How to Slay a Dragon - Bill Allen [97]
“I’M AFRAID THE TINY GREATHEART LAD MUST STAY WITH ME FOR A TIME. IT WOULD AROUSE SUSPICION IF HE WERE SEEN LEAVING WITH YOU.”
Greg agreed, and even if he didn’t he wouldn’t have dared argue. Before he left he gave back Greatheart’s amulet and asked that Marvin thank his parents for letting him borrow it. “Tell them I couldn’t have survived without it,” Greg told him. “I think that’ll make them both very proud.”
With Ruuan’s magic protecting him, Greg had no trouble scampering unnoticed between the two spireling guards and setting the amulet back in its shrine, but when they reached the main tunnel Lucky refused to take another step.
“Don’t worry,” Greg assured him. “Ruuan won’t be coming down this time.”
“Yeah, come on,” Priscilla said. “It’s the only way out.”
Lucky never did agree, but he eventually succumbed to a rather strong push from Priscilla. The three made their way down to the ground, with Priscilla, who had never treated the soles of her shoes with dragon spit, skiing at arm’s length ahead of Greg, while he maintained a firm grasp on the collar of her fur coat.
The whole way, Greg worried they would meet up with the spireling army halfway down the tunnel, a sudden end to a nearly successful and rather miraculous attempt at fulfilling a prophecy. But the spirelings were still sleeping soundly among the purring shadowcats. The three children quickly covered their ears.
“My bag,” Lucky said. He bent to retrieve the magical pack, now frayed and torn, amidst the splintered debris of the disintegrated sleigh.
“Shh,” Greg insisted. He spotted the magic sword and picked it up, too.
Even Priscilla found something, but it burst into flames the moment she touched it.
“The eternal torch,” Lucky said.
“Shh,” Greg and Priscilla reminded him.
Greg stowed the torch and the sword inside Lucky’s pack, noticing two large lumps in the side of the damaged bag, and then they set out across the valley, tiptoeing their way through the maze of sleeping spirelings. It wasn’t easy to balance with their fingers plunged into their ears, but eventually they reached the end of the valley and climbed to the ridge that marked the edge of their own campsite.
There they found Ryder and his men still scattered about, snoring loudly in harmony with the shadowcats. Nathan and Bart were there, too, sleeping soundly with Rake curled up and purring between them. But to Greg’s surprise, Melvin sat wide-awake atop the ridge, leaning against a tree trunk with his hands clasped behind his head and a smug expression on his face.
“Melvin, you’re awake,” Greg said, his fingers still plugged into his ears.
Melvin reached up and removed an acorn from his own ear. “What was that, Greghart?”
“What are you doing, Melvin?” Lucky asked.
“Oh, nothing.” Melvin’s voice was even more smug than his expression. “Just sitting around, watching the sights.”
“Oh?” said Greg, wondering just what sights the boy might have witnessed.
“Hey,” said Lucky, “you don’t think he saw—ow!” Priscilla had just jabbed him in the ribs.
“You’ve been gone a long time,” said Melvin. “But I didn’t mind waiting. The moon’s so bright you can see for miles.”
Greg scowled at the younger boy. “What are you trying to say?”
“Just that on a darker night it might be possible to overlook some things,” said Melvin, “but on a night like this . . . well . . .” He let his words trail off so Greg might fill them in for himself.
“Oh, just spit it out, Melvin,” said Priscilla. “You saw Greg with Ruuan, didn’t you?”
“How could I have seen him with the dragon?” Melvin said in a sickeningly sweet tone. “I’m sure you slayed him, didn’t you, Greghart?”
“Oh, come off it,” said Lucky. “So you caught us. You better not say anything, you little snitch, or I’ll—”
“You’ll what?” Melvin challenged.
Lucky’s mouth opened and closed wordlessly. He obviously didn’t know what he would do, and Greg didn’t have an answer either. If Melvin chose to reveal Greg’s secret,