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Hothbrodd’s plane had already disappeared among the clouds when Ben climbed up on Firedrake’s back. The dragon was glad to see the moon in the sky, because it made flying easier. But Sorrel had also brought a good supply of the flowers that could replace moonlight for silver dragons in her backpack. Vita grew them in the hothouses of MÍMAMEIÐR from seeds she had been given by Zubeida Ghalib, the Indian dracologist who had discovered the flowers, and whom Ben had met on his first journey with Firedrake. It seemed incredible that barely two years had passed since then.
Vita and Guinevere were not the only ones who had come to say goodbye to the dragon and his rider. Ànemos was there too. The Pegasus looked a little more confident now that he had talked to Firedrake. He had accompanied the mist-ravens on one of the flights that they made several times a day to patrol the boundaries of MÍMAMEIÐR, and had explored the forests bordering its land with the hedgehog-men. It was not a good idea to be inactive when you were waiting for something, and Ben was very glad that Ànemos had taken on the task entrusted to him by Firedrake for the coming weeks.
Guinevere put something else in Ben’s hand before he got on the dragon’s back. It was a photo of the Pegasus eggs, and showed them shining with a silvery light, like Firedrake’s scales.
‘To remind you all of that you want to save,’ Guinevere whispered to Ben, giving him a goodbye kiss on the cheek.
It was a wonderful feeling to be travelling with Firedrake again. Even Sorrel seemed glad to have Ben with them, and the night and day that it took the dragon to reach the south-west coast of India passed much too quickly.
By now Firedrake flew so well that he rivalled the speed of the wind. It felt intoxicating to be carried around the world by so much power and beauty, and Ben lay close to the dragon’s warm scales and felt sure that he was the happiest person in the world.
The hill on which they came down to land hardly twenty-four hours after their departure was many miles south of the place where the great sea serpent had put them ashore during their last adventure, and beyond the fields and huts, even without his field glasses, Ben could see the ruined temple that Barnabas had described to them as the meeting place.
The others wouldn’t arrive until tomorrow morning – even Gilbert Greytail had underestimated the dragon’s speed – and of course Firedrake didn’t want to leave Ben alone, which gave them a few precious hours together before the dragon set off again for the Rim of Heaven, hours in which Ben, after a long time, could be nothing but a dragon rider again. Rider, friend and companion of a dragon. No word could really express what linked the boy and Firedrake.
As the sun went down beyond the Indian fields, Ben used his jacket as a supper table, spreading out some of the provisions that Tallemaja had given him on it. Sorrel wrinkled her nose when Ben offered her some of the delicacies that the cook at MÍMAMEIÐR had packed up. She was very quiet, for her. Brownies were as reluctant to leave their homes as trolls, particularly Scottish brownies, and Sorrel made no secret of the fact that she was homesick, and was going back to the Rim of Heaven with Firedrake only for love of him. She sat down with her stock of mushrooms under the nearest tree, and when she finally fell asleep, she was holding a half-eaten chanterelle in her paw, with Indian flies buzzing around it, and in her dreams was murmuring something about boletus mushroom species and wild champignons.
After his long flight, Firedrake was so exhausted that he too was silent, but Ben could tell from his expression how much he looked forward to returning to the Rim of
Heaven and the other dragons. The Himalayan valley had become home for Firedrake, and Ben was sure that the dragon would never leave it again of his own accord. After a while his muzzle sank to his paws, and Ben sat there with the hot nocturnal air of India on his skin, Firedrake’s peaceful breathing beside him, and wished you could carry moments like this around with you like garments – magic jackets which, when you put them on, brought back all that went to make up such times: Sorrel murmuring in her sleep, the wide expanses of the foreign landscapes where they had travelled together – and the closeness of the dragon. The dragon in particular. There was nothing that made Ben happier, nothing in the whole world.
Why was the Rim of Heaven such a terribly long way from the place that was the most wonderful home you could wish for? Over eight thousand kilometres separated MÍMAMEIÐR from the peaks of the Himalayas.
‘There’s something I still have to tell you.’ Firedrake stretched his weary wings. ‘I was really going to tell you all at MÍMAMEIÐR, but somehow it never seemed to be the right moment, first because of Slatebeard, then because of the Pegasi…’
Ben heard something he didn’t like in Firedrake’s voice. It sounded alarmingly serious.
‘It’s not only Pegasus foals that will be born this year. We’re expecting young in the Rim of Heaven as well.’
Ben stared at the dragon, so speechless that Firedrake uttered the quiet purr that Ben called his laughter.
‘Twelve young dragons if all the eggs hatch. Two of them will be Maia’s children, and mine.’
Ben forgot the Pegasi and the griffins.
Young dragons!
‘Oh… oh, I must see them!’ he stammered. ‘When will they hatch?’
‘Our young take a little longer than Pegasus foals. In three months’ time.’
Three months! Three months would pass like lightning and – he would be far away! And…
‘And I’m afraid I won’t be able to come to MÍMAMEIÐR again for some time.’ Firedrake said just what Ben was thinking.
For some time? Maybe he wouldn’t be able to come for years! Did dragon fathers look after their children? Firedrake surely would.
Ben didn’t know where to look. Oh, this goodbye would be so much worse than all the others! Suppose he told Barnabas that he couldn’t go on to Indonesia with him? Suppose he asked Firedrake to take him along, and he stayed at the Rim of Heaven until the young dragons were born? Even if the Pegasi did hatch out, they would only remind him of the young dragons whose birth he was missing.
Firedrake gently nudged his chest with his muzzle, as he always did when he wanted to cheer Ben up.
‘Of course you’ll see them! I’ll come and fetch you. Promise! As soon as I can leave Maia alone with our little ones.’
Whenever that would be!
The last daylight was dying away, and the temple ruins where Ben was to meet Barnabas and the others disappeared into the night.
‘Don’t worry,’ said Firedrake. ‘Everything will be all right. And now we’d better go to sleep like Sorrel. We both have a long journey ahead of us.’
