its hunger satisfied, would it not return to its lair in the Os- Mine Hills?
He forced his stiff lips to move.
‘I may indeed have roused something I cannot control, Barda,’ he said. ‘But I do not think it is the topaz dragon. I think … I fear … it is something worse.’
15 - Fears and Visions
The next few days, trudging across the barren plain with Lindal, were among the worst Lief had ever spent.
That first night, he had told his companions of his fear. He had seen the lines deepen on their faces as they listened and understood. He had sat and talked with them for many hours, making decisions, forming plans.
At dawn the next day, Kree had set out for Del with a message for Doom. The companions knew that news of the tragedy at Ringle would spread quickly, and that Doom would soon hear of it. A description of Brid would alert him to the fact that the dead men were the royal escort, far from the coast road where they were supposed to be.
And unless he heard otherwise, he would certainly think that Lief, Barda and Jasmine had shared the guards’ fate.
Lief had written the note with a heavy heart, using a simple code that he and Doom had used several times before.
It was strange to be walking without Kree wheeling ahead of them. Jasmine was very quiet. She was concerned about Filli, who was bruised and listless, and Lief knew she also feared for Kree, because the skies were no longer safe.
Bitterly he regretted that his actions had brought them to this.
All the talk, all the planning, had not relieved his guilt, or his anger with himself.
Jasmine, Barda and Lindal had not breathed a word of blame, but he knew he had failed them. As he had failed the guards, and Rolf, and all the people of the east, who now faced terror as well as famine.
Time and again, trudging over the rough, bare ground by day, lying beneath the canopy of stars by night, he remembered riding on the narrow path beside End Wood Gap, his fingers pressed to the great ruby.
He had tried to summon the ruby dragon. He had been quite sure that he had failed.
But what if he had not failed?
What if the ruby dragon had stirred indeed? What if it had woken in some dank hiding place nearby and lain still for a time, gathering strength?
What if it had remained hidden until Lief and the Belt were long gone into the Forests of Silence, and only then crawled into the light, its belly gnawed by the hunger of centuries?
Never had Lief considered, when he called to the ruby dragon, that it might not come to him at once, as the topaz dragon had.
Never had he dreamed that it might simply take to the skies with nothing on its mind except filling its belly.
But he feared there was no other way to explain what had happened in the camp near Ringle.
The topaz dragon had no grudge against the guards or Rolf—it had never even seen them. If it was just in search of food, surely it would have raided one of the villages closer to the Hills. And if it was seeking the Belt of Deltora, it would have followed Lief into the Forests of Silence.
It would have had no reason to attack the guards.
But the ruby dragon, ravenous after its long sleep, drawn to the camp by the scent of the Capricon, its ancient prey, would have had every reason.
Just as it would have had good reason to fly east, when its terrible feast was done—to fly east to Broome, where once stood Capra, its conquest of long ago.
Or to fly even further, perhaps, to the place called Dragon’s Nest.
They reached the end of the plain and began climbing through a range of low hills. Very near them, to the north, the rugged mountains that marked the Shadowlands border rose dark and sinister against the sky.
Lief, Barda and Jasmine knew from the map that on the other side of the hills lay that narrow, isolated part of Deltora that stretched like a bony finger into the wild eastern sea. They knew that when they reached the hills’ highest point, they would look down on the coast, and the lonely city of Broome.
But even if they had not known, Lindal’s behaviour would have told them. She had begun to walk faster. Often she lifted her head and sniffed the air.
Lief knew that she was checking for the smell of fire. She was dreading what she might see when at last she looked down at her home.
She feared as he did, as Barda and Jasmine feared also, that history might have repeated itself, and that nothing would be left by the sea but smoking ruins.
But when at last they peered down at the city of Broome, they saw at once that all was well.
The city was solid and untouched, the bright flags on its square white towers whipping in the crisp breeze.
Carts trundled along its roads. Fishing boats with red and yellow sails bobbed in its sparkling harbour.
‘The dragon has not been here,’Lindal said.
She turned to Lief, relief shining in her eyes.
‘Do you see?’ she said. ‘Every flag has been raised. Broome is preparing for your visit. But if we go quietly past, we will not be noticed. You are not expected so soon, and the guards will pay no attention to four dusty travellers.’
Lief gazed down at the bright, welcoming city. Grimly he wondered how many flags would be flying if the people of Broome knew of the menace he had unleashed in their territory.
At least I do not have to face them now, he thought, as Lindal began leading the way downward.
They had made their plan the night Lief confessed his fears of the ruby dragon and, throwing all caution aside, told Lindal of the quest to find the Sister of the East.
They had decided that if they found Broome safe, they would go straight on to Dragon’s Nest, to face whatever was awaiting them there.
Lindal was to guide them. That had been decided too—or, rather, Lindal had announced it, and refused to listen to any argument.
‘Of course I must take you,’ she cried. ‘I have known the way to Dragon’s Nest since my earliest years. It was forbidden to me then. My mother threatened me with a beating if ever I was to go near it. And so, of course, I went as near to it as I dared, whenever I could. As a child I was foolish and wilful, and had no sense.’
‘And what has changed?’ Barda demanded.
Lindal roared with laughter. ‘Why, now I am big enough to do as I please without fear of a beating,’ she said. ‘Unless you wish to fight me yourself, old bear?’
‘No,’ Barda growled. ‘I might lose, and that would not be good for the pride of chief of the guards.’
But he grinned as he said it. It had been clear to all that he would be very glad of Lindal’s company.