Penny and the Dragons #3
Episode three: Coral.
Many of the men heard Penny scream, so they rushed to her aid. Eventually, Hugo and Toddy also made their way to her.
“TRANQUILLISE IT!” yelled Toddy.
Hugo laughed, “There aren’t enough tranquillisers on the planet to bring down a large dragon.
“Wait,” said Penny, “she isn’t going to eat me… What is your name?” she asked the dragon.
The dragon looked at her confused.
Hugo spoke up, “Sheekings don’t have individual names. They never break away from the other females for long enough to properly interact with humans.”
“She spoke,” said Penny.
“What? Heekings sometimes say things, but nobody has ever heard a Sheeking speak,” said one of the men as he slowly crept closer to Penny to try to keep her safe.
“Tick, tick, tick,” came from her pocket.
“Oh, you found a fuzzlepuff,” said the man.
Penny assumed he must be right, and she pulled the creature from her pocket.
“Careful, dragons are afraid of fuzzlepuffs,” he said.
The dragon squinted slightly, but didn’t move an inch.
“Please… say something else?” asked Penny. The fuzzlepuff sat, also staring up at the large face before it.
The Sheeking flared her nostrils. and looked around slightly at the men that had managed to wriggle into the barn, but her mouth stayed shut.
“See Penny, this is why we kept all of this a secret from you. This is much too dangerous. Now, come on, the boat to the mainland is ready to leave… with you on it.”
The dragon took a breath and seemed to become tense, “NO!” she said stiffly, with a grunt as she appeared to be holding herself back.
Everyone froze. Penny was right, and now she had a bodyguard the size of Godzilla, preventing the men from removing her from the island.
“The dragon has spoken,” joked Penny, who was far too excited to be terrified.
“Penny, it’s not that easy,” said Hugo.
The dragon stared at Hugo, not even blinking, and Hugo felt less in charge than he ever had.
“What the heck is the ministry going to say?” asked one of the men.
Several hours passed, and Penny was still being held hostage by her bodyguard.
As different keepers tried to negotiate with the Sheeking, nobody seemed to be able to make much progress.
“Listen, aren’t you missing the other females?” asked one keeper.
Suddenly, Hugo spoke up, “What if we agree to keep her on the island for a couple of days?” asked Hugo.
The dragon shifted and relaxed its shoulders.
Toddy felt like he was finally able to take a breath, then seeing an opportunity, he suggested, “Perhaps we can all walk with her back to her herd?”
“That’s a great idea,” said Penny.
“No,” barked one of the keepers.
The dragon arched up again.
“Okay, fine, but behave, Dragon.”
“Can I name you, Coral?” asked Penny.
Coral nodded her head slightly as she closed her eyes, then she pulled her body backwards and wriggled out of the barn.
As the dragon had been cramped for several hours, she clearly felt the need to stretch, and as she did, Penny was able to see the full extent of her new friend.
Coral rolled her shoulders backwards, and at the same time, she stretched out her wings completely, tilted her head skyward, and shot a plume of fire directly upwards. She was majestic, and Penny couldn’t believe how lucky she was to be able to see her.
Once she was done with such a tremendous display for what was nothing more than a large stretch, she bounded around slightly, like a very large puppy, and pointed her head in the direction she wished to walk.
“Make sure the fuzzlepuff doesn’t leave the island,” said Hugo as he stood next to Penny, who was holding the fluffy creature in the palm of her hand.
She nodded, though in that moment, she wasn’t interested in ever leaving the island herself.
“I swear, If anyone dies from this, we’ll all be fired,” said one of the men.
Penny placed her hand on one of Coral’s arms. She didn’t flinch. “I think we are safe,” said Penny as she started to walk forward.
It was over an hours walk to get to where the Sheekings were, and as they made their way up over a small hill, they looked out to a meadow where the other female dragons stood. The fuzzlepuff slept in Penny’s pocket.
