Rise of the Shadow Dragons Read online

  He was known for something good, something new. His cheeks burned.

  And then, finally, he reached his family and his friends: Amina and Conor, beaming; Winter, giving him a nod that was better than any words; his mother, wrapped in a blan­ket, looking crumpled but relieved; and his sister, at last, sitting in a huddle with her family.

  ‘Tarya!’ Joe fell forwards. His chest felt tight and heavy, and he prayed he wouldn’t have to break the bad news about Nestan once more.

  She looked different. Her face was puffy, and her skin had a greyish-white pallor, with huge blue shadows under her eyes.

  Vigo, next to her, looked nothing like a duke, just a tired man, broken with worry.

  When Tarya saw Joe, her eyes filled with tears.

  ‘Are you all right?’ he asked.

  ‘We will be. Oh, Joe, Josi’s been telling me about Dad.’

  Joe wedged himself in next to his sister and leaned on her shoulder. ‘I’m sorry.’

  ‘No, I’m sorry. I should have been there.’ She hugged him tightly with her free arm, pulling him close. ‘It wasn’t your fault. You sent Heral for me, didn’t you? They lined the room with yew panels, so Heral and Petra couldn’t sense us.’ Her tears flowed freely now, dripping down her face, as she looked down at her child. ‘Dad won’t get to meet her, Joe. That’s the worst of it. He’ll never meet our little survivor: Serina. Look, here she is.’

  Joe peered down at the bundle in his sister’s arms, seeing only a wisp of black hair, bushy little eyebrows and a rose­bud face, tightly closed in sleep. He felt a rush of warmth towards this tiny new person. ‘Ah, she’s lovely.’ He gave a hiccupy gulp. ‘Dad would’ve loved her.’

  ‘He couldn’t wait to be a grandfather.’ That was Josi, shuf­fling in on Joe’s other side, so he was surrounded by family again. ‘He joked he’d had the beard for it for thirty years.’

  Isak was there too, next to Vigo. They all circled Tarya and Serina, all talking about Nestan, letting their tears flow, till the weight in Joe’s chest eased a little.

  ‘Oh, Joe. We missed you so much. Now, haven’t you got someone to introduce me to as well?’ Tarya said after a while, looking past Joe. ‘What’s this about fire dragons?’

  ‘Shadow dragons, the books say. Ren, come on.’ She’d been hiding with Fidell, nervous of so many new faces in her nest, but now she came forwards to meet Tarya, her ears pricked forwards. Winter and Fidell followed cautiously.

  ‘Thank you, Ren,’ Tarya told her, handing her daugh­ter to Vigo so she could greet Ren properly. ‘You spoke to Heral, didn’t you? You told him where to find me.’

  Ren stretched her neck out, nostrils flaring. Prrt?

  Joe watched them get acquainted. ‘And this is Winter, who saved my life, and Fidell, the other shadow dragon.’

  Winter smiled now, no longer hiding behind her hair. ‘I’m glad you’re back with us, Your Grace.’

  ‘Thank you.’ Tarya opened her arms. ‘May I hug you?’

  Joe found his eyes prickling as he watched his sister embrace his new friend.

  ‘I think you’ve got lots to tell us, Joe,’ Tarya said. ‘Come find me later? I need to feed Serina.’ And she headed back to Vigo and their child.

  Joe searched the packed cavern again. The city’s healers were at work, tending to all who needed their help.

  ‘I can’t believe we all fit in,’ he said quietly to Winter. ‘It must be true: the tunnels were built for this.’

  ‘Built to save the city,’ she smiled, a sideways flickering grin. ‘Not just ours, after all.’

  For a long moment they looked steadily at each other, as if they were the only people in the huge packed cavern that was their true home.

  Joe grinned back. ‘Come on, let’s rest, while we can.’

  Ren and Fidell sank down in a heap on the floor with their necks entwined. Following their example, Joe and Winter found a free section of cavern wall and settled themselves against it, next to their dragons. Winter tilted her head and let its weight fall on Joe’s shoulder. He stretched out his left arm so she could lean on it.

  They stayed like that for a long time.

