Hunting of the Last Dragon by Sherryl Jordan

Author:Sherryl Jordan
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: HarperCollins
Published: 2016-06-20T04:00:00+00:00

twelve

As promised, straight into the tale!

I was sorely tempted to leave Lan’s there and then, for I’d endured about as much as I could take from that old witch; but I could not go without Lizzie. I was mortal scared that Old Lan had indeed enchanted her, and her wits were gone. And if Lan had been serious in her talk about the dragon hunt, then she was mad, or demon-possessed, and mortal dangerous. Nothing would save Lizzie now, excepting I carried her away.

She was standing by the step, just outside the door. Though it was almost dark by then, I could see by the starlight that her face was calm and solemn, and her hands were folded in her sleeves. It was the way she had stood that day I first saw her, on the platform in Tybalt’s tent. A thousand summers ago, it seemed.

“Lan’s dangerous,” I said, very low. “She’s put a spell on you, the same way she bewitched the dragon to come down here, and then to leave without causing strife. She’s a witch, Lizzie. Can you not see that? We should go afore we both get entangled in her sorceries, and this folly gets worse. Will you come with me now? I’ll carry you. And I’ll help you to walk a little way each day, as Lan advised. Your healing will go on. You’ll lose nothing by leaving with me now, save witchery.”

“I will not go,” she said. “Lan is no witch, only a woman wise in science and alchemy, and in things not yet invented in this backward land. There is a weapon we can use, long used in China, which I know about. And the dragon was not called here, any more than it was called to Doran or to the other places it destroyed. It came by chance, drawn by the smell of baking bread. Forget your fear, Jude. We can kill this beast, you and I.”

“Tell me you jest,” I said.

But she remained grave as a nun.

“By Jesus’ blessed tree, you are bewitched!” I cried. “Either that, or else you’re a lunatic, mad as Lan! I’ll not be trapped here with you, bewitched into a plot that can only lead to death! I’m off.”

“If you go, you’ll never have peace,” she said. “Lan was right about that. You will forever blame yourself that you knew how to slay the thing that destroyed your family, yet did nothing.”

“Why should you care?” I asked, harsh because she spoke the truth.

She was silent for so long that I tried to see her face, to read her feelings there; but she looked away, biting her lip, and I supposed she was angry with me.

“This is farewell, then,” I said. “I’ll come and see you sometime, if you wish.”

“Of course I wish it, Jude,” she said, very quiet. “Where will you go?”

“Anywhere,” I said. “Anywhere save here. I’ll find work, become a swineherd again, mayhap.”

In the dark doorway behind Lizzie, Old Lan appeared, snorting. “Forget the boy, Jing-wei,” she said.

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