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Contents ( 50)
  1. CONTENTS
  2. PROLOGUE
  3. CHAPTER ONE
  4. CHAPTER TWO
  5. CHAPTER THREE
  6. CHAPTER FOUR
  7. CHAPTER FIVE
  8. CHAPTER SIX
  9. CHAPTER SEVEN
  10. CHAPTER EIGHT
  11. CHAPTER NINE
  12. CHAPTER TEN
  13. CHAPTER ELEVEN
  14. CHAPTER TWELVE
  15. CHAPTER THIRTEEN
  16. CHAPTER FOURTEEN
  17. CHAPTER FIFTEEN
  18. CHAPTER SIXTEEN
  19. CHAPTER SEVENTEEN
  20. CHAPTER EIGHTEEN
  21. CHAPTER NINETEEN
  22. CHAPTER TWENTY
  23. CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
  24. CHAPTER TWENTY-TWO
  25. CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
  26. CHAPTER TWENTY-FOUR
  27. CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
  28. CHAPTER TWENTY-SIX
  29. CHAPTER TWENTY-SEVEN
  30. CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHT
  31. CHAPTER TWENTY-NINE
  32. CHAPTER THIRTY
  33. CHAPTER THIRTY-ONE
  34. CHAPTER THIRTY-TWO
  35. CHAPTER THIRTY-THREE
  36. CHAPTER THIRTY-FOUR
  37. CHAPTER THIRTY-FIVE
  38. CHAPTER THIRTY-SIX
  39. CHAPTER THIRTY-SEVEN
  40. CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT
  41. CHAPTER THIRTY-NINE
  42. CHAPTER FORTY
  43. CHAPTER FORTY-ONE
  44. CHAPTER FORTY-TWO
  45. CHAPTER FORTY-THREE
  46. CHAPTER FORTY-FOUR
  47. EPILOGUE
  48. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
  49. Also by Liz Flanagan:
  50. COPYRIGHT

‘Look to the east. The warning beacons are lit on the mainland.’

‘Sartola?’ Isak swore. ‘But I left Luca there.’

But Joe wasn’t listening. He went to meet Winter, taking her hands, sharing her fears. ‘It’s the volcano. It must be erupting,’ he guessed.

‘And that’s where Milla and Thom went.’

She looked as horrified as Joe felt.268

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CHAPTER THIRTY-EIGHT

‘It’s the volcano, Mount Bara!’ Joe ran to the edge of the plateau that held the barracks. The burned and broken bunkhouses were deserted now, as the fight surged back to the palace. Joe saw a few black-clad bodies lying in the grass, but he didn’t slow, searching for more clues to confirm Winter’s news. Ren kept pace like his shadow, with Isak, Winter and the others following.

From this vantage point at the top of the island, he could see right across the Straits of Sartola to the mainland. And there in the distance, a line of beacons had been lit, little dots of fire stretching away to the east, like bones in a spine. Some­thing was terribly wrong. Something that affected them all.

‘The beacons!’ Isak shouted. ‘The beacons are lit.’ And more quietly, ‘I have never seen that. Not in my lifetime.’

All those within earshot turned, shocked. This was a new threat, bigger than war. It wouldn’t care which side they were fighting on. 272

‘We should’ve guessed,’ Winter mumbled.

Joe saw the same expression of horror on everyone’s faces, pale in the grey dawn. Conor and Amina staggered towards him, with their injured dragons. Yannic, Tiago and Flavia were behind them. Could it really be morning already? He swayed with fatigue.

He stared further eastwards, full of dread. He saw some­thing new. There in the grey-blue sky, two dots grew larger all the time: dragons flying towards them at full speed. He strained his eyes, trying to pick out more detail. Who was it? They were hard to make out against the sky. Surely that was a crimson dragon. And a blue one? Yes!

‘Here!’ He waved with both arms. ‘Land here! Not the palace!’ He turned and shouted to his friends. ‘It’s Milla and Thom! They’re all right! They’re coming home.’

Aark? Ren asked anxiously, nudging his side with her purple nose.

‘I don’t know,’ he told her. ‘I don’t know what it means.’ He shielded his eyes, watching their approach. His relief faded with every wingbeat.

Coming into clear view, the dragons looked utterly spent. Their wings were streaked with blood and ash. Ruby landed first, with a heavy thump, her massive head crashing down and her eyes closing.

Iggie fell out of the sky next to him, slamming down, wings outstretched to soften the impact.

Their people were no better. Thom slumped forwards on his dragon’s back, unmoving. Milla rolled off Iggie and collapsed on the grass. 273

‘Milla! Thom!’ Joe yelled, running to them.