The Other Side Of The Mountain
‘We did it!’ yelled Ling-Fei. ‘Billy, you were amazing! And, Charlotte, that was… wild!’
‘What a punch,’ said Dylan, who looked shell-shocked.
Charlotte grinned. ‘I told you I would pummel anything that tried to get us with my fists.’
‘We survived! We broke the curse!’ said Billy. He felt invincible. If they could defeat a magic tiger and break an evil curse on their own, they would be unstoppable with their dragons. The glow from the purple veins on the walls was fading quickly, and soon it was so dark Billy couldn’t see his own hands. He pulled his friends closer as the ground began to shake.
‘I think the mountain is opening into the Dragon Realm!’ said Charlotte.
Billy looked up to see one side of the cavern slowly cracking open until it looked like a giant doorway, filling the entire cavern with sunlight. It was so bright, Billy shielded his eyes, unable to see past the light-filled entrance. He turned back round, blinking, and saw the dragons emerge from the wall of fog.
‘Spark!’ he cried.
‘You did it!’ thundered Tank. ‘You broke the curse!’
‘I knew you would,’ said Spark.
‘You have done very well, for such small humans,’ said Xing. She nuzzled Ling-Fei with her snout.
‘We’re going home!’ cried Buttons. He turned towards the sunlit entrance and rolled around on the cavern floor. ‘Sunshine! Air! I’d almost forgotten how wonderful it is.’
‘Stop acting like a common lizard,’ snapped Xing. ‘Get off the ground. I’m eager to see our home, and you can roll around on the ground as much as you like then.’
‘Fine, fine,’ said Buttons. But he was smiling widely as he stood and lifted his face to the sun like a giant sunflower.
‘Before we re-enter our realm, we should be ready to fly,’ said Tank. ‘Quickly, now.’
‘The bond will help us to fly as one and keep you secure on our backs,’ said Spark as she kneeled low enough for Billy to climb on.
Billy climbed up on Spark’s back, his hands still trembling with the adrenaline of the battle with the tiger, and in anticipation of riding a dragon.
‘Hold on,’ Spark said, straightening up to her full height. He was riding a dragon. It was like all his childhood dreams had come true. They hadn’t even taken flight yet and it was already amazing. Billy’s face split into a wide, irrepressible grin. He hoped he would remember this exact moment for ever.
Billy looked over at each of his friends astride their dragons. Dylan gave him a salute from the back of Buttons. Charlotte looked like an avenging warrior queen on Tank’s back. Ling-Fei sat proudly on Xing, like she’d been riding dragons all her life.
They were no longer the children who had arrived at summer camp.
They were champions, ready for anything.
‘Onwards,’ roared Tank.
The dragons strode forward, the children on their backs, and they emerged from the cavern and into the Dragon Realm.
Billy gazed out at the new world in front of him. In a dusty red sky three full moons sat above an oval sun. Even in the harsh daylight, millions of stars winked at them. Islands hovered in the air like giant clouds, exposed roots dangling beneath as if they’d been plucked from the earth. Below the plateau they stood on, rivers flowed between the mountains like serpents.
Everything in sight looked as if it had been scorched by fire. Despite the flowing rivers, there was almost no plant life, except for one type of tree with green leaves and pink flowers that dotted the landscape.
Spark slowly approached the edge of the plateau. ‘Things look far worse than I expected,’ she said, her eyes narrow. ‘This land was lush and dotted with fruit when we left the Dragon Realm over a hundred years ago.’
Billy felt a shiver run down his spine. He didn’t know what he had been expecting, but it wasn’t this. Were they really the ones to stop whatever had caused all this devastation? His elation at defeating the tiger and riding Spark faded as he realized the magnitude of what he and his friends were taking on – and how unprepared the dragons suddenly seemed to be. He couldn’t let himself follow that train of thought, otherwise he’d run straight back home.
