Chapter 30 - The Search for Glynda.
Once the panic had settled down, Tom called for Ren, a sparrow hawk appeared on his shoulder.
“Glynda, she’s gone after Muenda and somehow taken his thread with her.”
“She has also not left her own thread. I cannot follow.” Ren said solemnly.
“But you must know,” pleaded Tom.
“I’m sorry, no astral thread, no trace.”
Ren apparated the two of them out of the dungeon to outside the city gates.
“Muenda may be a creature of habit, let’s go to where we last captured him,” Ren suggested.
They both disappeared and arrived at the quarries again, Ren appeared in full Golden Dragon mode, there was another pop and Jonathan stood with them with Bevon. Bevon looked pumped and ready for a fight, his firebox glowing white. But there was none to be had.
“How did you find us?” Tom asked.
“Slipped away quietly while the others were still talking and not actually doing much and followed your thread.”
“I wish I could pull my thread in like Glynda did.”
“Ever tried?”
“No.”
“Well let’s work it out,” said Jon, turning strategist again, “let’s find our own astral threads and see if we can pull them in.”
“You can’t,” Ren said interrupting, “but we can.”
The two dragons sniffed around the air a little, snorted and both let out a little puff of flame and smoke.
“There, all trace of your disappearance has gone, they will trace you to the city gate, but no further. They’ll probably think you have just wandered out of town to think things through.”
“Does that mean that Glynda has Ffanci with her?”
“Yes,” Ren replied.
“How did she get here so quickly?”
“She apparated.”
“What, Glynda went and found her first and then apparated away?”
“No, Ffanci apparated to wherever Glynda is.”
“But Blue Dragons can’t apparate,” Tom replied.
“Oh yes they can,” Ren replied, “they are far more magical than you appreciate.”
“What?” Jon exclaimed, “surely not.”
“Yes,” Ren continued, “now it’s up to you to find them.”
“Why me? How am I supposed to do that?” Jon said slightly indignantly.
“Simple, you are after all a Dragon Master,” Ren retorted, “use your mind to locate Ffanci.”
Jon concentrated on Ffanci, a few seconds later, he had her.
“Ffanci’s gone home, she’s back in the throne room of Evon.”
They all apparated to the valley of the Blue Dragons weyr and cautiously approached the doors to the palace of King Evon 1st - King of the Blue Dragons. All down the valley on the approach to the palace there lay the dead bodies of about two dozen Blue Dragons, it appeared that there had been quite a fight before they arrived, and the Blue Dragons had come a poor second. Apart from them, the valley seemed deserted.
“Pssst.”
They all looked around.
“Pssst, over here. It’s me, Evon.”
“We can’t see you, where are you?” Tom said quietly.
“I’ve got him,” said Jon, “he’s hiding over there, invisible and in cat mode.”
The two dragons, Bevan, and Ren went into stealth mode and disappeared; the boys went over to where the voice was coming from.
“The Master is back, he’s gone into the palace, and he was followed by a very angry looking Glynda with Ffanci, though Ffanci was not showing herself.”
“Why are you hiding out here?” Jon asked.
“Well, look for yourself, he destroyed my royal guard with one flick of his finger, so I vamoosed as soon as I could. Didn’t hang around for explanations.”
“Probably a good move,” Tom said, “do you know what’s happening in there?”
“No, not a clue, he arrived and Glynda was hot on his heels just a few minutes later. But there’s been no noise at all, no fighting, not even talking that I can hear.”
“How long has Glynda been here?”
“Oh, only about five minutes; are you the reinforcements?”
“You could say that,” Jon replied.
“Not wishing to sound rude or unappreciative, but are there any grown-ups?”
“Back at the castle, we came alone.”
“Shouldn’t you get some more help?”
“No, nothing Glynda can’t handle on her own, we are only here for backup if required.”
“But she’s just a girl.”
“I wouldn’t let her hear you say that; she is more powerful than even the Master,” Tom said.
“Oh, my,” was all that Evon could say.
“Right,” Jon said, “we’re going in.”
The two of them cloaked themselves invisible and moved towards the entrance. They slipped inside, it was quite dimly lit, so they uncloaked and relied on their light absorbing black cloaks for cover. The two dragons remained in stealth mode; they would only reveal themselves if it came to a fight. They moved through the vast outer chamber towards the throne room. Peeking around the entrance porch they could see Muenda sitting, no, lounging on the vast throne of King Evon. There was no sign of Glynda or Ffanci.
Tom shot a thought straight into Jons’ head. “Can you take him out from here?”
“Easy, but not until we know where Glynda is, she may be invisible and between us and him.”
“Good point.”
“And we can’t see Ffanci either.”
“But you must know where she is.”
“No, Ffanci knows I probed her mind to find her earlier and now she’s locked down, so no idea where she is.”
“Damnation, why is this so difficult,” thought Tom, “...and we don’t know where our two dragons are either, they have cloaked themselves and locked down as well.”
A voice boomed from the chamber, “You might as well speak properly, I can pick up your every thought.”
Muenda’s voice bounced off every piece of rock in the vast cavern, “come, step into my throne room, you have my word that I will not harm you.”
The two dragons reappeared standing with the boys and they all advanced cautiously into the chamber.
“Where are Glynda and Ffanci?” asked Tom.
“Here,” came the reply, and as Muenda spoke, the cave and the throne room disappeared, and they found themselves standing in a desolate land where there did not appear to be a single living thing, not an ant or even a blade of grass, as the Master would say.