“There’s Edinburgh,” Neil said suddenly, pointing eastwards as the dragon lost height and altered course slightly.
“It won’t be long now,” Archie said, turning his head so that they could hear him against the rush of the wind. “I can see Arthur’s Seat already!”
Clara’s heart sank at Archie’s words. She was enjoying the flight so much that she didn’t want it to end. Hugging Lady Ellan’s cloak about her, she looked beyond the dragon’s horned head to the sprawling carpet of lights that pierced the total blackness of the night. Edinburgh! The wonderful journey would soon be over. She patted Arthur absent-mindedly. There was nothing quite as wonderful, she thought, as flying through the air on the back of a dragon. She’d flown on Arthur before, of course, but this had been a really long flight and she’d enjoyed every single minute of it, fascinated by the movement of the dragon’s steadily beating wings as he powered them through the air at tremendous speed.
Part of her mind, however, was still with Prince Kalman; although she still found it difficult to think of him as the tottering, frail old man who had rescued her from the snow worms. She wondered, too, if Lady Ellan had reached Morven; for once she’d dealt with the Queen of the Snow Witches, she had summoned her carpet and after a hurried word with the MacArthur, had left to follow her husband to the magic mountain that housed the blue and silver halls of the Lords of the North, the powerful magicians who ruled the world of magic.
She knew that they would do everything they could to save Prince Kalman’s life, but could they, she wondered. He’d looked so frail when Lord Rothlan had helped him onto the magic carpet. Thank goodness she’d given him her firestone, she thought. It had made a difference and at least given him the strength to climb out of the ice cell. And as she idly wondered why Herr von Grozny had passed the rope to Matilda and hadn’t waited to see her safe, a cloud of unhappiness settled over her. The talisman had been left to her and although she missed it, her feelings were mingled with a growing sense of unease at the trouble it had caused. Maybe, she thought finally, it was just as well that Herr von Grozny had taken it back to his master in Ashgar.
She was suddenly jerked back to the present as Arthur’s wings tilted sideways as he again changed course and lost some more height. Neil looked down as the lights beneath brightened and became clearer. It was almost over, he thought, trying to save the wonder of the flight in his memory. It had been so exciting and just a pity that they hadn’t been able to fly closer to the ground as only tiny pin-points of light had marked the presence of the many towns and villages that they’d flown over on their way back.
What was even more fascinating was the fact that he knew they weren’t alone in the sky. Although he couldn’t see them, he was well aware that a horde of magic carpets flew in serried ranks behind the dragon; for the MacArthur and his army, too, were heading for home and would be glad to see the lights of Edinburgh looming on the horizon.
“Hang on, Clara,” Neil cautioned, clutching Archie tightly, “I think Arthur’s going to do his disappearing act into the hill again!”
In this, he was quite correct, for although Arthur was losing height, he was also picking up speed and as the rush of wind increased, Clara buried her head in the rough wool of her brother’s cloak and shut her eyes. This was the bit she hated. It had happened before when they’d been on Arthur’s back, escaping from the giants in the Highlands. Arthur had flown straight into the side of the mountain and although they’d passed through it without feeling a thing, it was dead scary nevertheless.
“You can open your eyes now,” Archie announced. “We’re through!”
Clara gave a sigh of relief and straightened as the familiar, tapestry hung halls of the MacArthur loomed before her eyes. Arthur’s great wings had stopped beating and now stretched silently as he glided down to the raised dais where the MacArthur’s carved, wooden throne stood in all its grandeur.
Archie slipped off Arthur’s back with the ease of long practice and turned to give Neil and Clara a helping hand as the dragon held out one of his wings so that they could clamber easily to the ground. Turning his great head to see that they were okay, he looked at them fondly, his wonderful eyes glowing. Neil ran up and threw his arms round the dragon’s neck. “Arthur,” he said, “that was totally fab! Wasn’t it, Clara?”
“Absolutely brilliant!” she agreed.
Arthur took a deep breath and although Archie, Clara and Neil knew what was going to happen, they didn’t have the heart to say anything as he roared out a stream of blazing fire that curled upwards in a breathtaking shower of dancing sparks. It was great to be back, he thought. He’d had a wonderful adventure and although he would have enjoyed melting the Snow Witches’ palace round their ears, well … you couldn’t have everything, he supposed. His eyes shone with happiness. Everything had gone well, no one had been hurt, they’d saved Prince Kalman and he’d had Archie, Neil and Clara for company on the flight home.
The inside of the hill was warm and welcoming and as Neil and Clara looked round, they could see the magic carpets emerging from the tunnels that opened onto the cavern. It was a fantastic sight as wave after wave of carpets soared in, landed their occupants here and there all over the cavern floor before drifting off to sheltered alcoves where they rolled themselves up tiredly and settled to a well-deserved rest.
Jaikie and Hamish waved as their carpets landed but immediately turned to the task of sorting out armour and weapons from the returning troops. The MacArthur, however, seeing Clara’s pale face, muttered the words of a hex. She needed to eat before she returned to school. They both did.
“Food,” thought Clara, as the smell of roast chicken drifted round her heart. Now that she had time to think about it, she realized that she was really starving. The MacArthur gestured them both forward and, pulling out the chairs that were drawn up round a little table, gestured to them to be seated. Clara sat down gratefully and tucked her chair in, delighted to be once again in safe, familiar surroundings. Thoughts of the snow worms, the witches and the talisman started to fade from her mind as the MacArthur heaped slices of roast chicken on her plate and served her with vegetables. It had been some adventure, she thought, but it was over now. She smiled across at Neil who, eating hungrily, still had no idea of what she’d gone through. There would be plenty of time to talk over what had happened, she thought. There was no hurry. It would all come out later.