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By Root 849 0

quiet. He listened – there was nothing. There were no thoughts. Maunder was acting out of some base instinct – the desire to reclaim what he felt to be his. He was like a beast that will fight to the death to defend its territory. After so many years in the cave, his spirit was less than human. Lying on the wet ground in his wet clothes with nothing but a gorse bush between him and Maunder, Zaki shuddered. But this creature was not just Maunder, it was also Michael – Michael, who had taught Zaki to row, to build dams, to ride dragons. This was his big brother, his remover of obstacles. He had to reach Michael – wake him – bring him back. The bracelets connected them. He must think things that Michael, and not Maunder, would understand.

Two boys astride a dragon. The smaller one behind – the bigger one holding the reins. The smaller boy has his arms around his brother; his head is turned to the side and rests against his big brother’s warm back. They are flying high, so high that, although the earth is already in darkness, they are still in the light. The dragon has huge golden wings that shimmer and flash as they beat up and down, catching the last rays of the setting sun. The dragon’s body, legs and tail are jewelled with sparkling, green scales. Flames leap from the dragon’s mouth. Now they are plunging down, down – the boys waving and whooping with excitement.

Zaki saw all this in his mind. But when he looked up, he saw that Maunder was looking up – staring in astonishment because in the sky there was a great, fire-breathing dragon with two boys on its back.

In the glow from the dragon’s fiery breath Zaki could see that Maunder’s face was changing, softening – the terrible white scar fading to nothing. And it was no longer Maunder but Michael who stood there, face upturned, watching their dragon. The bracelet on Michael’s wrist lit up; the engravings flashed and danced.

Zaki sprang to his feet, ripped the bracelet from his brother’s arm and hurled it with all his strength over the cliff. He watched it fall, still shining, spinning around and around, until it was swallowed by the dark heaving waters below. When he looked back, the dragon had gone.

Michael’s legs slowly bent, folding under him, until he was sitting on the pile of stones. He hunched his shoulders, wrapped his arms around himself and began to shiver. Zaki took a step towards him but stopped when he heard the roar of powerful engines out to sea. An elongated circle of bright light swept across the water and seemed to bounce along the reef. The beam halted when it found the wrecked yacht on the bar.

The noise of the engines came closer, the unmistakable throaty growl of a lifeboat. Now the light was searching the water and rocks near the wreck, probing the darkness. A second finger of light shot out from the boat and slid up the rock. Zaki raised his arms and waved wildly. He glanced over his shoulder and saw that Michael was also standing. The light stopped short of the summit and slid back down.

‘They haven’t seen us. We’ve got to get down. They won’t look for us up here.’ Michael look dazed and confused. Zaki took him by the arm. ‘Come on – follow me. I know the way.’

Climbing down in the darkness was more difficult than climbing up and Michael needed constant prompting and guidance. Several times Zaki missed his footing and almost fell but halfway down the searchlights found them and the rest of the climb was easier.

As soon as they reached the bottom, an inflatable rescue boat darted through the reef and around the rock to meet them. There, strong arms helped them aboard and they were whisked swiftly out to the waiting lifeboat.

‘Are there any others?’ asked the lifeboat’s coxswain as soon as they were inside. Zaki explained about the two aboard Morveren and the crew of the rescue boat was dispatched to fetch them. Zaki wanted to go with them but the coxswain wouldn’t hear of it.

‘Did you get our Mayday?’ Zaki asked.

‘They picked it up in Plymouth. That’s where the inshore rescue boat came from. But it was your grandad who knew where to find