Dare Quest - The Chinese Pirate Read online

  Dragon Slayer’s Manual. How to kill a dragon.

  “Perfect, the very thing we need.” He went over to the fire, sat down and began to read.

  Anthony decided to examine the contents of the bag some more. He found some coins, a telescope, a compass and the map of an island in it, and hanging from the sailor’s belt was a cutlass, a kind of ferocious sword used by men on ships.

  He took the things to Edward and for once waited patiently until Edward finished reading the book.

  “So, do you know how to defeat the dragon now?” Anthony asked.

  “I think so, but first we’ll have to get to it. What have you got there?”

  “Look at this map. Do you think that’s the island we’re on?”

  “Maybe, hard to tell.” He examined the map carefully. “It says Lantau Island. There’s a really high mountain at this end of the island, a bit like the one where the dragon is hiding. And look here. That looks like a cave at the top of the mountain.”

  “It’s got to be our island then. And look, there are some coins.”

  Edward examined them. They were copper coins with a king’s head on one side. “William IIII,” he read. “And the date is 1834. Wow, we’ve really come a long time into the past.”

  What are we going to do?”

  Edward took the telescope in his hands and turned to look out of the cave. There was a dim grey light on the horizon that heralded the coming dawn. He pulled out the telescope and looked through it at the horizon.

  “This is great,” he said.

  “Let me see.”

  Edward handed him the telescope and Anthony peered through it.

  “It’ll be morning soon,” Edward said. “We better drink some water and get ready to climb the mountain. It’s quite steep and we’d better climb as much as we can before the sun get’s too hot.”

  Anthony nodded in agreement, and so after a drink and a breakfast that consisted of the last of the dried meat they left the cave. There was enough light in the sky now for them to see where they were going. They set off at a determined pace hoping to get as high as possible before sunrise. But in the tropics the period of dawn is never very long and they only had half an hour before the sun rose above the horizon and shone on them. The temperature rose rapidly and the two boys began to sweat until their clothes were drenched. It took them a good one and a half hours till they came near the summit.

  “Let’s sit down and take a rest,” Anthony said breathing hard.

  Edward agreed. Walking up the steep mountain was hard work and he was out of breath. And carrying a heavy cutlass and the telescope didn’t help either. He put the cutlass down with a clang and sat on a rock. It was too hot. He quickly got up again and squatted. They opened their flasks and looked in.

  “Not much left,” Edward said.

  Anthony didn’t answer. He simply put it to his mouth and drank the last water. Edward hesitated for a moment and then did the same. After all, what was the point of keeping the water? If they defeated the dragon and saved the girl it was downhill all the way till they got back to the brook and if the dragon defeated them… well no point thinking about that.

  “Let’s find that cave,” Edward said. “If this is the same mountain as on the map it can’t be far.”

  “I’m scared,” Anthony admitted. “Do we have to go there?”

  “Trust me. Remember I read the manual on how to kill a dragon. But we have to be quiet, we don’t want to wake the dragon.”

  Edward bravely set off ahead and Anthony followed close behind. They cautiously walked forward until they came to a large outcrop of rock. Edward stopped and peered round the corner.

  “It’s here,” he whispered. “I can see the cave.”

  “What about the dragon?”

  Edward looked again. The cave was dark inside as the sun shone from the other side of the mountain. He leaned forward to see better, then stopped to listen.

  “What is it?” Anthony asked.

  “I can hear someone crying in the cave.”

  “It must be the girl. Let’s go in quietly and get her out. If we let the dragon sleep we can sneak past it.”

  “And how do you know the dragon is asleep? Perhaps it’s awake waiting to have the girl for breakfast.”

  The enormity of this thought stopped Anthony from saying anything else. Edward simply stepped forward around the boulder taking great care where he put his feet so as not to kick any loose rocks. When he reached the entrance to the cave he pushed himself flat against the mountainside so as not to be visible from inside the cave. He crept forward to the corner of the entrance and peeped in with one eye. There it lay. A large red dragon, it’s head on the ground, eyes shut, apparently sleeping happily.

