Finally, after what seemed like an eternity, a great beast stuck its head out from around the far corner of the Ruin. Jahrra had to resist the urge to burst out laughing. She’d been so caught up in her conversation with Gieaun that she’d allowed herself to think that anything dangerous could be lurking around the Castle Guard Ruin.
The terrifying monster was none other than the dragon Hroombra, easily the size of her little cottage if not bigger, and he was peering between the edge of the wall and the curve of the tower on the northern end of the building. Gieaun and Scede looked terrified but Jahrra broke into a bright smile, her blue eyes shining with mirth.
Hroombramantu inhaled deeply, looking very old as the morning light cut deep shadows into his wrinkled hide. Jahrra wondered if he knew that the children were there because she was getting the impression he was trying to sniff them out. She was almost tempted to sneak up on him and surprise him but another glance at her new friends told her that maybe she should introduce them to her mentor a little more gently. It was obvious from their terrified expressions that they’d never seen a dragon before. Well, at least a friendly one.
Hroombra stopped sniffing abruptly and turned to look directly at Jahrra. Her grin widened and she skipped towards the looming reptile not at all fearful or cautious of him. Gieaun and Scede simply looked on in horror.
“Young Jahrra?” Hroombra sounded quite confused indeed. “What are you doing skulking around in the shadows?”
“I was going to sneak up on you but I thought that if I actually frightened you and caused you to shout my new friends might faint!”
Jahrra giggled cheerfully, hoping that Gieaun and Scede would see now that Hroombra was harmless. When she looked in their direction, however, she noticed that they still crouched behind the stone rubble.
Hroombra smiled and spoke, “It seems you’ve been distracted with the task of making friends. It’s alright children, you can come out. I won’t eat you.” The voice was deep, soft, kind and definitely not hostile. “Come on. I assure you no harm will befall you.”
Hroombra’s speech wasn’t coaxing but patient, proving that he’d dealt with many terrified children before. Jahrra immediately stood up taller and told her friends that she’d known Hroombra her whole life and that he was a wonderful storyteller.
“Come now, everyone out in the open!” the great dragon said once more, “My name is Hroombramantu for those of you who don’t already know, and you can call me Master Hroombra. Now what should I call you?”
By this time Gieaun and Scede had mustered enough courage to crawl out reluctantly from their rock barriers. “I-I’m Gieaun,” answered the girl in a voice that could have belonged to a mouse.
“And you?” Hroombra nodded towards her brother.
“Scede,” Gieaun put in, her voice still small but audible. “He’s, my, my brother. He doesn’t say much. He’s shy.”
Now that Gieaun had spoken and realized she wouldn’t be swallowed after all, she became a little more confident.
“Well, Gieaun and Scede, it’s nice to meet you two. But we must get moving. The day won’t wait,” Hroombra said.
“We’re not staying here?” Jahrra asked in surprise.
“No.”
“What about the others?”
“They’ll meet us in town.”
“Town?”
Hroombra smiled at his small pupil’s incessant questions. Most schoolmasters would’ve grown impatient by now but not Hroombra. He took a small breath and answered, “In Aldehren, where the schoolhouse is.”
“Why can’t we stay here?” Jahrra pressed, becoming slightly upset.
“Oh, no Jahrra, you must go to school and be taught by a teacher of your own kind. A dragon may be a good tutor for you on occasion, but it’s not for most children,” Hroombra said seriously.
Jahrra stood with her brow furrowed. What’s wrong with having a dragon as a teacher? she wondered to herself.
“Well then, shall we get going? It’ll take quite a while to get to the schoolhouse. Unfortunately I’m not as young as I used to be or else we could fly there. We’ll have to make do with walking.”
Jahrra, Gieaun and Scede looked up at Hroombra in disbelief. Walk?! All the way to town? Jahrra thought with horror. She was certain it would take her more than a day to walk to town.
Hroombra realized what they were all thinking and smiled once more. “Don’t worry! You three can ride on my back. We’ll arrive faster that way.”
Jahrra’s expression of disbelief turned to one of enthusiasm and even Scede and Gieaun brightened as they imagined riding atop a dragon. Jahrra scuttled over to the decrepit stone staircase that flanked the doorway into the Ruin. She smiled at her friends confidently as she climbed the stairs and came level with Hroombra’s thorny back.
Gieaun and Scede watched in awe as she grabbed a hold of one of Hroombra’s worn spikes and hauled herself onto his cool, rough back. Once she gained her balance and breath Jahrra beamed down at her friends. “The trick,” she breathed, “is sitting between the spikes.”
Hroombra turned his great head, almost knocking Jahrra off balance, and grinned down at the two timorous children that stood before him.
“Now it’s your turn.”
Scede reluctantly climbed the steps, swallowed and took a deep breath. Jahrra thought he looked a little like a kitten determined to make a big jump. He grabbed the bony spike just behind Jahrra and pulled himself up with excessive force, almost throwing himself clear over Hroombra’s back. His sister was next, releasing a tiny squeak as she pulled herself up. Finally the three of them were perched precariously upon the great dragon’s back, looking a lot like stranded sailors lying across the keel of a capsized boat.
Hroombra turned his great head to view the children once more and chuckled at the sight.
“I promise to walk slowly,” he said, “but it may take some getting used to.”
And with that the great reptile left the ruined building behind, crossing the wide field and heading north along the old road that twisted down the side of the Great Sloping Hill.
-Chapter Four-
Surviving the First Day of School
Hroombra’s ambling trek down the twisting dirt road was both soothing and refreshing to the anxious children. The road itself was wide and smooth like a great lazy snake creeping through the autumn-dried fields. The view of the farmlands and distant ocean from the bluff’s edge was off to their left but Jahrra had trouble seeing past the few trees that grew on the brink, even from the height of a dragon’s back. Instead she turned her sights to the looming Wreing Florenn on the other side of the road, looking like a sleeping monster basking in the early morning light.
Jahrra felt Scede shift behind her to get a better look at the landscape surrounding them. Once he was finally settled she relaxed a bit and breathed in the scent of fresh morning dew, smiling inwardly as the group crossed the Danu Creek. The bridge that spanned this small waterway was wide and made of heavy logs, creaking irritably as Hroombra set his weight to it.
“Have no fear,” he said, shocking the children into an attentive posture, “it’ll hold.”
Jahrra had no doubt that it would but when she glanced back at Gieaun and Scede she could tell they hadn’t been so sure. Between the creaks and groans of the old bridge Jahrra heard the bubbling of the shallow water below. She was sure that if it wasn’t for Hroombra’s deep breathing, the noisy complaints of the bridge and the anxious sounds coming from Gieaun and Scede every now and then behind her, she would’ve been able to hear the water trickling over the bluff’s edge several yards away.