Dragons of Draegonia Page 10

  Interrogation Report.

  For the attention of Dragon Black.

  Dragon Date 160/2011.

  Under the authority of Dragon Black a full interrogation was undertaken throughout the late night and the early morning of the 159/160.

  The four prisoners admitted they were a species called Children from a distant land they called England but believed to be Britannia who with an expedition force was to invade Draegonia. Their plan was to incapacitate the ability of all dragons to spit flames and to capture the Leader of Draegonia.

  A struggle ensued during the interrogation when one of the ‘Children’ called George threw a steel bucket in an attempt to escape. He was overpowered and I suffered some minor injuries during his apprehension.

  Further questioning revealed that there is no antidote to the chemicals they used and they continue to deny any involvement unless placed under duress or torture. They are clever little creatures that make you believe they are no more than the survivors of a shipwreck. This I have established is untrue and that their landing craft is still somewhere on the island.

  It has been verified by me, although they constantly deny this unless tortured, that their contact on Draegonia was Dragon Brown, who wants to overthrow Dragon Black.

  They have also stated to me that they are to send regular signals (by way of a mirror) and that if no such signal is received after a two ‘Dragon Day’ period, then they will be assumed dead.

  My recommendation is that the four invaders designated as ‘Children’ should be tried and sentenced as a matter of urgency, as an example set to others, who may think of attempting to overthrow the leadership of Draegonia.

  My final recommendation is that Dragon Brown should be tried for treason and that all trials should be undertaken as a matter of urgency in order that we can concentrate on the need to defend Draegonia from any further attack.

  Dragon Green signed the report and was about to fold it when Dragon Blue spoke. “I would like to see the report please.” Dragon Blue without asking again plucked the report out of Green’s hands and quickly read it.

  “Umm, you have established these facts and I suppose you are now going to write them into a statement for the perpetrators to sign?” Dragon Green grabbed the report back, saying that he was instructed by Dragon Black to interrogate and report, nothing about statements from the prisoners.

  Blue listened and then said in an authoritative voice, as he once more snatched the report out of Greens sweaty claws, “I’ll use a copy of your report Green and will make out the relevant statements; we must uphold due process of law, mustn’t we?“

  Blue marched over to the ‘Dragon Copier’ and placed it in for a duplicate to be made. A long pointed beaked bird moved its head from side to side rapidly reading the original and placing its beak intermittently into an ink like liquid to copy a replica onto similar type parchment.

  Having made a copy, Dragon Blue gave the original back to Green. “I think we all need to get some shuteye, don’t you Green?” Dragon Blue opened the station door and gestured for Green to leave, closing it behind him with a thud.

  Green trotted up towards the Hall of Dragons. He had no intention of sleeping, he was intent on doing away with both Brown and the Children, but of course, he now needed the assistance and willingness of Dragon Black.

  Within the Dragon Hall, Black was still on his throne but during the night it converted to a strange looking yet fully functional and practical bed. The high back of the plinth tilted rearwards and a marble slab, drawn out of a compartment usually concealed within the bottom, gave the whole thing sufficient length for Dragon Black to lie on at full stretch.

  Green had been admitted through security by a very annoyed dragon who had not expected his unauthorised 200 winks of sleep to be interrupted.

  “Wait here!” Dragon Indigo pointed to the official waiting room. “I’ll go and see if Dragon Black will see you, but your visit had better be life or death, otherwise it will be literally your death for disturbing him at this hour of the morning.”

  Dragon Indigo quietly slid off, leaving Green rehearsing how he would present his report, made up of lies, to Dragon Black.

  CHAPTER 16

  Sentenced to Death

  Earlier, Dragon Pink had left Dragon Blue at the Police Station; she was very confused and worried for the four now locked up, recalling their story of events.

  She had not found them to be in command of an invading force. She had seen no army and she certainly had not seen them carry any weapons. What was she to do? She knew that no one would believe her without proof of the innocence of the four. Suddenly she recalled that the Children had told her of the meeting with Dragon White and that they had been scared into firing a pistol used to send distress flares. Dragon White was an important witness and could be instrumental in helping to free the locked-up four.

  Pink decided to act and ran as fast as she could to White’s cave. Her head projected forward, her neck outstretched and her little legs carrying her body so fast that she looked like a jet fighter flying low level.

  On reaching White’s cave, Pink crashed into the entrance door with a thud. White on hearing the crash immediately awoke and rushed to open the door to reveal a slightly dazed Pink dragon. “What on earth are you doing Pink?” White quizzed.

  Pink, brushing herself down, pushed past White and entered a very bright white room filled with items taken or collected from the beach. There were plastic bottles filled with coloured water decorating old wooden chests washed up from shipwrecks of bygone years. On two of the walls were hung slightly ragged flags of white with a red cross and a second coloured blue, green and red.

  “Quick shut the door, there is a big problem!” Pink crouched on one of the wooden chests and started to update White about the fact that the police station cells now not only held the four children but also Dragon Brown. Pink explained that she had seen the children during the night of the previous day and befriended them. They had told her about their sailing boat mysteriously being caught in a storm, the events on being washed up on Draegonia and the fact that they had seen Dragon White.

