Hope glanced frantically around her, and snatched up a large stick that had washed up on the beach.

"Can't you never do as you're told!" Chester groaned as Hope took a stand next to the old man.

"Of course not. I'm a princess, remember?" Hope bantered, her hand tightening on the piece of wood.

As the dragon drew back its head to shoot what the girl knew would be a fatal blast of fire on the two helpless humans she raised the stick and threw it as hard as she could at the winged-serpant, hoping to strike it in the eye, but the piece of wood bounced harmlessly off of the thick snout and landed with a thud on the rocky beach.

"That got him mad, it did!" Chester mumbled as the dragon's eyes narrowed and his nostrils filled with smoke.

Hope didn't answer, but stood with her head held high, the wind of the dragon's angry flapping wings blowing her golden-red hair about her face and whipping the hem of her tattered skirt about her slender legs.

It was a brave and beautiful picture she made for those above as they watched the life and death struggle taking place below them.

"Do something!" Alanna cried. "We can't let the monster kill her!"

"Shoot arrow!" Timon advised, his high young voice even shriller in his excitement. "Slay dragon before it eat Timon's friend!"

"We're too far away, Prince Timon," Whittle pointed out, though he had been fingering his bow as he watched the courageous girl below battling with a beast ten times her size and wishing mightily he was not quite so high and far out to sea.

"Try making pretty lights again, Julian," Obil suggested, "Perhaps colors will draw dragon's attention away from young princess and Chester."

Julian took back the wand that Alanna held out to him and grabbed up Todd's old walking stick from where it lay on the floor.

"Hurry, Julian! Hurry!" Alanna sobbed. "The dragon is attacking!"

Julian thrust the wand and staff over the edge of the basket and shouted out the words he had heard Alanna mutter to produce the colored lights that had saved them from Avery's dark spirits. The boy was in such a hurry that he didn't take time to hold the staff and wand skyward. With a whiz and high pitched whistle the colored lights shot out with surprising force, heading straight down toward the beach, as if on a course of their own.

The dragon who had drawn in its breath to blow out a blast of fire, suddenly straightened, bellowing loudly in shock and rage as a rainbow of fire struck it on the backside.

Forgetting the two humans it had been about to devour, the dragon turned its head to locate where this unexpected attack had come from. Its snake-like eyes spied, high in the sky, a red dragon, very similar to itself, shining brightly in the light of the morning sun. With an angry hiss it spread its wings and took to the air.

"By nabby!" Chester gasped. "Will you look at that! A flying ship come to save your highness!"

"There are people in the basket," Hope cried. "The dragon will destroy their craft and they will plunge into the sea below!"

Those in the aircraft had decided the same thing.

"Shoot it, Whittle! Shoot it!" Julian screamed as the dragon flew swiftly toward them.

"If I kill it, Julian, it will drop into the sea, and we won't be able to cut off its claw," Whittle reasoned. "Without its claw we have no proof that we slew the dragon."

"You don't need the dragon, Whittle!" Clayton reminded, cringing on the bottom of the basket, watching in terror the dragon who had swept past and now fluttered above them as though considering what it was about to attack and the best way to go about it. "You've got the Princess of Lark! She's worth more than all the dragons' claws in the whole world, boy!"

"He's right, Whittle!" Julian cried. "Slay the dragon before it kills us!"

"Obil, take young Prince Timon to the beach," Whittle said soberly as he fitted the arrow that the village fletcher had given him into his bow. 'Never has an arrow been made that will fly straighter, nor swifter. Use it only after you've discovered the serpent's weak spot. Then, with a steady hand and a sure eye loose this arrow and you will be assured of success,' the man had declared before slipping the arrow solemnly in Whittle's old leather quiver. Unfortunately, there was no time for Whittle to discover the dragon's weak spot, nor to steady his hand before shooting the arrow, for the dragon was plunging down on them at an astonishing speed.

"Timon not go! Timon not afraid!" the young pixie was shouting, but the older fairy had already thrown the young prince over his shoulder and was zipping away.

The dragon was almost upon them when Whittle let his arrow fly, hoping to strike the beast in its soft underbelly. To everyone's dismay the dragon turned just enough that the point of the arrow bounced off his scaly wing.

Whittle drew his sword and planted his feet as best he could in the rocking basket and prepared to do battle at close range.

