Free The Case of the Vanished Sea Dragon by Gareth P. Jones Page B

for ever, steam rising up, obscuring the horizon.
    â€˜Welcome to the banks of the Outer Core, dudes.’
    The greeting came from a Firedrake, sitting on the edge of the shore. Firedrakes were relatives of thedrab-nosed Drakes and had the same large bellies and tough skin, but their noses were upturned and their backs were covered in tiny holes. This one wore what looked like a pair of crudely carved sunglasses and held a long black ladle. By his side were rows of black metal flasks. He dipped the ladle into the sizzling liquid, scooped some up and poured it into a flask. He then lifted it to his mouth, gulping it down greedily, licking his lips and burping, sending blasts of steam shooting from his mouth, nostrils and all the holes on his back.
    â€˜Wow, that tickles,’ said the Firedrake, leaning back and laughing.
    â€˜I think this one is peculiar in the head,’ said Alba, tapping the side of her head.
    â€˜Let’s go say hello,’ replied Dirk, approaching.
    The Firedrake turned to look at them. ‘Hey, dragon dudes, what’s happening?’
    â€˜The name’s Dirk Dilly,’ he replied. ‘Why are you drinking that stuff, Firedrake?’
    â€˜It’s my job, dude ... but I tell you what, after a while you develop a taste for it. The name’s Shute.’ The Firedrake extended a paw.
    Dirk shook it. ‘Shute?’
    â€˜Shute Hobcraft, Firedrake, at your service,’ he said,taking another sip of liquid fire, shooting out steam and bursting into hysterics.
    â€˜How can you drink something so hot?’ said Alba.
    â€˜You wanna try some? I’ve got some vintage stuff here,’ he said, holding up a flask. ‘It really clears out your passages.’
    â€˜We’re looking for a dragon,’ said Dirk, already growing tired of the idiotic creature.
    â€˜There’s one next to you,’ giggled Shute, pointing at Alba.
    â€˜We’re looking for a Sky Dragon,’ said Dirk firmly.
    â€˜A Sky Dragon. Woo, dude. I haven’t seen one of those for years.’
    â€˜Come on, Alba,’ said Dirk. ‘Let’s check further along the bank.’
    â€˜There’s no point,’ said Shute. ‘I can tell you, no Sky Dragon has been down this far in a long time.’
    Dirk turned to face him. ‘How can you be so sure?’
    â€˜I’ll tell you if you have a swig,’ he replied, holding out the flask, sniggering.
    â€˜I’m losing my patience,’ said Dirk.
    â€˜Come on, I know you’re going to like it,’ insisted Shute.
    â€˜All right, just one,’ said Dirk, taking the flask and looking warily at the bubbling liquid. He lifted it tohis lips and took the tiniest of sips. The pain was immense. Dirk enjoyed a vegetarian vindaloo as much as the next dragon, but this was seriously scorching. Dragons needed fairly hardy insides to breathe fire but they didn’t have the same kind of internal insulation as Firedrakes.
    â€˜Yeaahhhhhouch!’ Dirk screamed out in agony.
    Shute found this hilarious and fell about laughing. ‘It’s good, isn’t it?’
    â€˜How can you be sure that no Sky Dragon has been this far down?’ said Dirk in a measured tone.
    â€˜Because when any dragon goes into the liquid fire of the Outer Core the temperature drops, Sky Dragons, doubly so,’ said Shute. ‘My job is to test it. If it’s one degree cooler I alert the authorities.’
    â€˜Why? asked Dirk.
    â€˜Because it probably means that a dragon has tried to escape the Inner Core. The bigger the dragon, the bigger the temperature drop. You should have tried it when Minertia went down. It was, like, coool, dude. She was one big dragon. The same would happen if a Sky Dragon took a dip.’
    â€˜You were here when Minertia was convicted thirty years ago?’
    â€˜Old Shute’s been here for coming up to twohundred years now. Still, I don’t mind. As I say I’ve got