The crowd seemed to hold its breath then. All eyes were on them. Conor led the way.

Joe had forgotten how to walk. His whole body had turned to lead. He could feel the weight of everyone staring at him.

Amina nudged him forwards gently.

He started to move, hot and clumsy. He stepped on Conor’s heel, making him swear.

Then he halted abruptly, and Amina slammed into the back of him.

‘Joe! Not now,’ she whispered.

‘Sorry! Sorry!’ he muttered to them both, his heart racing. 28

Finally they were there, at the front. Ravenna growled lightly.

‘Spread out, a whole circle, no one any nearer than anyone else!’ Isak reminded them, pointing to their places. ‘Now sit!’

Joe sank down on legs that shook with excitement. He could feel the sweat trickling down his spine.

Amina sat very straight, solemn for once.

Conor looked lit up from within.

Joe cast a glance round the circle, checking the faces of his competition. They looked serious or eager or nervous. All except Noah, opposite, who was glaring at him.

Joe looked away, focusing on the eggs.

In the silence that followed, there came a distinct, crisp crack.

29

CHAPTER FOUR

The first dragon hatched from the blue-green egg. It poked its head out of the crack, a shiny dark green, and then suddenly it fell out, panting, as the egg broke in two. It looked like a small lizard, with an extra mass on its back, where its wings were folded up. Joe was on his knees, leaning forwards, listening hard. Come on, dragon, choose me! Here I am! he willed it, in spite of his dream. He didn’t mind what colour his dragon was. At other ceremonies, he’d seen children sing or whistle or call to a hatchling. He tried to tell if there was anything like that bubbling up in him. But he could only hear a dull buzz in his ears.

Then the oldest boy, Tiago, spoke from the other side of the circle. ‘Lina!’ he called out. ‘Li-na!’ His round open face was focused entirely on this dragon. He had a patchy beard on his cheeks and chin, and big brown eyes, brimming with tears.

Joe held his breath to see if he was bluffing. But no. The 30little green dragon sprang to life at his call and tried to respond in the same rhythm.

Isak made his judgement: ‘Tiago, you may go to Lina. Feed her. Keep her warm.’

Joe felt it in his chest, as if he’d been winded.

Four eggs left.

The creamy-brown egg hatched next. A tiny little hole was chipped out of the top. He could see the dragon’s egg-tooth – the little bump on the top of its nose – tapping through from inside.

This time, it was the smallest of all of them: Flavia, a tiny Sartolan girl a few places over to Joe’s left, who looked barely old enough to be here. She had skinny sparrow legs and enormous eyes, with black hair cropped short to her neck. She sang out to the baby dragon, a surprisingly deep, trilling song. And even before it had fully emerged, this dragon stuck its head out of its eggshell and chirruped back.