There were eight other Sheekings in Coral’s herd, and it was as if they knew Penny was coming. they all stood side by side, facing toward her, with their heads bowed, and their eyes closed.
Coral lifted her head and let out a noise that sounded like a growly howl. In unison, the eight other dragons stood on their back feet, stretched out their wings and howled back, before dropping back down into the same bowing position.
“Is this what they normally do?” asked Penny.
“Never,” said Hugo, “Nobody that I’m aware of, has ever been welcomed like this.”
Coral looked at Penny, and waited for her to walk towards her herd, and it was strange that for Penny, all of this felt so much like coming home.
“Aren’t you scared?” asked Toddy as he grabbed Penny’s arm to stop her.
“It might seem strange, Toddy, but I’m not afraid at all.”
As Penny walked towards the majestic creatures, she felt sad that such wonders were hidden from the world at large, but she also felt a sense of knowing that to protect them, it was most likely necessary.
An alarm sounded across the island.
Startled, Coral and the other dragons arched up in fear, and flew to a different part of the Island, probably half an hours walk away.
“Coral, come back,” sobbed Penny softly.
“Oh no, there’s been a breach,” said Hugo.
“It’s okay, we are clearly able to deal with whatever dragon is coming next,” said Toddy with a chuckle.
“No… it’s a prisoner escape,” said Hugo with a large amount of fear in his voice, “Penny… I… there are reasons that I wish you weren’t here. Now, whatever you do, stay away from the boat because they’ll probably make their way to the dock.”
“Why are there prisoners on the island?” asked Toddy.
“Where else can we keep dragon killers?” asked Hugo, “Now, follow me,” he said, before he sighed and began to run towards his station, with a detour to take them both to safety.
“Ooop… don’t touch that,” said Stellium as Toddy poked at some experiment on a desk in one of the island’s labs.
“What is it?” asked Toddy.
“Pure, unadulterated magic,” said Stellium with a smile, “Ooh, I think it’s ready, come have a look at this.”
Penny sat on a countertop with her legs folded, and while she was happy that Toddy had found something interesting to pass the time, she wanted to be out there with the dragons, especially to protect them, if dragon killers were on the loose.
“Penny, come see this,” said Toddy.
Penny slid off the counter and wandered over, ‘I bet it’s going to be boring,’ she thought, but she was mistaken.
She looked down at what Stellium had led Toddy to. An egg, and even better, it had just begun to hatch.
Penny felt her heart skip, “What kind is it?” she asked, knowing that unless he said a Sheeking, she probably wouldn’t have a clue what it might look like.
“A Tortiwozzle,” said Stellium in a rather giddy manner.
“What kind of name is that? Who names these things,” laughed Toddy.
“I mean… I named this one,” said Stellium shyly, “but no matter, this little fella is just one little tittle of the whole dragon world. Maybe one day, you two will be able to name one. What type of name do you think you would choose?”
Toddy looked sheepish, he didn’t mean to call Stellium’s name choice, stupid.
“Go on, don’t be shy,” said Stellium, who didn’t seem hurt.
“Um, maybe something that sounds scary… maybe, um, Tyrannothrasher.”
Stellium nodded, “Perhaps you’ll end up working on the seventh island then. Not sure any of the ones here would really suit the name. The Sheekings and the Heekings are our most fearsome dragons, and they aren’t too bad as long as you stay away from the sharp end.”
“Wow, the seventh island must have some enormous dragons,” said Toddy, in anticipation of a reply.
“Well… actually, it’s usually the medium sized ones that you have to watch out for. And just wait till you meet a tiny Fuzzysnapper, I mean, they are cute, but vicious.”
“A Fuzzysnapper?” asked Toddy.
Stellium pulled a rather heavy book from a bookshelf near by and plonked it down in front of them. “This has… most of them in it. There are no official books out there of course, but this is full of my personal notes. You should both start your own notebook, but feel free to have a sticky beak so you know what to expect. Remember, take absolutely no photos. Hand drawings are okay, but if anyone sees it and asks, make sure to tell them that you are writing a fiction book.”
