And they weren’t alone.
His three friends stood with their backs to each other, in a protective triangular stance. Circling round them, in a blur of silver and gold, was a long and slender dragon.
Old Gold’s legend about the mountain was true. Dragons were real.
Billy’s heart began to beat very quickly. All those times he’d looked to the sky with Eddie, hoping for a glimpse of dragons, and here they were. Inside this mountain.
And holding his friends captive.
His wonder quickly faded as he realized with a jolt that real dragons meant real danger.
The dragon seemed to sense Billy’s presence and it stopped circling, but stayed hovering in the air. Billy saw now that, although its long body was looped round his friends at least four times, it still had length to spare. It raised its large head and stared at Billy with glowing silver eyes. Billy stared back. The dragon had a serpentine face, small, elegant horns, long whiskers and scales that fanned out from its neck and behind its ears. Further down its body, small, gossamer-thin wings moved slowly, as if they were underwater. And there, clutched in its claws, was Ling-Fei’s necklace.
Billy’s heart hammered in his chest and his vision blurred. He thought he might pass out.
The dragon’s pink, forked tongue flicked out between a sharp set of teeth. It flared its nostrils and two jets of fire shot out, close enough for Billy to feel the heat on his face.
‘Billy! Watch out!’ shouted Dylan, noticing him now that the dragon had turned its attention to Billy. But they were still trapped.
Billy took a step back. This was worse than being pummelled by a wave, worse than the tiger. He thrust his hands in his pockets, looking for something to use to defend himself, but all he felt was an old train-ticket stub, the lucky seashell he always carried and a few pennies.
Suddenly, the dragon lunged forward, wrapped itself round Billy and hoisted him in the air. Billy fought as hard as he could, punching down on the dragon’s hard scales and trying to kick himself free. The dragon let out an ear-splitting roar and tightened its grip. Billy couldn’t move his arms or legs now, and he could barely breathe. The dragon’s hot, smoky breath burned the insides of his nostrils and he could see all the jagged edges of its teeth.
The dragon flicked its tongue out again, hitting Billy in the face. Its tongue was rough and sticky. Billy wondered for a second whether the dragon was tasting him – deciding if he would make a good meal.
‘PUT HIM DOWN!’ yelled Charlotte from below. Billy glanced at his friends and saw a rock hurtling towards him. It struck the dragon below its eye and bounced off with little effect. The dragon let out what sounded like a laugh. Billy was starting to feel light-headed. He was losing the feeling in his arms and legs. This is it, he thought. This is going to be the end.
A scraping sound, like knives being sharpened, came from a corner of the cavern, and another dragon emerged from the darkness. Its scales were a river of green and gold, and it walked on its hind legs, like a T-Rex. It had small green wings sprouting from its back and an unexpectedly big, round belly that swayed in front of it as its thick tail dragged behind. It clinked its claws together, as if applauding.
Without warning, the silver dragon let go of Billy. He hit the cave floor with a thud.
‘Run, Billy!’ shouted Dylan. ‘Get out while you can!’
‘I’m not leaving you guys!’ Billy cried between gasping breaths. His mind was working in overdrive. The tiger had disappeared when they’d been together. He remembered the jolt he’d felt when they’d held hands. He’d thought that had been a surge of adrenaline. But maybe it was something more. Maybe it was some kind of magic that had made the tiger disappear. Maybe all he needed to do was reach his friends and the dragons would disappear too.
His heart pounding in his chest, Billy ran towards Dylan, Charlotte and Ling-Fei.
He had almost reached them when, out of the shadows, another dragon swooped in front of him. Billy slipped and landed hard on his back. He scuttled backwards like a crab, keeping his eyes on the dragon. This one was a pale, shimmery blue with flecks of gold. Sharp gold antlers rose from its diamond-shaped head. It had a long neck that curved into its seahorse-like body and a long, narrow tail. An electric-blue mane ran from its head all along its spine to the end of its tail. Huge, sheer wings that looked like giant bat wings kept it afloat. It seemed to emit its own light and the air crackled round its body.
The blue dragon stared at him. Billy tried to keep from trembling, but he could feel his knees shaking. He felt as if he’d swallowed a huge stone. Dragons. Real dragons. If he ever made it home, he’d have to tell Eddie that they were even more amazing and terrifying than they’d ever imagined. But he wasn’t sure he would make it back. He closed his eyes, trying to block everything out, trying to work out what to do next. If he couldn’t get to his friends, maybe he could—
Something tugged on his hand. His eyes flew open and he saw Charlotte had somehow slipped through the silver dragon’s coils. Dylan and Ling-Fei were still trapped.
‘Come on,’ Charlotte said breathlessly. ‘We’ve got to go get help.’
They raced past the blue dragon, which stared at them with its unnerving, unwavering gaze. The green dragon with the long claws dived at them as they passed, but missed, not quite fast enough.
‘How’d you get in here?’ Charlotte asked as they ran. ‘I can’t find a way out!’
Billy looked around, trying to figure out which way he’d come
