Longfang (27 page)

The torches began adding to the murky atmosphere, giving off grey smoke into the moist air. They guttered and spluttered, but continued to burn on stubbornly in spite of the damp. Where just
minutes before, the sound of dripping water had rung around them like a bell, now all sound fell dead, muffled by the mist. The temperature tumbled. To the riders it seemed as if they had crossed
another threshold into a different world – a dead world where nothing grew and the dark had strength to smother light. The shell of light around them shrank to little more than a fragile
cocoon as they stumbled forwards, engulfed in stone and strangling fog. The four young people instinctively bunched closer together as they pressed forwards.

A sudden gust of air snuffed out all of the torches with a single huff. The bubble of light around them burst and the darkness flooded in. Kira stopped and the other riders bunched and bumped
like a contracted caterpillar.

‘Where did that wind come from?’ Elian asked.

‘No idea,’ Kira answered. ‘There’s not a breath now and there wasn’t any before. It was almost like someone blowing out candles. Nolita, can you ask Fire to make us
some light until there’s enough space for us to relight our torches, please?’

There was the slightest of pauses and then a bright orange glow with an accompanying roar from behind lit up the passageway.

‘RUN!’ Nolita yelled. ‘Something’s coming for us!’

The others did not question her. They ran. There was enough fear and urgency in her command to make them act first and ask questions later. The light dimmed briefly and then flared again.
Whatever Firestorm was projecting his flame at was getting the full force of his most ferocious blast. They slowed as the blazing light faded to leave them momentarily running blind, but they kept
travelling forwards, accelerating again as soon as Firestorm hurled another spraying burst of fire along the passage behind them.

Almost like punching through a wall, the riders erupted from the fog as they reached the end of the tunnel and emerged into a large underground cavern. They skidded to a momentary halt and then,
realising they might possibly be trampled by their own dragons, they scattered left and right. Fang was not far behind.

In the dark of the chamber, burning red eyes looked in on them from all directions. The orange glow from Firestorm’s approaching flame silhouetted outlines of six great night dragons
facing them in a waiting semi-circle. As the light from Fire’s flaming breath became brighter, so the waiting dragons began to close in.

Nolita screamed, the noise amplifying and multiplying as it reverberated around the huge cavern.

Firestorm exploded out from the wall of fog, his fire extinguishing before flaring back with devastating ferocity. He spewed molten fire in a broad arc to keep the approaching dragons at bay,
but without effect. The night dragons continued to close in on them, apparently immune to the heat of Fire’s hottest blast.

To Kira’s surprise, Fang did not react to the approaching night dragons. At every other encounter with night dragons his first instinct had been to camouflage himself. This time he did
nothing.

‘Is it Segun?’
she asked through the bond.

‘Relax,’
he said.
‘What you are seeing is not real. They are phantoms induced by the fumes from your torches. It is only your belief that is giving them
form.’

‘Can’t you see them? They’re all around us!’
Kira persisted frantically.

‘I only see them when I look through your eyes,’
Fang said calmly.
‘My sight is not so easily fooled. They are like the mist in the tunnel and the imagined movement
at the edge of your vision. None of those were real. They were visions, caused by the substance you were inhaling. There is a presence here, but it feels faint like a distant echo.’

Kira felt Fang communicating with Firestorm, but she could not hear what he said. To her horror, Fire reduced his flame to a trickle – just enough to provide a little light. Fang then
walked straight towards the nearest of the approaching night dragons. It drew its head back as if to strike, mouth open wide, displaying its rows of vicious pointed teeth. Horror turned to
amazement as Fang walked right through the dragon and out the other side. She blinked rapidly several times to confirm she was not seeing things.

‘They’re not real!’ she said aloud. ‘They’re not real. Say it with me!’ she urged the others.

‘They’re not real. They’re . . .’ she repeated the words over and over, adding volume with each repetition until she was shouting it at the top of her voice. One by one
the others joined in. First Elian, then Nolita, and finally Pell began to chant the words until belief in them began to grow. All the time the night dragons closed in around them, looming larger
and larger. Was it her imagination, she wondered, or were they fading?

