Peter tried to make sense of what he'd just been told: his parents working for the Nazis against the Allied Forces, being captured as humans, but not detected as dragons, fleeing back to the dragon domain and blending back in, before mating and then leaving the egg at the nursery ring, with instructions about his grandfather, and then disappearing for good... it was all just too much to take in. Tears streamed down his cheeks, weaving in and out of the thin layer of stubble adorning his chin, before leaping off and diving towards the oak floor, where they began filling up a beautifully carved flying dragon and its roaring flame.
Putting a reassuring arm around Peter's shoulder, it was the king's turn to stay silent this time, remaining just a comforting presence.
Minutes passed, as tears turned to lonely sniffs, with the worst of it seemingly over. Before either had a chance to break the silence, an echoing voice rang out from the direction of the corridor.
"Majesty... Peter... Gee Tee's just about to begin making the mantra. Just thought I would let you know," boomed Yoyo's voice nervously.
Wiping his bloodshot eyes with the back of his hand, Peter stood, followed closely by the king. Patting him on the back and ruffling his long, curly, dark hair, the king said,
"Leave all the stuff where it is. I'll get someone to deliver the trunk and all its contents over to your house in the next few days. Is that okay?"
"That... that... would be great. Thank you."
"You're welcome. Just make sure you take care of that dagger. I hate to think what would happen if it ever fell into the wrong hands."
"I'll be careful, I promise."
"I know you will," said the king, setting off in the direction of the living room, Peter hot on his tail.
Stepping into the open living room from out of the dark corridor, the first thing that grabbed their attention was Tank, sitting in the middle of the room on the floor, a large pestle and mortar between his knees, to which Gee Tee was already adding ingredients.
"Crush the bark and the bones until they become a fine dust," barked the old shopkeeper, from behind Tank. "Not ultrafine of course, just fine... understood?"
Looking across the room, Tank gave Peter a small smile, shaking his head at his employer's orders as he did so.
"I'll let you know when it becomes fine and you can check it for yourself," replied Tank, just a hint of frustration creeping into his voice.
"Ahhhhh welcome back," declared Gee Tee, spotting the king and Peter. "Nice of you to join us. I was just about to restart Flash's cellular structure. I will require the use of the ring, once my apprentice has finished putting all the necessary ingredients together."
Much to Peter's relief, the king chose to ignore the sarcasm and instead, just waved his hand casually and said,
"Carry on," much to the old shopkeeper's annoyance.
'Those two must have been a barrel of laughs when they worked together,' thought Peter. 'Either that, or it must be a getting old kind of thing. Maybe the older you get, the more you want to pick a fight. That would certainly explain the master mantra maker's behaviour.'
Gee Tee hovered over Flash's limp form on the sofa, muttering silently. Yoyo stood behind, keeping a close eye on the Crimson Guard, ready to step in at a moment's notice. The 'crunch, crunch, crunch' from Tank's pestle and mortar bounced off the walls, echoing around the room.
A sudden gasp, followed by a painful moan filled the room as Flash hurtled back to life. Yoyo was at his side in a split second, mopping his fevered brow with a towel and checking on the state of the rapidly deteriorating wound. Gee Tee turned his attention back to Tank.
"That's just about right," he called from over his co-worker's shoulder. "Now pour in all the sea salt."
Tank followed his employer's instructions, feeling as though a great weight had been lifted from him for the first time in almost... ever. 'Perhaps,' he thought, 'I should have stood up to him a long time ago. Things might have been so different.'
Flash continued to wriggle and squirm on the sofa, highlighting the sense of urgency.
Gee Tee looked over in Peter's direction and barked,
"Make yourself useful, youngster, and bring the fish tank over to my app... Tank, will you?"
Glad of something to do rather than just standing and watching, Peter raced over to the far side of the room and grabbed the huge fish tank that contained the clown fish, some coral, the anemone the clownfish lived in, and of course the compulsory open treasure chest on the bottom. Holding it steady, he moved over to Tank and placed it gently down beside him.
Walking over, Gee Tee motioned with his wings for Peter to get out of the way. Everybody in the room, with the exception of Flash, held their breath as the old shopkeeper captured one of the clownfish and quickly pulled it out of the water. Tank sat back from the pestle and mortar, waiting for his employer to weave his magic. Despite his occasional frustration with the master mantra maker, Tank knew there was no one on the planet more skilled with mantras and, as usual, looked on with a mixture of awe and admiration. With a firm grip on the first clownfish, Gee Tee, with a gentler touch than anyone in the room would have imagined, carefully scraped off a tiny amount of the slimy mucus that protects it from the sting of the anemone that the fish lives in, letting it drip directly into the centre of the mortar. Peter had to stifle a laugh on noticing the indignant look that had crossed the face of the little clownfish.
'I bet something that cute has never looked so angry,' he thought, his lips firmly clamped together. Unaware of the clownfish's objection or discomfort, the old shopkeeper thrust the little fish back into the tank and while that one cautiously swam into the anemone, he scooped up the other one and went through exactly the same process. After finishing with the second fish, Peter moved the tank out of the way as both Gee Tee and Tank continued mixing all of the ingredients in the mortar, until a gooey looking brown sludge with the consistency of bogies dangled from the pestle. Gee Tee then ordered everyone to hold Flash face down, exposing the wound on his back. With Peter and the king holding a leg each, Tank putting pressure on his shoulders and Yoyo being responsible for both of Flash's arms, the master mantra maker began to apply the gooey mixture to the injury. At the first contact, an undragon-like scream tore out of Flash's mouth, as he tried desperately to wriggle free from being held down.