‘Hey, look! At least there’s still fruit growing here,’ said Dylan, distracting Billy from his thoughts. Dylan hopped off Buttons’s back and plucked a round, fuzzy fruit from a nearby tree. Then he held it further away from him, and looked up nervously. ‘This isn’t going to explode or anything, is it?’
‘It looks like a peach,’ said Charlotte, coming up behind him. ‘I should know, being from the peach state and all. I doubt it will explode.’
Dylan shrugged. ‘I also doubted the existence of dragons, and here we are. Besides, surely there aren’t things as normal as peaches in the Dragon Realm?’
‘I like how you think, Dylan,’ said Buttons. ‘You are right that things in our realm are not always what they seem. These fruits are one of those things. You see, peaches are very special in the Dragon Realm. Once every few thousand years, a peach will grow that grants the one who eats it immortality.’
Dylan eyed the ripe peach in his hand. ‘You mean, one of these could make me immortal?’
Buttons gave Dylan a smile. ‘Well, it could,’ he said as he reached out his paw and slapped it from Dylan’s hand. The peach popped up into the air and fell right into Buttons’s open mouth. ‘Or it could be just another ordinary peach. Hard to tell.’
‘Cool,’ said Dylan, plucking more peaches from the branches and taking a bite from each one. ‘I love peaches. Maybe one of these is a peach of immortality!’
‘Enough,’ said Tank, his voice harsh. ‘We must focus.’
‘Sorry,’ said Dylan, his face red and his mouth still full. He plucked a few more peaches from the tree and stuffed them into his bag, before getting on Buttons’s back again.
‘There will be plenty of time for peaches,’ said Buttons. ‘The trees grow everywhere in the Dragon Realm. And, unlike the peach trees in your realm, these ones are almost indestructible.’
‘It must be why they are the only things that have survived… whatever happened here,’ said Spark, her voice serious. ‘The Dragon of Death’s followers, the Noxious, must be using dark magic to bring their leader back. It would explain why everything we see is dead or dying.’
‘I fear you are right,’ said Xing. ‘A very dark magic has taken over our land. The nox-wings must have grown more powerful in our absence. I worry that our clan might be in danger.’
‘What exactly is dark magic?’ asked Ling-Fei.
Spark turned to face the children. ‘Everything in our universe is made of energy. Each of us standing here on this plateau. The plants in your forests, the fish in your seas. The moon and the stars you see in the sky. Everything. It is this energy that makes each of us special. It makes us who we are. It is the source of your inner powers; the source of your inspiration.’ Spark gazed back towards the scorched earth below. ‘It is a sacred and powerful energy, and it can be taken to create a dark and powerful magic.’
A chill passed through Billy as he imagined what it would be like to have his energy taken from him. He felt as if he was being hollowed out from the inside. He tried to gasp for air, but nothing came.
‘Billy,’ said Spark, interrupting his thoughts. She nuzzled Billy gently on the cheek and Billy turned to look at her.
She didn’t speak, but Billy heard Spark’s voice in his head. Do not fear, Billy.
The chill loosened its grip. He could feel Spark’s strength and determination through their bond, and he felt comforted. He smiled at her. How am I hearing your voice? he thought.
Spark returned his smile and Billy heard her voice in his head again. Every bond is unique, and it seems that we share an inner voice. When we are close, we can share our thoughts. I sensed it when we first bonded, but here in the Dragon Realm our connection is stronger.
I’m glad we’re in this together, Billy thought back, filled with relief that, no matter what happened, he’d have his dragon by his side.
‘Billy,’ said Charlotte, concern on her face. ‘Are you okay?’
‘I think so,’ Billy replied. ‘This is all a bit overwhelming, you know?’
Charlotte nodded.
‘The Dragon of Death and the Noxious are strong and this is a whole new world for you. It makes sense that you feel uncertain,’ said Spark. ‘But take comfort in knowing that we are stronger. We have our bonds and we have the pearls – we will win this fight.’
‘Spark is right,’ said Tank. ‘We are strong. Our bonds will overpower the evil that has consumed this land. We will defeat the Noxious. Our clan’s lair is about a day’s journey away. Let us fly there and tell Dimitrius and the others that we have returned.’
