The_Complete_Chronicles_of_Narnia_(volumes_1-7,_in_order_of_publication)

gone well so far and it was a merry meal. Only after the second helping of goat did
Edmund say, "Where's that blighter Eustace?"
Meanwhile Eustace stared round the unknown valley. It was so narrow and deep, and the
precipices which surrounded it so sheer, that it was like a huge pit or trench. The floor
was grassy though strewn with rocks, and here and there Eustace saw black burnt patches
like those you see on the sides of a railway embankment in a dry summer.
About fifteen yards away from him was a pool of clear, smooth water. There was, at first,
nothing else at all in the valley; not an animal, not a bird, not an insect. The sun beat
down and grim peaks and horns of mountains peered over the valley's edge.
Eustace realized of course that in the fog he had come down the wrong side of the ridge,
so he turned at once to see about getting back. But as soon as he had looked he
shuddered. Apparently he had by amazing luck found the only possible way down - a
long green spit of land, horribly steep and narrow, with precipices on either side. There
was no other possible way of getting back. But could he do it, now that he saw what it
was really like? His head swam at the very thought of it.
He turned round again, thinking that at any rate he'd better have a good drink from the
pool first. But as soon as he had turned and before he had taken a step forward into the
valley he heard a noise behind him. It was only a small noise but it sounded loud in that
immense silence. It froze him dead-still where he stood for a second. Then he slewed
round his neck and looked.
At the bottom of the cliff a little on his left hand was a low, dark hole - the entrance to a
cave perhaps. And out of this two thin wisps of smoke were coming. And the loose stones
just beneath the dark hollow were moving (that was the noise he had heard) just as if
something were crawling in the dark behind them.
Something was crawling. Worse still, something was coming out. Edmund or Lucy or
you would have recognized it at once, but Eustace had read none of the right books. The
thing that came out of the cave was something he had never even imagined - along leadcoloured
snout, dull red eyes, no feathers or fur, a long lithe body that trailed on the
ground, legs whose elbows went up higher than its back like a spider's cruel claws, bat's
wings that made a rasping noise on the stones, yards of tail. And the lines of smoke were
coming from its two nostrils. He never said the word Dragon to himself. Nor would it
have made things any better if he had.
But perhaps if he had known something about dragons he would have been a little
surprised at this dragon's behaviour. It did not sit up and clap its wings, nor did it shoot
out a stream of flame from its mouth. The smoke from its nostrils was like the smoke of a
fire that will not last much longer. Nor did it seem to have noticed Eustace. It moved very
slowly towards the pool - slowly and with many pauses. Even in his fear Eustace felt that
it was an old, sad creature. He wondered if he dared make a dash for the ascent. But it
might look round if he made any noise. It might come more to life. Perhaps it was only