Chapter 26 - To the Dragonlands.
A few days after the equinox, the last of the soldiers were discharged from the hospital, they had taken the injured from both sides of the fray into the hospital, and as a result, many who thought they were enemies before the battle were now firm friends. This was a pleasant by-product of the care and attention shown to all who passed through the hospital wing of Castle Blaenoraid. Hopefully, this would bode well for the future.
Back in the city, life returned to normal, everyone went about their everyday lives as if nothing had happened. Across the whole land of Trymyll, normality, boring as normal was, returned.
Back in the now extended Jones household however, life was never boring.
So over breakfast, Llewellyn announced, “Glynda, it’s time you went to the Dragonlands to learn of dragons, and maybe win a friend.”
“Why would I need a dragon? I seem to have performed quite well without one up to now. It’s not that I don’t like dragons or am in any way scared of them, it’s just, well, I’m more a healer than a fighter. So why would I even want one?”
“Well,” Llewellyn replied, “I know you’re not an acolyte, in fact, you never were one, but it is normal for all up and coming wizards to go to the Dragonlands and at least learn of them and from them. You never know, you might fall in love with a cute little dragon and want to bring it home.”
“Couldn’t Ren or Bevon teach me all I need to know?”
“Yes, they probably could, but seeking and securing a dragon for life is quite an achievement. You would share powers, and should you ever need back-up in battle, a dragon makes for an excellent partner. Having said that, your power is pretty awesome, but if you should be called to become a Guardian, a dragon would only add to your armoury.”
“What makes you think I will ever be a Guardian? I’m only fourteen. Aren’t Guardians really old like Faraji?”
“No, Gwen is a Guardian and not even forty, she was a guardian in her early twenties, so age is nothing to do with it, it’s all down to ability and purity of purpose.”
“So, who decides who will be a Guardian anyway?”
“They do.”
“Who’s they?”
“The Guardians, you are called to be a Guardian, it’s not something you can apply for, they don’t advertise in the situations vacant column of the Trymyll Times.” he laughed.
“Who called Gwen then?”
“Well, believe it or not, it was Muenda. He wasn’t always the bad guy. He was, in the past, a Guardian, along with his brother Faraji and Songhai Chen, whom you have yet to meet.”
“Who’s the boss Guardian, surely it must be him who chooses?”
Gwen joined the conversation, “There is no boss, as you call him, though why you assume it would be a man, I don’t know; we are all equal. We are independent and yet united. There were, and should be seven of us, that being the norm, I’m sure you’ve noticed how everything seems to be in sevens or multiples of seven in Trymyll. Well, there were seven Guardians, but our friend Muenda disposed of three, which left only me, Songhai and Faraji. So, technically there are four vacancies, but the right calibre of person is hard to find, so we fill our ranks very slowly and very cautiously.”
“Do you think I am up to it then?”
“No, not yet, you still have a long way to go and a lot to learn, but possibly, one day, we may call you. But, as they say, don’t hold your breath. Llewellyn and Flintock are the finest wizards I know, more powerful than any in the land, but, and I hate to say this in front of him, far short of being a Guardian.”
“That’s okay Gwen,” Llewellyn said smiling, “I know my place.”
“I wish,” Gwen muttered under her breath, but loud enough for everyone to hear.
So, it was decided, the three youngsters would all go to the Dragonlands the next morning. Morning came, and off they went. They apparated to the ridge that Jon and Tom knew of in the Blue Mountains.
“We’ve come here because we know this bit of the Dragonlands, so we can apparate here easily,” Jon announced, “over there was the cave where we first met the Master, I said was because it’s all gone now, dad caved it in and sealed it up.”
I always thought that the Blue Mountains were a stinking collection of death and decay.” Glynda said.
“It was until the new king of the Blue Dragons took over, King Evon the 1st gave it a makeover and cleared all the cack away,” Jon said as if he was an authority on the subject. “You never know, we might even meet a Blue Dragon while we’re here.”
“We might even meet King Evon the First, Supreme and Merciful Ruler of all Blue Dragons, as he likes to be addressed,” Tom said with a smile.
“I expect he’s added a few more titles by now!” Jon said laughing.
He had just finished speaking when a Blue Dragon appeared beside him.
“I am Avaon Taaffe, a messenger of the Most Worshipful King, Evon the First, Supreme, Inerrant, and Merciful Ruler of all Blue Dragons, who bids you welcome and asks you to join His Esteemed Majesty at the royal palace.
“There,” said Jon, “I told you he would have added more titles.”
Tom added, “Well I’m just going to call him King Evon.”
The party of four, three wizards and a dragon, plus of course Bev and Ren, but Avaon didn’t know about them, as they were cloaked invisible, flew across the tops of the mountains and down into the valley of the king’s palace. The massive carved doors were opened, and they slipped inside. What a difference, King Evon had given the place a complete makeover. Gone were the massive, bejewelled tapestries and the life-size dragons, sculptures of the former kings, instead there was what is described as a minimalist look. The whole place was now quite brightly lit with new magical light fittings hanging from the roof and attached to the walls. There were a few paintings of King Evon, probably in gold frames, and all the tonnes of gold and silver coins, the diamonds, rubies, sapphires, and other precious gems were stacked up in huge chests which lined the walls. The floor area itself was completely cleared.
They approached the throne with some caution.
“Well,” King Evon asked, “What do you think? Don’t you love the new look, do tell me what you think, I won’t be upset if you say it’s ghastly, basically because I don’t give a shimmy what you think anyway.”
The three teenagers were speechless, Glynda had never been inside a dragon kings’ palace before anyway, but Jon and Tom continued to look around and eventually spoke.
“I like it,” said Tom.
“Where’ve all the statues gone?” asked Jon, “I liked the statues.”
“Oh well,” King Evon said, “never mind, you can’t please all of the people all of the time. This is what I always wished had happened when I was blind, so I didn’t keep bumping into the stupid statues, I know I can see now, but I thought, I’m the king now, I’ll still do it. So, all the solid gold statues are all tucked away in another cavern, one I never visit, and the tapestries, which were supposed to depict our history in the many battles over the centuries, were a load of lies and propaganda, so I burned the lot.”
“It’s growing on me,” said Jon.
“Anyway, what do you want?” King Evon said in his normal dismissive manner, “and who’s the heavily armed girl?”