‘Tomorrow, we keep going towards the red dome,’ he said.
‘That’s if we make it until tomorrow,’ said Dylan, throwing his hands up into the air. ‘I mean, anything could pop in here and eat us.’
‘Dylan,’ said Ling-Fei in a soothing voice. She moved to face Dylan and took his hands in hers. ‘Everything is going to be okay. Here, look me in the eyes.’ Ling-Fei paused and waited for Dylan to follow her instructions. ‘Take a deep breath, and repeat after me.’ Dylan breathed in deeply with Ling-Fei. Then she said very slowly, ‘Everything. Is. Going. To. Be. Okay.’
‘Everything. Is. Going. To. Be. Okay,’ repeated Dylan, emphasizing each word like Ling-Fei. ‘Everything is going to be okay,’ he said again. He took another deep breath. ‘You’re right. We’re all in one piece, we have each other, we’re not out in the open… I guess we’re as safe as we’re going to be.’ Dylan sat down and slipped his backpack off his shoulders before pulling out a couple of peaches. ‘And we’ve got some food.’
Billy smiled at Dylan. ‘You sure love those peaches.’ He shuffled closer to Dylan and took a peach from his hand.
‘Who wouldn’t?’ said Dylan. ‘If we eat enough of these, we might find one that makes you immortal. Maybe then I’d be more keen to take on that dragon that swallows stars or even the Dragon of Death.’ He took a bite, spraying peach juice everywhere. ‘Plus, they’re the best peaches I’ve ever had.’
‘I can’t believe you and Xing lifted an entire lake out of the ground,’ said Charlotte, biting into a peach. ‘And I thought I was strong.’
‘Hopefully our dragons are safe,’ said Billy. A thread of unease unspooled itself through him. He hated thinking about Spark having her life force drained or being in any kind of pain. He didn’t know how long it would take to fully take a dragon’s life force; he just hoped they would arrive in time.
They were silent for a long moment.
‘What are we going to do?’ Dylan asked.
‘Same thing we were always going to do here in the Dragon Realm,’ said Billy. ‘Stop the Dragon of Death. And save our dragons along the way.’
‘Ah, well, yes, that’s an excellent big-picture plan, but I’m a bit of a details guy.’
‘I have no idea!’ Billy burst out. ‘How can I know what we’re supposed to do when we don’t know anything?’
‘Exactly!’ said Dylan. ‘That’s what I’m trying to say.’
‘What are our other options?’ said Charlotte. ‘It isn’t as if we can just go home.’
‘Do you guys wish we could?’ said Dylan, looking at them with wide eyes. ‘Go home? Pretend this all never happened?’
‘I’m scared,’ admitted Billy. ‘But I don’t want to abandon our dragons. And I don’t want to give up. Dylan, we have a chance to save… everything. We’ve got to keep going.’
‘I’d feel better about that if we knew what we were going to do.’
‘I agree with Dylan,’ said Ling-Fei softly. ‘We need some sort of plan.’
‘Okay, what about this?’ said Billy, thinking quickly. ‘We get to the red dome, scope it out, figure out what we’re dealing with and then make a plan of action. At the very least, we can find our dragons. Once we’re reunited, we’ll be more prepared. And they’ll know more than us.’
‘If they haven’t had all their life force sucked out of them,’ said Charlotte darkly.
‘We’d know if that happened,’ said Billy. ‘We’d feel it.’ At least he hoped they would. He could just barely feel the bond between him and Spark now, but he told himself that, as long as he could feel something, that meant she was still alive. When they’d first been separated from the dragons, the pain had been piercing. But slowly it had numbed to more of a dull, persistent ache. It almost felt as if his heart had gone to sleep the way his arm would when he slept on it.
‘As far as plans go, that one is pretty shaky,’ said Dylan. ‘But it’s better than nothing.’ He yawned. ‘And maybe one of us will have a genius idea after we get some sleep.’
Billy smiled, glad to have Dylan feeling hopeful again. ‘That’s the kind of attitude we need. I’m sure one of us will come up with something.’ Then he looked at the others. ‘You all get some rest – I’ll stay up and keep watch.’
‘It’s a good idea to have a lookout,’ said Charlotte. ‘We should take turns. Are you sure you want to take the first watch?’
‘Yeah, of course,’ said Billy. Even though he was exhausted, he didn’t think he’d be able to sleep. Despite what he’d told his friends, he was terrified of all the unknowns, about what might happen when they reached the red dome. If they ever reached it. He might as well make himself useful and keep watch.
‘All right,’ said Charlotte. ‘Wake me up when you want to sleep. I’ll take the second watch.’
She went further into the cave with Dylan and Ling-Fei, and the three of them lay down on the cave floor.
There was a long silence.
‘Goodnight, y’all,’ said Charlotte.
‘Goodnight,’ said Dylan.
‘Goodnight,’ said Billy.
‘Wan-an,’ said Ling-Fei, using the Mandarin phrase for goodnight. She patted the floor of the cave. ‘Goodnight to you too. Please protect us. You seem like a good cave. I think we’ll be safe here.’
‘I don’t think the cave can understand you,’ said Dylan with a yawn.
‘I just want it to know we appreciate it,’ said Ling-Fei sleepily.
Billy sat by the cave opening, gazing up at the three full moons. He let out a long, deep breath and rolled his shoulders back. Now that it was just him, and him alone, he didn’t have to act brave. ‘I hope you’re okay, Spark,’ he whispered.
There was no reply.
Down The River
‘Wake up!’
Billy’s eyes flew open and he sat up straight, adrenaline pumping through his veins. Was
