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"Wait. Wait " said Rolf, hastily. "Look, there's no need for the two of you to get all geared up about
this. Baneen, why don't you just give Mr. Sheperton your gremlinish word the dragon exists. Then "
"Gremlinish word?" Baneen swallowed suddenly and looked unhappy. "Guk "
"AND WHAT'S ALL THIS ABOUT GREMLINISH WORDS?" thundered a familiar voice. Lugh
stalked into the midst of them.
"Ah . . . Lugh, darling, are you sure you heard the lad just right, now?" stammered Baneen. "Was it really
the word grem "
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"I heard what I heard, and well you know I heard it," scowled Lugh. "What's all this talk about the
Unbreakable Promise and by humans and dogs, at that?"
"Not about to have my intelligence insulted!" huffed Mr. Sheperton. "Your green friend here was just
threatening me with a dragon."
"And I," said Rolf, still trying to pour oil on the troubled waters, "just suggested that Baneen give Mr.
Sheperton his . . . er . . . gremlinish word that the dragon existed, and let that settle the matter."
Lugh's scowl grew even blacker.
"Where did you hear about the gremlinish word, boy?" he demanded.
"Why, just the other time I was here," said Rolf, "Baneen and O'Rigami were having a little argument
about the shape of the universe "
"So!" Lugh swung on Baneen, fixing him with a fiery eye. The smaller gremlin slid apologetically down
out of the air to the ground. "You let slip that there's a promise no gremlin can ever break, did you, me
noisy chatterer? And now you've let your tongue run away with you about our gremlin dragon? Very
well, we'll let this be a lesson to you. You've threatened the dog with the dragon. Now, produce it!"
"Ah, sure, and so much isn't needful, surely " began Baneen.
"PRODUCE IT!"
"Wait!" Rolf swallowed hard. "You mean there really is " He put his arms protectively around Mr.
Sheperton's neck. "You're not going to sic any dragon on my dog "
"Let it come," snarled Mr. Sheperton, raking the ground with his forepaws. "By St. George, I'll meet the
creature tooth to tooth and nail to nail!"
"Shep, be quiet, won't you?" said Rolf desperately. "Lugh " Lugh was standing with his arms folded,
staring at Baneen, who was unhappily making passes in the air with his hands. Around the Hollow, all the
other gremlins had fallen silent and were standing, watching. A puff of red smoke billowed up between
Baneen's hands, and the little gremlin jumped back.
Rolf shoved himself hastily in front of Mr. Sheperton, facing the smoke.
"Wait!" he cried. "If anything happens to Shep I won't lift a hand to help you get your kite "
"Too late," said Lugh, grimly.
The red smoke thinned revealing not a large and fearsome creature with scales and fiery breath, but a
small round table with a green tablecloth and a small white structure, something like a bird house, sitting in
the middle of it.
"What?" said Rolf, staring at it.
"Baneen!" snapped Lugh commandingly. Baneen gulped and turned toward the little house.
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"Mighty dragon of mighty Gremla!" he piped. "Come forth! Come forth and slay!"
From the dark doorway of the birdhouse came a small puff of smoke, then nothing for a few seconds,
then another puff of smoke. Finally a third puff of smoke appeared with a tiny flicker of yellow flame in
the midst of it.
"Come forth,dragon!" cried Baneen, in a high, desperate voice. "We command you!"
A tiny green dragon-head poked itself out of the opening, looked around, sighed heavily and withdrew.
There was a metallic rattling sound inside the bird house, another sigh, and a small voice squeaked thinly.
"Slay! Slay!"
The dragon came dancing out of the bird house on to the table, a minuscule sword in each of its front
paws.
"Slay! Slay!" it cried, making threatening gestures all around with the swords and puffing out small round
puffs of smoke with an occasional flicker of flame in them. "Slay! Slay . . . slay . . . sl . . ."
The dragon began to pant. The flame disappeared entirely and the puffs of smoke themselves grew thin.
The swords it held began to droop.
" . . . Slay . . ." the dragon wheezed. It looked appealingly at Baneen. "Slay . . . how much . . . longer?
I'm . . . slay . . . not as young as I . . . slay . . . used to be, you know. . . ."
"Enough!" said Lugh abruptly with a wave of his hand. "Back into your house and rest easy. The word of
Lugh of the Long Hand is that you won't be called on for at least another ten thousand years."
"Huff . . . thank you . . . sir . . ." panted the dragon. It withdrew into its house; and house, table and all,
disappeared in another puff of green smoke.
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