  “It’s sleeping,” Edward whispered.

  “So let’s sneak the girl out.”

  Edward gave the thumbs up and they crept forward on tiptoes, past a gigantic foot with its long sharp talons, past the snout and the enormous mouth. Edward shuddered to think of the rows of razor sharp teeth that had to be in it. They went past the dragon’s belly guided by the quiet sound of someone crying. When they came to the dragon’s hind legs they found the girl. As soon as she saw them she started pleading for help.

  “Get me out of here, please!” she cried.

  “Pssst! Be quiet,” the boys whispered urgently. “We don’t want to wake the dragon.”

  The dragon had the girl gripped firmly with its foot, the long sharp claws surrounding her like steel bars of a cage.

  Unable to control her emotions the girl began crying louder.

  “Get me out of here, I just want to get out.”

  The dragon stirred.

  “Please be quiet,” Edward said trying to hush her. “We’ll get you out, but you have to be quiet.”

  It was no use. The girl was getting hysterical. And who could blame her? After being snatched from her home by a fierce beast and held captive all night long surrounded by razor sharp claws, not knowing what dreadful things the dragon had in mind for her, she lost control of herself.

  “Get me out!” she yelled and started to hit and push the claws away in a useless attempt to free herself.

  The boys were getting desperate.

  Then it happened. The dragon woke up. It lifted its head and as quick as lightening turned to see what was the matter. It glared at the three children and smoke started to come out of its nostrils.

  Edward and Anthony shrunk back under its fierce fiery glare and even the girl became quiet. But there was no escape. The dragon was between them and the exit and behind them was nothing but a hard rocky wall.

  “Ah, more breakfast,” the dragon growled and opened its fearsome jaws. A red hot flame began to gather at the back of its throat, expanding, getting hotter and slowly moving forward, ready to toast breakfast. Mouths agape the terrified children stared at the gathering flames. There was no escape. The dragon took aim at the children and breathed out a torrent of all burning fire. At that moment the amulets Edward and Anthony were wearing opened up and a huge bird flew out directly into the path of the advancing flames, thus shielding the children.

  While the bird was being burned to ashes Edward yelled to Anthony.

  “Quick, follow me! There’s only one thing we can do.”

  They dashed to the dragon’s other foot. Edward extended his fingers and began tickling the dragon.

  The surprised dragon stared at the pile of ash in utter amazement. This had never happened before. Then it looked at the girl. Its breakfast still wasn’t toasted. But where were the boys? Then it felt a strange sensation in its foot. It looked and saw the two boys tickling it. It giggled and the fire in its throat went out. They slowly drew their fingers over the inside of its foot, making the dragon smile, and giggle and then laugh. The dragon laughed so much it let go of the girl. And still the boys went on tickling the dragon. It laughed and roared and laughed so much that it shook the mountain and people on the island thought there was an earthquake. Its foot
was so ticklish and the boys tickled it so well that the dragon collapsed on the ground, it laughed and laughed until it couldn’t breathe anymore, and suddenly died. And that is how to defeat a dragon. You must tickle it until it dies.

  The Capture

  “Thank you for saving me,” the girl said. “It was so incredibly brave of you two to come and rescue me from the dragon.”

  And then she gave the boys a big heartfelt hug.

  “What’s your name?” Edward asked.

  “My name’s Ching.”

  “I want to go now,” Anthony complained. “Let’s find the pirate and go home.”

  After spending a rather uncomfortable night in a cave and then very nearly being toasted and eaten by a dragon Anthony wasn’t so sure anymore that the adventure was much fun.

