"Here I am, Garreth," she greeted in as warm of voice as she could muster when deep down she was, if not exactly afraid, then extremely apprehensive of the old dragon, who was, after all, very much a dragon, and, as such, unpredictable and, what was worse, a formidable foe should one happen to say or do something he took objection to.

You shouldn't be here, Garreth," Chester said, trying to draw the beast's attention away from Hope. "Coming to brood over your treasure ain't safe, with that son of yours looking for an excuse to thrash the daylights out of you. You know he considers all this wealth his now."

In response the old dragon lifted his head and gave forth a loud cry, unlike any Hope had ever heard before. It made her sad somehow, but also fearful. Garreth was not, it seemed, going to relinquish his treasures as easily as they, and his son, had supposed he would.

"You still have me, Garreth," Hope said, trying to calm the dragon. "Your son will get tired of this island in time, and all this will be yours again."

"Blime, Hope!" Chester said as he stared in disbelief at the mount of Garreth's treasures. "Look at the pile. I know every item Garreth has, and there's a fair number of trinkets missing. I'll wager this isn't the first trip Garreth has made to the cave while his son is out and about. I wonder where he's taking his treasures? Some other island not too far off, I expect. He's too old and tired to travel a great distance with a heavy load."

Garreth apparently didn't appreciate Chester's comment for the dragon bellowed so loudly that Hope clapped her hands over her ears to muffle the sound.

After he was done venting his rage at Chester's insult, the dragon grabbed up the old man in one of his front claws and reached out for Hope with the other. Fearing the dragon was about to carry both her and Chester away from the island and their new friends, and the balloon which was their only hope of escape, Hope did something she had never done before, she screamed.

Garreth's scaly claw had just encircled her slender waist when suddenly the old dragon stood as if turned to stone, his head tilted to one side listening.

As Whittle stepped out from behind the mound, sweet music flowing from the flute in his mouth, Garreth's grip loosened. Forgetting the two humans he had been about to carry off the dragon focused his full attention on the young man who had appeared unexpectedly and uninvited from among his treasures.

Of course Garreth knew about the new arrivals. After all, it had been he that had saved them from the red dragon's vicious attack when they had appeared in the sky, riding in a basket held up with a balloon that Garreth remembered from earlier years, when a strange little man with yellow skin and a long black braid had visited him and his mate on a regular bases. That Dagu had been a friend of theirs would have been a misstatement. Rather, he had learned many things from the wizard, as a teacher often learns from his pupil.

If he had followed his first instinct he would have killed Whittle on the spot for invading his property (he could not yet bring himself to admit that the cave now belonded to his son) and taken Hope and Chester to his new home on an island not too far off, where he had, as Chester had rightly supposed, gradually been moving his coveted treasures. But Garreth was not as impetuous as he had been in younger days, and then too, there was the music. He had never heard anything like it before. It stirred in his heart things long forgotten. Memories of a mate, and commitment, and love; something his son would have never understood, having never experienced them. Garreth realized that it was not for him that this young man played his music, but for the girl with the beautiful hair. It came as no surprise to him when Hope ran to Whittle and took a stand between the dragon and the young man, her arms outspread as if to protect him from the dragon's attack.

Seeing that the music was not effecting Garreth as he hoped, and fearful that Hope might be harmed for standing between himself and the attacker, Whittle dropped his flue and pushed Hope to one side. Swiftly he drew his sword and planted his feet, waiting for the dragon to attack.

As Garreth growled deep in his throat Chester moved to stand between the dragon and Whittle. "Put the sword away, boy!" the man ordered sharply. "There's no one going to be chopping off any claws while I'm on watch."

"Oh, Chester, you can't let Garreth hurt Whittle!" Hope cried, once more taking a stand in front of the young man.

"Move out of the way, Hope!" Whittle ordered sternly. "I'll not let the dragon carry you off!"

It was then they heard a most unusual sound. A sound Hope had heard but once before. It was the sound of the old dragon chuckling.

"Great Hoppy Toads!" Alanna gasped, stepping out from behind the pile of treasures. "He understands what you're saying! And what's more, he thinks it's funny!"

Garreth stopped his strange deep throated laugh and looked directly at Alanna. But it wasn't Alanna his gaze fastened on. For a moment his eyes narrowed and smoke wafted from his nose. What was the girl doing with Dagu's wand, the old dragon wondered, staring at the black stick she held in her hand. Had they taken it and the balloon from his old friend? Were they here to rob him as they had robbed his one time confidant? He growled deep in his throat and lashed his tail back and forth.

"He thinks you stole something, Alanna," Whittle said, his hand tightening on his sword as he heard the threat in the old dragon's voice.

At Whittle's warning Garreth gave the young lad a sharp glance. Not since the days when he had learned human speech from Dagu and taught the wizard a little of dragon speech had anyone understood him like this lad seemed to. Garreth lowered his head and muttered a few odd growls and howls, testing this new idea.

"You've taken something that belongs to a friend of his," Whittle said, though how he knew what the dragon was saying he could not, himself, understand. "Show him you have nothing hidden on you, Alanna."

"I have nothing, Whittle. Only the staff Dagu gave me!" the girl protested.

It is not possible for a dragon to sigh, but the sound Garreth made was very near to one.

"That is it!" Whittle exclaimed. "Great Hoppy Toads! How could I be so stupid! Didn't Dagu know that Hope had been taken by Garreth? Didn't he tell us where she had been taken, and give us the balloon so that we could find her?"

Garreth considered his words. He considered too the music the boy had played. To the dragon's ear it had sounded very much like the mating call of a male dragon wooing his future mate. A match that, if the female accepted, was to be for the rest of their natural lives. He recalled how Hope had put her own life at risk in order to protect the young man. To him it seemed very clear. Whittle had come to the island in search of a mate. He had found and wooed Hope and the girl had accepted his proposal. Garreth considered what that would mean to him personally. If the lad tired to take Hope away from the island, then he would be taking what belonged to Garreth, and that must not be allowed. But if the lad were willing to remain on the island and become Hope's mate that would mean in the course of time there would be offspring. Perhaps with hair the same color as their mother's. That would please him almost as much as when his mate had presented him with offsprings. That the last one had turned out to be nothing but trouble, he blamed on his mate for disappearing and leaving the young whelp without a mother to raise him as a dragon ought to be raised.

As he thought of his latest offspring he remembered that the red dragon had turned against him and now controlled the island, and everything on it. That included the young people who stood staring at him, waiting, it seemed, for him to make the next move.

Garreth muttered some words very much like the ones his son had spoken when commanding Whittle to 'stay put' and then the old dragon turned, with some difficulty, for he was much taller than his son, and left the startled humans to fend for themselves.

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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