Page 22 (1/2)

"A basilisk?" The dragon shook his head "I’ve never heard of such a thing"

"Fortunately such monsters are very, very rare," explained the professor "The lance froh to kill In your place any mortal would be dead now, but even a basilisk can’t destroy a dragon so easily"

"You destroyed it, though," said Firedrake "With nothing more than a mirror"

"Oh, yes, indeed," replied Barnabas Greenblooh his untidy gray hair "There was no great skill in that, you know A basilisk can’t survive the sight of its own reflection As a matter of fact, I’ve never had a chance to try the theory out in real life until today, but that’s what all the books say, and books do sohtfully "I think you saved my life," he said "How can I thank you?"

"Don’t mention it!" The professor smiled at Firedrake "It was an honor Indeed, an extraordinary honor, I do assure you!" He was looking at the dragon with awe and ad a dragon in my short human life span, you know This is a very, very happy day for me" Much moved, the professor rubbed his nose

"You know a lot about what hus call fabulous creatures, don’t you?" said Firedrake curiously, bending his neck down to Barnabas Greenbloom "Most people don’t even know that we exist"

"I’ve been doing research into the subject for e of ten I was fortunate enough to find a woodland fairy caught up in the netting over a fruit tree in our garden Since then, of course, no one has been able to convince ht at the time, why shouldn’t all the other fabulous creatures exist, too? In the end I made it part of my professional career to seek them out -- all the creatures described in the old tales, the most ancient stories of all I’ve discussed rare minerals with dwarves, the flavor of tree bark with trolls, immortality with fairies, and enchanton I’ve ever met I was alht you here?" asked Firedrake

"My search for the winged horse, Pegasus," replied the professor "But instead I found this cavern The hieroglyphs carved in the rock around its entrance give clear warning of a basilisk The ancient Egyptians knew about those ht the basilisk hatched fro However, another theory claims that a basilisk is born when a five-year-old cockerel lays an egg, which fortunately doesn’t happen very often Anyway, that’s why I’d hidden the mirror outside, but to be honest with you, I’d never ventured inside the cave before today"

Thinking of the basilisk’s red eyes, Firedrake could understand the professor’s caution only too well

"You woke it," said Barnabas Greenbloom "Did you realize that?"

"I did?" Firedrake shook his head skeptically "That’s what thehere How could I have woken it?"

"Si in the cave," replied the professor "In the course offact: One fabulous creature attracts another They sense each other’s presence Sometimes their scalps prickle, so like that?"

Firedrake shook his head "My scales often itch," he replied, "but I never thought anything of it"

The professor nodded thoughtfully "I assume that the basilisk picked up your scent"

"It did say I had disturbed its dark drea sick froiven off by the monster