Stuck in the Land Of Dragons

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

They ran through the tunnel, through Atholia's 'bedroom' and straight out the exit. They thundered down the stairs and ran as fast as they could back to their cave, where they practically threw the boulder back in place (Theo couldn't believe his own strength!) and sat down on their beds, gasping for breath. Then Willow burst into tears.

"That was awful! The beast, that terrifying beast came and we were almost spotted. Oh, it was so terrifying! And all that work for nothing!"

"Well," Theo said, holding up the piece of paper he had nicked from the pocket of Locksharti's pants. "Not exactly nothing..."

"Theo!" Willow cried, giving him a bear hug. "What does it say?" Theo opened up the folded piece of paper and read it aloud.

"'How To Make A Dragon Potion

By Locksharti Kesavan 9/4/1884' Man, that guy is old!" Theo exclaimed

"I know. He must've been, like, 135 when he died," Willow said. Theo continued.

"'Have you ever wanted to be a dragon? If so, do not worry. Help is at hand. People must be turned into dragons.

What you need:

· The dragon spit from whatever type of dragon you want to turn into

· A dragon scale from whatever type of dragon you want to turn into

· 1 Bottle

· 1 Spoon

· Water (As much as you need to fill the bottle)

What you do:

1. Pour the water into the bottle

2. Pour the dragon spit into the water

3. Stir clockwise for 5 seconds

4. Drop the dragon scale into the water

5. Stir 6 times clockwise and 7 times anti-clockwise

6. Drink and you will be a dragon!

A final note of warning: Do not count on being a dragon for too long as this potion's effect only lasts for an hour.'"

Theo finished and looked up at Willow.

"Let's go back at three," He said. Willow nodded and they started to prepare. Theo went to the kitchen and found some milk Willow had packed. He poured some of it into a bowl and carried it to the bottom of Atholia's mountain. He carefully and stealthily climbed up the stairs to Atholia's cave without being noticed by any of the sleeping slaves. When he got to the top, two young dragons stopped him.

"You! What are you doing here?" They demanded. Theo was ready for that question.

"I'm one of Atholia's newest slaves. She says that when it's her nap time I must bring her warm milk," He replied in a shaky voice.

"And why should we let you in?"

"Do you not understand?" Theo raised his voice to try and scare the young guards. "If she does not get her milk, she will get angry and kill the first thing in her sight. And if you don't let me in, guess who she will see first?"

The guards exchanged uncertain glances and stepped aside. Theo carried his bowl inside and set it in front of Atholia's nest. After a quick glance around, he pulled out a small wooden tube from his pocket. He went right up to Atholia's ugly face and saw a drop of deep red saliva dribbling down her snout. He held the wooden tube out right under the beast's snout and the saliva dribbled right into the tube. Theo pocketed the tube and pulled out a pocket knife. He circled the sleeping monster, looking for a scale that looked the least bit loose. He spotted one that looked as if a small claw had tried to dig under there. Unfortunately, this scale was right in the middle of Atholia's huge back. Theo tried leaning over her but he couldn't even reach the top of her back. There was only one thing he could do. He climbed onto the beast's back as slowly as he could. He tugged a rock that he had found on the floor over to Atholia. He stepped up, and slowly raised his leg. But he had just rested his leg on her back when Atholia snorted. Theo froze. She wriggled a tiny bit, but didn't wake up. Theo slowly pushed off the floor with one foot and lifted himself up. He opened the pocket knife to reveal a sharp, shiny, silver knife. Then as fast as he could he shoved the knife under the scale. Atholia screeched out in pain and stood up, banging her head on the roof and throwing Theo off. She turned around and saw him laying on the floor.

"HUMAN!" She screeched. The guards ran in to the cave and circled poor Theo. Atholia advanced on him slowly and menacingly, an evil grin plastered on her face. Theo was trapped. Atholia ran forward and, in one swift movement, she attacked. She tried to bite Theo, who held up the pocket knife and stabbed the roof of her enormous mouth. Then he ducked under the legs of two of the guards and ran down the steps three at a time. He ran back into the cave where Willow was waiting to push back the boulder. She did so just in time. A soldier smashed right into it. Willow peered out of the window.

"He's out cold," She informed Theo, who was sitting on his bed, huffing and puffing. Willow rolled the boulder away, quickly dashed outside and dragged the fainted dragon inside. Then she threw a jug of water on his head. He didn't wake up. She shrugged and turned to Theo.

"How did it go?" She asked.

"Well... badly but... I got the spit... and... the scale" Theo gasped between deep breaths. Willow grinned.

"Good. I've got the jar ready. It's full of water, and has a spoon in it."
Willow grabbed a jar off of the bench and set it on the floor in front of Theo. He took the wooden tube out from his pocket and poured he contents into the water, which turned the colour of fresh blood. Willow stirred the spoon clockwise while Theo counted down from five. He ten pulled out the purply-red coloured scale out from his pocket and dropped it into the jar. Willow started stirring clockwise.

"Four, five, six, now anticlockwise, one, two, three, four..." She murmured. "And... done! Now when you drink this you will become the most terrifying dragon to ever walk this dimension," She told Theo.

"Now I'll go and hide behind our mountain and then you'll give me the signal when she leaves. I'm pretty sure I can tell the time from the sun now so I'll know when it's three. But still give the signal," Theo instructed Willow. She stood up straight and saluted.

"Yes, sir." Theo smiled and looked at the sky through the window. It was 2:30.

"I'll go to my hiding place in fifteen minutes," He told Willow, who nodded. Theo sat back down on his bed and started planning what was going to happen. In his head, he would go to hide. Then at precisely three o'clock, Willow would wave at him. Then he would see Atholia to fly over him, wait a few more minutes, and then drink the potion. Then he would growl at the guards if they asked him any questions, and go inside. Once inside, he would have a whole hour to find the stone, and get out of there. Mission complete. And then he would-

"Theo!" Willow said, interrupting his daydream. "Time to go!" So Theo grabbed the potion and some other things he might need, and went to hide.