‘Wow!’ he shouted.

‘You’ve got that right,’ Thom said, laughing in his ear. ‘It never gets dull, I promise you. We are lucky men, thank you, Ruby!’

Joe felt the dragon’s rumbling growl in response, actually felt it, in her body beneath him. ‘It feels like a miracle!’

And for the next few hours, it seemed true, as they flew steadily over the sea.

Joe heard the map flapping in the wind behind him several times as Thom pulled it out to check their position. Joe had brought along his father’s compass, and he called out readings as they flew. Thom and Ruby seemed to be com­municating – he felt Thom moving his heels and hands on her sides, and told himself to sit very still and let them do their job.

Thom finally yelled, ‘There!’ and pointed ahead at a tiny speck of gold in the vastness of the blue sea.

Joe felt giddy with relief. The island grew bigger and 148bigger as they approached. It turned out to be a tiny lump of rock and sand, with no trees and no water.

By the time they landed, it was clear the dragons were tired and the people were numb with cold. Joe went tumbling over Ruby’s shoulders as she landed awkwardly. Clambering up, stiff with cramp and very hungry, for the first time, Joe doubted if they would make it.

‘How long to go?’ he asked Thom, as he poured out some fresh water into a depression in the rock for the dragons to drink.

‘Three hours at least,’ Thom said, checking the sun. ‘Don’t worry, it’s all going according to plan. We’ll need to fly a survey of the first island we come to, make a safe camp, and then go dig out the silverblue.’

It sounded so easy.

‘So how will we find it?’ Winter said. She was pacing in small circles, spinning her arms around after hours of sitting still. ‘We don’t even know what we’re looking for.’

Joe was glad she’d said it. So far, they’d been carried along with Thom and Milla’s planning.

‘I do,’ Thom said. ‘When it’s polished and worked, it looks a bit like opal, a bit like pearl.’ He gestured in the direction they were headed. ‘And flying over those islands, I have seen the seams of raw silverblue in the cliffs.’

‘It sounds beautiful!’ Winter said. ‘Is that why there’s none left on Arcosi?’

‘Yes. Beautiful and rare – that’s a combination some people will pay anything for.’

‘But the dragons need it!’ Joe said. 149

‘How long have you known it was there?’ Winter asked.

‘A year, or so.’ Thom looked embarrassed. ‘I, er, I might have taken some.’

‘Why didn’t you say?’ Joe asked. ‘Where is it?’

‘I don’t have it now! I’m sorry. I didn’t know it was important, before. No one knew about the shadow dragon eggs.’ He paused. ‘I’ve got to make a living. I trade things from my trips.’

‘So you’ve been selling silverblue secretly all year! I thought you were flashing your gold around a bit freely, Thomsen Windlass!’ Milla teased him. ‘How much did you take?’