Digory The Dragon Slayer

snivel.
    ‘Oh, please don’t harm me. I’m only small really,’ sobbed a trembling voice. ‘I haven’t been telling the truth. I can’t really tear down castle walls with my claws. I’ve never even seen a castle. In fact, I’m still so young that my claws aren’t even grown yet.’
    Digory, who’d worked himself up into a great state of heroic chivalrousness, felt suddenly disappointed.
    ‘You mean you aren’t a jaw-dripping, flesh-ripping, bone-crunching, snout-snarling, bloodthirsty dragon after all?’ he said in amazement.
    ‘Oh, no, Sire,’ snivelled the dragon. ‘The jaw-ripping, snout-thirsty one is Horrible Gnasher, my father. This evening we set off on my first hunting trip, but I got lost in the woods. I found my way home and now I’m waiting for him to return. He’s going to be so angry when he gets back. He’ll be really mad. Really, horribly, blood-spittingly, bone-gnash-ingly furious.’
    Digory heard the little dragon sniff his tears away and suddenly felt ashamed of himself.
    His father had always brought him up to tell the truth and here he was telling dragon-sized porkie-pasties in order to trick a poor creature who’d never done him any harm.
    ‘Quick,’ cried the dragon in a trembling voice, ‘I can hear my father’s great wings beating over the woods. You’d better flee with your army of knights before he scorches you all to cinders!’
    Digory didn’t need to think twice about the dragon’s advice. ‘Thank you for your warning,’ he said. ‘I shall go, but first I must tell you that I haven’t been telling the truth either. I’m not really big and fierce,’ he said. ‘I’m just one boy alone, who doesn’t know how to slay a sausage. My army of knights was only an echo. I’m very sorry that I frightened you.’ ‘Oh, that makes me feel much better,’ said the dragon, sounding happier. ‘I’m not afraid now I know that you are only one boy, alone.’ He coughed and cleared his throat. ‘Let me give you some light to help you on your way...’
    Suddenly there was a deafening roar and a jet of flame shot across the cave, lighting Digory’s torch and revealing not a small, trembling, little dragon but AN ENORMOUS JAW-DRIPPING, FLESH-RIPPING, BONE-CRUNCHING, SNOUT-SNARLING, BLOODTHIRSTY DRAGON AFTER ALL!!

HEEEEEEEEELLLLLP!

    ‘TRIED TO TRICK ME, EH?’ hissed the Horrible Gnasher Toast’em Firebreath, rolling his red eyes.
    ‘Well, you tried to t-t-trick me t-t-too,’ stuttered Digory, horrified.
    ‘YES, BUT I TRICKED YOU BETTER!’ the dragon replied with a nasty, drooling smile. ‘AND NOW ALL THIS TRICKING HAS MADE ME HUNGRY SO I’M GOING TO GNAW THE FLESH OFF YOUR SKINNY BONES FOR BREAKFAST.’
    Digory suddenly remembered to be terrified. His hair stood on end, his teeth chattered, his knees knocked, his blood ran cold and his legs turned to jelly. This was it. This was chivalrous and Digory knew it was going to be the last feeling he would ever have.
    The dragon crept slowly towards Digory, like a cat ready to pounce...
    Digory had one thought. Would it be better to blow out the light and be gobbled up in the dark, or to start running away and be gobbled up from behind?
    Gnasher stopped close enough for Digory to feel the heat from his charred nostrils and smell his rotten breath. The dragon eyed him up and down.
    ‘I ALWAYS PREFER MY LITTLE TITBITS PEELED,’ he said with a gruesome grin. ‘I FIND ARMOUR SOMETIMES STICKS IN THE THROAT. WILL YOU REMOVE IT OR SHALL I?’
    Digory began to pull off his gloves obediently when the dragon opened his mouth to lick his lips. With amazement Digory saw that the Horrible Gnasher Toast’em Firebreath had no teeth! There, inside his gruesome snout was a pair of gums as pink as a baby’s bottom!
    Digory couldn’t help himself - he started to giggle! His fear of being crunched and chewed by razor sharp fangs suddenly dissolved into uncontrollable laughter. He laughed and laughed and laughed until he got the hiccups.
    ‘Who’s afraid of being sucked to death by a toothless... hie... dragon!’ he chortled.
    ‘Who’s afraid of a... toothless dragon!’ echoed a hundred sneering voices out of the darkness.
    The Horrible Gnasher was completely taken aback. No one had ever laughed at him before. He shrank against the wall of the cave, confused for a moment.
    In an instant, Digory saw that he had a chance. With a flourish he drew Burdock’s sword once more and sliced the air like a true knight.
    ‘Stay