  The children were just about to turn towards the exit of the cave when a strange wind surrounded them. It whirled around and moved about the cave until it went around the heap of ash where the mysterious bird had been burned. It gathered speed and whirled faster and faster lifting the ash up into the air. There the ash came together again, it took on shape and a bright orange. When the wind suddenly stopped the bird was alive again, the same as it was before being burned.

  “Wow!” the children said. “Who are you?”

  The bird looked at them with kind eyes.

  “It is said that to get the right answers one must ask the right questions. It is not who I am, but what I am.”

  “And what are you?” they asked.

  “I am a phoenix.”

  Edward was impressed. “You’re really the legendary bird that can be burned and then rises again alive from its ash?”

  The bird nodded. “You just saw it yourself, didn’t you?”

  The phoenix looked at the dead dragon and said “Well done, my young friends. This fierce fiend has taken too many innocents. It is good that it can terrorize the world no more. Now let’s leave this place of untold misery and descend the mountain.”

  “You mean we’ll go down now?” Ching asked.

  “That’s what I said. Come now, climb on my back and we’ll fly down in no time at all.”

  The three excited children quickly climbed onto the back of the phoenix, after all who would want to miss the chance of flying on a real phoenix?

  The huge bird pushed itself up in the air with its powerful legs and then its mighty wings bore them upwards. They felt the wind blow through their hair as they sailed through the air high above the island. Then the phoenix began its descent and they landed on a flat stretch of land not far from the sea.

  “It’s been a pleasure knowing you brave children,” the phoenix said, “but now it is time for me to depart. Fare well, my young friends!”

  And with those words a whirlwind of sparkling stars enveloped the bird, shrinking it more and more and drawing back into the amulets that still hung around the boys’ necks. Then suddenly, when the last of the phoenix was gone, the amulets vanished into thin air. One moment they were there and the next they were gone.

  “I hope that means we won’t need them anymore,” Edward said.

  “I don’t think you will,” Ching said. “There was only one dragon around here, and it’s dead now thanks to you. At last the people on this island can live without fear of being snatched up into the air, never to be seen again.”

  The boys beamed feeling proud of their heroic achievement. It’s not every day that one gets to defeat a dragon and rescue a girl in distress.

  “I’m really thirsty, hungry, tired, footsore, hot, sweaty, sticky, smelly and homesick,” Anthony said. “Can we go now, please!”

  Edward laughed at Anthony’s list of woes and complaints.

  “I agree, let’s go. Do you know the way back to your village, Ching?”

  She nodded. “Just follow me. It’s not very far.”

  They set off in a direction parallel to the coast thinking of something to eat and drink, maybe a wash or a dip in the sea, and lying under a shady tree to get some rest. The land they walked through was covered in high bushes and grass as tall as a horse. Sometimes there were trees whose wide shady branches offered a short respite from the burning sun. The three children walked along happily and Ching in particular was overjoyed to be soon united with her father again.

  All of a sudden there was loud shouting and a group of wild men jumped from behind bushes. They had swords and pistols and surrounded the children from all sides. Edward raised the cutlass in an attempt to defend himself but one of the men hit it so hard with his sword that the cutlass fell out of Edward’s hand to the ground. Ching shrieked in terror while Edward and Anthony kicked and fought with their bare hands. It was no use. The rough men quickly overpowered them and tied their hands together behind their backs. Another rope was tied first around Ching’s neck, then it went on to go around Anthony’s neck and from there to Edward’s neck. One of the men held the front end of the rope tightly while another man held the back end.

  “Now walk, you little brats,” one of the men shouted rudely and tried to kick Edward though he luckily missed.

  The children had no choice but to do as they were told.

  Edward shook his head. “I don’t understand. I fought the pirate, but we’re still here.”

  This got Anthony even more worried. “You mean the dare didn’t work? We’ll be here for ever?” This thought was so terrible that he almost cried.

  But Ching said “They aren’t pirates, they’re bandits. They infest the countryside and rob or kill anyone they find. They might even sell us into slavery.”

