The Last Dragon by Jesse Mack

Author:Jesse Mack
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Self-Publishing Partnership

Chapter 18

Goggle Eyes

The dragon had his back to them. He was leaning forward on the railings looking out to sea. From behind he seemed to be about the right size, but his tail was swishing slightly like a bad-tempered cat you can’t trust. He spoke before he turned round.

‘I suppose you think it’s funny.’

Evie and Will paused. It didn’t sound good.

‘Is something wrong?’ asked Evie.

The dragon turned, and they saw that his eyes were large and bulging, and very pale. Worse, he had a huge, round tummy. Will started to laugh, but stopped quickly when the dragon glared at him. He pushed his face close to Will’s, his breath hot and sour.

‘Is this your doing?’ he hissed.

Evie butted in. ‘You said you wanted bigger eyes.’

The dragon began to shout. ‘Not this big! They don’t just look stupid, they let in too much light. It’s a good job it’s dark, otherwise I wouldn’t be able to see anything.’

‘You just need sunglasses,’ said Evie. She didn’t seem at all afraid of his bluster. Will was pleased – now she might see his true nature. The dragon scowled at her for a moment then turned back to Will.

‘And who made my body?’ he asked.

His tummy may have stuck out like a fat teddy bear, but there was nothing cuddly about his expression. Will swallowed. Then he remembered the chocolate.

‘I thought you’d need a bit of extra room for this,’ he said, offering the melting chocolate to the dragon. It was slightly soft with bits of tissue sticking to it. The dragon looked at the gift suspiciously. Then he sniffed it. Then he ate it, and the tissue.

‘Do you like your new wings?’ asked Evie.

The dragon seemed to calm down a bit. He spread the wings out to test them, then half hopped, half flew up and down the promenade, trying to catch his reflection in the darkened window of the amusement arcade.

‘They’re all right,’ he said, grudgingly.

‘You’re very bad-tempered,’ said Evie, ‘and rude. Do you ever think about anyone but yourself ? You need a carnelian to learn cheerfulness and wisdom.’

The dragon roared in anger again. ‘Who are you to tell me to learn wisdom? I am a dragon, the last of my noble race. Compared with dragons, humans are simpletons, savages. You’re ignorant and weak. We could have wiped you all out in the bat of an eye, in the flap of a wing.’

‘What happened to the rest of you, then?’ asked Evie. She stood hands on hips, unimpressed by his roaring and shouting.

The dragon said nothing.

‘Well?’

He turned away, his shoulders sagged a little. The claw-like hands clenched for a moment, and he closed his eyes. When he opened them again he spoke softly.

‘Your brother’s seen them. They’re spent. They sank into the stone one by one. Now the stone is all that’s left of them. I am alone.’

‘Oh,’ said Evie, in a small voice.

She was quiet for a moment. Then she looked up, a puzzled expression on her face. ‘But you’re here.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.