Synopsis of Dragens Rige (Empire of the Dragon)
Jesper, now 12 years old is
tired of going to school. He uses every excuse
to himself to shirk school and do other, not guite sensible things. One
day, on
his way to school, Jesper meets a boy named Zola, who smokes cigarettes
and has
bad manners. He tells Jesper about Khanpur, where schoolbooks are being
burnt,
and where children never have to do things they don't want to do.
Jesper, who
is very impressed, follows Zola away from school, through the forest
near his
home, where the passage to Khanpur has been established. Zola promisses
Jesper that
they will be back at four o'clock, when he's supposed to be back from
school.
Henrik, Jesper's best friend, and a very reasonable boy, follows them
into the forest
but doesn't manage to stop what's happening.
Zola appears to be a young
dragon, who's quest is to kidnap a boy and bring
him to the oldest and most terrifying dragon in the world of Khanpur.
The boy
is the missing ingredient in a 700 years old mixture, that will provide
the old
dragon with total control. Jesper and Zola meet Sir Lanselot, who
manages to disclose
Zola's secret and scare him away.
Jesper follows Sir Lanselot
to the Court in the city of Khanpur. There Black
Mac turns up, alarmed by Henrik back in the real world. The luxurious
life at the
Court suits Black Mac.
The castle is attacked by the
dragons, and Jesper is captured. In the meantime,
Henrik meats the wizard Merlin in the forest in Holte, near their home.
Merlin
looks upon the whole matter with great consideration, and calls all the
creatures
that Jesper met in the first two books: Black Mac and Land beyond the
Mist. 'Cause
they all care for the boy Jesper Aksel Bergmann. When Jesper meets the
old
dragon Kartzan he realizes, that the end is near. Black Mac gets there
and tries
to comfort him. Then Merlin appears on the beach, where he steps right
out of a
lightning. A fight in magics takes place, between the dragon Kartzan
and the wizard
Merlin. In the end they make a bet. Merlin claims, that the boy has
great
potential and can do things that an old dragon could never do. If
Merlin is
right the boy can go. The boy can make others stand up for him and
fight for him,
for what he is and out of love for him. All the creatures from the
magic kingdoms
stand on the beaches and in the hills of Khanpur, ready to fight for
the boy.
Time shows that Kartzan cannot persuade anyone to stand up for it - and
Merlin wins.
Jespers capability of giving and taking love saves him. His friendship
with
Henrik and Black Mac is the key to his survival.
The old dragon Kartzan lies
on top of it's cliff, in the middle of the
ocean, wondering of the magnificent power it met whithin the mind of
this little
boy Jesper Aksel Bergmann. And, as it lost the bet, it has to do that
forever.
Jesper, who has been through
quite a lot of trouble, goes to school, does
his homework, and hopes that the whole thing will never mess up again.
Black
Mac gets a lot of trouble with Merlin, as usual.
In this translation
the raven Sorte Sigurd is named Black Mac.
© Claus Bork, all rights reserved.