As Toddy and Penny flicked through the pages, they could not believe their eyes. There were more dragons than either of them thought could possibly exist, and to know that there was actually even more than that, seemed impossible.
“The egg is definitely moving,” said Stellium, who had walked back over to it.
“What did you say it was called again?” asked Penny.
“A Tortiwozzle and that thing in your pocket is a fuzzlepuff… another thing I named.” laughed Stellium.
“Oh, you must have heard it tick.”
“Sure, but, more than that, the tone of the tick tells me that it’s a female, and if I had to guess, I think it’s pregnant.”
“Oh,” said Penny, shocked, “Does it need to go back in the wild?”
“Not really, a shoebox filled with old fabric works well. I used to love collecting them as a kid.”
“You lived here since you were a kid?” asked Toddy.
“On and off. Rules were slightly less strict back then. I mean, not enough to invite women out… but you know, anyway, I’ve spent a lot of time both here and on the mainland, but… I think it’s been five years since my last trip off the island.”
“Okay Penny, it’s time to go,” said Hugo as he walked in.
“Where will I be sleeping?” she asked.
“No Penny, we need to get you home. It’s too dangerous here.”
“But… I,” said Penny.
There was a deafening, crashing thud off in the distance.
“See Penny, now something else has gone wrong. I have no idea what, yet. Perhaps I don’t want to know, but as I’ve said, dragons and the work out here, are much too dangerous for females.”
“Can’t I at least wait for the Tortiwozzle to hatch, I’m so excited to see it.”
“No Penny, the men have waited long enough. It’s selfish to make them wait any longer.”
“The fuzzlepuff?” asked Stellium as he held out his hand, “Sorry Penny, I know you want to stay.”
Really, Penny had no choice but to do as her uncle said. The ship wasn’t going to leave without her, and it was filled with men who were tired, and just wanted to get back to the mainland, so delaying the boat further, was unfair. It also didn’t escape her knowledge that if the prisoners were not captured, the boat… that shouldn’t have still been there, could have been used by the men to escape.
As Penny looked back at the island that began to get smaller and smaller, she couldn’t figure out if she was happy that she got to meet the dragons, or sad because she now knew what she was missing out on.
Penny was rather lost in her own thoughts, and she continued to look back towards the island, long after it had disappeared out of view. The light had begun to fade, and she’d ignored two attempts to invite her to dinner. She just didn’t feel like eating. It began to get cold, so finally, Penny figured she’d attempt to get some sleep.
“Tick, tick,” Penny heard from her pocket.
“Oh no, you weren’t meant to come with me. As much as I want to keep you, it’s just too dangerous for you off the island,” said Penny, as she pulled her friend the fuzzlepuff from her pocket.
Penny was in the process of figuring out what to do. Perhaps it would be able to stay on the boat and head back with the next group heading out… but she wasn’t sure how long it would be before the next trip.
Just then, she heard the captain, Shrimpy, scream. She looked across the deck and she could see the same problem that Shrimpy was obviously aware of, one of the prisoners had made it onboard.
“No, no, no,” said Penny, this is all my fault.
As the boat began to change course, Penny cried. She knew that they were all in danger. She hoped that Shrimpy was okay, but if he was, he had become rather quiet. It was also hard to say if he was the only one onboard, or if he had any conspirators amongst the men that were previously seen as trustworthy.
She felt frozen by fear and unsure of what to do next, and she looked back towards the island, hoping desperately that Hugo would come and rescue her. Penny knew though, that they kept no boats on the island, and really, that was to prevent disasters such as this.
“What have I done?” asked Penny as she looked out across the water.
Just then, she saw the water move, and she knew that such movement was not a natural occurrence… could it perhaps be…
A monthly subscription to Medium gives you unlimited access to all of my articles and stories and all other artists on the Medium platform. If you’re yet to sign up on Medium, using this link costs you no more but helps to support me on my journey.
