How to Slay a Dragon - Bill Allen [20]
“Well, I hope you’re not nervous about slaying Ruuan. I’m sure you’ll do just fine.”
“Of course he will,” said Norman as he slurped up a spoonful of broth.
“You say Marvin went to Durchester?” said Lucky. “That’s quite a ways to travel. And I hear they had a lot of rain down there this summer. The creeks are probably swelled. I’m sure he’s fine.”
“Let’s hope you’re right,” Edna said. “But I must say, I’ve been worried ever since I found his lucky amulet out back.”
“His what?” said Greg.
“His lucky amulet. Marvin never goes anywhere without it. I guess he must have dropped it and not known.”
“It’s the Amulet of Ruuan,” Norman added proudly over a huge chunk of wyvern meat. He winked at Greg. “I stole it myself from Ruuan’s lair when I was just a few years older than you are now. Gave it to Marvin on his sixteenth birthday, and he’s been cleaning up the kingdom with it ever since.”
Greg met Lucky’s eye. “Do you think we could see that amulet, Mrs. Greatheart?”
“Call me Edna, please. Of course you can. I’ve got it right here.”
She got up from the table, shuffled to a rickety old cabinet along the opposite wall, and opened the top drawer. When she returned to the table she held out the amulet by the chain. At first glance it looked identical to the one King Peter gave Greg that morning.
“Is something wrong, dear?”
“I’m not sure.” Greg reached beneath his tunic and pulled out his own amulet, much to Edna’s surprise.
“There’s two of them?”
“Right,” said Greg. “King Peter told me this was the Amulet of Ruuan.”
“Nonsense,” said Norman. “Anyone can see that’s not the real one.”
“They look exactly the same to me,” said Melvin.
“Quiet, son.”
“No, he’s right,” said Lucky. “They are the same.”
“Well, I wouldn’t trust it,” Norman said. “And you sure wouldn’t catch me going up against Ruuan without the real thing.”
“Perhaps we better let him use ours,” Edna suggested.
“I suppose we’ll have to,” said Norman. “The poor boy would be scorched to a crisp in a heartbeat with a trinket like that in his hand.”
“Yeah, with the real amulet he might last two heartbeats,” said Melvin under his breath.
“Hush up, son,” warned Edna. She held out Marvin’s amulet for Greg to take. When Greg slipped the chain over his neck, the two amulets sizzled and flashed, and he jumped back, nearly knocking over his chair.
“Well, it looks as if that amulet of yours may have some power after all,” said Norman. “You go ahead and keep ours anyway. You can never have too much help on your side when you’re going up against a dragon. Hey, did I ever tell you about the first time I fought Tehrer, the last of the dragons from the Netherworld?”
“We just met,” Greg reminded him.
“So, I guess I didn’t then. Well, I’ll tell you now. It was quite a battle. I barely escaped with my life. In fact, that’s how I got this limp here,” he said pointing to his left knee. “No, wait, that came the second time I fought him. The first time he snapped my right leg in two and scorched the hair clean off my head. Took me two years to grow my eyebrows back.” He slapped the table and laughed. “Never could use the eye again, though, I’m afraid.”
“Could we talk about something else?” Greg pleaded.
“Yes, Norman, please,” Edna scolded. “You’re scaring Greghart to death with your stories.”
“What kind of dragonslayer gets scared by a story?” asked Melvin.
“I’m warning you. One more word, and it’s back to your room.”
“This is his room,” Greg muttered.
“I didn’t mean to scare you none,” said Norman. “If it makes you feel better, everything turned out great the third time I faced Tehrer. He may have tore up my back a bit and knocked my arm out of the socket, but in the end I laid him out, and the world’s a better place for it.”
“Yes, I do feel better,” Greg lied. “Now can we talk about something else?”
“Sure,” said Norman. “Did I ever tell you about the time I ran into a nest of harpies up at Death’s Pass?”
Greg shot him a glare, but Norman failed to take the hint. The man shared one story after another, each more gruesome than