Free Jonah and the Last Great Dragon by M E. Holley Page A

things!’ an elderly man called from the middle of the churchyard.
    Mike bit his lip. ‘Not easy. The creatures here at Cascob aren’t an isolated phenomenon, I’m afraid. I think many, many more of them will come to the surface in the Welsh Borders. They are blocking every single way of getting in touch with other places.’
    â€˜But how are they doing that?’ asked the vicar.
    â€˜They are swarming over the local radio masts and communication installations, using a spell to cover all the telephone cables with some kind of fibre that traps the sound waves. A bit like silky spiders’ webs. That’s why you have no phones working. They want to isolate you, while more and more of them arrive.’ He hesitated for a moment before saying reluctantly, ‘Then they will attack in earnest.’
    â€˜What about the Army?’ a woman called. ‘Can’t the things be shot?’
    â€˜What about explosives?’ asked someone else.
    Mike shook his head gravely. ‘They are totally impervious to any modern weapon.’
    A young man glared up at Mike, scowling. ‘That’s unbelievable, man! Are you standing there and telling us that we’ve fought in two world wars, not to mention Bosnia and Iraq and Afghanistan, but we can’t get rid of these – animals and demons and things. It’s pathetic!’
    There were cries of agreement and shouts of anger. The Vicar of Knighton stood up. ‘Please, everyone, let’s keep calm,’ he said, looking around. ‘It’s no use getting angry. If we are confronting the paranormal, ordinary weapons won’t be of any use. The important thing is to keep our heads, and think how we can try to protect our community.’
    â€˜There is a way of destroying them,’ Mike said, ‘but it means you have to fight them face to face.’ He looked around at the puzzled frowns. ‘Face to face with a sword, I mean. I don’t think many men today know how to fight like that, do they?
    â€˜There is no way I can soften this,’ he added grimly. ‘And I am deeply sorry to have brought you this terrible news. You are in danger. The Night Creatures don’t want to share this world. They want to take it away! They don’t want human beings on Earth – except as slaves.’
    Mike bowed his head briefly and turned to talk to the Reverend Vaughan. As he did so, he glanced at the church and Jonah saw a shadow cross his face. Suddenly, a thought struck Jonah with such force that he nearly cried out.
    â€˜Erin,’ he muttered. ‘Come over here.’
    He ran towards the wall at the back of the church, past the huddled knots of anxious villagers and pulled Erin behind a bush, so that nobody could see them.
    â€˜What’s the matter?’ Erin frowned at him.
    â€˜I don’t want anyone else to hear this. They would just laugh at me. But the thing is, I was watching Mike and he turned and looked at the church, and something just came to me.’ He swallowed. ‘I think I might know who Mike is.’
    Erin’s eyes widened. ‘Really? Not SAS, then?’
    Jonah shook his head. ‘First I need to explain something,’ he said slowly. ‘Something I didn’t tell you about, after the wolf bit me.’
    â€˜Go on.’
    â€˜Well, I seemed to have a sort of nightmare. I was awake and everything, and the pain was terrible. I know I wasn’t asleep. But I heard ghastly whispering voices and saw kind of nightmare faces and they chased me...’ His voice shook and he faltered. ‘I’m sorry. I don’t mean to sound like a custard-head, but it was just awful.’
    â€˜Custard-head?’
    â€˜That’s what we say at my school. You know, when someone’s all scared about doing something they’ve got to.’
    Erin leaned forward. ‘It’s OK, Jonah. You’re no scaredy-cat. I was the one who cried, remember? And nothing