  Joe realised later that his arrival had given people something to focus on. That was part of the reason for the welcome. After the flurry of interest died down, everyone resumed their waiting. Tense anticipation grew. Joe and Winter moved to sit near Milla and Thom, who told them in tired whispers about their journey to the lands around Mount Bara.

  It was unbelievably hot. Silence fell. Baby Serina cried and was comforted.

  Joe could see the sweat trickling down Thom’s face, as he sat leaning on his dragon. He wiped it away with his sleeve, and new drops formed in moments.

  ‘Are you sure we are safe in here?’ Joe asked quietly. Amina and Conor were nearby, with Maric and Ariel curled up together at their feet; Ren and Fidell did the same.

  ‘Yes,’ Milla murmured. ‘It’s happened before: that’s what the people who live near the volcano told us, when they shared their precious archive and their folk tales.’

  ‘Think about it, Joe: where is the main entrance to the tunnel?’ Thom propped himself up, speaking urgently now.

  ‘The western beach.’ Joe took out Nestan’s compass, waiting till the needle settled. He lifted it, so everyone could see.

  ‘And where will the wave be coming from?’

  ‘Mount Bara, in the east.’ He took a reading from the compass and pointed, then tucked the metal case away safely.

  Conor understood first. He made a fist with one hand, and then cupped the other, bringing it closer and closer and slamming it against the first. ‘So it’ll crash over the island, like this. And whatever damage it may do, the wave will pass on, travelling west. The tunnel entrances all face west, don’t they? Joe, these tunnels must have been built for this! Maybe the whole of the shadow strip was built where it is, to be protected from the wave?’

  ‘So it won’t flood, not in here?’ Amina said anxiously.

  ‘We’ll be fine, if we stay here.’ Winter sounded as if she almost believed it.

  That’s when they heard it. The silence in the cavern thick­ened with listening. And then – distant at first, but getting louder – there came a fierce rushing noise, coming from the east, just as Joe had said. The volcano had erupted and finally blown its top. Joe pictured the unleashed wild wave, galloping over the sea, gathering strength, faster and faster, louder and louder.

  There was a vast boom, an echoing crash of mighty force.

  The huge wave must have broken over the island, slam­ming down with all the weight of gathered water, amplified through the rocky tunnels into a wall of sound. Joe heard a deep groan, as if the island itself was in pain.

  Joe braced, gripping Amina and Winter’s hands either side so tightly that his knuckles showed bone-white through his brown skin.

  His ears were filled with confused noise. Dragons growl­ing their alarm call: mrraaa, mrra! Someone was screaming.

  Gradually it eased, breaking up into other noises: smash­ing, splintering, swirling. Joe pictured all the island’s boats stolen from the harbour and flung high, where no boat should ever be.

  And then it was gone. He sighed out a shaky breath, relaxed his fingers.

  Was that it?

  ‘Look!’ a voice cried. ‘The water – it’s rising! Help!’

  No. Everything in Joe denied it. No, no, no. This couldn’t be happening. He couldn’t have led the whole city down here to drown like rats in a barrel.

  CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR

  Joe grabbed one of the storm lanterns and hurried over to see, with Winter following, their dragons close behind. They knew these caves better than anyone. At the eastern edge of the cavern, where the underground stream vanished, bubbling away underground, something had changed. The stream was still flowing, but the water was getting higher and higher. Soon it would overflow. It must be hotter than ever. Steam rose from its surface, filling the air with heat and dampness.

  �
��It must be stuck further down!’ Winter spoke in Joe’s ear.

  ‘That wave – it must’ve blocked the flow of the stream.’

  ‘We need to get people out, quickly,’ Winter said.

  The people nearest the stream were backing away. There were cries of alarm – ‘It’s flooding!’ ‘Get back!’

  In the enclosed space, dimly lit and crammed full, panic spread fast. People started swarming higher up, grabbing children, abandoning everything else, rushing to higher ground.

  Joe peered closer. They had moments left before the stream spilled its banks. It was still bubbling up from its underground source, super-heated like a geyser, from the volcanic jets deep below the island.

  Ren and Fidell hopped down, leaning over the water.

  ‘Wait,’ Joe said, watching their dragons.

  ‘Careful!’ Winter said. ‘It’s hot.’

