Tia crept quietly to where the Traders’ horses were tethered. Even in soft leather boots the frozen grass crackled under her feet and made the shaggy little horses look up curiously.
She untied a silver-grey horse.
‘Hello, Fari, we’re going for a long ride,’ she whispered and led him away from the Traders’ tents.
Fari tossed his head, his long white mane flopping over his neck, and whickered in excitement. He was the horse Tia had learned to ride on and they were old friends.
Tia bridled Fari and walked him over the grassy slopes leading away from the mountains. Everywhere looked magical in the white moonlight and Tia’s heart beat quickly with excitement. Fari seemed to feel it too and he danced a little, his hooves drumming on the frosty grass.
As soon as she felt far enough away from the Drakelow Keep and the sharp ears of the dragons, Tia jumped on the grey horse’s back and squeezed him with her knees. ‘Let’s gallop, Fari!’ she cried, and with a whoop from her and a whinney from Fari, they shot forward, thundering over the frosty grass, towards the Great Forest of Drangur.
Even in the sharp light of morning the forest looked dark and forbidding but Tia didn’t let that put her off. She slid from the horse’s back and stroked his nose. ‘We’ve got to say goodbye now, Fari,’ she said.
Fari blew sweet breath down his nose as if to say, I understand.
Tia turned him to face the mountains, knotted the reins and slapped his hindquarters. With a snort he sprang away. Tia watched until he was only a dot on the icy slopes then turned to the Great Forest.
She set off down a twisting path between trees with gnarled old branches draped in shreds of moss. As she went further in, the path grew narrower and more winding, the trees and the undergrowth more dense.
She pulled out her knife and slashed at the brambles that snagged her. Just as she cut herself free from one, a terrible cry like a ghost shrieking rang through the forest. Tia almost dropped her knife in shock.
The cry came again, louder than ever, followed by the sound of laughter.
Tia hurried forward, close to the ground so that she wouldn’t be seen, and came to an open space. On the far side were two men. They were prodding sharp sticks at two snow white frost-fox cubs cowering inside a cage.
‘Stop it!’ Tia cried.
The men looked up in surprise.
‘It’s a little girl,’ one of them sneered with a grin that showed gaps in his yellowed teeth.
‘Let those foxes go!’ Tia shouted.
The men ignored her.
Angrily, she pulled the sling out of her belt and slipped a pebble into the leather pouch in the middle of the strings. She whirled the sling round her head and then released one of the strings. The pebble flew through the air and hit the first man hard on his hand. He dropped the stick with a yell and spun round.
Tia quickly re-loaded her sling and swung it above her head as the men ran towards her. The strings caught in a branch. Frantically she tugged at it. It wouldn’t budge! She let go and started to run but it was too late.
One man caught her jacket and the other her ankles. She wriggled and bit and scratched but the men were strong and had her tied up in no time.
‘What’ll we do with her?’ the first man wondered.
‘Take her to Malindra, she’ll sort her out,’ the other one said.
Malindra – the High Witch of Drangur! Tia knew that once she was in the witch’s power it would be impossible to steal the emerald.
‘Leave the girl alone!’ a voice roared.
The men looked round wildly. For a moment the forest seemed empty and then, out of thin air, Finn appeared right next to them. He stood on his hind legs, crimson with anger, wings stretched as high as they would go, and with flames curling round his sharp teeth.
The men shrieked in terror and ran.
Finn roared and flames hurtled after them, scorching their hair. They disappeared into the forest, batting at their smoking hair.
Finn dropped onto all fours and turned back to his proper coppery colour. He looked very pleased with himself as he cut Tia free with his claws.
‘What are you doing here?’ she demanded, rubbing at her arms and legs.
‘DragonMother told me to find you and bring you back,’ Finn said. ‘I looked for you all night. When you took the horse, I wanted to know what you were up to so I followed you.’
‘I’m not going back, not yet anyway,’ Tia said stubbornly. ‘Not after what Torkil said.’
‘He shouldn’t have told anyone about… you know… your human mother being a High Witch. It was supposed to be a secret that only the older dragons knew. Torkil got into a lot of trouble.’
‘Good. I’m still not going back.’
‘All right, but where are you going?’ Finn insisted.
‘It’s a secret,’ Tia said and marched off into the trees.
‘If you’re not going back, I’m coming with you!’ Finn said. He followed Tia into the woods, snorting and puffing.
Tia she didn’t know whether she was pleased or not that he was following her. It would be good to have her DragonBrother with her, but what would he think when she told him what she was planning to do?