  White listened intently and went to a tap in the wall and poured hot water into two mugs. The water came from a pressurised ground fissure that collected rain water and when the tap was opened the water passed close to the heated rocks of the volcano. “Dragon Tea” White said.

  Pink nodded and took one of the mugs and sipped. White was more than relieved to find she could talk openly about the encounter she had with the four little ones. “You know, I was rather foolish in not explaining things but felt stupid at falling over and skidding into the sea, swallowing all that water and seaweed, and then having to explain myself to everyone.”

  White paused for a second or two then putting her mug of hot ‘Dragon Tea’ down grabbed Pinks left paw. “What I cannot understand Pink is why your four friends should attack Dragon Green and cause him so many injuries. I also do not understand why they chased Dragon Yellow.” White gasped. “Unless of course Green has lied about the whole thing and that Dragon Yellow is in cahoots with him!”

  Pink nodded. “But why lock up Dragon Brown?” She said.

  White had no immediate answer but told Pink that they needed to go together to tell Dragon Blue everything. Pink was uncertain. She questioned whether or not Dragon Blue would believe them and if they would be seen as making up stories.

  White looked sternly at Pink. “Look Pink, I made the mistake of not telling everyone exactly what happened, I allowed what was a slight exaggeration to become a major lie and as such we now have five facing the wrath of Dragon Black.”

  Pink agreed saying: “Well I am sure that if we speak to Dragon Blue he will know exactly what to do, so shall we go now?”

  White looked at the ‘Dragon Clock’ on the wall, a peculiar piece of engineering made out of bits of metal, wire, string and wood, but told accurate ‘Dragon Time’. “I think we need to go together first thing in the morning
and in the meantime you can sleep here tonight.”

  Pink accepted the offer as White pointed to the spare cave room. Whilst Pink was settling down for what little remained of the night, White washed and dried the mugs, returned to her bed and with one dragon puff blew out the light. Morning would soon come.

   Dragon Green was in deep conversation with Dragon Black, who at first was unimpressed at being wakened at such a very late time. His sleep had been disturbed and he was even more irritable than usual. He read Green’s, report of the interrogation. Black stopped at the point where it said;

  ‘It also appears, although they constantly deny unless tortured, that their contact on Draegonia was Dragon Brown.’

  Black’s eyes darted up and down the report and back and forth to Green. Black’s tail was vibrating with temper his nostrils snorted puffs of foul smelling smoke that made Green wince and cough.

  Dragon Black boomed out, “THEY ARE ALL TO BE PUT TO DEATH, NOW!”

  “Your Dragonship… err … Sir” Green’s sickly voice was nervous, he had expected a reaction from Dragon Black, but nothing like the anger he saw before him.

  “WHAT” snapped Black?

  “Your Lordship,” Green squirmed, “Dragon Blue has informed me that he wants due Draegonia justice to prevail and wishes the four,” Green paused, “no the five prisoners to face a court hearing and trial.”

  Dragon Black had little if any patience at the best of times and now his authority was being questioned. His decisions, his rules, his commands, they all were being discussed and overruled. This, he was not going to allow. Dragon Black, with immense hatred in his glaring eyes, was about to issue orders that meant certain and imminent death sentences would be passed.

  Dragon Black roared: “IT’S A TRIAL THEY WANT IS IT? THEN LET’S HAVE ONE! ITS JUSTICE DRAGON BLUE WANTS TO SEE IS IT? THEN MY JUSTICE WILL BE SEEN AND NOT QUESTIONED!”

  Black stretched himself up to full height, his wings unfolding and refolding very slowly but creating great drafts of air that swirled the dust, forming mini cyclones.

  He again roared at Green: “YOU WILL GO NOW WITH TWO OF MY DRAGON GUARDS AND BRING THE PRISONERS TO THE MOUTH OF THE VOLCANO WHERE I WILL HOLD COURT. YOU ARE NOT TO BE ACCOMPANIED BY ANYONE ELSE. IS THAT CLEAR GREEN? HAVE I MADE MYSELF FULLY UNDERSTOOD?”

  Green, legs quivering, nodded. He knew that by taking the prisoners to the mouth of the volcano, Dragon Black had already made up his mind as to what sentence was to be passed. It would be ‘Death by Burning’. All five would, one by one, be pushed unceremoniously into the white molten lava that lay within the depths of the smouldering mouth of Draegonia’s Volcano.

  “SO WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FOR?” bellowed Black “GET OUT OF HERE, NOW!“

  Green quickly turned 180 degrees and ran to where Dragon Black’s personal guards were. Green eyed several and selected two of the meanest looking to accompany him and headed back to where an exhausted Dragon Blue was fast asleep.

  Black meanwhile had stomped off along a corridor known only to him. This large tunnel curled steeply up to a large hidden exit close to the mouth of the volcano. Black emerged into the first shimmering rays of the early morning sun as it rose out of the sea to the East. The immediate surrounding area was quite flat with a gentle slope rising to the smoky and very hot mouth of the volcano. Around the edge and protruding into the mouth were 12 very large flat slabs of fire hardened rock that formed the outer ring of a clock face with no hands.