‘FORWARDS!’ she yelled. Grabbing Nolita’s hand again, Kira dragged her straight towards the approaching line of dragons. Nolita flinched as a night dragon lunged, closing her
eyes and stumbling, but she did not stop chanting and moving forwards. One moment the dragons were there, the next they were gone. Faded into memory like a bad dream.

A glow on the far side of the chamber began almost immediately, filling the vast space with a gentle light. It looked like an amorphous cloud, much like that of the Oracle, but as it took shape
it became apparent that this was not the same entity. Wings, talons and teeth – the floating vision resolved into a dragon – a dusk dragon like Fang.

‘So you are here at last!’ It was the same booming voice that they had heard in the hall of mirrors. It sounded pleased and relieved. ‘I have waited such a long time for this
day. Have you come on the Great Quest to restore the Oracle?’

‘May I have use of your mouth, Kira?’
Fang asked, his tone very formal as he made his request. Kira was surprised, but she agreed immediately.

‘Yes. We have,’ he said aloud.

Hearing Fang’s voice coming from her mouth felt and sounded most strange. Kira was amazed that her throat could produce such a rolling, masculine voice. The others were equally
astounded.

‘And do you know what is needed in order for the orb to form?’ the glowing apparition asked, floating down until its talons settled on the cavern floor.

It was then that Kira noticed the metal plinth, right there, next to the owner of the voice. It looked just like the one they had seen in the Valley of the Griffins.

‘We do,’ Fang said.

‘We do?’
she asked silently.

‘I told you I had solved the riddle,’
he told her.
‘The required sacrifice will not be pleasant, but it’s one I’m willing to make. This is what I was born
for, Kira, but I did not want to worry you. As soon as I worked it out, I knew you would not be happy.’

‘Tell me!’
she ordered, her heart pounding as she tried once again to untangle the words of the rhyme.

‘Your sight is true, Longfang,’ the great voice announced. ‘You were not deceived by the shadow demons, you saw through the mystery of the mirrors and your eyes could not be
fooled by hallucinations. Step forwards then and claim the Orb of Vision. I shall remove that which is needed.’

Suddenly it all clicked into place. Kira knew what this phantom dragon was going to do and her stomach turned at the thought of it.

‘No!’
she cried in her mind.
‘You can’t do this, Fang! It’s too horrible. It’s wrong!’

An eye! The rhyme spoke of an eye! Ever protected in its socket – sometimes hidden behind its eyelid, but never disguised. Fang’s eyesight was his most precious
asset. He relied on his sight as much as he relied on his camouflage for protection. How could he be expected to sacrifice an eye?

This apparition in front of them must be the afterlife image. Did that make it a ghost? If so, how could it have substance enough to remove Fang’s eye? Yet she knew this was exactly what
it intended to do. She felt sick. What could she do to stop it?

‘You cannot stop this, Kira, so please don’t try,’
Fang told her.
‘I intend to see my life purpose fulfilled. You cannot take this from me.’

‘But why does it have to be you?’
she asked.
‘It was Shadow’s life purpose to be killed and give her heart to form the second orb, but another dragon’s
heart was good enough.’

‘It must be the eye of a dusk dragon,’
he replied.
‘There are no other dusk dragons here.’

‘There’s him,’
she said, pointing at the glowing dragon next to the plinth.

‘He has no body.’
Fang’s voice was sad.
‘What you can see is just an echo – a shade of what he was in life.’

‘How will you take my dragon’s eye?’ Kira asked aloud with her own voice, choking slightly over the final two words.

Nolita gasped and the two boys looked shocked as they, too, finally grasped what was about to happen.

‘There is no gentle way,’ the ghostly dragon replied. ‘I shall do my final duty as best I can. The Oracle has power that binds. Its purpose has held my spirit here for a long
time. When my rider and I accepted the challenge to guard the plinth I had no idea I would be bound to serve beyond my physical death. I am tired. I seek the long rest of eternity that should be
mine. Come. Claim the orb. It is what you are here for. You have passed the tests.’

