Billy didn’t care about any of that. He only cared about his friends. Ling-Fei and Charlotte ran up to him. Ling-Fei had tears streaming down her face. Charlotte held Ling-Fei’s hand. She was trembling with rage.
‘I can’t believe it,’ said Ling-Fei. ‘Old Gold really was like my yeye. I never even met my real yeye, because… because…’ She couldn’t even say the words.
‘At least your yeye isn’t a murderer,’ said a familiar voice from behind the trees. Billy spun round. It was JJ.
‘What are you doing here? Were you helping Old Gold?’ Billy wanted to shake JJ to get answers. He wanted to blame him for Dylan being taken. Deep down, he knew he wasn’t being rational, but he didn’t care. Billy hurt too much to be rational.
JJ stared at him with a dazed expression. ‘I don’t even know where I am right now! Nothing seems real.’
‘JJ! Tell us what happened!’ said Billy. The more information they had, the better chance they had of saving Dylan.
‘We’re listening,’ said Ling-Fei, wiping a tear from her cheek. ‘Please help us, JJ.’
JJ took a deep breath, composing himself. ‘After you all ran off, my yeye started acting strangely. He kept talking about dragons. And then he brought me to the mountain. He said he might need my heart, and I thought he meant he might need my help getting around or climbing over rocks. I didn’t realize he literally meant my actual heart. He didn’t tell me where we were going or what we were doing until we were in this place, and then he used some… some… sort of magic to get us from Dragon Mountain to here.’
JJ looked around, fear all over his face. Billy suddenly remembered how terrified he’d been when he first saw their dragons. At least he’d had his friends with him. JJ had only had Old Gold, who had just jumped into a time portal and abandoned him. He must be even more frightened than Billy had been. Billy tried to swallow his anger and frustration. JJ really did seem to be completely unaware of Old Gold’s evil plan.
‘I feel as if I never even knew him,’ JJ said. ‘He’s turned into a different person.’
‘Do you think he’ll hurt Dylan?’ asked Billy.
JJ looked down at the ground again. ‘I don’t know,’ he said. ‘He really wants to find that dragon he keeps calling the Great One. I think he’d do anything to get to her.’
‘Well, we’re going to find Dylan, and you are going to help us,’ said Billy fiercely.
‘Billy is right,’ said Xing, who had flown over. The rest of the recently released good dragons gathered close, surrounding the children.
‘They will not get away with this,’ said Tank.
‘We will find a way to save Dylan,’ said Spark. ‘I promise. And the promise of a dragon is an unbreakable thing.’
One of the dragons at the back gave a supportive roar. Others followed.
Soon, all the dragons in the clearing were roaring in unison. When they finally quietened down, a long serpentine dragon approached Billy and Spark. The dragon looked very similar to Xing except its scales were gold instead of silver. ‘All is not lost. Thanks to you, we are free and the life force that was being used to open the portal has flowed back to us and the land. With your help and your bravery, we have reclaimed the Dragon Realm and restored it to health. You can see that everything around you is turning back to its original form right before our eyes. And now we will have enough power on our side to defeat Dimitrius and the nox-wings. Dimitrius tricked us and used dark magic to trap us, but now we are free, and we will not be fooled again. We owe you a great debt.’
Billy found he didn’t care. They’d lost Dylan. That was all that mattered now. ‘Then you’ll help us find Dylan?’ asked Billy. He couldn’t imagine how scared Dylan must be, how alone he must feel. He knew in that moment he’d do anything to save his friend. To bring him back.
‘Of course,’ said the gold dragon. ‘It is the least we can do.’
‘Then it is settled,’ said Tank. ‘We will find a way to track down Dylan and Old Gold.’
‘I know how to find them,’ said a morose voice from behind them. It was Buttons.
‘Buttons!’ said Billy, running to him. He knew Buttons must be in agony at being separated from his human. As painful as Billy found Dylan’s kidnapping, it would be much worse for Buttons. ‘Are you all right?’
Buttons closed his eyes and his face drooped. ‘It feels… as if I’ve been sundered in two. As if a piece of me is missing.’
‘Buttons, if you can feel the pain,’ said Spark gently, ‘that is a good sign.’
‘Yes, I know,’ said Buttons. He opened his eyes to look at the children. ‘It means Dylan is still alive. And that the bond is able to stretch through time itself.’
A slow understanding dawned on Billy. He looked up at his friends, and at their dragons.
‘We’re going to have to go through time to save Dylan,’ he said. ‘And to stop the Dragon of Death.’
‘It will be hard,’ warned Tank.
‘And dangerous,’ added Xing.
‘It doesn’t matter,’ said Billy, his exhaustion and fear giving way to a burning determination. ‘It’ll be worth it. No matter what it takes.’
Ling-Fei stepped forward. ‘I’m in,’ she said.
‘Me too,’ said Charlotte.
Billy picked up Dylan’s backpack and put it on. ‘Let’s go and find Dylan.’
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
We are so grateful to the whole Dragon Dream Team who helped us make Dragon Mountain a reality!
Our guiding star is our incredible agent, Claire Wilson, who could definitely open the mountain because she is loyal, strong, brave and true. Thank you, Claire, for all of your faith in Dragon Mountain and in us. You are both a legend and a hero! Thank you as well to Miriam Tobin