  Joe could feel the heat rising from the stream. But Ren wasn’t careful. She dived straight in, splashing them. Joe jumped back as the water hit him, scalding hot. ‘No! Ren!’ he yelled. He stared down at the water, unable to follow. ‘What’s she doing? Come back!’

  Winter put one hand on his arm. ‘Wait – look! She’s swimming. She’s fine.’

  Fidell dipped his nose in, looking below the surface, then he too glided in smoothly, barely rippling the surface.

  ‘How can they bear it? Why aren’t they hurt?’

  ‘They’re shadow dragons, aren’t they?’ Winter said, grow­ing excited now. ‘Born from four elements: they can do this. They’re trying to help.’ She brought her face close to the water, muttering softly, ‘Go on, Fidell. Go see what’s happened.’

  Both shadow dragons swam away, sleek as otters, vanish­ing under the water.

  Joe and Winter waited, eyes on the bubbling stream, getting higher and higher every moment.

  Moments passed. Joe held the storm lantern over the water and paced up and down. The water trembled on the lip of the channel, and then poured over its edge, splash­ing onto the floor.

  The people of Arcosi were still clambering out of the way, but the dragonriders and the duke’s soldiers had gathered each neighbourhood again, and there seemed to be order within the chaos, as they moved higher in turn and started filing into the tunnels.

  But there was one problem. The fully grown dragons couldn’t enter the upper tunnels – they were too large – and the rising hot water now blocked the main entrance from the beach. The adult dragons were stuck here, till they could leave the way they’d come in.

  ‘Joe!’ Amina called from the other side of the cavern. ‘Come on, you two! We can’t leave without you.’

  Tarya and Vigo, Milla and Thom, Isak, Rosa and all the other dragonriders waited with their dragons at the far side of the large cavern, watching them intently.

  ‘We can’t!’ Joe shouted, feeling the heat of the water through the leather of his shoes. ‘We can’t leave Ren and Fidell.’ He didn’t need to ask Winter – he knew she felt the same.

  ‘No! Save yourself, Joe, please!’ His mother huddled on the top step, refusing to leave, though Conor and Amina were there, begging her to move to safety.

  ‘Mum, I’m sorry. I can’t.’ Joe kept his eyes on the place where he’d last seen Ren. There was a tight knot in his stomach. All the people he loved most in the world were here, climbing the stone steps up to safety, or watching the waters rise.

  He waited for Ren. He had faith in her. He did. But he was being eaten up by desperate fear. Surely it had been too long?

  Winter took his hand, and they backed away from the pooling water, just a step. They didn’t speak. They waited, in the intense heat.

  Soon the cavern was empty of anyone else, except for Josi, the grown dragons and their riders.

  Joe pictured Ren stuck underground, the weight of rock and water crushing her. Every moment that passed, the ten­sion tightened in his stomach, till he could barely breathe. The water rose around his ankles. It cooled as it poured from the stream, but it was still hot. He felt like a lobster, waiting to be boiled alive.

  ‘Look!’ Winter said. ‘Look, it’s not rising any more.’

  It was true. Joe fixed his eyes on a spot and watched to see if the water rose higher. Instead, after a long moment, a new stretch of rock was exposed. ‘It’s going down!’ he cried. ‘They’ve done it. They’ve cleared the blockage!’ He let out a long breath of relief. The water stopped splashing from its rocky bed, and instead, it flowed harmlessly through the cave and disappeared again.

  ‘Where are they then?’ Joe whispered. ‘Come on, Ren, come back to me!’

  The next few moments felt like the longest ones of his entire life. Ren might have saved all of them, with Fidell, but how could he bear it if it cost her life?

  He tried to stay strong, but he felt his throat tighten, and his eyes grow damp. The only thing that helped was Winter’s hand in his, knowing she felt the same, knowing she’d faced this before – faced the very worst – and that she was still standing.

  And then it happened: two streaks of bright colour shot towards them, green and purple, iridescent and full of life.

  ‘There they are!’ Winter gasped.

  ‘What’s happened?’ Joe could see they’d changed somehow.

  The dragons were swimming, more strongly than before, so fast that they broke the surface of the water and shot right out, up into the air. With their wings spread, they flew up, up, up, high above their heads, circling the upper reaches of the cavern.

