Ten of the twelve cells had creatures inside them, wretched-looking dragons with breath rumbling in their chests and shivering wings. Their heads were all raised: they were watching her and Finn with intent, almond-shaped eyes. She approached the nearest cage and the creature inside suddenly lunged at the bars, stopping short just before crashing into the black iron, snarling and making her leap back.

Warily continuing her assessment, traveling along the row, she saw that the dragons’ colors ranged from jet-black to dark silver. Some of them had strange copper chains fastened to their collars.

Finally she stopped.

The lean, silver-scaled dragon was the largest of them all and the only one of its color. Lifting her head, Liana looked out at Chloe with pain-filled eyes the shade of green grass.

‘Chloe,’ Finn hissed. ‘I can hear shouts. Be quick.’

Chloe swiftly threw the bolt and pulled the gate open to enter the cage. Her brow furrowed as she approached Liana and examined the red metal chains fastened to the collar around her neck. Magical symbols decorated the connecting clasp between the two lengths, and they were draped on either side of Liana’s flanks like reins. As the shouts become louder and Chloe heard the clatter of footsteps, she clasped a length of copper and her eyes went wide.

The bond with Liana was real and immediate. In an instant Chloe knew that the Aleutheans’ magic gave her the power to dominate her friend utterly. It was a feeling of both intimacy and violation. She could sense Liana’s mingled fear and hope. It made her feel sick.

‘Chloe!’ Finn cried.

Reaching over Liana’s neck, Chloe found the central joint and unclasped it, tossing the strange reins to the ground. But when she looked at the collar, she realized that the stout iron only fastened in one direction, like a barbed arrow. There was no apparent way to remove it.

She began to feel panic. How did they remove the collars? She knew there must be a way. As Liana began to stamp at the ground, Chloe furiously examined the collar, but could see no way of opening it.

‘Chloe!’ Finn called.

Biting her lip, she thought about the magus who’d captured Liana. He’d carried a staff with an iron claw: a fire staff. She thought about what she knew of the crafting of iron, which was little, but she knew that heat could make iron expand. In this case, the heat would have to be extreme, and it would have to be perfectly focused, or the wearer of the collar would die.

Finally Chloe cast her mind back to her time with Vikram. The magi at Athos hadn’t taught her the use of iron, but she knew that anger could feed the flame inside. But it was dangerous. If she got it wrong, the magic could cause Chloe to burst into flame.