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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

‘Why me?’ Winter said, with new light and mischief in her eyes now. ‘It could also be you, Joe Thornsen. When I met you, when you’d fallen, you had nothing. You’d given up on life, till you found the eggs.’

Then Ren and Fidell came fluttering down to land near their people, and there was no more speaking for a while.

Joe reached for his dragon. Ren stood in front of him, filling his vision. She touched her nose to his, and quivered her open wings, showing him their new power and gleaming fiery sheen. She was transformed. She seemed sleeker, more powerful. Her eyes, always golden, were now swirling with orange fire. Her purple scales were crystalline and dancing with light. He gasped when he touched them: they felt hot and cold at the same time, like ice, confusing the fingertips. He got used to the zinging thrill of it, and stroked down her muscular neck, getting to know her new self. She was dazzling.

Winter turned to him then, her face alight, her smile so wide that she looked as transformed as Fidell and Ren. ‘Let’s tell everyone it’s safe to return.’

‘Thank you, Ren; thank you, Fidell.’ Joe felt a giddy 312mixture of relief, pride and hope. He couldn’t stop looking at his dragon. ‘You saved us.’

Ren gave a proud aark, and sprang into the air again, her strong purple body glinting in the lamplight and filling the cave with swirling shadows.

313

EPILOGUE

A year later

Joe loved swimming with Ren. They played hide-and-seek off the western beach. Ren gave him a head start, and he swam his fastest, through the waves and out past the rocky fringe of the bay into the ocean. He looked under the surface for the telltale swift shadow, hoping to find only her and nothing more deadly. He’d once chased an orca, mistaking it for his shadow dragon. It had chased him back, almost cost­ing Joe his life, till Ren joined in and scared it away. Now he surfaced and took a deep breath, filling his chest with air, then dived once more, eyes wide in the blurry light-filled sea, feeling out for her with his hands. She wouldn’t take him by surprise again.

But of course she did.

She came from behind, fast as a hunting shark, rising swiftly right underneath him, so they both came shooting 314out of the water, and he was left gasping and flailing, only just managing to hook both legs round her shoulders and grip her neck with his hands, before they were rising, up into the air and circling over the deep blue sea.

Joe spat out salt water and shook it from his hair. ‘Eeeeee!’ he yelled into the clear air. This was the best. Ren was the best! Joe and his dragon flew together. Holding on with his legs, he spread his arms wide, loving the feel of the wind against his bare skin. Below them, the sea stretched like twinkling silk as far as he could see.