‘But you have no substance,’ Kira pointed out, desperately clutching at reasons not to continue.

‘I have substance enough for this one last duty,’ the dragon replied. He raised his foreleg and his talons appeared to solidify.

Fang walked calmly towards the plinth and the waiting ghost dragon. Kira felt totally helpless. Fang would not listen to her. He was determined. She knew his mind. The glowing creature reached
out with its scarily solid-looking talons. Kira could not watch. She turned away, ducking her head and covering her eyes with her hands, as if by protecting her own eyes she could somehow save
Fang’s.

‘Wait!’ Elian called out.

Relief made Kira feel momentarily faint. Her knees buckled under her and she fell to the ground. Tears smeared across her cheeks under her palms. Did Elian have a way to stop this happening? She
felt a hand on her back. It was Nolita’s.

‘Before you do this, I have some questions,’ Elian continued.

The ghost dragon lowered his foreleg and regarded Elian with a chilling stare.

‘Ask your questions, rider,’ it said. ‘But be quick. That which I have waited an age for is at hand. Do not delay my reward without reason.’

‘The other orbs had perilous powers,’ Elian said. ‘Can you tell us what qualities this orb will possess?’

‘The Orb of Vision can show you many things,’ the dragon replied. ‘It can show you things that are, things that have been and even things that have not yet been.’

‘It has powers we can use?’ Elian asked, surprised.

‘The other orbs also had powers you could have wielded, if you had found the strength of will to use them. The powers are not meant for human use, though, so beware. They are fickle and
there is always a price to pay for using them. Where the Orb of Vision will show you things, it will also reveal your presence to others. Do not be in a hurry to explore its power, or it may betray
you.’

‘The Oracle told us nothing of their powers,’ Elian said thoughtfully. ‘In fact the Oracle hasn’t told us a lot about anything. What do you know of the final
orb?’

‘Nothing.’ The dragon was emphatic. ‘I have no knowledge of the final orb and I want none. I just want to rest. Are your questions complete?’

‘One last thing,’ Elian said quickly.

Kira’s heart was hammering. This was it. How could he stop the ghostly dragon from taking Fang’s eye?

‘I can help you to take out Longfang’s eye without causing him too much pain. Will you let me help?’

‘Traitor!’ Kira gasped. Her head whipped round and she glared at him. She had never felt so betrayed. ‘How
could
you even
think
about doing this to my
dragon?’

‘He won’t be blinded, Kira,’ Elian explained. ‘He’ll still be able to see with his remaining eye. It’s clear he wants to do this. I know how strongly Ra feels
about her life purpose. I know it’s gruesome. This entire quest has been nothing like I expected. I don’t want to even think about the words of the final verse. I still have to face my
challenge, remember? I’m just trying to help. It will be best if I help sever the eye cleanly from the socket by using my sword and then Firestorm can heal it. This way it will be done with
very little pain.’

‘I don’t believe this,’ Kira sobbed, looking up with pleading eyes at Fang. ‘Are you really going to do this?’

‘Yes, Kira,’
Fang replied gently.
‘It’s necessary. Elian’s offer is kind. He does not want to see either of us in pain. Look away. Do not
watch.’

Kira knew deep down that even if she wanted to, she could not look. Turning away, she buried her head in her hands and curled up into a ball. Nolita put her arm around her and crouched by her
side, also facing away from the dragons. Kira felt sick. Elian’s voice had dropped to an unintelligible mutter. She reached out with her mind to Fang, but he had narrowed the bond to little
more than the faintest trace in an effort to save her unnecessary pain.

‘Fang!’
She called his name with every ounce of her will, but he did not answer.

The sensation as the ghost dragon’s talons eased around Fang’s eyeball and into his eye socket was one that Kira would never forget. Fang was clearly trying to restrict her access to
his mind, but their bond was stronger than his will. Her left eye hurt in sympathy with Fang’s and, as the ghost dragon’s talons probed and squeezed, it felt as if her own eye would
explode.