Courage - Harry Potter

-119-

Book: Courage
Chapter 119
Word Count: 1486

There was no means of steering; the dragon could not see where it was going, and Layla knew that if it turned sharply or rolled in midair, they would find it impossible to cling onto its broad back. Nevertheless, as they climbed higher and higher, London unfurling below them like a gray-and-green map, Layla's overwhelming feeling was of gratitude for an escape that had seemed impossible.

Crouching low over the beast's neck, she clung tight to the metallic scales, and the cool breeze was soothing on her burned and blistered skin, the dragon's wings beating the air like the sails of a windmill.

After five minutes or so, Layla lost some of her immediate dread that the dragon was going to throw them off, for it seemed intent on nothing but getting as far away from its underground prison as possible; but the question of how and when they were to dismount remained rather frightening. She had no idea how long dragons could fly without landing, nor how this particular dragon, which could barely see, would locate a good place to put down.

The dragon seemed to crave cooler and fresher air. It climbed steadily until they were flying through wisps of chilly cloud, and Layla could no longer make out the little colored dots which were cars pouring in and out of the capital. On and on they flew, over countryside parceled out in patches of green and brown, over roads and rivers winding through the landscape like strips of matte and glossy ribbon.

"What do you reckon it's looking for?" Ron yelled as they flew farther and farther north.

"No idea," Harry bellowed back.

Layla's hands were numb with cold but she did not dare attempt to shift her grip.

The sun slipped lower in the sky, which was turning indigo; and still the dragon flew, cities and towns eliding out of sight beneath them, its enormous shadow sliding over the earth like a giant dark cloud. Every part of Layla ached with the effort of holding on to the dragon's back.

"Is it my imagination," shouted Ron after a considerable stretch of silence, "or are we losing height?"

Layla looked down and saw deep green mountains and lakes, coppery in the sunset. The landscape seemed to grow larger and more detailed as she squinted over the side of the dragon, and she wondered whether it had divined the presence of fresh water by the flashes of reflected sunlight.
Lower and lower the dragon flew, in great spiraling circles, honing in, it seemed, upon one of the smaller lakes.

"I say we jump when it gets low enough!" Harry called back to the others. "Straight into the water before it realizes we're here!"

Everyone agreed, Hermione a little faintly, and now Layla could see the dragon's wide yellow underbelly rippling in the surface of the water.

"NOW!"

At Harry's shout, Layla slithered over the side of the dragon and plummeted feetfirst toward the surface of the lake; the drop was greater than she had estimated and she hit the water hard, plunging like a stone into a freezing, green, reed-filled world. She kicked toward the surface and emerged, panting, to see enormous ripples emanating in circles from the places where Harry, Ron, and Hermione had fallen. The dragon did not seem to have noticed anything; it was already fifty feet away, swooping low over the lake to scoop up water in its scarred snout. As Harry, Ron, and Hermione emerged, spluttering and gasping, from the depths of the lake, the dragon flew on, its wings beating hard, and landed at last on a distant bank.

Harry, Layla, Ron and Hermione struck out for the opposite shore. The lake did not seem to be deep. Soon it was more a question of fighting their way through reeds and mud than swimming, and at last they flopped, sodden, panting, and exhausted, onto slippery grass.