you?" Seth asked. "Trick them, like you did the Rhino Dragons?"
"No, not Sandy Dragons," John replied. "I can't transform into one of them."
"Wait a minute. I thought you said you Golden Dragons can change into any dragon," Jenna recalled. "Were you exaggerating?"
John shook his head. "No, but we have to learn each form first. No one learns every dragon—there's just too many. Many just learn three or four. Due to my assignment I had to learn more than that, but I didn't learn the forms of all of our neighbours."
"And the race to the south, who are they?" Crystal asked.
John smiled. "If our idiotic history teacher was to be believed, they are just Brown Dragons in war paint. But no, these are the Wasp Dragons, the southern nation. They're about the same size as the Light Brown Dragons, but a little smaller than the Dark Brown Dragons, who are the roughly the same size as Golden Dragons. However, these dragons are quite striking to look at, with their black and yellow scales and you wouldn't mistake them for anyone else. Their people are quite striking as well, so I'm told. Their kingdom used to be a long thin country, but was cut in two by the Green Dragons a long time ago and the southern group all migrated south to here. For a long time two groups existed, and they became independent from each other, with separate leaders and cultures which started to diverge. However, eventually the northern half was wiped out by your ancestors. Wiped out; every man, woman, child and even babies were killed. Not a trace was left behind."
"I don't believe you!" Jenna cried in shock.
"He's right," Crystal said quietly. "It wasn't that long ago and we have records of the battles in the library. John made me look them up. Details of what happened to the children are brief, but he's telling the truth."
"Details are not brief in the history books of the Wasp Dragons," John added. "Despite the split, the two nations were still friendly with each other and the southerners sent units to help fight the invaders in the north. I call them invaders because that is what they were. Your records tell otherwise, claiming that it was a war started by them, but we had spies in both nations and know and recorded the truth. These brave fighters were all soundly defeated of course, but some returned with stories of the mass slaughter of their people, tales of children rounded up into barns and burnt alive, and much, much worse, if that could be believed. So, you'll understand when I tell you that you wouldn't be welcome."
Arthur, Seth and Jenna were stunned into silence.
"You spoke of spies," Crystal said, changing the subject. "Do you still have spies everywhere?"
"You? We , Crystal. You didn't know it, but you are one of us. But yes, we do have spies almost everywhere. Everywhere except the Blues and the Reds, unless you count me and my job wasn't to spy—not yet anyway. Your parents were the last of us who spied on the Blues. The Blues know our abilities and how to detect us, so it's too dangerous now. There are a couple of nations who don't know about us, so spying on them is quite easy."
"We know now though," Seth told him, "and you can't expect us to say nothing. Why did you let us know?"
John paused, thinking about this. He had spent the whole year obediently following the orders given to him from his government, then at the last minute had decided to ignore the most important order, to only reveal who he was to Crystal. "I didn't really have permission to do that and it might not be taken well, but I did what I felt was right. I planned to tell Daisy eventually, as I knew she could be trusted and my plan was to stay in the Red Dragon kingdom as a spy for ever, so other than Daisy, I wouldn't have told anyone."
"Except Crystal," Seth pointed out.
"Who is also a Golden Dragon and I had expected that she would also choose to stay as a spy, although I think she'd have struggled to do that effectively; she would be too loyal to you."
Crystal
"No, not Sandy Dragons," John replied. "I can't transform into one of them."
"Wait a minute. I thought you said you Golden Dragons can change into any dragon," Jenna recalled. "Were you exaggerating?"
John shook his head. "No, but we have to learn each form first. No one learns every dragon—there's just too many. Many just learn three or four. Due to my assignment I had to learn more than that, but I didn't learn the forms of all of our neighbours."
"And the race to the south, who are they?" Crystal asked.
John smiled. "If our idiotic history teacher was to be believed, they are just Brown Dragons in war paint. But no, these are the Wasp Dragons, the southern nation. They're about the same size as the Light Brown Dragons, but a little smaller than the Dark Brown Dragons, who are the roughly the same size as Golden Dragons. However, these dragons are quite striking to look at, with their black and yellow scales and you wouldn't mistake them for anyone else. Their people are quite striking as well, so I'm told. Their kingdom used to be a long thin country, but was cut in two by the Green Dragons a long time ago and the southern group all migrated south to here. For a long time two groups existed, and they became independent from each other, with separate leaders and cultures which started to diverge. However, eventually the northern half was wiped out by your ancestors. Wiped out; every man, woman, child and even babies were killed. Not a trace was left behind."
"I don't believe you!" Jenna cried in shock.
"He's right," Crystal said quietly. "It wasn't that long ago and we have records of the battles in the library. John made me look them up. Details of what happened to the children are brief, but he's telling the truth."
"Details are not brief in the history books of the Wasp Dragons," John added. "Despite the split, the two nations were still friendly with each other and the southerners sent units to help fight the invaders in the north. I call them invaders because that is what they were. Your records tell otherwise, claiming that it was a war started by them, but we had spies in both nations and know and recorded the truth. These brave fighters were all soundly defeated of course, but some returned with stories of the mass slaughter of their people, tales of children rounded up into barns and burnt alive, and much, much worse, if that could be believed. So, you'll understand when I tell you that you wouldn't be welcome."
Arthur, Seth and Jenna were stunned into silence.
"You spoke of spies," Crystal said, changing the subject. "Do you still have spies everywhere?"
"You? We , Crystal. You didn't know it, but you are one of us. But yes, we do have spies almost everywhere. Everywhere except the Blues and the Reds, unless you count me and my job wasn't to spy—not yet anyway. Your parents were the last of us who spied on the Blues. The Blues know our abilities and how to detect us, so it's too dangerous now. There are a couple of nations who don't know about us, so spying on them is quite easy."
"We know now though," Seth told him, "and you can't expect us to say nothing. Why did you let us know?"
John paused, thinking about this. He had spent the whole year obediently following the orders given to him from his government, then at the last minute had decided to ignore the most important order, to only reveal who he was to Crystal. "I didn't really have permission to do that and it might not be taken well, but I did what I felt was right. I planned to tell Daisy eventually, as I knew she could be trusted and my plan was to stay in the Red Dragon kingdom as a spy for ever, so other than Daisy, I wouldn't have told anyone."
"Except Crystal," Seth pointed out.
"Who is also a Golden Dragon and I had expected that she would also choose to stay as a spy, although I think she'd have struggled to do that effectively; she would be too loyal to you."
Crystal
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