The sunlight struck the drawn blade giving the dragon pause. Then it lifted it's large talons and with an angry hiss plunged down on the balloon, digging its sharp nails into the red dragon.

The sound of air escaping from the balloon came to the ears of those in the basket.

The dragon who had attacked the painted dragon seemed confused. It tipped its head to one side and listened to the gentle hiss.

"Perhaps we can make it to land before all the air leaks out!" Alanna said, her voice trembling as she held onto the side of the basket and gazed toward the shoreline.

"Perhaps we could, if it weren't for him," Julian said, nodding toward the dragon who had flown higher into the sky and was turning back toward the balloon. "I think this next attack will finish off the balloon, and us with it."

"Look! Look!" Alanna cried, pointing out past the dragon.

"Oh, blimey! It's another one!" Clayton moaned.

The new arrival was approaching slowly, his large wings flapping laboriously, but deliberately. The red dragon didn't notice the advancing dragon until it was almost upon him. Just as the red dragon was plunging toward the airship the larger dragon came down on top of him and knocked him off course.

"Looks like the new beasty wants us all to his self!" Clayton grumbled.

"I think you're wrong, Clayton," Alanna said, watching with large eyes as the two dragons came at each other. "I think he is trying to save us, and not so he can eat us either. I think he is a good dragon."

"You've been listening to too much of Dagu's crazy talk," Clayton grumbled. "The only good dragon is a dead one."

"Good or bad, he's not going to win this fight," Whittle predicted as the red dragon sent the slower dragon reeling through the air with a hard smack of its thick tail.

On the beach Hope was thinking very much the same thing. "Oh, Chester, poor Garreth!" she sobbed. "Can't we do something?"

Timon sat perched on Hope's shoulder, his forehead puckered as he thought. Without a word to anyone the little pixie flew off, heading straight toward the two dragons. It wasn't until they saw his small glow high in the sky that they realized he had gone.

"No! No!" Obil groaned. He had been so interested in watching the dragons do battle that he had not kept a proper eye on the young prince. "He's just like his father, that one! He will get himself killed! A pixie can not outrun a dragon!"

"For a short time it can!" Hope said, recalling what Chester had told her. "Perhaps he can reach the woods before the dragon catches him!"

"Obil make sure," the captain of King Jakin's army said, and flew away after the young pixie.

"Now they're both going to get themselves killed!" Chester predicted. "All 'cause those fool people didn't kill the dragon when they had the chance! A fine lot of knights your pa sent out to resuce you, your highness."

Hope didn't answer but watched spellbound as the two pixies darted in and out in front of the red dragon's face, drawing his attention first this way and then that while at the same time the frustrated monster tried to battle the older dragon.

Finally the red dragon, ignoring the two pixies, delivered a hard blow to the old dragon that sent him plunging toward the sea. Hope held her breath, fearing Garreth had been knocked unconscious and would sink beneath the waves and drown. But just before touching the water Garreth rallied and flew skyward. This time, however, he didn't attack the younger dragon, but flew swiftly in the opposite direction. With an angry hiss the red dragon flew after the retreating enemy.

"He's leading him away, he is!" Chester said, but Hope wasn't as sure. It seemed more likely to her that Garreth knew he had been bested and was escaping while he was still able.

"They ain't going to make it," Chester said shaking his head sadly as he watched the balloon and basket sinking toward the sea below.

Timon came flying proudly back, and landed on Hope's shoulder. Obil, however, had returned to the basket which was inches from the water.

"Can they swim to shore?" Hope asked doubtfully, for the balloon and basket still seemed a great distance away.

"Not likely," Chester said soberly. "Sure wish I'd of made a boat out of them washed up logs. It couldn't of gotten clear across the water, but it might of gotten far enough out to save them poor souls."

Those in the basket realized that they weren't going to make it to shore, and most likely were going to have to try and swim for it. But as the basket touched the water a strange thing happened. It didn't sink, but rather floated on top of the waves, though it rode alarmingly low.

"Start paddling!" Whittle yelled, grabbing up Todd's walking stick and using it as an oar. "Use whatever you have, your hands if nothing else. Once this basket gets soaked through it's going to sink. The balloon is loosing air and will soon fall on us, adding extra weight that will push us under."

