Once Upon A Time, part VI

As the sun was rising over the land of Honalee, a single broomstick could be seen by any waking eyes flying into a cave overlooking the bay. But no one was awake. All the dragons were asleep, exhausted from their night’s hunt, and no one else would dare enter Honalee for any reason.

Jane had just given up and gone to sleep. After John had explained dragons to her, she just couldn’t take it anymore. “Wake me if we survive,” she had said mournfully, and passed out.

The witch was a bit more optimistic. They had arrived at the perfect time, she explained. Dragons typically flew out of Honalee to nearby villages to wreak havoc. They had two major times to do so: all night long, and around lunch time. They had just returned, and were resting up for the lunch run. They could go cut the hairs from one of the sleeping animals and be on their way, hopefully before the dragons woke up.

“I’m going to need you to fly again,” the witch told John. “I’ll be staying on the broom, just get me close enough to snip the hairs. But, if I say go, you GO. Don’t hang around. Leave Honalee IMMEDIATELY. Even if we haven’t got the hair yet. Understand?”

“But what about Petey?” John asked. “If we don’t have the hair, won’t he turn into a hideous bloodthirsty gargoyle bent on world destruction?”

“We’ll figure something out,” the witch muttered. “But if we stick around, he’ll still turn into a hideous bloodthirsty gargoyle bent on world destruction, because we’ll be dead and not able to stop him at all, by ANY means.”

John swallowed hard. He nodded, and said nothing.

At last, the witch proclaimed herself ready. John got onto the broom, and the witch helped the still unconscious Jane on behind him. After situating herself, Jack lifted the broom off the ground and into the morning light.

They flew around for a few minutes before the witch pointed out a dragon that looked good. John was hesitant. “Shouldn’t we pick a small one?”

“That IS a small one,” the witch hissed.

It was the biggest living creature John had ever seen in his life, and he had once seen a blue whale. This dragon was easily twice that size. Jets of flame came out of its nostrils everytime it exhaled, and it was obviously asleep. Eyes closed, it was snoring loudly. His enormous belly rose and fell with every breath, and John felt sure that they would soon be inside it.

On top of the dragon’s head was a mane of hair. John looked at the witch, who pointed at it. He nodded and swooped closer.

He had gotten very good at hovering and was mere inches away from the dragon’s head as the witch leaned over to snip some of the hair away. The dragon took no notice, just kept on sleeping. It was almost perfect.

But just as the witch was straightening up, Jane awoke. She saw the dragon, and did what any normal human being would do upon seeing a fire-breathing monster.

She screamed.

“GOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!” screamed the witch, and John didn’t need to be told twice. The dragon was awake, and looking around. John squeezed the broom handle, and they took off. He heard a massive roar, and glanced behind him just in time to see the dragon lifting off from the ground and flying after them.

“DON’T LOOK, FLY!” the witch screamed. John’s head snapped forward. He could feel the dragon coming closer. “LEFT!” came the command from the back, and as he turned sharply, he could feel the mighty wind as the dragon went past them. It roared furiously, and John knew it was banking, coming at them again.

The witch continued to scream directions, and John followed them exactly. They were veering closer and closer to the borders of Honalee. Could dragons leave the country? John didn’t know, and had no time to ask.

“DIVE!” the witch commanded, and John did, but he was certain the dragon could catch them going down as well. Maybe they were trying to exhaust him. John already felt exhausted.

The ground was rushing closer and closer, and John could feel the dragon’s hot breath behind them. He was waiting for further instructions, but it dawned on him - the dragon was having trouble changing course in midair. They had to crash him! He waited until the last possible second, and pulled up.

The dragon screamed in agony as it flew headfirst into the ground. John flew safely out of its range, landed the broom, and promptly fainted.
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When he awoke, the broom was airborne again, and the witch was flying. Jane was holding on to him, keeping him from falling. She smiled grimly at him. “Did we get it?” he asked. She nodded.

“Sorry we couldn’t wait on you to wake up,” the witch said, “but we now only have two hours to get back and make the potion.”

“I understand,” John said, and went back to sleep.

NEXT: The Potion