"Thank you," replied Richie. "What do you need?"
Looking around at the meagre force gathered before them, ideally he needed an army about fifty times bigger than what there was here. Knowing that the more dragons he took from here, the less chance the groups in London would have, he felt unsure of what to do. But he knew he couldn't go alone.
'Hmmm,' he thought. 'Those healing dragons were fantastic, with their work of the highest standard. Yes, one of them would do fine.' And with that, he proceeded to tell Richie what he needed.
And so it was decided. There really wasn't much else to do. A phone call later (the signal boosted by some of Tank's mantra magic) and Yoyo was in, promising to be ready for Flash's arrival in Australia. He also alluded to something special that would help them in their quest to free the naga king. For Flash, it was just the boost he needed to know that Yoyo and whoever he could round up would be accompanying them. As well as that, one of the healers who'd assisted Flash in saving Tank agreed immediately to go to Antarctica, almost certainly not realising the full implications of the mission. With time of the essence, that's all there really was to it. Just as he was about to turn around and leave, Janice came running up to him. From her side, she pulled out Fu-ts'ang and offered it to him.
"You should take him," she whispered. "It sounds dangerous where you're going."
Flash smiled at the kind offer, both considering it and dismissing it in an instant.
"It will be downright dangerous where I'm going, but I think you should stick with it. I get the sense that it rather likes you. And besides, its most potent ability is the cold that its imbued with. There's too much cold where I'm going, so its effect may be nullified. Keep it, use it, let it protect you. I mean what I said about it liking you."
"I know," answered Janice. "Good luck," she whispered, not knowing what else to say.
"You too," added Flash, before turning and climbing up onto the healer dragon's back. But as he did so, something rather important occurred to him. Climbing back down, he strolled purposefully over to Richie. Leaning down slightly, he whispered delicately in her ear. For a moment, a rueful look crossed her freckled face. Flash pulled back. Richie stood on tiptoes, and kissed him gently on the cheek. Smiling, he turned and started to walk back towards the local healer that was his lift, not before a lumbering giant in the shape of Tank appeared right in front of him.
"I'm sorry you have to go back."
Flash nodded.
"It has to be me... for obvious reasons."
"I know," replied Tank, sadly, knowing full well just how much Flash hated and feared that place.
Reaching out, Flash clasped Tank's shoulder in a sign of friendship. Tank returned the gesture. Both stood silent, aware that they might never see the other again.
"Before you go, there's something you need to know," ventured Tank.
"I know my friend. I feel the same way too."
"Good," said Tank smiling. "Because it's not that. Well... it is, but there's something else. Something relevant to the mission."
"Go on," added Flash.
"The chains that hold the prisoners... Fredric and the naga king. They're unbreakable!"
Flash's face turned to stone.
"But all is not lost. Gee Tee and I have known for some time, and we've developed a mantra that will turn the chains into their most prominent base element... LAMINIUM!"
On hearing this, Flash's eyes took on the form of dinner plates, they were so wide. Leaning in close to his friend, Tank whispered the mantra to him. Flash's eidetic memory stored it safely away, knowing just how important it might be.
Again they stood in silence, until Flash whispered a heartfelt,
"Thank you, and good luck."
Tank nodded a silent reply, wishing his friend all the luck in the world, because he'd probably need it where he was going.
It was just at this point that Gee Tee noticed a thick bulge in the bottom of his Traveller's Bag of Capacity. Curious, he opened up the top and stuck in his giant, prehistoric head.
'Oh my!' he thought. Whipping his head out, with the speed of a hissing viper, the old dragon shouted across the market place,
"FLASH... HOLD ON A SECOND!"
About to hop onto his healer friend again, to start their epic journey to Australia, Flash obligingly turned and headed back towards the master mantra maker. Meanwhile Richie looked on, a little cross at yet another interruption, knowing that time was everything and even the odd second or two might make a difference in what they were trying to achieve. Striding over to the point where Flash and Gee Tee met, she was joined by Tank and Janice.
"I think we need to get a move on," she barked, at no one in particular.
Gee Tee's large, scaly head turned to one side, swivelling to look at her.
"Patience, little one," he whispered, more than a little patronisingly.
She was just about to snap and bark something very rude back at him, when out of the magical, seemingly bottomless bag he'd been carting around with him, he pulled a very old and scruffy looking pair of boots, dangling them right in front of everyone's faces.
Looking over at Tank, Richie turned one of her fingers around and around by her ear, trying to indicate that the old shopkeeper had finally, once and for all, lost the plot. In return, Tank held up his palm to stop her. Gee Tee had effectively saved them all today, and although Richie had officially been put in charge, it seemed at least prudent to hear the master mantra maker out. It was Janice that piped up first.
"Surely he's better off with the trainers he's wearing?"
"I couldn't agree more," chipped in Richie, so that only she and Tank could hear, well... supposedly. Gee Tee gave her a look.
"You've got to be kidding me!" exclaimed Flash in excitement. "Are those really what I think they are?"
With the others looking on, more than a little puzzled, the old shopkeeper nodded in response to Flash's question.
"Amazing!" declared Flash. "I've only ever heard about them. Never seen a pair. Always wanted to though."
Richie shook her head.
"As your leader," she demanded, "can somebody please tell me what on earth is going on?"
"Boots of Fleeting... child!" announced Gee Tee, thrusting the worn and ropey boots in her face.
Flash laughed.
"Never heard of them."
"It's said that you could cover leagues in a simple step," announced Tank.
Flash and Gee Tee nodded in agreement.
"So what is it you're trying to tell me?"
"With those," said Flash, referring to the boots, "I'll be in Australia in no time at all."
"Really?" questioned Richie sceptically.
"Yep," replied Flash. "If I get the healer to get me above ground, I can put these on and it won't be long at all."
"Okay... if you say so."
Gee Tee handed over the boots, looking ever so pleased with himself. Flash tied the laces together and then hung them around his neck as he headed back towards the healer. After a quick discussion to tell him the change in plan, once again the former Crimson Guard leapt onto the back of the dragon. With a brief nod and a wave, the two dragons, one in human form hitching a ride and the other with a magnificent yellow and blue crisscrossing the scales of his entire body, took to the air. Circling once, they headed south across the city, flying dangerously low above the rooftops.
More than one of the group on the ground wondered if they'd ever see Flash again.
48
If The Shoe (Or Boot) Fits...
'If anything, they look a little on the small side,' thought Flash, placing the boots on the ground after waving goodbye to Stinging Threat, the healer dragon who'd given him a lift to the edge of a desolate field on the outskirts of Salisbridge. Nagging doubts poked at his mind. If the boots were too small, how would he get them on? And if he couldn't get them on, how would he get to Australia? Automatically his training pushed the very real concerns to one side, those and his thoughts for the dragons... no, beings (as the humans were his friends as well, particularly given how well they'd just fought against overwhelming odds) that he'd just left behind underground, as he slipped off the borrowed trainers he'd been wearing.