She nodded.
‘Do you think you could find us an empty cave to sleep in?’
Ling-Fei’s eyes lit up. ‘I can try,’ she said. And then she promptly lay down on the earth and closed her eyes.
The other three waited in silence. If this didn’t work, Billy wasn’t sure what they were going to do tonight.
Then Ling-Fei sat up and pointed up. ‘There! See that small opening? I don’t sense anything in it.’
‘So… how do we get up there?’ said Dylan, squinting at where Ling-Fei had pointed.
‘Climb,’ said Billy.
‘Easy for you to say, backflip boy,’ said Dylan. ‘Unless I can charm the mountain to bend down for me, I don’t know how I’m going to get up.’
‘Let me go first,’ said Billy. ‘I’ll scout it out and try to find the easiest way.’
He quickly realized there was no easy way. Even with his new agility skills, he struggled to find footholds and nearly slipped several times.
There was no way the others would be able to climb it.
When he finally got there, he was relieved to see that the cave was empty, and just big enough for the four of them. It was barely a cave, more of a hidey-hole tucked away in the mountainside. It would be the perfect place to sleep – if only the others could reach it.
Then he had an idea.
‘Hey, Charlotte,’ Billy called down. Charlotte stared up at him in the fading light. ‘How far do you think you can toss Dylan?’
Charlotte grinned up at Billy. ‘Further than I can throw you.’
‘I do not like where this is going,’ said Dylan.
‘It’s the only way up,’ said Billy.
Dylan sighed. ‘Fine. But you’d better catch me!’
‘I promise,’ said Billy.
‘If I’m going to be a human elevator service, you could be a little more grateful about it,’ grumbled Charlotte as she squatted down and put her hands out for Dylan to step onto.
‘You have literal super-strength,’ said Dylan. ‘It’s the least you can do.’
‘Up you go!’ said Charlotte, and threw Dylan into the air. Billy reached out, grabbing Dylan and pulling him into the small cave.
‘Got him!’ Billy said. ‘Send Ling-Fei on up!’
Charlotte tossed Ling-Fei the same way she had done with Dylan. ‘Now how do I get up?’ she mused.
‘Try jumping,’ said Billy. ‘I bet you can jump pretty high with super-strength.’
Charlotte grinned. ‘Billy Chan, you are smarter than I give you credit for.’ She crouched down low and burst up into the air, as if there was a rocket beneath her.
‘Quick, grab her!’ said Ling-Fei. Billy and Dylan grabbed Charlotte as she flew towards them and pulled her into the cave, knocking into Ling-Fei. They all tumbled to the ground in a heap.
Billy began to laugh first. And then they were all laughing. Laughing till their stomachs hurt and they had tears running down their faces.
‘What a day,’ said Billy when he could finally speak.
‘Understatement of the century,’ said Dylan.
‘I don’t think I’ve ever been so tired,’ said Charlotte with a yawn.
‘Do you think the dragons are okay?’ said Ling-Fei.
‘I think so,’ said Billy. ‘I think we’d feel it if something was really wrong. Like…’ He let his voice trail off. At least this was what he kept telling himself. He had to believe in the bond.
‘Like what?’ prompted Dylan.
‘Like if they were killed,’ said Charlotte matter-of-factly.
‘Charlotte!’ said Ling-Fei.
‘What? That’s what we’re all worried about. We might as well say it. No sense in giving a fear more power over us by not naming it. That’s what my grandma always says.’
‘As long as the dragons stay alive, and we stay alive, we’re fine,’ said Billy.
‘Easy-peasy,’ said Dylan.
‘I just hope they can stay alive until we reach them,’ said Ling-Fei, looking worried. ‘The red dome is still so far.’
If Ling-Fei said the red dome was far, it must be. Billy felt overwhelmed by the weight of what they needed to do. Would they ever reach the red dome? No, he couldn’t think like that. He refused to. He looked at his friends.
‘Well then, we need to rest tonight so we can get an early start tomorrow,’ he said with as much authority as he could muster. ‘We’ll go as far as we can. And then we’ll do the same the next day, and the next, till we get there. That’s the best we can do.’
‘What if our best isn’t good enough?’ said Dylan.
‘It’s all we’ve got,’ said Billy. ‘Now come on, let’s get some sleep.’
Billy woke with a start. The cave was shaking.
Dylan was lying on the ground next to him, snoring, and Charlotte was sprawled out in the middle of the cave. Ling-Fei crouched near the entrance, her hand on the cave wall to steady herself.
‘What’s going on?’ Billy cried, leaping up. He heard a faint but deep cracking that sounded like boulders ripping apart. As he reached the edge of the cave, his stomach rose up into his throat as if he was on a roller coaster. They were somehow being lifted hundreds of metres up into the air.
Ling-Fei turned to him with huge eyes. ‘I… I asked the cave for help,’ she said. ‘And I think it listened.’
‘Are we MOVING?’ yelled Charlotte from the middle of the cave. She poked Dylan. ‘Wake up!’
The ground rolled beneath them. ‘Whoa,’ said Ling-Fei, crouching lower and moving away from the opening.
Billy got low to the ground and crawled towards her.
‘Ling-Fei, what exactly did you ask the cave?’ he said.
‘Last night, before I went to sleep, I told the cave that we wanted to get to the red dome and asked it to help us. I thought it might be sentient like the rock troll. And I guess it is!’
Billy crawled forward on his belly as close to the mouth of the cave as he dared, and looked outside. ‘You’re right,’ he said in awe. ‘The cave is… walking.’ It had sprouted long legs made of rock and was taking large steps. The entire cave swayed slowly from left to right in great sweeping motions. From what