  “Silence you brats,” a bandit shouted and raised a big stick threateningly.

  The children wisely decided to keep quiet. There was no point talking if it meant getting beaten with a stick or maybe even worse. And besides, there was nothing to talk about. Escape was impossible. All they could do was to go along and see what the bandits were going to do with them. They felt miserable. After their victory over the dragon and the amazing flight on the phoenix they had felt that nothing could go wrong anymore. And now they were prisoners of bandits. It was devastating. And yet even while they were walking under such terrible circumstances, the children kept their eyes and ears open ready to make use of any chance, even the slightest opportunity to escape or outsmart the bandits. But it was not to be. After about an hour they reached the bandits’ camp where they were tied to a tree. It was next to a hut where the bandits kept all the things they robbed. The big door was open and the children could see many boxes and sacks full of precious things. On the side of the building huge stacks of firewood were piled up against the wall. Ching begged the bandits for some food and water, but they just laughed at her cruelly. They had to wait until noon when the bandits untied their arms for a few minutes to let them eat and drink. And what a ghastly meal it was. Dirty water and old dirty bread, but they had no choice, they had to eat and drink if they wanted to have any strength.

  After the ghastly meal one of the bandits was told by their leader to tie the children up again. He took the rope and pulled Ching’s arms around the tree. He tried to get the rope around her wrists but it kept sliding off. The long coils of rope were lying on the ground and while the bandit was clumsily trying to get the rope around Ching’s wrists he put one foot in a coil. When he pulled the rope tight his foot was pulled up to Ching’s wrists. Now the bandit was hopping on one foot trying to pull his other foot out. But as he kept pulling the rope to make it tighter his foot couldn’t come out, of course. Then he lost his balance and fell on his bottom.

  Anthony pointed at the bandit and laughed. “You stupid man!” he called and the children laughed.

  The bandit was furious and jumped up, but he forgot his foot was still caught in the rope so he fell down again, this time on his nose. Now the bandits were laughing too.

  “Stupid man, stupid man,” Anthony kept calling, making the bandit angrier and angrier. In his anger he completely forgot about the rope and was quite unable to free himself. Final
ly Edward decided it might be better to help the man before the other bandits got angry too. He loosened the rope and the foolish bandit was free. He jumped up and was about to hit Edward when a powerful voice called “Stop!”. It was the bandit chief.

  “Don’t you dare strike at this brave little boy! He came to help you when you were too clumsy to help yourself. Clumsy, foolish, stupid, why I believe there’s nothing in your head at all. How anyone can be so helpless and useless is simply beyond me. There’s only one word for you: gormless. From now on your name is Gormless Geng. Now get out of my sight. You’re not fit to be a bandit. I should sell you as a slave and not these fearless children who are worth more than a hundred of you.”

  His head hanging low in shame the gormless bandit walked away.

  The bandit chief looked at the children.

  “Now then, I want to have a word with you. Follow me.”

  He walked towards a large hut followed by the children and the bandits who were amazed at this unexpected turn of events.

  In the hut, it was more like a hall or a bandit palace, the chief sat down on a bamboo mat and invited the children to sit with him. He clapped his hands and some slaves quickly came and brought bowls full of delicious fruit such as mangoes, oranges, pineapple and bananas. Then they were given cups of fresh juice. It was like being in paradise. The chief watched them eat and drink for a while. Then he said “Now tell me, who you are and what you’re doing here.”

  First Edward and Anthony told the story about the dare and how they were magically taken to the island where they defeated the dragon and saved Ching. Then Ching told her part of the story and confirmed what the boys had said about the dragon. The chief was most impressed. He frowned and thought for a while, then said “Are you sure you killed that dragon?”

  When the children all nodded he called one of his men and ordered him to go up to the dragon cave. The poor bandit’s face went white with fear.

  “Please not that,” he exclaimed. “What have I done? Do not send me to the dragon!”