The Eyes of the Dragon

Dennis sees Peter wave out the window. Then, he waits a few hours until Peter returns to the window and throws something out. Dennis runs to the tower and looks for what Peter threw. It is snowing now, so Dennis has trouble finding it. He begins to panic, and then he hears his dad’s voice telling him to relax. Finally, he finds it. It is the gold, heart-shaped locket. Inside the locket is a note. Dennis runs back to the napkin storeroom and reads it. In the note, Peter tells Dennis he will escape tomorrow night and cannot afford to wait for Ben to get there. He explains he has a thin rope that is too short and will drop at least 20 feet. He asks Dennis to help any way he can. Dennis then falls back asleep until he is woken up by a dark shadow.

In the middle of the night, Ben, Naomi, and Frisky reach the edge of the King’s Preserves. They had decided not to rest at the deserted farmhouse where Dennis stayed a few nights because Ben felt it important to get to the castle as soon as possible. It was a very difficult journey trudging through snow. As they travel, Ben and Naomi flirt with each other more and more. They are playfully competitive but tender toward each other.

Ben and Naomi examine the castle walls, trying to figure out how Dennis got inside. They ask Frisky if she can figure it out with her nose, but they wait until the snowfall increases to give them cover when they cross the open space.

Fifteen minutes later, they cross to the moat. Frisky finds Dennis’s snowshoes. Then they cross the moat with difficulty. Frisky falls through the ice, but is fine. Then Ben and Naomi cross by sliding on their stomachs. The snow is falling so hard now that they cannot see where Dennis went next, but Frisky leaps into the falling snow, following her nose.

Dennis awakes in a fright thinking Flagg found him. Then the shadow standing over him begins to lick his face. Dennis grabs his dagger to defend himself but soon discovers it is Frisky with Ben and Naomi. Dennis and Ben embrace.

Dennis, Ben, and Naomi exchange stories. Ben and Naomi had made the leap to the sewer entrance, following Frisky’s lead. They made it to Dennis through the sewers, remarking on the smell, and Frisky knows the terrible smell is caused by the Dragon Sand. They also remark on how all the guards are drunk, something that would never have been the case when Roland was king. Then Dennis tells the story of Thomas sleepwalking.

By Monday morning, the snowfall becomes possibly the worst storm in Delain’s history. As the storm rages outside, Ben, Naomi, and Dennis discuss what to do next. Ben outlines a plan and says they will wait until it gets dark. The narrator does not share the plan with the reader, but Dennis believes the plan is genius, and Naomi kisses Ben in delight. Dennis then asks if they have anything to eat because he is starving. Finally, they sleep.

Five feet of snow falls during the day, but the winds are so strong that the snow is pushed against the walls of the Plaza of the Needle. The ground beneath the Needle has no snow on it at all. The narrator now breaks the news that Peter’s rope is not strong enough. Peter had miscalculated the breaking strain because the strain increases when the rope is longer. It is going to break, and Peter will likely fall to his death on the cobblestones.

The wind is so strong that farmhouses blow over, but by the evening, the wind and snow begin to abate. The castle goes to bed earlier than normal. Thomas goes to bed early too, but he does not sleep well. Flagg still hasn’t come to give him more sleeping potions, so Thomas spent the whole day drinking. That night, he again sleepwalks to the secret passageway and looks through the eyes of the dragon.

The narrator leaves Thomas like that but reflects again on whether Thomas is a “bad boy” (324). The narrator suggests that, while Thomas has done some terrible things, he expects that the reader will at least pity him.

The storm ends for good at 11 o’clock. The last gust of wind is so strong it destroys the Church of the Great Gods, and there is a tremendous crash that echoes through the castle. The sound alerts some of the guards. Ben, Naomi, and Dennis hear it. Peter hears it as he prepares the rope for his escape. The sound wakes Thomas, who realizes in horror where he is, still looking through the eyes of the dragon. The sound also wakes Flagg.

Flagg has been sick since returning from the northern forests. He worries that every time he is close to destroying Delain, something goes wrong with his plan, and he is wary it is happening again. It seems like everything is going perfectly. Thomas is his puppet, and the farmers are angry. The people are ready to snap, yet, the feeling that something is wrong nags at him. He has been having a recurring dream that he wakes up from clutching his left eye, but it is a dream he can never remember.

When the Church of the Great Gods collapses, Flagg wakes up and remembers the dream. He now knows Peter is going to escape, and the thought sends him into a rage. He consults his crystal to find out Peter’s plan. At first, the crystal shows images of Sasha and the dollhouse, but finally Flagg sees Peter descending the tower. He immediately grabs his giant battle axe, the same weapon Bill Hinch used as Delain’s executioner. Flagg runs to the Needle with the intent to kill Peter, laughing erratically.

When Flagg bursts out of the dungeon and begins crossing the Plaza of the Needle, Peter is still in the tower. It is 10 minutes to midnight. At the same time, Ben, Naomi, Dennis, and Frisky exit the Peddler’s gate and approach the Needle from the opposite direction. They reach the tower at the same time as Flagg, but neither party sees each other. Flagg bangs on the tower door and screams for the guards to open it.

Peter hears Flagg yelling and is terrified. He steels his nerves so he does not rush and make a mistake. He uses an iron sidebar from the bed as an anchor and ties the rope to it. He sees three figures approach the tower with a wagon, but he cannot make out who it is. Then he hears the door to the Needle open and a sudden scream.

Flagg kills the lesser warder who opens the door. He laughs and runs up the stairs, yelling, “Here I come, dear Peter, to chop off your head!” (339).

Flagg’s approach terrifies Peter. He keeps making mistakes as he ties the rope, then he hears his mother’s voice in his head, which steadies him.

Flagg continues yelling and running up the stairs. He reaches the 70th step and has 230 to go.

The narrator returns to Thomas. When Thomas realizes where he is (looking through the eyes of the dragon), he screams. It seems like it is enough of a shock to cause Thomas to have a psychological crisis, but it doesn’t. Thomas suddenly relaxes. He looks at his father’s sitting room and feels nostalgic for the good memories, rare as they were. The room hasn’t changed in the last five years, and Thomas remembers the names of all the heads on the walls. He wishes Roland was still alive, and he suddenly wants to visit the room, light the fireplace, and drink a glass of mead in his father’s chair. He even likes the idea of seeing Roland’s ghost. He wants to say that he is sorry.