The Early Chronicles Book Six: Dragon Wing

Chapter 8

Riding a Centaur felt like sailing on the fastest boat in world, except instead of gliding on water, Isabel and the Centaur seemed to fly atop the lush green grass.  The ride was rather bumpy, but the Centaur raced at a great speed that rivaled that of the creature chasing them.  Isabel kept glancing back and saw that remarkably, the shape of the dragon was growing smaller.  As they drew near to where the pirates had set up their camp by the rocks where they had entered Narnia, the dragon gave up chase at last.  The Centaur slowed to a stop and Isabel found her legs were quite wobbly when she jumped off of his back.  

"Are those things common here?"  She grumbled.  The Centaur stamped his hoof and looked behind them with a worried glance.

"No.  The eagles spoke of a dragon coming to Narnia, but I had hoped it to be a rumor."  He said gravely.  "Your people are not safe out in the open."  He warned.  Isabel turned and saw that the rest of the crew had noticed their arrival and were staring at her Centaur companion with open mouths.  

"It's all right," she called, "he helped me escape."  She turned back to him.  "I just realized I don't know your name."

"I am known as Moondrift."  The Centaur bowed from his waist.  

"Strange name.  My name is Isabel, and this is my father, Captain Torres."  She motioned to her father who approached them cautiously.  

"Hóla, Señor... Moondrift."  The captain said.  "Thank you for assisting my daughter, but from what did you escape from?"  He asked.  A familiar roar shrieked through the air to answer the captain's question.

"From that!"  Moondrift bellowed.  "Get to the cave quickly!"  He ordered.  The pirates scurried to obey and gather their weapons as they fled to the rocks.  Isabel's heart began to pound and a dreaded sense of panic swelled inside her.  On a ship she felt so confidant and proud, but here she felt fear and uncertainty; emotions she hadn't felt in a long time.  She crouched low in a rocky crag with her bow beside her.  Moondrift stood at the entrance, waiting and watching.  The creature circled in wide banking turns out over the glade, but it didn't seem to have seen them yet.  Isabel felt her father nudge her shoulder.

"There are great harpoons and chains on the boat, Chica."  He whispered.  "If we retrieve them we may be able to take it down."  Isabel's mind lit up and she nodded.  She crept cautiously up to Moondrift. 

"There are supplies through the caves back on our shipwreck," She whispered.  "help me fetch it."

Moondrift's face clouded.  "I do not think any material you possess will be enough to stop this creature."

"I refuse to believe that.  Now are you helping me or not?"

Moondrift eventually relented and the two of them along with a few other pirates snuck through the caves and back to the wreck on the sandy beach (much to the amazement of the Centaur).  Here they retrieved some heavy harpoons with long chains attached, and they began struggling to pull the equipment towards the cave.

"The monster will probably have left by the time we get these chains into Narnia."  Isabel mumbled.  Moondrift was incredibly strong and could carry as much of the chains as the rest of them could combined.  After much sweating and struggling, they finally emerged from the cavern and saw the dragon still circling overhead.

"How is this possible?"  Captain Torres said with awe when he saw them, "You only just left a few moments ago."

"But it took us forever to carry the weapons from the ship."  Isabel said slowly, "Moondrift, can you explain this?"

The Centaur pondered for a few moments, shifting on his great horse hooves.  "I suppose it is possible there is a time difference between your world that you came from and this one."  He said.  Isabel snorted at his matter-of-fact tone, but set to work helping the men ready the harpoons and chains.  They eased out into the open and watched the dragon circling lower and lower.  Moondrift raised his horn to his lips and gave three long blasts, alerting the dragon of their position.  The great yellow beast stopped mid-flight and let out a terrible roar, then folded his wings to his side to dive down to the ground.  Just before he landed, he spread out his wings once more and his feet hit the ground with a force that made the ground shake.  Now that the creature was up close, Isabel felt her blood run cold at the sight of the dragon's beady red eyes, its long beak-like snout filled with teeth and a snake tongue, and its long cruel claws that pierced the soft earth beneath.  She suddenly felt frozen where she stood.