How to Slay a Dragon - Bill Allen [88]
“Sorry, yes I am. I didn’t mean to, really.”
“OF COURSE, YOU DID. THOUGH I CAN’T SAY I BLAME YOU. YOU MUST BE TERRIBLY AFRAID YOU’RE ABOUT TO BE EATEN.”
“You mean I’m not?” Greg squeaked.
Ruuan lowered his head until his chin was just feet from Greg’s own. Greg cringed, trying not to breathe in the stench of the dragon’s breath. The smell caused him to relive the horrible trip up the spire, and while he wouldn’t have thought it possible, the memory of the trip felt even worse than the original experience.
“CERTAINLY I’M GOING TO EAT YOU,” Ruuan told him. “BUT DON’T WORRY, IT WON’T HURT.”
“It won’t?” Greg practically sobbed.
“NOT AT ALL. I’M GOING TO ROAST YOU FIRST.” Ruuan’s face broke into a hideous grin that made Greg want to cry even more. “OF COURSE, IT’S POSSIBLE YOU MAY FIND THAT PART A BIT UNPLEASANT.”
Greg knew the time had come to fight again, but how? He couldn’t fight a dragon. He didn’t even have the magic sword . . . or Nathan’s staff. Why hadn’t Nathan known this would happen? What was all that useless talk about finding his center? And about power coming from a position of peace? Then he remembered what else Nathan told him. He wouldn’t win this battle on his size or his battle skill.
“NOW, ARE YOU GOING TO TELL ME WHY YOU ARE HERE OR AREN’T YOU? NOT THAT IT MATTERS. YOU’RE EITHER A TREASURE HUNTER OR HERE TO PULL OFF SOME IMPOSSIBLE RESCUE. WHICH IS IT?”
“I-I came to rescue Princess Priscilla,” Greg admitted, realizing how ridiculous that must sound.
“A RESCUE, THEN. WELL, AT LEAST YOURS IS A NOBLE MISSION, IF THAT HELPS YOU FEEL BETTER ABOUT YOUR DEMISE.”
“B-but, you can’t kill me,” Greg pleaded. “You just can’t.”
“I MOST CERTAINLY CAN,” Ruuan assured him. “BUT JUST OUT OF CURIOSITY, WHAT MAKES YOU THINK I SHOULDN’T?”
Greg tried desperately to think of a reason. He supposed the dragon wouldn’t care that everyone expected him to start the seventh grade when he got back home. Then he had an idea.
“If I don’t return, others will come looking for me. I’m very popular in the kingdom.”
Ruuan grinned even wider. “EXCELLENT. I WON’T NEED TO GO OUT TO HUNT.”
“But they’ll come in numbers,” Greg argued. He forced himself to straighten to his full height and tried to look like a hero. “And there’s one man in particular I know you won’t want to meet. Why, he’s defeated plenty of dragons far bigger and meaner than you.”
Ruuan’s grin disappeared in an instant. “YOU KNOW A MURDERER OF MY KIND? I WOULD WELCOME SUCH A MEETING.”
Okay, intimidation wasn’t working. Greg avoided Ruuan’s penetrating stare and noticed again the huge mound of riches barely visible below the dragon’s tail. A second idea struck him. “If you let me go I could bring you treasure.”
“HMM,” said the dragon. “I DO LIKE TREASURE.” Greg gazed up hopefully. “BUT AS YOU CAN SEE I HAVE PLENTY.”
“You can never have enough treasure. Besides, I can give you special things. Things you can’t get anywhere else.”
“REALLY,” Ruuan said skeptically. “WHAT SORT OF THINGS?”
“How about a magic amulet? I’ll bet you don’t have one of those.”
The dragon’s expression shifted. If Greg hadn’t liked it before, he liked it even less now. “WHAT AMULET? LET ME SEE IT.”
“Not so fast. There’s still the matter of the princess.”
“SHOW IT TO ME.” Ruuan’s booming voice shook the walls as it bounced around the cavern.
Something sticky splattered across Greg’s face and burned his skin in spite of any protective magic. Heart racing, Greg groped for the amulet about his neck, slipped it over his head and held it out by the chain. His hand shook so badly the amulet must have looked like nothing more than a blur.
Ruuan squinted, trying to focus. Then the dragon’s brow creased, his pupils flashed a bright red, and he met Greg’s eye with a hateful glare. “THIEF! HOW DARE YOU OFFER ME MY OWN AMULET IN EXCHANGE FOR YOUR LIFE?”
In his panic Greg had forgotten that the Amulet of Ruuan once belonged to Ruuan himself.
“I—I—”
“SILENCE! WHERE DID YOU GET THIS?”
Greg held his tongue.
“WELL?”
“You told me to be silent,” Greg whimpered.
“DO NOT MOCK