  Joe was laughing. ‘Ren! You did it! Oh, Ren!’

  Tears streamed down Winter’s face, but she was laughing too.

  Nothing had prepared them for this.

  Joe tipped his head, trying to see clearly, but the two dragons darted around like two huge dragonflies, so bright and buzzing with energy, restless and quick.

  ‘Do you remember?’ Winter was saying. ‘We read about this, in that book.’ And she recited the words again:

  ‘A broken heart will dare it all,

  Take the leap and risk the fall.

  From ash and bone, new life will rise,

  Shadow dragons roam the skies!’

  ‘From ash and bone – maybe that meant the volcano, its lava, all the heat below the island? And now somehow it’s changed them, made them fly – they’ve taken to the skies, or the next best thing, down here …’

  ‘It’s you, Winter,’ Joe saw it suddenly, and clearly. ‘It means you. You’re the broken heart. After Jin died, you were broken-hearted, weren’t you? But you were so brave and you risked everything to try again with Fidell.’

  ‘Why me?’ Winter said, with new light and mischief in her eyes now. ‘It could also be you, Joe Thornsen. When I met you, when you’d fallen, you had nothing. You’d given up on life, till you found the eggs.’

  Then Ren and Fidell came fluttering down to land near their people, and there was no more speaking for a while.

  Joe reached for his dragon. Ren stood in front of him, filling his vision. She touched her nose to his, and quivered her open wings, showing him their new power and gleaming fiery sheen. She was transformed. She seemed sleeker, more powerful. Her eyes, always golden, were now swirling with orange fire. Her purple scales were crystalline and dancing with light. He gasped when he touched them: they felt hot and cold at the same time, like ice, confusing the fingertips. He got used to the zinging thrill of it, and stroked down her muscular neck, getting to know her new self. She was dazzling.

  Winter turned to him then, her face alight, her smile so wide that she looked as transformed as Fidell and Ren. ‘Let’s tell everyone it’s safe to return.’

  ‘Thank you, Ren; thank you, Fidell.’ Joe felt a giddy mixture of relief, pride and hope. He couldn’t stop looking at his dragon. ‘You saved us.’

  Ren gave a proud aark, and sprang into the air again, her strong purple body glinting in the lamplight and filling the cave with swirling shadows.

  EPILOGUE

  A year later

&nbs
p; Joe loved swimming with Ren. They played hide-and-seek off the western beach. Ren gave him a head start, and he swam his fastest, through the waves and out past the rocky fringe of the bay into the ocean. He looked under the surface for the telltale swift shadow, hoping to find only her and nothing more deadly. He’d once chased an orca, mistaking it for his shadow dragon. It had chased him back, almost cost­ing Joe his life, till Ren joined in and scared it away. Now he surfaced and took a deep breath, filling his chest with air, then dived once more, eyes wide in the blurry light-filled sea, feeling out for her with his hands. She wouldn’t take him by surprise again.

  But of course she did.

  She came from behind, fast as a hunting shark, rising swiftly right underneath him, so they both came shooting out of the water, and he was left gasping and flailing, only just managing to hook both legs round her shoulders and grip her neck with his hands, before they were rising, up into the air and circling over the deep blue sea.

  Joe spat out salt water and shook it from his hair. ‘Eeeeee!’ he yelled into the clear air. This was the best. Ren was the best! Joe and his dragon flew together. Holding on with his legs, he spread his arms wide, loving the feel of the wind against his bare skin. Below them, the sea stretched like twinkling silk as far as he could see.

  Ren turned her head, keeping her wingbeats steady. She was amused – he could see it in her golden eyes. Prrt? she said.

  He always knew what she meant, even without words. He felt it. He understood it. ‘Yes, you’re right. We won’t go too far. If we’re not back in good time for the festival, Conor and Isak will be furious.’

  Isak had taken on Conor as apprentice dragonguard, and they’d both been involved with planning the festival from the start. It was meant to celebrate the island’s recovery from the eruption of Mount Bara and the wave that had smashed into Arcosi afterwards. The other purpose, less discussed but just as clear, was to unite and celebrate all the different people of Arcosi, so no one ever felt as angry and left out as the Brotherhood once had.