Tank dashed to the edge of the plateau and dived out of sight. Xing and Buttons followed, Dylan shouting as they did. Billy swallowed. This was it. This was his first time flying. Hold on, Billy, Spark thought and she took off into the air. Wind whipped through Billy’s hair and adrenaline pumped through his veins. He had never felt more alive.
They flew for hours, staying in tight formation. Billy scanned the land as they travelled, his muscles tense and his eyes alert. Whatever had caused so much widespread destruction had to be incredibly strong. He knew how serious the situation was, and he wanted to prove the dragons right – that he, Dylan, Charlotte and Ling-Fei were the ones to save both their worlds. Every now and then, pebbles and dirt rained down from the underside of an island floating above them. The landscape beneath them stayed the same, with rivers flowing through ravaged desert ravines and tufts of peach trees dotting the land.
As they flew, Billy practised communicating with Spark using only his thoughts, sharing some openly and keeping others to himself. He found that flying with Spark was a joint effort. He felt the bond as if it was part of him, and through it he could feel the movements of Spark’s wings as if they were his own. The closest feeling he’d ever had to it was when he was surfing, flying on the waves. But this, real flying, this was so much better.
As the sun started to set and darkness crept up on them, the three full moons climbed high in the sky amongst millions of twinkling stars that seemed to wander like fireflies. It was the most beautiful sky Billy had ever seen. As the group flew round a sharp river bend, Tank called out, ‘We are almost there. Everyone stay alert.’ Ahead Billy saw a large mountain, almost as large as Dragon Mountain. They flew towards the side of it and swooped into the mouth of a cave that seemed to appear from nowhere.
‘It shouldn’t be so quiet,’ said Spark, concern in her voice.
When his eyes had adjusted, the first thing Billy spotted was what looked to be a large hoard of dragon treasure. He gasped when he saw what it really was.
Bones. Hundreds and hundreds of bones. Billy had never seen dragon bones before, but he suspected that these belonged to the dragons that they had come to find. He was suddenly filled with a deep sense of anguish, and he knew for sure that his suspicions were right.
Xing let out a screaming roar that echoed through the cavern.
‘We are too late,’ said Tank.
‘How… ?’ cried Buttons.
Xing flew round and round the pile of bones, her whole body trembling.
‘I had no idea,’ whispered Spark.
Billy felt an ache in his heart and tears pooled in his eyes. He could feel Spark’s loss and her agony. ‘I’m sorry,’ he said, resting his hand on her side.
Spark hung her head. ‘This cannot be. I didn’t see any of this in my visions.’
‘Maybe we should get out of here before whatever did this… comes back,’ said Dylan anxiously, looking around.
‘We can’t give up!’ cried Charlotte. ‘If anything, this means we have to keep going. Right, Tank?’
‘Charlotte is right,’ said Tank. ‘We must find the nox-wings. And find out who is still alive. There must be survivors… somewhere.’ He turned his gaze to Xing. ‘Can you sense any magic nearby?’
Xing closed her eyes and her body thrummed. The others waited in silence as Xing focused her energy. A short moment passed before her eyes shot open. ‘There is a concentration of dark magic just north of here.’ She flew out of the cave with Ling-Fei and up towards the sky. ‘Follow me!’ she yelled to the others, who rushed to join her.
‘Look, there,’ cried Xing.
A red dome rose out of the horizon, its unnaturalness a stark contrast to the mountains stretching towards the sky. The dome was semi-transparent, with eight plumes of purple smoke rising from within it.
‘What is that?’ asked Billy. ‘It looks big enough to cover my whole neighbourhood back home!’ Something about the dome made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up. It looked as if it shouldn’t be there.
‘I do not know. It is new, and it reeks of dark magic,’ said Xing, wrinkling her snout. ‘It must be where the Noxious are.’
‘Then that is where we must go,’ said Spark.