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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

300

CHAPTER FORTY-THREE

Joe staggered down into the crowded cavern. ‘Noah’s back there – can someone carry him in?’ and then he was bobbing along in the sea of bodies as people he didn’t even know wished him well.

‘Well done, Joe!’

‘That’s Joe Thornsen. He sent the army for us.’

‘Josi’s son, he’s got a dragon now.’

‘He deserves it, after what happened to him.’

He was known for something good, something new. His cheeks burned.

And then, finally, he reached his family and his friends: Amina and Conor, beaming; Winter, giving him a nod that was better than any words; his mother, wrapped in a blan­ket, looking crumpled but relieved; and his sister, at last, sitting in a huddle with her family.

‘Tarya!’ Joe fell forwards. His chest felt tight and heavy, and he prayed he wouldn’t have to break the bad news about Nestan once more. 301

She looked different. Her face was puffy, and her skin had a greyish-white pallor, with huge blue shadows under her eyes.

Vigo, next to her, looked nothing like a duke, just a tired man, broken with worry.

When Tarya saw Joe, her eyes filled with tears.

‘Are you all right?’ he asked.

‘We will be. Oh, Joe, Josi’s been telling me about Dad.’

Joe wedged himself in next to his sister and leaned on her shoulder. ‘I’m sorry.’

‘No, I’m sorry. I should have been there.’ She hugged him tightly with her free arm, pulling him close. ‘It wasn’t your fault. You sent Heral for me, didn’t you? They lined the room with yew panels, so Heral and Petra couldn’t sense us.’ Her tears flowed freely now, dripping down her face, as she looked down at her child. ‘Dad won’t get to meet her, Joe. That’s the worst of it. He’ll never meet our little survivor: Serina. Look, here she is.’

Joe peered down at the bundle in his sister’s arms, seeing only a wisp of black hair, bushy little eyebrows and a rose­bud face, tightly closed in sleep. He felt a rush of warmth towards this tiny new person. ‘Ah, she’s lovely.’ He gave a hiccupy gulp. ‘Dad would’ve loved her.’

‘He couldn’t wait to be a grandfather.’ That was Josi, shuf­fling in on Joe’s other side, so he was surrounded by family again. ‘He joked he’d had the beard for it for thirty years.’

Isak was there too, next to Vigo. They all circled Tarya and Serina, all talking about Nestan, letting their tears flow, till the weight in Joe’s chest eased a little.

‘Oh, Joe. We missed you so much. Now, haven’t you 302got someone to introduce me to as well?’ Tarya said after a while, looking past Joe. ‘What’s this about fire dragons?’

‘Shadow dragons, the books say. Ren, come on.’ She’d been hiding with Fidell, nervous of so many new faces in her nest, but now she came forwards to meet Tarya, her ears pricked forwards. Winter and Fidell followed cautiously.