  These slabs were designed to hold dragons that were on trial, but today these would be used to hold one dragon and four children, on trial for their lives.

  About 15 dragon paces in front of the nearest of the slabs and facing south was a much larger and taller platform. This was not made of rock but jet black marble with white veins running throughout and the top allowed for a perfect platform from which to view any prisoner who might be unfortunate enough to be chained to any one of the 12 sentencing and execution slabs.

  The tall marble platform was to be the perch of Dragon Black who was not only the Judge but also the jury. This trial was going to be nothing but UNFAIR.

  Dragon Green was totally exhausted. He had been up all night and seeing the sun rise, realised he had not slept for over 24 hours. With the two dragon guards dressed in their Black, Red and White regalia, on which was printed gold dragon motifs, he aggressively hammered on the police station door. The loud repetitive banging not only woke Dragon Blue but also the prisoners and several other dragons close by whose sleep also had been rudely disturbed.

  “Open up and be quick about it” demanded Green. The door opened and Green charged past Blue. “Right, I have an order from Dragon Black to immediately take charge of the prisoners and take them to trial.”

  Blue rubbing his eyes was taken aback and exclaimed. “What, why and where are you taking them? Dragon Gold needs to be informed if he is to Judge the issues and we need to raise a Jury. This is going to take a little time.”

  Green smirked and in a very condescending growl said. “You have to do nothing, nothing at all, Dragon Black is going to judge the issues and he is arranging the court to sit right now at Volcano Peak.” Dragon Blue winced. He knew time was running out and that executions were inevitable if Dragon Black was to pass judgement. Green told Dragon Blue that he had been ordered by Dragon Black, that the prisoners were to go with him right away and that failure to comply with these orders would mean he too would be arrested. Dragon Blue’s shoulders dropped. He had to, although very reluctantly, obey. Taking the keys off their hooks he went with Green to the cells.

  The four youngest prisoners were shackled and linked together with heavy chains. Dragon Brown was pulled from his cell by Dragon Black’s personal guards, protesting and demanding to know where they all were being taken to.

  The two guards ignoring Brown’s arguments took their place top and tail of the line of four children and a very annoyed brown dragon. The line of prisoners and their escorts marched through the open door and headed towards the long trek and climb to Volcano Peak.

  Dragon Blue looked on. There was little he could do. His lifelong friend Dragon Brown was certainly being taken to his death and with him four small creatures he felt sure were also innocent of their alleged crimes.

  The noise and kerfuffle of the prisoners being marched in chains from the police station towards the volcano, together with the noise generated by all the dragons who had lined up two and three deep along the roadside, was ear shattering. Such was the chatter, growls and grunts that the accumulated cacophony of sound woke Dragons White and Pink.

  Pink peering out of her bedroom window shouted to White. “We’re going to be too late to save them! Look, they are all being marched in chains and they have Dragon Black’s personal guards with them!”

  White immediately knew the ramifications of the situation and grabbing her bag told Pink to follow her. Both dragons fought their way through the tightly packed crowds until they reached the police station where Dragon Blue was trying to get through on the voice box (telephone) to Dragon Black. Once more his concentration was interrupted. “Oh, White, Pink, sorry but I really haven’t the time…..”

  He was cut short in mid sentence by Pink. “Dragon Blue, White has some very important information for you concerning the so-called invaders.” Pink continued with White nodding profusely. “Dragon White didn’t tell the whole story and we believe an injustice is being done.”

  Blue moved quickly and shut the door. “What on earth are you saying? What information have you and why has it taken so long coming forward?” Blue listened intently to both Dragon White’s and Pink’s accounts. Once they had finished telling the whole saga, Blue crouched down at his desk.

  “We still do not know what Dragon Green is playing at and why Dragon Yellow should be involved in this intrigue,” he said picking up the ‘Voice Box’ and blowing down it to get attention. “Put me through to the Mayor, immediately!”

  Blue waited and in less than a few seco
nds he heard the voice of Dragon Gold. “We have a situation, Dragon Gold, and this is a code RED.” On hearing this Dragon Gold listened, whilst Blue gave him a short version of the facts he had been presented with.

  Dragon Gold asked where the prisoners were and if Dragon Brown was with them. Blue confirmed that they were being taken, as he spoke, to Dragon Black’s court and that there was little time. Dragon Gold was overheard to tell Dragon Blue that he was leaving and would be with him in a few minutes and that in the meantime Dragon Yellow was to be found and brought in for questioning as a matter of urgency.

  Pink, immediately volunteered that with Dragon White they would find Dragon Yellow and bring him in. Without waiting for Blue to respond they opened and shot out of the door like bullets from a gun.

  Yellow, was actually on his way down the street as he passed the convoy of prisoners and gingerly waved at Dragon Green who, upon seeing Yellow, looked the other way and ignored him. Green had completed his cunning plan making him the second most important dragon in Draegonia and no longer required Yellow. Yellow also was caught up in the jostling crowds.