Page 5 of His Greatest Treasure

There was someone inside the territory who wasn’t part of my clan.

Chapter 3

Blaze

I’d burned half a tree because I’d been so hungry, but I didn’t want to take any more because trees were the sort of things that people realised were missing, if they vanished one by one.

I could probably take two or three before anyone noticed but I didn’t want to risk it until I had to. If I was smart about this, I could stay inside these woods for ages. I needed somewhere to live and this protected field was perfect, and the woods would give me some shelter from the elements and the people who lived here.

Thedragonswho lived here, I reminded myself.

I could almost feel them nearby, the potential fire in their bellies. If there was one thing I knew, it was fire.

They were all at the castle, though, and I could barely see it from where I was, huddled between the trees.

I was still hungry. I hadn’t eaten in so long and fire spirits were always hungry. We needed the fuel or we’d grow thin and weak. A hungry fire spirit was dangerous, too, because our instinct would take over and grab for the nearest fuel andburn. We really didn’t mean to, it was just what fire did. Sometimes, if we were too hungry and couldn’t stop ourselves, we caused fires that burned out of our control. At least it hadn’t beenmewho’d started the Great Fire of London. That little incident served as a warning to us all.

I’d probably end up burning this wood down, though, if I got hungrier and hungrier.

I waited until evening. It was early spring and the nights were drawing in early, so it was dusk when I made my way across the grass to the castle. Dusk was the perfect time to move. Fires would be more visible in the dark but I wasn’t trying to sneak around in broad daylight, either.

I crept right up to the wall and nobody came charging out and that dark silhouette didn’t fly over me again. Slowly, I made my way aroundto the back door, hoping it was the kitchen. I pressed up against it, trying to hear anybody moving around inside.

It was silent.

When I was mostly sure that nobody would be inside, I stood back to study the door. I was weak and that meant I couldn’t identify spells as easily as I wanted. The last thing I wanted to do was push open the door and trigger an alarm. I didn’t want any dragons chasing me.

I stood there for ages, trying to see if there were spells there. I moved along and looked at another door, peeped in a window.

Walking around the corner of the building, I saw a table outside with a flask, a plate of sandwiches and some bananas on. Some wonderful soul had left dinner out here. Even though I knew it wasn’t for me, my hunger gnawed inside me and I picked up the bananas. They wouldn’t miss one, would they?

Just as I was about to break one off for myself, I heard the kitchen door open.

I froze, holding my breath.

A voice called, “Hello? Is anybody there?”

Flickering to my fire form, I shrank down and prayed that I’d be unnoticeable.

Footsteps sounded, emerging from the castle. For a moment, I thought that whoever-it-was would go about their business and miss me completely but they walked right round the side of the building. I jumped in fright and bolted.

Not the smartest thing to do, because that meant they definitely saw me.

I caught sight of a handsome young face, white-blonde hair and wide, startled eyes as I sprinted across the field to the woods.

Behind me, I heard him say, “Wait, you’re not meant to be here. Wait.”

I didn’t wait.

I was heading for the woods because I thought I might be able to get lost in there and there were fewer dragons there, which I liked. It was nearer the border of their territory, too. If I had to leave, I’d stand a better chance of making it out if I started from there.

Of course, if I was on the outside again, I’d feel exposed and unsafe from being unprotected but that was a bridge I’d cross when I came to it.

I nearly sighed as I ran, but I couldn’t spare the breath. I just wanted somewhere to stay where I wasn’t constantly jumpy and alert. Was that too much to ask? I’d thought a dragon’s territory would be perfect, as long as they didn’t know I was there.

As soon as I hit the woods, I darted behind the nearest tree and shrank down to the smallest flame I could become.

That large dragon circling over my head earlier hadn’t seen me, and I really, really hoped that this young dragon wouldn’t see me, either. I was so small that I almost snuffed myself out completely, trying to become invisible.

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