"Kid was one of the most intriguing, loyal and courageous dragons I've ever had the pleasure to be associated with. Cool under pressure, he loved to speak Spanish, and had the most beautiful tenor voice I've ever heard, right up to the present day."
This sounded almost impossible to Peter. It was nothing like the Billy the Kid he'd read and watched films about.
"What you don't know," reflected the old dragon, "and almost certainly, what the dragon council have tried very hard to cover up and keep quiet, is that a band of dragons gone bad had virtually taken over the Wild West and were running it for their own means. At the time, there was very little in the telepathic papers about it, but dragons everywhere knew exactly what was going on. It was an unspoken secret if you like. The council, instead of going charging in like a dragon in a field of sheep, decided to fight fire with fire, so to speak, and sent in a group of their very best operatives, with a view to clearing up the mess quickly and very quietly. I'm not going to tell you who some of the others were, but rest assured, you would know their names. Anyhow, Kid was one of them. One of the best in fact. Before that mission, he'd known for some time, and let's just say we'd had a few run ins. But he came to me and explained the difficult and delicate nature of what he was doing, and pleaded for my help. Anyhow, he got it, and we became firm friends over the course of a few years. It was all supposed to have been over with almost instantly, but what the council didn't realise was that the band of renegade dragons still had help, from deep within the dragon domain itself."
Priceless, was the only way to describe the look on the young dragon's face.
"With the dragon operatives, Kid included, in their human personas, fighting tirelessly, it went on and on and on. In the process, dragons in and around the Wild West dragged Kid's reputation through the mud... very deliberately I can assure you, to make life as difficult as possible for him in hunting down those he was assigned to bring to justice. Newspapers everywhere, particularly in his supposed home town, claimed he was a disgrace, a vulgar cutthroat and the terror of New Mexico. It was all a lie, perpetrated by the dragons. Still, the public at the time, and more importantly... HISTORY all believed it to be true. Anyhow, the kid brought in dozens of dragons gone bad, lots singlehandedly, probably killing even more. But the threat continued and those he sought the most evaded him at every turn, almost knowing his next move before he made it. Eventually he was killed by a dragon in human form called Pat Garrett, who the humans had elected as their sheriff... you couldn't make it up."
Aware now of the emotion in the old shopkeeper's voice as he recounted the events, he could see exactly how hard it was for him, and just how much he'd cared about the 'Kid'.
"Eventually they were all caught of course. There was Pat Garrett himself, an attorney, William Rynerson, and some deputy named James Bell who were the ringleaders, at least in and around the area where the Kid was working. But the scale and the destructive nature of what was going on had been hugely underestimated by the dragon council who, as far as I know, went to great lengths to cover things up. What happened to the perpetrators is a mystery. Nobody knows, which in itself is intriguing. After I heard of the Kid's death, I went to great lengths to recover these items," he all but sobbed, waving his arm in the direction of the gun belt and the rifle. "I felt as if I owed him that much, after all, I did imbue them with the mantras that made them such terrific weapons."
This got Peter's attention, something which Gee Tee clearly noticed.
"The Colt .44 was keyed to the Kid's DNA, in combination with the bullets, to fire at exactly what he was looking at. I spent weeks at a time just producing enough bullets to keep him supplied. He didn't use them all the time, but I know they saved his hide on a number of occasions. As for the rifle, it has an accuracy mantra running along the length of it, something any dragon could make use of. His ranged shooting would have been out of this world."
Stretching out his hand to run his fingers along the belt and over the bullets it held, he was all but overwhelmed to be so close to something so... historical, something that had played such an important part in events. It was... unbelievable!
Moving along, gazing at all the incredible items, his left foot clattered against a tall glass jar on the floor, just visible from behind a pile of leather armour. Curious, he picked up the jar... just. It weighed a ton, but that wasn't what piqued his interest. Inside were hundreds, if not thousands, of tiny rivets. Most amazing though, was that they appeared to be made of laminium.
"PUT THAT DOWN CHILD," chided the master mantra maker from over his left shoulder, having just got to his feet.
Surprised, the young hockey player lost his grip on the jar and watched as it arced up and away from him, spinning precariously out of control. Instantly the old shopkeeper was on it, catching it effortlessly in one hand. Before replacing it back where it had come from, he gave the youngster a... LOOK!
"COME ON," yelled Gee Tee, pushing past him. "I might as well show you the best of the rest before we get on with what we came here for."
Heading off towards the corner with the bows in, past the line of belts and bandoliers hung along the adjacent walls, Peter started to follow, full of excitement, thinking, 'Best of the rest?' As he did so, something within him felt compelled to stop, just in front of one of the swords hanging from the wall. Call it an inkling, an attraction, what you will, but he could physically do nothing but stop and look at the weapon. Carefully, he pulled it from its sheath, expecting something magnificent, riddled with gems, the perfect fighting weapon. Instead, all he found was a very ordinary, dull blunt blade, unloved and unlooked after.
"Ahhh... I should have guessed you'd find that. I forgot all about it," babbled the old dragon, having turned around to find out where his young friend had got to. "Can you guess who that sword belonged to?"
Despite the fact that he felt privileged to be here, and could appreciate just how special this place was, Peter was starting to get a little fed up with all the guessing games. Knowing it was just the old dragon's way to show off all the artefacts and just how much smarter he was, it was just getting on his nerves now. Not normally one to pick up on such things, or if he did, never normally one to act on that instinct, the master mantra maker patted Peter on the shoulder and quietly whispered,
"Last time... I promise! And I'll tell you what, I'll even give you a clue."
Peter's face brightened.
"You've met him... that's the clue."
'It's someone I've met,' he thought, giddily, his mind racing through everyone he knew to see if any of them could possibly have a use for, or could have used that sword. None of them seemed to fit, apart from Flash of course. He could easily imagine his friend, the ex-Crimson Guard, wielding any weapon expertly, at probably any time. And then a much more plausible alternative popped into his head, and he knew he had the answer. Even in giving him the clue, the old shopkeeper had tried to cover things up a little.
"The king," he blurted out.
"Which one?" asked Gee Tee playfully.
"George... the current one."
Nodding, the old dragon added,
"Well done youngster, well done. This was in fact the very sword he used to incapacitate Troydenn when they battled in Salisbridge all those centuries ago, when he captured and returned him to the dragon domain, only then for them to decide his punishment and exile him and his followers to Antarctica."
Turning the mundane weapon over and over in his hands, marvelling once again at the history behind the object, he harked back to his favourite story from the nursery ring, not able to believe that he was holding something which had featured so heavily in it.