Chapter One
The Mines of KulaFoss
Tia and Finn had been walking from Drangur for three days.
âThose valleys and mountains donât look any closer to me,â Tia grumbled, staring at the horizon where the hills rolled away in a blue haze. She was very tired after walking through endless grassland.
âThey are, really,â her DragonBrother said. âWe should reach Kulafoss by nightfall.â
âWeâd get there a lot quicker if I could ride you,â Tia said.
As she knew he would, Finn stopped in his tracks and glared at her.
âIâm a dragon, not a horse,â he said. âIâll carry you in an emergency and thatâs all.â
Tia patted his soft hide. âI know.â Heâd rescued her when sheâd fallen from the top of Drangur castleand flown her to safety. It hadnât been easy; he was only a small dragon, though strong.
Tia knew she shouldnât tease him. âIâm sorry,â she said. âI just need to rest a bit.â
They sat on the grass and Tia flopped against him. âTell me about Kulafoss.â
Finn had been there when he was very young, before all the dragons had fled to Drakelow to hide from the High Witches. âAt the end of a valley is a cliff and a
huge
waterfall plunges down it â itâs the biggest in the whole island. The water comes from snow-melt off the Eldkeiler Mountains.â Finn sounded wistful: the mountains had been his home until the witches drove the dragons away.
âWhereâs the castle?â Tia asked.
âItâs carved out of the rock half-way up the cliff-face. The waterfall is right next to it. The castleâs ugly but
very
impressive.â
Tia jumped to her feet. âLetâs go â the quicker we start, the quicker we can see it.â
Finn puffed out a few smoke rings. âIâve been saying that for ages,â he objected.
âCome on then!â Tia strode ahead as if sheâd never complained of being tired. Finn followed, smoke streaming from his nostrils.
By the time they arrived at the open end of the valley it was night. Moonlight shone on the river flowing down it, and on the grassy slopes scattered with rocks and scree. There were trees growing further down the valley, though it was hard to see them properly; it was very dark in there.
âShall we stop here until itâs light?â Tia asked.
Finn agreed but as they made their way towards the valley entrance Tia began to feel uneasy.
âI think the spell to keep dragons away will cover the whole valley. You ought to change yourself so the spell canât see you,â she told her DragonBrother.
Instantly his hide rippled with shadows that matched the darkness they had walked into. âItâll be hard work to camouflage myself all night. Letâs go above the valley and sleep there. If you think itâs outside the spell boundary,â he added.
âThat would make sense, wouldnât it?â she said. She didnât tell Finn that she could see, from the corner of her eye, a faint shimmer like a gossamer thread running round the rim of the valley. When she looked at it straight on, it disappeared. She didnâtwant to tell Finn because she feared he might tease her and say she could only âseeâ the spell because she was a witch-brat: that was what the other dragonets had called her, and she was afraid it might be true.
They settled in a dry hollow a short distance from the edge of the valley and Tia leaned against Finnâs warm hide.
She was dozing off when he sat up suddenly, and she slithered down with a bump as he pointed to the other side of the valley. âWhatâs that?â
Tia peered into the darkness and saw a line of wavery yellow lights.
Dragons had sharper eyes than humans and Finn soon saw what the lights were. âTheyâre lanterns â people are coming this way.â
As they got closer Tia could make out a group
Kent Flannery, Joyce Marcus