They worked madly, but made little headway against the current.

Suddenly there came a buzzing and the figure of a straight shouldered male pixie alighted on the edge of the basket.

"Your majesty!" Obil greeted, taking off his hat and bowing low before his king.

"Never mind that now, Obil," Tid-Bit said briskly. "Have you any rope with you?" he asked.

"I have!" Whittle cried, reaching down to loosen the coil of rope that hung from his belt.

"Tie one end to basket!" The new arrival instructed. "Give other end to Obil and self. We will fly rope to Hope and Chester. They pull basket to shore."

"Oh, what a splendid idea!" Alanna cried, clapping her hands together. "But please hurry!"

As the two pixies took to the air with the rope held in their small hands Whittle shook his head. "They're not going to make it in time," he predicted, seeing how the water lapped dangerously close to the edge of the basket. "We will have to lighten the load."

Whittle threw over his pack and Julian did likewise, but soon the water was back lapping at the edge.

"I'm going to try and swim for it, Julian," Whittle said eyeing the beach. "My weight should lighten the basket enough to give you time to get to shore before you're swamped."

"No, Whittle! It's too far yet!" Julian protested, fear reflected in his eyes and voice. "Let's throw Clayton overboard, he's twice as heavy as you!"

"I can't swim," the man protested. "Why, it'd be murder!" he added in a hurt tone.

"If I don't make it, Julian, carry on the quest!" Whittle instructed and jumping overboard, struck out for the shoreline.

"He's a game young lad, but he ain't going to make it," Chester said as he and Hope watched the young man struggling through the waves.

Hope let loose of the rope she and Chester had been pulling on and looked about her. "Bring the basket to shore, Chester," she ordered. Selecting a nearby log she started rolling it toward the water.

"What you doing, girlie?" Chester asked, yanking hand over hand on the rope, trying to bring the basket to shore before those in it went under the waves. "You ain't thinking of swimming that log out to the boy, are you? I won't allow it, you hear?"

"You keep forgetting, Chester, that I am a princess and don't take orders from common folks!" she smiled, and kicking off what was left of her shoes pushed the log out into the waves.

Whittle's arms were strong, and he was young and healthy, but the surf was high and the current against him.

"I can't do it," he thought as his long arms beat at the waves. "I shall die, and the quest shall come to an end. My family will be killed or carried off into captivity along with the good folk of Randam." He fought with renewed vigor, but it was useless. He was no match for the sea.

Whittle had swallowed several mouthfuls of water and his limbs felt like weights, but still he struggled on. Then, when he could go no further, something bumped into him and a firm hand grabbed hold of his jacket before he went under the waves.

"Hold onto the log," a girl's voice, sweet as honey but firm as iron ordered. "It will keep us afloat. All we have to do is paddle to shore. You may rest awhile first if you wish."

Whittle wrapped his arms around the log and gazed into the most beautiful face he had ever seen.

"Are you a mermaid?" he asked, half in jest.

The girl laughed softly and shook her head. "No mermaid I. If we don't get to land, I shall drown, same as you."

With that the two young people, side by side, began to paddle toward the shore where Chester had already brought the basket to rest and was working with the survivors to pull in the collapsed balloon.

Dragon's Claw Book One
Price $12.95  
    by Charles M. Clark
(Browser Readable E-Book on CD-ROM contains Music & No Sound Options)

FROM THE BOOK STORE

Prince Adam returns home to find his father, the King, gravely ill, some say dying. Feeling unprepared for the duties of kingship, and unhappy about a proposed marriage between himself and a rather plain princess, Adam makes a plea to the Powers that be for guidance and help. Adam then falls into a deep sleep and awakes in an unfamiliar land full of sinister foes and wild men. Yet it is one of these wild men that takes Adam under his wing and teaches the young prince what it takes to be a real leader. Charles M. Clark has written this book for older children and teens, but older folks enjoy it as well. All Antelope Publishing's fantasy books are browser readable and come on CD-ROM. The CD-ROM contains TWO books. One book with music and special electronic enhancements, and one book without, for times when a quieter read is desired. For more information about browser readable e-books CLICK HERE

The Making of a King
Price $9.95  
    by Charles M. Clark
(Browser Readable E-Book on CD-ROM contains Music & No Sound Options)

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