He was in luck, and needn't have worried.
"FLASH!" shouted Peter and Tank simultaneously from the front of the shop, on seeing their friend.
Concerned about his findings outside, Flash strode across the shop floor to greet his friends.
"Hi guys," he said casually.
From out of nowhere, a huge scaled beast rose up, off to one side.
"Little one," exclaimed Gee Tee. "It's so good to see you. How have you been?"
Flash smiled for what seemed like the first time in ages. How anyone could refer to him as 'little one' was quite beyond him, but it always felt just right when the old shopkeeper did. Anyone else might be offered an insight into his rarely seen temper, but not the master mantra maker.
"Busy," replied Flash. "How are things here?" he asked, all innocent.
"Just about the same as when you left," replied the old dragon. "Why don't we adjourn to the workshop, and we'll tell you all about it."
"Sounds great," quipped Flash, being squeezed in a great big hug by Tank and Peter as he headed towards the shop counter.
"Peter and I will get some hot charcoal on the go, unless of course you want something a bit... STRONGER!" suggested Tank to his boss.
Not entirely sure about the amount of sarcasm that laced his words, the master mantra maker narrowed his eyes in the direction of his former apprentice, before replying.
"Hot charcoal will be great." With that, he led Flash on through to the workshop.
Peter followed Tank through to the small, well, not quite a kitchen, more like a cupboard, to help make the dragon's favourite drink. Flash and Gee Tee both flopped down into a couple of oversized chairs. Before Flash had a chance to say anything, the old shopkeeper came out with it.
"Something's bothering you. What is it?"
"What makes you think that?" replied the ex-Crimson Guard.
"Because when you came flying in, you were in combat mode... ready to fight. Am I wrong?"
Flash swallowed, annoyed at being caught out, supposing he shouldn't have been, because there was so much more to the old dragon than any of them knew, that was for sure. The more he hung around him, the more that always seemed to be the case. Looking around to make sure Tank and Peter were still out of the way, he leaned forward, his chair scooting closer to the master mantra maker as he did so.
"You're not wrong. When I was outside, I sensed something, something unusual, something I've sensed before, and something that I've been hunting in North America."
"Over the past couple of weeks, something odd's been going on. I'm not sure what exactly, but I do know the shields protecting this place have been tested on a number of occasions, mainly late at night it would seem. At first I thought it might be dragonlings up to some mischief, but the more it's happened, the more I'm convinced that it's something else. I've tried to set traps for whoever's doing it, but much to my surprise they've managed to circumvent them. Whoever it is, they're good, I'll give them that."
Flash nodded, scratching his stubbly chin in thought.
"I think perhaps you should let me take a look at those shields and see if there's anything I can do to reinforce them. At the very least I can check to see if there are any weak points."
"That would be much appreciated. Thank you."
"And just why do the shields need checking?" asked Tank from the doorway, where he stood with Peter, both holding gigantic mugs of steaming hot charcoal.
Gee Tee and Flash looked guiltier than children sneaking a peek at their Christmas presents.
"Perhaps you'd better come and sit down," suggested the old dragon.
They did so, doling out the drinks on the way. Gee Tee then explained what had been going on, with Flash offering up his thoughts on things. When they'd finished, and before Tank could chastise the master mantra maker for not telling him before now, Peter cut in.
"There's something else you should know, something that might be related to all this."
This got everyone's attention, because it wasn't often the young hockey playing dragon spoke up.
"Over the last few weeks, I keep thinking I'm being watched, followed sometimes. I know it sounds stupid and I don't have any defining evidence to back it up, but I'm sure it's happening. Sometimes it's when I'm walking, often when I'm in the car. I honestly don't think I'm wrong about this."
Of course the old shopkeeper and Tank already knew about this, but it was news to Flash, who ran through everything he'd heard. It all sounded like nagas. They were, after all, masters of disguise, it had been claimed even more so than dragons. Despite the fact that his friends would almost certainly ask, he'd been determined not to reveal what he'd been doing in his time away, even though they were probably able to guess. But everything he'd heard led him to believe these dragons could well be in danger, and that was something that changed everything. Only answering to the king himself, he knew he had a responsibility to protect the information that he'd gleaned. But also, he knew the king trusted these dragons not only with his life, but with the fate of the kingdom. Feeling more than a little uneasy about his decision, but given the situation they all found themselves in, he couldn't think of anyone else on the entire planet, with the exception of the monarch himself, that he trusted implicitly, so he swore them all to secrecy and told them. All of it. On learning about the sub, they were all absolutely flabbergasted and had a gazillion questions, pretty much as he had himself. Where were they going? What were they up to? Did the missiles on the submarine pose a threat? Who made up the group? Was there any way to destroy the submarine? What would happen if the humans found out that one of their most advanced weapons was missing? All these and more were questions that Flash had considered time and again, and he didn't have the answers. The king didn't have the answers. Whatever was going on was deadly serious, more so now with a nuclear submarine in play.
With the four of them sitting around speculating on each and every question the missing submarine posed, time trickled into the early evening. It was only when Gee Tee gave a massive yawn that they noticed quite how long they'd been brainstorming for. Tank tried to rush the master mantra maker off to bed, but he insisted on staying while Flash checked the building's shields. Flash agreed that it would be good to have his opinion, much to Tank's dismay. But before they got on to checking the shields, the ex-Crimson Guard had a little bit of training for the two young dragons.
"There are of course numerous ways of telling if you're being followed, the most common of which is an expanded web, which I'm sure you both know how to cast. However, the mantra itself is more than a little unreliable, particularly if your pursuer is a magic user. The spell itself is limited by height, and while a human would struggle to defeat something thirty feet high, it would offer little resistance to other beings, most notably dragons. It does have its uses though," offered Flash, the others all watching intently. "Adding 'lentesco' to the main body of the mantra gives it a whole new dimension, especially in a confined space. Let me demonstrate."
Indicating with his index finger for Peter to get up, Flash moved out through the doorway beyond the counter. Closing his eyes, he put all his energy and belief into casting the expanded web mantra on the doorway through which he'd just walked. Moments later he opened his eyes and instructed Peter to walk towards him through the doorway. Tank and Gee Tee watched, fascinated.