He leaped out of bed and pulled on yesterday’s crumpled shirt and trousers, leaving untouched the new white clothes 6that had been laid out for him; they were for the ceremony later. He wanted to run and sing and shout, but it was still early, so he crept downstairs, avoiding the creaky floor­boards and jumping the last three steps. No noise came from his parents’ room.

Outside, smoke curled from the kitchen chimney, up into a blue sky dappled with pink clouds. He peeked through the crack of the kitchen door. No sign of Matteo the cook, just a large plate of steaming cinnamon rolls on the workbench. His favourite. Joe went in and grabbed two, burning his fingers. He shoved them in his pockets, feeling the heat spread through the worn linen. Then he ducked through the back door, walked quickly through the garden and climbed the high stone wall of the practice yard where he’d spent hours working on his sword skills.

He perched there like a pigeon, looking down over the rooftops of Arcosi, the wind in his face conjuring his dream again. He spread his arms like wings and his heart took flight. He gazed past the ships docked in the harbour far below, and right out to the pale sea which stretched away in every direction. Today, he had his first chance to bond with a dragon. He looked at the sea and imagined flying over it. It was so close, he could taste it. It would be just like his dream.

Just then, everything grew dark as a dragon glided low overhead, sapphire wings spread. It landed just outside the practice yard with a whoomph of wings and a crunch of earth.

‘Milla!’ Joe sprang down from the wall and went to greet his cousin. ‘I thought you were too busy to come today?’

‘Never too busy for your birthday, Joe!’ Milla tumbled 7off her dragon and Joe threw himself at her. ‘Dragons’ teeth! I swear you’ve grown in a week.’

It was true. Joe was growing so fast his legs ached each night, and he kept banging into things, not used to this new body. That wasn’t all that was new: strange intense moods blew in like storms. They passed as fast as they came, so he kept quiet and hoped no one noticed.

‘You’re tall enough to swing me round.’ She pulled back from the hug, eyes shining, black curls framing her face. ‘Don’t you dare try, or I’ll set Iggie on you.’

He laughed at her mock-serious tone. She might be one of the first dragonriders of Arcosi and almost twenty-five years old now, but she was always ready for mischief and he loved her for it.

Joe reached out for Iggie, his cousin’s huge blue dragon, who greeted him enthusiastically with sparks and grunts, and lots of head-butting that nearly knocked him over. Iggie was at least twice as big as the largest carthorse on the island, and his wings were massive. Joe ran his hands over Iggie’s scaly neck, realising that by sunset he too could have a dragon of his own. Real and breathing, here in his arms. What a birthday gift that would be!