Gwen and the Dragon

By Dale Cusack

Three young children discover a secret passageway hidden inside their castle library. As they explore their way down into the caverns below they discover they are not alone; horrible things live in the dark. Creepy crawling things are coming down the tunnel towards them. But this is not the only horror awaiting them. An imprisoned dragon still wanders the tunnels searching for a way out.

Overhearing the children discussing the tunnels the evil Gort hatches a plan to release the dragon and over throw the kingdom. Now the race is on between Gwen and her brother Edmund to rescue a princess, stop a revolution and avoid being eaten by the dragon and whatever it is slowly crawling down the dark passageways towards them. Slither slither slither....

• Language: English
• Publisher: Dale Cusack
• Release date: Aug 8, 2010
• ISBN: 9781452368368

Dale Cusack

Dale Cusack was born in Australia in 1970 and moved to New Zealand before his first birthday. He has written many short stories and four novels for children.Dale mainly writes for the tween and teen readers although adults still enjoy his stories.He is fluent in Japanese and Mandarin and holds an Asian languages degree. Dale is married with one son and is currently living in Christchurch, New Zealand.He enjoys discussing his stories with his readers and invites their feedback at every opportunity.

Book preview

GWEN AND THE DRAGON

Written By

DALE CUSACK

Illustrated by

DENNIS MA

Smashwords Edition

Copyright © 2010 Dale Cusack

Legal

This ebook is entirely a work of fiction, all events described are works of the author’s imagination any resemblances to persons living or dead, events or localities is entirely coincidental. This ebook is licensed for your personal enjoyment only. This ebook may not be re-sold or given away to other people. If you would like to share this book with another person, please purchase an additional copy for each person. If you’re reading this book and did not purchase it, or it was not purchased for your use only, then please return to Smashwords.com and purchase your own copy. Thank you for respecting the hard work of this author.

Contents

1 The Secret Tunnel

2 The Cavern of Needles

3 Back into the Caverns

4 Prince Credos

5 The Cage

6 Bad News

7 The Duel

8 Along Came a Spider

9 Kidnapped

10 Falling

11 The King’s Medallion

About the Author

Other Books

Acknowledgments

CHAPTER ONE

~The Secret Tunnel~

Behind the Green Mountains, and aside the river Iss, built atop a large rocky hill, with a precarious drop at the back, stands the remarkable castle of Nor. Hewn from the rock on which it stands above the valley below, the castle’s spires, two slender towers, stretch so high that their tops are lost in the clouds above. Within the castle walls lives the King and his Council. His Majesty King Nor lives with his wife, Queen Nor and their daughter, Adele. Three other children also live in the castle. Edmund and Gwendolyn, whom everyone calls ‘Gwen’ much to her mother’s despair, are the children of the King’s Captain Azar. They spend their days playing with their uncle’s son George.

I do wish it would stop raining, complained Gwen for what must have been the fiftieth time this morning. She turned away from the window. The scene outside was unchanged for the last three days, the green valley of Nor was shrouded in a clinging mist and soaked with rain. Periodically thunder rung out through the valley, and the river Iss bulged at its banks with the water the rains had brought.

It seems like it has been raining for ages. I’m so sick of these dreary stone walls. Gwen was a tall standing eleven-year-old girl with long curly brown hair and bright blue eyes. She had a clever mind and frequently got into trouble for voicing too many opinions. Gwen looked at Edmund.

Let’s play hide n seek, she beamed. Gwen never grew tired of a good game of hide n seek.

Bags not it, she cried and not waiting for the others to reply, tore off out the door to hide. Edmund looked at George, and made a dash for the door.

Bags not it, he cried his voice fading as he disappeared out the door. George, who had had his mouth full with bread, closed his eyes and began to count.

The muffled sound of George counting over a mouthful of half eaten bread filled the room.

One, two…

Gwen skipped gaily down the flag-stoned path and turned right into the library, her favorite room in the castle. Rows of old leather bound books filled shelf upon shelf, stacked right up as far as she could see. Gwen had never been further than the first couple of shelves as she always managed to find something interesting to read on the first level. Today, however, her interest wasn’t in reading, but hiding from George. She hopped onto the ladder and started to climb.

He’ll never find me up here, she whispered to herself.

***

Edmund ran out down the same corridor after Gwen, but turned left instead. He was Gwen’s twin brother, with shaggy brown hair and the same strong blue eyes. He was more practical than his sister, preferring the ‘wait and see’ approach over the ‘make something happen’ approach of his sister. Edmund went down a set of stairs and into the kitchen. Freshly picked green apples lay on the table, ready for tonight’s dinner. Cook was making an apple pie, and Edmund helped himself to an apple. Crossing to the far side of the kitchen he found a very large brat pan and hid underneath it.

Eight, nine…ten, ready or not here I come! called George, as he stuffed a few more pieces of bread into his mouth. George was the son of a Paladin, Waryn, the best friend of Gwen and Edmund’s Father Azar. George had known the twins all his life and they had always been best friends. He was a bit shorter than the other two, with red hair and green eyes like his dad. He was always hungry and constantly pulling something tasty from his bottomless pockets. He raced out into the hallway after the other two.

George soon came to the same intersection that Gwen and Edmund had passed moments ago. George knew Gwen would be hiding in the library, but George’s natural instincts saw him heading towards the kitchen regardless. Besides, there was a good chance that Edmund would be hiding down there. He turned left and went creeping down the stairs into the kitchen.

***

Gwen had climbed the ladder to the third level by now; this was as high as she had ever been in the past. The books were quite dusty and her nose tickled. She wanted to sneeze but pinched her nose to stop herself. Slowly she climbed higher. The writing on the books was in a strange language she didn’t recognize but they had pretty lettering on their covers. Gwen carried on, climbing up towards the ninth level... She moved off the ladder and sat upon a shelf to rest. The dust was so thick she left footprints on the shelves where she had been.

George will never find me here, she chirped to herself, snug in the knowledge that she would win and Edmund would be 'it' next. Then she could quit before it was her turn and have dinner. She pulled at a large colorful book and tossed through its pages to kill time while she waited.

***

George moved about the kitchen searching. He paused. He could hear something. A crunching sound was coming from the far side, near a large brat pan. George smiled, he too had seen the apples on the table, and knew of Edmund’s liking for fruit. He crept up to the pan.

Aha! he cried as he pulled the pan away. But there was only an apple core and a mouse nibbling on it. George was disappointed and he hated being ‘it’. He looked about the kitchen for signs of Edmund. Small, white footprints made of flour traced their way to the dry store door.

Got you this time! muttered George, as he crept over towards the wooden door. He threw open the door and peered inside. Edmund sat on the stone floor with honey on his lips and chin smiling up at George.

Do be a bit more quiet George, or cook will find us and we will get a good smacking for stealing her honey, scolded Edmund. George grinned as he stuck his greedy fingers into the jar.

***

Gwen thumbed through the pages of a large dusty leather bound book, the colourful pictures still vibrant even after many years in storage. The pictures were of people, in beautiful clothes, sitting at a large table eating a sumptuous feast of