‘I think we have enough fire beads to clear a path to the other side of the island,’ Jasmine panted, turning back to them as Kree landed on her shoulder with a triumphant squawk. ‘But it will be a near thing. The lilies are damp and the fire will not spread.’
‘That may be just as well,’ Barda said. ‘It would be a pity for us to escape being eaten alive only to be burned to cinders.’
He looked ruefully down at his blood-soaked leggings. ‘I think we should try to stop this bleeding before going on.’
Jasmine nodded quickly, crouched on the scorched ground and began pulling balm and bandages from one of her bulging pockets.
‘I cannot believe that none of us felt those creatures attacking!’ she said, passing bandages to Barda. ‘If it had not been for Kree seeing what was happening from above, we would have been lost—staggering from loss of blood, unable to escape.’
She glanced at Lief and her face changed. ‘Sit down, Lief!’ he said abruptly. ‘Put your head between your knees. You are pale as a ghost.’
‘I am all right,’ Lief muttered. ‘I mean—I am not faint, only worried. When we were most in danger, I called the diamond dragon. It did not come.’
‘It is on its way now, no doubt,’ Barda said. ‘Never fear, it will be with us by the time we reach the other side of the island.’
‘If we do reach it,’ Jasmine said grimly, glancing at the lilies waving softly around them. ‘Those flesh-eating creatures are not going to give up. As soon as the ground cools, they—’
She broke off. She was staring along the short, blackened trail left by the fire. Lief followed her eyes and saw, in the newly burned area, something stretching across the path.
The obstacle looked like part of a huge cage. It had been scorched, but had remained standing while the lilies smothering it had fallen to ashes.
‘What is it?’ frowned Barda. ‘A fence? Could it be that these cursed plants were once kept in a field?’
They began walking quickly along the blackened path. But as they grew closer to the mysterious barrier, their footsteps slowed. There was something very familiar about the barrier’s shape. All of them had begun to have grave fears about what was ahead.
‘Jasmine—more fire beads,’ Lief said quietly.
Jasmine bit her lip. She threw fire beads to left and right of the blackened trail. The blood lilies on both sides of the mysterious object flared up, wilted and at last fell to ash, revealing what in life they had hidden.
Half-buried in ash and earth was the skeleton of a vast beast with enormous fangs, huge wings and ribs so mighty that they looked like a tall, curved fence. The beast’s huge skull rested peacefully on the long bones of outstretched forelegs. Its long, spiked tail curved gently around its body.
It had died in the hollow where it lay, without a fight.
His throat aching, Lief fell to his knees beside it and gently touched one bare, curved rib. He knew that he had at last found the diamond dragon.
‘The fleshbanes ate it while it slept,’ he muttered. ‘They stripped it to its bones.’
‘But why would it have risked sleeping here?’ exclaimed Barda. ‘This island was part of its territory. Surely it knew—’
‘Perhaps there were few blood lilies on the island then,’ Jasmine said soberly. ‘Perhaps they grew only around the margins—just enough to keep intruders away. The dragon did not count on their spreading so vastly over the centuries.’
‘No doubt it did not think its sleep would last so long,’ said Lief.
He was filled with a terrible sadness. His heart ached to think of the mighty beast sinking into enchanted dreams at the bidding of the man it called Dragonfriend, not knowing that it would never wake.
But he knew that he had no time for grief. The dragon was dead. It could not help them to destroy the Sister of the West. He bowed his head and put his hands to the amethyst on the Belt of Deltora.
Veritas! he thought fiercely. Veritas, I need you! Come to me if you hear me. Come to me if you can!
He felt the amethyst warm feebly beneath his fingers.
‘What is that sound?’ Jasmine hissed suddenly.
Lief glanced over his shoulder at her, very startled. Jasmine was frowning, bending forward. Filli was clinging to her collar, his eyes wide, his grey fur standing on end. Kree was standing rigidly on her shoulder, his head on one side. Plainly whatever Jasmine could hear, they could hear too.
‘What sort of sound?’ Barda put his hand on his sword.
‘A ticking,’ Jasmine breathed. ‘There.’
She pointed to the huge, scorched skull. Cautiously she moved closer and bent to listen again. Then she kneeled and began scraping away earth and ash from beneath the tip of the mighty lower jaw. Kree squawked uneasily.
‘Jasmine, take care!’ Barda exclaimed.
But Jasmine did not even look up. By the time Lief and Barda reached her she had made a sizeable hole in the soft earth.
And now all of them could hear the ticking, tapping sound.
‘It is under the tip of the jaw,’ Jasmine breathed, as her companions peered into the hole. ‘Between the bones of the forelegs. Almost as if—’
And at that moment her eyes widened. Her fingers had touched something.
Lief watched, holding his breath, as slowly she brushed the remaining earth away. And there, clasped between the long white bones of the dragon’s forelegs, protected beneath the jaw, was something smooth, pale and glittering.
It was a giant egg. And within it, something was tapping.
Carefully Jasmine eased the egg out of its hiding place. Earth and ash showered from its shining surface as she lifted it into the sunlight and wordlessly held it out to Lief.
Lief took the egg in his hands. The tapping sound stopped abruptly. For a moment there was silence. Then there was a sharp crack, and the smooth surface split from end to end.
A sharp snout forced its way through the opening. Small clawed feet scrabbled violently. The egg shell separated into halves and fell to the ground. And there, squirming in Lief’s hands, was a tiny, perfect, glittering dragon, blinking in the sunlight.
17 – The Isle of the Dead
As the companions stared at the tiny beast in awe, Filli edged down Jasmine’s arm, his eyes wide with curiosity. The baby dragon snapped its jaws, and Filli hastily retreated. The dragon yawned and stretched its wings. Then it made a harsh, barking sound and snapped its jaws again.
‘It wants food,’ said Jasmine, and began feeling in her pockets.
‘I cannot believe this!’ exploded Barda, finding his voice at last. ‘How could an egg remain fresh for centuries?’
‘Why not? What do we know of dragon eggs?’ Lief murmured, staring at the little creature in fascination. ‘Plainly the shell was too thick and hard for the fleshbanes to crack. And the Belt roused the baby to hatch, as it would have roused its mother, had she lived. It is wonderful!’
‘That is all very well,’ Barda said. ‘But what are we to do with it now? We cannot stay here. The fleshbanes are driven away for now, but they will be back.’
The dragon barked again, baring its tiny fangs, and hastily Lief flattened his hands a little, to keep his fingers out of harm’s way.
Jasmine had found some strips of dried fish and was soaking them in water from her flask.
‘Put it in the pocket of your coat, Lief,’ she said briskly. ‘It will be comfortable there, near the Belt.’
She lifted the flap that covered one of Lief’s deep coat pockets and tipped the mess of softened fish inside.
Cautiously Lief lowered his hands until the dragon was beside the pocket, which Jasmine was holding invitingly open. The baby dragon raised its head. Its tiny forked tongue flickered in and out. It barked excitedly, then abruptly slithered into the pocket head first. The next moment they heard greedy chewing sounds.