Dragon Rider Read Free Page A

they are, there must be some place where we won’t have to hide. And when I have found it I’ll come back and fetch the rest of you. I’ll set out tonight.”
    The old dragon nodded. “Come to my cave before you leave,” he said. “I will tell you all I can remember, even though it isn’t much. But now I must get in out of the rain or I won’t be able to move my old bones at all tomorrow.”
    With difficulty, Slatebeard trudged back to his cave. Firedrake stayed behind with Sorrel and Rat. The brownie girl was perched on his back, looking fierce. “You idiot!” she said quietly. “Acting the big hero, right? Off to look for something that doesn’t exist. I ask you!”
    “What are you muttering about?” asked Firedrake, turning his head to look at her.
    This was too much for Sorrel. She lost her temper. “And who’s going to wake you when the sun sets?” she demanded. “Who’s going to protect you from human beings? Who’s going to sing you to sleep and scratch you behind the ears?”
    “Yes,
who?”
asked Rat sharply. She was still sitting on the rock where the old dragon had stood.
    “Me, of course!” Sorrel spat at her. “Tedious toadstools, what else can I do?”
    “Oh, no, you don’t!” Firedrake turned so abruptly that Sorrel almost slipped off his wet back. “You can’t come!”
    “And just why not?” Sorrel folded her arms, looking offended.
    “Because it’s dangerous.”
    “I don’t care.”
    “But you hate flying! It makes you airsick!”
    “I’ll get used to it.”
    “You’ll be homesick, too.”
    “Homesick for what? You think I’m going to wait here till the fish come and nibble my toes? No, I’m going with you.”
    Firedrake sighed. “Oh, very well,” he murmured. “You can come. But don’t blame me afterward for taking you along.”
    “She will,” said Rat, chuckling as she jumped off the rock into the damp grass. “Brownies are never happy without something to complain about. Well, now let’s go and see the old dragon. If you’re going to start tonight there’s no time to waste. Certainly not enough time to finish your quarrel with this dim-witted mushroom-muncher.”

3. Advice and Warnings
     

     
    S latebeard was lying at the mouth of his cave listening to the rain when they arrived. “You haven’t changed your mind?” he asked when Firedrake lay down beside him on the rocky ground.
    The young dragon shook his head. “But I won’t be alone. Sorrel’s coming with me.”
    “Well, well!” The old dragon looked at Sorrel. “Good. She may come in useful. She knows human beings, she has a quick mind, and brownies are more suspicious by nature than dragons. Which won’t be any bad thing on this journey of yours. Her big appetite could be a problem, but no doubt she’ll soon get used to eating less.”
    Sorrel looked anxiously down at her stomach.
    “Listen, then,” Slatebeard began again. “I don’t really remember very much. These days, the pictures get more and more muddled in my mind, but I do know this: You must fly to the highest mountain range in the whole world. It lies far away in the East. And when you get there, you must find the Rim of Heaven. Look for a chain of snow-covered peaks encirclinga valley like a ring of stone. As for the blue flowers growing in the valley,” he added, closing his eyes, “their fragrance hangs so heavy in the cold night air that you can taste it.” He sighed. “Ah, my memories are faded now, as if they were lost in the mist. But it’s a wonderful place.” His head sank to his paws, he closed his eyes, and his breath came more slowly. “There was something else,” he murmured. “About the Eye of the Moon. But I don’t remember what.”
    “The Eye of the Moon?” Sorrel leaned toward him. “What’s that?”
    But Slatebeard only shook his head sleepily. “I don’t remember,” he murmured. “But … beware,” he said, his voice so soft that they could hardly hear it, “beware of the Golden