Night Watch 24. Night WatchArthur went to bed early that night, completely worn out by his long stint of sentry duty, for he had insisted on doing his bit in protecting the Valley of the Dragons. Within seconds of rolling himself into a comfortable position among the rocks that formed his bed he was fast asleep. Indeed, so deep was his sleep that he didn’t hear the red dragons as they closed the entrance to his cave. This was the first task of the night watch and the dragons took their duties seriously, moving round all the caves in the valley, closing the openings with huge boulders that fitted snugly into the entrances of the tunnels. It was exhausting work, for the boulders were heavy, but the dragons were strong and as their leader flew round to make sure that no cave had been left open to the night air, they flew to their perches atop high pinnacles of rock, their eyes sharp and alert for they knew that she would be hungry. It was many months since she’d managed to kill and eat a baby dragon — and every night since had been a battle of wits as she crept cunningly between outcrops of rock, trying to reach the caves on the hillside where the dragons slept.
