‘But—how did you know where we were?’ Lief had gasped, when the first joyous greetings were over.
‘Dreaming Water!’ Prin said proudly. ‘Every night for weeks I have drunk the Water and thought of you, so I could visit you in my dreams.’
‘We have all been so afraid for you,’ sighed Bruna. ‘The Dread Gnomes too—especially your good friend Gla-Thon. She wanted to speed to your aid, when you first arrived in Shadowgate, but the old leader Fa-Glin forbade it. He said that if you had wanted Gla-Thon’s help, you would have asked for it.’
Stunned, Lief exchanged glances with Barda and Jasmine. So their whereabouts had not been secret at all—on Dread Mountain, at least!
‘Let us fly!’ Prin squeaked. ‘Everyone is wild to see you. The Gnomes are trying to make a welcome feast. But how can they make a feast when they have no food but a few old berries and stalks?’
‘They should learn to eat Boolong cones, as we do,’ said Bruna. ‘There are very many of those.’
Lief, Barda and Jasmine had said no more. But during the next few days, while they rested in the caverns of the Gnomes, and the famous green moss from the Dread Mountain stream healed Lief’s wounds, they had talked and wondered a great deal.
Somehow the Shadow Lord had always known where they were in the north. They had not been able to understand why. Perhaps they now had their answer.
Trust only old friends…
So Doom had said in his last message. And the Dread Gnomes were old friends, just as the Kin were. But were all the Gnomes of the same mind? Or was there one whose loyalty lay in the Shadowlands?
It would only take one…
They told only Gla-Thon of their fears.
‘Much as I wish to, I cannot swear there is no traitor among us,’ she said soberly. ‘There can be one bad berry in any bunch, however sweet it seems.’
And so it was that the companions smilingly put their fingers to their lips when any question about their future travels was asked of them in the caverns of the Gnomes.
So it was that they sent no message to Del until Gla-Thon could arrange for a bird to fly in secret, the day they left Dread Mountain.
So it was that they asked the Kin to give them all that remained of the Dreaming Water, knowing that the gentle creatures could refuse them nothing.
And so it was that they asked Ailsa, Bruna and Prin to carry them away, but did not tell them where they were to go until they were high in the air, and no-one else could hear.
Careful and suspicious people themselves, the Gnomes accepted without complaint the companions’ desire for secrecy. Fa-Glin also supplied all manner of goods to help them on their way—including a soft leather bag filled with gold pieces, which Jasmine had tucked securely in one of her many pockets.
‘It is nothing,’ Fa-Glin had sighed when they thanked him. ‘Gold and jewels we have in plenty. If only we could eat them!’
Now the Kin were flying towards Tora, skimming over the low hills that rolled beyond the mountains. The light was slowly dimming and the wind was blowing across their path, but Lief, Barda and Jasmine were all sure they would reach their goal by nightfall.
Then suddenly Kree, who was flying beside them, wheeled and screeched. And behind them they heard a distant, furious roar.
They turned their heads and saw a large green shape streaking towards them from the mountains.
Lief felt a thrill of fear. The emerald dragon had joined him to destroy the Sister of the North, but he knew that it felt no friendship towards him. And by the sound of its roars, it was very angry.
Filli squealed and bolted into hiding beneath Jasmine’s collar. Bruna and Ailsa screamed, and their wingbeats faltered. But Prin put down her head and made an abrupt right turn.
‘Prin, come back!’ Ailsa shrieked after her. ‘You are going the wrong way! You are flying towards the coast!’
‘Do you wish to be eaten?’ cried Prin. ‘That is a dragon, Ailsa! A dragon! We can never outfly it unless we use the wind.’
‘If we can cross the border into amethyst country, it will not be able to follow!’ Lief shouted. ‘Do your best!’
With the wind at their backs, the Kin made good speed. The hills beneath them gave way to flat, barren land, and soon they could see the glittering sea ahead. But every moment the dragon was gaining on them.
We must have crossed the border long ago, Lief thought in dismay. But it has not stopped—if anything, it is flying faster!
And suddenly Kree was crying a warning and the beast was above them, bearing down on them, forcing them to the ground.
Sobbing with fright, the Kin thudded to land. Lief, Barda and Jasmine rolled from their pouches, and at once were pinned down by the wind of the dragon’s mighty wingbeats.
Then, abruptly, they could move again, and the pounding of the waves and the cries of sea birds were the only sounds they could hear.
Shakily they crawled to their feet. The dragon was crouching beside them, huge and menacing. Its green eyes blazed with anger. The spines on its back were like quivering spears.
‘Do you dare to steal the emerald away yet again from its territory, and mine, young king?’ it hissed.
Lief felt Barda and Jasmine move behind him, and knew that they were reaching for their weapons, poised to defend him. But his hands remained on the Belt of Deltora. He knew he must show no sign of weakness.
‘I must take it, dragon of the emerald,’ he said. ‘It is part of the Belt that unites us all. And I must wear the Belt to the Isle of the Dead, in the land of the diamond, to find and destroy the Sister of the West.’
‘What do I care for the Sister of the West?’ hissed the dragon. ‘The evil in my land is gone, and that is all that matters.’
Lief took a deep breath. ‘The man you called Dragonfriend—the man known to us as Doran the Dragonlover—did not agree with you,’ he said.
The dragon did not blink. But at the mention of Doran’s name a stillness had settled over it. Lief knew that he had its attention.
‘Doran thought as I do about our land,’ he went on firmly. ‘Your territory is all that matters to you, perhaps. But for Doran, the whole of Deltora was important.’
He took a deep breath and met the dragon’s eyes unflinchingly.
‘Doran lost his life because he tried to find the Four Sisters, and foil the Shadow Lord’s plans,’ he said. ‘Now we are risking our lives to finish the work he began. You must not hinder us. You must let us go!’
2 – Bone Point
Slowly the fire in the green eyes died and the wicked spines were lowered. ‘You speak to me as plainly as Dragonfriend spoke long ago when he persuaded me to sleep,’ the dragon growled. ‘And though I do not like it, I accept your words, as once I accepted his.’
The relief was so great that Lief almost staggered.
‘Thank you,’ he said. ‘Then we will go on our way.’
‘If you must,’ the dragon said coldly. ‘But I warn you—beware the dragons of the amethyst and the diamond. Emerald dragons are honourable. Others are full of lies, and hungry for land and power.’
Lief made no reply. He knew it was useless to argue. Jasmine, however, was not so wise.
‘You are a fine one to talk of honour, dragon,’ she snapped. ‘You crossed the border into amethyst territory without a thought when you were pursuing us! Yet when the lapis-lazuli dragon entered your land, you—’
The dragon bared its fangs. ‘Do not speak of that small, sly beast to me, girl! If it invades my territory again, I will tear it apart. Its blood will wash my stones. Its scales will fall on my mountains like rain.’
‘Why, you dragons hate your own kind even more than you hate the Shadow Lord!’ Jasmine exclaimed. ‘I cannot think how Doran persuaded you to trust one another enough to sleep—even to save your lives!’
Steam gushed from the dragon’s jaws. ‘I did not trust the other dragons,’ it hissed furiously. ‘I trusted Dragonfriend, whom I loved, and who knew my true name. Your foolishness angers me. I bid you farewell.’