How to Slay a Dragon - Bill Allen [92]
“Right, let’s see. She asked me to bring ‘something else as well.’”
“THAT SHOULD BE EASY ENOUGH.”
“No, wait. She said the fourth amulet was the most powerful, that the spirelings used it to control the Passageway of Shifted Dimensions, and that you gave it to them.”
“SHE TOLD YOU THAT?”
“Yes, why? Isn’t it true?”
“THE LESS YOU KNOW ABOUT THE AMULET, THE BETTER,” the dragon advised him. “WHAT ELSE DID SHE SAY?”
Greg’s eyes widened as he recalled the witch rising from her chair, straightening her crippled back and growing into something—else. “She threatened me. She said, ‘You will bring me the amulet from the Infinite Spire, and in exchange I will give you the things you asked for,’ which included my life, although I never really asked for that.”
“WAS THERE ANYTHING MORE?”
Greg tried hard to recall. “Yes, she told me not to disappoint her. She said, ‘If you do not return directly with the Amulet of Ruuan, or if you do not bring me the other amulet from the Infinite Spire, you will not live to see your home again.’”
“AND YOU’RE SURE THOSE WERE HER EXACT WORDS?”
“I think so.”
The dragon shot him a disapproving look.
“Okay, I’m sure.”
“SHE NEVER SPECIFICALLY SAID YOU HAD TO BRING HER THE SPIRELINGS’ AMULET?”
“I see where you’re going.” Greg thought back. “No, she always referred to the ‘other amulet’ or the ‘amulet from the spire.’ If only I had another amulet to give her.”
The dragon’s mouth pulled into a wide grin. “AH, I CAN HELP YOU THERE.”
Ruuan swung his long neck behind him and deftly picked through the huge pile of treasure with his tongue until he found a rusty amulet on an iron chain. He plucked it from the pile as easily as Greg might have done with his fingers, whipped his head back around, and offered the trinket to Greg, the chain looped over one tip of his long forked tongue. Greg reached for the chain as eagerly as he might have reached for a shaken wasp nest, plucked the amulet from Ruuan’s tongue and yanked back his hand.
“I don’t understand,” he said. “I can’t give Hazel this.”
“LOOK AGAIN, GREGHART.”
Greg did as he was told. Before his eyes the amulet transformed into a pie-shaped wedge about the size of a quarter, a perfect match to the three others he’d been given and the one he stole from the spirelings.
“Wh-what’s this?” he gasped.
“A SPELL, GREGHART. THE AMULET HAS NOT CHANGED, ONLY ITS APPEARANCE.”
“And this will fool the witch?”
“NOT FOR AN INSTANT,” said the dragon.
Greg groaned. “Then I’m right back where I started.”
“NO,” Ruuan said, “BECAUSE IT WOULD FOOL YOU.”
Greg stared up into the dragon’s eye. “You’re not suggesting what I think you are?”
“IF YOU RETURN THIS AMULET TO THE WITCH, TECHNICALLY YOU WILL HAVE FULFILLED YOUR PROMISE TO HER. ALTHOUGH SHE WILL INSTANTLY KNOW IT’S A FAKE, SINCE IT LOOKS JUST LIKE THE OTHERS, THERE IS A CHANCE, ALBEIT A SMALL ONE, SHE MIGHT ASSUME YOU WERE UNAWARE IT WAS NOT REAL.”
“You’ve got to be kidding.”
“I WILL NOT LET YOU LEAVE WITH THE SPIRELINGS’ AMULET. YOU CAN EITHER TRY TO TAKE IT FROM ME,” Ruuan said, rising to his full height, “OR YOU CAN TRY MY PLAN INSTEAD.”
Greg swallowed hard and strained his neck to keep Ruuan’s head in sight. “I’ll try the plan.”
“THOUGHT YOU MIGHT.”
Greg stared, speechless, as the dragon’s head dropped like an elevator back down to ground level and Ruuan’s reptilian jaws once again pulled themselves into a grin.
“HOWEVER, I WAS LYING TO YOU WHEN I SAID I WOULDN’T LET YOU TAKE THE SPIRELINGS’ AMULET OUT OF HERE. ACTUALLY I WANT YOU TO PUT IT BACK FOR ME.”
“Really?” Greg asked, amazed.
“WELL, I CAN’T DO IT MYSELF. THE PASSAGEWAY IS FAR TOO NARROW.”
“But aren’t you afraid I’ll keep it?”
“NO.” The dragon’s tone cut off all doubt as cleanly as a machete. He was obviously not the least bit concerned that Greg might disobey him.
Greg was not surprised. Who would be crazy enough to double-cross a dragon? But then Ruuan said something that caught him completely off guard.
“YOU HAVE GIVEN ME NO REASON TO DISTRUST YOU . . . ASIDE FROM COMING HERE TO KILL ME, THAT