the dragon, there was nothing to stop them from climbing up it after their prey, just as the humans had done. There must have been close to a thousand fire-bunnies in the room by now but, clearly lacking a single aggressive bone in its body, the dragon seemed quite unconcerned by all the rabbits swarming towards it, and it was quite clear that it wasn’t even thinking of attacking them. Which meant they had to try to escape. But getting a dragon to fly upwards is not as easy as getting a horse to trot forwards, as Jeremiah was already finding out. Sitting at the back, clinging on to Jesse, the nobleman was shrieking, ‘Fly, you stupid beast, fly!’
Which, unsurprisingly, had no effect on the dragon whatsoever. But Lex knew something that would. He opened his bag and fumbled desperately for the last remaining trout, as well as the fishing rod he had spotted in there earlier. Finally, he got them both. The rabbits were climbing up the dragon as Lex hooked the fish on the end of the line and then threw it up into the air as far as he could.
The dragon spread its wings instantly, and Lex, Jesse and Jeremiah were forced to cling on desperately as the huge thing beat its great wings, causing ripples to run along the surface of the lake. Slowly, it rose up into the air, quite oblivious to the trails of fire the little rabbits were shooting at it below.
Doggedly following the trout Lex dangled before it, the dragon swooped upwards towards the roof of the cavern. Lex risked one last glance back at the frantic, maddened rabbits beneath them and? only for a moment? thought he caught, just out of the corner of his eye, a brief glimpse of what looked just like a giant waving fox. But, when he moved his gaze to get a better look, there was no giant fox down there. Just more and more furious rabbits.
Lex had to look back towards the ceiling then because the screams of the other two were distracting him. As Lex had hoped, the dragon did not slow down when it reached the top, but merely went right on through, head first. The dragon’s great bulk was more than enough to shatter the earthy ceiling and they burst out of the mine in a shower of dirt and stones and into the bright, sparkling sunlight beyond.
CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
The dragon seemed to forget about the trout for a short time after it emerged from the mine. It had not, after all, seen the sun or breathed fresh air for over a hundred years. With some of its youth now restored, it was enjoying its freedom more than ever and soared joyously out over the desert below.
This did get slightly worrying for a while. Especially when the dragon began to climb steadily higher towards the clouds with no sign of turning back any time soon. But, by waving the trout around particularly energetically, Lex managed to get the dragon’s attention back again. He used the fishing line to dangle the fish lower than the dragon’s snout and soon they were heading back down towards the ground. The dragon spread its wings just in time, and they came to land outside the mine with a thump that made the ground shake.
The Gods were already there, along with the sprite, who perched on top of a nearby cactus, looking despondent.
‘That,’ raged Kala as soon as the dragon touched down and instantly devoured the trout (and half the fishing line), ‘was the most astonishingly poor show I have ever witnessed!’ Pointing at Lex, she went on, ‘You deliberately saved that thing’s life and didn’t even try to kill it! If I were your Goddess, I would turn you into a wooden chessman right here and now!’
‘Whatever for?’ Lex asked. ‘I won, didn’t I?’
The Gods stared at him for a moment before Kala found her tongue and gasped, ‘Won? Won? You were supposed to slay the dragon!’
‘That’s not what I heard,’ Lex replied blithely? but not too blithely, for he was talking to a God, after all.
Lex did not give up a win easily and, during that brief flight on the dragon’s back, a plan had formed itself in his mind.
‘Lady Luck said that the first person to drive a blade into the dragon’s heart, wins,’ he said. ‘Well, I was the first person to drive a blade into its heart.’
There was silence for a moment before Kala raged, ‘You were supposed to slay the beast and you know it!’
‘But she never said that specifically, my Lady,’ Lex said, trying to sound respectful. ‘She said that the person who managed to slay a dragon would be talked about for years and years, but she never actually said that was what we were supposed to do. All she specifically said was “blade in the heart”.’
‘He’s right,’ Thaddeus growled, after another brief silence. ‘Technically speaking, he’s won.’
‘I ought to be awarded some hero points, too,’ Lex said. ‘For saving him.’
He jerked his thumb over his shoulder towards Jeremiah, who was still clinging to the dragon’s back and looking rather sick.
‘Oh, hero points or no hero points, what does it matter?’ Lady Luck beamed. ‘You’ve won, Lex! And you’ve rescued that dear, sweet dragon!’
Lex had to resist the urge to roll his eyes at yet another demonstration of Lady Luck’s utter fickleness. An hour ago, she had been ordering them to kill the beast, now she was all eager to pet and coo over it.
Jeremiah chose that moment to slide off the dragon’s back, land with a thump on the ground and be noisily sick. Which was good because, when the dragon spread its wings in a most impressive way just a moment later, Lex and Jesse were the only two on its back and that final image would be the perfect one to show in the Gaming stadiums before Lady Luck passed Lex yet another trophy and the Binding Bracelets fell from their wrists, marking the end of the Game.
The celebratory dinner that took place in the Wither City after the Game was over, was a very different affair from the one that had taken place before it. No one was laughing at Lex, for one thing. In fact, many people were grovelling all over him, whilst Jeremiah sat at a table by himself, looking forlorn. Lex revelled in the victory. Towards the end of the evening, of course, he was getting rather fed up with people toadying all over him. He decided to call it a night and quit whilst he was ahead.
When he got back to the harbour, he saw that Jeremiah must have been thinking along the same lines, for he was there about to embark on his own ship.
‘Hey,’ Lex called across the dark pier. ‘Wait up.’
The nobleman stopped reluctantly and watched Lex approach, with a suspicious expression on his face.
‘You’ve come to gloat, I suppose!’ he said peevishly when Lex stopped in front of him.
‘Not at all,’ Lex said. ‘I’ve come to shake your hand.’
Jeremiah narrowed his eyes. ‘Why?’
‘To show there’s no hard feelings.’
Jeremiah stared at him. ‘Well, why should you have any hard feelings, after all?’ he snapped. ‘You stole my sister’s Dragon and my uncle’s sword and you think you got away with it! Well, you haven’t! I’ll tell you what I’m going to do, Trent? I’m going to-’
‘Oh, save it,’ Lex said mildly. ‘I’ve come here to give you back those things.’ As Jeremiah watched in astonishment, Lex swung the bag off his back, rummaged through it and then straightened up with the Sword of Life and the blue Dragon of Desareth in his hand. ‘Here,’ he said, holding them out to Jeremiah. ‘It was wrong of me to take them. I’m very sorry.’
‘You’re giving them back… just like that?’ Jeremiah asked. ‘No tricks?’
‘No tricks,’ Lex replied. ‘The Game’s over now and these things are of no use to me. Especially the sword now that the life that was stored up in the blue blade has all been used up. Better that you have it back and slaughter a few peasants with it. Or a few armies. Perhaps I’ll steal it back from you in twenty years or so when it’s useful to me again.’
‘Well,’ Jeremiah said finally. ‘Thank you. And… thank you also for… you know… taking me with you from the mine and not leaving me behind to get eaten by the rabbits.’
Lex shuddered. ‘No man should get eaten by rabbits. No matter how much of a stuck-up toff he is. Oh, that reminds me. I wanted to give you this back, too.’ And from his pocket he produced the purse he’d stolen from Mrs
