Digory The Dragon Slayer

knees.
    ‘This is only his cloakroom,’ he said with a shudder. ‘And I don’t think any of these guests will be leaving!’
    Suddenly a sharp draught blew through a crevice in the rock and put out his torch! Digory stood very still. All around him there was darkness and somewhere ahead of him was darkness with a dragon in it, or maybe two.
    His bravery fizzled out like the flame.
    ‘No one can be expected to fight a d-d-dragon in the d-d-dark,’ he said to himself, trying to stay calm. ‘No one could complain if I t-t-turned around now and went b-b-back.’
    But which was the way b-b-back? Digory crawled about on the knees of his tin suit, trying to find the tunnel entrance. When he reached a cave wall he stood up and took a few steps forward. It felt like the tunnel b-b-back, but it was really...

    THE TUNNEL TO THE
    D-D-DRAGON’S LAIR!

    As Digory stumbled blindly through the cave, the rotten smell grew stronger and a clatter of small rocks fell ahead. Just as he was starting to suspect this was not the tunnel b-b-back after all, a terrifying snort sent more rocks tumbling at his feet.

    The jaw-dripping, flesh-ripping, bone-crunching, snout-snarling, bloodthirsty dragon must be there in the darkness ahead - but where?
    Poor Digory was petrified. He shuddered and shook until his armour rattled like a tinker’s cart. The sound filled the cave with a deafening echo.
    Then the dragon spoke.
    ‘WHAT GREAT ARMY OF KNIGHTS COMES TO MY CAVE?’ his deep voice boomed.
    In an instant, Digory realised that the dragon could not see him in the dark. He shook his tin leggings and sure enough they sounded like a hundred knights shuffling impatiently. Digory felt a little braver. ‘If only I can fool this dragon,’ he said to himself, ‘I might get a chance to escape.’
    So he took a deep breath and imagined he was Ethelburg playing let’s pretend.
    ‘I am Sir Digory the Dragon Slayer,’ he shouted sternly, ‘and I come here with my army to slay the Horrible Gnasher Toast’em
    Firebreath, and... er... anyone else who crosses my path.’
    The dragon was silent. Digory heard the scratching and scuffling of clawed feet.
    ‘WHY SHOULD I BE AFRAID OF YOU, SIR DIGORY? THESE JAWS OF MINE HAVE SNAPPED OFF THE HEADS OF A THOUSAND KNIGHTS.’
    Digory swallowed hard. He tried with all his might to imagine that there were a thousand knights behind him.
    ‘You should be afraid, dragon,’ he replied, ‘because these are the fiercest knights in the land.’ He rattled his armour for effect. ‘One of them slayed the Great King Troll and another killed a two-headed sea serpent with his bare hands.’ Digory was quite pleased with this. Making up stories was just like making up songs.
    The dragon grunted, as if deciding whether to believe him or not. But Digory was just beginning to enjoy himself. He found it easy to imagine things in the dark.
    ‘All my knights carry magic swords,’ he continued. ‘They can change any creature to stone with just one strike. I, myself, have slain one hundred mountain lions with a catapult while wrestling with the Ferocious Four Fanged Beast of Batty Woods, single-hand-ed.’
    Now Digory was really feeling the part. He slapped his thigh with his gauntlet and it made a deafening clatter.
    ‘WELL, I HAVE THE BONES OF A HUNDRED THOUSAND KNIGHTS FOR MY BED,’ boasted the dragon. ‘MY NOSE IS AS KEEN AS THE WIND AND MY EYES ARE SHARPER THAN THE EYES OF AN EAGLE. MY CLAWS CAN RIP DOWN CASTLE WALLS AND MY LONG TONGUE MAY PICK A JUICY MAIDEN FROM HER BED. AND WHEN I HAVE DEVOURED MY FILL I DRINK THE FIRE OF VOLCANOES FOR MY THIRST.’
    But this did not frighten Digory, now standing proudly at the head of a great army.
    ‘Ha! What good are your eagle eyes against a wizard’s spell?’ he jeered. ‘I have twenty wizards in my army who will make gruesome spirits appear before your eyes and tie your tongue into a knot that may never be undone. At my command they will turn your claws into ribbons and your keen nose into a pumpkin.’
    ‘BUT I HAVE SET ALIGHT GREAT FORESTS WITH MY BREATH!’ bellowed the dragon.
    Digory the Invincible laughed. ‘And I have the teeth of a hundred dragons on my helmet!’
    As he listened to the booming echo of his own words Digory felt as fearless as a true knight. He drew Burdock’s sword from its scabbard and the sound of a hundred swords drawn echoed through the cave.
    But, as Digory took one step forward into the darkness, he heard a small, whimpering