Page 49 of His Greatest Treasure

I moved through the woods and, when I got to the edge, I hesitated as I remembered what had happened to Alfie. That wouldn’t happen again.The Somerville Guardian had layered too many protections up. Nobody could see in.

Glancing around me, I noted that I was hidden from view by the woods and I was fairly sure nobody else was around the territory. I hadn’t seen the new Guardian anywhere. They hadn’t passed by the woods yet.

I didn’t change form again as I crept along towards the boundary. I wanted to see it clearer. I was sure there was flame on the other side. It was getting further away, and I walked along it for minutes and minutes until I’d probably walked about a mile.

Then I felt it again.

Therewasa dragon on the other side.

My first instinct was to rush back to Alfie. Then I shook myself. Alfie couldn’t protect me because he was such a sweet little dragon.Ineeded to protecthim.

And so I crept closer to the dragon, trying to see through the boundary.

When I felt I was near, I switched to my flame form, just in case. I made myself small and crept nearer, hating the soft, damp grass under me. Isizzled and fizzed where I touched it, and I wanted to shift back.

I had to walk around for a while before I realised that I’d lost my sense of the flame because the dragon had shifted back to their human form.

It took another ten minutes for me to locate them and, when I did, I stumbled back in surprise. It was the Guardian. Glimmer.

He was working spells on the other side of the boundary and my first instinct was to turn and flee. I ran half way back to the woods before I changed my mind.

Running wasn’t going to help Alfie. I needed to stop Glimmer getting through the boundary. If he was angry about his banishment and was dismantling the protective spells he’d put up, I needed to replace them.

I couldn’t work magic the same way that dragons could. Fire spirits had fire magic. That was all. But at the very least I could warn him away. Let him know that the territory was protected, even if he was gone.

Just as I was about to send a flame shooting out, one that would burn and purify, I heard a sound. Talking.

Glimmer was talking to someone on the other side of the boundary. I couldn’t see him because the spells were too thick, concealing. I had to creep closer to listen to them but I swear I heard them talking.

“We’ve been working on this section for days, Glimmer. It’s strong. Which parts of the boundary are the weakest?”

I held my breath, listening harder, creeping closer as a tiny little flicker of light.

“This is the most important part. It’s where Alfie plays.”

“It’s not important if someone can get in a mile down the road and walk straight through the territory to him.”

Glimmer’s voice suddenly changed. It was full of fire and teeth as he spat, “Never. Our borders are strong.”

“They will be. We need to build them all up.”

“I’ve been plugging the holes for months. Even Dane can’t get in any longer, and he was a constant pain in my ass, sneaking through the gaps.”

“Let’s circle round. I want to check.”

Glimmer’s voice changed, becoming warm instead of burning. “Finish these and then I’ll fly us round. You can lead.”

I felt the pressure of spells being created, the strange crackle in the air that told me magic was nearby. I had to strain to identify them but what I saw was curious. The magic they were working wasn’t dismantling the spells or eating away at them. It was building them.

I watched as the two magics twined together to build more spells. I had to wait until I’d felt Glimmer shift into his dragon form, felt the fire simmering in his belly, and then I felt them leave. At least, I felt Glimmer leave and assumed whoever-it-was he was with had gone with him. I didn’t feel any more magic being put down.

Slowly, I reached out to touch the boundary spells. I wanted to study them, to make sure they were protective and not… anything else. I wanted to just be sure they’d keep Alfie safe and not weaken the territory defences.

I prodded and tested in every way I could think of, but the spells remained strong and they remained defensive. It looked the like Guardian was finishing his work.

While I tried to identify what the other man had been doing, I heard panting breaths behind me and turned to see Alfie running across the field.

“Blaze! Blaze, what are you doing?”

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