"Ha," snorted the old shopkeeper, "a bold claim indeed, but impossible."
Staying silent, Tank turned a few more pages until he found the one he was looking for. "During his time in the camp, he earned the shaman's trust and subsequently found out that the ore the metal is made from is a composite containing... laminium!"
That got Gee Tee's attention.
"Still think it's impossible?" challenged the young dragon, raising his eyebrows.
Blowing out a small cloud of smoke in the direction of his employee, the old shopkeeper started to say,
"Well..."
Before being interrupted by the youngster.
"It makes it a little more believable, if nothing else."
Gee Tee closed his eyes, deep in thought.
"So... go on. What else did you find?"
"There's not much more I'm afraid," answered Tank.
"So that's it!" remarked the old dragon. "A metal with the ability to block telepathic communication, which is potentially unbreakable. I admit it does kind of fit in with Flash's outline of what was going on in that cavern in Antarctica, but knowing about it does us no good at all."
Tank smiled. It wasn't just any smile. It was his... 'I know something you don't know' smile, usually reserved for a Latin name or some bizarre or ridiculous fact about a plant or animal.
"So what's the... 'not-much-more' you mentioned?" asked the master mantra maker curiously.
"After learning the metal was partly made up of laminium, the trader could think of little else. After all, as far as we know, that only boosts a being's telepathic ability. I've never come across any records of powers being blocked or altered in a negative fashion by it."
Listening intently, Gee Tee nodded his agreement.
"In his final entry the trader inadvertently made a startling discovery. While the metal was seemingly unbreakable he, in his illicit experiments (something the nagas had forbidden him to continue with, when they discovered what he was doing) had managed to use a mantra to convert the nagas' precious, unbreakable metal into pure laminium."
Gee Tee bounded out of his chair, totally astonished.
"ARE YOU SURE?"
"That's what it said. However, those were the last words recorded in the journal. It was almost as if they'd been cut off. I searched the library high and low for anything else relating to this. There was nothing. Hence the reason I overslept, and was running late."
"Yes, yes, yes... all that is of course forgiven. But a mantra, one that could change the properties of that metal, making it so vastly different. That must be something else."
"Also," added Tank, not forgetting the true purpose of their mission, "it would free Peter's grandfather and the naga king. Their chains would not only become breakable, but would boost their powers, well, Fredrick's anyway, aiding their escape. And that's what we're ultimately aiming for."
Nodding in agreement, the master mantra maker had a faraway look emblazoned across his face. Unexpectedly he turned towards his app... partner.
"We need to figure out that mantra! And for that we need..."
"Some of the nagas' metal. I'm already one step ahead of you."
Gee Tee stood speechless.
"I think I know where there is some. It might involve a little bit of criminal activity to get our hands on it though," ventured Tank, pained at the thought of breaking the law... any law.
"Where do we start?" demanded the old shopkeeper, totally absorbed and ready to do whatever it took to get hold of that metal.
"WE DON'T! It's just me, I'm afraid," said the young dragon, shaking his head, wishing more than anything that there was another way.
25
Cliff Face
It had been ten days since he'd last seen her, and that meeting haunted all his thoughts and dreams. She'd turned up unannounced with her friends, Peter and Tank, in tow. It seemed odd to think of them all as dragons... Tank maybe, but Peter the hockey player seemed the most unlikely dragon of all. Anyhow, she'd stayed for an hour or so, which apparently was the most that was allowed, and only then by express permission of the king, who it turned out had some kind of relationship with Peter. On that she didn't expand. It had almost been like old times... well, except that now he was a dragon, and she was... WHAT? An ex-dragon now turned fully human who was about, by all accounts, to have her mind wiped and be expelled permanently from the dragon world. Who didn't see that coming?
'Perhaps they should write a book about it,' he mused, the warm breeze brushing gently across his scales.
Looking amazing, despite all the injuries, he was surprised that they hadn't fully healed given how long ago they'd occurred and the marvellous powers of the dragon healers. But she'd explained that it was some kind of side effect of what had happened when she'd cracked open the alea and whispered the shield mantra. Even having had it explained to him at least a dozen times, he still didn't fully understand it. The brief time that they chatted flew by, and then it was time for her to leave. Noticing the fear in her eyes, the regret, the sorrow at having got him involved, the tears being held forcibly in check, like characters in a television show they played their parts, her saying she'd see him again, him nodding enthusiastically, knowing full well it wasn't going to happen. And then she turned and left, gone, not coming back.
So it had been quite a surprise when Peter had turned up at his quarters earlier on in the day. Hoping she would be with him, it soon became apparent that she wasn't. Wanting to ask about her, as soon as he'd started, the hockey playing dragon shook his head in warning, confirming what he'd somehow assumed, that he was being watched in some sort of capacity. So they'd chatted about life on the surface, the destroyed clubhouse, how the hockey teams were doing, until the conversation turned to other more scaly subjects. In particular... FLYING! And that, he thought, was how he found himself balanced precariously on the edge of a stunning cliff, overlooking the mother of all drops into a roiling sea of lava so far below it was difficult to make out the bottom. Like a well worn set of tyres from a Formula One car, he too was about to 'drop off the cliff', the very thought of which scared the living daylights out of him. And standing not ten feet away was a very smiley Peter, waving and urging him on.
Right at this very moment, Peter was incredibly proud, not just of Tim, but of himself. That morning the king had got in touch, explaining that the dragons looking after Tim's welfare and training were having no luck in getting him to do anything. It seemed as though he just couldn't be bothered, despite being informed about the prophecy and his supposed role in it. This struck Peter as odd, knowing what a well rounded, hard working and motivated human being he'd been. The king had asked Peter if he wouldn't mind seeking out the newly formed dragon, with a view to seeing if a friendly face could be of some help and maybe coax some cooperation out of him. It was a request and not an order, one that Peter was more than happy to comply with. So he'd turned up nice and early at the facility where Tim was... he wanted to say staying, but in reality it was more like 'being held'. Part of him wanted to point this out to the staff there, but as usual he'd chickened out and didn't. So after security had checked with the king's private office, and having signed to take full responsibility for Tim, the two of them headed out into the big, wide, world of the dragon domain, but not before Peter had arranged the largest cloak he'd been able to find at such short notice, fastening it across Tim's shoulders, covering all his back and wings as well as a good deal of his chest, head and legs. It wouldn't do for the public at large to learn that a totally white dragon was stalking around the domain, or much would be made of the legendary prophecy, with Tim's privacy and anonymity gone forever.