For the next few minutes, he continued walking back the way he'd come, glad that at least he'd gotten Aviva's dagger to the vault some time ago, before twice catching a fleeting glimpse of whoever was tailing him, both times in the wing mirrors of parked cars. Mind whirring as he walked, running through all the possibilities and permutations, until one stuck out. Instantly he knew just what he had to do.
At the next junction he turned left, veering off from the quickest way home. Not wanting to go into the city centre itself, he'd decided on the outskirts... there was a little alley that ran along the river, past the back of a couple of pubs and then out into one of the main car parks, across which he could walk, leaving him only a few minutes from home. Knowing the alley was scarcely used and that it was something of a risk in the dark, late at night, given that it was especially secluded, it was the perfect place for the sand trap mantra that Gee Tee had taught them in the shop. More confident now, he picked up the pace, striding purposefully through the damp, the wind having picked up enough to almost have dried his hair. Cutting through a children's park, past the renowned arts centre, he cut down two small side streets and then turned sharply into the darkened alleyway. On facing the all encompassing blackness ahead, he almost paused, barely able to see the pinprick of light that represented the end of his short journey. Striding on, all the time looking down at the floor, searching for just the right place, the mantra in his head was ready to be deployed. And then he saw it, three paces in front of him, as far as he could see in the dark. A metal drain cover. He knew just what to do. Whoever was following him would want to skip over the cover and avoid making any noise, and since it was quite big and took up most of the alley, they would almost certainly have to land just the other side of it. So he made a big play of walking onto the cover, which obediently made a suitable ringing noise that echoed back down the alleyway. As he was on top of it, he cast the mantra onto the ground directly beyond it and then walked on, desperate to turn around and see if his pursuer was there, but knowing that it was best not to. Lightening his footsteps to see if he could hear anything from behind, he listened intently, not really expecting very much. In the distance, he could just make out the light from the street lamp, signalling that he'd nearly reached the end of the alley. It was then that he heard it. More of a squeak than a yell, he turned without thinking, looking back on the path he'd already trodden. In the darkness he could just make out the shape of a man, a man trying hard to walk. I say walk, it looked as though he was wading in treacle, bringing both his legs up as high as his hips, almost as if he were climbing a stile. Confusion gripped Peter. Part of him wanted to laugh it was so funny, but another, much angrier part wanted to confront whoever it was and find out exactly why they'd been following him. In the end he turned around and jogged off, settling for just knowing his pursuer would be stuck like that for the best part of a day, happy that he'd managed to get himself out of a fix, with of course a little help from the master mantra maker's magic.
37
Welsh Hideaway
Another day passed and still no word. No more than she'd previously had from the nagas guarding her. Deep down, she knew it would take time, even if everything ran smoothly. And if it didn't, then the timetable could be anything. She missed him. It seemed like an age since they'd last been together. Part of her worried, worried that he might have changed his mind about her, found someone else. But she knew deep down that was an impossibility. They were bound together in love and in deeds that they'd done. It was meant to be. Rolling her legs back onto the bed she knew that she needed to rest; she had to be strong and full of energy for when he arrived, knowing that her skills might well be needed. As soon as her eyes closed she was asleep, thoughts once again drifting back to a previous time that seemed almost like someone else's life.
Narrowly escaping the King's Guard in Swanage had caused them both a great deal of soul searching and heartache. The idyllic life they'd shared had been shattered, torn viciously away from them. Looking back it was almost inevitable in the end, but that didn't take away the hurt and bitterness they both felt. Knowing that they were further away from their precious egg was what really cut deep, despite the fact that they had agreed never to go near it, or the dragon that hatched from it, ever again.
After weeks spent sleeping rough and avoiding any kind of built up area, both of them finally agreed on what needed to be done. They'd hidden a good deal of the money that they'd stolen after escaping prison, and having retrieved the large sum only a few days earlier, were now on their way to a much more secluded destination. They could have chosen to go anywhere on the planet, but both had agreed that there was as much chance of a dragon encounter there as there would be if they stayed within the borders of Great Britain, somewhere both regarded as their home, despite the traitorous crimes they'd both committed during their time in France. So they'd decided on somewhere remote, out of the way, somewhere the dragons would hopefully never think to look. Somewhere they could live together on their own, enjoying their time together for the rest of their lives.
With the money that they'd stolen, they purchased a tiny little cottage about two miles north of Llansanffraid on the west coast of Wales, overlooking the sea on one side, surrounded by rolling green countryside on the other. It was idyllic. They would pop into town every week, tending to keep themselves to themselves. To start with, the locals were a little suspicious, but their perfect accents (claiming to have come from Aberdaron, further to the north, in the hope that no one would be able to prove otherwise) helped them seamlessly blend in over a period of months, which slowly turned into years.
One harsh winter's day, they popped into town to stock up on some essentials, walking there like they always did, the cold weather attacking their heat favouring bodies. It was painful, no matter how many layers they wore. They were after all dragons, and all dragons have an affinity for the heat and despise the cold. Nevertheless, they endured. On arriving in town, they made straight for the shop, sliding across the icy road and treacherous path on the way. Having purchased bread, eggs, milk, potatoes, onions and carrots, they thanked the shopkeeper and his wife, opened the door and walked out into the street. At that exact moment a car approaching from the west, going a little too fast, lost control on the icy surface of the road and mounted the pavement on their side of the street. Earth, surprisingly, was quite slow on the uptake. Her husband wasn't. Instinctively, he pushed her back into the shop doorway, causing her to slip and fall. By then, he'd made another decision. Fifteen feet in front of him, the daughter of the shop owners was playing with a skipping rope. Aged seven or eight, she was oblivious to the approaching danger of the out of control car. Given everything they'd done in their previous lives, it was unnatural for him to even think of saving the girl. But he'd changed since being here, since living the life he'd always dreamed of, with the woman he loved. Impulsively he acted, selflessly and with the courage of many men. Earth could only sit and watch in horror, mouth open in shock as events unfolded. Springing towards the girl, whose face twisted in torment as he approached at speed, she dropped the skipping rope just as he reached her, mouth hanging open, too scared to even scream. Grasping her tightly, he hurled her up into his arms. And then the car was upon them. With no other option, he jumped for all he was worth. As the car careered into the wall next to where the little girl had been standing, he twisted in mid-air, using his body to protect the helpless child. A loud CRUNCH accompanied the first impact, his hip taking the full force of the windscreen, immediately followed by the THUD of his back smashing fully into the bonnet of the car. With the youngster cradled safely from danger, he ignored the mind numbing pain of the collisions and concentrated on continuing his roll, slowing his speed and delivering her back to her parents in one piece. Bouncing off the vehicle, he tucked in, threw all his weight to his right and hit the ground with a bone shattering THUMP, taking the full force of the icy street on his right shoulder. Rolling over so that the child was on top of him, he lay prone, unable to move, in the middle of the chilling street. It had all happened so fast, in a matter of seconds really. Having managed to regain her feet after being thrown into the doorway, Earth hadn't realised what was happening until it was much too late. She could have used her abilities; the magic, as always, bubbled away inside her, just beneath the surface. But she'd been too slow to react and now he lay there, damaged and broken for all to see.