Fergus soared through the sky at speed. He’d never been more desperate to see his friend Lily. It occurred to him that he could visit Nevermore – a parallel universe – whenever he wanted, but Inverness, which was in the same country, seemed an impossible distance to travel. And with that thought in his head, he landed in Nevermore with an even heavier WHOMP than usual, right in the middle of the racetrack.
Or what was supposed to be the racetrack. Only this one seemed to have turned into some kind of dragon farm.
“Lawks a mussy!” came the shriek. “Get orf the track!”
It was Queen Woebegot. Fergus shot her a worried glance, waiting for her to change her mind and demand “orf with their heads” instead.
“No worries, Sheila!” Chimp replied. “We’re getting orf – I mean off. Come on, mate,” he added then to Fergus, who was mesmerised by Demelza the dragon breathing fire all over the slalom poles.
Fergus snapped out of it, sped to the sidelines with Chimp alongside him, and slipped out of the saddle. They hopped over the barrier into the stands where Hector Hamilton, Fergus’s dad and coach for the Palace Pedallers, was sitting.
“I was worried you weren’t going to make it,” said Hector.
“Make what?” asked Fergus.
“Dragon Danger Zone?” suggested Chimp. “Death Valley?”
“About that,” added Fergus worriedly. “What are they doing here? I thought they’d been cleared out? Has something happened? Is racing … banned again?”
Hector grinned. “Not at all. Welcome to the Dragon Derby,” he explained. “And Douglas and Demelza are only pets, they’re not dangerous at all. Not that the queen would agree.”
“I’m not sure I agree,” said Fergus, who had just seen Douglas land on the back straight, making a divot as deep as a ditch.
“Make it stop!” the queen shouted, though to whom it wasn’t clear. “It’s far too dangerous. Everyone will perish!”
“No, we won’t, Mum,” came a voice from the starting line. “We’ll all be just dandy.”
Fergus felt himself heave with relief at the sight of Princess Lily pulling on her helmet. She was still here, and still safe. He waved and she waved back, giving him the thumbs up and nudging her teammates Unlucky Luke, Scary Mary and even her brother, the cantankerous Prince Waldorf, to do the same.
“You’ll be better than dandy,” Fergus called over to them. “Win this one and you’ve won the championship!”
“Yes, best of three, remember,” added his dad loudly. “And you’re one up already, Pedallers.”
“Not if we have anything to do with it,” sneered Prince Derek from the starting line, where he was snapping on his own all-black helmet and adjusting his all-black kit. Beside him, the other Darklands Demons – Nigel, Norris and Norman – did the same. “Come on, girls,” he called then.
Chimp shot his head up. “Girls?” he asked. “But …”
Fergus followed Derek’s eyeline and felt his throat tighten. “I don’t think he was talking to his team,” he managed to squeak out.
“Who then?” asked Chimp.
“Th– th– them,” stammered Fergus, pointing a shaking finger at a gleaming black horsebox, out of which descended two more dragons. These beasts didn’t look anything like the palace pets. Instead of being a cheery green, and having clipped toenails, these dragons were the colour of crows and sported enormous claws and sharpened fangs.
“Meet Beryl and Gladys,” announced Derek.
“Orf with their heads!” shrieked the queen, somewhat predictably.
“Oh,” said Duke Dastardly, uttering his first words of the afternoon. “You didn’t think it was fair to just use your little dragons, did you?”
“He has a point,” admitted King Woebegot.
“Orf with your head,” snapped the queen at her husband.
But the king didn’t even flinch. He had been threatened with head-orfing several times a day for ten years and barely even heard it any more.
Fergus and his dad did, though, as well as Beryl’s terrible roar. “I’m not sure,” Hector said to the king. “I really don’t think –”
“Objection overruled,” barked King Woebegot. “Come along, everyone. Let’s get this started. Cook’s making my favourite for lunch and I’m getting awfully peckish.”
“You’re not the only one, mate,” said Chimp, eyeing Beryl, who in turn was eyeing Unlucky Luke a little hungrily.
As the riders lined up for the starting whistle, Fergus felt shaky for the second time that day. Losing Daisy to a house move was one thing, but she’d still only be 156 miles away. Losing Lily to a dragon … He tried to push the horrible thought from his mind. “Stay focused on the good stuff,” he heard a voice inside his head say. Wasn’t that what Grandpa was always telling him?
“They’ll be just dandy,” came another voice. But this voice was definitely Dad. “The team have been practicing hard, they’re ready for it.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
“Don’t worry, Fergus. Everyone just needs to do their best,” Hector said.
Fergus nodded. He would do his best. Just like he knew Lily and the gang would. He still felt a bit worried about those dragons, though.
“On your marks …” came the call.
Fergus crossed his fingers.
“Get set …”
Chimp crossed his paws.
“Go!”
The pair of them crossed their hearts, closed their eyes, and hoped that dragons were vegetarian after all.